Chapter 73 Oh, what a terrible position!

Shen Chu took a deep breath and said loudly, "Your Majesty, I have a request."

"Oh?" The Longqing Emperor smiled faintly. "Tell me about it."

Shen Chu: "I am currently organizing past case files at the Censorate, preparing to compile some cases that are questionable or cases that have been backlogged from previous years into a book."

Your Majesty, I request permission to re-examine these documents.

The scene immediately fell silent.

Everyone looked at Shen Chu in disbelief.

Li Chengxuan was so shocked that he almost fell to the ground.

He tugged at Chen Chu's sleeve, "Chu, do you know what a reward is? You can ask His Majesty to reward you with silver, gold and silver jewelry, valuable antiques... you can even get a promotion."

"What did you ask for? You asked His Majesty to give you work to do? Are you stupid?"

The Longqing Emperor was also quite surprised, "Are you sure you want this reward?"

Shen Chu shook off Li Chengxuan's chubby hand, smiled and nodded, "Your Majesty, I only ask for this one reward."

Emperor Longqing pondered for a moment, his eyes filled with admiration as he looked at Shen Chu.

"Good, good. I am very pleased that you are so dedicated to your duties. I will grant your request."

Shen Chu smiled brightly, "Thank you for your great kindness, Your Majesty."

Emperor Longqing left with his entourage.

Li Chengxuan pulled Shen Chu aside, looking her up and down with a mixture of disappointment and frustration, as if he wanted to find a place where he could vent his anger.

After looking around, the Chu brothers couldn't bear to fight anywhere.

Finally, all he could do was stomp his foot angrily, "You idiot."

Shen Chu smiled but offered no explanation.

His Majesty promised to reward her not because of her performance in the dragon boat race, but because he vaguely suspected that the Third Prince had framed her.

This is to make it up to her.

But if she were to make an outrageous demand for some valuable reward, His Majesty would likely be immediately displeased.

She wanted His Majesty to allow her to review the questionable files in order to exonerate the Shen family in the future.

With His Majesty's promise, once she finds her father's files, she can apply for a re-examination of the events of that year.

At this moment, the eunuch delivered the reward for winning first place in the dragon boat race.

As the captain, Li Chengxuan accepted all the rewards on behalf of the captain.

Having obtained the red-tasseled spear he had longed for, he immediately forgot what had just happened and happily handed the silver notes he had been allocated to Chen Chu.

"It's settled then. I only want the red-tasseled spear, and the silver is for A-Chu."

Seeing this, the others also stuffed their silver notes into Chen Chu's hands.

"Brother Shen, we only want the reputation, the money is yours."

"If it weren't for Brother Shen today, we would still be ridiculed. Having this first place title is enough to make me laugh in my dreams. What do I need money for?"

Shen Chu looked at the thick stack of silver notes in her hand, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

"What's going on? How can I take the prize money that the head of the household worked so hard to earn?"

Li Chengxuan said forcefully, "Take it. If you don't, you're disrespecting your brothers."

The others chimed in, "If Brother Shen doesn't accept it, he's disowning us brothers."

What else could Shen Chu say?

I guess I'll just have to accept this bunch of friends who treat money like dirt.

but....

"There are still two thousand taels of silver for the Sixth Prince in here, Brother Chengxuan, please send it to him."

She took out two thousand taels from the twenty thousand taels of silver notes and handed them over.

Li Chengxuan immediately retreated a full ten feet away, "You should go and deliver it, Achu. I dare not go."

Shen Chu didn't want to go.

She looked at her teammates.

To everyone's surprise, these guys were all cowards, retreating even further than Li Chengxuan, and looking at Shen Chu with encouraging eyes.

"Brother Shen, you're good, you go ahead."

Shen Chu was so angry she laughed, and stepped forward to shove the object into Li Chengxuan's hand.

Who knew that Li Chengxuan, who was usually slow to react, would react so quickly at this moment, and he immediately stuffed the silver note back into Shen Chu's hand.

"If you make me deliver it, I'll sever all ties with you!"

"Ah Chu, you're the best! Hurry up and deliver it to the Sixth Prince. Let's go to Xiankelai first. I've booked the whole place today, so let's celebrate together."

Remember to invite the Sixth Prince to our victory celebration banquet.

After saying that, Li Chengxuan pulled his teammates and ran away.

It was moving so fast it felt like a ghost was chasing it.

Helpless, Shen Chu had no choice but to go to Pei Yuan.

