Chapter 9. She didn't want to approach Cui Huai.
After being lifted off the horse by Cui Xu and rolling twice on the ground, Shen Yunzhi was still not fully aware of what had happened. She hurriedly sat up, and as Huo Yuan and Huo Ming caught up, Huo Yuan helped her to her feet.
"Fifth Prince, what's the deal with this arrow?"
Huo Ming clutched a blood-stained arrow in his hand, his anger palpable.
Shen Yunzhi huddled behind Huo Yuan and glanced at the arrow in Huo Ming's hand. She understood why the horse had been startled, but her heart sank even further.
She had no idea when she had gotten involved with Choi Wook!
She shouldn't have met the Fifth Prince before today.
She stayed with Cui Lizhu the whole time at the flower-viewing banquet in the Imperial Garden, and they didn't encounter the Fifth Prince.
Where did things go wrong?
Shen Yunzhi couldn't figure out the reason for the moment, but she knew it was a troublesome matter.
The Fifth Prince, Cui Xu, was a whimsical and dissolute man. Once he set his sights on a woman, he would do everything in his power to obtain her. But that was all; once he had her, he would discard her without hesitation. To him, women were merely playthings in his hands.
Unfortunately, he was the fifth prince.
His mother was the Emperor's most beloved Consort Shu, so these things had absolutely no impact on him.
Faced with Huo Ming's angry questioning, the Fifth Prince Cui Xu smiled contemptuously: "This arrow looks familiar. How did it end up in your hands?"
He simply didn't bother to deny what he had done.
Huo Ming said angrily, "How can the Fifth Prince act so willfully and recklessly?"
"Didn't no one get hurt?" Cui Xu looked at Shen Yunzhi as if she were his prey, his smile revealing only hypocrisy. "Zhi Niang, were you hurt?"
Huo Yuan pursed her lips tightly and shielded Shen Yunzhi behind her.
Shen Yunzhi did not look at Cui Xu, nor did she respond to him with a single word.
Cui Xu didn't mind Shen Yunzhi's cold attitude. Instead, he savored the softness in his arms and the fragrance he smelled when he hugged her a moment ago, which was even more intoxicating than he had imagined. So he smiled again and said slowly, "Zhi Niang, I saved you today. Remember to repay my kindness."
The Fifth Prince, Cui Xu, laughed loudly and left.
Even after safely returning to the Chu Prince's Mansion with the escort of Huo Ming and Huo Yuan, Shen Yunzhi remained uneasy.
Today, even though we are on the Huo family's estate, Cui Xu is acting so arrogantly and recklessly, clearly showing no regard for the Dingyuan Marquis's residence.
Just like before, Cui Xuan treated Huo Yuan capriciously.
For her to rely on the Huo family to protect her from Cui Xu is practically wishful thinking.
If they failed to protect her, they might also suffer as a result, which would be a huge loss.
Shen Yunzhi recalls her past life.
In fact, it is obvious that the fact that Cui Xu never laid a hand on her in her previous life was largely due to Cui Huai.
Cui Xu might disregard the Marquis of Dingyuan's mansion, but he couldn't and wouldn't dare treat Cui Huai, who was favored by Emperor Jiaping, in the same way. In his previous life, because of her entanglement with Cui Huai, there were bound to be some rumors circulating outside, which probably made Cui Xu wary.
Shen Yunzhi was upset and confused, and for some reason all sorts of bad things came rushing in at once.
Could it be that she will have to seek Cui Huai's protection again?
"What happened? I heard you fell off your horse today?" Shen Yunzhi went to visit Cui Lizhu and brought over the handmade scented soap that Huo Yuan had given her. As expected, she was questioned by Cui Lizhu.
With red eyes, Shen Yunzhi explained the matter to Cui Lizhu in detail.
Cui Lizhu sneered, gritting her teeth, "You really are a troublemaker. What should we do about this? Cui Xu is even more troublesome than Cui Xuan."
"I don't know what to do either..."
Shen Yunzhi shook her head helplessly, "I heard that the Fifth Prince is a womanizer, and many young ladies have fallen victim to his cruelty."
Choi Yeo-joo glanced at her and said, "That's really strange."
"Aren't you just eyeing my older brother as a perfect opportunity to get close to him?"
Shen Yunzhi said in a low voice, "I didn't say these things to His Highness, and my aunt doesn't know much about it either."
Lying on the chaise lounge, Cui Lizhu tugged at the thin blanket covering her, thought for a moment, and sighed: "Cui Xu is indeed a scoundrel. Every young lady he targets is unfortunate, but His Majesty protects him, so what can we do?"
"Why don't you hurry up and settle the marriage?"
"He might give up on the idea, but it's hard to say. He's done things like forcibly taking away marriages before."
Shen Yunzhi covered her face and sobbed softly, "Does this mean there's absolutely no way out?"
"Let me think about it." Cui Lizhu frowned. "You should stay home these days. At least he won't dare to come to the Chu Prince's mansion and cause trouble."
Cui Lizhu's attitude was better than Shen Yunzhi had expected.
She originally thought that after being ridiculed a few times, Cui Lizhu would ignore her, but she never expected that Cui Lizhu would be willing to help her find a solution, probably because she was afraid that she would go to Cui Huai.
However, Shen Yunzhi did not hold out any hope.
Choi Yeo-joo didn't care that she knew this from the beginning; she simply wanted to see if she could gather more information to deal with Choi Wook in the future. Unfortunately, the Choi Wook she knew was almost identical to the Choi Wook Choi Yeo-joo knew.
