Lan Qianran also seemed stunned for a moment, then nodded and replied: "Chu Ci, about the matter of the Lan family's fortress... you must have already known, right?"

  Chu Ci nodded and didn't bother to waste words with him. He directly said: "I came here to ask you, how much do you know about this matter?"

  Lan Qianran smiled self-deprecatingly and said, "What do I know? I'm a bastard son, and I don't usually live in the Lan family manor. On the night of the bloodbath at the Lan family manor, I wasn't even there. And precisely because I wasn't there, that's how I avoided dying. Are you hoping I'd died, Chu Ci?"

  Chu Ci's eyes narrowed, and she asked him pointedly: "After that night, did you go to the Blue House?"

  Lan Qianran furrowed her brow and said, "It's gone... to be honest, it was quite bleak. They're all... dead, those people... not even leaving behind their corpses. Not a single person from the Lan family fortress survived..."

  Lan Qianran said, and then picked up the teacup and poured a large mouthful of water down her throat. It was unclear what she had thought of, but her face turned slightly pale.

  Chu Ci stared at him silently, without saying a word.

  Lan Qianran reacted and realized that she had been a bit out of line, so she furrowed her brow and looked at Chu Ci, saying: "Speaking of which, what's the meaning of your trip to Qingzhou this time?" Lan Qianran said, thinking of something, raised an eyebrow, and asked: "Has the Crown Prince finally driven you out?"

  "Chu Ci: 'Why does the Crown Prince want to drive me out?'"

  "Hmph." Lan Qianran snorted, her mouth curling up in disdain. "Who doesn't know that the Crown Prince can't stand you? I was there at your wedding too, and didn't everyone say that night that the Crown Prince would rather go to the Drunken Music House to find someone else than favor you? It's clear that even as the legitimate daughter of the Duke of Protecting the Country, you're not much better off."

  Chu Ci's expression remained unchanged, but Su Chen's face sank, and he said in a cold voice: "Third Master, please keep your mouth clean!"

  Lan Qianran sneered, but then heard Chu Ci calmly say to Su Chen: "It's nothing, he's always been a bit of a motor mouth, it's an old habit, just be understanding."

  Su Chen: "......"

  Lan Qianran: ".... Chu Ci?!"

  Chu Ci didn't get angry at all, instead he politely said: "Speaking of which, I haven't been to Qingzhou for a long time. Now that the Blue Family Fortress is gone, have your servants prepare two side halls for me."

  Lan Qianran: "Huh? What do you mean?"

  Chu Ci smiled: "That's what I mean by staying."

  Lan Qianran was naturally baffled, and he couldn't have imagined that Chu Ci would want to stay here. After all, she was the crown prince's consort, so he couldn't very well kick her out. In the end, he reluctantly agreed to let her stay.

  As soon as they entered the house in the backyard annex, Su Chen couldn't help but say: "Chu Ci, don't you think that guy is very problematic?"

  Chu Ci nodded and sat down, saying: "He's trying too hard to convey two words. But there's one unexpected thing - Lan Qianran still doesn't know that Xiao Yu is alive."

  "Do you suspect him?"

  "No, Lan Qianran didn't have that motive. The destruction of the Blue House wouldn't bring him any benefits, and most importantly, he didn't have the capability to wipe out a family. But I don't rule out the possibility that he must know some secrets we don't."

  Chu Ci stretched out her finger and stroked the corner of her eye, thinking absent-mindedly, but what she really wanted to know more about was not these things...

  Although Lan Qianran said that Emperor Di's words were hard to hear, did he really go find another woman on their wedding night?

  (Three more episodes done, don't forget to vote! Mwah!)

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