The fragrant bath is here.
despair!
despair!
despair!
Horse hooves swept through the streets.
Xiao Zhian rode ahead of everyone else.
The guards, unable to catch up, drew their swords and stabbed the horse's rump in the back.
The horse, in pain, reared up and neighed, then galloped away with lightning speed.
"Your Highness, please calm down!" Du Yu rushed to Xiao Zhian's side and behind: "Your Highness, General Xuan Ge has wound medicine and antidote pills, which will surely protect the young lady. Moreover, the young lady has repeatedly begged that if you send someone, it will be to kill her. Please spare her life."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Zhian reined in his horse and brought it to a sudden stop.
Seeing that there was a chance, Du Yu quickly added, "The girl said that if she needs anything, she will beg you to save her life. Please have mercy and spare her life."
Du Yu imitated the voice perfectly, putting in more effort than he had ever done in his entire life.
Because he was more afraid of death than Lin Huaiyin was.
He feared that Xiao Zhian would move to Shenfu late at night, causing a lot of embarrassment.
Originally, Lady Shen had rendered meritorious service in protecting the emperor, and it would have been a beautiful story to publicly commend and reward her for her contributions.
However, Your Highness did not summon Lord Shen to come and take him away, and instead detained my wife alone in a dark room. Now, you have even sent your personal guards to protect her. This is not a proper official business at all.
Du Yu recalled Lin Huaiyin's trembling little face as she huddled in the corner. He thought to himself, "If Madam Shen is so afraid, I really can't imagine what His Highness did to her in the room. Why make things difficult for her? Wouldn't it be better to just let it go?"
For the sake of the Eastern Palace and His Highness the Crown Prince, Du Yu mustered his courage and rode his horse to the front of Xiao Zhi'an.
Xiao Zhian gripped the reins tightly, his gaze fixed on Changshunfang and the moon on the horizon.
He knew how badly Lin Huaiyin was injured, but he didn't understand why she refused treatment and kept everyone at arm's length.
Isn't she afraid of dying?
She begged and pleaded to stay out of his way. Was it because she didn't want to get involved with him, or because she was afraid Shen Congyun would find out?
Is she that afraid of Shen Congyun?
She's cunning and shrewd; she could kill three Shen Congyuns with a single arrow. Would she be afraid?
She couldn't possibly be afraid.
Looking at the lonely moon, Xiao Zhian suddenly realized that although the naughty cat was running wild and causing trouble everywhere, it couldn't bear to part with Chen Congyun at all.
On the ship, she referred to herself as a subject.
In the abbot's room, she spared no expense in inviting a high-ranking monk to pray for a child.
She longed to have children with Shen Congyun.
In an attempt to please Shen Congyun, she audaciously tied him and a Shen family woman together, infuriating him to the point that he specifically requested that Madam Shen be given fragrant bath water for the Buddha's Birthday and granted her permission to bathe.
The thought of taking a fragrant bath made Xiao Zhian's heart skip a beat.
On the horizon, a crescent moon shone brightly, but a dim, gray cloud was slowly swallowing it up.
The night was as dark as ink. Xiao Zhian instructed Du Yu: "Go to the Shen residence and convey my decree."
"Yes." Du Yu clasped his hands in acceptance of the order: "Please give your instructions, Your Highness."
——
Shenfu.
Xuan Ge transformed into a black shadow, leaping across rooftops and landing on the roof, his gaze sweeping across the streets.
The main entrance.
Three horses rode side by side, and Shen Congyun's carriage slowly approached.
The gatekeeper, seeing them from afar, eagerly approached with a lantern and placed a soft stool on the floor.
Shen Congyun was the first to get off the bus.
Yu Li carefully helped him up.
Lin Huaiyin stepped off the car on a stool, her movements slow and her figure clumsy. She was wearing a pale yellow dress that Xuan Ge had hastily found for her, and she was carrying the Guanyin statue that she had extorted from Xuan Ge. Under Xuan Ge's gaze, she walked towards Chen Congyun.
Shen Congyun did not wait for her, but it was too late and the gates of the mansion were locked. He had to wait for the gatekeeper to knock on a secret signal to open the gate from the inside.
Lin Huaiyin slowly moved towards Shen Congyun. Her slow, light footsteps approached, reminding Shen Congyun of the time she had been waiting by the carriage. As soon as she saw him, she rushed into his arms, chattering about how she had found a Guanyin Bodhisattva who grants children, and that the woman in the white cloak had blessed her. Then she went on to talk about sons, the God of Literature, becoming the top scholar, becoming the Grand Secretary, being granted a noble title... a whole bunch of nonsense.
Shen Congyun was getting annoyed by her.
