A loud shout, the hall suddenly burst into a commotion, with all eyes fixed on the three legitimate Misses of the Shen family. The three Misses of the Shen family, Shen Qing was already engaged, leaving only Shen Yue and Shen Miao. Shen Yue was gentle and elegant, her name was renowned far and wide, while Shen Miao was also a slender and delicate young lady, with an air that made people turn their heads in admiration. More importantly, Shen Miao had the backing of Shen Xin, a powerful figure. And everyone clearly saw that the person Prince Yu was gazing at was indeed Shen Miao.

  For a moment, everyone's gaze at Shen Miao was extremely strange, with some gloating and others sympathizing. The previous Empress of Yu died under unclear circumstances, and everyone knew that there must be some ulterior motive behind it. And as for the character of the Prince of Yu, who was rumored to be demonic, everyone also understood it clearly. Yet, such a person was deeply favored by the imperial family, with one side being the majestic General Wu, and the other side being the Emperor's brother who had saved his life before, so how could they choose?

  Shen Xin's face sank after he finished speaking, and even a blue vein bulged out on his forehead. The reputation of the great general Wei Wu was not earned in vain, and for a moment, a fierce and menacing aura emerged, causing the people around him to change color.

  I am a loyal minister, but if I cannot even protect my own daughter, I would rather sacrifice my life and achievements, Shen Xin has no fear of facing Prince Yu.

  Shen Qiu also tightened the corners of his mouth, staring fiercely at Yu Qin Wang, as if he would pounce on him and fight to the death as soon as Yu Qin Wang mentioned Shen Xin's name.

  As for Luo Xueyan, she had already tightly grasped Shen Miao's hand, her bright smile having fallen away, replaced by a deep and fierce expression, as if a mother wolf protecting her cub, not retreating in the slightest from the opponent's pressure.

  The Shen family's behavior was so blatant that the people around them couldn't help but secretly gasp in shock. Now, with Emperor Wen Hui sitting on his high throne, the Shen family dared to show such arrogance, and the air was filled with a sense of tension, as if swords were being drawn. Emperor Wen Hui was known for being suspicious, and the Shen family's actions, which seemed to be above the imperial authority, showed no fear - did they not worry that Emperor Wen Hui would harbor resentment in his heart?

  Ding Wang's eyes moved slightly, and his gaze at Shen Miao was filled with a hint of surprise.

  "It seems that Miss Shen Wu is indeed General Shen's treasured daughter." Su Ming Feng said in a low voice to Xie Jing Xing, "The Shen family can actually go to such lengths for her."

  Opposing the imperial family is tantamount to being an enemy of the state. Whatever the case, the Shen family's actions at this moment have clearly shown their unyielding attitude. It's likely that even if Emperor Wen issued a decree, the Shen family would not easily agree.

  Xie Jinghang smiled lazily and made no comment.

  In the corner, Pei Lang's hand holding the teacup tightened slightly. What would that girl, who could shoot an arrow at her deskmate without batting an eye on the archery field, do?

  The smile on Emperor Wen's face was somewhat profound and unpredictable, and the gaze he cast towards the Shen family also had a hint of darkness. He said: "Which young lady from the Shen family has caught your eye, Prince Wang?"

  Everyone was waiting for Yuqin Wang's response, Shen Qing's face floated with a happy smile, but before the smile could rise higher, he suddenly felt a severe pain in his abdomen, and couldn't help but let out a loud "ah" of agony, clutching his stomach as he fell to the ground.

  "What's going on?"

  "Qing er!"

  Shen Qing's sudden movement startled everyone, and Ren Yuanyun immediately hugged her in her arms. Shen Qing's face quickly turned pale. Shen Yue pulled Chen Ruoqiu's sleeve, and the latter's heart skipped a beat, not knowing why, and looked at Shen Miao directly.

  But then, a purple-clothed girl sat upright at the table, her expression not changing in the slightest. She smiled slightly at Chen Ruoqiu's gaze and turned to look at Luo Xueyan, anxiously asking: "Big sister, what's wrong? Could it be that she was poisoned?"

  "Poisoned!" As soon as this word came out, the surroundings suddenly became chaotic.

  Shen Miao still looked unyielding and unrelenting, continuing to stare at Luo Xueyan: "Could it be that an assassin has snuck in?"

