Chapter Four

d why they were called such. They were extremely beautiful and exquisite, with a body no different from ordinary pots, decorated with red and gold-laced longevity characters encircled by golden dragon...Volume 1: Smiling at the Splendor Chapter 4

With years of training and experience in recognizing people, Li Yun immediately realized that this Crown Prince was not to be underestimated with just one glance. Perhaps due to being brothers, the Crown Prince shared similar features with the Fourth Prince but appeared more handsome and majestic than him. Likely due to常年浸淫於權利之中和自身的高位，他的眉眼深邃，將明黃色的衣服穿得入木三分，似乎冇有人比他更適合這種顏色。

Especially at this moment, his handsome face was expressionless, the golden crown radiating with supreme and unparalleled brilliance, shrouding him in an aura of unmatched nobility and authority.

Li Yun noticed out of the corner of her eye that several extravagantly dressed women present were looking at the Crown Prince with a dazed gaze. A cold smile formed on her lips; no wonder this body's soul was drawn to him as well. The people around always talked about the Crown Prince, and even if he did nothing, he had enough charisma to make people go crazy.

After the Fourth Prince finished speaking, there was a moment of silence in the scenic garden where dozens seemed like no one at all.

Hearing this, the Empress turned her head and glanced at the Crown Prince sitting upright. She saw no emotion on his face and then shifted her gaze back to the Fourth Prince, still unable to read any underlying emotions beneath that playful expression. Sighing inwardly, she redirected her attention to Li Yun and called out with a smile: "Oh What person has Moon bullied so much that she dares not come to this scenic garden Come here quickly and stand by your aunt's side. Tell me who dared bully you in the imperial palace."

After the Empress spoke, Li Yun saw several women turn pale.

Lǐ Yún didn't expect the Empress to be so righteous and assertive, assuming without asking that she had been bullied and was seeking help. She stood there motionless for a moment, wondering if the Empress truly favored this body or if she had other motives. After all, the Imperial City wasn’t very large, and those who could attend this poetry appreciation event were mostly children of nobles from court factions. They each represented various powers behind the scenes. Her outstanding appearance was likely to provoke jealousy and resentment rather than admiration. Although everyone visibly feared her, there must have been many hidden losses she had suffered. For instance, today’s incident; otherwise, how could the original owner of this body die so mysteriously while she appeared here just as mysteriously

"It's not a big deal, forget it! Your Majesty, please don't investigate further."

“Huh So you’re really angry Today, even Auntie isn’t addressing me.” The Empress was momentarily taken aback. She hadn’t anticipated that Li Yun would let today’s incident slide. Glancing at the pale faces of several young women including Princess Lian Qingwan, she chuckled but her voice grew stern, “Tell me who dared to bully you. You have Auntie here to protect you. I’ll see which fool dares to victimize my niece.”

The words were firm and resolute as if the Empress had made up her mind to defend Li Yun.

Several women, who had initially relaxed upon hearing that Li Yun wouldn’t pursue today’s incident, paled again at this statement.

"That's right. Moon Sister, with Mother here protecting you, speak up and say who it is that bullied you. With Mother around, what do you have to fear Even if you were severely wronged, Mother will punish those who don’t know their place."

Prince Four immediately echoed the Empress’s words, casting a nasty glance at several women.

Lǐ Yún pursed her lips slightly and pondered whether she should speak. Where was this place This was the imperial palace, where even a fly's entry would not go unnoticed. How could an incident of being bullied escape the Empress’s attention as the ruler of the harem, especially when it happened just moments ago As she walked here, how many pairs of hidden eyes had been watching her every move

As he hesitated, he heard the Crown Prince, who had been silent until then, speak slowly: "Mother is being overly cautious. It's just a few ladies playing around and having fun; calling it bullying is exaggerating things. Little Moon isn't like others; even Emperor doesn't dare to provoke her. Who could bully her"

The women who heard the Crown Prince speak on their behalf all looked delighted, their beautiful eyes glued to him without moving. Especially the two ladies beside Princess Qingwan, dressed in pink and green dresses respectively, seemed unable to see anyone else.

Li Yun gave these two ladies a close look, remembering that her maid had said earlier they were the Second Miss of Prince Rong's household and a princess from Xianqin王府 (Princess Qingwan) bullying her. She thought she would soon match each person with their name.

Hearing what the Crown Prince said, Princess Qingwan didn't seem nervous anymore; instead, there was a hint of disdain in her gaze as she looked at Li Yun and said to the Empress: "My brother is right. It's just some playful fun between ladies. Who doesn’t know that Moon from Cloud王府 doesn’t bully others How could someone really bully her"

"That’s right, Shallow Moon Sister isn't only the precious daughter of Cloud王府, but also a treasure to Empress Mother; even if we had the greatest courage, we wouldn't dare to bully her. Her not bullying us is already great enough. A few days ago, one of my relatives from outside our family offended her on the street by accident, and she ordered people to severely beat him up immediately, leaving him bedridden at home now! This incident must have reached Mother’s ears."

The lady in pink regained focus and shifted her gaze away from the Crown Prince, quickly chiming in.

"Lan Sister is absolutely right. Yesterday, we heard a story that Moon Sister led some people to set fire to Wanchun Pavilion on West Street for no apparent reason, and ordered them not to let anyone inside out. It was tragic as hundreds of people either died or got injured in the fire! This has caused quite a stir; it's said many ministers have submitted memorials criticizing Moon Sister today!"

The lady in green also struggled to break away from looking at the Crown Prince and looked at Li Yun with a hint of schadenfreude.

