Chapter 146 - 144: In Her Heart, She Ultimately Harbors Me

Words : 1425 Updated : Sep 17th, 2025

Chapter 146: Chapter 144: In Her Heart, She Ultimately Harbors MeXue Mianmian swallowed nervously and said in a low voice, "Zhaozhao, aren’t you afraid that His Highness will get angry when you say such things?" Shen Yinning was indifferent: "Let him be angry or not." Xue Mianmian looked at her with admiration. Ever since Zhaozhao returned to the Capital, who knows how many times she has angered the Crown Prince, yet she shows no sign of fear. If only she had the courage and wit of Zhaozhao, she might have long escaped from Xue Ling’s grasp. She dreamed of leaving that irritable and gloomy brute! Xue Mianmian couldn’t help but clutch her dress, nervously glancing around. With so many people here, fat ones, short ones, tall ones, thin ones from all over the world came, maybe she could take advantage of the crowd to sneak away, hide in any box, and finally get rid of that big demon Xue Ling? Anyway, Chun’er and Dong’er are now with Qingqing serving her, in consideration of sibling bonds, Xue Ling should not do anything to them. Behind the two, Xue Ling played with a copper coin, smiling: "So His Highness likes sharp-tongued ones, no wonder the concubines in the Eastern Palace can’t catch his eye." Lu Ying, hands behind his back, eyes on Shen Yinning’s hairpin: "I do not like her." Xue Ling sneered lightly. Who would believe that?! He certainly did not. He looked at Xue Mianmian, though this woman loved to cry, she was at least obedient and clumsy, much easier to manipulate than Shen Yinning. He couldn’t help but say with abandon: "His Highness should learn from a humble official like me, keep a young girl around for three or four years, teach her to be gentle and well-behaved, deeply fall for me, and with her timid and shy nature, even beating her to death, she won’t develop the thought of escaping." Thus, he even removed the thin iron chain around Xue Mianmian’s neck, leaving a ring of red marks on her fair skin every day, which was unattractive anyway, as Xue Mianmian dared not run away, so he just took it off. Lu Ying’s expression remained unchanged, but there was a stifled breath in his chest. Being a man as well, could he be lesser than this lunatic Xue Ling? Unwilling to fall behind, he said coldly: "I may not like Shen Zhaozhao, but her heart is still set on me. Otherwise, why deliberately return the token from the Money Shop? And why intentionally mention Lu Shiyan?" "Stop!" Xue Ling called out, "Last time you said Madam Shen deliberately returned the token from the Money Shop to attract your attention, whether that’s nonsense we’ll leave aside for now, but how does intentionally mentioning Lu Shiyan prove that she likes you?" Lu Ying fiddled with the Moyu Ring: "She mentioned Lu Shiyan, merely to make me jealous, can’t you see that?" Xue Ling: "..." He really couldn’t see it! Lu Ying said casually: "Your feelings for Xue Mianmian are twisted and abnormal, yet I have always been steady and abstinent in matters of emotion, so don’t mix me with you." Xue Ling: "..." Speaking of twisted and abnormal, who could compare to Lu Ying?! A proper Crown Prince, even involved in snatching a minister’s wife, and that minister’s wife happened to be his sister-in-law, yet claiming to be steady? In the Shen Garden, all the small and large pavilions, and even the swing in the garden outside, he dared to say Lu Ying had been with Shen Yinning, calling so many times in one night he didn’t know, he indulged so much in lust with Shen Yinning, yet claiming to be abstinent?! Xue Ling rolled his eyes, too lazy to expose Lu Ying, played with the copper coin and bought a flower cake from a roadside vendor. Shen Yinning and Xue Mianmian walked ahead, suddenly seeing a stall for guessing lantern riddles. Xue Mianmian pointed to one of the prizes: "Zhaozhao, isn’t this the revolving lantern you used to hang in your boudoir?" Shen Yinning looked at the lamp. It was a revolving lantern carved from golden sandalwood, with twelve-sided embossed zodiac patterns, ancient and lifelike. She murmured softly: "This is the lantern my father handcrafted for me with material he found for my tenth