Chapter 4

On a crisp early winter morning, the cold wind brought a slight chill, causing one to shiver slightly.

Shen Yao is a lazy person. She used to get up early every day because of her studies, but now that she has become an ancient person, she just wants to lie down.

But there are always people who won't let her lie down properly.

Her maid was even more diligent than she was, urging her to get up early in the morning, "Miss, the drums have sounded so many times, it's time for you to get up."

"Um."

Shen Yao mumbled softly, turned over, pulled the blanket over her head, and continued to sleep soundly.

Biluo silently rolled her eyes. She couldn't stand how lazy her daughter was these days.

Unfortunately, her ancestor refused to get up, and she was helpless.

...

"Miss, His Highness the Third Prince is here."

Whenever Shen Yao didn't want to get up, Bi Luo would always make up some stories to get her out of bed. She had been fooled twice before by the boy who cried wolf, so this time she just ignored it.

"Cousin, why are you still sleeping?"

A man's voice suddenly reached her ears, and Shen Yao was startled. She quickly opened her eyes, crawled out of bed, and turned to see Wei Xun had already entered the room, looking down at the crickets he was keeping in a box.

Oh, she almost forgot that she had so many treasures in her room.

"Is he still alive?"

His voice, hoarse from sleeping all night, was husky.

Wei Xun turned his head slightly, his beautiful eyes sweeping over Shen Yao. Although he could only see a blurry figure of her through the bed curtains, he could still keenly smell her unique scent.

After his cousin got married, she seemed to have gained something else.

Wei Xun stared blankly at Shen Yao for a long while before saying, "Why are you cursing them? These little things are so cute."

Wei Xun turned his head back and buried it in the cricket box again. At this age, Wei Xun was not interested in women and was only immersed in cricket fighting.

Shen Yao also woke up. She rubbed her eyes, put on her coat, shoes and socks, and got out of bed to wash up.

She and Wei Xun grew up together, so she didn't avoid him.

Do you know the Crown Prince's birth date and time?

Shen Yao broke the silence by speaking.

"have no idea."

Wei Xun didn't even turn his head.

"You are a prince, go to the Imperial Clan Court and ask."

"Why do you need my elder brother's birth date and time?"

"Can you get it?"

Shen Yao approached, her gentle eyes looking down at Wei Xun, and her words were also very soft. Wei Xun looked up and saw an incomparably beautiful face so close to his. She exuded a unique milky fragrance. Wei Xun's Adam's apple bobbed, and his head felt a little heavy.

Wei Xun did not answer for a long time, so Shen Yao went to the table to do her hair. Her long, black hair, as smooth as satin, was combed up and tied into a high bun, with a gold hairpin inserted in it.

Wei Xun walked over, and the man's fair face was reflected in the bronze mirror. Shen Yao smiled slightly and said, "Little cousin, I have something very important to do. Can you help me?"

Wei Xun retorted, "Cousin is cousin, why add 'little' in front of him?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Yao turned around. The peony flower ornament on her forehead had already been applied, revealing her bright eyes, white teeth, and stunning beauty.

She is beautiful.

Wei Xun was somewhat mesmerized by what he saw.

"Alright, then, cousin. I'll tell you, you must get the Crown Prince's birth date and time."

The man was right in front of her. Shen Yao reached out and patted his shoulder, saying seriously, "Our future depends on you."

Her future happiness depended entirely on Wei Xun.

As long as Wei Luo can be cursed to death by her, the throne will always belong to Wei Xun.

The thought that the future emperor would be her cousin filled Shen Yao with enthusiasm.

So she sent Wei Xun directly to the Imperial Clan Court, then prepared some money and went with Biluo to buy some smelly things.

The soft morning light spills onto the red walls and green tiles of the Forbidden City, making it a magnificent sight. The vast palace complex, kept so clean, owes much to the eunuchs who were dedicated to cleaning up excrement.

In a corner of the palace gate, shrouded in shadow, a eunuch carrying a jar had been waiting for a long time. The person who wanted to buy the Crown Prince's "Eastern Palace Legacy" and "Linye" had not yet arrived, and he frequently looked around.

He was a member of the Crown Prince's faction, specifically in charge of handling these matters. These items were originally to be uniformly sent to a designated place for burial, but today he made an exception and sold them, simply because they had given him far too much.

You can mess with anyone, but nobody messes with money.

Two women walked up to him, looking around furtively, just like him, clearly the kind of furtive people who were up to something illegal.

The eunuch's hands trembled slightly as he held the jar. He recognized the person as Shen Yao, the niece of Consort Shen.

A troublesome woman.

"But who bought that item?"

The eunuch inquired.

Shen Yao and Bi Luo exchanged a glance, then focused their attention on the jar and replied, "It's us. What's inside is..."

“It’s the Crown Prince’s.” The eunuch’s eyes darted around, and he quickly replied, “It was arranged this morning, it’s still very fresh.”

Shen Yao: "..."

Actually, there's no need to go into so much detail...

She feels like the forum is stinking right now.

Shen Yao pursed her lips, then stuffed a bag of silver into his sleeve, her expression serious, and said, "You must keep this a secret."

She still gave her some final instructions.

The eunuch hurriedly replied, "Don't worry, Miss Chen, I will keep my mouth shut about what you've done."

After he finished speaking, he looked around and, seeing that no one was around, approached the two of them and lowered his voice, saying, "I know you are going to use witchcraft, Miss Shen. If you succeed, you must remember my contribution."

Shen Yao was taken aback. She hadn't expected that even a eunuch would know about this. Her heart pounded, and she was momentarily stunned, unsure of what to say.

Should we appease him and offer him empty promises? But what if he turns against us?

