Chapter 20 I have no intention of marrying Miss Liang.
Having been ambushed in the palace the previous night, Cui Lizhu was furious, wishing she could tear the palace maid who had knocked her unconscious to pieces and report the person behind it to the Emperor, begging her uncle to punish them severely. However, her brother ordered her not to act rashly, and she obediently complied. She only left her seat to accompany Shen Yunzhi, knowing that Shen Yunzhi was in trouble, and she worried about her all night.
The next morning, Cui Lizhu rushed to Yunxi Courtyard.
Shen Yunzhi caught a cold, her body was burning with fever, and she fell into a deep sleep.
The Queen Consort of Chu invited the imperial physician to examine her.
The imperial physician said that Shen Yunzhi had fallen ill due to excessive worry and the invasion of evil wind into her body. After prescribing medicine, he withdrew.
They did not let Princess Chu know what happened last night. Shen Yunzhi left the palace first, and what she told Princess Chu was that she was unwell, so Princess Chu did not suspect anything, but felt particularly sorry for her niece.
Cui Lizhu felt distressed when the imperial physician told her that Shen Yunzhi was overthinking things.
How could she not overthink things after being targeted by a scumbag like Cui Xu? She hadn't said much to him either, so she must have silently endured it all.
If my older brother hadn't caught me last night... who knows what might have happened?
Choi Yeo-joo dared not think too deeply about it.
But is this really going to be left like this?
Cui Xu went too far. If we just let it go so easily, wouldn't that only make him more arrogant and unscrupulous, and make him think that everyone is easy to bully in the future?
Thinking of this, Cui Lizhu's eyes dimmed as she looked at Shen Yunzhi, who was pale and haggard on the bed. She bit her lip, her heart heavy, and left Yunxi Courtyard. She looked up at the gloomy sky, but in the end, she did not return to her own courtyard. Instead, she went to Cui Huai's Qiyun Residence.
"Big brother, is this really the only way to let Cui Xu go?" Cui Lizhu was unwilling and could not hide her thoughts from Cui Huai. "He is so lawless because he used to bully men and women."
Cui Huai was tuning his zither in the waterside pavilion.
He sat at the table, casually fiddling with his fingers, and spoke with a touch of nonchalance: "What does Li Zhu want?"
Cui Lizhu said, "He should be taught a lesson."
"What if he insists that he was seduced?" Cui Huai asked calmly.
"Shameless!" Cui Lizhu was furious. "It was clearly him who set his sights on Zhiniang first and then deliberately tried to take her for himself. Zhiniang avoided him like the plague. How could she have ever seduced him?" Recalling the past, she was indignant again. "When he came to the mansion for a banquet before, he tried to touch Zhiniang inappropriately. Fortunately, my second brother arrived in time that day."
Cui Huai looked up, recalling the day Shen Yunzhi and Cui Hong appeared together in the dining hall.
"If we let Cui Xu off this time, won't he become even more arrogant?" Cui Lizhu was still worried.
"Big brother... could you please help Zhi Niang?"
"How can we just stand by and watch her be bullied like this by Cui Xu?"
...
Illness strikes like a landslide.
Shen Yunzhi's cold was particularly severe.
The persistent high fever over the past few days left her completely exhausted and unable to care for anything, only able to drift in and out of sleep. The Princess Consort of Chu was deeply worried, fearing something might happen to her, and stayed by her bedside day and night.
Seeing that her mother was unable to eat or sleep, Cui Lizhu tried to persuade her again and again, and finally managed to convince her to go back to rest.
Looking at the unconscious Shen Yunzhi again, all that could be done was sigh.
Upon hearing of this, Cui Hong made a special trip to Yunxi Courtyard to visit him.
Seeing Cui Lizhu's worried face, I couldn't really help her, so I could only offer a few words of comfort.
On his way back to his own courtyard, he encountered Cui Huai, who was returning to the mansion.