  At this moment, not only the queen but also several princes and Emperor Wenhui changed their expressions. The banquet was attended by civil and military officials, if a killer mixed in, the royal family would be in danger. Immediately, all the guards outside rushed in, with their hands on the hilt of their swords, staring vigilantly at the surroundings.

  One was the possible assassin, and the other was Shen Qing, who was lying on the ground in agony. As a result, Prince Yu's previous words about marrying which of the Shen family's daughters were now ignored. After all, one's life was more important than such rumors.

  Su Mingfang opened his mouth, and after a while, he praised in a low voice: "Good skills."

  Shen Miao just said one sentence, and everyone's attention was shifted. The current chaos and tension made Yu Xianwang look like a fool.

  Xie Jinghang glanced at the girl with a "worried" face and hummed softly.

  Shen Miao's eyes flickered slightly, and after being with the Fu family for so many years, no one understood the Fu family's suspicious nature better than her. Shen Qing's appearance at this moment was enough to make Wen Hui Emperor, who had been assassinated countless times, become a startled bird.

  "Mother, let's find a good doctor for elder sister." Shen Miao said: "It can't go on like this."

  Lu Xueyan came back to her senses, looked at Ren Yuanyun frowning, and saw Shen Qingcui in that state. As a mother, Ren Yuanyun didn't think of finding a doctor for her daughter, and it was unknown how she became like this. Immediately, Lu Xueyan rushed to Emperor Wen Hui and said: "Your Majesty's concubine requests that the imperial physician be summoned to examine Qing'er's illness and resolve her crisis."

  As soon as this was said, Shen Qing had not yet spoken, when Ren Yuanyun suddenly shouted in a shrill voice: "No!"

  Everyone's eyes fell on Ren Yuanyun.

  Ren Yuanyun said, as soon as the words came out of her mouth, she thought it was not good. Facing so many inquiring eyes, she forced a smile and gritted her teeth: "The concubine...the concubine is saying that Qing'er is too tired from working hard for the imperial physician...and also don't spoil everyone's fun, the concubine will take Qing'er down now..."

  "What are you talking about?" Lu Xueyan said seriously: "Nothing is more important than life, do you think as a mother that Qing'er's life is not more important than the excitement of the banquet hall."

  Everyone's expression was very strange, now like this, looking at it, Ren Yuanyun, who is the biological mother, did not want to find a doctor, while Luo Xueyan, this aunt, was enthusiastically concerned about Shen Qing's life and death.

  In the men's seating area, Shen Gui stared at Ren Yuanyun with a face as calm as water, his heart filled with resentment that he wasn't related to this troublesome mother and daughter duo. If this were to displease Emperor Wen Hui, what would become of his future career?

  "The Empress Dowager is right," the queen said calmly, glancing at Ren Yuanyun: "Miss Shen's injuries are serious, and returning to the imperial banquet is not as important as her life."

  Ren Yuanyun's heart was in a panic, if Shen Qing were to be examined by the doctor, wouldn't the matter of the child in her belly also be exposed? She said: "Your Majesty, it would be better..."

  "I'm fine..." Shen Qing's forehead was sweating profusely, her face as pale as paper, clearly in immense pain. Clutching her stomach, she couldn't speak, but she also knew she couldn't let the imperial physician come over, so she forced herself to suppress the agony and spoke.

  "Elder sister, this not only concerns your safety, but also the safety of everyone in the palace at this moment. If you have indeed been poisoned, it means that an assassin has infiltrated and everyone is in danger. Even if you don't care about yourself, shouldn't you be thinking of His Majesty?" Shen Miao's calm voice rang out.

  As soon as she finished speaking, Emperor Wen Hui's eyes became somewhat solemn.

  Shen Qing almost didn't get angry to the point of vomiting blood from Shen Miao's words, one sentence brought up the emperor, what could Shen Qing say, did he dare not consider the emperor?

  Several princes of the Fu family also understood Shen Miao's meaning, and immediately said: "This Miss Shen is indeed born with a good profitable mouth!"

  "Summon someone," Emperor Wen Hui ordered without any hesitation, "Go and invite the imperial physician. Miss Shen from the Shen family has encountered an accident in the palace. I must investigate this thoroughly!"