Upon returning to Yunxi Garden, Shen Yunzhi ordered someone to prepare hot water for her to bathe and wash up.
Remembering that Cui Xu had touched that dress, she immediately ordered Qiu Yue to burn it.
Choi Yeo-joo wasn't the only one who cared about and missed her.
Huo Yuan also sent a letter to inquire whether she was alright, reminding her to be careful when going out recently, and to bring more servants if possible.
Shen Yunzhi felt a warm glow in her heart as she read the words filled with concern.
She replied to Huo Yuan, thanking her for her concern and saying that she would be more careful.
Cui Lizhu didn't want Shen Yunzhi to go to Cui Huai.
However, after much thought, she couldn't come up with a proper solution, and knowing Cui Xu's character well, she hesitated and went to find Cui Huai.
"Big brother, what should we do when something like this happens?" Cui Lizhu didn't mention Shen Yunzhi, only concealing her name, and told Cui Huai what had happened, since it wasn't the first time Cui Xu had done something like this.
In Cui Huai's eyes, Cui Lizhu was not well hidden.
But instead of directly exposing him, he said, "If you can find something to hold over the other party, you can naturally overthrow them."
"handle?"
Cui Lizhu looked puzzled. "What's wrong with Cui Xu? If he has something to hide, why is he so arrogant?"
Cui Huai stopped there, revealing no further details.
Cui Lizhu could only relay a vague and incomplete sentence to Shen Yunzhi.
"The Fifth Prince's weakness?" Shen Yunzhi's initial reaction was similar to Cui Lizhu's. Although Cui Lizhu hadn't mentioned it, she quickly realized that this sounded like something Cui Huai would say. Cui Lizhu might have asked Cui Huai for his opinion.
Emperor Jiaping had three sons who had reached adulthood.
The third prince Cui Zhao, the fifth prince Cui Xu, and the eighth prince Cui Yan.
Cui Xu's "romantic" deeds hardly constitute any evidence against him.
Otherwise, the other princes would not have remained indifferent.
But how could she know something that even the other princes didn't know? No... Cui Huai knew.
If Cui Huai didn't know, he would never have said such a thing.
Shen Yunzhi gritted her teeth in resentment.
She didn't want to approach Cui Huai unless absolutely necessary, and besides, she couldn't say how Cui Huai would view her. For now, she could only take it one step at a time.
Shen Yunzhi wanted to proceed gradually, but Cui Xu didn't have that much patience.
During the days she stayed indoors, Cui Xu, who couldn't wait for her to come out, decided to try a different approach.
When Consort Shu sent an invitation to the Prince of Chu's residence, she waited outside the gate with a sedan chair.
Princess Chu was understandably surprised that Shen Yunzhi was invited alone again.
Shen Yunzhi never expected things to turn out this way.
She told her aunt about what had happened at the Huo family estate, and Cui Lizhu rushed to the main courtyard upon receiving the news.
"This is outrageous!"
Cui Lizhu was furious. "I never imagined they would actually extend their reach into the Chu Prince's residence!"
Princess Chu frowned: "Consort Shu's sedan chair is waiting outside. If we don't go, I'm afraid it will give them another excuse to make things difficult for Yunzhi in the future." She was worried and wanted to accompany Shen Yunzhi to the palace.
"Mother, let me go instead," Cui Lizhu said, biting her lip. "I'll accompany Zhiniang to the palace."
At least she could speak up for herself in front of her uncle and aunt.
At worst...
Even if all else fails, she can ask her older brother for help; that way, nothing should happen to Shen Yunzhi.
Shen Yunzhi finally boarded the sedan chair sent by Consort Shu and entered the palace.
After they left, Choi Yeo-joo immediately took a carriage to the palace and sent someone to deliver the message to Choi Hwae.
This was the most nerve-wracking time Shen Yunzhi had ever experienced before entering the palace.
Despite using the name of Consort Shu, she had a strange intuition that she might not actually be able to see Consort Shu today when she entered the palace.
That's exactly right.
The sedan chair traveled deep into the palace, but ultimately did not stop outside the palace of Consort Shu.
"Madam Shen, please get out of the sedan chair."
A young palace maid lifted the sedan curtain, and a young eunuch offered his arm respectfully, saying...
Sitting in the sedan chair, Shen Yunzhi saw a figure in the distance on the corridor, clearly the Fifth Prince Cui Xu. The eunuch repeatedly urged her to get out of the sedan chair, and finally she was forced to get out. Cui Xu stepped out from the corridor and walked to the vicinity of the sedan chair, his face beaming with a smug smile.
"Zhi Niang, we meet again."
Cui Xu stood in front of Shen Yunzhi. He was only slightly shorter than Cui Huai. His tall figure loomed over Shen Yunzhi like a dark cloud.
This sense of oppression was much weaker than the one Cui Huai gave her.
However, Shen Yunzhi disliked it in the same way.
Shen Yunzhi took a step back, bowed respectfully, and said, "This humble woman greets Your Highness the Fifth Prince."
Cui Xu smiled and looked her up and down: "It's been several days since we last met, and you are still as captivating as ever. I wonder if you have prepared the gift for me last time?"
Shen Yunzhi finally witnessed Cui Xu's shamelessness firsthand.
What's more troublesome is that if she goes into the palace with him, it would be like a lamb entering a tiger's den.
"Fifth Brother, give her to me!" Just as Shen Yunzhi was trying to stall for time, the Seventh Princess Cui Xuan rushed down from the sedan chair. She glared at Shen Yunzhi and said to Cui Xu, "Fifth Brother, give her to me, and I will have someone send another beauty."
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