After bowing and greeting Cui Huai, Cui Hong sighed softly, "I heard that my cousin is seriously ill. I just went to visit her, and it seems to be more serious than I thought. My mother and Li Zhu are both very worried. They haven't been able to eat or sleep well these past few days, and I think Li Zhu has also lost weight."
Cui Huai neither agreed nor disagreed with his words.
"Brother, aren't you going to see your cousin?" Cui Hong couldn't help but ask again.
Cui Huai said calmly, "I don't know anything about medicine, so there's no use in going."
“The imperial physicians will come to see patients every day.”
Cui Hong was not surprised to receive such a reply from his brother. His tone was still slightly helpless: "Perhaps my cousin will be happy to know that her brother has gone, and her illness will get better faster. In that case, it will be of some use."
Cui Huai frowned slightly: "Why?"
When asked in return, Cui Hong seemed taken aback: "Actually, I was just saying it casually, brother, you don't need to take it to heart."
"But doesn't your brother care about your cousin's illness?"
He glanced at Cui Huai's expression and said, "Although it's just a cold, it can be fatal if not treated properly."
Cui Lizhu was surprised to see Cui Hong return, and when she saw Cui Huai with him at Yunxi Courtyard, her surprise was mixed with mixed feelings. Her older brother had actually taken the initiative to visit Zhi Niang; he hadn't always cared about her when she was sick.
"Why is Second Brother back again?" Cui Lizhu asked in a low voice.
Cui Hong said, "I met my elder brother on the way back to his residence, so I came here with him."
Cui Lizhu glanced resignedly at Cui Huai, stepped forward, and began to explain Shen Yunzhi's situation in detail.
Cui Huai listened quietly, his gaze fixed on the person on the bed.
The ailing Shen Yunzhi was bare-faced, her hair disheveled, a far cry from her usual meticulously groomed and beautiful appearance. Even in her deep sleep, her brows were slightly furrowed, indicating that she was not sleeping soundly. However, her naturally fair skin and rosy cheeks, now as white as paper, made her appear even more harmless and delicate.
Despite her frail appearance, she had the audacity to injure someone with a gold hairpin.
That fragility was nothing more than a disguise.
When Shen Yunzhi woke up, Cui Huai had already left.
Choi Yeo-joo stood by and watched as Qiu Yue fed her porridge and medicine, and said sourly, "Even your older brother cares about you so much, why don't you get better soon?"
"How could Your Highness possibly have the time?"
After being forced to drink a bowl of dark, murky medicine, Shen Yunzhi asked weakly.
Cui Lizhu was most afraid of taking medicine. Seeing her like this, she felt her mouth taste bitter as well. She quickly stuffed a milk candy into her mouth and said, "Second brother said that he met eldest brother on the way back to the mansion, so he came here with eldest brother."
Shen Yunzhi ate a milk candy and gave Cui Lizhu an apologetic smile: "Thank you for taking care of me, Lizhu."
Choi Yeo-joo sneered, "Don't be so smug. I won't hold it against you this time because you're sick, but you're not allowed to deliberately get close to my older brother again."
Shen Yunzhi just smiled.
As the medicine took effect, she became drowsy and soon fell asleep again.
This illness tormented Shen Yunzhi for a long time.
After the fever subsided, it took another seven or eight days of rest before I fully recovered.
During this time, Princess Chu and Cui Lizhu visited her every day, and Cui Hong would also occasionally come to Yunxi Courtyard when he had free time.
Only Cui Huai never appeared again.
No news of Cui Xu reached Shen Yunzhi's ears during these days, and that night truly seemed as if nothing had happened. However, she did not believe that the matter was over, and that Cui Xu had simply had to back down that night.
As if it were an illness, the weather grew increasingly hot and dry.
Shen Yunzhi, with ulterior motives, cooked some seasonal lotus seed cakes and went to Qiyun Residence under the guise of expressing her gratitude.
Cui Huai is playing the zither in the waterside pavilion.
