"Royal sister." The second princess had been watching for a long time with a twisted expression. Seeing Shen Wangshu smilingly circling around Fang Xuan, her eyes were red with hatred.

She was equally beautiful and noble, but possessed a refinement reminiscent of Consort Lin, rather than the innate carefree spirit of the Third Princess. She appeared tall and graceful, yet her beauty paled in comparison to the Third Princess, and her composure lacked that of the First Princess; she had no particularly outstanding qualities. Although being Consort Lin's daughter granted her some respect in the Empress's presence, she was not as highly regarded by the Empress as the First Princess and her sister.

However, she was also very good at scheming, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to crush the eldest princess and the third princess together to seize the throne of empress in her previous life.

No matter how much scheming she had, the Second Princess was still young and hadn't mastered the art yet, so a hint of resentment appeared on her face.

Fang Xuan, she clearly took a liking to this ugly woman first, so how did the Third Princess interfere?

Don't even mention love at first sight. The Second Princess knows the Third Princess's character perfectly well and absolutely doesn't believe that this girl could genuinely fall in love with Fang Xuan. She's just afraid that she's causing trouble for her.

Although Fang Xuan was ugly and unattractive, a sight that would be painful to look at, he had a greater advantage: he held military power and, for some reason, caught the Empress's eye, becoming her favorite. If she could grit her teeth and marry Fang Xuan, it would be equivalent to taking control of the capital's outskirts camp, something invaluable for the second princess whose father had risen from a lowly palace maid.

The Second Princess couldn't miss out on such benefits. However, just as she decided to sacrifice her own happiness, she didn't expect that ugly freak Fang Xuan would be so ungrateful.

These days she often tries to curry favor with Fang Xuan, but the man is only cold and distant towards her, not even saying a word to her.

Despite knowing her feelings, Fang Xuan refused to show her any affection.

The thought of Fang Xuan's coldness towards her and his explicit statement that he would not marry her made the Second Princess so angry that her liver ached.

Even if she's not good, she's still miles better than the Third Princess who just loafs around and waits to die!

Is Fang Xuan blind? He can see the Third Princess but not her?!

Or... The Second Princess's gaze fell on Shen Wangshu's incomparably beautiful face, which seemed to glow, and she showed a hint of contemplation.

Could it be that Fang Xuan is someone who only judges by appearances? Is he treating the third sister differently just because she's good-looking?

“Royal Sister.” Shen Wangshu watched as the Second Princess’s fair and clean face contorted and twitched, turning pale and then flushed—a performance so dramatic it would be a spectacle for her to put on. A slight smile played on her lips as she held Fang Xuan’s rough hand, and she said casually, “I’m sorry, I know you’ve been paying a lot of attention to Ah Xuan lately. That’s only natural.” She smiled seemingly generously and said softly, “Ah Xuan is handsome and brave; he’s a rare man in this world. It’s not hard to understand why he’s admired.”

.

The second princess's face twitched.

She also found Shen Wangshu's aesthetic sense strange.

"But it's enough to admire him secretly in your heart. Ah Xuan is mine now, and I don't want him to be coveted by other women," Shen Wangshu said calmly.

The second princess was almost amused by his blatant display of possessiveness.

"Royal sister, I saw General Zhong's first. Are you going to try and take it from me?"

"If Ah Xuan likes you, I can't take you away, can I?" The Third Princess was now behaving like a mistress holding someone else's husband's hand in front of the main wife, proudly saying with her head held high, "Since Ah Xuan chose me, it means he likes me, doesn't it?"

A joyful smile appeared in her eyes, as if being admired by Fang Xuan was an exceptionally happy thing. However, the Second Princess felt like vomiting her dinner from the night before. Having also grown up in the palace, her initial anger quickly turned into rationality.

Her gaze swept over Shen Wangshu and Fang Xuan's clasped hands.

Shen Wangshu shook his hands vigorously, indicating that they were unbreakable.

The man simply turned his head away, looking at no one but at this proud and beautiful woman, as if she were the only one he could see.

"It's just that the general is a little curious. He can't compare to my sister. Oh well, I'm the older sister, how can I compete with my sister?" The second princess took a deep breath and felt that Fang Xuan was also a frivolous and lowly man who would lose his senses just because a beautiful woman was trying to coax him.

She scoffed inwardly, but then breathed a sigh of relief at the thought that she wouldn't have to reluctantly marry an ugly man. This complex mix of emotions made her expression unpredictable. A moment later, amidst the feigned indifference of her courtiers, she headed towards the inner palace.

Going to the inner palace, of course, meant going to see Consort Lin.

Shen Wangshu couldn't help but smile.

"We'll talk about it when we get back." The eldest princess felt that tomorrow the topic of General Fang being a femme fatale, causing the second and third princesses to openly compete for him, would be all over the place.

She felt a headache coming on, but couldn't help speaking softly to Fang Xuan, "Although A-Luan is willful and playful, she's a very devoted person. After seeing General Fang yesterday, she returned to the palace and dismissed all the servants, leaving the palace empty to await the arrival of the new emperor." Seeing Fang Xuan with his head down and not speaking, his large hand easily holding the heavy box, the eldest princess silently compared herself to him, coughed, and continued, "She has no other merits, her only merit is that whoever she likes, she truly likes."

Shen Wangshu believed this.

In her previous life, the Third Princess even caused the death of her own sister for the sake of the boy she truly loved.

If this isn't true love, no one would believe it.

“Me too,” Fang Xuan said in a deep voice.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!