After Shen Youying paid an unspeakable price, the next day, Xue Shen transferred a bodyguard to Shen Youying's command.

Shen Youying repeatedly instructed the guards not to give anything away before letting the man out after he was discovered.

Seeing her worried expression, like a mother hen protecting her chicks, Xue Shen had to remind her, "If something is really found out, how do you plan to tell Miss Xie?"

Ultimately, this is a family matter between the Xie family and the Prince of Huaiyang's mansion. Xie Qinglan himself clearly doesn't want to say much, as he worries that Shen Youying's good intentions will ultimately be met with disdain for meddling.

Shen Youying said, "No matter what we find out in the end, I will have to explain it to Qinglan. As for how to choose, that is Qinglan's own business. I'm just afraid that she is too naive and kind-hearted and will be taken advantage of."

When Xue Shen heard her say Xie Qinglan was "simple and kind" in a serious tone, he couldn't help but laugh: "That makes Zhaozhao sound like she's very shrewd and calculating, but I think you two are the same kind of person, otherwise you wouldn't be able to talk about the same thing."

Shen Youying glared at him and ignored his sarcastic remarks.

She then told him about another major event that had recently occurred in Tokyo: "I heard that Princess Chen failed to get a divorce and went straight back to her parents' home? Just how badly was Prince Chen injured? The Yang family actually broke ties with Prince Chen so openly?"

Tokyo is currently going through a turbulent time, with one messy thing after another happening. When Shen Youying heard the news, she was stunned for a moment, but was not particularly shocked.

Xue Shen nodded, playing with her fingers, and casually said, "The Yang family married off their daughter to take sides, but now that Prince Chen is disfigured and can no longer have children, he is destined to have no chance of the throne. Unless the Yang family is crazy, they will not continue to be tied to him."

Although the news of Princess Chen's divorce from Prince Chen is now widely known, he was partly responsible for stirring up trouble and fanning the flames.

"Can't have any more children?" This was the first time Shen Youying had heard of such a thing. She asked in surprise, "How could that be? Shen Muyu was clearly pregnant before..."

"Just because it worked before doesn't mean it will work now." Xue Shen said casually, "When I went to pick you up at Prince Chen's residence that day, I also took the opportunity to vent my anger for you."

It took Shen Youying a while to realize that he was admitting that he was the one who caused Chen Wang's "incompetence".

She looked worried: "Does Prince Chen know? He is now out of the running for the throne, and he's probably going to bite like a mad dog."

Xue Shen was quite pleased with her concern. He pinched the tip of her nose and said with a smile, "Don't worry, there are only some unfounded rumors outside. If he turns around and tries to implicate me, wouldn't he be confirming the rumors himself?"

Shen Youying thought about it and agreed, which put her at ease.

But then he remembered Shen Muyu, who had disappeared from the Chen Prince's residence, and frowned, saying, "Even the Chen Prince is in such a state, why is Shen Muyu still so stubborn and insists on staying in the Chen Prince's residence?"

She truly couldn't understand Shen Muyu anymore.

Xue Shen naturally wouldn't tell her about his deal with Shen Muyu, and casually said, "Everyone has their own ambitions. She can still maintain some dignity while staying in the Chen Prince's Mansion. If she really returns to the Shen family, although her father-in-law loves his daughter, he is a person who distinguishes right from wrong and will not let her off easily. With her personality, she probably can't handle it."

Shen Youying thought it made sense; after all, it was the path she had chosen herself, so she shook her head and stopped talking to her.

*

Xue Shen's secret guards were indeed very good at gathering intelligence.

Early on the third day, the guards delivered Xue Shaojun's information to Shen Youying's desk.

Shen Youying looked at the thick stack of papers and asked in surprise, "Why are there so many?"

Xue Shaojun's matter was complicated, and the guard didn't know what to say for a moment, so he could only reply, "Your Highness will know once you see for yourself."

Shen Youying picked up the documents and started looking through them. At first, she seemed relaxed, but as she read on, her face darkened. In the end, she became unusually angry and slammed a stack of papers on the table, saying, "The Prince of Huaiyang's mansion is really going too far!"

This thick stack of papers records Xue Shaojun's life story.

Besides what happened after his marriage to Xie Qinglan, he also touched on various things that happened before their marriage.

Xie Qinglan once said that Xue Shaojun was the youngest legitimate son of the Prince of Huaiyang. Because he was born weak, a master said that he was destined to die young. The princess was worried that she could not raise him, so she sent him to a Taoist temple to be raised when he was young. It was not until last year when he passed the imperial examination that he was brought back to the Prince's mansion.

However, the secret guards found out a different story.

It is true that Xue Shaojun was sent to a Taoist temple when he was nine years old, but it was not because he was weak. Rather, it was because when Xue Shaojun was nine years old, he tried to rape a maid. When the maid refused, he whipped her to death.

But the maid was not a servant girl; she was a free citizen who had signed a contract to work in the household.

When the maid's parents learned that their daughter had been beaten to death, they wanted to report it to the authorities. However, the Princess Consort of Huaiyang used a combination of kindness and coercion to appease the maid's family and suppress the matter.

However, Xue Shaojun did not repent and instead became even more ruthless, often beating the maids in his courtyard until they were covered in bruises. Later, seeing that the rumors were increasing, the Prince of Huaiyang, fearing that the matter would escalate and damage the reputation of the Prince's Mansion, sent the maid to a Taoist temple under the pretext of her poor health and needing to recuperate.

Afterwards, the Princess Consort of Huaiyang dealt with the servants who knew about the matter, silencing them or selling them off, so that more than ten years later, almost no one knew about it.

For years, Xue Shaojun had been living in a Taoist temple, unable to return home. The Princess Consort of Huaiyang, feeling sorry for her son, sent him money and people, and Xue Shaojun lived a very comfortable life. Under the cover of the Taoist temple's secluded cultivation, he even had his lover disguised as a Taoist boy and kept by his side for his own pleasure.

The people at the Taoist temple turned a blind eye to this because they had received bribes from the Princess Consort of Huaiyang.

It wasn't until Xue Shaojun passed the imperial examination last year that the Princess Consort of Huaiyang persuaded the Prince of Huaiyang to agree to bring him back and begin arranging a marriage for him again.

As Xue Shaojun grew older, he carefully concealed the cruelty he had shown in his childhood. The people of Tokyo were unaware of his past and instead regarded him as a promising and elegant young gentleman.

The Prince of Huaiyang's mansion hid all of this so well that even the Xie family was fooled.

Shen Youying recalled the bruise on Xie Qinglan's wrist that day, and how she smiled and said that she had caught a cold from the cold wind, and her nose began to sting.

Even though she was too badly hurt by Xue Shaojun to get up, she still had to endure the grievances and cover for him.

"No, I'm going to find Qinglan right now." Shen Youying suddenly stood up and was about to run out: "I have to let her see clearly what kind of person Xue Shaojun is. I can't let her stay in the dark any longer."

"You've come here now, but without evidence, it's all in vain." Xue Shen stopped her, and seeing her red eyes and nose, he frowned. He reached out to wipe away her tears and advised, "Xie Qinglan might believe you, but neither the Xie family nor the Huaiyang Prince's Mansion are ordinary families. The marriage between the two families is not a trivial matter. If the two of you want to divorce right after getting married, I'm afraid the Huaiyang Prince's Mansion will turn the tables on you."