Chapter 903 The real test begins next.

During the New Year, the emperor sealed the imperial seal for three days, and a joyous and peaceful atmosphere prevailed both inside and outside the court.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, we paid tribute to our ancestors.

On the second day of the Lunar New Year, the emperor hosted a banquet for his officials in the main hall. As the Princess Consort of Qin, she naturally did not need to join in the festivities, but even though she stayed in the Qianqiu Hall, she could almost hear the sounds of drums and music and laughter coming from there.

Before we knew it, it was the third day of the Lunar New Year.

Shang Ruyi's request to return to the Shen family was still not granted by the emperor. However, she was not too disappointed because Yuwen Yuan had also ordered the Ministry of Rites to send spring sacrifice gifts to the Shen family. The gifts were as generous as in previous years. Although they were not worth thousands of gold or treasures, this gesture silently demonstrated to the court the emperor's trust and favor towards the Minister of Rites. At least he had not neglected or doubted him because of the accident at Tangquan Palace.

However, the Pei family's place was much quieter.

Although he knew that Yuwen Yuan would find out what he had done, Yuwen Ye still sent a gift to the Pei family and went to the Ministry of Justice prison that afternoon.

Shang Ruyi did not go out because Su Qinglan had come to take her pulse early in the morning.

All the officials in the court were to take a break until the fifth day of the first lunar month. The Imperial Medical Bureau had physicians on duty, but since no one was there to inform them, there was no need for them to come to the door to take pulses. However, Su Qinglan came early in the morning despite the snow. Shang Ruyi knew her intentions and sat on the couch with a smile to see her.

Upon meeting her, Su Qinglan knelt down and kowtowed three times.

Shang Ruyi hurriedly asked, "What are you doing?"

After saying that, she gave Tushe'er a look so that he could help her up. Su Qinglan stood up, still with her head down and her eyes red, and said, "Your Highness Prince Qin and Princess Consort have shown me great kindness and virtue, which I have no way to repay."

Shang Ruyi smiled and said, "How can you say you have nothing to repay me with? Just do your job well and take good care of my health and the young prince's health. That is your way of repaying me."

"This is my duty."

"Doing your job well is not easy."

"……yes."

"Besides, you are still a criminal, and even I do not know how this matter will be judged. You should be careful and do not make any mistakes during this time, and do not—have any other thoughts."

Upon hearing the last few words, Su Qinglan trembled slightly.

She took a deep breath, looked up at Shang Ruyi and said, "From now on, I will only do my duty and will not have any other thoughts."

Shang Ruyi nodded with satisfaction.

That was the end of the topic; everyone knew they couldn't say more, lest they give away information and arouse suspicion. Su Qinglan roused herself and glanced around again: "I wonder how Your Highness is doing lately? The lilacs from that day—"

Shang Ruyi smiled and said, "He's fine, but Madam Feng was quite frightened. I told her to stay inside with Yuanzi and not to come out unless necessary."

After saying that, she asked again, "By the way, will Yuanzi always be like this, not responding to Dingxiang?"

Although the symptoms Su Qinglan mentioned, such as catching a cold, developing a rash, or even suffocating, hadn't yet appeared, she was still very worried about her son's health and safety. Su Qinglan quickly said, "Infants' internal organs are too weak, so many medicines and foods may not be effective. As they grow older, these conditions will gradually heal. However, some people with special constitutions may experience these symptoms for life, but as long as they are careful, it won't be a problem. Your Highness will take good care of your health."

Shang Ruyi nodded: "Then you'll have to put in more effort."

"Your Highness is too kind. This is my duty."

"good."

Seeing that she looked somewhat haggard but still quite energetic, and as sincere and cautious as ever, Shang Ruyi felt relieved. After offering her a seat, she chatted with her for a while, without asking much about Jiang Yan or her experiences in prison. They just chatted for a bit, and Su Qinglan's tense nerves and body gradually relaxed.

The two chatted for a while, and seeing that it was getting late, she took Shang Ruyi's pulse to confirm that the princess was alright, and then got up to take her leave.

But as she was leaving, Su Qinglan turned back and said, "Your Highness."

Shang Ruyi looked up at her: "Hmm?"

Su Qinglan thought for a moment and said, "Does Your Highness truly believe that I am unaware of Jiang Yan's true identity?"

Shang Ruyi said, "Do you know?"

Su Qinglan shook her head.

Shang Ruyi then asked, "Then, what would you have done if you had known from the beginning?"

Su Qinglan looked somber and pondered for a long while before softly saying, "These past few days, I've been thinking about whether I would have continued to associate with him if I had known about him from the beginning. I've thought about it a lot, but I can't come up with an answer."

"..."

"But no matter what, I cannot allow him to do anything that would harm the Emperor, the Prince of Qin and his consort, or the court."

Shang Ruyi nodded: "It's good that you think that way."

Su Qinglan said, "I'm just sorry for dragging Lord Pei into this."

Mentioning this, Shang Ruyi's eyes dimmed slightly. If it weren't for Su Qinglan, Pei Xingyuan wouldn't have had dealings with Jiang Yan, wouldn't have met Liang Youying, and wouldn't have been caught up in this case by the Lou family father and daughter. She was indeed innocent, but the cause of everything was indeed her.

Shang Ruyi sighed and said, "What's done is done, and there's no point in wallowing in self-pity. I'll say it again: do what you're supposed to do, be careful, don't let yourself be taken advantage of again, and don't forget that you're still a criminal."

Su Qinglan replied, "Your Majesty, I understand."

After speaking, he bowed and turned to leave.

Shang Ruyi watched her figure disappear outside the main hall, then let out a long sigh. Perhaps because she had spent too much time with Yuwen Ye, she had gradually learned not to show her emotions, especially disappointment, on her face. But the disappointment in her heart was always there, no matter how confident she and Yuwen Ye were or how carefully they planned their next move. The worries she had were still there.

Su Qinglan has been rescued.

But what about Pei Xingyuan?

Where is Jiang Yu?

Saving these two people is not as simple as making Xiaoyuanzi smell a scent he doesn't like.

Moreover, after the New Year's Eve banquet, the Crown Prince must have realized that they need to start rescuing people, so they will be more careful to prevent them from succeeding. What follows is probably the real test.

I just don't know how they'll handle it.

Just as Shang Ruyi was deep in thought, Yuwen Ye walked back from outside.

The snow wasn't heavy today, and there wasn't much snow on his shoulders and head, but he still looked quite cold. Especially since his face seemed even more somber than the sky, Shang Ruyi immediately asked, "What happened?"