Song Yaozhu was already worried about Xie Liwei's talk about coming over tonight when she heard the gatekeeper say that Madam Song and Song Wenyue would be coming tomorrow, which made her even more annoyed.

"Your Highness, it's a good thing that the Prince is coming today!" Granny Qin instructed people to prepare new nightgowns, change the bedding to freshly aired ones, and re-scent the entire room with incense. In short, it was a very grand occasion.

Song Yaozhu rested her chin on her hand, utterly bored, holding the fire-avoidance chart that Qin Mama had secretly slipped to her. She finished flipping through it in no time; the chart looked like it had only been published this year, and it was getting more and more boring.

"Granny, I want to eat roasted mutton tonight."

"That won't do!" Granny Qin immediately advised her earnestly, "The prince is coming tonight, you can't eat such greasy food! How about just a small bowl of porridge for dinner? Otherwise, it won't look good if your belly protrudes. Granny will have the kitchen prepare a midnight snack for you, and we'll have someone serve it to you when you're ready to sleep."

Song Yaozhu: "......"

Xie Liwei's visit tonight was merely a test for her; Granny Qin really didn't need to make such a grand gesture.

That night, under the threatening gaze of Granny Qin, Song Yaozhu only drank half a bowl of chicken porridge before going to bed.

Xie Liwei arrived quite late; any later and she would have fallen asleep.

As soon as Xie Liwei entered the room, he was so overwhelmed by the fragrance that he sneezed.

"Caiyin, open the corner window, you can all go down now," Song Yaozhu instructed. Qin Mama was still burning aphrodisiac incense, which made her body feel hot.

Caiyin opened the window and retreated with several maids. They were beaming, as if they had finally waited for this day.

Xie Liwei sat down and saw the beautiful figure on the bed through the screen. She lay lazily on the bed, showing no intention of getting up to serve him.

"The princess has certainly put in a lot of effort."

Song Yaozhu chuckled dryly, inwardly cursing him for making trouble. If it weren't for him, she could have slept soundly tonight.

"Isn't Your Highness going to rest?" she asked deliberately.

Xie Liwei provoked her first.

"Coming right away." Xie Liwei placed the teacup on the table, his voice neither loud nor soft. Then came the rustling sound of clothes being taken off.

Song Yaozhu lay on the bed. Only one candle was lit in the inner room. She couldn't see Xie Liwei behind the screen. She only heard a moment of silence before Xie Liwei walked out from behind the screen.

Aside from his outer garment, he wore a thin undershirt with a loose collar, revealing his beautiful collarbone and the outline of his pectoral muscles. Half of his long ponytail hung down in front of his chest, and the white pearls on his hair ornaments shimmered yellow in the candlelight.

Song Yaozhu dared not look at his face. If she ignored the face she had seen since childhood, she might really lose control and spend the night with him.

But this face filled her with guilt.

Song Yaozhu propped herself up on her right arm, looked up at Xie Liwei, and all the previous romantic feelings vanished. She yawned and patted the empty seat next to her.

"Your Highness, please come up quickly, I'm so sleepy."

Xie Liwei paused, and before he could say anything, the woman turned her back to him. He sneered, lifted the covers, and lay down beside her.

The intense body heat seeped through the thin fabric of her nightgown and onto Song Yaozhu's body, causing her to stiffen for a moment. But she kept up the act, remaining motionless with her back to Xie Liwei.

Xie Liwei didn't do anything else. After a few moments of silence, he asked her, "Didn't Granny Qin show you the fire-avoidance diagram?"

"I've seen it." Song Yaozhu's heart suddenly started to pound. After all, Xie Liwei had changed a lot. Had he also become one of those playboys who frolicked with women? "Does Your Highness intend to do this?"

She decided to take the initiative.

Xie Liwei's prepared words were stuck in his throat. When it came to shamelessness, he had to admit defeat in front of this woman.

What can he say now?

He said he wanted to do it, but he couldn't, and he didn't want her to laugh at him for being impotent.

If he says he doesn't want to, it's as if he can't do it.

Hmm... it seems like both options have blocked his path.

Xie Liwei's face darkened, and he said angrily, "Go to sleep!"

Song Yaozhu chuckled inwardly. This brat, she thinks she can't handle him?

Oh dear, we should have had Granny Qin prepare two quilts.

Xie Liwei couldn't sleep. He stared at the bed curtains above his head, his mind feeling sluggish.

Song Yaozhu knew him far too well, just like his elder sister did. This feeling was truly unbelievable.

When people are at night, they can't help but have wild thoughts, and he couldn't help but wonder if the person next to him was his sister reincarnated.

But such things only exist in his delusions.

Before dinner, he saw the royal physician, who said he was in good condition and had not experienced any hallucinations. There's no such thing as ghosts or spirits in this world; all the coincidences strung together must be the result of a carefully orchestrated human design.

He will definitely find the person behind Song Yaozhu.

Granny Qin and the others waited for half the night but did not hear anyone calling for water from inside the house, and they were inevitably discouraged.

At midnight, Xie Liwei immediately had someone summon the imperial physician.

He was about to fall asleep when the woman beside him started groaning in pain. Annoyed by the noise, he had no choice but to get up and call for help.

After fiddling around for a long time, Song Yaozhu hugged the warm paraffin and slowly inhaled.

"Your Highness, this is because you weren't properly cared for when you were young, so your menstrual periods are more painful than those of ordinary women. First, use a hot compress with wax to relieve the pain. I've prescribed some medicine for you to take. The pain may be more severe for the first two days, but it will get better in the following days. If you want to cure it completely, I will need to prescribe other medicines to strengthen your body and nourish your vital energy."

After the physician finished speaking, he paused for a moment, then added, "The princess should not have sexual intercourse while she is recuperating. Her current health is not suitable for pregnancy, and even if she were to conceive, she would be prone to miscarriage. A miscarriage would be even worse for her health."

Xie Li was in dire straits, and after hearing the physician's earnest words, his face darkened even more.

"Go and prescribe the medicine! How could I possibly shortchange her on this little bit of medicine?"

The physician stroked his beard, picked up his medicine box, and left.

Granny Qin sighed repeatedly, "What's going on?"

"Your Highness, would you like to rest in the front courtyard, or make do here?"

Xie Li was exhausted and didn't want to go to bed, so he asked Granny Qin to tidy up the chaise lounge and make do with it.

Song Yaozhu's pain worsened in the second half of the night, and Caiyin slept with her. She kept bothering her with requests for hot water and midnight snacks, which made Xie Liwei's face turn as black as the bottom of a pot the next day.

That slut did it on purpose, thinking that this way he wouldn't go to her place to rest anymore.

Hmph! He never intended to go again!

The next day, Song Yaozhu slept until late morning. She asked Granny Qin to tell Madam Song that she was not feeling well and asked them not to come.

To everyone's surprise, the two of them still came. They had heard that she was unwell and even brought some tonics.

Song Yaozhu had no choice but to get up, change her clothes, and greet the guest.

Seeing that her face was pale and she hadn't put on any makeup, Song Wenyue felt a secret sense of satisfaction, thinking of the scene in the palace yesterday when she was rejected by Prince Xiaoyao.

"Sister, why do you look so pale? Is something wrong? Did the Prince mistreat you again?"

Seeing the barely suppressed schadenfreude on her face, Song Yaozhu pretended to be sad and said, "Yes, it's all the prince's fault for acting recklessly last night. I couldn't sleep well at all."

Xie Liwei, standing at the door, paused in his steps.

Who exactly is acting recklessly?!