He wanted to slap her, or better yet, burn her to ashes and bury her on the spot, but since the Crown Prince was still alive and well, he could only suppress his anger.
Two assassination attempts in one day failed, and Shen Congyun and Princess Pingyang couldn't even find a single piece of the nine monks' remains, suffering a complete defeat.
Not counting the additional assassins unexpectedly added in Pingyang, the assassination attempt by the nine monks at the Dharma Hall was Shen Congyun's first attack on the Crown Prince. He had been preparing for this battle for many years, meticulously planning every move, and thought it was foolproof. However, he unexpectedly lost everything, and even how he lost was impossible to find out.
Then, misfortune struck again when the Crown Prince caught him having a secret rendezvous with Pingyang on a pleasure boat.
Although the Crown Prince probably didn't see Pingyang's face and didn't express his opinion at the time, Shen Congyun knew that this matter would definitely not be let off easily.
Lin Huaiyin married into the Shen family with an imperial decree, which was even obtained by the Crown Prince himself from the Emperor.
Shen Congyun was very clear that his marriage to Lin Huaiyin was, in fact, a marriage bestowed by the Crown Prince.
Having served under the Crown Prince for many years, he knew that the Crown Prince, though outwardly kind and lazy, was actually cunning and unpredictable in his actions.
The assassination attempt failed, and he exposed his weaknesses. If the Crown Prince were to target him and follow the clues to eliminate him completely, he and Pingyang would face certain death.
As Shen Congyun listened to Lin Huaiyin's footsteps, a thought suddenly popped into his head: Why not find an opportunity to make His Highness the Crown Prince believe that the woman he was having a secret rendezvous with on the ship was Lin Huaiyin?
As long as Lin Huaiyin nods in admission, even if his expression was unnatural and he was still suspected, it would be enough to shut the Crown Prince who was in charge of the country up.
It's common for men to have multiple wives and concubines, and Lin Huaiyin herself doesn't care. Why should the Crown Prince, an outsider, insist on intervening?
Thinking of this, Shen Congyun decided to give Lin Huaiyin a kind look for the sake of his and Princess Pingyang's safety.
He stopped at the bottom of the steps and reached out his hand to Lin Huaiyin.
Upon seeing this, Lin Huaiyin immediately stopped in her tracks, looking timid.
The dark gate of the mansion resembled the underworld, the palace of Yama, and suddenly an arm reached out, its fingers thin and white, like a soul-reaping messenger.
A chill ran down her spine, goosebumps rose on her skin, and she tightened her embrace around the Guanyin Bodhisattva, thinking, "Amitabha, Bodhisattva, please protect me. That scoundrel suffered a crushing defeat today and is furious. Could he be trying to vent his anger by beating someone up?"
Lin Huaiyin was timid and hesitant, her steps becoming even more fragmented. She clung tightly to the Bodhisattva, not daring to make a move, and was on guard. If Shen Congyun became violent, she would smash his head with the Bodhisattva and run away on horseback.
She remained motionless, and Shen Congyun thought she was so happy she had gone mad, since he hadn't even glanced at her the whole way and had been treating her coldly.
He liked Lin Huaiyin's reaction, which meant that his dog-training method was very effective. Neglecting and showing disdain, with occasional treats, was enough to make her dizzy and disoriented.
So, contrary to his usual behavior, he took the initiative to hold Lin Huaiyin's hand as she touched the Buddha statue and led her up the steps.
"There's something I need Third Sister's help with," Shen Congyun said as she walked.
Suddenly being held in the hand, Lin Huaiyin felt nauseous and her hair stood on end. A white shadow flashed through her mind, and she instinctively wanted to pull her hand away, but she suppressed the thought and immediately grabbed it back, her thumb rubbing against Chen Congyun's hand as if they were infinitely tender.
"Whatever you say, my husband, I'll take it." Lin Huaiyin forced herself to lean against him, tilting her head back with a sweet smile that was almost sickening.
The two held hands, eye to eye. With each step they took, Lin Huaiyin would bump into him like a vixen. Shen Congyun was so disgusted that his stomach clenched, and he couldn't say a word.
She gets all excited at the slightest provocation; he really wanted to strangle her.
But he held back.
"Squeak—twist—"
The gate slowly opened.
A sudden beam of light shone in, stinging my eyes.
Lin Huaiyin instinctively covered her eyes, unaware that as the door opened, a crimson slap landed hard on her face.
The slap landed unexpectedly, and by the time Lin Huaiyin realized it, the slap was already about to hit her face.
"ah!"
Shen Lanyan let out a scream, her ankle throbbing with pain as she twisted her ankle and crashed headfirst into Shen Congyun, slapping him across the face in an instant—"Slap!"
