This time, Tian Yu really backed down. She painted her face with red rashes, and with that face, the old eunuch couldn't say anything. He could only return to the palace to report. As soon as the old eunuch left, Tian Yu went back to her room, grabbed a package, stuffed it into her bosom, and ran to Li Xingyun's courtyard. She knelt on the ground and said, "Brother, you must help me this time."

"What is it now? Hasn't the Marquis already returned?"

"Yes! But I don't want to go to the banquet hosted by the Emperor today."

"And then?! She painted her face with a rash and scared away the eunuch who was supposed to deliver the message!"

"Yes! But the Emperor will definitely send someone to confirm it soon, brother, please help me." Tian Yu pleaded, clasping her hands together.

"Why are you so afraid of seeing Zhao Moyan? Here you go!" Li Xingyun sighed and tossed a medicine bottle to Tian Yu.

"Thank you, brother. This is a gift for you." Tian Yu took out a package and handed it to Li Xingyun.

Li Xingyun curiously took the gift and asked, "Give it to me? What is it?"

"I promised you a gift, but I hadn't finished it until now. Now it's finally done, so open it and see!"

"What's this?" Li Xingyun was surprised by the bag of tools of different sizes and asked Tian Yu.

"You also study scalpels, right? This can help you complete the surgery. I spent a long time designing it and spent a lot of money to ask someone to buy this special material to make this one."

"I accept the gift. Just apply a suitable amount of this medicine to your face, not too much. It will disappear on its own in two days," Li Xingyun said, accepting the gift without any hesitation.

"Okay, thanks, bro!"

Sure enough, not long after Tian Yu applied the ointment, the palace sent a royal physician. Seeing that Tian Yu's face had even more rashes than before, the old eunuch was so frightened that he hurriedly said, "Why are there more and more of these? Imperial Physician, please take a look!"

The imperial physician examined him for a long time but couldn't figure out the cause. He asked, "Did Mr. Tian apply something that caused this?"

Tian Yu said weakly, "No! It's the same as usual. I just felt a little sore in the morning, but then a lot of rashes started appearing after noon. Look, there are some here too. They're so itchy!" Tian Yu said, pulling up her sleeve to scratch.

"I'll prescribe the medicine for Mr. Tian first, and I'll come back to check on him tomorrow."

"Alright, thank you, Imperial Physician."

Finally, after seeing them off, Tian Yu breathed a long sigh of relief. Qiu Ju asked, "Madam, won't this ruin your face?"

"It's nothing, it'll be fine in a couple of days."

After the palace banquet ended, Zhao Moyan appeared in Li Xingyun's room. When Li Xingyun saw that it was him, he knew why. He put down the book in his hand and said, "Don't worry! She just made up an excuse not to attend the palace banquet. She'll be fine in a couple of days." Upon hearing the answer, Zhao Moyan disappeared out the window in a flash.

The next day, the Crown Prince came again with the imperial physician. Tian Yu hid in the room and said, "Your Highness, it would be better if you didn't come in. I don't know what illness it is, and it would be terrible if I passed it on to you."

"I'm not afraid, let me go in and take a look," the prince said with a smile.

"I look too ugly and it's inconvenient for me to see people. Your Highness, please go back! My brother has already prepared some ointment for me, and I'll be fine in a few days."

"Now that you are my future Crown Princess, how can I not feel at ease? Let me take a look!" the Crown Prince persisted.

Tian Yu opened the door, and the Crown Prince saw the rash on her face. He couldn't help but laugh out loud. When Tian Yu rolled her eyes in anger, he coughed a few times to cover his embarrassment and told the imperial physician to take a look at her. Tian Yu said, "No need! My brother has already seen her. She'll be fine in a couple of days. Thank you for your trouble, Your Highness."

Seeing Tian Yu's insistence, the Crown Prince had no choice but to say, "In that case, I'll come to see you another day. Take good care of yourself!"

After seeing Prince Tian Yu off, he returned to the mirror, looked at himself from left to right, and muttered to himself, "Is it really that funny?"

