Because they were about to depart for Chuyun Temple, Shen Youying invited Xie Qinglan to her residence the day before their departure.

When Prince Chen rebelled, he summoned the wives and children of officials to the palace, and Xie Qinglan was among them. However, at that time the Emperor was ill and the court was in chaos and turmoil, so she could not visit in person and only sent a maid to the Xie family to inquire.

Now that things have calmed down for the time being, she is pregnant again. Even when she takes a walk in Tingmei Pavilion, Xue Shen gets nervous, so he has no choice but to invite Xie Qinglan to come over.

Xie Qinglan hadn't seen her for a long time and missed her very much. She arrived at the Prince Qin's mansion and entered Tingmei Pavilion with ease, where she saw Shen Youying sitting in the pavilion basking in the sun.

Various kinds of food and snacks were laid out on the table next to the rocking chair.

She lifted her skirt and jogged a few steps to meet him. Before she even arrived, her laughter preceded her words: "You seem to be having a great time behind closed doors, but you have no idea how suffocated I am at home."

Shen Youying slowly sat up, pointed to the rocking chair prepared next to her, and urged her to sit down: "Why are you holding back?"

He looked her up and down again and asked, "You said earlier that Prince Chen almost hurt you, are you alright?"

Xie Qinglan sat down in the rocking chair next to her, poured herself a cup of tea, and then began to talk about the events of the day of the palace coup: "Nothing really happened, I was just startled. But I recovered after a couple of days back at the manor."

She pursed her lips, still angry at the memory: "You have no idea, Prince Chen chased Yang Chun like a madman. Yang Chun was afraid of dying, so she kept running into crowds. When she was about to be caught, she dragged me, the unlucky one, down with her. If it weren't for Cui—" She stopped abruptly, her expression somewhat unnatural as she changed the subject: "I was just lucky. Prince Chen was really crazy. He was so badly injured, yet he still managed to catch up with Yang Chun and ruin her face."

She said with a mixture of satisfaction and regret, "At the time, the side hall was full of officials' wives. Yang Chun's attempt to shift the blame offended many people, and afterwards, the Yang family went door-to-door to apologize. Her parents doted on her, and even had a famous doctor from Guangqing treat her, but it's said that even if her face heals, it will be scarred..."

By the end, there was no longer any schadenfreude on her face: "I heard that Prince Shou's face was also disfigured. Prince Chen is truly a madman. He disfigured himself and wanted everyone to be like him. Fortunately, evil deeds are punished by heaven, and he was killed by the rebels."

Shen Youying gave her a disapproving look, gestured for the maids to step back, and said softly, "You can't say that again." She lowered her voice to remind her, "His Majesty is deeply grieved by the death of Prince Chen and intends to thoroughly investigate the murderer."

Xie Qinglan's lips pursed so much they could hang an oil lamp on them, but she still whispered, "I know, I was just telling you."

In her opinion, it would be a great relief if Prince Chen, that scourge, were to die.

Shen Youying skipped over the topic and didn't say anything more. Instead, she rolled her eyes and looked at her with a smile, bringing up the person Xie Qinglan had deliberately ignored earlier: "I heard it was Vice Envoy Cui who saved you?"

Xie Qinglan looked pale upon hearing this and reluctantly nodded, "It's him."

Shen Youying knew perfectly well what was going on, but deliberately didn't point it out. She asked curiously, "What's with that expression? Cui Zichen is your savior, after all. You don't have to hate him for something like that from the past, do you?"

Xie Qinglan tugged at her handkerchief, drank another cup of tea, and said awkwardly, "I don't know how to tell you..."

Seeing her blush, Shen Youying became even more persistent, playfully poking her waist: "Do you not know how to say it or are you too embarrassed to say it? Hurry up and say it!"

Xie Qinglan's face grew even redder. She covered half of her face with a handkerchief before saying in a muffled voice, "I suspect he likes me."

Shen Youying covered her mouth with her handkerchief, thinking that only someone as slow to realize as Xie Qinglan would realize that Cui Zichen liked her so soon.

She suppressed a laugh and asked, "Oh? What do you mean? I remember he's a few years older than you, right? But if we disregard age, he's definitely a good match for you."

Xie Qinglan removed the handkerchief, glared at her with a mixture of shyness and anger, and said irritably, "You're just making fun of me."

Recalling Cui Zichen's strange behavior these past few days, she said somewhat awkwardly, "That day in the palace, I was frightened by Prince Chen. I had been running for my life and my legs were so weak I couldn't stand. He carried me onto the carriage... The palace was in chaos at the time, and Father had to stay behind to manage the situation and couldn't take care of me. There was no one else with me, and I was terrified, so... I could only beg him to stay with me..."

She was too embarrassed to tell Shen Youying the rest.

At that time, Prince Chen captured her, and the sword was about to pierce her body. If Cui Zichen hadn't saved her in time, she probably would have died.

She was almost scared out of her wits. She finally saw someone she knew and felt she could rely on, and she couldn't hold back anymore. She hugged Cui Zichen and cried her heart out.

That day, Cui Zichen wasn't unpleasant at all; in fact, he was quite gentle. He carried her into the carriage, but she became so frightened that she clung to him and wouldn't let go. So he simply abandoned his duties at the palace and took her all the way back to the Xie family.

At the time, she was naturally very grateful to Cui Zichen, but after she recovered, her parents specially invited Cui Zichen to their home and even asked her to come out and meet people.

Several times later, she belatedly realized that her mother had also been in the palace at the time. However, the palace was in chaos, and she and her mother were separated by the panicked crowd. But after things calmed down, Cui Zichen could have easily returned her to her mother. If she had seen her mother, she certainly wouldn't have bothered Cui Zichen to send her back…

What's strange is that her mother's carriage returned shortly after hers.

The more Xie Qinglan thought about it, the more she felt that her parents' and Cui Zichen's attitudes were strange. After pondering for several days, she came to this conclusion.

Shen Youying suppressed a laugh and said seriously, "It's only natural that you were frightened at the time."

Xie Qinglan nodded repeatedly, but then she heard her change the subject: "But why do you think Cui Zichen likes you?"

Xie Qinglan mumbled, "I just feel that he's been very attentive to me these days, and his words aren't as annoying..."

He even had a gentle and considerate air about him. Every time he visited, he would bring her some of her favorite foods from Fanlou, afraid that she would be bored at home. He also finished writing the storybook he hadn't finished before...

There were many such small things. Xie Qinglan was not an ungrateful person. Cui Zichen had saved her life and taken the initiative to be friendly. No matter what, she couldn't bring herself to refuse.

However, what truly left her bewildered was something else entirely.

"Just the other day, he came to visit again, and I overheard him talking to my father. They mentioned marriage and something like that..."

Xie Qinglan lowered her eyes, fidgeting with the handkerchief between her fingers, her expression somewhat blank.

Shen Youying asked, "Do you like him? Would you be willing to marry him?"

Xie Qinglan sighed, leaned back in the rocking chair, shook herself vigorously, and then shook her head, saying, "I don't know."