Chapter 227 - 225: Is the Crown Prince’s Favorite Shen Yinning?

Words : 1166 Updated : Sep 25th, 2025

He was born with delicate and handsome features. Yet his words carried no warmth, even his own brother could be easily discarded. Shen Yunxi shivered, feeling an involuntary fear. Shen Xinghan put down his teacup, "Tonight, she was fortunate, but she won’t always be this lucky. Come, let’s go to her Zen room and see. If we happen to meet her returning, I’d like to ask how exactly she got the Blood Ganoderma." The siblings went to Shen Yinning’s Zen room. Shen Yinning was nowhere to be seen, and even her belongings were not in the room. However, on the desk, there was a temple’s wooden box with patterns used for storing ritual texts. Shen Yunxi rummaged through and finally opened the box, "Oh, this is the funeral speech that wretch wrote for the Dutiful Princess." Shen Xinghan leaned in for a look. The handwriting on the paper was exceptionally beautiful, even better than that of past top scholars. He said cautiously, "Shen Yinning reads well, writes well, and is smart, she is no less than Shen Xingye. Fortunately, she’s a woman; otherwise, I’m afraid she’d have a place at the court. Our past frame-ups might not have succeeded." "Hmph," Shen Yunxi dismissed, "Big brother always boosts others’ morale while undermining his own!" Despite saying this, looking at those ritual speeches, she couldn’t help but feel some jealousy. Her handwriting was far less beautiful than Shen Yinning’s. Even the Crown Prince disliked her for her ugly writing. She bit her lip and justified herself, "No matter how capable she is, she’s just a woman. A woman shouldn’t read so many books. Mother always said that a woman’s virtue lies in her lack of talent, clearly showing that her learning so much is just lowering her status, not as noble and graceful as I am." Shen Xinghan glanced at her but didn’t respond to her silly remarks. While Shen Yunxi belittled Shen Yinning verbally, she kept flipping through her funeral speeches and, the more she read, the more eager she became. This beautifully written calligraphy was even prettier than her brother’s. If only she could write so well, would the Crown Prince give her more attention? Perhaps even Empress Dowager Li would look at her with newfound respect. She clutched the speeches, unwilling to return them. Seeing there were brush, ink, paper, and inkstone in the Zen room, she brazenly took seven or eight sheets of paper and drew a big tortoise on each, pretending they were funeral speeches and placed them back in the wooden box. She laughed, "After tomorrow’s heaven-worshiping ceremony, when Grandmother personally bestows blessings on the Dutiful Princess, Shen Yinning will publicly present this stack of tortoises at the Buddhist Hall. Grandmother will certainly think she disrespects the Princess and will punish her severely! I will take the opportunity to offer these speeches and say they were written by me. Grandmother will surely favor me!" Shen Xinghan was uninterested in their girlish antics. He paced the room and furrowed his brows, "This room doesn’t look lived-in, perhaps Shen Yinning hadn’t come here at all today." "Then where could she go? She couldn’t have stayed in Xue Mianmian’s room all along, could she? The three women of the Xue family seem to share one Zen room, so there wouldn’t be enough space for her at night." Shen Xinghan pondered for a long time, then suddenly said, "Didn’t you say the Crown Prince has been seeing someone outside the palace for the past year?" "Isn’t it true?" Shen Yunxi replied angrily, "I’ve tried catching them several times but failed! A few days ago, following Lianxin’s advice, I perfumed the prince’s robe with sisal fragrance, hoping to catch that vixen by the scent, but to no avail! Sisal fragrance is so precious, and I can’t keep using it to find that vixen, so I kept it for myself!" Shen Xinghan whispered, "Do you think it’s possible that the vixen is Shen Yinning? Perhaps, at this very moment, she is with the Crown Prince in the Zen room." "Brother, are you confused? Shen Yinning has been married; the prince has plenty of young maidens in the Eastern Palace. Why would he want her, a married woman?! Today, when Grandmother specifically asked him to dine with her and that wretch, he refused! The prince is known for his integrity, there’s no way he would engage with a minister’s wife in the pure land of the Buddhist temple!" "Then tell me, where else could Shen Yinning have gone?" Shen Yunxi could not answer either. It was raining tonight, and everyone went to sleep early. Yet it was now the middle of the night, and Shen Yinning still had not returned to the room... This was indeed a very strange thing. Shen Xinghan gazed into the rain and spoke faintly, "Most men in this world, once they fall for a woman truly, wouldn’t care whether she’s been married or had children. Like Xia Ji in ancient times, famed for her stunning beauty, pursued by many dignitaries, being queen to three kings and wife to seven gentlemen. I often wonder, was Gao Zheng’s transfer to the Capital really the work of the Crown Prince? Is he using Gao Zheng to quietly bring Shen Yinning back to the Capital?" Shen Yunxi clenched that stack of speeches. Her Crown Prince, so pure like the moon in water, like snow on mountaintops. Could he really be moved by someone like Shen Yinning? Recalling how Lu Ying admitted he was the one who took Shen Yinning’s purity, Shen Yunxi began to panic. The thought that Shen Yinning could be the vixen kept by the Crown Prince outside the palace, persistently provoking her, made her heart race, jealousy and anger almost bursting from her chest. She said indignantly, "As long as we check the Prince’s Zen room, we’ll know if Shen Yinning is with him!" She strode swiftly towards Lu Ying’s Zen temple. The night rain was unceasing. Moisture seeped through the cracks of the windows, lowering the temperature of the Zen room. However, the bedding was hot. Almost all the trinkets given by Empress Dowager Li were used by Lu Ying. Shen Yinning’s tears of physiological reaction rolled down the corners of her eyes and were silently kissed away by the man. She thought it was finally over, lying on the couch, gasping for breath. Suddenly, a knock at the door was heard outside: "Your Highness, I and my brother have come to see you." It was Shen Yunxi. Lu Ying’s eyes were deep; he opened the window to let the mountain breeze disperse the amorous scent in the room, his gaze landed on Shen Yinning, after pondering for a moment, he held her and stepped into the bath behind the screen. Shen Yinning didn’t want to be discovered by Shen Yunxi either. Her phoenix eyes wet and red, glared at Lu Ying accusingly before taking a deep breath, unwillingly sinking into the bathtub.

Chapter 227 - 225: Is the Crown Prince’s Favorite Shen Yinning?

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