  "Elder sister, don't move around," Shen Miao said calmly: "It's possible that the murderer is hiding among the crowd at this moment. After the imperial physician arrives, I will take your pulse here, otherwise, if you stir up your qi and blood, I'm afraid there will be a problem."

  Ren Yuanyun hadn't had time to speak when Emperor Wen Hui nodded and said, "Good."

  In short, it directly shut down all possibilities.

  In the presence of all officials, let the imperial physician examine Shen Qing's illness, which means that Shen Qing's pregnancy will be exposed in front of everyone. At this thought, Ren Yuanyun's body couldn't help but tremble, and her fear finally spread to Shen Qing as well.

  "Mother, no..."

  But what can Ren Yuanyun do? Emperor Wen Hui has already spoken, and she cannot disobey the imperial edict. She is just a woman who can be arrogant in the inner palace, but in front of the emperor, empress, and officials, Ren Yuanyun is at a loss. She looks up towards Shen Gui's direction, hoping that he can help her, but all she sees in his eyes are blame and anger.

  At that moment, Ren Yuanyun's hands and feet turned icy cold, and a deep despair surged up in her heart. She couldn't even comfort the Shen Qing in her arms, and she collapsed to the ground in a daze.

  "What's wrong with your aunt?" Feng Anning whispered to Shen Miao, "Why does she look like she's very afraid?"

  Shen Miao smiled, and Luo Xueyan also furrowed her brow. Ren Yuanyun's abnormal behavior made her feel a bit strange. However, she couldn't think of any reason for it, and instead looked at Chen Ruoqiu and Shen Yue on the side.

  Shen Yue was startled by Shen Qing's appearance, grabbing Chen Ruoqiu's hem with some panic. Chen Ruoqiu also stared at Ren Yuanyun without moving, having been a sister-in-law to Ren Yuanyun for so many years, Chen Ruoqiu naturally knew that her second sister-in-law had always handled various situations with ease, today's loss of composure could only be due to one reason - she herself was affected.

  Shen Yue said in a low voice: "Big sister shouldn't have really been poisoned, mother, is it the fifth sister..."

  "Yu'er!" Chen Ruoqiu sternly stopped her, couldn't help but glance at Shen Miao beside her. Separated by a few people, she couldn't see Shen Miao's gaze clearly, but judging from the slight upward curve of her mouth, Chen Ruoqiu was also shocked. She had a hunch that today's incident must be related to Shen Miao, but did Shen Miao really have the audacity to poison someone in the palace? However, no matter what, Shen Qing's reputation today was doomed.

  Yu Qin Wang's face also fell due to the sudden change, although he was acting recklessly, he could still distinguish between what was important and what wasn't. This was not a good time to bring up what had just happened. A sarcastic smile floated on his lips. Shen Miao had escaped once today, regardless of whether she was the one who poisoned Shen Qing or not, thinking that this would be enough to hold him back was too simplistic. Afterwards, he could still bring it up with Emperor Wen Hui. Some things, avoiding them was also futile.

  The imperial physician hurried over, unexpectedly, the imperial physicians in the palace were all middle-aged people, and only those with rich experience could take charge of the imperial hospital. The imperial physician who came was only in his early twenties, and he looked quite handsome, which made some of the official ladies stare at him in surprise.

  Shen Miao's heart skipped a beat the moment she saw the imperial physician, and she carefully sized him up. The young imperial physician had his back to her as he bowed to the emperor and empress before walking over to Ren Yunyun's side. Just as Ren Yunyun was about to intervene, the imperial physician said, "Please let go of Miss Shen, I'll take her pulse." His voice was also very pleasant to listen to, making people feel comfortable in their hearts.

  Under the gaze of everyone, there were also the sharp eyes of the emperor and empress above. No matter what Ren Yuanyun did, she didn't dare to confront them. Shen Qing had already fainted from pain, she took a step back, staring at the imperial physician as he placed two fingers on Shen Qing's wrist.

  At that moment when Shen Miao was staring at the imperial physician in a daze, she suddenly heard Feng An Ning's teasing voice beside her. She said: "You wouldn't have taken a liking to the imperial physician too, would you? If it were you who liked him, then your taste isn't bad."

