Chu Liuxin sat in the pavilion covered by palace curtains, frowning. He, who was handsome and bright, looked a little gloomy now.

“Master, shall we go to visit the Empress?” Eunuch Liu stood behind Chu Liuxin and asked cautiously.

They had intended to see the Empress, but later they heard that the Emperor was there, so Chu Liuxin came here. Since that incident, Chu Liuxin had tried to meet the Emperor as little as possible, unless he had no choice.

“In a while!” Chu Liuxin said. Looking through the gauze curtain, he fell into deep thought. How he wished that he could go out as he wanted, just as he had done in the past, but not the current situation where he felt ashamed to face Shao Wanru. His heart was severely torn. It was very painful. She was going to get married, and the man she would marry was his Third Eldest Brother. Chu Liuxin felt that he had no reason to meet her anymore.

If it weren’t for Shao Yanru, and if that accident had never happened, it might have been him who was her fiance now. At the thought of such a possibility, Chu Liuxin felt a pain in his heart.

After waiting for a while, Eunuch Liu said uneasily, “Master, it’s the time! We have to go now. Otherwise, the Empress may come to us later!”

He had entered Phoenix Palace but didn’t pay a visit to the Empress. She would definitely be suspicious when she knew it.

“Let’s go!” Chu Liuxin stood up.

“Are we… going back?” Eunuch Liu asked in surprise.

“Yes!” Chu Liuxin had already strode out, and Eunuch Liu could only follow behind.

On the attic, Shao Wanru and the other two girls were looking into the distance, with their backs leaned against the railing. Suddenly, Chu Liuxin’s figure appeared in their sight. They couldn’t tell who he was from his back, only to know that he was a young noble master.

“Could it be Prince Zhou?” Zhang Qilan said in surprise. Prince Zhou was the most likely one who would appear in the Empress’ palace at this time. Prince Chen had just left, so he could not be here now. Moreover, Prince Chen’s clothes were different from what the man wore.

Zhang Qilan was engaged to Chu Liuyue, so it was no psychological burden for her to mention Prince Zhou.

While Infanta Yuan’an blushed. She also thought it was Prince Zhou. Only Shao Wanru was still hesitant. She couldn’t recognize him at a moment, but it didn’t seem to be Prince Zhou in her eyes.

“It seems to be him!” Infanta Yuan’an said hesitantly with a slightly red face. She was the future Princess Zhou, so she felt a little embarrassed to see him right now.

It seemed that Infanta Yuan’an wanted to share her embarrassment, so she looked at Shao Wanru and said, “Fifth Miss is going to marry Prince Chen soon. Have all your dowries in the mansion been prepared? I heard that when Infanta Qinghua married into Marquis Xing’s Mansion, she had a large number of dowries. They should be left to you!”

“Some of them were rewarded to me by my grandma, and some to Hao’er!” Shao Wanru blinked her eyes, which were as bright as crystals.

“Is your younger brother still living in Great Elder Princess’s Mansion?” Infanta Yuan’an asked curiously, “He is a descendant of Marquis Xing’s Mansion and the only legitimate son of the former Heir of Duke Xing. It is better for him to stay in Marquis Xing’s Mansion.”

Though Infatan Yuan’an’s words were very euphemistic, Shao Wanru understood their hidden meanings. She smiled slightly and replied, “Hao’er is still young and my grandma is old, but I don’t have time to take care of both of them. My grandma happens to have time and energy, so she can take care of Hao’er!”

Zhang Qilan’s attention was also caught by their talking. Although she looked naive, she couldn’t help saying in a low voice, “Will it affect him if he doesn’t go back now?”

Since Shao Wanru was recognized as the daughter of Marquis Xing’s Mansion three years ago, there had been some arguments on the position of the Heir of Marquis Xing’s Mansion. Marquis Xing had once requested to confer the title of Heir of Marquis Xing on his son, and later on Shao Yuanhao. It was still hard to say who would inherit the position. But it could be certain that if Shao Yuanhao kept staying in Great Elder Princess’s Mansion, it would not be beneficial to him, at least from the perspective of inheriting the title. He would not be recognized by the Shao family.

Although the title of Marquis Xing was conferred by the Emperor, the heir should be recognized by the Shao family.

“I know little about this.” Shao Wanru didn’t want to continue the topic. She just replied vaguely and shook her head to show that she didn’t understand.

“Fifth Miss, you have been very sure that your brother will take it, haven’t you?” Infanta Yuan’an covered her smiling mouth with a handkerchief and made fun of Shao Wanru.

“How can I be sure about such kind of thing? I only want Hao’er to be safe and sound!” Shao Wanru said with a wry smile, unwilling to talk about this matter anymore. She looked at a cluster of flowers close at hand, stood up, and asked, “What flowers are those? They don’t seem to be winter jasmine, do they?”

Winter jasmines were the flowers that bloom the earliest in such a season. But the ones in front of her, which looked charming and gentle, were not winter jasmines with small petals.

“I don’t know what they are. They may be flowers from another country. They are so beautiful!” Zhang Qilan also stood up and was very surprised. She couldn’t see them when she was still in her seat…

“I heard that it was from a small country. I forget to tell you. I was told by the palace maid of the Empress when she led me into the hall,” Infanta Yuan’an said with a smile.

