The King of Chu was known for being reckless. Even when he fell out of favor, the Inner Court did not dare to provoke him. Now that he had the Emperor’s support, the Inner Court could only try to gain his favor.

Just after autumn began, the Inner Court sent a batch of newly planted green chrysanthemums to the princess, who loved flowers and plants. When Princess Chu saw the flowers blooming, she asked her personal maid, Bai Lu, to invite Tao Sheng to appreciate them.

Bai Lu said, “The princess is very kind to Miss Luo. The flowers just arrived yesterday, and she invited her to see them today.”

Princess Chu replied, “Your Highness thought the green chrysanthemums were rare, so he planned to invite people to see them after the 15th day of the month. I thought I had nothing to do today, so I asked Miss Luo to come and see them first. It was Miss Luo’s idea this time; she helped our prince impress the emperor, which allowed him to receive an imperial decree ^[1]refers to an official order. permitting him to visit the palace at any time. She has made a great contribution.”

“The princess is kind-hearted,” Bai Lu said with a smile. “It’s been more than three years since that happened. I think the emperor’s anger has long subsided. Miss Luo’s idea may not be very good; it’s just a coincidence.”

“That’s also the good luck she brought,” Princess Chu said. “One must know how to cherish blessings in order to last long.”

Besides, Ji Zhuangyuan was the first person in recent years to be openly assigned to the Chu camp by the emperor. Even if it was to encourage others to surrender later, it wouldn’t matter how well the palace treated him and his family.

The King of Chu always liked to talk about “making a comeback,” but the Princess of Chu sneered at him and thought he was dreaming. However, it now seems that it is not completely impossible.

Tao Sheng has been visiting the Prince of Chu’s mansion frequently and has gradually become familiar with Princess Chu, who helps her with food and lodging.

Princess Chu felt that Tao Sheng had a very difficult life. It must not have been easy for a young girl like her to work so hard, running around to guide her students and her husband, who seemed a bit stubborn and not very smart.

There are many concubines in the Prince of Chu’s mansion, and he treats them equally and takes care of everyone’s feelings, so everyone gets along well. When Tao Sheng comes to the zither room to guide the work, Princess Chu often invites the sisters to sing and dance to relieve Tao Sheng’s fatigue and boredom.

The so-called invitation to appreciate the flowers is just a gimmick; eating, drinking, and communicating with each other is the main purpose.

Princess Chu and Tao Sheng admired the flowers and paintings together and enjoyed snacks and famous Jiangnan dishes made by the chef sent by the prefect of Hangzhou. Afterward, she ordered someone to harness the carriage and send Miss Luo back.

The palace steward had always acted prudently. He had ordered people to prepare a carriage early in the morning. Suddenly, he saw a carriage crossing from the alley next to him and was about to block it.

The steward didn’t know when the princess would come out to see her off, so he could only ask the carriage to move back: “Who’s in front? They’re blocking our Miss Luo’s way.”

The carriage that was scolded by the steward belonged to the Shen family from the Wenyuan Marquis Mansion.

As Shen Ruojin is getting married soon, Luo Xin has completely fallen out with Shen Yu and is going against all his suggestions. Shen Yu has no choice but to take Ruojin to visit his father-in-law alone.

Shen Yu brought Ruojin to Luo’s house this time because he wanted to ask Old Tutor Luo to attend the wedding at Duke Ling’s Mansion to make both families look better. Also, when a noble daughter in the capital gets married, it is customary for her maternal family to add to her dowry. Since Shen Ruojin is still nominally Luo Xin’s daughter, they came to see what her father-in-law thinks and how much dowry he is willing to add.

But when Old Master Luo heard that Shen Yu had come to visit with Ruojin, he claimed to be sick and refused to meet them, sending only his butler to greet them.

Madam Luo also knew that although her husband was in poor health, he was far from unable to see visitors. She wondered why her husband didn’t go upstairs to meet them when her son-in-law had come with his granddaughter.

Old Grand Tutor Luo shook his head. He had been close to the emperor recently and understood some of his thoughts. Now, he was not very optimistic about the Eastern Palace lineage.

The Shen family is now too close to the Eastern Palace. Not only was their daughter sent to the palace as a companion to the princess, but they also chose a son-in-law from someone who is biased toward the Eastern Palace.

What they don’t know is that the current situation in the court is not resolved just by appointing a crown prince. The Crown Prince was not the legitimate son of the Empress in the past. If he were not appointed by the Emperor, he would be like the other princes.

Since this prince can be appointed or deposed, everything depends on the emperor’s will.

Her daughter has married into the Shen family and is now part of the Wenyuan Marquis Mansion, so he must be more cautious and keep a distance from the Shen family.

After being turned away, Shen Yu didn’t stay long at his father-in-law’s house but took Shen Ruojin back home.

Old Master Luo and the King of Chu lived in the same alley. As they walked out, they ran into people from the King of Chu’s mansion welcoming and seeing off distinguished guests. After hearing the scolding, they had to step aside.

Shen Yu saw such a large presence at the Prince of Chu’s Mansion and thought that the princess or a member of the royal family had gone out or that a princess had come to visit. However, when he saw the Princess of Chu walking out with Tao Sheng and seeing her off to the carriage, he felt like someone had hit him hard in the heart with a hammer.

