Shen Qingyu turned her head and said a few words to the female guard disguised as a maid, after which the female guard quietly left.

Before long, Shen Qingyu looked a little dizzy, and someone immediately asked with concern, "Princess Qingyu, what's wrong?"

Shen Qingyu waved her hand: "I feel a little dizzy and my heart is racing."

"Oh! Shall we go to the back to rest for a while? Shall we ask the imperial physician to come and take a look?" Another woman, who seemed to be the wife of some third-rank official, asked with concern.

Shen Qingyu readily agreed: "Then I'll go to the back to rest for a bit."

An old woman led Shen Qingyu to a courtyard that was clearly a guest room. As Shen Qingyu went in and was helped to lie down, the others dispersed.

Once she confirmed that there was only an old woman outside the door, Shen Qingyu sat up, her eyes filled with coldness.

Perhaps they all thought they were incredibly clever and could manipulate a princess who had lost her father?

Footsteps came from the other side, getting closer and closer. Judging from the voice, it was a man.

The old woman outside quietly opened the door.

The man tiptoed in.

The door was closed and locked from the outside.

Shen Qingyu patiently waited until the man came to the bedside and looked down before suddenly swinging her hand and accurately striking the man's neck.

The young man fainted without uttering a sound.

Shen Qingyu then had time to take a closer look.

The unconscious young man was dressed in fine clothes, with fair skin and handsome features. However, his large, dark circles under his eyes and his thin frame clearly showed that his body had been hollowed out.

I wonder which dissolute young master was pushed out to do such dirty work.

Just then, a slight noise came from the window on the other side of the room.

The window, which had been nailed shut, was suddenly flung open by a clever force, and Qi Yunxiao, his face dark, rolled in.

After the couple whispered and gestured to each other, the unconscious man was thrown out of the window, and some indescribable sounds came from inside the room.

The old woman guarding outside the door finally felt relieved and quickly left to find someone to catch them in the act.

Unfortunately, she was just an ordinary person and didn't notice that a female imperial guard was following her from a distance. Before long, she arrived at the side of the wife of the third-rank official who had pretended to care about Shen Qingyu earlier, leaned close to her ear, and whispered a few words.

The wife of the third-rank official, Lady Liang, remained calm, but said worriedly to Lady Meng, a distant relative of the new emperor, "I wonder if Princess Qingyu is feeling any better? Where is the imperial physician?"

Someone rushed to the gate to greet him, and soon the imperial physician was brought in, covered in sweat.

So the Vice Minister's wife, Lady Liang, pulled Lady Meng along to the back, ostensibly to check on Princess Qingyu.

As the place drew near, the old woman and the Vice Minister's wife, Madam Liang, both breathed a little faster, while only the unsuspecting imperial physician and Madam Meng looked slightly worried.

The noise in the room had not completely stopped.

A man's voice asked, "Is this the place?"

The woman's voice held a hint of disdain: "Take your hand away..."

This caused the group of people who had reached the door to pause for a moment.

Hey!

I made it to the scene.

Liang pushed the door open.

The room was dimly lit. The man sitting on the edge of the bed sat up in surprise and looked toward the door.

The crowd outside the door: Good heavens! What's going on?

Liang screamed, "Ah! Where did this lecherous man come from?"

"Princess? Princess, what's wrong?"

"Where did this scoundrel come from? How dare he molest the princess?" said the old woman beside Madam Liang, as she rushed over and reached out to grab the man.

But when they got closer, they were shocked to find that it wasn't the man who had come in earlier.

Who is this?

Qi Yunxiao's face darkened, and with a flick of his arm, he slapped the old woman, sending her flying.

The old woman hit the back of the table leg and fainted without uttering a sound.

"You...you...Lord Qi?!"

Liang was shocked to see Qi Yunxiao standing majestically by the bedside, and felt a wave of dizziness wash over her!

She arranged for a dissolute young man from a fallen noble family to humiliate the country bumpkin princess, but when the door opened, it turned out to be the princess's husband, Lord Qi Yunxiao!

What... what's going on?!

Liang was flustered and instinctively went to look at the old woman, but the old woman was unconscious and could not say anything.

Qi Yunxiao pretended not to know anything and looked at the imperial physician: "I heard that the princess was not feeling well, so I came in to see her. I came in secret because I was afraid of offending the women in the inner quarters. Please take a look, imperial physician."

Lord Qi spoke calmly, but his expression was serious.

Having frequented aristocratic families, the imperial physician immediately understood the situation. Although shocked, he dared not say a word and simply stepped forward to take Shen Qingyu's pulse.

Upon taking her pulse, the imperial physician was even more surprised: Princess Qingyu's pulse was excellent; she didn't seem like she needed to have her pulse checked at all.

However, the imperial physician still dared not tell the truth, so he carefully said, "Princess, you haven't been resting well lately. I will prescribe a calming medicine for you. If you are still dizzy after you go back, take a dose. If you feel better after you go back, you don't have to take it."

Qi Yunxiao nodded in agreement, and Shen Qingyu also sat up from the bed.

Only then did the Duchess of Dingguo, who had been accompanying the two old princesses, rush over with a pale face.

Upon entering the crowded room, the Duchess of Dingguo felt dizzy and her vision blurred as she looked at the people inside.

She wasn't an ignorant young girl anymore. From the servants' report and the situation before her, she knew that someone had used this place to swindle her, and had even failed in their attempt.

Regardless of who committed the act, this is their own territory, and the Duke of Dingguo's mansion cannot escape the blame for its oversight.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!