In the end, Gu Naizheng and his pals' boats couldn't be found, which was natural. In the midsummer of Furong Islet, the lotus flowers and leaves surged to the sky, and the dense reeds could almost seal off the vast Furong Islet.

It was easy enough to hide three small boats in a place like this. Unless someone accidentally met them, the boats wouldn't be found out until the dry season between the autumn and winter months. After hearing the news, Brother Xie and his wife, each poling a small boat, looked around for a long time and didn't find any clues. Shen Cangfeng had agreed with the three that they should return after having meals at the tavern of the Xie Family in Furong Islet. However, the three hadn't come back yet as time passed. Therefore, the Shen Family Courtyard sent another boat here to inquire about the situation.

So it happened that the three including Gu Naizheng could be sent away by the boat...Of course, their menservants couldn't get aboard together, so they had to be sent by the ship of the Xie Family.

After such an accident, it was almost evening when they returned to the courtyard.

This courtyard was located in a quiet place. The front was the lakeshore and a dock was built to park boats. Besides, the tall locust trees were planted to shade the courtyard. In spring, it could be seen that there would be various trees and sophora flowers blooming along the shore of Spring Grass Lake. No matter how people looked at it, it would be a beautiful painting.

Inside the courtyard, there were also lots of beautiful flowers and green trees, showing that people living here had paid great attention to it. However, because she had encountered the lotus-picking girls and Gu Naizheng before, when Wei Changying entered the door of the courtyard, she barely met the servants and threw herself on her bed, losing the desire to get up for dinner.

It was conceivable that the night passed hastily. The next day, Wei Changying just walked with Shen Cangfeng by the lake near the courtyard because she was afraid of meeting Gu Naizheng again if she went to the lake—The weather was hot. Although there was a lake breeze and they didn’t go far, it was inevitable that they would get tired easily.

Wei Changying then said, "Shall we go back? Although we had told mother that we would stay for two days, I am afraid that mother will worry about us if we go back late."

Shen Cangfeng also knew that there was not much time for the two of them when they came out this time. Yesterday they had been disturbed by the lotus-picking girls and Gu Naizheng. Today, it was natural that they were not in the mood for playing. So he said, "We can come here again later."

"Yeah." Wei Changying felt a sense of sweetness when she thought that her husband had specially offered to accompany her to relax this time, and the disappointment of being disturbed before also faded away. She took the initiative to lean her head on his shoulder for a moment and looked at the lake. All beautiful sounds of nature including the sounds of the surrounding vegetation, the songs of the orioles in the willows and the sound of surf breaking on the shore went away silently. In the vast universe, only the two of them were left, and the heartbeat of each other was clearly audible—Even though she just snuggled up to his shoulder for a moment, there was a feeling of complete harmony.

The young couple slowly understood the so-called truth—The husband and the wife should be one.

...Shen Cangfeng gently wiped the sweat from her forehead with the handkerchief and kissed her temples. Then he smiled and said, "Let's go."

They had been quite delighted when they went to the lake, but their moods became a little heavier when they returned. Thinking of the lotus-picking girls, Wei Changying was still a little worried.

Especially after returning to the mansion to meet with Madam Su, she sent Shen Cangfeng away in a few words, leaving her daughter-in-law alone to ask, "You looked uneasy. What happened to you when you went out this time?"

Wei Changying secretly scolded herself for being disappointing—Why was it so easy to be seen by her mother-in-law? Madam Su had clearly asked her, so she had no choice but to answer it. She whispered to Madam Su about the lotus-picking girls. As she said it, Madam Su looked more and more terrible, so her voice became lower and lower. Then she waited for Madam Su's reprimand...

She thought that she had mishandled it this time because she hadn't confirmed the identity of the person behind the other party and acted rashly, forcing Shen Cangfeng to take action personally in order to deal with the aftermath for her. On the one hand, he had offended the Crown Prince; on the other hand, he had left a bad name of being stingy. From Madam Su's point of view, her son was implicated by her daughter-in-law, so Wei Changying had expected that she would be scolded by Madam Su this time.

When Wei Changying was thinking about her words to ask for punishment, Madam Su snorted heavily and said, "What a group of shameless women! They deserved to be disfigured by Cangfeng. In that way, they could never go out to seduce other men in the future!"

Wei Changying froze for a moment.