  Shen Miao's eyes widened slightly as she stared at him in surprise, asking: "Do you know him?"

  "Huh?" Feng Anning said in surprise: "You're actually interested in this kind of thing for the first time. Alright, I'll be magnanimous and tell you that this imperial physician is a new doctor at the Imperial Hospital, his medical skills are incredible, he even cured Empress De's chronic heart disease. The Emperor holds him in high esteem, made an exception to let him enter the Imperial Hospital, now he's the youngest official in the Imperial Hospital, and he's quite good-looking too, so many girls like him."

  Shen Miao said: "Do you like it too?"

  "How could I possibly like him?" Feng Anning tossed her head: "Although he is a skilled doctor and good-looking, at most he's just an imperial physician, with no family backing, alone and unsupported. Such a person, how can they be worthy of our family? Even you, if you really think about it, are still a bit off." Feng Anning had always been spoiled by her family since she was young, firmly believing that her future husband would also be an extraordinary figure, so a small imperial physician wasn't even worth considering.

  "What's his name?" Shen Miao asked.

  "You wouldn't actually like him, would you?" Feng Anning looked at Shen Miao with a suspicious gaze before saying: "His name is Gao Yang, but he's from an official family in the capital city, and there isn't a single person with the surname Gao among the aristocracy." In other words, this Gao Yang was definitely not from a noble family.

  Shen Miao gazed at the young imperial physician, even neglecting Shen Qing and Ren Yuanyun. Her heart stirred with some ripples, because Shen Miao discovered that Gao Yang gave her a sense of familiarity, as if she had seen him somewhere before. However, in her past life in the Imperial Hospital, she had not seen anyone like Gao Yang.

  Not at Tai Hospital, where else have I seen you?

  After a moment of contemplation, Gao Yang had finished taking the pulse. He turned his head back and met Shen Miao's scrutinizing gaze, which also made him slightly taken aback for a moment before he quickly regained composure and bowed to Ren Yuanyun.

  "High Imperial Physician," the Empress began, "has Miss Shen indeed been poisoned?"

  Gao Yang glanced at Shen Qing, who had fainted, and then looked at Ren Yuanyun, whose face was deathly pale. He cupped his hands together and said, "To answer Your Majesty's question, Miss Shen did not poison herself; she merely drank some Clear Lotus Tea." After a pause, he continued, "There was no poison in the Clear Lotus Tea that Miss Shen drank, and Miss Shen has not been poisoned."

  "Oh?" Emperor Wen Hui looked at Shen Qing: "If he wasn't poisoned, then how could this be?"

  "Your Majesty," Gao Yang sighed, "Qinghe tea is cold in nature. Ordinary people drinking it will not be affected, but pregnant women who drink it will stir up the fetal energy... Miss Shen is already with child."

  Miss Shen is pregnant.

  As soon as this was said, the surroundings suddenly became a sensation. Shen Gui opened his mouth, his face turned purple red in an instant, and he looked at Ren Yuanyun fiercely, who just fainted and fell to the ground.

  "Alright!" The one who spoke up was actually the lady of the Wei family. She suddenly stood up, not even caring about the location, and pointed at Ren Yuanyun, scolding her: "You've been engaged to our Wei family, yet you're trying to get us to marry a broken shoe, raise someone else's son for them! Ren Yuanyun, do you still want to have any face?"

  The people around were even more furious because of Wei's wife's words. Shen Qing had just been rumored to have an affair with the Wei family a while ago, and today she was found to be pregnant in front of all the officials. What kind of reason is this? A young unmarried girl actually got pregnant, is this illicit sex? And yet she still wants to marry into the Wei family with her belly? This is a great anomaly since ancient times.

  Ren Yuanyun still didn't move, her whole body seemingly losing strength, only half crawling to Shen Qing's side, embracing Shen Qing in her arms.

  "Empress Shen, I also want to know what's going on here?" The empress sat up straight and said coldly.

  Although Ming Qi is open-minded about men and women, being unmarried and pregnant, and having an affair with someone, is a shameful thing for the family. Once discovered, it would be a matter of being drowned in a pond. The Shen family is the head of the official household, and although Shen Gui's official position cannot compare to Shen Xin, it is not low either. The higher Shen Qing's status, the more severe the impact of this incident will be. The Empress Dowager, who manages the six palaces, is even more disgusted by these dirty affairs, and the cold intent in her voice can almost be heard by everyone.