Qiu Ju glanced at Tian Yu and secretly smiled. Seeing Qiu Ju's expression, Tian Yu was heartbroken. She found a piece of face powder to cover her face before daring to go out.

With the Lunar New Year approaching, Tian Yu thought about buying some New Year's goods for the orphans and the elderly. Recently, the Yanzhifang business had been doing well, so she bought some rice, flour, and other daily necessities for the elderly in Tianzhuang, and also bought some clothes and shoes for the orphans studying in the city. Qiuju said that she was becoming more and more like a lady, and she wouldn't trip over her skirt anymore. Tian Yu looked at her long skirt and realized that she didn't know when she had started to be able to move freely in such complicated dresses. It seemed that spending so much time with these ancient people had also influenced her.

After leaving the grain and oil store, Tian Yu and Qiu Ju went into a clothing store. When they passed a pastry shop, Tian Yu stopped and said to Qiu Ju, "Lv Liu has been craving sour things lately. Let's go buy her some dried fruit."

"Alright, Madam, please wait in front. I'll go."

"Okay, I'll wait for you at the old man's wonton stall up ahead. We'll eat wontons before we go back."

"Alright, Madam, please be careful, there are many people on the road."

After parting ways with Qiuju, Tian Yu walked to the wonton stall diagonally opposite. She had just ordered two bowls of wontons and sat down when she looked up and saw Prince Wu and Zhao Moyan across from her. Zhao Moyan also saw her. Tian Yu froze the moment their eyes met, then quickly turned away, not daring to look again. Prince Wu also saw Tian Yu, and he and Zhao Moyan walked straight to her. Tian Yu's face was covered by a veil, and she silently prayed that they hadn't recognized her. However, the two men sat down directly at her table. Prince Wu leaned closer to Tian Yu and said with a smile, "Isn't this Mr. Tian? I heard you have a rash on your face; are you too ashamed to show your face?"

"No!" Tian Yu looked up to refute, but when she saw Zhao Moyan watching her from the other side, she lowered her head and whispered, "It's just a skin allergy, it'll be fine in a couple of days."

So, under their intense gazes, Tian Yu quickly finished her meal, barely tasting it. She then pulled Qiu Ju aside and said, "Please enjoy your meal, we have other matters to attend to this afternoon, so we'll take our leave." In her haste, Tian Yu, pulling Qiu Ju, tripped over a stool as she walked past Zhao Moyan, nearly falling to the ground. Zhao Moyan reached out and steadied her. Looking at Zhao Moyan's hand around her waist, Tian Yu regained her balance and nervously said, "Thank you, Lord Marquis!"

Zhao Moyan remained silent, but showed no sign of letting go. Tian Yu became even more nervous, her face turning as red as an apple. Fortunately, her veil concealed her face. Tian Yu looked at Zhao Moyan and said again, "Thank you, Lord Marquis! I'm alright now!"

Zhao Moyan looked at Tian Yu, and Prince Wu said with a smile, "I haven't congratulated Mr. Tian yet. She will soon be the Crown Princess. Perhaps she can even marry the Marquis at the same time."

Zhao Moyan then withdrew his hand, turned away from Tian Yu, and Tian Yu gave Prince Wu a fake smile before pulling Qiu Ju away quickly.

Upon returning, Tian Yu had Qiu Ju inquire about the matter and learned that at the palace banquet the previous night, the Cui family hoped Zhao Moyan would marry Cui Zhenshu as soon as possible, and the Emperor had also spoken. However, Zhao Moyan declined, citing the urgency of the northern war, and requested to go on a campaign to the north, stating that the marriage would be discussed later after the war subsided. The Emperor could not persuade him further, but he did not agree to Zhao Moyan's campaign to the north either, instead dispatching other generals from the court to lead troops there.

After listening to Qiuju and Lvliu's stories, Tianyu patted her chest and said, "Thank goodness! I knew it wouldn't be good if I didn't go yesterday."

"Madam, you are wise!"

"It was worth it!" Tian Yu said with a smile, looking at her swollen face in the mirror. She didn't dare to think about what would happen if she went, or what the Emperor would say to her, or whether he would urge her and the Crown Prince to get married as soon as possible!