Liu Ruoyu was shocked when she heard Shen Xun say this, as she thought that he had overheard her dispute with Zhang Shaoguang and Liu Ruoye. Upon second thoughts, it wouldn’t be possible for Shen Xun to eavesdrop as the door of the chamber was so massive. He had probably been trying to eavesdrop but in vain. Hence, he suddenly pushed the door open to catch them red-handed.

It was just that the Crown Prince was being a little too ridiculous. Did he think everyone else was as licentious as him? He even suspected the Crown Princess of looking for a servant to satisfy her sexual desires just because he wasn’t there.

Liu Ruoyu was so keen to revenge. If she had wished to live a good life with Shen Xun and had been serious about being a Crown Princess, she wouldn't have known whether to be more frightened or angrier upon hearing those words.

Liu Ruoyu said, “Your Royal Highness, please speak cautiously. I asked Ju Zhong to come in because I wanted to tell him something. Besides, as you can see, he was not the only one serving me in this chamber just now. My accompanying maidservants were here too, not to mention the fact that I have been educated strictly since I was a child, so how would I do anything that would violate the morals of a woman?”

Shen Xun’s eyes narrowed as he walked up to her. As a heavy smell of alcohol drifted from his breath, Liu Ruoyu couldn’t help but wonder how much alcohol he drank. She recalled the rumor in the Eastern Palace mentioned that although the Crown Prince was still young, yet he had to add philter in his wine for arousal since he was always sexually involved with different women. Thinking of this, Liu Ruoye couldn’t help but feel disgusted and tilted her head away from him. To hide her disgust, she said gently, “Your Royal Highness, seems like you drank a lot earlier. Let me get you some tea to dispel the effects of alcohol.”

She then seized the opportunity to get up and get some tea just to get away from Shen Xun.

However, she was pushed back into the seat by Shen Xun when she got up. Liu Ruoyu's arm hit the other side of the desk by Shen Xun’s vulgarity. It hurt so bad that she let out a low cry as her heart sank. She couldn’t help but wonder if Shen Xun was in a drunken fit.

A hint of sadness rose in her heart, but Shen Xun sneered and said, "So what if the palace people were all here? When I just arrived, the palace people at the door tried to stop me from entering. And when they couldn't, they tried to make a commotion to alert you. I had already ordered those palace people to be dragged off and killed! If you didn't have anything to hide, why did you ask them to not let anyone in?”

Liu Ruoyu slowly got up whilst holding the desk and said, “Your Royal Highness, you came in and saw what was going on, right? I was just asking him something. Did I do anything inappropriate?”

“Is it inappropriate to close the doors with a male servant in your chamber in broad daylight?" Shen Xun looked at her suspiciously. He raised his hand and cupped her chin while saying, “Don't think that I don’t have the guts to hit you just because you are the Crown Princess! I heard that you are not very favored by your family. Hence, the Liu Family is obviously looking down upon me by marrying you to me. Do you think I’m keen to marry you? It’s just because I must have a Crown Princess.”

If this had been said on a usual day, Liu Ruoyu would not have been afraid of him. Although Shen Xun was rather brutal, he would never be that foolish to beat the Crown Princess up as she still originated from the gentlefolks. However, now that Shen Xun reeked of alcohol and his eyes were blood red, it was obvious that he drank a little too much. Liu Ruoyu was worried that if she gave him a wrong answer, he would really beat her up.

This was both aggravating and infuriating and was also embarrassing for outsiders to know about it.

She pondered as fast as she could and suddenly had an idea. She said slowly, “Do Your Royal Highness remember? Ju Zhong is attending to the peony flowers I have in the garden.”

Shen Xun said impatiently, “What peony flower? He wasn't serving in this courtyard at first. You were the one who transferred him to your side as soon as you entered the Eastern Palace. Do you think I don't know?”

