Uncle Hu waited for a long time before finally seeing Shen Jinchen. He glanced at the man who had stolen his young master's beloved without saying a word and led the way.

In the flower hall, Shao Yu had been suppressing the poison, but she still couldn't help vomiting a mouthful of black blood.

As soon as Shen Jinchen entered, seeing his expression, he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow:

What's going on here?

"I got poisoned. I went to catch a demoness tonight, but I didn't expect that woman to be so capable. Going to the Imperial Hospital would probably be a waste of time, so I came here instead."

Shao Yu coughed several times before slowly opening his lips and speaking.

"What kind of enchantress could make you suffer such a loss?"

Shen Jinchen found a small stool and sat down next to Shao Yu, casually asking questions while taking her pulse.

"A courtesan with strange behavior caused all the men who became her lovers to die from poisoning a few days later."

Shao Yu, panting heavily and enduring the pain in her chest, explained.

"Zhu Yanniang?"

Upon hearing Shao Yu's explanation, Shen Jinchen immediately identified the vixen as Zhu Yanniang, reasoning that only she would be so determined to kill men who frequented brothels.

Previously, in order to better understand the people around Cen Xi, he had Youhe investigate many things, including the life story of Zhu Yanniang.

"Yes, yes, that's the woman's name. In the last two months, she's caused trouble for many of our officials. Many government offices are now short-staffed. Don't you think this woman is hateful?"

Shao Yu gritted his teeth as he thought of how such a heinous person had escaped from his clutches.

“You don’t need to chase after this person. If she wants to kill any men who frequent brothels in the future, let her do it. Those who go to brothels are of questionable character anyway, so killing them won’t make a difference.”

Shen Jinchen had never deliberately cared about Zhu Yanniang before. Now that he had reconciled with Cen Xi, he felt he should give her more face and respect her friends. If Cen Xi knew how much she had sacrificed, she probably wouldn't say things like "let's go our separate ways" anymore.

"You're not the prime minister of the country yet. Although those people are somewhat immoral, they don't deserve to die. What about the laws of the court?"

Shao Yu jumped up and glared angrily at Shen Jinchen.

"Do you still want to be detoxified? We haven't finished taking your pulse yet. Shao Yu, I think the court's laws should be changed. The current laws restrict women too much and are not suitable for the current national conditions."

Shen Jinchen, without changing his expression, pulled Shao Yu's pulse and continued to take it, speaking righteously about the injustices of the banquet's rules.

No one knew that he was abusing his power for personal gain, and that he did it to please his wife.

"Shen Jinchen, you've changed. Who was it that said they were going to publish a book on women's precepts? How come you're so generous now?"

Shao Yu had studied at the same private school as Shen Jinchen since childhood. When he became famous at a young age, he, Wen Qiheng, and this person also became disciples of Master Han at Yushan Academy. They were fellow disciples, so how could he not know this person? He must have had ulterior motives for saying this.

"At that time, it was because some women kept harassing me, so I naturally had to be on guard. To tell you the truth, the woman you were tracking was my wife's close friend. You can't keep chasing her. Zhu Yanniang's own background is quite tragic. She had no choice but to take this path of revenge. So, Shao Yu, be merciful and don't make trouble for yourself."

After taking the boy's pulse, Shen Jinchen tossed him a bottle of medicine and then leisurely explained why he wanted to publish another book on women's precepts back then. He also frankly discussed the relationship between Zhu Yanniang and Cen Xi, and how he had blocked Shao Yu's escape route in order to gain favor with Cen Xi in the future.

"Hmph! Ha! Where is your former disdain as a favored son of heaven? What's so great about that princess that she could turn you into what you are now?"

Shao Yu swallowed the medicine, speechless, and then complained.

"I don't understand, and I don't have a woman I want to marry. You are the Prime Minister, and you think it's not important that the other side killed your minister. I, Shao Yu, will not provoke that tough nut. Farewell!"

Shao Yu rolled his eyes at the man who had once been someone he looked up to, and left after saying that dismissively.

"You can leave, but take your men with you!"

Shen Jinchen knew that Shao Yu would back down, so he stuffed two pills into the mouths of the two men lying dead on the ground, and then kicked them hard twice.

When the two woke up and saw that it was Shen Jinchen, they were shocked and immediately followed Shao Yu.

After sending the people away, he returned to the main courtyard and lay down peacefully, looking at Cen Xi's sweet sleeping face. As for the face that Shao Yu mentioned, he had never had any. If he had, he wouldn't have used such extreme measures to deal with those stubborn old men when he first entered the court.

The next morning, Cen Xi groggily opened her eyes and saw someone still lying in bed. She couldn't help but scream:

"Why aren't you at the morning court session yet? Why are you still lying in bed?"

"There's nothing much going on in the court lately, so I plan to spend a couple of days with you and Xiaoyu. Princess, there's no need to be so surprised."

Shen Jinchen rested his chin on his hand, looking quite pleased with Cen Xi's surprised expression.

"Get up, stop being so cozy, hurry up and get to court. Is Emperor Taizu still alive? We don't know what kind of trouble he's up to. Report any developments to me immediately."

Cen Xi was still concerned about the task that Zi hadn't finished. This task was very important, as it would affect the quality of her reincarnation in her next life. How could she not take it seriously?

"Zhu Yanniang is gone."

Shen Jinchen continued to rest his chin on his hand and said something completely unrelated.

"Zhu Yanniang is gone? Where did she go? What do you mean?"

Cen Xi's alarm bells went off immediately. Could this person have discovered Zhu Yanniang's big secret? Otherwise, why would he suddenly bring up Zhu Yanniang?

"Yesterday, Shao Yu was poisoned and came to me for an antidote. I heard him say that he had found out about a woman who murdered several ministers of the court. He was on his way to arrest her last night, but the woman tricked him. Qingqing, do you think I should issue an arrest warrant to make your friend panic?"

Shen Jinchen lay on the bed, watching Cen Xi get dressed, and said slowly.

"Go ahead and do whatever you want. It's your skill to catch Zhu Yanniang. Anyway, she betrayed me once before, so why worry about her? Shen Jinchen, don't even think about using her to scheme against me."

Cen Xi has always preferred to be straightforward and dislikes scheming and intrigue the most, so this man in front of him has no chance of making a move on him.

"Hahaha... I'm sorry I gave you face and didn't let Shao Yu go after her. It seems I was just being presumptuous."

Shen Jinchen laughed heartily, then sat up abruptly, preparing to get dressed. His wife was still as amusing as ever.

“Let her go, that’s fine. Shen Jinchen, our main goal now is to find that Yan Taizu and do everything we can to kill her. If she doesn’t die, I feel like there’s a sword hanging over my head that will take my life soon.”