He had been keeping an eye on her movements, and only felt relieved when he saw her smile.

"If you're ignoring me, then I'll go to my shift?"

After lunch, he followed Shen Tangning around for a long time, but she still didn't pay much attention to him, so Chi Yan could only go to his shift in a huff.

The investigation into the Ghost Face Envoy has not made much progress, and His Majesty is still waiting for an explanation, so he cannot be too lax.

He rushed back halfway there, and to Shen Tangning's astonishment, he gave her a loud kiss on the cheek: "Don't be angry, wait for me to come back!"

Shen Tangning covered her face, about to lash out, but the person had already disappeared.

She looked around, and the maids in the courtyard quickly suppressed their laughter and lowered their heads to do their own things.

She pursed her lips slightly and silently cursed in her heart:

Shameless!

With no one around, Shen Tangning felt much more relaxed. Worried that she might overthink things, Chi's mother invited her over for a chat.

Back in the courtyard, Shen Tangning began to ponder the matter between Shen Ci and Princess Yun'an.

Where is Yuan Zhao?

Xueqing turned around and went out to call someone, looking exhausted: "Miss wants you to come in."

Seeing the other person looking radiant, she felt even more resentful.

Yuan Zhao raised an eyebrow at the inexplicable glare, but didn't take it to heart.

When Shen Tangning saw him come in, she simply got straight to the point: "You've been keeping an eye on Princess Yun'an for so long, have you figured out her daily routine?"

Yuan Zhao pondered for a moment: "Princess Yun'an's daily life is very simple; she spends her time either in the palace or at her residence. However, I've discovered something else..."

Seeing his strange expression, Shen Tangning became interested: "What is it?"

He paused for a moment before continuing, "This princess loves listening to music and often summons entertainers to her residence, and these entertainers are mostly young and handsome men."

Her eyes narrowed as she listened; in truth, it wasn't exactly a secret.

Just like men's fondness for visiting prostitutes, some wives were also keen on keeping entertainers. They called it keeping them to listen to music, but everyone knew the real reason.

It's nothing more than a pastime for lonely women confined to their chambers. If men can frequent prostitutes, why can't women?

Some of the lords in the mansions were even aware of this. They were bound together by interests, and over time, their affection for each other had long since faded, yet they could not be separated.

So as long as it doesn't come to public attention, everyone turns a blind eye.

Before her marriage, Yun An was relatively restrained. In her previous life, after marrying Chu Mingyu, she relied on her royal status and didn't take Chu Mingyu, her husband, seriously at all. She would often invite him to her mansion for entertainment.

Moreover, this princess had a peculiar hobby: collecting stand-ins. Perhaps because she loved Liu Yifu but could not have him, the actors she kept all resembled Liu Yifu to some extent.

Chu Mingyu was a scholar, so he couldn't bear such humiliation. He appealed to the Emperor many times, hoping that the Emperor would help him, but all his efforts were in vain.

At most, Yun'an will be reprimanded a few times.

Chu Mingyu was too naive. As long as it didn't come to light, Emperor Chongde didn't care about Yun'an's private morality.

Yun An was also clever and never let anyone catch her in the act. Otherwise, as a princess of a country, she would have been in trouble with the historians for leading such an unhealthy trend.

“She’s just keeping entertainers; even if word gets out, it won’t have much of an impact on her.” Shen Tangning narrowed her eyes, a thoughtful look in them.

Emperor Chongde had a deeply ingrained concept of the relationship between ruler and subject. He was extremely wary of his son, but quite indulgent towards his daughter, perhaps to make up for the debt he felt in his heart.

In his view, it was Chu Mingyu's good fortune to marry Princess Yun'an. Even if Yun'an had moral failings, she was still a princess, a member of the imperial family!

So even if she's willful and capricious, even if she's wrong to begin with, as long as it's within his tolerance range, no one can do anything to her.

A glint of light flashed in Shen Tangning's eyes, and a thought suddenly crossed her mind—

But what if she wasn't a princess?