TSFLIP Chapter 872

She blurted out immediately, “Did you forget? I said I’d take you boating on the lake.”

His fingers, resting against the rim of his cup, paused for a brief second. “So the Crown Princess still remembers what was said that day. It was nothing more than a joke—why take it seriously?”

“A joke? I wouldn’t say that…” At the time, she had thought that if they happened to meet by chance, taking a boat ride on the lake with such a handsome man wouldn’t be bad at all. But then another question occurred to her. “Wait—if you’re asking why I’m here, then why are you here?”

“I just returned from an inspection tour in another province. Does the Crown Princess think there’s anything inappropriate about the way I choose to relax?” He smiled gently. “After all, the Crown Princess is going around telling others she’s pregnant with my child. In that case, it’s hardly strange for me to be here.”

Right—if he could get women pregnant, then what was so strange about him visiting a brothel?

Fengguang felt mocked yet again. But given how weak and isolated her position was, she didn’t dare tear into him with an open argument. More importantly, she thought of Baili Mo. She had no idea where the crowd had swept the Crown Prince off to, and since he couldn’t speak, he would probably have trouble even explaining who he was. She briefly considered asking Song Wuxia for help to find Baili Mo—but immediately dismissed the idea.

Baili Mo and this man were enemies. Baili Mo had even been thrown into the imperial prison because of him. If she now told him that Baili Mo had left the palace and gone missing, he might very well send someone to quietly dispose of that unfortunate Crown Prince.

Seeing her fall silent, Song Wuxia seemed to guess what she was thinking. He asked casually, “When the Crown Princess left the palace today, didn’t His Highness the Crown Prince come with you?”

Of course—what she feared most was exactly what happened.

Fengguang’s heart tightened, but her expression remained calm. She forced herself to sit down across from him and replied just as offhandedly, “The Crown Prince didn’t leave the palace today. I came out alone.”

“I see.” The way he said those words made it impossible to tell whether he believed her or not. He continued slowly, “I imagine the Crown Princess knew today was the Flower Goddess Festival, so you came out to join the festivities.”

“You’re… quite right.”

He gave a half-smiling glance at her empty hands. “The Crown Princess is such a beauty. Has no one given you flowers along the way?”

Song Wuxia had always had refined taste. He wouldn’t deny that, in his eyes, Fengguang was indeed beautiful. But he had seen countless beauties before—casually calling someone a “beauty” meant nothing to him.

“People did offer me flowers,” she lied without blinking, “but I turned them all down.”

In truth, Baili Mo had stayed right by her side the entire time. Anyone who wanted to give her flowers could tell at a glance that the two of them were husband and wife—why bother embarrassing themselves?

“So that’s how it is.” Song Wuxia sighed with mock compassion. “I was just thinking that if the Crown Princess didn’t receive a single flower, that would be rather pitiful.”

Fengguang twitched the corner of her mouth and said nothing.

A moment later, she suddenly felt something cool moving around her ankle. She looked down—and saw a green snake, slithering up to coil around her foot.

“Ah! A snake!” Fengguang jumped to her feet at once and sidestepped in panic. Her foot caught on a stool, her body tipped, and she fell—straight into the man’s arms.

And in the process… she tore off the only garment draped over him.