Lin Yue led her over. The music hadn't stopped when she stepped into the waterside pavilion, sat down quietly, and didn't disturb her.
Shen Yunzhi had heard Cui Huai play the zither before.
He was quite accomplished in playing the zither and was a skilled player. She, in turn, used the excuse of learning the zither to harass him.
In fact, she never believed she could force Cui Huai to do anything, so whether it was teaching her to ride horses and shoot arrows or instructing her in playing the zither, she regarded it all as proof that Cui Huai treated her differently. Cui Huai, however, only saw it as a clumsy trick, and later settled some shameless scores with her.
Shen Yunzhi shifted her gaze from the expensive zither.
She stared down at the food box in her hand until the music ended, then looked up again with a smile, praising Cui Huai's exquisite music.
Cui Huai had heard such flattering words too many times, and they certainly did not move him in the slightest.
He remained expressionless: "I wasn't of much help with what happened earlier, so Miss Shen doesn't need to thank me so formally."
Shen Yunzhi came here specifically for Cui Xu.
When Cui Huai brought it up, she was overjoyed and immediately said, "If it weren't for Your Highness, I'm afraid... I'd really be grateful for Your Highness's rescue that day."
As soon as she finished speaking, Shen Yunzhi stepped forward and placed the food box on a corner of the table. She explained softly, "It's lotus seed cake." She didn't hide her close relationship with Cui Lizhu, saying, "Lizhu said that lotus seed cake is one of the few pastries that His Highness likes to eat."
"The crabapple blossom pastry from last time probably didn't suit Your Highness's taste; it was my oversight."
"It's no wonder Your Highness is unwilling to touch it."
He did not touch the crabapple cakes that Shen Yunzhi had sent him, but not because they didn't suit his taste.
Cui Huai did not correct Shen Yunzhi's words, but said, "Miss Shen, even if it were my second brother that day, he would have saved you the same way."
Shen Yunzhi agreed with this point; even if it had been Cui Hong, he wouldn't have refused to save her that day.
But for Cui Xu, it was a completely different story.
Cui Xu dared to speak sarcastically to Cui Hong without any mercy, but he didn't dare to be presumptuous in front of Cui Huai.
Even if you have the will, you are powerless to protect people.
But why did Cui Huai mention Cui Hong? Shen Yunzhi thought of Cui Hong accompanying Cui Huai to visit him at Yunxi Courtyard, and even earlier, when Cui Xu came to the Chu Prince's Mansion, Cui Hong had helped her. She took it as Cui Huai subtly reminding her that she could ask others for help instead of trying to find him in a roundabout way.
“Your Highness is different.” Shen Yunzhi lowered her voice, her tone unusually serious.
Cui Huai glanced at her, then got up from behind the zither table.
He walked to the waterside pavilion overlooking the lake and saw the beautiful lotus flowers and green lotus leaves reflected on the lake surface.
A cool breeze blew, causing his wide robes to flutter slightly in the wind.
Shen Yunzhi was not flustered by Cui Huai's silence.
She even got up with him, walked behind him, and whispered, "Your Highness still finds me troublesome, doesn't he?"
Cui Huai denied it: "No."
There was no sound behind me for a while, until a faint sobbing sound was heard, as if someone was trying hard to restrain themselves but still couldn't.
Cui Huai turned around, his gaze falling on Shen Yunzhi, who was only a step away from him. She was keeping her head down, making it impossible to see her expression; all that could be seen was her cloud-like hair, with a crimson-gold lotus hairpin trembling slightly in her hair.
"Feel sorry……"
After a long while, Cui Huai heard her voice again.
His voice was clearly trembling and tearful, full of a sense of bravado.
He uttered the two words with difficulty, without even raising his head, and then turned and strode quickly toward the outside of the waterside pavilion.
He still didn't understand why she was crying.
Just like every time she shed tears in front of him before.
Cui Huai kept looking at Shen Yunzhi.
After walking a few steps in silence, Shen Yunzhi heard neither Cui Huai's attempt to stop her nor caught a whiff of his footsteps, and couldn't help but feel annoyed.
