The second-place finisher was a slightly older man, also from an official family. He originally thought that the top spot was rightfully his, but now a poor man had emerged with a higher reputation than him, and he never gave Su Yi a kind look from beginning to end.

He snorted coldly and left in his own carriage.

Su Yi was left staring at the towering courtyard walls, feeling lost and empty, without any of the joy he had imagined.

Huanhuan, did you see that? I've made it out of that mountain. You must be happy for me, right?

"Young master, let's go back too. The young master is probably waiting for us at home."

Su Yi looked away, her throat tightening slightly. "Let's go."

In a remote house in the capital, a thin man waited anxiously at the door. When he saw the carriage stop at the door, he went up to greet him, "You're finally back. Why did it take so long?"

Su Yi explained, "I just ran into an acquaintance and we chatted for a bit."

Guan Chang asked in surprise, "Is he a fellow townsman from Suzhou Prefecture?"

"Hmm," Su Yi said without mentioning Lord Xu, tacitly agreeing with Guan Chang's statement.

"Come in quickly, the food is ready. I'm going back tomorrow, so let's have a couple of drinks today," Guan Chang said. He had been traveling with them for several months, and now it was time for him to go back.

Su Yi looked up and asked, "Brother-in-law, why don't you stay a little longer?"

Guan Chang shook his head. "No, your sister can't control those two kids at home. Your parents-in-law are also waiting for good news. I've already done my research. Once I've settled things in, I'll expand the business to Beijing."

Over the years, Chunhui's business has grown bigger and bigger, with branches in many places. The same goes for chili peppers; Sujia chili peppers can be found all over the country.

Suzhou Prefecture became known as the "Chili Pepper City" last year, with almost every county and town growing chili peppers, directly boosting the local economy. Even the prefect of Suzhou Prefecture received praise from the emperor.

But the Su family never experienced the joy of making money again.

Guan Chang paused and said, "If you have something to say, go to Grand Tutor Wang of the Inner Cabinet. He is my maternal uncle. I wrote to him about this a long time ago, but right now you are in the limelight, so he can't meet with you."

"I understand. Be careful on your journey. Tell your parents that I'm doing well and that I'll bring them over once things are back on track."

The two talked until very late before going to sleep. The next morning, Guan Chang took the gifts he had bought for his family and boarded the carriage to go home, while Su Yi also prepared to attend the banquet.

The prince and the emperor are brothers from the same mother and have a very good relationship. With the empress dowager also present, the emperor trusts the prince very much. Yesterday, the emperor was very satisfied with the top three winners and asked the prince to arrange a feast for him.

Three carriages stopped simultaneously in front of the Prince's Mansion. Xu Zijing was the first to jump off his horse, "Brother Su!"

Brother Xu

The second-place scholar snorted, "Hypocrite!" and then led the way inside with his servants.

Xu Zijin rolled her eyes. "Just because he's the son of a Grand Secretary, he thinks everyone has to revolve around him."

Su Yi didn't care at all, leaving behind a "Let's go" before walking forward.

In the princess's courtyard, a maidservant entered the room to report, "Princess, Young Master Xu has arrived."

"Really?" The princess's eyes widened, her joy barely concealed.

The maidservant answered confidently, "Yes, they've already followed the prince and the other young masters into the study."

The princess looked at her clothes with some anxiety. "Oh dear, I'll change right away!" She ran into the inner room and threw her clothes all over the floor, but she couldn't find any that she liked.

The maid suggested, "Princess, why don't we ask Sister Guyu to come and look for it for you?"

Without a second thought, the princess shook her head. "No, she's still uncomfortable from being forced to kneel yesterday, so I won't bother her. I'll go call her later."

The young maid was a little jealous. They were both taking care of the princess, so why didn't she receive the same treatment?

It took the princess quite a while to change into her favorite apricot-colored ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), have her maid do her makeup, and then go next door to find Guyu.

Gu Yu felt dizzy and her lips were pale, perhaps because she had caught a chill from kneeling yesterday.

"Guyu, my brother Xu is here. Come with me to see him."

The princess's eyes were full of expectation, making Gu Yu unable to refuse: "Okay, Your Highness, please wait a moment, I'll come as soon as I've changed my clothes."

Gu Yu changed her clothes, and seeing that her lips were very pale, she applied some lip rouge, which made her look much better. "Princess, let's go."

Seeing that her face was a little pale, the princess said worriedly, "Why don't you rest? I'll go by myself."

Gu Yu shook her head, "I'm fine, I'm perfectly healthy, let's go."

As the princess's head maid, she had to follow the princess wherever she went. Although the princess was easy to talk to, she had no say when it came to the prince, the princess, or other masters, just like yesterday.

The two sneaked to the outside of the study, where Chang'an was also there. Her eyes lit up when she saw them, and she stepped forward to greet them: "Princess, what brings you here?"

After speaking, she kept glancing at Gu Yu behind her, and her ears quietly turned red.

"Shh," the princess whispered, "we're just passing by, just pretend you didn't see us."

Chang'an suppressed a laugh and nodded, "Okay." Seeing Gu Yu's pale face, he stepped forward with some concern, "Miss Gu Yu, are you feeling unwell? Have you seen a doctor?"

Gu Yu forced a smile: "It's nothing, I just didn't get enough rest."

Even so, she felt that she was seeing double, though it wasn't this bad just now.

After a while, the group came out. The princess and Gu Yu hid behind the artificial hill to watch, and saw her brother Xu laughing incessantly.

In fact, Li Yu had already noticed the two of them. He frowned and thought to himself that his sister's willfulness was likely to implicate someone again.

The princess was so excited that she kicked the artificial hill and cried out. The prince and his three sons knew what had happened, and the prince glared in that direction from a distance.

Xu Zijing knew this too, and secretly glanced over there before suppressing a laugh and staying by his side.

Su Yi pretended not to know and chatted happily with the young master.

"Godson, you young people go and have a chat. I have some things to take care of. We'll have dinner together later." The matter was about catching that girl from the Hen family and beating her up.

Seeing the group about to leave, the princess prepared to follow, when she heard a thud beside her and saw that Gu Yu had fainted.

She was still lying on the rock, and blood was flowing rapidly from her head. The princess was so frightened that she collapsed to the ground. "Guyu, Guyu, what happened to you?"

"Help! Waaah!"

When Li Yu and Chang'an heard the words "Grain Rain," they had already rushed over here.

When the two saw Gu Yu lying unconscious on the ground, Chang'an was about to step forward when his master scolded him, "Go and call the royal physician!"

After saying that, he picked up the girl on the ground, turned around, left the princess with the words "follow me," and quickly disappeared from sight.

Chu Yi could vaguely make out a woman wearing a light pink dress. Her face was covered in blood and obscured by leaves, so he couldn't see her clearly. He felt inexplicably uneasy, not knowing where the unease came from.

The prince called him twice before he came to his senses. "It's nothing. I just remembered something. Let's go."