Thinking of this, Shen Wan's lips unconsciously curled up.

It would have been easy for Shen Ying to get a box of scar-removing ointment; she didn't need to try to get it from her. However, she had gotten used to getting things from her over the years, and she was also somewhat afraid of Empress Song, so she didn't dare to ask.

Shen Ying could easily fake a burn on the back of her hand. The Emperor had already bestowed so many tribute ointments upon her, which displeased Empress Song. If Shen Ying were to fan the flames, Empress Song would certainly help her get the ointments from the Emperor. As fellow royal daughters-in-law, it wouldn't be right for the Emperor to give them to her and not to Shen Ying.

There were clearly better ways, but they insisted on going to her and getting rejected, only to suffer the consequences.

Shen Wan was lost in thought. Her hands, which were supporting her against Xie Jingyan's chest to avoid getting too close, were somehow moved to his neck by Xie Jingyan. By the time Shen Wan realized what was happening, her resistance had turned into hugging his neck, making it as ambiguous as could be.

Although they had done more intimate things together, Shen Wan was still not used to the way he hugged her neck, as if she was about to act coquettishly at any moment. She loosened her arms, but as soon as she loosened them a little, he hugged her waist tightly, and Shen Wan hugged his neck again, even tighter than before.

Shen Wan was furious and embarrassed. "What are you doing?!"

Xie Jingyan said in a low, husky voice, "I like it when you hold me like this."

But she doesn't like it.

Why can't you just let her sit still?

As soon as they got into the carriage, they started hugging and cuddling, as if they wanted to stick together. Feeling something pressing against her, Shen Wan's cheeks burned, and she wondered if this bastard had some kind of special fetish.

Absolutely.

Otherwise, he wouldn't be so well-behaved in bed, at most just holding her while sleeping, and rarely even kissing her, but in the carriage, he would act recklessly.

If Xie Jingyan knew what Shen Wan really thought of him, he would be furious. Normally, it wasn't that he didn't want to, but that he didn't dare, afraid that he wouldn't be able to control himself and would force her. Since he had promised her that he wouldn't touch her until she was sure of his feelings, he wouldn't break his promise. In the carriage, he was able to restrain himself and indulged himself a little, but he didn't expect that Shen Wan would misunderstand.

Shen Wan was afraid to ride in the carriage with him. Even though his leg had fully recovered and he could ride a horse, he insisted on squeezing into the same carriage with her, harboring ulterior motives.

She grabbed Xie Jingyan's mischievous hand, glared at him, and finally simply sat down by the carriage, lifted the curtain to look outside, and ignored him.

Xie Jingyan didn't dare to hug Shen Wan again. These days, his self-control is getting worse and worse, and he might not be able to control himself even in the carriage.

Shen Wan looked outside, and Xie Jingyan looked at her with a hint of helplessness in his eyes.

Shen Wan had only lifted a corner of the carriage curtain at first, but as she looked around, she suddenly lifted the entire curtain and even stuck her head out. Xie Jingyan saw this and asked, "What are you looking at?"

Shen Wan pulled her head back and shook it slightly. "It's nothing..."

She must have been seeing things.

How dare Shen Dian visit Baihualou, especially with his arm around Young Master Wu?

Young Master Wu frequented brothels, which the Third Madam deeply resented. She sent Shen Dian to the brothels to arrest him. The Pingyang Marquis's family rules were strict, forbidding the younger generation from going to such places of ill repute. She had never heard of Shen Dian doing such a thing in her previous life...

However, that figure just now looked too much like Shen Dian.

Shen Wan shook her head, trying to clear her mind of the matter.

When Shen Wan and Xie Jingyan returned to Moyuxuan, it was already lunchtime. The maid brought the food, and the two sat down to eat.

After lunch, Xie Jingyan went to his study to read and said to Shen Wan, "Go to the study and grind ink for me."

Ever since she was bullied by this bastard in the study last time, and was even caught by the Eighth Prince, Shen Wan has been too afraid to go to the study. She decisively refused, saying, "The brocade robe for you is not finished yet, I don't have time."

I've been delayed a lot these past two days because of the ointment. If I don't hurry up and finish the embroidery, I'll really be late.

Shen Wan was busy making a brocade robe for Xie Jingyan, so Xie Jingyan didn't insist that Shen Wan grind ink for him and went to the study by himself.

After resting for a while, Shen Wan sat down in front of the embroidery frame. However, she had only embroidered for less than half a cup of tea's time when she became extremely sleepy. Her eyelids seemed to be glued shut. She didn't know what was wrong with her these past two days, but she was particularly sleepy. Unable to resist the drowsiness, Shen Wan put down the embroidery needle and went to bed.

Xie Jingyan returned from the study to get something and saw Shen Wan lying on the bed, sleeping soundly.

She promised to embroider a brocade robe for him, but she didn't have time to grind ink for him. Was this woman making the brocade robe for him in her dream?

Xie Jingyan looked helpless and went to his study after taking the things.

Shen Wan slept for more than an hour before waking up. Yin Shuang woke her up once in the middle of the night, worried that she would not be able to sleep at night if she slept too long during the day. But Shen Wan had not slept enough, so she turned over and went back to sleep.

Seeing that Shen Wan was really sleepy, Yin Shuang didn't dare to wake her again and let her sleep until now.

After waking up, Shen Wan sat on the bed and stretched. Seeing Yin Shuang's overjoyed expression, Shen Wan asked, "What are you laughing at?"

Yinshuang covered her mouth and laughed, "When Second Aunt bumped her forehead, the Empress asked the Emperor for a box of scar-removing ointment for her. Third Madam sent a maid to Prince Jin's residence to ask Second Aunt for half a box, but the maid returned empty-handed. Second Aunt was worried that half a box of ointment wouldn't be enough to ensure that her forehead wouldn't be scarred, so she said that she would give the rest to Third Madam after she recovered..."

Shen Wan, "..."

That's amazing.

It's one thing for others to slap Chen Ying's face, but when Chen Ying gets ruthless, she'll even slap herself—and, well, the old lady's face too…

The slap was heard even in the Lingwang Mansion.

Both women had bumped their foreheads, and the old lady and Shen Ying had the audacity to demand that Yun Mo give up half a box of ointment for the Third Madam to use. She refused and even went to the Yun family to get it under her own name. Now that it was Shen Ying's turn, she knew that half a box of ointment might not guarantee that there wouldn't be a scar, so she had to prioritize her own needs.

When she was asked to give the ointment to the third wife, she said that family ties were more important than anything else, perfectly demonstrating how easy it is to talk when you're not in the situation. Now that it's her turn, the third wife is nothing.

Shen Wanzhen never expected that Xie Jingyan, fearing they would continue to pester her, would use such a small trick, only to expose their hypocrisy in the process.

Shen Ying's hypocrisy was exposed when she refused to give the Third Madam the ointment immediately. Now it was up to the Old Madam to decide what to do. As an elder of the Marquis's mansion, no matter how much she favored Shen Ying in private, she had to treat everyone equally on the surface. She could not be biased in her actions. She had to demand the same of Shen Ying as she had of her, especially now that her father had been alerted. She had to be fair to everyone.

Shen Wan looked on expectantly, but it didn't take long for her to learn what the old lady had planned.

In the evening, news came from the Marquis's residence that the old lady had fallen ill.

Upon hearing this, Shen Wan felt utterly disgusted.

The old lady couldn't force Shen Ying, or was unwilling to force her, so she chose to feign illness to escape. It's a shame she's the old lady of the Marquis's mansion; she's truly unfit for the occasion.