If we leave like this, today's efforts will have been wasted.
More importantly, Cui Huai showed no sign of softening his stance, which was truly alarming.
Distracted by her thoughts, Shen Yunzhi hurried down the wooden steps leading to the waterside pavilion, but there was no sound behind her. Frustrated, she steeled herself and deliberately stepped on her skirt, causing her to stumble forward with a scream, landing awkwardly in front of the pavilion.
This fall left Shen Yunzhi completely disoriented and her vision blurred.
Even if you deliberately fall, the pain is still incredibly real.
Disregarding her image, she lay on the ground, thinking about the recent events, and couldn't help but feel endless grievances.
The tears, which were originally all feigned, were now mixed with a great deal of genuine emotion.
Cui Huaizhi stared in disbelief.
Hearing the commotion, Lin Yue rushed to the waterside pavilion and asked in surprise, "Is Miss Biao alright?"
Shen Yunzhi cried even harder.
Lin Yue went to look at Cui Huai again. Seeing Cui Huai step out of the waterside pavilion, he understood and silently withdrew.
Cui Huai bent down and silently helped Shen Yunzhi up from the ground.
He only had time to glance at her tear-streaked face, which was flushed red with embarrassment and anger, before his hand was pulled away.
Shen Yunzhi fled in panic.
Cui Huai chuckled as he watched her embarrassed and helpless figure disappear into the distance.
The red-gold lotus hairpin that adorned her hair was also lost in the fall.
Picking up the hairpin, Cui Huai turned and went back to the waterside pavilion. He sat down at the table and, in a good mood, poured himself a cup of tea.
...
The moment Cui Huai helped her up, Shen Yunzhi secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
If even this couldn't win Cui Huai's sympathy, then the road ahead would only be more difficult for her; fortunately, it wasn't that bad.
Although the fall was painful, at least it wasn't a complete waste.
Shen Yunzhi returned to Yunxi Courtyard with tears streaming down her face, her hair disheveled, and her clothes dirty.
Qiuyue was both shocked and frightened by the fact that her young mistress had gone to Qiyun Residence to express her gratitude, but returned in this state. She hurriedly asked what had happened.
Shen Yunzhi said she had accidentally fallen, which surprised Qiuyue even more. She then checked her injuries and, after confirming that she was alright, ordered someone to bring hot water and a clean dress to help her with her hair and makeup.
"The hair ornament that the young lady wears when she goes out..."
When Qiuyue was re-tying Shen Yunzhi's hair, she belatedly remembered that her young mistress had previously worn a red gold hairpin.
Shen Yunzhi was slightly taken aback and looked at the bronze mirror: "It must have been left at Qiyun Residence."
And it was most likely from when she fell.
If the item had fallen outside the waterside pavilion, it might have ended up in Cui Huai's hands right now.
However, she shouldn't go get it herself right now.
Shen Yunzhi asked Qiuyue to go to Qiyunju to look for something on her behalf.
Qiu Yue returned empty-handed and did not see Cui Huai. She asked Lin Yue about the hairpin, but Lin Yue only said he did not know.
Shen Yunzhi did not go to Qiyunju that day.
The next day she went to look for Cui Huai, but he was not in the mansion, so she waited for him in the waterside pavilion.
Cui Huai returned to Qiyun Residence and entered the waterside pavilion, where he saw Shen Yunzhi asleep on the table. She wore light makeup today, with rouge on her small lips. The bright color made her face look rosy even in her sleep, but she wore no jewelry in her hair.
As they approached, Shen Yunzhi remained unconscious. A cool breeze blew into the pavilion from the lake, causing a few strands of her dark hair to stick messily to her cheeks.
Cui Huai stood quietly for a while, then took out the red-gold hairpin from his sleeve and put it on her.
Shen Yunzhi opened her eyes at that very moment.
