Obsessively Raised by My Doll 43

Chapter 43

The Second Prince was playing Go with the Third Princess in the hall.

The two were fraternal twins, born from the same mother. Compared to the other members of the royal family, they had a bit more familial affection.

The Third Princess, Zheng Sixin, placed a white stone.

“That was a risky move.”

She and the Second Prince, Zheng Wenda, had very similar features. Both had harmless, handsome looks, appearing amiable and very much like their mother, the Imperial Consort. But only those familiar with their personalities knew that this pair of siblings was not as kind as they appeared on the surface.

If the Crown Princess’s cold sharpness was written on her face for all to see, allowing others to instinctively avoid her edge, then the Second Prince and Third Princess would chat with you with a smile, then suddenly pull out a knife, stab you, and then ask if it hurt.

The Second Prince, Zheng Wenda, said nothing. He stared at the Go board for a long time and then snorted coldly.

“Dear sister, you are underestimating your brother.”

He placed a black stone in a corner of the board.

This move, along with all the previously placed black stones, formed an encirclement, trapping all the white stones.

It seemed that in just this one exchange, the victor had been decided. The black stones had overwhelmingly defeated the white.

“Hehe, man proposes. It is done.”

The Second Prince looked up, an excited smile appearing on his gentle face, which gave him a strangely twisted look.

“Boring.” The Third Princess stood up, no longer willing to play.

“You called me here just to play this game with you?”

“Father’s thunderous rage might very well burn us. We should be lying low at a time like this. I don’t believe you can’t see that her being imprisoned was the work of others.”

“And besides, the former Empress, after all, held a firm place in Father’s heart. Perhaps in a few days, Father will think of her again and release that one from the sky prison.”

When the Third Princess looked at her brother, there was a hidden wariness within her.

Everyone knew that finding a dragon robe in a palace was too convenient, so it was a bit strange. The Crown Princess, although she had attended court less frequently in recent years due to her headaches, was not without a brain. How could someone who had sat firmly in the position of heir for so many years, manipulating and eliminating so many covetous enemies one by one, be so foolish?

And besides, she already occupied the position of heir. Not moving was the greatest victory; there was no need to risk doing anything.

The Third Princess highly suspected that this was her brother’s doing. This kind of backstabbing was extremely familiar. Apart from her brother, no other prince or princess could do such a sinister thing.

Faced with the Third Princess’s suspicious and scrutinizing gaze, the Second Prince acted as if he hadn’t noticed anything.

“Dear sister, you are just too timid. You’ll never accomplish anything like this.”

The Second Prince leaned back in his chair unhurriedly, and a palace maid immediately came over to massage his shoulders.

“Our dear elder sister has finally angered Father. Tell me, at a time like this, how about I grab a few small figures for some entertainment?”

As he said this, the Second Prince clapped his hands.

The next moment, two figures entered from behind the door.

One of them was not much to look at. The Third Princess knew it was the head palace maid by the Second Prince’s side.

But the other…

Lu Dieqing’s two hands were bound behind her back. Her head was slightly lowered, and the clothes on her body were of ordinary fabric, but not the colors usually worn by palace maids and matrons. Her figure was slender, and the first thing that caught the eye was her exquisitely carved face. Even with a panicked expression, a fleeting glimpse was enough to make one feel as if they had seen a celestial beauty.

Because her hands were bound, her face was slightly lowered, her neck long and fair, like a swan’s, looking gentle and innocent.

The Second Prince sat up straight, his eyes immediately lighting up.

The Third Princess, after a moment of stunned silence, thought of something, and her expression turned ugly.

“Who is she?”

The Third Princess looked at the Second Prince, her expression unfriendly.

This brother of hers had always been as cunning as a fox, a prime example of someone who would not act without a motive. To have invited such a stunningly beautiful young girl today for no reason, what was he up to?

“No rush, no rush. Allow me to introduce you.”

The Second Prince stood up, feigning a suave demeanor, and stood before Lu Dieqing and the palace maid.

“You must be the Princess of Shan.”

“Guess, our Crown Princess doesn’t even attend morning court, yet she makes time to take a hostage from the Shan Kingdom out of the palace. So unique. It’s clear she holds her in high regard.”

“This elder sister of ours has never paid anyone any mind. This Princess of Shan is truly worthy of capturing our sister’s heart. So this is what heavenly beauty looks like. No wonder.”

The Second Prince circled Lu Dieqing, sighing as he did so, his eyes constantly darting around, glinting with a cunning light, it was unclear what he was planning.

Hearing this, Lu Dieqing’s eyelashes trembled slightly, and she subconsciously tried to move closer to the palace maid.

In the past, when she was with the Crown Princess, although the other’s aura was cold and sharp, her gaze had never made her feel so repulsed.

The Third Princess walked over, studied Lu Dieqing for a while, then looked at the Second Prince.

“I advise you not to get any ideas.”

She had always been a straight talker in private.

The Second Prince was unconcerned. “What ideas could I have? I just can’t bear to see a beautiful pearl covered in dust.”

The Third Princess frowned. “You’re so disgusting. I know you covet our sister’s position, but the situation is not yet decided. Can you not rein in your thoughts? What’s so glorious about using such tactics on a weak and defenseless woman?”

