After refusing marriage, she was pampered by the prince who acted as a shield.

Chapter 234: Gossiping

The same words, spoken by the man in a deep, slightly hoarse voice, made Lin Rusi's face flush instantly, and he lowered his eyes somewhat embarrassed.

She didn't refute the man's words, knowing what he meant.

She naturally wouldn't say much, but that eye contact still made her blush and her heart race.

Lin Rusi lowered her eyes, unwilling to meet the man's gaze, but Li Jingyang had no intention of letting her go easily. He wrapped his large hand around the woman's waist and pulled her into his arms.

Lin Rusi didn't refuse when her head rested on her shoulder, probably because she was tired from all the things that had happened that day.

His eyes and brows were full of fatigue. The carriage was going very fast, but it was also very smooth. Before he knew it, Lin Rusi closed his eyes and his vision began to blur.

He didn't know when, but she had fallen into a deep sleep. Li Jingyang didn't notice and said to himself, "Sisi, if that Princess Lin'an comes to you again in the future..."

As he spoke, he turned his head, only to be met with the woman's serene, sleeping face.

He swallowed the rest of his words, and the man simply looked at him gently, his gaze softening.

There was none of the cold and indifferent attitude he had towards Princess Lin'an.

Seeing that she was asleep, the man simply reached out and gently rubbed her head, without using any force, just looking at her tenderly.

As if it were the most precious treasure in the world, she spoke gently, "I will not let you suffer even the slightest grievance."

……

Soon, the carriage arrived at the Jinglie Prince's Mansion.

However, Li Jingyang really couldn't bear to wake Lin Rusi, so he simply picked her up in his arms.

In front of everyone in the Prince's Mansion, Li Jingyang made no attempt to hide his actions, walking directly through the courtyard and back to his room.

Li Jingyang gently placed Lin Rusi on the bed. For a moment, his eyes were filled with tenderness, as if he wanted to crush her and melt her into his body.

Lin Rusi was also unaware of this, and only fell into a deeper sleep when she felt the familiar presence.

Everyone in the Prince's Mansion noticed Li Jingyang's tenderness towards Lin Rusi, and their eyes were filled with envy.

Several girls were even discussing it outside.

"Isn't the prince too good to our princess?"

Another chimed in, "Yes, I've never seen His Highness treat anyone so well."

At the same time, the two girls in the corner also looked over, but their delicate faces did not show the same envy as others; instead, their eyes were full of disdain.

While the others weren't paying attention, the two snorted coldly in a secluded spot.

"I don't know what kind of bewitching potion that woman gave our prince, that made him like him so much that he carried him back in the street."

Another person nodded in agreement, saying, "Yes, before His Highness was married, he was quite aloof from women. I think Lin Rusi is nothing but a little vixen!"

The two little girls were so excited that they didn't notice what was happening behind them.

Seeing that they were getting more and more excited, the others also joined in.

Unbeknownst to them, Wanxia and Wanqi were also drawn by the commotion and immediately slowed their pace to listen quietly to the two women's discussion.

The other maids, who usually got along well with them, quickly waved their hands and said, "Xiuxiu, Qinqin, stop talking."

But clearly, the two of them didn't take it to heart; they just talked even more enthusiastically.

"Why don't you say it, sister? His Highness was clearly not interested in women before, so why can't you say it?"

As if completely oblivious, the two quickly added, "Besides..."

One of the maids even added fuel to the fire, pausing as she spoke: "I heard that our princess used to have a fiancé, who knows if anything happened before that."

The two girls' words were particularly harsh, but Wanxia didn't refute them; she just watched in silence.

At that moment, the housekeeper was summoned by Wanqi, and they happened to hear the two sentences that Xiuxiu and Qinqin said. Their expressions suddenly turned very ugly.

The steward usually followed Li Jingyang, so he naturally knew who His Highness cared about most.

She also knew just how important this princess was to His Highness.

These two girls dared to say such things; they can forget about staying in the Jinglie Prince's Mansion any longer.

The butler stared at him coldly for a long time, letting the two of them finish speaking, before finally speaking coldly: "Since you two have so many opinions about the Princess, why don't you go and say them to her directly?"

The steward and the two maids finished speaking before uttering this question, but once the words were spoken, the two maids dared not say another word.

Their faces turned deathly pale, and they immediately knelt down before the butler, who was followed by Wanxia and Wanqi.

Clearly, they had been listening for a long time before they realized that the two of them had noticed it all along and had been watching silently the whole time.

So it was all intentional. Xiuxiu was the first to realize this and quickly explained, "Steward, I was led astray by Qinqin and said the wrong thing. These are not my true feelings."

By saying this, she had essentially betrayed Qinqin, who was standing right next to her.

Seeing her trembling, the butler sneered and asked, "Is that so?"

Qinqin stared wide-eyed in disbelief. She turned to look at the person next to her, never expecting the woman beside her to say such a thing.

He immediately followed up by questioning Xiuxiu: "You were the one who said it first, you were the one who said the princess was not worthy."

Before the housekeeper could do anything, the two of them had already started fighting amongst themselves, and the housekeeper just watched the farce with indifference.

"Discussing your master in private at Prince Jinglie's residence? I think you two are courting death."

The two remained unrepentant, and the steward, too lazy to say anything more to them, simply waved his hand and said nonchalantly, "Since that's the case, you two shall leave the Jinglie Prince's Mansion starting today!"

The two were clearly taken aback when they looked at each other and immediately panicked. They knew that if they were driven out of the Jinglie Prince's Mansion, where would they have a place to live in the capital from now on?

It seemed no one would want them. The two men's expressions changed, and they immediately cried out, "Butler, we know we were wrong. We'll never talk nonsense again!"

Hearing her say that, the butler remained indifferent, as if he hadn't heard a thing. Seeing that the two women refused to leave, he coldly ordered, "Guards! Drag them away!"

Leaving aside whether he was willing to let them off the hook, His Highness would not easily let them go.

This isn't something the steward can decide. Who told them to speak ill of the princess behind her back? Aren't they just asking for trouble?

The butler sighed softly, listened to the two men's heart-wrenching roars, and turned to leave.

Seeing the two maids' miserable state, Wanxia snorted coldly, her tone sharp: "They brought it on themselves!"

Wanqi sighed and looked into the quiet room: "Don't be angry. What we need to do now is protect the princess."