“Slap—”
“To be so reckless, if you were to bump into our Side Consort Liu, you two had better watch your skin.”
Lianxin, the personal maid of Liu Yan, stood before Shen Zhi, looking at the mistress and servant duo as she spoke with an arrogant and overbearing air.
Meanwhile, five clear finger marks had appeared on Shen Zhi’s fair, jade-like little face, and half of her face felt a burning, searing pain.
“Seeing the Side Consort Highness and yet you still fail to pay your respects, where are your manners?” After slapping Shen Zhi, Lianxin saw that she just stood frozen on the spot with no intention of paying her respects to Side Consort Liu, so she immediately raised her voice to remind her.
At this moment, Shen Zhi snapped back to reality and looked around.
The surroundings consisted of neatly trimmed plants and flowers; she was incredibly familiar with every single plant and tree here—this was the garden inside the Eastern Palace.
And the person standing right in front of her was none other than the white moonlight in the Crown Prince’s heart, Liu Yan.
Liu Yan was dressed in splendid, luxurious attire, making herself look gaudy and dazzling, and the hairpins adorned on her hair bun were each more magnificent than the last.
That momentum was almost overwhelming the Crown Princess.
She had been reborn again. This specific point in time was her encounter with Liu Yan in the garden, where she was not only slapped by Liu Yan’s maid but also punished by her to kneel for an hour.
“This concubine pays respects to Side Consort Liu.” Shen Zhi raised her hands toward the Liu Yan in front of her and performed an exceptionally non-standard and unsightly salute, her head drooping down and shrinking back slightly, looking thoroughly timid and subservient.
Her etiquette, posture, and bowing mannerisms were completely unlearned, making her salute look downright hideous. It was only that face of hers that was passable; no wonder His Royal Highness the Crown Prince brought her back to the Eastern Palace after laying eyes on this woman’s face.
Looking at the other side of Shen Zhi’s flawless, fair, and jade-like profile, jealousy still flared up within Liu Yan’s heart.
No matter what her status was, if this Fengyi Shen’s appearance was utilized well, then no matter how destitute her background was, the Crown Prince likely wouldn’t care.
Liu Yan withdrew her scrutinizing gaze, and then casually tossed down a sentence: “You nearly collided with this Consort, so you are punished to kneel here for an hour.”
“Fengyi Shen, do you have any dissatisfaction?”
You are a Side Consort, and I am just a Fengyi. If I dare to be dissatisfied, you’ll turn around and order someone to poison me to death with medicine later—who would I even go to for justice then?
Shen Zhi knelt reluctantly beside Suwen, keeping her torso perfectly upright while enduring her half-red and swollen face as she looked at Liu Yan and said, “This concubine dares not.”
Ultimately, Liu Yan left the back garden supported by her maid, leaving only Shen Zhi and Suwen kneeling on those blue brick flagstones.
With no knee pads, kneeling on this kind of blue brick flagstones for an hour—could these legs even be salvaged?
“Mistress, it is all this servant’s fault. I failed to notice that Side Consort Liu was also in the back garden, causing you to be punished by her to kneel.” Suwen kept her head low, her voice filled entirely with self-reproach.
Moreover, that slap had been delivered with so much force that half of her mistress’s face had become red and swollen.
It was all her fault.
Having been reborn nineteen times, Shen Zhi had failed too many times, been punished too many times, and died too many times, causing her entire being to become completely detached and indifferent.
Shen Zhi slumped and sat on the ground, having absolutely no intention of exhausting her own knees.
Hearing Suwen’s words, Shen Zhi spoke up to comfort her: “This matter is not to blame on you.”
If anyone was to blame, it was that wretched Liu Yan.
It was the height of the sweltering summer, and the outdoors was unbearably hot. Only after the mistress and servant duo had knelt on the blue brick flagstones of the back garden for a full hour did they support each other to stand up from the ground.
The moment she stood up, her legs went numb, her knees throbbed with pain, and her vision went entirely black. Shen Zhi blinked her eyes and had just taken a step forward.
After the painful and numb sensation spread through her entire body, her head grew heavy, her vision darkened, and Shen Zhi’s entire body collapsed straight forward.
Suwen was in the same state as her; when Shen Zhi collapsed like this, she couldn’t hold her up and tumbled down along with her.
Shen Zhi’s head knocked against the blue bricks, causing her to faint on the spot. Looking at the wound on her forehead that was oozing blood, Suwen’s mind instantly went blank.
The young mistress’s head is bleeding.
Why isn’t the young mistress moving? Is she dead?
“Someone come quickly, Fengyi Shen has fallen to her death!”
“Someone come quickly, hurry and summon the Imperial Physician, Fengyi Shen’s head is bleeding!”