"Is that true" The Empress seemed extremely surprised, looking at Li Yun.

Lǐ Yún listened as the two women spoke earnestly, her delicate eyebrows subtly furrowed. She sighed inwardly, not expecting to encounter such a major scandal upon arriving in this body. Initially, she had thought that the owner of this body merely had a bad temper but did not realize it was so extreme. Assaulting people and setting fires... It was truly despicable.

"Of course there is such an incident; news has spread throughout the entire imperial city, probably even reaching every corner of the Heavenly Sage Kingdom by now. Mother Empress has been busy organizing the Poetry Recitation Festival these past few days and thus hasn't heard about it yet. I think even if Father Emperor shields Moon Sister, he can no longer prevent the impeachment from court officials or public condemnation. This matter involving Moon Sister is quite serious. It's said that Old Grand Duke Yun fell ill from anger." Princess Qing Wan spoke with a tone of schadenfreude.

The Empress stared at Lǐ Yún for quite some time without hearing her speak and couldn't discern what she was thinking, finding herself surprised by the niece’s unusual composure today. She repressed her surprise and turned to glance at Crown Prince beside her.

Crown Prince remained expressionless as he cast a brief, indifferent glance at Lǐ Yún. His voice was devoid of emotion as well, "Indeed something like this has happened; however, Father Emperor didn't convene court today, so all the impeachment memorials have been sent to the Imperial Study Room. I wonder how Father will handle it But it's true that my grandfather, Old Grand Duke Yun, fell ill from anger."

"Have you gone to see your grandfather at Cloud Manor" The Empress’s face darkened upon hearing of her father being angered into illness.

Lǐ Yún realized the old duke must be the mother empress's father since she referred to him as "Uncle." Lowering her head, she thought how unfortunate it was to run into such a situation right after arriving in this body and doubted that an easy resolution could be found.

"I visited Cloud Manor immediately upon learning Father Emperor would not convene court today," the Crown Prince seemed to weigh his words carefully. He cast Lǐ Yún another meaningful glance, noting her silence and lack of any visible distress or anger on her face amidst all the criticism she faced, causing a flicker of surprise in his eyes. After a brief pause, he continued: "Old Imperial Physician Zhang from the Grand Medical Institute examined my grandfather, and it's said to be heart blood congestion due to excessive rage, so he prescribed medicine which advises against further anger as well as proper recuperation. My grandfather probably won't leave his bed for at least ten days."

"Father is that serious" The empress was shocked.

The Crown Prince nodded. His expressionless face finally revealed a sense of helplessness as he comforted the empress, "Mother, there's no need to worry. With Old Imperial Physician Zhang around and many good medicines sent to the Cloudy王府 by Father’s order, Grandfather must be fine."

The empress finally breathed a sigh of relief and nodded. She then turned her gaze towards Li Yun, her face turning stern, her beautiful eyes showing annoyance as she said loudly, "Yue'er, I can tolerate you beating someone up on the street, but how could you set fire to the Spring-Wishing Tower It’s utterly unreasonable!"

Li Yun was at a loss for words because she had only just arrived and didn’t know what happened yesterday. She could only lower her head in silence.

"Mother, you only know part of it," said the Fourth Prince after being silent for a while. "According to my knowledge, Yue'er was incited by someone who told her that Crown Prince Brother had gone to the Spring-Wishing Tower. So she went there with people. But those at the Spring-Wishing Tower were truly hateful; they wouldn’t give her a straight answer and even wanted to report her to the authorities. That’s why in rage, Yue'er set fire to the Spring-Wishing Tower."

The Fourth Prince continued after a moment: "Mother, you also know that Yue'er's heart is completely devoted to Crown Prince Brother. How could she bear seeing him go to such a place Naturally, burning down the Spring-Wishing Tower would make her feel better. This wasn’t wrong at all. Why did Crown Prince Brother let himself be bewitched by those flirtatious women at the Spring-Wishing Tower"

"There’s even this" The empress frowned and turned to the Crown Prince beside her.

The Crown Prince's profound phoenix eyes shot towards the Fourth Prince, and his dark pupils seemed to be ice daggers, but he did not respond.

The Fourth Prince ignored him, turning to ask Li Yun beside him, "Although I wasn't present yesterday, I heard about what happened. Is that right Moon Sister"

As the others spoke, they gave Li Yun ample time to think and prepare her response. Upon hearing this, she looked at the Fourth Prince, then immediately shifted her gaze towards Empress Dowager and finally rested it on the Crown Prince. Her originally expressionless face suddenly overflowed with委屈不甘 (grievance and unwillingness), tears welling up in her eyes as if they were about to spill over, but she stubbornly held them back. In a mere glance, she lowered her head again, not uttering a single word, yet this expression was more powerful than thousands of words.

The Crown Prince was taken aback.

Empress Dowager saw Li Yun's look of委屈不甘 (grievance and unwillingness), instantly believing the Fourth Prince. Anyone involved with the Crown Prince knew that her niece would go to any extreme lengths. No wonder she burned down that Wuqiong Tower. Thinking this, she frowned disapprovingly at the Crown Prince, angrily exclaiming, "Nonsense! As a prince, how could you possibly go there Don't you fear tarnishing your status"

— Excerpt —

The exciting part is about to begin. Don’t miss it! Add the book to your reading list for easy access. O（∩_∩）O~ his hands.Seeing this, Night Qingran also went to wash his hands.Yun Qianyue watched the two of them in silence. With helpers, she could finish faster. She didn’t mind if they couldn’t make good dump...