  Ren Yuanyun only felt a bitter taste in the corner of her mouth, and she couldn't say a word. What could she say? That Shen Qing wasn't having an affair with someone, but was being raped instead? But no matter which one it was, the fact that her reputation was ruined remained the same. As for Prince Yu, it was even more impossible to utter a single word, Prince Yu was a person who would nitpick and argue over every little thing, if she were to accuse him, she feared there would be no good outcome.

  "Since Madame Shen won't speak, then let Miss Shen do the talking." The empress's gaze suddenly turned sharp and stern, instructing the palace maid beside her: "Go wake up Miss Shen, I have something to ask her."

  Ren Yuanyun was shocked, but the palace maid beside the empress had already stepped forward. They moved very quickly, and Ren Yuanyun didn't even have time to stop them. The two maids roughly woke Shen Qing up. As soon as Shen Qing woke up, she still felt severe abdominal pain, but heard the cold voice of the empress on the high throne ask: "Shen Qing, this palace asks you, who is the father of the flesh and blood in your abdomen?"

  As soon as Shen Qing heard this, her body stiffened and she looked at Ren Yuanyun for help. Ren Yuanyun, in a state of anxiety, only slightly shook her head to signal to Shen Qing not to say anything rashly, and assured her that she would think of a way to rescue her later on.

  Shen Qing saw Ren Yuanyun shaking her head, somewhat puzzled by her meaning, but also not daring to speak rashly, and stammered: "My daughter... my daughter..." unable to say anything else.

  Shen Miao let out a soft sigh and said, "Big sister, you might as well say it. Now that we've committed such a serious crime, since we're all going to end up like this anyway, it's not fair to just let you bear the blame alone."

  Ren Yuanyun glared fiercely at Shen Miao, as if she wanted to tear Shen Miao's mouth apart.

  Shen Qing's body trembled, and her eyes were filled with terror. The meaning of Shen Miao's words was that she would not be able to escape death after all. Between life and death, Shen Qing couldn't care about anything else, and suddenly shouted loudly: "No... no... my child is the flesh and blood of the Crown Prince!"

  Today was indeed a mess, one wave after another. What was supposed to be a peaceful return banquet ended up stirring up all sorts of trouble. The crowd looked at Prince Yu... and the latter narrowed his eyes, gazing at Shen Qing with an extremely gloomy expression.

  "Qing'er, don't talk nonsense!" Ren Yuanyun rushed over and covered Shen Qing's mouth with her hand, but the words that had been spoken were like spilled water, impossible to take back.

  Shen Qing's eyes widened, staring fixedly at Yu Qin Wang. Her thoughts were simple: since she had secretly communicated with an outsider and become pregnant before marriage, it was a necessary outcome. However, as long as the child in her belly was Yu Qin Wang's flesh and blood, it would be connected to the imperial family's bloodline, which meant having a guarantee of safety. In any case, the Emperor would not order his own nephew to be executed!

  Shen Miao looked at Shen Qing, a hint of amusement in her heart. She could roughly guess what Shen Qing was thinking, but she had forgotten that there was a saying - "to kill the mother and spare the child". In the imperial harem, this trick was used countless times, yet Shen Qing really thought that relying on that little flesh and blood tie would allow her to live in peace? It would only lead to a faster demise.

  The emperor's expression was unpredictable, and if he implicated Yuqin Wang at this time, it would indeed be not so simple.

  On the men's side, Shen Qiu and Shen Xin exchanged a glance. Shen Xin was fine, just somewhat shocked by this matter. However, Shen Qiu secretly clenched his fists. Previously, Shen Miao had not dared to tell him who exactly had defiled Shen Qing. Now it all made sense. No wonder Shen Miao refused to say - it turned out to be Prince Yu. As soon as he thought that if Shen Miao hadn't been lucky, the one who would have ended up like Shen Qing was his own sister, a surge of resentment arose in Shen Qiu's heart.

  Yu Qin Wang did not acknowledge, nor did he deny it. With this, it was almost certain. Everyone's gaze at Shen Qing was filled with sympathy and pity. Yu Qin Wang had always been fond of secretly abducting young girls through various means, even daring to touch the daughters of officials. Now, the unfortunate person happened to be Shen Qing.