Shen Ruojin’s eyes also turned red when she saw this.

In the past, she had to kneel to see the Crown Princess off to the carriage in the East Palace, but now the Princess of Chu took Tao Sheng’s hand and smiled as she personally sent her to the carriage. She even prepared a priceless Suzhou embroidery ^[2]refers to a type of traditional Chinese hand-stitched decoration. pillow for her to lean on.

Tao Sheng clearly saw them, but she didn’t look at them for even a second. She got into the carriage directly and didn’t care at all about the steward’s scolding of Shen Yu and his daughter.

In the past, although Tao Sheng did not agree to return to the adorable Banhou Mansion, she still maintained a superficial peace with them and would greet them politely when she saw them.

But now, Tao Sheng not only pretended not to know them but also allowed the steward to scold them while asking the carriage of the Marquis’ Mansion to make way for her.

Shen Yu was so angry that he staggered backward, but since the steward was from the Prince of Chu’s mansion, he didn’t have the qualifications to argue. He could only watch as Tao Sheng sat in the carriage that the Prince of Chu used to welcome and see off distinguished guests and gradually drove away.

_ 

Shen Ruojin returned home, and after most of the morning, she still felt very uncomfortable.

Ever since Shen Ruojin could remember, she had been the only legitimate daughter in the Wenyuan Marquis’s mansion. With the old lady’s favor, Shen Yu’s support, and the love of her three brothers, she had lived a smooth life for the past ten years. Her fiancé, Guan Muyun, the son of the Duke of Lingguo, was the envy of all the ladies in Beijing.

She has undoubtedly lived a good life in recent years, always being the focus of attention. She was never left out of any good event in the family. Even if she faced some difficulties occasionally, she found ways to get back on track.

Even someone as domineering as Princess Hui’an couldn’t gain any advantages over her.

But ever since she met Tao Sheng, Shen Ruojin felt that her once perfect life was now falling apart. This made her feel like she was losing control.

Her mother was angry with her and her father because of Tao Sheng. To resolve this, her father took her to visit her grandfather. However, her grandfather didn’t want to see them due to their status and turned them away.

On top of that, seeing Tao Sheng treated as a special guest in the Prince of Chu’s mansion made Shen Ruojin feel even worse.

At that moment, the wet nurse Mama Yang((also called Nanny Yang.) came in and told Ruojin that Doctor Pan’s son was outside and wanted to see her.

Doctor Pan was the doctor who had treated Ruojin when she was seriously ill and had finally seen improvement. Now, he was in trouble; his family was suing him for giving too much medicine and making a patient worse, leading to his arrest. His son, Doctor Pan Xiao, had helped treat Ruojin before, so they had some connection. The Pan family was desperate and came to ask Ruojin for help.

Feeling embarrassed, Ruojin said, “Doctor Pan, please don’t say that. I am just an unmarried girl, and my father and brother make all the decisions. How can I help your father?”

Doctor Pan was surprised by her rejection: “Aren’t you going to marry into the Duke’s Mansion soon? You are not an ordinary person.”

“I haven’t even married yet, and I’m already supposed to help. What kind of person does that make me?” Ruojin frowned and told Mama Yang, “Mama, give Doctor Pan ten taels of silver to help his father. It’s the least we can do.”

Doctor Pan smiled sadly. With a serious situation like this, ten taels of silver wouldn’t be enough.

Xiao Pan came to the mansion pretending to get more medicine for Ruojin. Now, Ruojin didn’t want him to stay, so he left the room feeling lost.

After leaving the courtyard, Xiao Pan saw a beautiful woman in fancy clothes. He knelt before her and begged, “I came to your house because I have nowhere else to go. Please help me save my father.”

Luo Xin recognized him as Doctor Pan’s son and knew he was skilled in medicine. It felt wrong for him to kneel, so she motioned to Mama Zheng to help him up: “Come in with me.”

Back in the main courtyard, Luo Xin asked, “What did your master do wrong?”

Doctor Pan explained what he had said to Miss Shen’er.

Luo Xin frowned when she heard “the medicine is not suitable for the disease.” 

“That explains why your father’s medicine didn’t work for the second girl.”

Doctor Pan bowed deeply and said, “Madam, please understand. The young lady was lazy and didn’t want to see people, so my father prescribed those medicines. She was just feeling down, not seriously ill. He only gave her some ordinary tonic pills. She didn’t take much medicine, so it’s okay. My father didn’t cause her long-term illness. Please understand.”

Doctor Pan’s words surprised Luo Xin.

Putting aside the excuses, it seems Ruojin didn’t have any serious illness. If she did, it was only mental distress. Ruojin knew her illness wasn’t serious and didn’t take the prescribed medicine, yet she had Doctor Pan visit daily. She boiled the medicine on time but didn’t get better.

Shen Yu had many concubines, who were often jealous and did strange things. Many pretended to be sick to gain favor with the master.

These women pretended to be sick to win sympathy and rewards. But Shen Ruojin, being the favored daughter in the mansion, why would she pretend to be sick now?

It was hard not to connect this with her relationship with Tao Sheng.

Luo Xin had thought Shen Yu and his friends were unfair, leading to this situation. Ruojin had come to the Marquis’ Mansion unwillingly, so Luo Xin didn’t blame her.

But now it seemed things were more complicated.