Cui Huai lowered his eyes and calmly met her gaze. There was no embarrassment on his face at being caught in the act. He simply and steadily inserted the hair ornament into her hair.
"Your Highness?" Shen Yunzhi, on the other hand, looked dazed, as if she had just woken up, and her voice was slightly hoarse. She sat up immediately, touched her face helplessly, and then, as if just realizing what had happened, touched the extra jewelry in her hair.
Cui Huai said, "It's windy in the waterside pavilion. Miss Shen has only recently recovered from her illness, so it's not advisable for her to stay any longer."
Upon hearing this, Shen Yunzhi withdrew her hand, not looking at him, but instead glancing at the lotus-covered lake outside the waterside pavilion.
"Thank you for your help yesterday, Your Highness."
She spoke softly, her voice so low it seemed as if it would dissipate with a gust of wind.
Such a single sentence seemed to have exhausted all courage.
Before Cui Huai could respond, she blushed and abruptly stood up, walking silently out of the waterside pavilion as she had the day before.
However, Cui Huai spoke up today.
His voice was calm, yet tinged with a hint of helplessness: "Just this once."
Shen Yunzhi stopped in her tracks.
Unsure of Cui Huai's meaning, she turned around and asked, puzzled, "What?"
“Lizhu asked me to help you,” Cui Huai replied.
Shen Yunzhi was surprised. Cui Lizhu had never mentioned it to her, so she truly knew nothing about it: "Lizhu, she..."
Cui Huai said, "Li Zhu is truly devoted to you."
"Thank you for telling me this, Your Highness," Shen Yunzhi murmured to herself. "I know that Lizhu treats me very well, and I will never let her down."
Shen Yunzhi did not ask Cui Lizhu to verify the truth of the matter.
Cui Huai was not good at lying, usually disdained to lie, and would never use falsehoods to deal with such matters. She believed that what Cui Huai said was true. Thinking about it carefully, it must have been during the days when she was unconscious from her illness that Cui Lizhu had sought out Cui Huai.
Choi Yeo-joo later verbally warned her not to deliberately approach Choi Hoe.
He had secretly considered her needs a great deal, even breaking his principles repeatedly.
Knowing that Choi Yeo-joo truly cared for her, she naturally wanted to be good to Choi Yeo-joo in return.
The only problem is that Cui Lizhu still believes she covets Cui Huai, and because of Cui Xu, she not only cannot distance herself from Cui Huai, but also has to get close to him. If Cui Lizhu knew, she wondered what she would think. Unfortunately, she couldn't care less about Cui Lizhu's feelings at the moment.
Although she did not ask Cui Lizhu for confirmation, Shen Yunzhi prepared a thank-you gift for her to make her happy.
The transparent glass bottle contains various gemstones, including pink tourmaline, amethyst agate, rubies and sapphires... shimmering and dazzling.
Choi Yeo-joo fell in love at first sight.
She was both surprised and delighted, examining the glass bottle in the box as she asked, "Is this for me?"
"Do you like Li Zhu?" Shen Yunzhi asked with a smile.
Choi Yeo-joo nodded, then became wary and asked, "Why would you give me such an expensive gift out of the blue?"
Shen Yunzhi handed the box to Cui Lizhu and said sincerely, "I don't know how much help Lizhu has given me these days. I really have no way to repay her. I thought you might like it, so I prepared this gift as a token of my gratitude."
Choi Yeo-joo was still not entirely convinced: "Is there really nothing else?"
Shen Yunzhi countered, "What else?"
"You know what you're doing." Cui Lizhu was very fond of the glass bottle, but thinking only of Shen Yunzhi's situation, she always felt it was too wasteful.
She might like it, but if she really wanted it, it would only take a word from her aunt.
"I think you're just being overly solicitous."
After thinking it over, Cui Lizhu stuffed the box back to Shen Yunzhi, saying, "I don't want it, you keep it."
No matter how much Shen Yunzhi tried to persuade her, Cui Lizhu resolutely refused to accept it.
