Only then did Xiao Xuanzhou realize that, at some point, the palace road before him had cleared into a broad open path leading straight to the palace gates.
And standing in the center of the gates was a single person.
Dressed in a black robe embroidered with golden patterns, wearing an imperial crown.
He could not clearly see his imperial father’s expression, but he could feel the pressure radiating from him.
He could even imagine the look his father was using to stare at him at this very moment.
Xiao Xuanzhou could not help shivering several times and hurriedly rose from the sedan chair.
But he got up too quickly. Distracted, he accidentally put weight on his injured left leg.
A sharp wave of pain instantly struck him. He sucked in a cold breath, and his body began uncontrollably falling forward
The surrounding officials instinctively widened their eyes and shouted:
“Careful!”
“Ah!”
“Bang!”
The Crown Prince fell again.
An uproar instantly erupted at the scene.
The eunuch who had delivered the emperor’s decree hurried toward the palace gates and reported to Emperor Jingle:
“Your Majesty, the Crown Prince fell from the sedan chair and fainted.”
Well then
Originally, Emperor Jingle had merely listened to the complaints of the old ministers without much thought.
But now even he began to feel…
that after the Phoenix Star changed hands, bad luck had attached itself to the Crown Prince, and this marriage decree was truly inauspicious.
The ceremony welcoming the Xie merchant fleet into the palace still had to continue.
Emperor Jingle ordered people to send the Crown Prince back to the Eastern Palace for treatment.
A palace banquet was then held in Baohua Hall to celebrate the return of the Xie merchant fleet.
Only the Shen family forced smiles onto their faces, unable to feel any joy.
While resting in a side hall, Cui Xuenian angrily scolded Shen Qingrou:
“You should never have returned to the manor, nor recognized the Crown Prince.”
Shen Qingrou immediately became dissatisfied.
She jumped up from her chair and stammered:
“Th-Th-Th-Th-The… Cr-Cr-Cr-Crown… Pr-Pr-Pr-Prince… li-li-li-likes…”
Shen Qingrou raised one finger and pointed at her own nose.
Then she stomped hard and finished: “…me.”
The Crown Prince likes me!
Repeating Shen Qingrou’s words through clenched teeth, Cui Xeunian said:
“The Crown Prince likes you?!”
She stepped forward and slapped Shen Qingrou across the face.
She wished she could slap some sense into her.
“With the way you speak, the moment you open your mouth your true self is exposed. Once the Crown Prince realizes you deceived him, our entire family will lose our heads.”
“At that point, forget becoming Crown Princess you may not even keep your life.”
What?!
Shen Qingrou suddenly felt a chill around her neck.
No one had ever told her that liking the Crown Prince could get her executed.
She didn’t want to die.
The moment that terrified thought flashed through her mind, her Black Lotus System appeared.
It spoke inside her head:
【Host, don’t listen to your mother. She’s just obsessed with saving face while wanting everything her way.】
【As long as your stutter is cured, your mother will want nothing more than to hug and dote on you.】
【You should trust me. You’re the lucky chosen one who successfully stole the Phoenix Star’s fate and rose to the top.】
【The Crown Prince loves you.】
The moment the Black Lotus System appeared, Shen Qingrou became angry:
【Then why can’t I still communicate normally with my mother? Why do I still stutter?】
The Black Lotus System felt somewhat guilty. Up to this point, it still had not sensed any resentment from Shen Zhao.
【Host, I’m already investigating it. There’s a bug in the system, and I’m repairing it now.】
【For now, ignore your mother. Focus quietly on targeting the Phoenix Star. Keep provoking her and try to awaken the resentment inside her as soon as possible.】
Shen Qingrou subconsciously looked toward Shen Zhao. Following the Black Lotus System’s advice, she directly ignored Cui Xeunian and turned to provoke Shen Zhao instead.
A great many words brewed inside her mind.
She mentally transmitted them to the Black Lotus System in reverse:
【Sister, forced melons are never sweet. The Crown Prince doesn’t love you, so why cling to him so desperately?】
Black Lotus System: 【……】
【Host, are you talking to me?】
【No, I’m warning Shen Zhao.】 Shen Qingrou squeezed her brows together and widened her eyes. Though she did not say a single word aloud, her expression was extremely animated.
Shen Zhao saw everything clearly.
This was exactly the look Shen Qingrou made whenever she desperately wanted to argue with someone, had countless words bottled inside her, yet did not know how to express them.
In her previous life, Shen Zhao had patiently guided Shen Qingrou step by step and helped her correct her stutter.
Actually, Shen Qingrou was never truly ill.
As a child living on the estate, Shen Qingrou had learned to imitate the speech of an old stammering servant woman and often mocked her.
After doing it for so long, she gradually became like that herself.
Over time it became habit, and eventually turned into a disorder.
Shen Zhao understood Shen Qingrou very well.
But Cui Xeunian did not.
All Cui Xeunian saw was Shen Qingrou constantly making exaggerated expressions raising her brows, drooping her face, baring her teeth, sticking out her tongue, twisting her mouth.
To her, Shen Qingrou looked unbearably ugly.
Not dignified in the slightest.
Panic drained the color from Cui Xeunian’s face. Her eyes rolled back, and she fainted from anxiety.
Shen Zhao coldly glanced at her and thought to herself:
And you already can’t handle this? This is only the beginning!