Shen Congyun received a solid slap across the face.
A tiny pebble is bouncing around.
Upstairs, Xuan Ge rubbed his fingers together and coldly glared at Shen Lanyan.
Shen Lanyan winced in pain and couldn't speak. She fell back into her chair, ignoring Shen Congyun's squinting stare at her, and glared at Lin Huaiyin with a venomous look.
Lin Huaiyin only heard the sound and didn't know that Shen Congyun had been beaten. She keenly noticed Xiao Shitou and immediately realized that it was Xuan Ge who was up to something. She thought to herself that this person was untrustworthy and had still followed her.
Then the door opened completely, and once the view cleared, the scene before my eyes almost scared me to death.
Between the main gate and the screen wall, there were twenty or thirty people, including Old Madam Shen, Shen Zaiyuan, and Shen Lanyan who had hit her, along with servants and maids. Shen Lanyan was like a hungry wolf, her eyes bloodshot, glaring fiercely at her and trying to tear her apart.
Behind him.
The Shen family's gate creaked shut with a clang.
Lin Huaiyin sensed a deadly aura.
What's wrong?
Does the King of Hell hold court?
What are you doing here so late at night instead of sleeping?
That can't be.
Lin Huaiyin's heart pounded wildly. Her first thought was that when she was watching the woman in the white cloak ascend the lotus platform, she was sitting on the man's arm and was seen by Shen Lanyan, who then tried to strangle her because of it.
What's wrong with a man sitting there?
Lin Huaiyin snorted, thinking to herself that her aunt liked to sit.
If Shen Lanyan is so capable, why doesn't she catch Shen Congyun cheating? That would be the greatest fun.
Lin Huaiyin felt indignant, but she only dared to keep it to herself.
Without hesitation, she hid behind Chen Congyun.
Didn't that scoundrel ask her for something just now? It must have been something important, otherwise he wouldn't have gone out of his way to fawn over her like that.
Lin Huaiyin's back wound throbbed with excruciating pain. She wiped the sweat from her forehead repeatedly, hoping that Chen Congyun would protect her.
When she dodged, Shen Lanyan's face contorted in anger, and she couldn't stand up. She pointed at Lin Huaiyin's nose and cursed, "You bitch! Stay away from my brother!!"
Upon hearing this, Lin Huaiyin quickly shrank back behind Shen Congyun.
Oh no, we've really been seen.
Remembering the last time Shen Lanyan went berserk and killed someone by suffocation, Lin Huaiyin's back ached even more. She immediately turned around to check Yu Li's location, so that she wouldn't be unable to take care of her if a fight broke out.
Lin Huaiyin swayed and groveled behind him, leaving Shen Congyun bewildered. He glanced at Shen Lanyan indifferently, feeling only annoyance.
He could call Lin Huaiyin a slut, but he never believed that Lin Huaiyin would do anything that would make others call her a "slut." Lin Huaiyin loved him terribly; she was his pet dog, and she would only wag her tail at him.
To him, Shen Lanyan's scolding of his dog was tantamount to scolding him for not knowing how to train a dog, which he didn't like to hear.
The younger sister's temperament was becoming increasingly domineering. Shen Congyun was not very satisfied. He noticed a strange fragrance among the crowd. Following the scent, he saw a wooden bucket filled with water, with the moon floating on the surface. The bucket was engraved with a young deer, a Dharma wheel, and the three characters "Xiangguo Temple".
"What happened?" Shen Congyun looked at Shen Zaiyuan. "Tell me."
Shen Zaiyuan stood up, looked at Old Madam Shen, then at Shen Lanyan, and turned to Shen Congyun, saying awkwardly, "This is very strange. Xiangguo Temple sent over this year's bathing Buddha incense water. Brother, you know that this incense water is so expensive that you can't buy it even with money. It's always been given to princes and nobles. But the monks at Xiangguo Temple said that His Highness the Crown Prince ordered them to send it over as a reward, a reward, a reward—"
"Give that wretched woman a bath!"
Shen Lanyan blurted it out.
Chen Zaiyuan helplessly shrugged.
Madam Shen remained silent.
Shen Congyun was stunned upon hearing this. In an instant, he realized that His Highness the Crown Prince was intentionally giving him a warning. He clenched his fist in his sleeve and gripped the rhinoceros horn thumb ring tightly.
Behind him.
Lin Huaiyin gritted her teeth and looked up at the sky—So that's how it is! That monk Sanbao! He took the money and did nothing! And that Crown Prince! Is this how he repays a life-saving debt? Does he want me dead?!
High up in the pavilion, Xuan Ge's nose itched, so he silently concealed himself and scratched.
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