Holding Shen Zhi in her arms, Suwen knelt and sat on the ground while shouting at the surroundings. After shouting for a long time, she fortunately managed to call people over.
A Mamah carried the person back to Lanxin Pavilion on her back. Someone went to report to the Crown Princess, while someone else went to summon the Imperial Physician, and the entire Eastern Palace became slightly bustling with activity.
With this fainting spell, it wasn’t until the evening that Shen Zhi slowly and leisurely woke up.
Suwen and Mamah Zhao, who had been guarding the bedside the entire time, asked the moment she woke up: “Young mistress, where does your body feel uncomfortable? Does your head still hurt?”
Shen Zhi clutched her head, looking around her surroundings.
Oh, she was already lying on the bed in Lanxin Pavilion.
“I’m fine.” Shen Zhi waved her hand, propping up a deathly pale face as she smiled and spoke to the two of them.
Seeing that Suwen and Mamah Zhao had not been beaten to death and were still alive and well, Shen Zhi thought about it and decided that in this lifetime, she would no longer listen to the system’s words to capture Pei Lian.
She was going to slack off and let things slide!
A man like Pei Lian was simply not someone a minor Fengyi like her could win over, and that venomous-hearted beauty Liu Yan was the white moonlight in his heart.
Before Shen Zhi became the Crown Prince’s Fengyi, she was a corporate slave—the kind of working stiff who was millions in debt, had no car or house, and didn’t even dare to speak up when being bullied in the workplace.
Because of a car accident, she was dragged into this Great Zhao Dynasty by a rebirth system. After that system dragged her over, it just threw a task at her and left.
As long as she became the sweetheart of the Crown Prince, Pei Lian, she could obtain a massive sum of money upon completing the task and return to modern times.
Heaven knows how massive of an attraction this held for a working stiff who was millions in debt.
In order to complete the task, Shen Zhi worked hard to capture Pei Lian.
But every single time, it ended in a tragic death, and even implicated the people following by her side.
Suwen and Mamah Zhao—these two died exceptionally miserable deaths. Even now, Shen Zhi was unable to forget how Suwen had been humiliated right in front of her before having her head chopped off.
“Young mistress, drink the medicine.” Suwen hurriedly brought over the medicine that had been placed to the side, looking at her as she spoke.
Shen Zhi withdrew her thoughts, propped up her body to sit up from the bed, reached out to take the pitch-black medicinal soup in front of her, and downed it entirely in one breath.
After drinking it, the bitter taste of the medicine still lingered in her mouth for a long time without dispersing. Shen Zhi furrowed her brows, a look of discomfort appearing on her face.
At this time, Mamah Zhao took two preserved fruits that were placed aside and handed them over, “Young mistress, sweeten your mouth.”
“Alright.”
After finishing her medicine, Shen Zhi lay on the bed, looking at the two of them as she said with a smile: “Suwen, Mamah Zhao, I’m hungry. I want to eat meat.”
“I want to eat a large pork trotter!” When Shen Zhi said these words, both of her eyes lit up.
Even though she carried a deathly pale face and had gauze wrapped around her forehead, looking thoroughly pitiful, as long as Shen Zhi smiled, everything around her seemed to become bright.
“The Imperial Physician said you cannot eat food that is too greasy. The large pork trotter can only be eaten after your body has recovered, young mistress.” Mamah Zhao refused, but turned around and promised some benefits to Shen Zhi.
Hearing this, Shen Zhi added a sentence, saying: “Then at that time, I want to eat two.”
“Deal.”
Shen Zhi climbed up from the bed and was then supported by Suwen as she walked out of the room. Just as they arrived in the courtyard, they saw a man dressed in light yellow splendid attire, wearing a jade crown on his head, standing not far away.
The other party stood with his hands behind his back, his posture upright and straight, and when paired with his breathtakingly stunning appearance, he was truly striking.
Meanwhile, Shen Zhi and Suwen were incredibly shocked upon seeing this person. How could His Royal Highness the Crown Prince appear in the courtyard of Lanxin Pavilion?
“This concubine / This servant pays respects to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.” The two of them paid their respects toward the Pei Lian who was not far away.
Upon seeing Shen Zhi, Pei Lian raised his foot and walked straight over, an unyielding ferocity lingering between his brows. He reached out and directly gripped Shen Zhi’s chin, his gaze piercing.
Meanwhile, Suwen behind her had already been led out of the courtyard by the eunuch Yuan Qing, leaving only the two of them in this small courtyard.
Pei Lian’s gaze stared intently at Shen Zhi, an unignorable intent to kill permeating from his body: “Shen Zhi, what is your purpose in approaching Us?”