birthday..." When the Shen Family was confiscated, valuable items were taken into the National Treasury, but other small things ended up in the marketplace. Unexpectedly, she was so fortunate to encounter this revolving lantern tonight. And guessing lantern riddles happened to be her forte. She immediately paid and said, "Shopkeeper, I’d like to guess a riddle." "I want to guess too!" An arrogant voice suddenly came from the side. Shen Yinning turned to see that the newcomers were Lu Qianqian and Shen Xinglei. These two seemed really to have found each other’s match, even strolling the night market together. Shen Yinning smiled, teasing: "What are you two up to?" Lu Qianqian’s ears turned a little red, defiantly retorting, "None of your business?!" Previously, she also thought Shen Xinglei was no good. Not only did he keep a mistress and illegitimate child, but he was also rude and quick to anger, clearly not fit for a lady. But these past few days Shen Xinglei was always by her side, caring and gentle, more considerate than those sons of noble families. He also explained his relationship with Sun Miaoniang, turns out Sun Miaoniang drugged and clung to him one-sidedly, and out of a man’s responsibility, he reluctantly brought her and Fan Ge’r back to the Capital to take responsibility for them. Lu Qianqian thought Shen Xinglei was really quite nice. It was all Shen Yinning’s and Xue Family’s fault, if they hadn’t deliberately smeared Shen Xinglei, would he have been demoted for half a year?! She sympathized with Shen Xinglei, that’s why she grew closer to him these days. Shen Yinning observed Lu Qianqian’s changing expressions and figured she had feelings for Shen Xinglei. If it had been three or four years ago, acting as the future sister-in-law, she would have stopped Lu Qianqian from jumping into the fire pit at any cost. But now, she couldn’t wait for Lu Qianqian and Shen Xinglei to be tied together. She turned to the stall owner: "Would you please present the riddle?" The stall owner smiled and said, "You must answer ten riddles correctly to win the prize. First riddle, ’A word without a word on the surface,’ guess an herb name." "A word without a word on the surface?" Lu Qianqian frowned, "Is that even a riddle?!" Shen Xinglei was only good at brute force, knowing nothing about riddles either. Shen Yinning said briskly: "Baizhi, a pun for ’white paper’." The stall owner nodded quickly: "Correct!" Lu Qianqian rolled her eyes: "I was just thinking that, but you beat me to it." The stall owner continued: "Second riddle, has a head but no neck, has eyes but no brows, can walk without feet, has wings but can’t fly, guess an animal name." Shen Yinning smiled and made a gesture of "please" towards Lu Qianqian. Lu Qianqian was so angry that she clenched her teeth. This wretched girl Shen Yinning, knowing well she couldn’t guess it, yet pretended to let her guess first, wasn’t this just a humiliation?! Seeing Lu Qianqian silent, Shen Yinning replied: "It’s fish." "Correct again!" The stall owner nodded repeatedly, "Third riddle, ’Old plantain amidst hundred-year pine and cypress,’ guess an idiom." Shen Yinning didn’t hesitate: "Crude and careless." "Correct again!" "..." Shen Yinning guessed the lantern riddles fast, almost as if she could guess them without thinking. Lu Qianqian stood by, staring dumbfounded, let alone competing to answer, she didn’t even have a chance to interject, and sometimes she hadn’t even figured out why that was the answer when Shen Yinning already moved on to the next answer! Lu Ying and Xue Ling sat at a tea stall across the street, the bustling street was crowded, so neither Lu Qianqian nor Shen Xinglei noticed them. Xue Ling, playing with the copper coin, laughed: "It’s just a revolving lantern, yet these girls would break their heads fighting over it." Lu Ying sipped his tea. He knew this was no ordinary revolving lantern. It was a tenth birthday gift from Duke Shen to Shen Zhaozhao. His heavy gaze fell on Lu Qianqian. His imperial sister, arrogant and willful, although she lost at lantern riddles, was afraid she wouldn’t admit to it.

Chapter 146 - 144: In Her Heart, She Ultimately Harbors Me

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