She did not insist, and later made two more round fans with flowers and birds to give to Cui Lizhu.
Shen Yunzhi didn't need to be too careful with Cui Lizhu, but she had to be very cautious with Cui Huai, even if she wanted to get close to him, lest she cause unnecessary misunderstandings and lead to things she didn't want to happen again.
Therefore, she did not treat Cui Huai with excessive attentiveness.
After finding the red-gold hairpin, she did not meet with Cui Huai again until news came that Cui Huai had been reprimanded by the King of Chu once more.
Not long after the King of Chu returned to the capital, Cui Huai was punished once.
According to Cui Hong, that incident was related to the previous dismissal of Aunt Ye, and the news was kept quite secret.
This time, the reason for the incident was not worth asking. Within half a day, the news spread throughout the Chu Prince's mansion that because the Crown Prince refused to obey the Prince's order to marry the daughter of the Duke of Zhenguo, he angered the Prince, who then ordered the Crown Prince to kneel in the Lanting Garden as punishment.
"Are you sure there's no mistake?"
"Was it because the heir refused to be engaged to Miss Liang of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion that he was reprimanded and punished by the prince?"
Shen Yunzhi was utterly astonished and could not believe her ears.
Qiuyue was puzzled as to why her young mistress was reacting so strongly: "It's already spread throughout the manor, so it can't be false. Why are you so surprised, Miss?"
Shen Yunzhi pinched her palm to calm herself down.
She said, "Miss Liang is intelligent and kind-hearted, beautiful and graceful, and her family background is beyond compare. If the young master doesn't even think much of Miss Liang, I really don't know what kind of young lady he would want to catch his eye."
“Miss is right.”
Qiuyue nodded in agreement and added, "Perhaps His Highness doesn't care about these things?"
Shen Yunzhi did not respond.
After dismissing Qiuyue, she sat alone on the daybed by the window, lost in thought.
Cui Huai was unwilling to marry Liang Zhi...
This was completely beyond Shen Yunzhi's imagination, and it was very different from what she had experienced in her previous life.
Clearly, Cui Huai's final wife was Liang Zhi.
If not, then what about the cup of poison that Cui Hong sent to her before Cui Huai's wedding in her previous life, which took her life?
This never happened in my previous life.
Either the message from the manor was wrong, or things went astray, or what she knew in her past life wasn't the truth at all...
This news was truly shocking to Shen Yunzhi. She was stunned and unable to calm down for a long time, and she didn't know how to judge this matter. After thinking it over, she decided to go see Cui Lizhu first.
"What's so strange about my elder brother looking down on Liang Zhi? Yet Father punished him for it."
Choi Yeo-joo did not think her brother was wrong to refuse the marriage; she simply did not understand her father's reaction.
"Father is clearly making things difficult for me on purpose."
"What did my elder brother do wrong? Is it wrong for him not to want to marry Liang Zhi? What makes Liang Zhi so special!"
Cui Lizhu felt very sorry for Cui Huai, but when she went to Cui Jue to plead for Cui Huai, she was scolded and could only hide in her room and sulk. Shen Yunzhi listened to her venting and comforted her for a long time before she was able to leave.
Cui Huai's refusal to get engaged to Liang Zhi is a foregone conclusion.
After meeting Cui Lizhu, Shen Yunzhi decided to meet Cui Huai as well.
Since the news had already spread throughout the manor, she should have no problem asking Cui Huai directly.
As night fell, Shen Yunzhi left Yunxi Courtyard alone and headed towards Lanting Courtyard.
The once unguarded Lanting Garden is now guarded outside, and it is no longer possible to enter through the main gate.
Not wanting to be noticed, Shen Yunzhi did not approach rashly to test the waters.
After thinking for a moment, she went to Qiyun Residence to find Lin Yue.
A crescent moon hung high in the dark sky, its moonlight gently enveloping everything in Lanting Garden.
Even after most of the day had passed, Cui Huai, who was being forced to kneel before the memorial altar of the late Princess Chu, still maintained an upright posture.
