For Tong Cheng'er, the days passed quickly with plenty of storybooks to read and cats to pet. In the blink of an eye, Liu Shaoyi, who had gone to Jiangnan to remove his mourning clothes, had returned.

When he returned this time, he had changed out of his plain clothes, and Shumulu arranged a banquet to welcome him back.

At the dinner table, Al-Hatu asked Liu Shaoyi about his thoughts on marriage.

Three years ago, he reached the age where he could get married, and now, three years later, he's really not young anymore.

Liu Shaoyi glanced at Tong Cheng'er, who was sitting to the side eating earnestly, and then said, "I think I'll consider this matter after I've taken the imperial examination."

Al-Hatu was quite pleased to hear this. The next imperial examination would be held after his daughter's selection, and it would be fine to wait until after that.

Al-Hatu then smiled and said, "That's fine too. A man's ambition lies in all directions. It's acceptable to establish a career first and then start a family."

After Liu Shaoyi returned from Jiangnan, Tong Cheng'er saw him more often. This time it wasn't that Shumulu wanted to matchmake the two, but because Liu Shaoyi no longer had to observe mourning and could participate in many occasions.

Alhatu and Shumulu did not consider him an outsider. He had everything his sons had, so naturally, they had more opportunities to meet.

After learning about Alhatu and Shumulu's plans, Liu Shaoyi, who was also interested, began to treat Tong Cheng'er exceptionally well.

His actions were subtle and insidious, and since he was acting in concert with her brothers, Tong Cheng'er didn't notice anything amiss.

Although Shumulu Shi focused most of her energy on her eldest daughter-in-law, she also kept an eye on her daughter and happened to see Liu Shaoyi's performance, which pleased her greatly.

Of course, besides Shumulu, there was another person who could see it too.

Su Peisheng trembled as he looked at his master's icy expression. Usually, his master would feel a little better after seeing Tong Gege's daily life, but today, his master's expression became even more gloomy and uncertain.

The master's face is cold, so cold.

He wondered what Tong Gege had done to make the master so angry.

Looking at his master, Su Peisheng admired Tong Gege from the bottom of his heart. Although she looked delicate and soft, she could affect his master's emotions with every move. His Majesty did not have this ability.

Yinzhen was indeed quite angry. He hadn't really remembered Liu Shaoyi, but when he saw the message that Tong Cheng'er and Liu Shaoyi met twice every three days, Yinzhen finally remembered what he had heard in the Prince Gong's rockery when he first met Tong Cheng'er.

This Liu Shaoyi must be the husband that the little maid mentioned, the husband that Tong Cheng'er's mother prepared for her.

He had almost forgotten about this person, but then he showed up to make his presence known, which made Yinzhen very angry.

Yinzhen was even somewhat annoyed, thinking that the people in the Tong family were really something. They had a perfectly good daughter, and before she had even participated in the imperial concubine selection, they were already thinking about finding her a husband.

Yinzhen seemed to have forgotten the surprise and amusement he felt when he first heard that Tong Cheng'er was worried about her getting married because she was lazy.

At the time, because they were strangers, I just found it funny and a good way to pass the time. But now, looking back...

It's unbearable to recall!

What are all these things?!

Su Peisheng watched as his master stared intently at the dossier, practically drilling a hole in it. Besides, it was already past noon, and his master still hadn't spoken. Should they eat or not?

After a while, Su Peisheng said, "Master, the kitchen has prepared a meal. Why don't you have some first and then see what happens?"

Yinzhen wasn't hungry at all; he was too angry to continue. "I'm not hungry now, so there's no need to prepare a meal."

Su Peisheng: Master, you only ate a small bowl of porridge for breakfast. Are you not hungry?

Su Peisheng smiled and said, "Yes."

After Su Peisheng's interruption, although Yinzhen was still angry, he stopped staring at the file.

It's getting more and more infuriating.

In the afternoon, Yinzhen went to run his errands as usual, but he was a little less efficient.

That night, Yinzhen began to think that he couldn't just do nothing.

Since Liu Shaoyi was valued by Alhatu and Shumulu, he must be quite good himself. If the two of them continued to spend time together like this, Yinzhen was really afraid that Tong Cheng'er would be kidnapped by someone else.

That won't do. He's finally found a woman he can touch. If she gets kidnapped and his problem never gets better, he'll never be able to touch a woman again in his life.

This is intolerable, absolutely intolerable.

Liu Shaoyi held no official position and lived in the Tong residence. Even though Yinzhen was a prince, he still needed to carefully consider how to thwart Liu's ambitions.

Just as Yinzhen was thinking about avoiding contact between Liu Shaoyi and Tong Cheng'er, Lady Fucha was about to give birth.

Empress Fucha gave birth to her first child, a baby prince, after a full night of labor. Both mother and child were safe and sound.

The entire Tong household was bustling with excitement; this was truly a joyous occasion.

After a grand celebration for the baby's third-day-old and a grand celebration for the baby's full-month-old, the excitement finally subsided.

With her daughter-in-law giving birth and surrounded by a group of wet nurses to serve her, Shumulu Shi finally had some free time. Observing Liu Shaoyi's demeanor, she thought he was quite good, so she decided to talk to her daughter again.

So Tong Cheng'er was kept on after paying her respects once.

"Mother, please tell me what's wrong! I'm listening."

Shumulu smiled and said, "Judging from your words, do you perhaps know what I'm about to say?"

Tong Cheng'er shook her head: "I don't have the ability to read your mind. You are my mother, so of course I have to listen to what you say. Aren't I a good, sensible, obedient, and filial daughter..."

Shumulu quickly interrupted her, laughing and saying, "Alright, you're praising yourself too much. You think you're so capable."

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