Although the Crown Prince was deposed, the Emperor still gave him dignity, and Jiang Yun's funeral was still conducted according to the standards for a Crown Princess, with the Ministry of Rites in charge.
On the day of the burial, many people came to pay their respects.
Shen Youying wore a plain dress and went to the East Palace with Xue Shen.
On this day, the Eastern Palace was filled with guests, but funeral banners fluttered everywhere and incense smoke wafted. The officials who came to pay their respects did not dare to speak loudly, but carefully exchanged the information they knew, worrying about the future changes in the court.
The women, however, paid no attention to court affairs. They only lamented the untimely death of the Crown Princess and secretly discussed why they had not seen the Crown Prince for so long.
Shen Youying also felt something was strange. When the auspicious time for the burial arrived, she finally saw the Crown Prince appear – he actually personally carried the coffin.
But what was truly shocking was not that he personally helped carry the coffin of the Crown Princess, but that the once dashing Crown Prince had turned white-haired in just a few days.
His jet-black hair was streaked with a lot of white hair, making him look much older.
Shen Youying sighed deeply and watched the Crown Prince escort the coffin away.
After the Crown Prince left, the guests who came to pay their respects dispersed in twos and threes. Shen Youying went back with Xue Shen. Just as she was about to say something, she seemed to catch a glimpse of a woman who looked very much like Xie Qinglan being roughly dragged into a carriage.
She looked back, but did not see Xie Qinglan. The carriage was very ordinary and nothing special. She glanced around and saw three or four similar carriages parked in one place, driving away in twos and threes as the guests left.
"What's wrong?" Xue Shen asked, noticing her looking around as if searching for something.
Shen Youying hesitated and shook her head: "I think I saw Qinglan just now, but I'm not sure if it's her. Let's go back first."
She boarded the carriage, but couldn't help peeking out from behind the curtain. Perhaps it was the funeral, but she felt uneasy.
But then she remembered that after Xie Qinglan got married, she had invited Xie Qinglan to Fanlou for drinks. Xue Liulang also went with them, and the two seemed to be very affectionate, with no problems.
She said she was overthinking it and must have been seeing things. How could it be Xie Qinglan?
*
Despite saying that, after returning to her residence, Shen Youying still sent an invitation to the Prince of Huaiyang's residence, inviting Xie Qinglan to have tea at her home.
Since the Prince of Huaiyang was still alive and Xue Liulang had not yet separated from the family, Xie Qinglan lived in the Prince of Huaiyang's mansion after she married into the family.
Xie Qinglan accepted the invitation, but instructed her personal maid to tell her that she had caught a cold and was not yet fully recovered, so she would have to postpone her visit for a few days until she was better.
When Shen Youying saw that she had accepted the invitation, the breath she had been holding in her heart finally eased. She thought to herself that she had indeed misjudged the person that day. She then personally wrote a prescription that was very effective in treating colds and picked out two boxes of freshly made fruits from the kitchen that Xie Qinglan would probably like, and asked Danzhu to send them to the Prince of Huaiyang's residence.
Xue Shen was grinding ink for her. Seeing that she finally smiled, he said, "I told you you were worrying for nothing. Xie Qinglan is the eldest daughter of the Vice Prime Minister's family. The Prince of Huaiyang's mansion wouldn't dare to mistreat her just because of her father."
"I was overthinking it."
Shen Youying leaned lazily against Xue Shen and said, "Lately, I've been very afraid that something will happen to the people around me again."
It was probably the death of the Crown Princess that shocked her, making her somewhat paranoid.
Xue Shen gently stroked her cheek, then pinched it, and laughed: "I'm afraid that my recent consideration for you has made you idle, giving you time to think about all sorts of things."
Shen Youying glanced at him, threw away his hand that was pinching her cheek, and said unhappily, "Why do you always like to pinch people's cheeks?"
She didn't realize that her tone and manner of speaking to Xue Shen had become much more intimate.
But Xue Shen noticed, though he didn't point it out. Instead, he deliberately pinched her soft, slender waist again: "Perhaps Zhao Zhao is too attractive."
Shen Youying felt ticklish from his kneading and laughed as she tried to avoid his hands, but Xue Shen took the opportunity to pull her onto his lap. She looked up blankly, her eyes still showing confusion.
If Xue Shen hadn't already experienced her allure, he would have felt too much like a beast when faced with such innocent eyes.
He covered Shen Youying's eyes and bit her lip: "Don't look at me like that."
Shen Youying blinked slowly, her eyelashes brushing against Xue Shen's palm, bringing a tingling, itchy sensation.
"What?" She didn't understand what Xue Shen meant.
Xue Shen didn't explain, but instead kneaded her waist and said, "We haven't... done it in a long time."
As he spoke, he gripped Shen Youying's waist and pressed her down.
Shen Youying sensed it and let out a soft "hmm." Her hand unconsciously climbed onto his shoulder.
The two of them were in a bad mood a few days ago, so they weren't in much of a mood. At most, they would hug and kiss, which was more of a comforting gesture.
It would have been better if Xue Shen hadn't brought it up; once he did, Shen Youying realized that she actually missed him a little too.
Blushing, she hugged Xue Shen's neck tightly, pressing herself even closer to him.
Xue Shen's eyes darkened, and he picked the person up and stood up.
Shen Youying was surprised when he suddenly stood up. Startled, she clung to him like a vine, her eyes welling up with tears.
Xue Shen lifted her up and weighed her in his arms, then nibbled on her soft earlobe, saying, "Hold on tight, I'll teach you a new trick today..."
...
Shen Youying was thoroughly exhausted by the new tricks.
When Xue Shen tried to carry her to take a bath, she was so frightened that she cried and shook her head, pushing against his chest.
Xue Shen found it both amusing and pitying, so he could only gently coax her, saying that it really was just a bath. Only then did she stop sobbing and obediently let Xue Shen carry her to the bath room.
When she came out, not only were her eyes red, but her nose was also red. She sat on the daybed wrapped in a soft blanket and cursed Xue Shen in a hoarse voice: "Liar."
Xue Shen was bending over to change the soaking wet bedding when he heard this. He turned around and his eyebrows twitched: "Zhao Zhao has already said that I am a liar. If I don't confirm the name of a liar, wouldn't it be very unfair?"
Upon hearing this, Shen Youying immediately shut her mouth, wrapped the blanket around herself even tighter, and stared at him with wide eyes like a wary little animal.
Xue Shen was amused by her, and felt that she was becoming more and more delicate, like a soft and easy-to-bully little animal. On the one hand, she made people feel full of love for her, and on the other hand, they couldn't help but want to bully her hard and watch her cry with tears in her eyes.
Many dark thoughts flashed through Xue Shen's mind, but he stopped them all when he straightened up.
Under Shen Youying's wary gaze, he picked her up, blanket and all, and placed her on the bed with clean bedding. He kissed her eyes and whispered, "I won't scare you anymore. Sleep peacefully. Otherwise, if we do it again, there won't be any clean bedding to change later."
Shen Youying blushed crimson, pulled the quilt over herself and wrapped herself up tightly, turned her back to him and ignored him completely.
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