  In the midst of silence, Shen Miao's voice softly rang out, she said: "No wonder Prince Jing previously proposed to marry a daughter of the Shen family, it turns out he wanted to give big sister a nominal title."

  This sentence was light and casual, but it made everyone present suddenly enlightened. No wonder, just now Prince Yu said he wanted to marry the princess, and he liked Miss Shen of the Shen family. It turned out that it was actually Shen Qing. And now, even a child is born. For a moment, the gaze towards Shen Qing changed again, and it seemed that it was not Prince Yu who forced her, but rather Shen Qing voluntarily became the princess.

  "This Shen Wu is quite formidable." Su Ming Feng exclaimed in surprise: "The skill of turning black and white upside down is also extremely high."

  Most people are led by the nose, but that doesn't mean everyone. Clear-headed people still remember that when Yu Qin Wang said he wanted to marry Shen's daughter, he was looking at Shen Miao.

  Xie Jingxing hugged his chest, smiling ambiguously at the purple-clothed girl in front of him. At some point, everyone at the palace banquet had been led by Shen Miao's nose. The current situation was all within her calculations. However, this also wasn't without danger; she had a big enough nerve to gamble and made accurate moves, incorporating everyone's reactions into her plan, making a great move.

  Since that's the case, he didn't mind adding fuel to the fire. Immediately, Xie Jinghang also said: "With affection and righteousness, it's great."

  The emperor's eyebrows wrinkled slightly, to the point of being almost imperceptible. It was known that in the past, Prince Yu had also been reckless, but he would not have made such a scene on stage. Whatever happened behind closed doors, there were ways to resolve it, but now that it was out in the open, how could they punish the prince? It was feared that Prince Yu would harbor resentment in his heart, and if the emperor covered for him like this, it would set a bad example for the officials. The words of Shen Miao and Xie Jingxing, however, were quite good and proposed a solution. If it was said that these two had done something together with mutual understanding, then there was nothing wrong with that. He glanced at the empress, who understood his intentions and said, "So the girl Prince Yu mentioned earlier was actually Miss Shen. You two have indeed gone too far, causing such a big commotion. What will you do in the future?"

  Shen Qing took a deep breath, ignoring the pain in her abdomen as she half-crawled to kneel on the ground and kowtowed, pleading: "It's all my daughter's fault, but I couldn't bear to part with the flesh and blood in her belly. I beg Your Majesty to spare my daughter this once for the sake of the child in her womb."

  The room fell silent, Shen Qing's face turned red with shame, losing all dignity. The Empress looked at her with disgust, but said calmly: "You can't escape punishment, but today is a day of celebration, let's just talk about happy things. Wang Ye has been a widower for many years, I'll make an exception today and do something good. I'll grant you two a marriage, it's a perfect match."

  Shen Qing picked up her life, and hastily delightedly said: "Thank you Your Majesty, thank you for your kindness." Unbeknownst to her, this move of hers made her lose face in front of others. In the past, Shen Qing only said that Shen Miao was not worthy of being on stage, but now Shen Qing herself had become the most unworthy daughter of the Shen family.

  Yu Qin Wang looked at Shen Qing with a gloomy expression, then shifted his gaze to Shen Miao. The emperor sitting high above warned him with a stern look, so Yu Qin Wang could only nod and slowly say: "Thank you, brother and sister-in-law, for your blessing."

  It's just the chill in those words, and only the person involved knows it.

  Shen Miao's lips curled up slightly, fearlessly meeting Yu Qinwang's gaze. Her clear eyes sparkled with delight, yet beneath the joy, a hint of ferocity was hidden, like a fierce beast.

  Today is just the beginning, and what's left for Prince Yu's mansion is yet to come. Clearing the abacus that had been calculated in front of Prince Yu, I suppose he must be furious by now.

  When a person is in a state of furious and urgent attack, they are most likely to make mistakes. These mistakes are like the wrong moves on a chessboard, where one can take advantage of them to launch a counterattack, capture pieces, and quickly checkmate.

  She tilted her head, her eyes were exceptionally bright, but the smile at the corner of her mouth was a kind of chilling horror.

  It has begun, Prince Yu.