Madam Su added angrily, "Spring Grass Lake is a great scenic spot near the capital. How can it be stained by such shameless women! Maybe few people went there in summer, so there had been no rumors before. Next time when I enter the palace, I must report it to the Empress and send someone to search for them. Since they were so fond of seducing men, they should all be exiled for three thousand miles away to be the playthings of the frontier soldiers!"

Unexpectedly, Madam Su didn't scold Wei Changying. Instead, she was irritated by the lotus-picking girls first.

Wei Changying didn't know whether she could breathe a sigh of relief or not—At this time, Madam Su also scolded her, "I heard that you had also practiced martial arts since childhood, and you had killed someone from the northern Rong tribe by yourself in Fengzhou! Why were you so timid after getting married? Cangfeng could ruin those women with just one move, so they couldn't be masters. Couldn't you deal with them? Why did you let Cangfeng take action? Couldn't you do it for him?"

Madam Su gritted her teeth and said, "Shameless things! How could they dare to touch my Cangfeng! Didn't they think about their own status?"

Madam Su was so angry. In addition to the shameless behavior of the lotus-picking girls, she also felt that her son had been offended and humiliated...Wei Changying reminded her cautiously, "I heard that they were the Crown Prince's concubines."

Because Madam Su looked increasingly awful, Wei Changying was flustered, and her later words were a bit confusing. She thought that her mother-in-law perhaps hadn't heard it clearly.

"The Crown Prince's concubines?" Madam Su frowned. Wei Changying thought that she was going to be scolded again, which was true. Nevertheless, Madam Su didn't scold her for having caused trouble for the family in her imagination, instead, Madam Su said in a deep voice, "Stupid! Since you knew that they were the Crown Prince's concubines, there was no room for leniency! I couldn't believe that you were still afraid!"

Seeing Wei Changying's puzzled face, Madam Su secretly sighed that this daughter-in-law was still too young to think about things well, after all, she had just married for less than three months—However, didn’t Mrs. Liu and Mrs. Duanmu, who had been praised for being capable and agile in and outside the family, grow to maturity from ignorance?

When it came to the third daughter-in-law, Madam Su could only continue to teach her. She took a breath and explained, "Cangfeng has been highly valued by the Shen Family, and you should know that too—Even if you didn't know it before, the elders of your maiden home would have told you about this before you got married."

Wei Changying nodded.

"Liu Xixun, who had been chosen as the key person to be cultivated by the Liu Family, was calculated by someone of the same clan last year. You might have heard of it." Madam Su said in a deep voice, "Liu Xixun was calculated by someone. Can Cangfeng avoid that?"

"Ah!" Wei Changying was startled, and said, "Could...Could it be that the lotus-picking girls had deliberately stopped me and Cangfeng to provoke us?" She also wondered and said, "But then we met Gu Zilie and his pals on the Furong Islet. They were also disturbed by the lotus-picking girls! Their boats were all gone!"

Madam Su said angrily, "Who knows if it was to deceive the public so that they had disturbed them too? Anyway, you can't be too careful!"

Wei Changying hurriedly said, "Yes, mother!"

Seeing that Wei Changying was willing to be taught, Madam Su also softened her tone, and told her earnestly, "Where there is profit, there is no end! Moreover, when things go wrong, there must be deceit in them! Think about it. Those lotus-picking women were not beautiful, but they hooked up with men everywhere on the lake, even those with wives were not survived. Besides, they were not afraid of being scolded and hit in person, nor of being retaliated by dignitaries afterwards. Could there be no fraud in this?"

Wei Changying said ashamedly, "I was ignorant."

"It's not all your fault." Madam Su sighed, "You are too young and you didn't encounter many things. Your father did not have a concubine, and you were also very much loved in the family. Therefore, you had never heard of those dirty private matters. It was inevitable for you to think about things too simple! As for Liu Xixun, he had been placed high hopes by the clan over the years. Apart from being suppressed by Cangfeng, he had always been going smoothly—Last year, he was ripped off by one of his uncles in the clan. Wasn’t it the result of being unprepared after going well for a long time? One prospers in worries and hardships, and perishes in ease and comfort! After that, I had been watching for Cangfeng! The children in our clan are all good. Even if they have some thoughts, they won't go as far as that. But don’t forget, apart from our clan, the Shen Family also has many other branches!"

