Chapter 25: Changes in the Palace
This explanation is so simple that it is almost clumsy, but it is extremely reasonable.
Yes, she was just a little woman who loved him deeply. Seeing him tired, she clumsily cared for him in the only way she knew. She didn't know what strange poison or conspiracy was, she only knew that her prince was not feeling well and she wanted to make him feel better.
Shen Yanzhi's heart felt like being poured with hot water, and the scalding pain and pity instantly overwhelmed all his rationality.
He slowly reached out his hand, this time, his movements were extremely gentle, and with great care, he gently touched the bruise on her cheek. The delicate touch from his fingertips made his heart tremble.
"It's my fault." He stared at her, regret almost overflowing in his eyes, "I made you worry."
He leaned over, gently rested his forehead against hers, and closed his eyes. Their hot breaths intertwined with each other, carrying a vulnerability and dependence he had never felt before.
"Qingyuan, don't be afraid of me." His voice was very hoarse. "From now on, I will be here."
Song Qingyuan's body was still stiff, and the warm touch on her forehead made the blood in her body seem to freeze.
She could clearly smell the scent coming from him, a domineering aura mixed with a hint of fatigue and... weakness that she had never felt before?
"Your Highness..." Her voice was as light as a feather, "I...I am fine."
"You're like this, and you call it okay?" Shen Yanzhi didn't look up, his voice muffled and nasal, "Your wrist is bruised, it's all my fault."
He raised his head, his dark eyes fixed on her, as if trying to suck her in.
"Qingyuan, I was blind before, and I also... I also had other thoughts. I always felt that you..." He paused, as if he didn't know how to bring up those unbearable suspicions. "Anyway, it's all in the past. From now on, I trust you."
Just then, there was a burst of hurried and chaotic footsteps outside the door, accompanied by Luzhu's panicked voice trying to stop them.
"Princess! You can't go in! The prince is resting inside!"
"Get out of here! I want to see which vixen's bed he's sleeping on!"
Before he could finish his words, there was a loud "bang" and the door was kicked open from the outside.
The princess was wearing a bright nightgown, her hair was a little disheveled, and she stood at the door with angry eyes, followed by a group of silent maids and servants.
When she saw Shen Yanzhi and Song Qingyuan in the room, their foreheads touching, their postures extremely intimate, she felt like a lit firecracker, and a sharp sound instantly pierced the night sky.
"Great! Chen Yanzhi! You two are great!" The princess pointed at them, shaking with anger. "I said there was an evil spirit in this mansion! It turned out to be you, you bitch! What kind of magic potion did you feed the prince to make him come to your place in the middle of the night to hang out with you?"
Song Qingyuan was so frightened that he shrank back suddenly, his face turned pale instantly, and he was about to slide off the bed and kneel down.
But her waist was firmly held by an iron arm, and she could not move.
Shen Yanzhi slowly stood up straight, protecting Song Qingyuan behind him. He didn't even turn around, but just looked at the princess at the door with a cold and piercing gaze.
"Who allowed you to break in?" His voice was not loud, but it carried a sense of oppression as if a storm was about to come.
"Why can't I come?!" the princess cried out with a clear conscience, "I am your legitimately married princess! Is it wrong for me to come and catch you cheating? Look at her! A worthless creature, she's bewitched you to the point of staying out of your room in the middle of the night! Shen Yanzhi, are you worthy of me?!"
"Catching an adulterer?" Shen Yanzhi sneered as if he had heard a huge joke, but the smile did not reach his eyes. Instead, it made the temperature of the whole room drop.
"Cui Jingyue, you'd better make it clear to me that this is Prince Jing's Mansion, my residence. Where I go and where I rest is not your place to say."
He took a step forward, and his powerful aura forced the princess to step back subconsciously.
"Also," his eyes scraped across the princess's face like a knife, "Open your mouth and call her a bitch, shut up and call her a jerk. Is this how you are brought up as a princess? When did it become your turn to insult this woman?"
"She... who the hell is she to you?" The princess went completely crazy, pointing at Song Qingyuan and screaming, "She's just a concubine! A toy! So what if I scold her!"
“Bang!”
A crisp slap echoed throughout the courtyard.
It wasn't Shen Yanzhi who did it.
It was Mo Feng who had returned. He had appeared behind the princess without anyone noticing. He withdrew his hand expressionlessly, his voice as cold as ice: "Princess, please be careful with your words."
The princess covered her face, looked at Mo Feng in disbelief, then looked at Shen Yanzhi, and was completely dumbfounded.
"You...you hit me? Shen Yanzhi! You let a servant beat me for this vixen?!"
"It seems you are really crazy."
The last trace of warmth in Shen Yanzhi's eyes also disappeared, "Mo Feng, send the princess back to her courtyard. Without the king's order, she is not allowed to step out of the door.
All those servants around her who don't know the rules will be dragged away, given fifty slaps on the face, and thrown into the woodshed."
"No! I'm not wrong! She seduced you! Shen Yanzhi, you can't do this to me!" The princess's cries and curses were ruthlessly covered by Mo Feng's mouth, and she was dragged out along with her maids who were crying for their parents.
The courtyard instantly returned to silence.
Song Qingyuan stood behind Shen Yanzhi, her fingertips cold. She looked at the broad back of the man in front of her, her heart in turmoil.
For her, he placed the princess under house arrest and slapped her in public... This was no longer just support, it was an announcement to the entire palace that her status was no longer what it used to be.
Shen Yanzhi slowly turned around, the rage on his face had faded, leaving only a deep sense of fatigue. He looked at Song Qingyuan's pale face and frowned again.
"Did it scare you?" He softened his voice.
Song Qingyuan shook her head and moved her lips before she found her voice again: "Your Highness... for this concubine, it's really not worth it..."
"Shut up." Shen Yanzhi interrupted her, his tone brooking no room for argument, "If the king says it's worth it, then it's worth it."
He reached out, and this time, he took her cold hand and pulled her in front of him.
"What I just said was no joke." He stared into her eyes and spoke word by word, "From now on, anyone in this palace who dares to wrong you will suffer this fate. Do you remember this?"
Song Qingyuan's heart trembled violently. Facing his bottomless eyes, for the first time she did not dodge, but nodded gently.
"...Yes, I will remember this."
After receiving her response, Shen Yanzhi's tense expression finally relaxed.
He stretched out his long arms, holding her tightly in his arms, his chin resting on the top of her head.
He whispered with a sigh: "Go to sleep, I'm here with you." The embrace was firm and warm. Song Qingyuan leaned obediently, but his eyes were clear.
She knew that from tonight on, the sky in this palace would really change.
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