Shen Wan stared at Shen Du and Xie Jingyan, making them unable to play chess. Yin Shuang was also puzzled by her princess's gaze and said, "Princess, you haven't had breakfast yet."

It's too late to have breakfast now, but it's too early to have lunch either.

Without Yinshuang's reminder, Shen Wan had completely forgotten that she hadn't eaten breakfast yet. She was really hungry, so she got up and went out.

Before leaving, he gave the two of them a complicated look.

Chen Du, “…???”

Xie Jingyan, “…???”

That look—

Shen Du couldn't explain it for a moment.

Xie Jingyan said, "It's like I'm telling you to get rid of me."

Shen Du looked at Xie Jingyan, "Expel you or expel me?"

Xie Jingyan looked at Shen Du with a twitching mouth.

For a fleeting moment, I wanted to throw both siblings out together.

Shen Du coughed awkwardly, forgetting that he was in the Ling Prince's residence.

But why would his sister shoo away her own brother? Hadn't she already calmed down about the horse racing incident?

As for Shen Wan, she went back to her room to eat breakfast. While eating, she was lost in thought, looking preoccupied. Yin Shuang and Hai Tang exchanged glances, wondering what the princess was thinking, but they had a feeling it wasn't anything good.

Because she was preoccupied, Shen Wan had a poor appetite and felt full after eating very little. As she stepped outside, she saw Xie Jingyan and Shen Du coming out. Shen Wan asked, "Big brother, are you leaving?"

Can't he go for a walk somewhere else after leaving the study? It's like they're trying to get rid of him, the older brother.

Chen Du felt utterly cold inside.

Xie Jingyan said, "I will see your elder brother out of the mansion."

Shen Wan quickly said, "Your leg has just healed, so you should walk less. I'll see my elder brother out of the mansion."

Do you feel so sorry for your brother-in-law?

He felt so sorry for his brother-in-law that he wanted to kick him.

Shen Wan wouldn't let Xie Jingyan see her off. Xie Jingyan guessed that Shen Wan had something to say to Shen Du alone, so he didn't see her off. He was a little unhappy. What was it that she couldn't tell him?

Shen Wan saw Shen Du off. Once outside the Moyu Pavilion, where no one was around, Shen Du asked, "Does little sister have something to say to her elder brother?"

Shen Wan wanted to warn Shen Du not to get too close to Xie Jingyan, but she couldn't bring herself to say it. She was afraid her older brother would beat Xie Jingyan half to death when he got back, and besides, she couldn't believe Xie Jingyan was that kind of person. He was attracted to women, and that day they even...

Seeing that Shen Wan remained silent, Shen Du became even more puzzled. "Have you really become estranged from your elder brother?"

Shen Wan snapped out of her reverie and asked, "Was the jade pendant that Prince Ling wore at his waist a gift from my elder brother?"

Chen Du, “…???”

Shen Du frowned, and Shen Wan looked at him.

Chen Du touched his nose. "If my sister wants to know, why doesn't she just ask Prince Ling?"

She wanted to ask, but she wouldn't dare.

“Just tell me, brother,” Shen Wan said.

Shen Du said, "I didn't notice what kind of jade pendant Prince Ling was wearing at his waist..."

How could a grown man like him be interested in the clothing of another grown man? Even if you asked him what color brocade robe the Prince of Ling was wearing today, he wouldn't be able to answer. He only knew that the Prince of Ling was dressed.

Shen Wan's lips twitched. She knew her older brother was very oblivious, but was he really this oblivious? Shen Wan said, "It's that jade pendant carved with lotus flowers. Last year, on Prince Ling's birthday, my brother gave it to him."

Upon hearing this, Shen Du remembered it and said, "It was a gift from my elder brother."

Shen Wan was stunned. "Did you really send this, brother?"

Shen Du said, "It was given by my elder brother, and it wasn't given by my elder brother either..."

Even Shen Du himself was confused. He rubbed his forehead and said, "That jade pendant was given to him by your elder brother."

Shen Wan's heart skipped a beat.

Your voice unconsciously rose, "Did you deliver it for me?"

Shen Wan had no recollection of this incident. It was only after Shen Du reminded her that she remembered it had happened. At that time, she only had Xie Jingyin in her heart and prepared a birthday gift for him several months in advance. When her older brother found out, he reminded her that Prince Ling's birthday was earlier and told her not to forget to prepare a gift for Prince Ling as well.

However, her father later forbade her from giving Xie Jingyin a birthday gift. Buying one was not acceptable, and embroidering one herself was even less acceptable. Not daring to disobey her father, she didn't prepare one.

Later, on Xie Jingyan's birthday, her elder brother asked her for a gift to take to Xie Jingyan. She told her brother that she hadn't prepared one. Both Xie Jingyan and Xie Jingyin were princes, and if their father wouldn't let her give a gift to Xie Jingyin, he certainly wouldn't let her give one to Xie Jingyan either.

She still remembered her elder brother's reply at the time, "Prince Ling is different from Prince Jin. Father won't blame you for giving Prince Ling a birthday gift."

At the time, she was curious, "Why?"

However, Shen Du didn't explain the reason, only saying with a headache, "I told Prince Ling that you also prepared a birthday gift for him, but in the end you went empty-handed. Wouldn't that make it seem like you were just making things up?"

Shen Wan said, "But I don't have time to prepare."

Chen Du said, "I'll go to my father's storeroom and see if there's anything suitable."

The matter was eventually dropped; she neither asked her older brother if he had helped her deliver it, nor what it was.

Chen Du said, "I couldn't find anything suitable for you in Father's storeroom. On the way to the Ling Prince's mansion, I passed by the Golden Treasure Pavilion, went in for a look, and picked out that lotus jade pendant..."

Shen Wan's mind was in turmoil, and her voice seemed to drift out from somewhere, "Does Prince Ling know that the jade pendant was a gift from me?"

Shen Du found his younger sister increasingly strange. "If you don't tell him it was a gift from you, isn't that a waste?"

Shen Wan felt as if a thunderbolt had exploded above her head.

She was stunned by the explosion and couldn't recover for a long time.

Yinshuang followed behind Shen Wan, her eyes wide open, filled with disbelief and excitement.

The princess said that the jade pendant was given to the prince by his beloved, and that he was still clutching it in his hand when he died. It was the prince's lifeblood. If the jade pendant was "given" by the princess, then wouldn't the prince's beloved be the princess herself?

She had always felt that the prince doted on the princess, and she was right.

Shen Wan froze, a strange feeling welling up from the bottom of her heart, making her limbs feel cold and numb.

She didn't speak, but Chen Du raised his hand and waved it in front of her. "Little sister?"

Shen Wan said, "Brother, you should go back by yourself. I want to be alone for a while."

Chen Du, “…???”

Are you kidding me?

He wouldn't let Prince Ling escort him; he would escort him halfway and then stop.

Although he knew the Ling Prince's mansion so well that he could walk out with his eyes closed, he was still the brother-in-law and had to save face.

Shen Du's lips twitched, and he walked away with a dark expression on his face.

Shen Wan walked blankly to the nearest pavilion and sat down. She had guessed that the jade pendant was a gift from any well-bred young lady in the capital, but she never thought that the jade pendant would be related to her.

How could Xie Jingyan's sweetheart be her?

impossible!

Absolutely not!

If it were her, she would feel like she should die.

He deserves to be torn to pieces.

Her elder brother helped her choose and gave her a jade pendant that she didn't even know about. In her previous life, Xie Jingyan treasured it and never took it off. Just thinking about it made her feel guilty and suffocated.