Shen Yuan raised an eyebrow. "You dare say you didn't?"

Shen Yunjin: "No!"

"Then swear on your future with His Highness the Crown Prince. If you dare to swear, I will believe you." Shen Yuan crossed her arms and looked at Shen Yunjin with a leisurely air.

Shen Yunjin retorted, "You think I'll swear an oath just because you tell me to? Why should I listen to you! You're the one spouting nonsense! I didn't do that at all! It was Wang Qingxi who willingly stooped to prostitution, what does that have to do with me?"

After saying that, Shen Yunjin turned and left.

She has to attend a banquet tomorrow and needs to bathe and perfume herself early to prepare the jewelry and clothes she will need. She doesn't have time to listen to Shen Yuan's nonsense.

Watching Shen Yunjin's retreating figure, Shen Yuan shook her head.

Good advice is useless when it comes to a damned devil.

She was too lazy to waste any more words; she needed to make some preparations in advance for the Hundred Flowers Banquet tomorrow.

Shen Yuanyuan returned to Changfeng Residence and saw Xiao Ling. She dismissed the maids and asked, "Has Master Fuyun prepared what I requested?"

"Hmm." Xiao Ling nodded and placed a small porcelain bottle on the table.

Shen Yuan picked up the small porcelain bottle, looked at it, and then smiled.

Xiao Ling said, "The Prince of Jin has already entered the capital and will also attend the Hundred Flowers Banquet tomorrow."

Shen Yuan nodded in understanding upon hearing this.

Xiao Ling added, "I'll accompany you to the princess's residence tomorrow."

"No!" Shen Yuan rejected Xiao Ling's suggestion without hesitation. "Ordinary people might not be able to tell the difference from your mask, but Xiao Yunyan might. If your identity is exposed, then all our efforts will be in vain!"

Xiao Ling insisted, "The Princess's residence is fraught with danger; I cannot let you venture out alone."

"Xiao Ling".

Shen Yuan softly called Xiao Ling's name, then looked up at him: "Your life is my last trump card."

"Only when I'm in the open and you're in the shadows do we have a chance to win this round."

Xiao Ling lowered his eyelids. He understood all these principles, but...

Shen Yuan shouldn't be someone he can weigh the pros and cons with.

"Keep this key." Shen Yuan took a key from her sleeve and handed it to Xiao Ling. "I bought that courtyard house in the west of the city and put some things there. You need to find a way to exchange those things for money."

Xiao Ling glanced at the key in Shen Yuan's hand but did not take it.

Shen Yuan grabbed Xiao Ling's hand and forcefully shoved the key into his palm: "We need to build up our own power, and money is naturally indispensable."

“This money was originally intended to be confiscated by the state, but although Minister Wang of the Ministry of Revenue has fallen from power, there are still many corrupt officials. After much thought, I decided that rather than transferring it to the national treasury now, it would be better to hand it over to the next wise ruler in advance!”

After Shen Yuan finished speaking, she winked playfully at Xiao Ling.

Xiao Ling looked at the key lying in his palm and felt a burning sensation in her hand.

There are many people in this world who despise him.

His father, mother, elder sister, elder brother, and palace maids in the cold palace all abandoned him like trash, thinking him incompetent, cowardly, and an eyesore.

Only she had high hopes for him, believing that he could ascend to that position and become a wise and benevolent ruler.

How could he let her down?

Seeing that Xiao Ling remained silent, Shen Yuan patted his hand and said, "Take it! If you feel embarrassed and want to repay me, you can bestow upon me the titles of county princess, county princess, or princess after you ascend the throne."

"You want to be a princess?"

"I dream about it! A princess can live off the wealth of a thousand cities, have endless money, live in a palace, wear fine clothes, have countless servants, and can keep a large number of male concubines, just like Xiao Yunyan."

Xiao Ling's lips twitched. "You still want to keep male concubines?"

Noticing Xiao Ling's icy gaze, Shen Yuan shuddered and explained, "I was just giving an example, using Xiao Yunyan as an example."

Xiao Ling: "She is not a good example."

Shen Yuan nodded. Xiao Ling was right!

April 16th, a day of gentle spring sunshine and bright sunshine.

Shen Yuan, along with Bai Zhi and Shen Yunjin, attended the banquet.

After the two got off the carriage, the guards at the gate came forward to check them. Shen Yuan revealed her identity and invitation, and the guards checked them before letting them pass.

Shen Yuan followed the palace maids into the princess's residence.

After a lifetime, when she stepped into the princess's mansion again, Shen Yuan's body still trembled uncontrollably, and the hairs on her body stood on end, as if every step was like walking barefoot in the winter snow.

Cold, a bone-chilling cold.

Seeing that Shen Yuan's face was slightly pale, Bai Zhi asked with concern, "Miss, are you feeling unwell?"

"Someone like her, who grew up in the countryside, would naturally feel uncomfortable in such a magnificent place for the first time!"

Shen Yunjin assumed that Shen Yuan was frightened by seeing such a magnificent building for the first time, and curled her lip in disdain: "It's embarrassing to be with someone as ignorant as you! Look at you, it's just a princess's residence, not the imperial palace, and you're so scared, you're really spineless!"

Shen Yuan ignored Shen Yunjin.

Shen Yunjin continued, “However, the Princess’s residence is not much different from the palace. The Lanyue Palace where Princess Jingwan lives was built according to the specifications of the Shou Kang Palace. The Emperor was worried that she would not be used to living outside the palace, so he specially sent skilled craftsmen to build the Lanyue Palace for her, replicating the Shou Kang Palace where the princess used to live one-to-one.”

What Shen Yunjin knew, Shen Yuan naturally knew as well.

Moreover, she knows far more than Shen Yunjin.

For example, someone died in Lan Yue Palace, and it was a man... Not only Shen Yun Jin, but most of the maids and eunuchs in the princess's mansion didn't know this.

The banquet was held in the pavilion in the middle of Jingxin Lake at the Princess's residence.

During this season, the lotus leaves on the lake are emerald green, with a few pink thousand-petaled lotuses scattered among them, creating a scene resembling an exquisite traditional Chinese painting amidst the emerald green water.

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