While Shen Feng and his group were anxiously trying to find a way to rescue Shen Muxun at the mansion, they heard that the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review and General Su Xiao had been ordered to lead troops to surround the Prince Xian's mansion and had dug out more than a dozen gruesome corpses from the courtyard of the Princess of Nanyang.
With the evidence irrefutable, the Prince Xian had no chance to defend himself and could only let them take Princess Nanyang away for interrogation.
The following day, an imperial edict that shocked the entire capital city was issued from the palace: Princess Nanyang had used forbidden techniques from the Northern Kingdom to cruelly murder dozens of innocent women. His Majesty was furious and demoted her to commoner status, stripped her of her title as princess, and ordered her to be beheaded three days later.
The wise prince was also demoted from the capital and sent to Yunzhou for failing to properly educate his daughter, and was not allowed to return to the capital without being summoned.
From then on, there was no more wise king in the capital.
Because of the incident at the Prince Xian's residence, Shen Muxun actually benefited from the misfortune. Although he suffered a great injustice, he managed to save his life.
However, this incident severely damaged Shen Muxun's reputation, and he seemed to have suffered a great blow, locking himself in his room and refusing to eat or drink, refusing to open the door no matter who tried to persuade him.
Mother Shen was so anxious that bubbles were coming out of her mouth. Her eldest son was still unconscious, and now her second son had also had an accident. She had never felt so helpless.
“Mother, Third Brother might just be having trouble accepting the blow right now. Let him think about it himself. I'll keep an eye on things here.” Shen Jinshu took her mother’s arm and offered her some comforting words.
Mother Shen sighed and pulled her arm away from Shen Jinshu's grasp. "I hope so."
Yu Zhou was still asleep, and with doubts lingering in her mind, she couldn't bring herself to feel close to Shen Jinshu.
Shen Jinshu kept her hands still, forcing a smile, as if she hadn't noticed her mother's distant behavior.
She returned to her courtyard, seething with anger, and slapped Xiuyue across the face. "Useless!"
Xiuyue didn't even care about the pain in her cheek. She knelt down on the ground with a thud, her shoulders trembling with fear.
"We must get rid of that person before Chengde does." Shen Jinshu's words were ruthless. She had planned everything, but she hadn't expected Liang Yue to cause such a surprise. She had really shot herself in the foot.
"This servant understands." Xiuyue scrambled out of the room, afraid that if she was a step too slow, she would lose her life.
*
Three days later, Song Zhiyu stood at the window, looking at Shen Yuzhou, who was still standing outside the courtyard, wanting to see her one last time, her face expressionless.
Lu Bai draped the cloak over Song Zhiyu's shoulders, and looking at the suddenly changed sky, she sighed, "Miss, it's raining."
"Have you put all those herbs away? They can't get wet." Song Zhiyu tightened her cloak, looking at the misty, torrential rain, and asked about the herbs that she had left to dry in the yard.
Lu Bai smiled, her eyes crinkling. She had been watching closely. "They're all packed away safely, not a drop of rain has gotten on them."
“Those herbs are incredibly effective at treating fever. My uncle just took most of them recently, and there aren’t many left. It seems I’ll have to go to Mingyin Mountain again sometime.” Song Zhiyu has been enjoying some leisure lately, spending his time drying herbs and keeping the gate tightly closed, completely ignoring Shen Yuzhou.
Ever since he regained consciousness, he has been going to the entrance of Songxi Courtyard without fail, saying that he wants to see her and he will not leave until he sees her.
Song Zhiyu felt there was nothing to say between the two of them; if he wanted to stand, let him stand, as it wouldn't bother her anyway.
I thought he would give up and go back, but he stood there for three days straight, as if he wouldn't give up until he saw her.
"Miss, the rain seems to be getting heavier. Let's go inside." Lu Bai saw that the sky was covered with dark clouds, like a huge black cloth covering the ground, and felt a sense of unease.
This rain seems unusually heavy.
Seeing that the rain had already splashed onto Song Zhiyu's skirt, it seemed that the rain wouldn't stop anytime soon.
Song Zhiyu nodded, closed the window, and shut out the sound of rain and words of comfort from outside.
Outside the courtyard.
Shen Yuzhou stood disheveled at the entrance of Songxi Courtyard, unmoved by the rain lashing his face.
"Brother, you still have an injury on your leg, you can't get wet in the rain, come back with me quickly." Shen Jinshu held the umbrella over Shen Yuzhou's head and gently persuaded him.
"Go back by yourself." Shen Yuzhou didn't even glance at her.
Shen Jinshu gritted her teeth, unable to understand why everything seemed to have changed so drastically in just a few days. "Big brother, second sister is heartless. Do you think she'll give you a second glance just because you got sick from being in the rain?"
Her eldest brother ignored her, her fourth brother mocked her whenever they met, and even her mother treated her with inconsistent attitudes. She couldn't take it anymore.
Shen Yuzhou remained silent. He didn't expect to be forgiven; he just wanted Song Zhiyu to suffer all the hardships she had endured, so that he could feel better.
Seeing this, Shen Jinshu sneered inwardly, thinking, "Does he really think that punishing himself will earn Song Zhiyu's forgiveness?"
She was such a cold-hearted and indifferent person that even if Shen Yuzhou died in front of her, she wouldn't necessarily give him a second glance.
Despite her disdain, if she continued to let things slide, they would only slowly slip out of her control.
"Third brother, please persuade eldest brother." She couldn't help but turn her pleading gaze to Shen Mingyi beside her.
What pleased her most was Shen Mingyi's attitude towards her, which remained unchanged from beginning to end, while his dislike for Song Zhiyu only intensified.
She had initially worried that her third brother would feel guilty and regretful after learning that Song Zhiyu was his true savior, but now it seemed that she had been overthinking it.
"Big brother, when did you become like fourth brother, offering your warm face to someone who doesn't appreciate it? Song Zhiyu is heartless and doesn't care about us brothers at all. Pei Qingyan and Su Jinyang are her brothers. Who are you?"
Shen Mingyi didn't hesitate to reopen Shen Yuzhou's wounds; he just couldn't stand how these people were begging Song Zhiyu for forgiveness.
What did they do wrong? Song Zhiyu didn't treat them like family. She was closer to outsiders than to them. Why did they have to humiliate themselves?
"Shut up." Shen Yuzhou said coldly. Now, whenever he sees Shen Mingyi, he can't help but think of his past life.
This heartless bastard, after Zhiyu endured immense pressure and insults to salvage his reputation, ruthlessly pushed her into the abyss and placed all the blame for Shen Jinshu on Zhiyu's shoulders.
Of course, he himself wasn't a good person either.
Shen Yuzhou chuckled twice, looking at the tightly closed gate of Songxi Courtyard, a wave of sorrow washing over him.
*
The heavy rain continued for several days, and even the emperor noticed something was amiss.
The memorial delivered at this time, delivered by fast horse, further confirmed his feeling.
The Imperial Palace, Taiji Hall.
"Insolence!" The emperor roared, slamming the memorial in his hand onto the table, his anger barely concealed.
Liangzhou was flooded for many days, and the dikes were in disrepair. However, the government concealed the situation and suppressed the matter, causing the people of Liangzhou to be displaced and the number of refugees in the city to gradually increase.
Seeing that the situation was getting worse, the prefect of Liangzhou knew that he could no longer hide it and might even lose his official hat, so he hurriedly reported it to the imperial court.
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