After leaving the Hall of Supreme Harmony, Shen Weiwan patted her chest and gasped, sweat breaking out on her forehead: "Your Highness, you scared me to death just now! How can you meet your parents like this? You revealed all my embarrassing stories!"

Xiao Yu raised an eyebrow and brushed a fallen crabapple petal from her hair. "How else will Father and Mother know you're someone to be reckoned with?" He suddenly leaned in close, his warm breath brushing against her ear, startling the hairs on her neck. "Besides, I love your fearlessness, like a tigress protecting her cubs."

Chen Weiwan's cheeks were hot. Just as she was about to retort, she saw Chuntao running over breathlessly, the pomegranate flower hairpin in her hair tilted askew: "Miss! There's news from the palace that you made the emperor and empress laugh so hard that you even received many rewards!"

"Of course." Xiao Yu proudly shook the black jade ring in his hand, on which was engraved a crooked "pit" character. "It was a gift from my father. He said that Weiwan should come to the palace more often to tell jokes. They are much more interesting than the books read by those Hanlin scholars."

Shen Weiwan looked at his childish appearance and couldn't help laughing: "Your Highness, do you think I'm a storyteller?"

"Hmm..." Xiao Yu pretended to be thoughtful, tapping his folding fan lightly on his palm. "You are my personal storyteller, and you only tell jokes that are meant to trick people. For example, how you tricked that cripple Li Xiu into becoming a homosexual? I have to tell that story every day."

"Your Highness!" Shen Weiwan hit him in a stern tone, but he grasped her wrist, the warmth of his fingertips radiating through her sleeve. The two chatted and laughed as they walked through the Imperial Gardens. The setting sun stretched their shadows long, entwining them on the fallen petals. Shen Weiwan suddenly remembered the coldness of the snow in her previous life. Then, looking at the prince smiling like a fool, her heart warmed as if it had been soaked in warm water.

"Your Highness," she suddenly stopped and looked at the sunset reflected in his eyes, "could you please not be so scary when you meet your parents next time?"

Xiao Yu turned to look at her, the smile in his eyes gradually turning into tenderness: "Okay, next time I take you to see the emperor's uncle, I promise to only say good things about you."

"for example?"

"For example, how clever and brave were you when you stuffed An Ruyue's venomous snake into your skirt pocket?"

"Your Highness!"

The resounding laughter startled the sparrows in the trees, sending them fluttering off into the golden sky. The news that "the Seventh Prince's Consort had made the Emperor laugh so hard he clapped his hands on the table" had spread to every corner of the capital on the evening breeze. Commoners crowded into teahouses and taverns, recounting palace anecdotes, recounting how the future consort could not only bring the enemy to tears but also make the Emperor and Empress laugh endlessly.

Shen Weiwan hummed a tuneless little tune and began to think about what joke to tell the Queen Mother next time she entered the palace. Should she tell the story of Shen Ruorou scratching her ears and cheeks while wearing an itchy skirt, or about Li Xiu hiding at home with a limp and afraid to go out? Xiao Yu watched her jumping back, a doting smile on his face, and tapped his folding fan in his palm to a brisk rhythm.

She could make her enemies cry, amuse the Emperor, and even bring the scheming prince to heel—perhaps only Shen Weiwan in the entire capital could do it. This famous meeting with the parents was just another breathtakingly brilliant moment in her career of "deceiving people." After all, who made her the most difficult, yet most beloved, legitimate daughter in the capital?