“Actually, I didn’t really say anything much to him. I just instructed him to gift a few of those peony plants to others.” Before Liu Ruoyu could finish her sentence, she was slapped on the face. With a scream, she was slapped so hard that her forehead hit the desk. Fortunately, she did not hit the corner of the desk. However, her forehead was numb and she didn't need to touch it to know that it must have been severely swollen.

“Do you think I am a fool?” Shen Xun sneered and grabbed her hair. He said in a cold voice, “Why is there a need to be so secretive if you’re just instructing a male servant to gift a few peony plants away? You even sent someone to guard the door! Have you ever heard of the story where two lovers sent each other peony flowers? I bet you asked him to send some peony flowers to your old lover, right? Do you think you could hide something like this from me? I knew it. I’ve never seen you care for the flowers and plants in the Eastern Palace, so why did you make such a big deal out of these peony flowers to the point of sending someone to guard them?”

Liu Ruoyu's hair was tugged so hard by him that it hurt. As the palace people had closed the door when they left, she could not help but shout, “If I was gifting it to someone else, there would be no need for me to close the doors before instructing Ju Zhong! But this time I wanted to give it to my mother and my sister Ruoye!”

Shen Xun was stunned and subconsciously let go of his hand. Liu Ruoyu sat up with tears streaming down her face. Looking at him with a sneer, she said, “If Your Royal Highness don't believe me, you can call Ju Zhong over to confront him!”

Before this, Shen Xun had tried to make Liu Ruoyu get his mother-in-law and sister-in-law to the Eastern Palace so he could get his hands on them, but Liu Ruoyu was very hesitant and would rather be scolded by him and ignored for almost a month than agree to it. Now that he heard Liu Ruoyu’s explanation, it was true that Liu Ruoyu and Ju Zhong were both fully clothed and they were at a distance from each other when he barged in. There weren’t any signs of inappropriate actions. Hence, he finally trusted what she said. He asked, “It's not a big deal to give it to your mother and Ruoye. Why would I stop you?”

Pursing her lips, Liu Ruoyu stayed silent.

When Shen Xun saw this, he said, “Actually, why is there a need for you to let Ju Zhong send them peony flowers? What does a servant like Ju Zhong know about peony flowers? Why not invite them to come to the Eastern Palace and choose for themselves instead? They can take whatever precious flowers and trees they like instead of just peony flowers! How could I be stingy towards your mother and sister?”

Liu Ruoyu knew exactly what he meant, and a thought popped up in her head. As she wanted to tantalize Shen Xun, she sneered and said, “Are you asking them to come and choose the flowers they want, or are you asking them to come so you can choose the one you want?”

Hearing this, Shen Xun’s face sank immediately as he said, “I don't believe that I can’t get them into the Eastern Palace without your help!” After saying this, he lifted his leg and kicked Liu Ruoyu in the chest before she could react!

Unprepared, Liu Ruoyu wanted to dodge but it was too late. She was kicked so hard that she almost passed out! Her ears were buzzing, and her mind was in a state of confusion. Not long after, she found herself moved to the couch where Shen Xun could be heard from not far away, “The Crown Princess’s old illness is having a relapse. She’s currently lying on her couch. What are you waiting for? Have someone go to the Crown Princess's mother's mansion and inform both my mother-in-law and sister-in-law to come and visit her immediately!”

While the Eastern Palace was in a huge mess, Wei Changying was relieved. Madam Su had deemed Huo Qingling suitable to be the sixth daughter-in-law of the Shen Family. After asking Shen Liankun's opinion, she asked Wei Changying to write a list of dowries for marriage.

Wei Changying was worried that Shen Liankun might have a grudge against her when he found out about the marriage, so she asked Madam Su for her permission to talk to him in private. She then proceeded to explain to him exactly what had happened in front of Mrs. Huang and the others. After making her apologies, she told Shen Liankun that she wouldn't dare to use him as compensation towards the Huo Family if he didn't like it.

Shen Liankun was a little stunned at first. After pondering for a long time, he beat around the bushes and tried asking about Huo Qingling's appearance and temperament. Upon hearing that she was very beautiful and quiet, he agreed without much consideration. “I think the Miss of the Huo Family is pretty decent. I trust you and Mother’s instincts.”