"Let me tell you something. Back then, your grandparents passed away early. Your father and your uncle were the only descendants of the lineal branch in our clan. Other branches and other clans tried every means to frame, divide and calculate the two of them. Fortunately, your father and your uncle worked together, so they didn’t succeed! It was just that those people refused to give up their evil designs...Otherwise, your father and uncle were now in their prime of life, so why bothered to cultivate Cangfeng right away? They were afraid that if they didn't cultivate Cangfeng as soon as possible. Cangfeng wouldn't be powerful enough to suppress those people in the future! Those people...After all, we were of the same family. We couldn't drive them up the wall. Now how can we not keep the eyes on Cangfeng? You are Cangfeng's wife. Your lives will rise and fall together. Since you entered the door of the Shen Family, you knew how Cangfeng had treated you. Do you think that you should try your best to help him out and be a good wife?"

Wei Changying was sincerely convinced and then she asked respectfully, "I was wrong. Mother, what should I do now?"

Madam Su took a sip of tea and squinted at Wei Changying. Then she said, "How to do? Come with me to the palace tomorrow."

Wei Changying asked, "Are we going to beg the Empress' forgiveness?"

"Of course not." Madam Su frowned and said, "Forgiveness? Forgive what? What those lotus-plucking girls said about the Crown Prince's concubines was totally unfoundedly and unconvincing—As Cangfeng said, who knew if they were deliberately slandering the Crown Prince’s reputation? Even if they weren’t, it might not have been the Crown Prince who instigated them to stop men and flirt with them on all sides in the lake, ignoring the dignity of those men's wives! Even so..."

Madam Su sneered and said, "Even if the Crown Prince admits such a shameful thing, the Empress will not admit it!"

Madam Su whispered again, "You may not understand why I said that if those people were really the Crown Prince's concubines, then we should not be soft on them—Now I make it clear to you. Next time you encounter something similar, you will know what to do—Those shameless women had clung to Cangfeng obstinately. If Cangfeng didn't hurt them, when they returned, the other party would insist that Cangfeng had an affair with the Crown Prince's concubines. Think about the consequences!"

Wei Changying's face suddenly changed. She left the table to make a salute and said, "I was really stupid! Thanks for mother's advice!"

"The honor of the imperial family was incomparable." Madam Su said slowly, "It's just that gentlefolk including our family have been prosperous for hundreds of years without fading, therefore, even if it is the imperial family, they can't bully and humiliate us at will. So come with me to the palace tomorrow. First, we should tell the Empress that there were shameless women who had done nasty things in the name of the Crown Prince in Spring Grass Lake. Those women pretended to be the people of the Eastern Palace and their conduct was scandalous. Thus, Cangfeng could not bear them anymore and took actions to deal with them—Do you understand?"

Wei Changying nodded hurriedly, "I see." The only ones present at that time were Cao Yingmei, Shen Cangfeng and her. So of course Wei Changying would tell the Empress about the story. What Madam Su meant was that Wei Changying should add fuel to the fire and try to make those lotus-picking girls increasingly shameless—They were so shameless that Empress Gu would never admit that they were related to her son.

Madam Su said again, "Of course, the second thing is to ask the Empress to send someone to arrest those women, clean up the social climate!" This was forcing the Empress and the Crown Prince to kill those women by themselves.

Seeing Wei Changying nodded repeatedly, Madam Su nodded with satisfaction and said, "You just came back, and you must be tired. If there is nothing else, just go back and rest first."

After reminded by Madam Su, Wei Changying was panic-stricken. She felt that there were so many traps and snares on this trip to Spring Grass Lake. Then she immediately added, "There was another person who was very suspicious!"

"Who?" Madam Su said it with a solemn expression!

Wei Changying said vigilantly, "It was Gu Naizheng who we met on the Furong Islet. His temperament was different from that of ordinary sons of aristocratic families, and he had been pestering Cangfeng several times. There must be something wrong with him!"

Madam Su was taken aback and found it both funny and annoying. Then she asked, "Do you know who he is?"

"Huh?" Wei Changying was at a loss.

Madam Su sighed and said, "He is Yuli's fiance. Because his mother died before, and he was still observing mourning until last month, so he was not married until now—After September this year, you are going to call him cousin-in-law!"

"..." Wei Changying.