After her son was deposed, the Empress seemed to have come to terms with it and treated Shen Zhiyi very kindly.

"The few selected today will enter the palace. The Empress Dowager kept us here so that we could help with the evaluation."

Her words made Shen Zhiyi understand the Empress Dowager's intention. Today, she was probably going to finalize the choice of a bride for a marriage to bring good luck. With the Empress and other imperial concubines present, whoever was chosen could be said to be the result of everyone's discussion, rather than the Empress Dowager making a decision on her own.

"Does Your Highness know who the other guests are?" Shen Zhiyi asked.

The news of the marriage to bring good fortune has spread like wildfire throughout the capital.

Everyone says that those who are chosen are unlucky.

But apart from her, no one knew who the other three chosen were.

"I don't know, I only know that it was calculated based on the birth time, and one of them is you."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

As they were talking, a palace maid served tea, and the tea splashed right onto Shen Zhiyi's dress.

"How could you do such a sloppy job!" The Empress frowned.

"Your Majesty, please forgive me, this servant was careless." The palace maid hurriedly knelt down.

"It's nothing, just a small matter," Shen Zhiyi said with a smile.

"Hurry up and take Miss Chen to change her clothes."

After the Empress finished speaking, the palace maid led Shen Zhiyi to a side hall, leaving her alone. She said she would fetch her clothes. In the hot summer, she was wearing light clothes, and the damp clothes clung to her body, making her feel extremely uncomfortable.

She was about to take off her outer garment when, just as she went around behind the screen, her scalp suddenly felt tight.

"You... what are you doing here?"

"I'll be waiting for you."

The voice was as gentle and refined as ever; the person was not wearing a mask and was sitting at a table behind the screen, drinking tea.

Shen Zhiyi instantly understood, "You arranged that palace maid?"

"Um."

He admitted it readily.

She knew it! How could the people serving in the Empress Dowager's palace be so careless and reckless?

"You have people in the Empress Dowager's palace, you really have a lot of nerve!"

As Shen Zhiyi spoke, someone stood up and approached, "What? Are you scared?"

"They're not people I planted, what am I afraid of?"

"You're going to marry me soon. As husband and wife, we're one. My affairs are naturally your affairs as well."

"A marriage to ward off bad luck? How could you even think of that!" Shen Zhiyi said helplessly. "Besides me, there are three other people..."

“If I were to specifically name you, my intentions would be too obvious.”

"Then how can you guarantee that His Majesty and the Empress Dowager will definitely choose me?"

"What? Are you afraid I'll marry someone else?" Zhou Xuance smiled and approached her. The medicinal smell emanating from him instantly spread, so bitter that it made her frown. She instinctively wanted to dodge, but before she could turn around, her waist was suddenly tightened.

She was suddenly pulled into his arms by a strong force.

"Your Highness, you..."

This is the Empress Dowager's side palace; they are truly audacious.

"Don't move, let me hold you for a while."

His voice carried a hint of pleading.

Fearing being discovered by the palace servants, Shen Zhiyi dared not act rashly and let him embrace her.

"It's been several days since we last met. Have you missed me, Yiyi?" His voice was close to her ear, his chin resting on the crook of her neck, and his breath fell on her body without missing a single drop, seeping through her thin clothes and into her shoulder skin.

This caused her body to stiffen slightly.

"No!" Shen Zhiyi said decisively, which made him chuckle softly.

"It's okay, I can miss you."

"..."

He had never been a proper and dignified young master, and Shen Zhiyi was already used to it. She simply asked, "How did you come up with the idea of ​​a marriage to ward off bad luck?"

"Use your brain to think."

Shen Zhiyi was speaking to him earnestly, but seeing his expression, she became somewhat annoyed and reached out to push him away, only to be tightly embraced by Zhou Xuance. "Alright, I was just teasing you."

Zhou Xuance lowered his head and looked at him with a smile:

"As you know, the biggest reason why my brother forbids me from marrying you is because he is afraid that the alliance of powerful ministers will endanger the imperial power. But I am seriously ill and will not live much longer. The imperial physician has predicted that I will not live for more than a month."

"In that case, I will not pose a threat."

"You have already divorced the Song family. His Majesty will need to find a reason to keep you in the capital. You should know the reason why."

Shen Zhi nodded.

She was a hostage, kept in the capital to keep her father and brothers in check.

"Your Majesty intends to keep you in the capital no matter what. The best solution is to arrange a marriage for you, but which family to choose is a difficult question."

"I am going to die anyway. If you marry into the royal family, you will be a royal wife for life and will be trapped in poverty forever."

"Therefore, His Majesty is not opposed to betrothing you to me."

Shen Zhiyi scoffed: "His Majesty allowed you to marry a divorced woman?"

"Is my life more important, or is your past marriage more important?"

Shen Zhiyi scoffed, "You really are scheming to the core. His Majesty loves you so much; if he knew you lied to him, he would be heartbroken."

Zhou Xuance reached out and gently stroked her face, "Yiyi..."

"Um?"

Do you think there is genuine family affection in the royal family?

Shen Zhiyi was stunned for a moment.

His words clearly had a hidden meaning.

In his previous life, he suddenly passed away, and His Majesty was so heartbroken that he was bedridden. People praised the deep brotherhood between them and His Majesty for valuing brotherhood.

Shen Zhiyi smiled faintly: "His Majesty gave you military power, and even the Third Prince said that he favors you very much."

Zhou Xuance only looked at her, "Yiyi, you are a smart person, you should know..."

"The emperor's favoritism,"

"It's arsenic coated in sugar."

Hearing this, Shen Zhiyi was shocked. Ever since she learned that Xiao Zhongxuan and Zhou Xuance were the same person and that they were plotting against the Crown Prince and the Third Prince, she knew that Zhou Xuance and the Emperor were not as close as rumored.

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