Cui Xeunian fainting gave Shen Qingrou an excuse not to attend the palace banquet.
Because of this, Shen Zhao was also allowed to leave the palace early under Shen Huaiming’s excuse of “taking care of your mother.”
Empress Cui approved it.
When the palace banquet began, Xiao Xuanzhou woke up.
The emperor ordered him to attend this highly significant banquet despite his injuries.
But his face remained dark throughout the entire event.
The Xie family had brought back many seeds and grains from the western foreign lands things Great Yan had never possessed before.
They would benefit both the nation and the people and greatly advance Great Yan’s development.
The smile on Emperor Jingle’s face never faded for even a moment.
This was the first time in Xiao Xuanzhou’s life that he had ever seen his imperial father smile so happily.
Yet it was not because of some great achievement by him.
It was because of a group of merchants…
Because of Xie Chenyu!
After the palace banquet ended,
Xiao Xuanzhou returned to the Eastern Palace and smashed a teacup.
“This is simply the greatest humiliation of my life.”
“They only brought back a pile of worthless grass, seeds, and some alcohol.”
“What’s so worthy about them that Father would go to such lengths to hold a welcoming banquet for them?”
“And they’re merely merchants lowly traders. How are they worthy of entering Baohua Hall?”
Shen Rong and Shen Huaiming exchanged glances.
Both father and son were burdened with worry.
What concerned them more were the rumors about the Phoenix Star and the Baleful Star.
During the palace banquet, some officials had privately discussed how, after the Phoenix Star changed hands, good fortune had shifted toward the Xie family.
Others even said that Xie Chenyu might truly be granted the title of a king with a different surname.
Shen Huaiming gave Shen Rong a meaningful look.
Shen Rong nodded slightly, stepped forward, and respectfully said:
“Your Highness the Crown Prince, it must have been during my younger sister’s coming-of-age ceremony…”
“When they attended the ceremony at our Shen residence, they became tainted by the Phoenix Star’s fortune.”
“That is why the Xie family became lucky and their merchant fleet returned safely.”
“Exactly.” Xiao Xuanzhou lifted his eyes.
Recalling the day of the Shen sisters’ coming-of-age ceremony, he continued:
“It must have been because Old Madam Xie absorbed Rou’er’s Phoenix Star aura that the Xie family fleet suddenly returned.”
“If Rou’er had not returned to the residence that day, Old Madam Xie would never have received the Phoenix Star’s aura.”
“The Xie fleet would not have returned at this time. Father would not have held such a grand palace banquet to welcome the Xie family.”
“And he certainly would not be praising Xie Chenyu so highly.”
He believed that although he had brought back the true Phoenix Star, he had instead ended up benefiting the Xie family.
Suddenly, Xiao Xuanzhou thought of something else.
“No wonder Old Madam Xie insisted that Shen Zhao and Rou’er hold their coming-of-age ceremony together.”
“Only if Shen Zhao also stepped onto the ceremonial platform could Old Madam Xie personally arrange her hair and thereby get close to my Rou’er.”
“What?” Shen Huaiming’s expression stiffened slightly.
He stared at the Crown Prince in disbelief.
He had wanted to hint to the Crown Prince that Shen Qingrou was not the true Phoenix Star that Shen Zhao was.
He wanted the Crown Prince to change his mind and choose Shen Zhao as the future Crown Princess.
But unexpectedly, the Crown Prince’s thinking had taken a completely different turn.
Such a sharp turn that the Shen father and son were caught entirely off guard.
Anxiety surged inside Shen Huaiming, and he bluntly said:
“Your Highness, perhaps Imperial Preceptor Lianping’s divination was mistaken. Perhaps the true Phoenix Star is this minister’s eldest daughter”
Xiao Xuanzhou’s expression instantly darkened. He slammed his palm heavily against the table and shouted angrily:
“Shen Huaiming, are you questioning me?”
Shen Huaiming and Shen Rong both dropped to their knees.
They recounted to Xiao Xuanzhou the rumors they had heard at the palace banquet.
After hearing everything, Xiao Xuanzhou’s face grew even gloomier, and the jealousy and hatred he felt toward Xie Chenyu deepened further.
“So what if the Xie family’s western fleet returned?”
“If they insist Shen Zhao is the true Phoenix Star, then I’ll prove it to them.”
Shen Huaiming and Shen Rong did not understand.
Xiao Xuanzhou spoke coldly:
“Father has long been troubled by the bandits in Yanqing of the northwest.”
“I intend to recommend Young Master Shen to lead the campaign against those horse bandits.”
“I’ll also push Xie Chenyu into going as well.”
“As long as Xie Chenyu ends up injured or crippled, the rumors about the true and false Phoenix Stars will collapse on their own.”
“Then, I’ll have Young Master Shen take control of Xie Chenyu’s military authority.”
Shen Rong’s heart trembled violently.
The forces under Xie Chenyu’s command numbered three hundred thousand troops.
That military power carried immense weight.
Enough to let him obtain a noble title equal to Xie Chenyu’s.
Enough to bring glory to his ancestors and family.
At that thought, Shen Rong no longer cared about Shen Zhao at all.
He immediately accepted the order:
“Yes. This minister will certainly not fail Your Highness.”
What the father and son did not know was…
After Cui Xuenian returned to the Shen residence, she ordered people to tie up Shen Qingrou and send her away to the rural estate.