Chapter 27

"I beg Father and Mother to give me some more time."

Although he was 80% certain that the woman in the dilapidated temple that day was Shen Qingnian, he still had to wait for the results of the secret guards' investigation.

Royal matters cannot tolerate the slightest mistake.

He also did not want to make a mistake in his judgment.

The Emperor and Empress exchanged a glance, their eyes conveying a clear understanding.

"I heard you're still investigating what happened at the temple that day?" the Emperor asked.

He could see that Xuan'er was protecting Miss Shen at the banquet tonight, and his current hesitation was mostly due to what happened at the temple.

Song Xuan nodded: "Yes, there are no results yet."

The emperor patted Song Xuan on the shoulder to show his understanding, then looked back at the embroidery and changed the subject: "This embroidery is magnificent and grand from every angle. I think it would be very suitable to place it in the Imperial Study."

This embroidery was truly to his liking.

The Empress glared at the Emperor and said, "I think this embroidery would be more suitable for my bedchamber. Your Majesty's study is better suited for calligraphy and paintings. Embroidery is something for women, and it's a bit too small-minded."

She had her eye on this embroidery for a long time.

The emperor touched his nose: "What Zitong said is absolutely right."

Zitong took the embroidery back to the palace. Once she got tired of looking at it, she could ask for it to be kept in the Imperial Study for a few days.

Seeing the two of them dividing the embroidery in front of him, Song Xuan said with a forced smile, "This embroidery was a birthday gift from someone else to me. I hope that Father and Mother will not take away what I love."

He hadn't even had enough of the embroidery yet, so how could he possibly give it to someone else?

Upon hearing that there was no hope, the emperor and empress left with pouts.

That very night, Song Xuan had a dream.

In his dream, he was sometimes in a dilapidated temple, with a soft and pitiful woman in his arms whose face was blurred; other times he was standing in front of a jade terrace, with Shen Qingnian's cheeks flushed after drinking, telling him that she was waiting for an old friend to come.

The two people in the dream gradually merged into one...

When Song Xuan woke up, all the words in his heart turned into a sigh.

Why haven't the guards returned yet?

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A few days later, at the Shen residence.

Xiaoju ran into Shen Qingnian's courtyard with a beaming smile: "Miss, His Highness the Crown Prince has invited you to go boating on the lake, and he also sent a letter!"

Her young lady is finally about to make it big!

Shen Qingnian stretched, took the letter, glanced at it, and then said calmly, "Just say that I am sick and cannot leave the manor."

The letter was written by Song Xuan himself, and it questioned, both openly and subtly, whether she was the woman in the dilapidated temple that day.

Xiaoju looked surprised when she heard Shen Qingnian say that.

This is the first time His Highness the Crown Prince has ever invited Miss on a trip, and Miss has refused so readily!

Shen Qingnian glanced at Xiaoju and offered a rare explanation: "It's not time to close the net yet."

Before becoming the Crown Princess, she still needs to completely resolve the issue with Lin Yue'er and the Lin family. The other party has always been interested in the Crown Prince, and if the Lin family is not completely dealt with, it will always be a hidden danger.

From the moment she and Lin Yue'er began vying for the position of Crown Princess, the Lin and Shen families gradually became adversaries. Lin Yue'er alone was easy to deal with, but if the entire Lin family were involved, caution was advised...

After the palace banquet, Shen Zheng began to distribute his family fortune. He sent his family fortune to the border in the name of Shen Qingnian, and cartloads of grain were transported to the border and distributed to the soldiers and the people.