Before Shen Yao could think of a response, the clever Bi Luo was in high spirits and immediately stepped forward to whisper, "Of course, if the Crown Prince is really cursed to death, when Prince Xi ascends the throne, he will transfer you to the Eastern Depot as its supervisor."

"..."

This cake was really big and round. Shen Yao's mouth opened slightly. When it came to drawing cakes, she still had to learn from the ancients.

Sure enough, as soon as Bilu finished speaking, the eunuch's expression immediately lit up. He quickly bowed and chuckled, "To tell you the truth, I accidentally offended Liu Heng, so I've been working as a chamber pot maker in the Eastern Palace for more than ten years. Liu Heng also makes things difficult for me from time to time. I've long wanted to go somewhere else. Today, I'm fortunate to meet Miss Chen, so I will do my best to help her."

Biluo extended an olive branch to him, and the clever eunuch immediately accepted it. Shen Yao also nodded in agreement and asked, "Now that we're on the same side, let me ask you something else. Does the Crown Prince have someone he likes? We're still missing something. Can you help us get it?"

Shen Yao asked him about semen.

Upon hearing this, the eunuch immediately stepped back, shaking his head in refusal, "I cannot access this."

"Then who can access it?" Shen Yao pressed.

"Liu Heng, I guess."

"Huh?" Shen Yao opened her mouth but couldn't speak.

He looks much older than the Crown Prince, yet his tastes are so unusual.

After thinking for a moment, Shen Yao asked, "Is Liu Heng the Crown Prince's male concubine?"

Shen Yao was surprised just now, and now it was the eunuch's turn to be surprised. He quickly denied it, "No, no, Miss Shen, please don't make wild guesses. Liu Heng is His Highness's chief attendant, not a male concubine."

The eunuch wiped the sweat from his brow, feeling that Shen Yao's thought process was a bit too wild. Before he could even process it, Shen Yao asked again, "Who is the Crown Prince's male concubine?"

"I've never heard that Your Highness has a taste for this."

"But isn't it rumored that the Crown Prince is homosexual?"

"Rumors, pure rumors. Besides, the Crown Prince is currently observing mourning and cannot do such things."

The palace eunuchs refuted the rumors on site.

Shen Yao felt a chill in her heart.

How is she supposed to get that thing?

*

In the evening, Wei Xun swaggered into the palace, proudly slammed a piece of paper on the table, and said triumphantly, "I've successfully obtained what you wanted."

His eyes shone with a joyful light, twinkling like stars in the sky, as if to say: Praise me, praise me now!

As he wished, Shen Yao showered him with praise.

She stuffed the note into her purse, and then heard the Imperial Concubine say that the Emperor and the Crown Prince would be coming soon, so the palace servants busied themselves preparing the meal.

With nothing to do, Shen Yao sat at the table eating the fruit tea and candied fruit that Wei Xun had brought back from outside the palace. As she ate, she frowned and thought of a solution. Before she knew it, she had drunk too much tea and suddenly felt uncomfortable in her stomach.

"I'm going to change."

Shen Yao hurriedly ran to the clean room.

Not long after Shen Yao left, Wei Luo arrived with Liu Heng.

The emperor had not yet arrived, and the imperial concubine was washing and dressing in the east pavilion. At present, apart from the palace attendants, only Wei Xun was in the main hall.

Wei Luo arrived early today, and he also brought a special gift—crickets!

Knowing that Wei Xun had many treasures with Shen Yao, he specially asked Liu Heng to find a brave cricket to challenge Wei Xun.

"Third brother, my dog ​​is called Black Widow. Do you dare to have a match?"

Wei Luo lifted the lid of the box, showing Wei Xun the imposing figure of the cricket inside, thus provoking him to accept the challenge.

Wei Luo had never liked these kinds of playthings, but today he had surprisingly invited him to a contest. Coupled with yesterday's grudge, Wei Xun was immediately aroused and sneered, "Let's compete then, who's afraid of who? Today I will wipe out this widow and make her die with my great general."

Wei Xun immediately led the two of them to Shen Yao's residence.

Since Shen Yao was whipped, she had been living in the West Warm Pavilion, which was staffed by Shen family maids, not palace servants. Therefore, when Shen Yao was away, Wei Xun barged in with Wei Luo, and the maids were unable to stop him.

Not only could they not stop her, but the maid was also sent out to serve as a door god. Knowing the secret inside the house, Biluo hurriedly ran to find Chen Yao.

"Girl, come out quickly, something terrible has happened."

Shen Yao did indeed have an upset stomach and was sitting on the tub feeling unwell when Bi Luo came over and launched into a tirade, scaring her so much that she didn't dare stay any longer. She quickly got dressed and stormed back in a huff.

After receiving the jar in the morning, Shen Yao stuffed a handkerchief inside and burned incense and chanted incantations for a quarter of an hour. The jar was now in the clean room, so as soon as she entered the room, she saw three people squatting on the ground fighting, while Wei Luo was nowhere to be seen.

Shen Yao had a bad feeling and asked, "Where is the Crown Prince?"

Liu Heng was taken aback by Shen Yao's sudden arrival. Feeling guilty, he glanced towards the inner room, then, fearing that Wei Luo might not hear him, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Your Highness has an upset stomach and is in the clean room."

After arriving at Shen Yao's room, Wei Luo played for a while before making an excuse to go find a handkerchief, while Liu Heng was responsible for stalling Wei Xun. However, neither of them expected that Shen Yao would return so quickly.

Upon hearing this, Shen Yao instructed Biluo to stay where she was, and then walked towards the clean room.

The room was quiet, and Shen Yao was covered in cold sweat.

She quietly came to the outside of the clean room, slowly squatted down, and pressed her ear close to the small door, listening carefully to the sounds inside.