The girl's still-warm blood splattered all over King Wei.

He instinctively reached out and caught the beautiful young girl who had fallen backward into his arms, her body as light as a butterfly.

Her face was pale and pitiful, and the deep wound on her lower abdomen was covered in blood, a shocking sight.

King Wei's hands trembled. For some reason, this girl, whose name he did not know, had a serene expression, yet she made him feel inexplicably sad.

"Empress Dowager! Your Highness!" Several silver-armored guards rushed forward in the midst of the chaos and tension. After killing all the men in black, they quickly went to the Empress Dowager and blocked the screaming girls from the crowd. Only then did they see that a beautiful girl was lying silently in the arms of the Prince of Wei.

She was delicate and beautiful, her eyes slightly closed, her face pale and weak, so frail that she seemed as if she might dissipate at any moment. She lay quietly in the arms of the King of Wei, seemingly just falling asleep. The King of Wei stared at her almost in a daze, and seeing his loss of composure, the guards dared not raise their heads.

"Summon the imperial physician immediately," the Empress Dowager, who had just calmly risen, said in a deep voice behind the King of Wei.

Shen Wangshu appeared to be unconscious, but in reality he was listening intently. Only after hearing the Empress Dowager's words did he feel at ease.

It's good that the Empress Dowager acknowledges it.

The handsome young man holding her seemed a little strange; he gripped her so tightly it hurt, but in order to maintain her appearance of being seriously injured and unconscious, Shen Wangshu endured it with great difficulty.

The young man quickly led her to the side hall next door and laid her on the soft bed. She felt that the young man carefully placed her on the bed and even thoughtfully straightened her clothes.

He seemed to have never taken care of anyone before; his clumsiness and awkwardness amused Shen Wangshu.

She let out a soft moan, slightly opened her eyes, and her gaze fell upon a pair of beautiful, shimmering eyes.

The owner of those eyes seemed relieved to see her wake up, a slight smile playing on his lips. However, when his gaze fell on her body so close to his, he hastily got up and stepped back, a faint blush rising on his fair and handsome face.

Despite her seemingly charming and amorous appearance, she is surprisingly innocent.

Two female physicians stepped forward and asked everyone to leave. They took off Shen Wangshu's clothes and carefully bandaged her wounds. Once the bleeding stopped, they invited the imperial physician in to examine her pulse.

While being tormented, Shen Wangshu recalled the plot of the book and pondered it in her mind. Just then, an elderly woman with a noble demeanor and deep gaze slowly walked towards her. She looked down at her, her imposing presence overwhelming. Seeing that the Empress Dowager had come in person, Shen Wangshu struggled to sit up and bowed softly, "Is Your Majesty alright?"

"You protected me; your contribution is immense." The Empress Dowager looked at the frail girl on the bed who showed no sign of pain or suffering, and revealed a faint expression of appreciation.

She saved herself, but didn't deliberately act like she was in pain to gain her more favor.

The Empress Dowager really liked reserved and respectful girls.

"It is my duty to protect Your Majesty." Shen Wangshu didn't say anything flattering. After finishing this sentence, beads of sweat were already streaming down her forehead.

The Empress Dowager is already the most honored woman in the world. What kind of flattery hasn't she heard? Why make a fool of herself? Besides, she was seriously injured for the Empress Dowager. This alone will make the Empress Dowager look at her in a different light.

It seems she should thank the girl who gave her a push in the beginning.

Thinking of this, Shen Wangshu's eyes, which seemed to be smiling but not smiling, passed over the Empress Dowager who had patted her hand and told her to rest and recuperate in the palace, and landed on a delicate and lovely girl behind countless beautiful young women at the side hall entrance.

This girl is the female protagonist of the book. Like the girl in her current body, named Song Lan, she comes from the Prime Minister's mansion. However, Song Lan is the legitimate daughter of the Prime Minister's mansion, while the beautiful girl Song Wan'er is the illegitimate daughter. Although she is illegitimate, Song Wan'er is the daughter of the Prime Minister's beloved woman, and therefore, she can be on equal footing with Song Lan in the Prime Minister's mansion.

Even when the Empress Dowager hosted a banquet, Prime Minister Song dared to send his young illegitimate daughter to the palace to meet her, which shows how much he loved his daughter.

Moreover, Song Lan's birth mother passed away early, and now she is managed by Aunt Rou, Song Wan'er's mother, which makes Song Wan'er's status rise even higher.

Unfortunately, no matter how high her status, she was still just the daughter of a concubine. Ordinary noble families would not want a concubine's daughter to be their principal wife.

Song Wan'er already had a lover she wanted to spend her life with, but unfortunately, her lover came from a noble family, and her mother was unwilling to accept a daughter-in-law who was not her illegitimate daughter. When Shen Wangshu read the book, he learned that in order to marry the man she loved, Song Wan'er persuaded him to propose to Song Lan. Once Song Lan entered the family, she would marry him as a concubine, just like her mother, Consort Rou.

Who doesn't like a handsome and refined man?

When Song Lan was proposed to, she was completely unaware of the truth and was overjoyed, thinking that she and her husband would live in harmony. However, only three days after the wedding, when the man took his half-sister as a concubine, she finally realized that he had married her just to put her on display for others.

He had a wife of noble birth, which he could explain to his family and mother, so he abandoned her and lived happily ever after with Song Wan'er. But it would have been fine if he had just ignored her, but whenever he was angry with Song Wan'er, he would come and sleep with her to provoke her. After Song Wan'er made up with him, he would forget about Song Lan again.

It wasn't until Song Lan became pregnant and Song Wan'er broke down in tears, lamenting that her love had been betrayed, that this man looked at Song Lan with eyes full of hatred.

This is the woman who made the woman he loved heartbroken and brought her to tears.

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