Liu Qingyun lifted the curtain slightly, revealing a pair of mischievous eyes as she asked He Laosi and Li Laosan, "Is it really the Crown Prince?"
Went through all the trouble to pose as the Crown Princess Consort, only to end up in front of the real deal?
Stay calm, don’t panic.
What if he’s pretending too?
Thoughts whirled in her mind as Liu Qingyun maintained a composed expression and asked, "You say you’re the Crown Prince—why have I, the Princess Consort, never seen you before?"
Li Laosan and He Laosi were on the verge of losing their minds.
Auntie, shouldn’t it be him saying that to you?
They’d seen bold people before, but never one so audacious, pretending to be a completely fictitious Crown Princess Consort wasn’t enough—she played the role with such righteous conviction.
If they hadn’t personally brought her back from Witch Mountain, they might have actually fallen for her bluff.
Just what kind of peculiar character is the Third Miss of the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion? No one told them when they took the job!
Li Laosan whispered back, "Third Miss, this is the real Crown Prince."
Liu Qingyun raised an eyebrow and said, "How do you know he’s the real Crown Prince?"
Li Laosan: Do you think everyone dares to impersonate the Imperial Family right under the Emperor’s nose, like you?
"Your Highness, it’s just a misunderstanding. The person in the carriage is the Third Miss of the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion."
At a critical moment, Li Laosan finally remembered that this little ancestor had some serious backing.
The Crown Prince Mansion is set to ally with the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion through marriage, so surely the Crown Prince wouldn’t make things difficult for one of their juniors.
Standing in front of the carriage, he respectfully saluted, desperately attempting to look like an upstanding citizen.
He glanced sideways at He Laosi and quietly scolded, "Laosi, get down here and pay your respects to His Highness."
He Laosi snapped back to reality, immediately jumped off the carriage, and clumsily mimicked his elder brother’s awkward martial salute to the Crown Prince.
Lu Zhaoyan paid no attention to the pair but instead gazed at the fully lowered carriage curtain with an ambiguous expression and asked mildly, "Is that so? I heard the Third Miss was recuperating at Wutai Mountain. Has her health improved?"
Liu Qingyun replied nonchalantly, "Much improved, otherwise why would I have come to the Capital City?"
He Laosi and Li Laosan each covered their faces, unable to bear watching this disaster.
They’d forgotten to align their story with the Third Miss. The Thousand Mechanism Pavilion’s official claim was that she was recuperating at Lingshan, not Wutai Mountain!
The Crown Prince sure deserves his reputation—a master at exposing lies, leaving others in the dust—
Lu Zhaoyan calmly said, "Get out of the carriage."
Liu Qingyun peeked half her head from the gap in the curtain and cautiously asked Li Laosan and He Laosi, "Why should I get out?"
Maintaining his saluting position, Li Laosan squeezed a few words through gritted teeth, "You’ve been exposed..."
Liu Qingyun didn’t catch it.
Li Laosan stepped back and repeated, "You’ve been exposed."
Now Liu Qingyun heard clearly.
But she couldn’t believe it.
She had outmaneuvered two streetwise thieves for days without breaking her cover, and now, with just a glance from the Crown Prince of Liang Country, her charade was dismantled?
If he really is the Crown Prince, things could get tricky with her son tangled in schemes against him!
At this time, Liu Qingyun was unaware that her son had long bypassed his petty disputes with his wild father and climbed straight up the Emperor Liang’s "big tree."
Liu Qingyun knew she couldn’t afford to be caught by the Crown Prince of Liang Country.
It wasn’t so much about her own exposure—she couldn’t risk implicating her son.
After weighing her options, Liu Qingyun decided to follow the oldest strategy: run.
"Fine! Watch closely—I’m getting out!"
Hugging her Treasure Piggy, Liu Qingyun sharply lifted the front carriage curtain but only to feint an exit. While everyone’s attention was diverted, she kicked through the rear carriage panel and escaped.
Two Imperial Guards promptly gave chase.
Liu Qingyun countered by using the Gu Technique on them.
The Imperial Guards hadn’t anticipated dealing with someone adept in Gu Techniques, and due to their carelessness, they fell prey to Gu Poison, stumbling to the ground in disarray.
Their teammates quickly caught them, placed them safely on the ground, and replaced them to continue the pursuit of Liu Qingyun and Bao Shu.
Three guards remained stationed by the Crown Prince, wary of a potential lure-away scheme.
Li Laosan and He Laosi were utterly flabbergasted by the sudden turn of events.
Just now, the supposedly frail Third Miss had performed Qinggong to escape under the noses of several Imperial Guards?
Not only that, she had incapacitated two guards before fleeing?
"Third Brother, if my eyes weren’t deceiving me, didn’t she just... use Gu on them?"
He Laosi and Li Laosan’s willingness to accept the Witch Mountain job had everything to do with their roots as Miaojiang people.
Even they couldn’t wield Gu Techniques with such proficiency—how did the Third Miss manage this?
No, the question should be, how did the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion’s Third Miss even come to know Gu Techniques?
Thousand Mechanism Pavilion really does cover all bases...