After leaving Prince Chen's courtyard, Zhou Zhenrong indeed went to the Banana Garden.

Shen Muyu was sitting by the banana tree in the courtyard, playing the zither. The music was mournful and poignant, stirring pity in those who heard it. If Prince Chen still harbored some affection for her, and happened to pass by and hear it, seeing the familiar scene and the familiar face, he might feel pity and relive the past.

Zhou Zhenrong's eyebrows twitched immediately. This Shen Muyu didn't seem so stupid after all.

Unfortunately, she didn't know that Prince Chen had never cared about her. No matter how mournful and tender her music was, it couldn't touch Prince Chen's heartstrings.

Zhou Zhenrong placed her hands folded in front of her lower abdomen and gracefully walked into the courtyard. Before she even arrived, her voice preceded her: "I could hear someone playing the zither from far away. I never expected it to be Sister Chen. When did you start liking this kind of affected, pretentious tune?"

Hearing the commotion outside the courtyard, Shen Muyu assumed it was Prince Chen passing by, but it turned out to be Zhou Zhenrong. The smile on her face faded as she recalled how Zhou Zhenrong might have been watching her make a fool of herself while she was outside in the blazing sun seeking an audience. A wave of embarrassment washed over her.

But she was always proud, and even if she felt embarrassed, she wouldn't show it on her face. She just retorted sarcastically, "I'm playing the zither in my own courtyard. Does the concubine have to interfere? She's interfering even more than the principal wife."

Unexpectedly, she dared to use the princess to pressure her. Zhou Zhenrong was slightly annoyed and used a forced smile to poke at her sore spot: "I thought you must be sad because you just lost your child, so I came to see you out of kindness. I didn't expect you to be so ungrateful."

Zhou Zhenrong stopped wasting time with her, twirled the handkerchief in her fingers, and said with a smile, "Forget it, why should I argue with you? But don't blame me for not reminding you, a woman without His Highness's favor can only keep her tail between her legs in this inner court. If you continue to be so sharp-tongued, you'll suffer even more."

Shen Muyu bit her lip: "Who Your Highness favors is not up to you."

Zhou Zhenrong smiled, recalling what Prince Chen had said earlier, and looked at her with a hint of pity: "You don't really think you're anything special in His Highness's eyes, do you? You should never think too highly of yourself. Maybe you're not even as good as those women who have fallen out of favor in the Prince's harem."

After all, those women might have enjoyed Chen Wang's genuine affection for a few days, while Shen Muyu, from beginning to end, was merely a tool that needed to be trained to obey.

If you don't listen, you'll face a lot more trouble later.

Shen Muyu's heart skipped a beat at her words, but she reassured herself that Zhou Zhenrong was just bluffing, and managed to calm down.

Zhou Zhenrong seemed to have come specifically to see her make a fool of herself; after making a few sarcastic remarks, she left.

After she left, Shen Muyu lost interest in playing the zither and returned to her inner room, staring blankly at the sky outside the window.

She kept comforting herself, telling herself that Zhou Zhenrong's words wouldn't come true; she was still young and beautiful, and no matter what, Prince Chen would surely feel some pity for her. But Zhou Zhenrong's words lingered in her heart like a curse, making it difficult for her to sleep.

As if to verify Zhou Zhenrong's words, Dongqing returned empty-handed the next day after going to the kitchen to fetch the medicinal food, her eyes red.

"What happened?" Shen Muyu looked at her hand, which was scalded red, and quickly took some tea to rinse it.

When she was still a young lady, Shen Muyu didn't have a good temper, but she wasn't the type to mistreat her servants. However, she was picky about the maids who served her, and over the years, the maids around her had often changed, except for Dongqing who had stayed with her all this time.

Holly isn't particularly clever, but she has one good quality: she's honest, obedient, and doesn't talk too much.

When Shen Muyu married into the Chen Prince's Mansion, she intended to separate herself from the Shen family and only brought Dongqing, her personal maid, with her.

Perhaps because they were in an unfamiliar place, the two of them felt quite dependent on each other. In addition, Dongqing was loyal and devoted to taking care of her during her postpartum period, so Shen Muyu became even closer to her.

Seeing her being bullied, he felt a surge of anger.

Seeing that Dongqing hesitated and wouldn't speak, she pressed on, "Did someone bully you?"

Dongqing hesitated and refused to speak until Shen Muyu raised her voice, at which point she whispered, "It's...it's the kitchen staff who said that there will be no more medicinal meals for you, Miss."

Shen Muyu didn't react for a moment: "What do you mean by 'kitchen'?"

Dongqing glanced at her timidly, her eyes reddening even more. She dared not utter the unpleasant words spoken by the kitchen servants, and could only pick out the few audible sentences to say: "The kitchen means that the medicinal ingredients used in the medicinal cuisine are precious. Consort Zhou has instructed that since you have already finished your postpartum confinement, you don't need to use them anymore."

But actually, the kitchen staff's original words were even harsher.

How can a concubine who has fallen out of favor be allowed to eat such good food?

In the inner quarters, a place where favored officials catered to different people, the servants knew that Shen Muyu had miscarried and lost her child. Furthermore, Prince Chen hadn't visited the Banana Garden in recent days, leading them to believe that Madam Shen, who had only recently entered the household, had likely fallen out of favor.

Now, with Consort Zhou's orders, they were even more eager to trample Shen Muyu into the mud. Dongqing couldn't stand the foul language any longer and argued with them, but the old women in the kitchen actually started hitting her. In her attempt to dodge, Dongqing even spilled the chicken soup she had specially ordered for her young lady, scalding her hands with the boiling soup.

The kitchen staff claimed she had spilled the soup herself and refused to give her another bowl. Unable to argue with them, Dongqing could only return empty-handed and embarrassed.

"I'm so useless," Dongqing sniffed.

"How can this be your fault?" Shen Muyu looked at her red hand and said, "Go find some burn ointment to apply. If you damage your hand, how will you work in the future?"

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