Feeling that his younger brother had grown up, Shen Yu stayed in Guangyang Palace and had a long talk with Shen Shi.
When it was evening and he was about to leave, Shen Shi, who wanted to leave the palace to attend to important matters, seized the opportunity and insisted that Shen Yu take him out of the palace.
After much pleading and cajoling, Shen Yu agreed to take him to the Crown Prince's residence for a few days.
The two brothers rode together in a carriage out of the palace, and the palace gradually receded into the distance, accompanied by the clattering of hooves.
After passing through the bustling Chang'an Street, the carriage stopped in front of Shen Yu's Crown Prince's residence.
Crown Princess Xu Wanwan waited at the door. The Crown Prince and Crown Princess were a well-known loving couple in the capital.
However, the process of lovers finally becoming a couple is also full of twists and turns.
Xu Wanwan and Shen Yu were childhood sweethearts. They played together since they were little, and naturally developed feelings for each other as they grew up. They had reached the point where they would not marry anyone but each other.
However, the Crown Princess that Shen Tunan chose for Shen Yu was not Xu Wanwan.
Three years ago at the court assembly, the emperor suddenly pointed out his maternal niece, Li Qingping, to be the crown prince's principal wife in front of all the civil and military officials.
Before this incident, not a single word had been leaked. It seemed that Shen Tunan had acted on a whim and had not told anyone before issuing the order.
But none of the civil and military officials in the court were fools; they were all secretly pondering the emperor's thoughts.
The emperor's maternal family was noble, but Shen Tunan's birth mother was just a palace maid, and the Li family were originally just commoners.
After the emperor ascended the throne, he bestowed titles upon the men of the Li family, but it was still somewhat difficult to appoint the daughter of such a family without any powerful roots as the crown princess.
Everyone is speculating whether Shen Tunan is using the Crown Prince to bring honor to his maternal family or is intentionally suppressing the Crown Prince.
But Shen Yu, the person involved, didn't have time to think about these things. He couldn't accept marrying another woman because he already had someone else in his heart.
Love can make the timid brave.
The usually cautious Shen Yu disregarded all notions of imperial power and immediately knelt before the palace, begging his father to rescind his decree.
Shen Yu's kneeling stunned the entire court.
They couldn't believe that the usually gentle and humble crown prince could do something so outrageous as to defy the imperial decree in the middle of the day.
Shen Tunan never expected that his son, on whom he had placed high hopes and who was the future crown prince he had personally chosen, would openly defy his wishes.
Shen Tunan, who had been the undisputed ruler since ascending the throne, was furious and immediately issued an edict to send the sixteen-year-old Shen Yu to deal with the flood in Hexi.
When Empress Wang learned of this, she was so frightened that she almost fainted.
How could she, as a mother, bear to let her son, who was only sixteen years old, do such a dangerous thing?
For the sake of her child, Empress Wang disregarded her self-respect and dignity, and hurriedly went to the Qianqing Palace to plead for mercy.
Perhaps still clinging to some marital bond, Shen Tunan, persuaded by Empress Wang, also realized he had gone too far.
But the imperial decree had already been issued, and a gentleman's word is as good as his bond, so Shen Yu still went to Hexi.
But Shen Yu was a capable person. After arriving at the place, he was not afraid of hardship or fatigue. He personally led people to dig ditches and resettle the disaster victims.
He had none of the airs of the crown prince.
The floods in Hexi were quickly brought under control, and Shen Yu, who had made great contributions, was ordered to return to the capital. He then married his beloved Xu Wanwan, who became his Crown Princess.
However, the emperor's word was law, and Li Qingping was also admitted to the Eastern Palace as a concubine.
In this era of absolute imperial power, this was already the best possible outcome.
Shen Shi followed behind Shen Yu and got off the carriage.
Upon seeing him arrive, the Crown Princess greeted him happily, "Fifth Brother, come in quickly."
After saying that, she hit Chen Yu with her handkerchief again and complained in a coquettish voice, "Fifth Brother is here. Why didn't Your Highness let anyone announce it so that I could be prepared?"
Shen Yu wasn't angry even after being hit. Instead, he frowned in annoyance and put his arm around the Crown Princess, admitting his mistake: "I forgot for a moment. It was my fault this time."
Watching his loving brother and sister-in-law from behind, Shen Shi couldn't help but tease them, "If you have any heartfelt words to say, why don't you go inside and talk?"
Without waiting for their reactions, he went inside first.
As the Crown Prince, Shen Yu's residence was exceptionally luxurious, comparable to that of the palace.
There weren't many people in Shenyu's mansion, but the place was very large. Shen Shi was temporarily staying in the western courtyard.
Thinking of the matter he had to attend to, Shen Shi beckoned to Qing Yu, who had followed him, and instructed, "Go to the Prime Minister's residence and tell Prime Minister Lin that I, the Prince, will pay him a visit tomorrow."
"This servant will go and do it immediately." Upon hearing his master's order, Qingyu bowed and left the room.
Before going to visit his future father-in-law, Shen Shi specially chose a fine gift to send to the Prime Minister's residence.
Shen Shi is much happier than his brother Shen Yu, who went through so much trouble to find a wife.
He and Miss Lin Yu'er of the Lin family had been engaged since childhood, and the two were a legitimate betrothed.
Lin Yu'er was a renowned talented woman in the capital, proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. Such a dazzling woman naturally attracted Shen Shi.
Shen Shi, who had originally opposed the marriage, fell in love with Lin Yu'er at first sight after meeting her last year and couldn't wait to marry her.
In order to cultivate a relationship with Lin Yu'er, Shen Shi has made frequent trips to the Prime Minister's residence over the past year.
Under the guise of visiting Prime Minister Lin, he would bring Lin Yu'er all sorts of strange and unusual things every time he went.
Miss Lin is a member of the "appearance association," and Shen Shi is extremely beautiful; to use an inappropriate analogy, she is simply a stunningly beautiful woman.
When she met Chen Shi, whose looks were exactly to her liking and who was also so considerate, Lin Yu'er naturally fell in love.
Logically, at this point, the two people who are in love should just wait to get married; this should be a beautiful love story.
But fate is fickle, and the change happened almost immediately.
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