Lin Yue was highly skilled in martial arts, and with his help, Shen Yunzhi successfully scaled the wall and entered. After confirming that only Cui Huai was inside Lanting Garden, she stepped forward with peace of mind.
Although Shen Yunzhi moved quietly, the surroundings were too quiet, and Cui Huai caught the sound of her footsteps.
"There are guards outside, how did Miss Shen get in?"
Cui Huai's tone was ordinary, as if he simply had some questions. Shen Yunzhi moved closer to him and said, "It was Lin Yue who helped."
"It is being said in the manor today that His Highness was punished because he refused to be engaged to Miss Liang."
Shen Yunzhi cared about this the most, and she didn't mince words about it.
Cui Huai seemed to be silent for a moment before coldly saying, "This has nothing to do with Miss Shen." Shen Yunzhi was overjoyed that it had nothing to do with her, but Cui Huai's lack of denial meant that things were as she understood them—he was punished because he refused to get engaged to Liang Zhi.
Why is Your Highness unwilling to get engaged to Miss Liang?
Shen Yunzhi squatted down beside Cui Huai, tilting her head to look at him, "Isn't Miss Liang good enough?"
Cui Huai had no interest in conversation and remained silent.
Undeterred, Shen Yunzhi continued, "In terms of background, Miss Liang is the daughter of the Duke of Zhenguo. In terms of character, Miss Liang is a recognized model of a well-bred young lady in the capital, and also a renowned talented woman. In terms of appearance, she is impeccable. In the eyes of outsiders, Miss Liang and His Highness are a perfect match. I have always believed that only someone like Miss Liang could catch His Highness's eye. But why is His Highness unwilling? Or is it because it was the Prince who proposed it that His Highness is unwilling?"
Cui Huai remained silent.
Shen Yunzhi then said, "Since Your Highness does not deny it, then it must be so."
"But Miss Liang will surely be heartbroken to learn of this."
"Miss Liang's feelings for His Highness are well known, and His Highness's attitude inevitably hurts people's feelings."
These words, however, did not provoke Cui Huai.
Unable to get anything out of him, Shen Yunzhi couldn't help but feel a bit irritated. If she couldn't figure out the truth, she would have one more thing to worry about.
"If Your Highness is unwilling to speak, then so be it. I am only concerned about Your Highness." After a moment, suppressing her impatience, Shen Yunzhi took out an oil paper package and opened it in front of Cui Huai. "I heard that the Prince forbids Your Highness from eating, so I secretly brought you a few pastries."
Cui Huai glanced at the pastries but made no move to take them.
Having gone without food or drink for most of the day, Shen Yunzhi didn't believe he wasn't hungry, so she deliberately offered him some more food.
This time, Cui Huai simply didn't even look at it.
Shen Yunzhi held the pastry up for a while without responding, then rewrapped it and placed it in front of him.
"Then we'll eat it when Your Highness wants to."
After saying that, she asked Cui Huai again, as if she hadn't given up, "Why is Your Highness unwilling to get engaged to Miss Liang?"
There was absolutely no response.
Seeing that she couldn't get any information out of her and fearing that she would be discovered to have secretly entered Lanting Garden, Shen Yunzhi got up to leave: "It's late, Your Highness, I'll go back now."
She lifted her foot and walked away.
He had only taken one step when Cui Huai's voice rang out abruptly from behind: "I have no intention of marrying Miss Liang."
Shen Yunzhi almost doubted that there was something wrong with her ears.
Otherwise, why would she have heard such absurd things again and again today?
"Your Highness..."
She turned around, her surprise genuine. "Why?"
Cui Huairu had not answered this question before.
"Why is Miss Shen so concerned?" he asked with a faint smile, his eyes fixed on Shen Yunzhi.
A note from the author:
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Two parts combined [Let me see]
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, this chapter will be available for purchase starting from the next chapter. Thank you all for your support! [hugs]
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