She spotted Jinbao with her sharp eyes and quickly went over to greet him and explain her purpose, "Where is the Sixth Prince at this moment?"

Jinbao pointed to the room behind him and said in a low voice, "His Highness is taking a nap."

Sleeping at this hour? Are you tired from drumming?

Tsk, what a rip-off.

But it's good that she slept with him; at least it saves her from having to face Pei Yuan.

She smiled and slipped the silver notes to Jinbao, saying, "Please, sir, give the prize money from the dragon boat race to His Highness. The young master is..."

Before he could finish speaking, Pei Yuan's calm voice came from inside the room, "Let Lord Shen in."

Shen Chu was somewhat reluctant, but she didn't dare not go in.

Pushing open the door, I saw Pei Yuan leaning casually on the small couch, his hand supporting his forehead, his well-defined knuckles rubbing his brow, looking very melancholy.

She immediately sensed that Pei Yuan was in a bad mood.

Fearing she might bring bad luck, she prepared to leave the silver notes behind and go.

Before she could even speak, Pei Yuan nodded his chin. "Write it down."

"Huh? What should I write?"

Pei Yuan frowned slightly, his expression impatient. "The prescription."

Shen Chu blinked before realizing that she had agreed to give Pei Yuan the prescription for the calming medicine in his purse.

Seeing the writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone on the table, she sat down, picked up the brush, and began to write down the prescription from memory.

This is a calming medicine specially prepared for her by her senior brother. It has the effects of helping her sleep, calming her mind, and eliminating nightmares.

In the year that her master took her into Medicine King Valley, she always had trouble falling asleep.

Every time she closed her eyes, she saw either her mother rushing her back to Liangzhou, a scene of horrific carnage with corpses everywhere and rivers of blood, or her father being beheaded and her mother tightly covering her mouth to stop her from crying out.

Those nightmarish images were deeply imprinted in her mind, becoming a nightmare that prevented her from sleeping.

Countless times she woke up crying from her dreams, then hugged her blanket and cried until dawn.

After the eldest brother discovered this, he developed this prescription, mixed the medicinal materials according to the proportions, and put them in her purse and under her pillow to help her sleep peacefully. Only then did she gradually get rid of her nightmares.

As Chen Chu thought of this, her pen paused slightly. She recalled Pei Yuan placing her purse against his chest, and the time at Qingfeng Tower when Pei Yuan was trapped in a nightmare. She couldn't help but feel puzzled.

How could a pampered prince be plagued by nightmares?

Could it be that he also had a tragic childhood?

Distracted, Shen Chu did not notice that Pei Yuan, who had been sitting casually on the couch, had silently appeared behind her.

Pei Yuan stood with his hands behind his back, his eyes lowered, sizing up Shen Chu, who was engrossed in writing a prescription.

He hasn't had a good night's sleep in half a month.

His nightmares have been getting worse lately.

As soon as he closes his eyes, all he sees is a sea of ​​blood and pitiful screams, as if countless people are calling his name.

Some told him to run, others told him to hide, but he couldn't see their faces. He only saw a long, blood-dripping knife constantly approaching him, ready to sever his head at any moment.

Every time he comes here, he wakes up in a fright and then can't fall back asleep.

Previously, Xie Qingqiu had prepared a similar prescription based on the proportions of the medicinal herbs in Shen Chu's purse, but it had no effect whatsoever.

Unable to sleep, I can only resort to my long-standing hobbies and exhaust myself to barely manage to get an hour or two of sleep.

Will the prescription that Shen Chu wrote be effective?

Or perhaps what's truly useful isn't the medicine in the purse, but rather the medicine itself and the lingering scent of Shen Chu that clings to it?

That delicate, refreshing fragrance, like that of wisteria.

Just now, after winning the dragon boat race, he hugged Shen Chu and was infected by that smell, which actually made him rest for a while.

Pei Yuan narrowed his peach blossom eyes slightly, with an unreadable emotion surging within them.

"alright."

As Chen Chu turned around with the prescription she had written, she didn't notice anyone behind her and bumped into Pei Yuan's arms.

She was startled and quickly stepped back, but bumped into the table behind her, and was about to fall onto it.

"careful."

Pei Yuan leaned forward slightly and reached out to hook his arm around her waist.

Time seemed to stand still for a moment.

Shen Chu felt the iron arm supporting her waist and looked up at Pei Yuan's excessively handsome face.

Their eyes met, and she had only one thought in her mind.

Ugh, what a terrible posture.