CHAPTER 354: CHAPTER 352: NO WAY BACK

After a long time, Lu Ying said coolly, "At such a young age, instead of learning skills from teachers, you have the leisure to act as a matchmaker. I will write a letter to tell our uncle about the good deeds you’re doing in the Capital."

Lu Jiazhe gasped.

Oh my God!

He had finally managed to drive away the few old men his father had hired for him and was beginning to enjoy two years of carefree days. If his cousin reported him to his father again, his father would surely send over a group of even stricter old men to watch over him!

He kneeled before Lu Ying, tearfully tugging at his sleeve, "Cousin, you can’t do this! It’s already pretty good that I haven’t committed a crime, you can’t hold me to such high standards! I promise not to interfere in your matters with Sister Shen anymore, so please don’t write a letter to my father!"

Lu Ying couldn’t be bothered with him and gave Bai Ling a look from the shadows.

Bai Ling stepped forward, ignoring Lu Jiazhe’s vigorous struggles, and carrying him out: "Young Princely Heir, apologies."

Gui Quan and De Sun knelt trembling on the spot, not daring to even lift their heads.

They also had a hand in this affair. If only they hadn’t listened to the Princely Heir’s nonsense...

Lu Ying knew they intended to advise him to eat and sleep properly. He couldn’t bear to be harsh with loyal servants, so he simply gathered the letters on the desk and said coldly, "Burn them."

The two, having narrowly escaped a disaster, dared not secretly keep these letters and hurriedly bowed down to burn them.

Outside the Cold Palace.

The night was as dark as ink.

Two figures stood under a tree, watching from afar the black stone palace with flying eaves and hanging palace lanterns.

As Lu Jiazhe was carried out of the main hall by Bai Ling, his ghostly cries resonated far in the night wind, "Cousin, cousin! I beg you, please don’t report me to my father! I’ll work like an ox for you!"

The voices gradually faded, probably because Bai Ling had thrown him out of the Cold Palace.

Shen Xinghan said, "Once you set foot in this palace, there’s no turning back. He is now merely a deposed Crown Prince. Whether he can make a comeback in the future is still uncertain. If you bet wrongly, you won’t ever have a chance to rise again in your life."

The young girl beside him, dressed in a thin purple cloak and wearing a pomegranate red silk skirt that revealed her graceful figure, said, "My brother has placed his bet on him, so Xinya is also willing to place her bet on him. Xinya and the Shen Family’s honor will always be from the same root."

Shen Xinya’s response satisfied Shen Xinghan greatly.

He smiled, "It’s always common to add flowers to the brocade, but providing help in times of need is more touching. Now that Xi’er is suffering a setback and is too ill to get up, with no other woman to serve him, your appearance at this time is likely to be remembered by him for a lifetime. When he revives in the future, with the bonds formed by overcoming difficulties together, as long as you don’t make major mistakes, you will be invincible forever."

Shen Xinya smiled, "You are right, brother."

In the dim night, the purple-clad young girl stepped gracefully into the stone hall.

The candlelight in the hall was flourishing.

Lu Ying was clad in a loose black robe, practicing calligraphy under the lamp.

Shen Xinya curiously observed him. Clearly, he had been deposed and imprisoned here, yet he still exuded the grace of jade trees and golden phoenixes. His skin was pale as snow and his lips were faintly red; his superior features were even more striking and beautiful in the light and shadow of the candles.

Shen Xinya blushed slightly and proactively stepped forward to grind ink for him.

Lu Ying didn’t even lift his head, "Did your brother send you here?"

Shen Xinya replied with her head down, neither humble nor cocky, "My brother said it was inconvenient for Your Highness to live in seclusion here with only two young eunuchs serving you, so he sent the minister’s daughter to take care of Your Highness’s daily affairs."

She had done her homework in advance, studying the interactions between Lu Ying, Shen Yunxi, and Shen Yinning.

She believed Lu Ying didn’t like overly dull women. Smart, witty, and composed were more to his preference.

Lu Ying wasn’t surprised by her answer.

In some ways, Shen Xinghan was an out-and-out gambler.

He was a member of his think tank, and perhaps he faintly guessed his plans, believing he was very likely to make a comeback, and thus deliberately increased the tokens placed on him, besides Shen Yunxi also sending the half-sister from the mansion to serve him in the Cold Palace.

Lu Ying said, "Human nature seeks profit and avoids harm. Therefore, no woman is willing to stay in the Cold Palace with a man who has lost his future. You and your brother are doing something against nature only because you see opportunity and benefit in me, and thus you do not hesitate to gamble your entire lives. I understand Miss Shen’s courage and determination, but by my side, I do not need a woman who speculates."

Shen Yunxi’s kind of brain sometimes isn’t bad.

Though she might be a bit dull, after being imprisoned in the Cold Palace, she directly followed him.

Unlike Shen Xinghan and Shen Xinya, she was not as clever. She thought that since he had fallen, she weakly consoled him, saying her father would surely find a way outside to help him reclaim the position of Crown Prince.

True love is rare in this world.

Shen Xinya clenched the ink stick tightly.

The young man before her truly lived up to being someone who fought his way out from a slew of princes.

She and her brother thought they were providing help in times of need tonight, but the other party saw through their intentions at a glance.

No wonder he was the man she admired since she was young.

However...

She was different from other women after all; she and he had a destiny together.

At the age of seven, on Eighteenth Street during the Hundred Flowers Festival, she went with the other daughters of the Shen Family. While watching the Flower God parade, Shen Yunxi maliciously pushed her into the river. At the time, everyone was busy watching the Flower God. Only she helplessly struggled in the water, her cries for help drowned out by the sound of firecrackers and noise, the fear of drowning overwhelming her. At that moment, she thought she was going to die—

Just when she was in despair, Lu Ying jumped in to save her.

Back then, Lu Ying was just a weak and miserable youth, using great effort to drag her ashore.

Overcome with fear, she clung to her arms tightly, crying with quivering lips and a trembling body.

Lu Ying, while wringing his robe dry, asked, "Whose daughter are you? I’ll take you home."

Shen Xinya only cried.

She was the illegitimate daughter of the second wife of the Shen Family. Her aunt was bullied by the legitimate wife, and even she was trampled underfoot by her legitimate sister, Shen Yunxi, ordered around like a maid.

Because she looked somewhat similar to Shen Yinning, Shen Yunxi harbored jealousy over her appearance, often joining other sisters to mock her for being ugly and short, claiming that nobody in the world would like her.

Even the maids in the house were secretly instructed by Shen Yunxi not to praise her beauty. If they saw her looking in the mirror, they were to tell her she was unattractive; no matter how she looked at the mirror, she would still be unattractive.

A child’s thoughts are simple. Under such long-term suggestion, she truly believed herself to be ugly and thus always walked with her head down.

Yet despite such humility, her legitimate sister still wouldn’t spare her, ruthlessly pushing her into the river despite knowing she couldn’t swim.

Wiping her tears, she glanced at the elegant and handsome young boy opposite her, blushing with shame at her inferiority, sobbing, "Um, can you close your eyes?"

Lu Ying wrung the water from his sleeves, "Why?"