For that position, if her brother were to plot against the Crown Princess, she could still see it as a scheme for a great cause, a bit of ruthlessness being inevitable. But to target a hostage from a weak subordinate state, that was simply too unseemly.

Seemingly sensing the Third Princess’s slight sense of justice, Lu Dieqing subconsciously moved a little closer to her.

The Third Princess paused. Her original two parts of justice were instantly stimulated to five parts by the little beauty’s move towards her!

The Third Princess had always been disdainful of women who used their beauty to do as they pleased, but today she realized that she had never seen such beauty before! This girl was so beautiful she even wanted to have a falling out with her brother. In any case, she couldn’t bear to see such a fresh, refined, and impossibly beautiful girl be bullied by her second brother.

It was a desecration of beauty. Utterly depraved.

Hearing his sister’s taunts, the Second Prince’s face finally darkened.

“Dear sister, do you even understand whose side you’re on?”

They were siblings from the same mother, their own people. Yet his sister was always confused about this, and instead, her sympathy overflowed, and she sided with others.

If he couldn’t get the throne, with his sister’s personality, could she fare well under someone else?

Since they were born into the royal family, they either didn’t compete, or they had to go all out to sit in that position. Otherwise, sooner or later, they would be trampled underfoot and die without a whole corpse.

“Dear sister, I advise you to think twice,” the Second Prince said, his smile not reaching his eyes.

Hearing this, the Third Princess, for some reason, swallowed the words she was about to say.

She looked at Lu Dieqing with guilt. “…”

She knew her brother was lecherous, narrow-minded, vicious, and arrogant, but even if he had a thousand faults, he was still her brother. She could go against him once on a whim, trying to save this Princess of Shan, but she couldn’t go against him a second time, lest she truly hurt their sibling relationship.

This was a lesson the Third Princess had learned at the age of ten.

She looked at Lu Dieqing with pity and compassion. When the other cast a pleading gaze at her, she turned her head away.

“I’m leaving. You… don’t go too far.”

The Third Princess and her serving lady left the hall in a hurry.

She didn’t dare to look back.

Royalty didn’t dare to have a conscience.

Lu Dieqing’s heart sank. She subconsciously moved towards the hall entrance.

Even if she were a fool, she realized that this Second Prince was not a good person. He seemed to have been targeting the Crown Princess and was now going to take his anger out on her.

The hall door was closed in advance, and the older palace maid promptly retreated.

Lu Dieqing’s panicked expression, in the eyes of the Second Prince, reminded him of his high and mighty elder sister.

That elder sister of his had been suppressing him since birth. Even though the Chaoying Kingdom did not respect women, because she was born of the former Empress, she had become the legitimate heir to the throne.

Was he in any way inferior to the Crown Princess?

But his good elder sister had been like a mountain, pressing down on his head for so many years.

The tutors who taught them often lamented that his elder sister was exceptionally talented, but unfortunately had a chronic headache, which prevented her from fully utilizing her talents.

His father, the Emperor, had lamented countless times in the imperial study that his elder sister was skilled in handling political affairs, but unfortunately, her body was not up to it, so she would not be able to firmly hold the reins of the state in the future.

Unfortunately, unfortunately, everyone lamented unfortunately.

It was as if he was born to be inferior to his elder sister, and had no fate with the position of heir.

Seeing Lu Dieqing’s panicked retreat, the Second Prince felt a sense of satisfaction, as if he had already completely snatched the throne from the Crown Princess’s hands.

After learning that his father had had a nightmare and had specially sought out a celestial master for divination, he had bribed a palace maid in Changning Palace to hide a dragon robe inside. He had also created an opportunity to make his father suspicious and search their palaces.

It turned out that he had made the right move.

In the face of absolute ironclad evidence, his father would not care about the so-called former Empress at all, and would only want to eliminate dissent.

His elder sister could no longer stand in his way.

The Second Prince was extremely happy. The more he looked at Lu Dieqing, the more she looked like the throne that was within his reach.

“Beauty, don’t run. Isn’t this Prince better than that Crown Princess?”

He reached out his hand, the smile on his face collapsing and disappearing when he was still two steps away from Lu Dieqing.

“Ah…” The Second Prince’s scream came to an abrupt halt, not making it out of the hall. The hand that had reached out but had not touched the corner of the girl’s clothes was also retracted to cover his lower body.

A black figure stood on the ground, a long sword in its hand, blood dripping from the tip.

The Second Prince clutched the area between his legs, writhing in pain on the ground, but because his mute pressure point had been struck, he couldn’t make a sound.

Lu Dieqing’s eyes were covered by a pair of soft hands.

“Don’t look. Close your eyes.”

The voice by her ear was familiar, cool and calm.

Lu Dieqing’s panicked and trembling body leaned against a soft embrace.

Her nose also smelled a familiar, faint fragrance.

Lu Dieqing subconsciously murmured, “Your Highness?”

This special fragrance, she had only ever smelled it on the Crown Princess.

In that moment of terror, her little doll Xinxin had appeared in her mind, and so had the Crown Princess.

But the person who was least likely to appear had so timely stood in front of her.