The Side Character Wants to Lie Flat

Li Ji’s expression softened as he explained.

"I wasn’t doubting you. I was just afraid there might be a misunderstanding, so I wanted to ask."

Hua Manman threw herself into his arms, sobbing and whimpering as she spoke.

"A couple of days ago, I did exchange a few words with the Crown Prince.

But that was because the Crown Prince insisted on stopping me and wouldn’t let me leave.

He’s the Crown Prince. How could I dare refuse?

I could only play along cautiously, but I never expected...

SOB SOB SOB... Please don’t fight over me. It’s all my fault."

Li Ji asked, "What could you possibly have done wrong?"

Hua Manman replied, "My only fault is being too popular."

Li Ji: "..."

’How was he supposed to play along with her performance now?’

Li Cheng actually regretted his words the moment he said them.

He was still planning to conquer Hua Manman. Now that he had spoken so definitively, how was he supposed to continue his pursuit?

He shouldn’t have gotten carried away by his sharp tongue just now.

But he was unwilling to back down in front of Prince Zhao.

In the end, he could only find a random excuse and hastily departed.

Lin Qingzhi had been waiting outside the whole time.

When she saw the Crown Prince emerge, she quickly hurried over to him.

"Crown Prince, are you all right?"

Li Cheng, full of pent-up fury, slammed his fist hard against a pillar.

The pillar was fine, but his hand throbbed with pain.

Lin Qingzhi jumped in alarm. She hurriedly grabbed his hand, her voice full of distress.

"Your Highness, what are you doing? You can’t hurt yourself no matter how angry you are!"

Using the jolt of pain, Li Cheng forced himself to calm down.

He knew he had been impulsive this time.

The silver had already been distributed. What he needed to do was figure out how to position himself most advantageously in this matter, not rush over here to argue with Prince Zhao.

Arguing was the biggest waste of time; it was meaningless whether you won or lost.

Li Cheng took a deep breath and said to Lin Qingzhi,

"Go and make preparations. You will accompany me out of the city later to distribute congee."

He couldn’t let Prince Zhao take all the credit. As the Crown Prince, he also needed to boost his reputation with the common people.

Otherwise, by the time they returned to Shangjing, the people of the realm would only know of Prince Zhao, not the Crown Prince.

Meanwhile, after the Crown Prince left, Hua Manman tried to pull back, wanting to leave Prince Zhao’s embrace.

However, Li Ji’s hand remained firmly on her waist, preventing her from leaving.

Hua Manman blinked, asking in feigned confusion,

"My Prince, what is this?"

Li Ji looked down at her, a half-smile on his face as he asked,

"Regarding the matter between you and the Crown Prince, don’t you think you owe me an explanation?"

Hua Manman continued to play dumb. "Didn’t I just explain? What else do you want me to explain?"

Li Ji reached out, twirling a strand of her long hair as he spoke slowly.

"Before, you only said you exchanged a few words with the Crown Prince. You didn’t mention that he had... certain intentions toward you. You were deliberately hiding it from me, hmm?"

Hua Manman gave an embarrassed laugh.

"That was all just my own speculation. There’s no actual proof.

How could I just run my mouth about it?

What if I guessed wrong? It would be so awkward, don’t you think?"

Li Ji leaned in closer, his gaze locked firmly on her.

Like a predator that had cornered its prey.

"Are you really afraid of it being awkward? Or do you not want to tell me because you think I won’t trust you?"

Hua Manman said hurriedly,

"I was really just afraid of the awkwardness! How could I possibly not trust you?

You are my husband, the very foundation of my life and security.

Even if I didn’t trust the whole world, I would never not trust you."

’I can’t believe Prince Zhao is so sensitive,’ she lamented inwardly. ’He has to get to the bottom of every little thing.’

’If I’d known, I wouldn’t have tried to save myself the trouble. I should have just explained everything to him clearly from the start.’

Hearing her thoughts, Li Ji’s dark eyes narrowed slightly.

"I’ll let it go this time. But if something like this happens again, don’t hide it from me."

Hua Manman nodded vigorously. "Mhm!"

Only then did Li Ji release his grip. Hua Manman quickly backed away, putting distance between them.

She looked just like a little rabbit fleeing a predator’s territory.

Li Ji couldn’t help but curl his lips into a small smile.

"What are you running for? I haven’t finished checking your homework."

Hua Manman could only kneel obediently by his side, waiting for Prince Zhao to continue grading her work.

She really hadn’t expected to be married and still have to relive the miserable life of a student.

’Life is just too hard!’

「The next morning」

Li Ji heard that the Crown Prince had gone outside the city to distribute congee, winning the praise of the common people.

He knew the Crown Prince was deliberately trying to win favor, but he didn’t pay it much mind.

Luo Yun, on the other hand, was rather anxious.

Ignoring his own unhealed injuries, he personally wrote an easy-to-understand poem praising Prince Zhao’s series of heroic deeds: investigating the bribery case, recovering the illicit funds, and returning the money to the people.

The poem was posted at the city gate.

Luo Yun also recited the poem repeatedly in front of a large crowd of commoners.

He didn’t rest until everyone had committed Prince Zhao’s benevolence to memory.

When Li Cheng heard of this, he was naturally furious.

He said resentfully,

"That Luo Yun really doesn’t know what’s good for him. I should have just killed him with a single stroke back then!"

Besides Fu’an County, several other prefectures and counties had also been affected by the disaster and were desperately awaiting relief.

The Crown Prince and his retinue could not stay in Fu’an County for long.

Once the bribery case involving the Gao, Cao, and Deng families was properly handled, they departed from Fu’an County in a grand procession.

Luo Yun personally led the commoners out of the city to see them off.

In the wind and rain, they knelt for a long time, facing the direction the disaster relief convoy had gone.

They only rose to their feet after the procession had completely disappeared from view.

The next few prefectures and counties the disaster relief convoy visited were in increasingly worse condition. In two of the counties, even the county government offices had been submerged, and many officials had been swept away by the floodwaters.

When they saw the money and grain sent by the court, they were all ecstatic.

In those days, the main grain crops were wheat and rice.

Due to limitations in farming methods, crop varieties, and climate, the yields for both were very low.

The grain now being distributed by the court was mainly rice and flour.

Under the supervision of soldiers, the refugees lined up to receive their share of the food one by one.

To demonstrate his love for the people, Li Cheng, the Crown Prince, ignored the rain and personally went to the congee sheds to comfort the masses.

Perhaps because his acting was so good, the commoners’ impression of him was quite favorable. They felt that although he was the esteemed Crown Prince, he didn’t put on airs and was very approachable.

Having successfully boosted his reputation among the people as he had wished, Li Cheng was in a good mood for the next few days.

But when he saw Prince Zhao, he immediately sobered up.

Because he remembered Sang Zhong, who was still in Prince Zhao’s clutches.

Sang Zhong was very loyal and probably wouldn’t easily confess and expose him as the mastermind.

But people’s hearts are fickle. Who could guarantee that Sang Zhong could withstand Prince Zhao’s harsh interrogation?

If Sang Zhong were to confess and expose him, his situation would become very precarious.