“It turns out that you paid a visit around Phoenix Palace after you arrived here, Infanta. When I reached the palace, I was directly led to the palace by the palace maid and didn’t have time to walk around,” Zhang Qilan said, sounding envious.

“I might have come earlier, so the Empress asked someone to show me around the palace first,” Infanta Yuan’an explained with a smile.

Shao Wanru looked at Infanta Yuan’an’s pretty but non-aggressive face. She looked very delicate but not very eye-catching at first glance, especially among the beautiful girls. However, if you carefully looked her up and down, you would find that she was very good-looking. In addition, her words were decent and calm, which left a good impression on others.

However, for some reason, Shao Wanru felt that she should be wary of this Infanta.

What she said just now sounded like a casual joke, but there seemed to be some provoking connotations in it.

Shao Wanru didn’t know whether her words were only a joke or a hint of sarcasm, but she was sure that an Infanta shouldn’t say such words. As the granddaughter of Great Elder Princess and the future Princess Zhou, how could she be so ignorant?

Infanta Yuan’an kept asking whether she was confident in getting the position of the Heir for her brother. However, she was just a weak girl living in the boudoir, so she could do nothing, unless Chu Liuchen offered help. Then another matter was involved. How much power could Chu Liuchen have?

How much power did he have to help her to get the position of the Heir of Marquis Xing’s Mansion?

Obviously, Infanta Yuan’an was trying to find it out. In her last life, she was Princess Zhou, too. It was said that she had a good relationship with Prince Zhou and was valued by the Empress. She once witnessed that this Princess Zhou was admired by people and showed a noble and arrogant attitude towards others, which was quite different from now.

Moreover, in her last life, Infanta Yuan’an was also a close friend of Shao Yanru’s.

“The Empress is so kind to you!” Zhang Qilan sighed and said with a teasing smile on her face. Infanta Yuan’an suddenly blushed and coughed in a low voice, “I’m not joking!”

“Look, I didn’t take it seriously. Why are you shy and awkward?” Zhang Qilan bent down with a smile and said, “What a coincidence. Prince Zhou was also here just now. Could it be that Prince Zhou accompanied you for a walk just now?”

After she was teased like that, Infanta Yuan’an’s face turned even redder. She gave Zhang Qilan a bashful glance and said, “You are talking nonsense. I don’t talk with you anymore. I would rather talk to Fifth Miss. When you saw Prince Chen just now, why didn’t you make fun of Fifth Miss Shao?”

Hearing that they changed the subject, Shao Wanru waved her hands and hastened to say, “Keep gossiping about yourselves. Don’t even try to drag me in. I didn’t ask anyone to accompany me to walk around the Phoenix Palace!”

“You… you two…” Infanta Yuan’an stammered with a red face, pointing at Shao Wanru and then at Zhang Qilan. Then she said with a grievance, “Fifth Miss Shao, I didn’t make fun of you!”

Her bashful manner made Zhang Qilan burst into laughter without control.

As they were laughing and chatting, a palace maid came in and invited them to have lunch. They looked up at the sky and found that it was still early.

When they followed the palace maid to where the lunch was set, Qi Rongzhi and another Miss had been there waiting for them. Then a eunuch came and told them that the Empress didn’t feel well and that they could help themselves.

Surrounded by the palace maids and eunuchs who served them, they felt very awkward when eating the meal, even though the Empress was not with them. After taking a few bites, they all put down their chopsticks.

A eunuch arranged palanquins for them and saw them off one by one.

When they arrived at the gate of the palace, they got on their own carriages and went back to their mansions.

When Shao Wanru reached the gate of the mansion, she saw Yan Xi again, who had just come back. She blinked her watery eyes and winked at Yujie, who was right beside her. Yujie got the hint, took two steps forward, and bowed respectfully to Yan Xi, “Childe Yan!”

Yanxi had intended to pretend that he didn’t see her, so he walked quickly so that they could miss the chance to meet each other. Now he also knew that she was the Fifth Miss of Marquis Xing’s Mansion, the future Princess Chen.

But he was stopped by Yujie, so he had to greet Shao Wanru. When he turned around, Shao Wanru was just bowing gracefully to him. Yan Xi hurriedly returned a salute and said, “Fifth Miss!”

“I heard that Childe Yan came to the capital city for the Spring Imperial Examination!” Shao Wanru straightened up her body and started a chat.

“That’s indeed the reason why I lived in your mansion!” Yan Xi nodded.

“Your ancestors had a good relationship with my family, so it’s certain that you live here in the capital city!” Shao Wanru said with a smile, and then bowed sideways, “I wish you to pass the examination!”

“Thank you for your kind words, Fifth Miss!” Yan Xi stepped aside politely.

Shao Wanru with Yujie walked past him and went to the inner court. Old Madam had instructed her to report what had happened in the palace as soon as she returned to the mansion.

Watching Shao Wanru leave, Yan Xi frowned. When Shao Wanru went past him, she said to him in a low voice, “Childe Yan, be careful of the villains around you!”