During dinner, Ye Jingchen's soft cushion, which Fanghua had ordered, was finally ready. With this cushion, Ye Jingchen was finally able to sit down and eat.

"Is your brother injured? Why is there a cushion on the chair?" Ye Jinghe asked curiously.

"No, my father found out about my affair with Chang'an and gave me a few lashes," Ye Jingchen said casually.

Ye Jinghe's eyes turned cold. "This is all Xie Chang'an's fault. Why doesn't he hit Xie Chang'an, but instead hit his brother?"

Ye Jingchen was both touched and amused by Ye Jinghe's mindless defense of him.

"It takes two to tango; relationships involve two people. As for why Father only hit me and not Chang'an, it's probably because he's my father, not Chang'an's?" Ye Jingchen joked.

"Don't cause trouble for Father over this. I lied to him, so it's not unjust that I was punished. Besides, it wasn't a severe beating, and I'll be fine in a couple of days."

"If it's not serious, why would my brother put a soft cushion on the chair?"

Ye Jinghe has his own way of judging whether something is serious or not.

"You're useless, you actually made your brother get hurt because of you!" He glanced at Xie Chang'an and said coldly.

Xie Chang'an didn't refute it; he thought Ye Jinghe was right.

"I'm not injured, just a little sore. How could Father Emperor bear to hit me so hard? Please eat!" Ye Jingchen put a piece of his favorite dish on Ye Jinghe's plate.

"Thank you, brother." Ye Jinghe immediately stopped targeting Xie Chang'an and said happily.

Ye Jingchen then placed another piece of Xie Chang'an's favorite food on his plate.

"Thank you, Chenchen," Xie Chang'an said, mimicking Ye Jinghe's tone.

"You academic fraud, aren't you disgusting?" Ye Jinghe glared angrily at Xie Chang'an.

"Why do you find it disgusting? This is my nickname for your brother. You're too young to understand," Xie Chang'an said meaningfully.

Ye Jinghe had an urge to dump all the dishes on the table on Xie Chang'an's head.

Halfway through the meal, Zhang Shunde arrived again, conveying the emperor's decree that Ye Jingchen should attend the morning court the next day.

"Eunuch Zhang, please tell the Emperor that I have very important business to attend to tomorrow and need to ask for a day off," Ye Jingchen said to Zhang Shunde with a smile.

He knew why the emperor had specifically asked him to attend the morning court session the next day; it was simply because the emperor knew he was preparing for his return visit to his parents' home and didn't want him to go to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion.

"Your Highness, please don't make things difficult for this old servant. How can we disobey His Majesty's decree?" Eunuch Zhang's smile was particularly forced.

"According to the customs of Dayuan, the newlyweds are required to return to their parents' home on the third day after the wedding. My wedding with the Crown Princess is of great significance. I should have taken her back to my parents' home today, but I was delayed by a day because I had to go to see my father. If we don't return to our parents' home tomorrow, I don't know what the court officials and the people will think."

"I am doing this for the sake of my father. Please ask Eunuch Zhang to ask my father for leave. I will definitely attend the morning court on time the day after tomorrow."

Zhang Gonggong's smile vanished completely. Did he dare to help with this?

He knew very well that His Majesty had issued this edict specifically to prevent His Highness from accompanying Xie Chang'an on his homecoming the next day.

"Fangfei, see the guest out—" Ye Jingchen didn't give Zhang Shunde a chance to refuse and directly had Fangfei ask him to leave.

"How about I go back by myself tomorrow?" Xie Chang'an said.

He didn't want Ye Jingchen to be caught in the middle between him and the emperor.

Moreover, he would most likely face family discipline upon returning to the manor tomorrow. The family discipline of the Duke of Zhenguo's manor was truly deadly, and he did not want Ye Jingchen to see him being beaten.

"No, I must accompany the bride on her third wedding anniversary. Otherwise, the people of the capital will think that the royal family doesn't value this marriage at all! I'm doing this for the sake of the royal family's reputation. Father will understand!" Ye Jingchen said righteously.

"On such an important day as your return to your parents' home, if I don't accompany you back, wouldn't all the goodwill I've built up over the years be for nothing?" After returning to the bedroom, Ye Jingchen gave Xie Chang'an a different explanation.

He would never let Xie Chang'an face his family alone.

When it was time for bed that night, Xie Chang'an suggested applying medicine to Ye Jingchen's wounds.

Ye Jingchen refused.

"After I fall asleep, apply the medicine to me again, and then apply it again before I wake up tomorrow morning."

The experience of applying the medicine in the morning was too embarrassing. At that time, Ye Jingchen hated himself for not being able to fall asleep immediately, and made up his mind that from now on he would wait until he fell asleep before letting Xie Chang'an apply the medicine for him.

"Isn't that a bad idea? What if I wake you up?" Xie Chang'an asked, feigning concern.

Although the process of applying the medicine in the morning was agonizing and torture for both him and Ye Jingchen, Ye Jingchen's embarrassed look was so amusing that Xie Chang'an wanted to see it again.

"Unless you deliberately try to wake me up, I won't wake up. If I do wake up, it only proves that you did it on purpose, and then you can expect to suffer my wrath!" Ye Jingchen made a throat-slitting gesture.

"Alright." Xie Chang'an felt it was a great pity.

The next morning, after being woken up by Xie Chang'an, Ye Jingchen felt that the discomfort in his back had lessened considerably and he could walk normally.

Mr. Li's plaster is really effective!

When I go to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion this time, I must ask Mr. Li for more supplies, just in case.

Ye Jingchen prepared the clothes they would wear for their homecoming visit today before going to bed last night; they were a wedding gift from Chaolu.

Ye Jingchen's clothes were moon white, while Xie Chang'an's clothes were jet black. They were both fitted and had the same intertwined floral pattern, except that Ye Jingchen's clothes were embroidered with gold thread, while Xie Chang'an's clothes were embroidered with silver thread.

In fact, Ye Jingchen had considered asking Chaolu to embroider their wedding dress, but his wedding dress was too eye-catching and not a good thing for Chaolu.

Although wedding clothes cannot be embroidered, he still asked Chaolu to embroider two sets of everyday clothes for them.

Xie Chang'an had already changed his clothes and stood tall, which made him look even more handsome. Ye Jingchen was very pleased with him and his morning grumpiness disappeared.

After changing into his own clothes, he deliberately pulled Xie Chang'an in front of the bronze mirror. Looking at the two figures in the mirror, Ye Jingchen felt they were a perfect match.

But simply wearing matching outfits wasn't enough. Ye Jingchen also had Xie Chang'an style his hair in the same way, tie it with the same jade crown, and even wear the same color and style of boots. When they walked out of the bedroom, Fangfei and the others waiting outside were stunned.

Ye Jingchen was very satisfied with the effect of his entrance.

His features weren't particularly striking, but Xie Chang'an was handsome, so when he stood next to Xie Chang'an, as long as his demeanor wasn't lacking, his looks would also benefit from Xie Chang'an's good looks.

"His Highness the Crown Prince and His Highness the Crown Princess are truly a perfect couple!"

"A match made in heaven!"

"A masterpiece made in heaven!" the palace servants exclaimed.

Since Ye Jingchen summoned the palace servants of the Eastern Palace yesterday to formally introduce Xie Chang'an, the Crown Princess, regardless of what they thought behind her back, at least on the surface, every palace servant treated Xie Chang'an with exceptional respect.

Hearing so many compliments so early in the morning, Xie Chang'an was in a great mood and showered everyone with gold beans as a reward.

So the palace servants praised it even more enthusiastically.