When Meng Zhao got into the carriage, her weakness was mostly an act. But once she was in the carriage, the swaying motion brought out her discomfort. Before long, she felt nauseous and started dry heaving by the edge of the carriage.

"Ugh, ugh!" Madam Gu hurriedly patted her back to help her catch her breath. Granny Sun quickly lifted the carriage curtain and called out to Afu outside, "Afu, be careful while driving! Madam Meng isn't feeling well and can't handle the jolting!" After saying that, she quickly lowered the curtain again, afraid that the cold wind outside would blow in.

Meng Zhao felt dizzy and her stomach was churning. She hadn't eaten much that morning and hadn't had time to eat at the lunch banquet. She couldn't even vomit and could only dry heave. She secretly lamented: Today is really the worst day ever!

After the carriage slowed down, Meng Zhao felt a little better and asked, "What is the background of that princess today?" She hadn't asked too much while they were in someone else's territory, but now that they were out, she remembered to ask. She remembered that there were several princesses living in the capital, but she had only heard their names and couldn't match them up.

Granny Sun, who had worked in the palace, explained, "Although the woman today is not the Emperor's biological daughter, her status in the capital is even more prestigious than that of a princess in the palace."

Upon hearing this, Meng Zhao already had a guess in her mind. Sure enough, Granny Sun continued, "That is Princess Danyang. Her mother is His Majesty's elder sister, the Eldest Princess. When the founding emperor was conquering the country, the Eldest Princess accompanied the army and made many contributions."

Later, she married the Duke of Wei, but unfortunately the two had no children until the eldest princess was over thirty years old when she gave birth to this precious daughter. Princess Danyang was granted the title of princess at birth, which shows how much she was favored.

Unfortunately, the Duke of Wei died young and did not live to see the young princess grow up. After his death, the eldest princess also entered a Buddhist monastery, detached herself from worldly affairs, and the young princess was sent to the palace to be raised by the Empress Dowager.

Meng Zhao had heard of this princess in the original book, saying that His Majesty treated her even better than the Crown Prince, which shows how deep the sibling bond was back then.

Granny Sun paused for a moment, then continued, "However, this princess usually stays in the palace with a large entourage. I don't know how she left the palace today, and she happened to run into Lady Meng."

Meng Zhao leaned on Gu Shi's shoulder and pouted. What else could it be but a young girl's first stirrings of love and jealousy! However, she remembered that in the original book, this little princess was in love with Shen Qinghe. Why was she mentioning "Young Master Hua Zhang" today? She couldn't help but ask, "Is there a man named 'Hua Zhang' in the capital?"

Upon hearing this, Madam Gu's eyes widened slightly. She turned to look at Meng Zhao, her tone tinged with surprise: "You didn't know?"

"Know what?"

“'Huazhang' is Qinghe’s courtesy name.”

Meng Zhao was speechless. She didn't know anything about it. All she knew was that after Shen Qinghe passed the provincial examination and became the top scholar, he participated in the palace examination. The emperor asked questions in the palace, and Shen Qinghe answered fluently, winning the emperor's favor. When the emperor heard that he had not yet chosen a courtesy name, he bestowed upon him a courtesy name, "Yu Shu".

Because this courtesy name was bestowed by the emperor himself, people in the capital called him "Yu Shu," so Meng Zhao had a deep impression of this name and had never heard of Hua Zhang!

Madam Gu continued, "This courtesy name was given to Qinghe by his master after he became the top scholar in the imperial examination. We family members rarely use it, and I guess not many people in the capital know about it. But didn't Qinghe tell you about it?"

Meng Zhao was speechless for a moment. She couldn't very well say that she and Shen Qinghe hadn't corresponded for a long time, could she? Besides, she had deliberately avoided inquiring about him in the past two years, which was why she wasn't quite sure. So she could only pretend to vomit and brush it off.

But the more she thought about it, the more she felt that she had been wronged in falling into the water today. If that little princess had explained her identity beforehand, or mentioned Shen Qinghe's name, she could have immediately revealed that she was Shen Qinghe's sister-in-law. Who knew that it would be such a coincidence, and she suffered for nothing!

At the same time, Shen Qinghe had just stepped out of the palace gate when he saw a eunuch, who was delivering messages to the Hanlin Academy, loitering around the palace gate. Upon seeing him come out, the eunuch hurriedly came up to him, "Oh, Lord Shen, you've finally come out! The message you asked me to keep an eye on at Qingxi Villa came back saying that your Lady Meng has fallen into the water at Qingxi Villa and seems to be in great danger!"

Upon hearing this, Shen Qinghe's expression changed drastically. He disregarded the rule against rushing near the palace gates and hurried to the parking area, listening to the eunuch recount the events that had transpired.

The eunuch said he had received the letter some time ago, and that the Shen family's carriage had already left Qingxi Villa. So he did not leave the city, but rode home. As soon as he arrived, he saw Afu driving the carriage to the door, and Gu Shi was helping Meng Zhao get out of the carriage.

Meng Zhao's face was pale, and he looked so weak that he seemed like he could be blown away by a gust of wind. His heart skipped a beat, and he jumped off his horse, ran quickly to the carriage, and reached out his arm to take the man from him.

Meng Zhao felt dizzy the whole way. When she was about to get off the carriage, her legs felt unsteady. Just as she was about to find something to hold onto, she was caught by a pair of strong arms. She tried to open her eyes, but she was too sleepy to open them. A deep and gentle voice came to her ears: "It's okay, just get some sleep."

Hearing this voice, Meng Zhao felt inexplicably at ease. She stopped straining and completely relaxed, leaning against him. Seeing her like this, Shen Qinghe hugged her even tighter and quickened his pace as they walked home.

Huang Cui, who was in the courtyard, heard the sound of a carriage and wondered who had returned. As soon as she opened the door, she was so frightened that she almost cried. She saw her boss lying in Shen Qinghe's arms, his face pale, his hair disheveled, and he was extremely weak.

She rushed forward, wanting to take Meng Zhao away, but Shen Qinghe dodged her and said coldly, "Go and invite Doctor Fu from Renjitang on Zhuque Street."

Huang Cui then realized what was happening and ran out to find a doctor. At the same time, she also sent someone to deliver a message to Yin Chun and Su Meng, who were outside.

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