After Shen Liankun left, Mrs. Huang joked, “I think there wasn’t a need to elaborate on the Miss of the Huo Family’s temperament. What’s important is her appearance. Sixth young master’s eyes lit up when he heard that Miss Huo was very beautiful!”

Mrs. He then said, “There is no young man who does not like beautiful ladies. I knew it, young madam. All you needed to do was to just tell the sixth young master that Miss Huo is very beautiful. The sixth young master will certainly comply and not blame you at all."

Wei Changying, who was in a good mood, smiled and said, “Granny, you’re right. You are very beautiful yourself, too.”

Mrs. He couldn’t help but scoff, “Young madam, what are you saying? How beautiful can I be at this age?” Though she said that, she couldn’t help but feel a hint of guiltiness and thought to herself, “Could young madam have known about Jiang Zheng forcing me to take the hairpin when I made a delivery run to the Ji Family yesterday? That’s impossible. No one was around us though. But then again, Jiang Zheng has been avoiding me and feared me all these years. What did he mean by giving me a hairpin all of a sudden?”

She was well experienced enough to know what Jiang Zheng meant. It was just that she found it a little too unbelievable. She thought to herself, “Was he out of his mind? I’ve always treated him as an enemy, yet he… Well, that must be the reason why I didn't shove the hairpin back to him! Well, it could also be because I got soft-hearted upon seeing him trying to please me so badly at such an age. Alas.”

Thinking about it, she recalled Wei Changying's words, “Granny, you’re very beautiful yourself, too.” Her heart skipped a beat, and she couldn't help but recall that she used to be one of the prettiest maidservants when she was young. She was old now. Did she still look good in Jiang Zheng's eyes?

Mrs. He’s head was in a mess just by thinking about it.

Actually, she was indeed being sheepish this time, as Wei Changying hadn’t taken it seriously and forgot about it later.

The next day when Wei Changying got up to attend to business, she was informed that Song Zaishui had sent someone here again right after she dismissed two managers. Wei Changying was shocked and wondered if there were any other requests from the Huo Family.

However, upon letting them in, she realized that it did not concern the Huo Family, but it was not good news, either. Song Yuwang had been suffering from chest congestion and headaches for the past few days yet did not take it seriously. However, he suddenly felt really dizzy when he got on the carriage to leave home this morning. Although he was held by the manservant immediately, and nothing serious happened, this incident scared the whole family.

Naturally, they didn’t dare to let him go on duty anymore, so Song Zaijiang went to Yamen to take a leave of absence on his behalf.

Now that Song Yuwang was lying at home, as a first-rank minister of the public and Family Head of the Song Family in Jiangnan, the head of the Imperial Hospital did not dare to delay his treatment and rushed to him with a few other imperial doctors. After diagnosis, although Song Yuwang felt much better after an acupuncture treatment, he still mentioned that he had a throbbing headache. All the imperial doctors were at the end of their wits. Helpless and pressured by the Song Family to cure Song Yuwang completely, the head of the Imperial Hospital had no choice but to talk to Song Zaitian in private. He suggested for them to call for Ji Qubing, “I am afraid the only person who can cure this disease completely is Ji Qubing.”

The Song Family knew that Ji Qubing was an excellent doctor, but he was well known to be difficult to hire. The good thing was that everyone knew that he had a very close relationship with the Wei Family. Now that his niece Wei Changying was in the picture, Song Zaishui immediately sent someone to ask for help.

When she learned that her uncle had fallen ill, Wei Changying sprang into action and immediately called Mrs. Huang to take over the family affairs for the day. She then brought the person who sent her the news immediately to the main hall and explained the situation to Madam Su.

When Madam Su heard that Song Yuwang, the minister of the public, who was on a par with Shen Xuan, had fallen ill, she said, “Hurry there and have a look then! Attend to it before it gets worse!”