Jiaojiao is getting married, and the male leads fall for her and fight over her.

Chapter 18 shows the scene of Pei Dongzhou holding Shen Shuyi...

Shen Shuyi watched Sun Wang walk away with a smile on her face, completely unaware that the Pei brothers had arrived.

It was A-Jian who first noticed that Prince Pei and the Third Young Master Pei were standing not far away. She gently tugged at Shen Shuyi's sleeve and whispered, "Miss, the Prince and the Third Young Master are here."

Shen Shuyi turned around at the sound and saw that Prince Pei and Pei Xizhou had arrived. They must have just arrived, as she hadn't seen Sun Wang's face yet.

"Greetings to my two cousins." Shen Shuyi stepped forward and bowed respectfully to the Pei brothers.

Pei Xizhou looked in the direction the man had left, but he was no longer there.

My cousin Shen was smiling so brightly at that man just now, could he be her lover?

"Who was the man who made my cousin so reluctant to part?" Pei Xizhou asked, a rare display of curiosity.

Shen Shuyi felt that the lewd man saw lewdness, so why did he see her reluctant to part?
“That young master just fainted, and I couldn’t just stand by and watch him die, so I helped him out.”

Sun Wang had indeed only fainted; he woke up as soon as she and A-Jian dragged him away from the riverbank. Even so, she had now become acquainted with Sun Wang, making it much easier for her to get medicine from him.

Before leaving, Sun Wang gave her several packets of medicine. She needed to go back to the Marquis's residence to test the medicine's effects before she could make a move against Pei Dongzhou.

Time is running out for the mission; we cannot afford to fail next time.

Pei Xizhou believed Shen Shuyi's explanation, but Pei Dongzhou was still looking in the direction the man had left, lost in thought.

Why did he feel that this matter was not so simple?
"It's getting late, I'm going back to the Marquis's residence. Please make yourselves at home, cousins." Except when she was doing missions, Shen Shuyi didn't want to have much contact with any of the male leads.

She bowed to the Pei brothers and was about to pass by them when she felt a little dizzy.

She shook her head, and her body fell uncontrollably to the side.

When Pei Xizhou saw Shen Shuyi suddenly rush towards him, he thought she was infatuated again and immediately took a step to the side. Unexpectedly, a hand reached out from the side and caught Shen Shuyi. It was none other than his seemingly gentle and refined, but actually cold-hearted, elder brother.
He found this scene quite strange.

In the past, Prince Pei would run away from Cousin Shen faster than he did. Has he taken the wrong medicine today?
Shen Shuyi was only dizzy, but had not lost consciousness. She leaned weakly against Pei Dongzhou, secretly lamenting, "Thank you, thank you, Cousin Prince, I... I'm alright..."

Please, please don't think she's throwing herself at him; she's genuinely weak.

She reached out to A-Jian, who was standing there dumbfounded, and said breathlessly, "A-Jian, come and help me up."

A-Jian was stunned, thinking the girl was using this method to seduce the Pei brothers, until the girl called her and she realized that the girl was not faking illness.

She quickly stepped forward to help the young lady up, and the young master then pushed the young lady towards her.

The young master's movements were a bit rough, and she almost didn't catch him.

Seeing this, Pei Dongzhou reached out to help him up again. Knowing it was unreasonable, he coldly rebuked, "What use are you if you can't even help someone up?!"

These words were clearly a reprimand to A-Jian.

"It's not A-Jian's fault, it's because I was too heavy." Shen Shuyi, protecting her son, quickly took the blame upon herself.

Pei Dongzhou glanced at Shen Shuyi, who was unsteady on her feet, and said to Ajian, "Aren't you going to help your young lady into the carriage?!"

A-Jian quickly replied, "This servant understands." She helped Shen Shuyi up and said softly, "This servant will escort you to the carriage, Miss."

Shen Shuyi felt very dizzy and struggled to support herself as the two of them staggered forward.

Only then did Pei Xizhou realize that Shen Shuyi had indeed fallen ill.

He had also heard about Cousin Shen's frail health and that she was not destined for a long life. He couldn't help but sigh, "No wonder even my brother, with his heart of stone, felt pity for her. Seeing how weak she is, who knows when she might..."

"Third brother, don't talk nonsense. Try not to let Grandmother know about this, so as not to worry her." Pei Dongzhou said, following behind the master and servant in front.

Pei Xizhou silently followed. The master and servant couple in front were quite eccentric. Especially Cousin Shen, who was already ill and could barely walk, yet she still had the mood to laugh and talk.

"Why do I feel like I'm drunk? My legs won't obey me... Poor A-Jian, I must be very heavy, right? Will I crush your little body?"

A-Jian was about to cry, but upon hearing Shen Shuyi's words, she burst into laughter: "This servant is not as weak as you, Miss."

“But it’s not good for a young girl like you to be too strong.” Shen Shuyi said, then sighed, “Tonight is the Qixi Festival, and there should be many beautiful and fun lanterns, but I didn’t have time to admire them.”

"I'll take you out to see the lanterns again next time," A-Jian said softly.

"You need to know that what's missed can never be regained, and the lanterns you see next time will never be the same as tonight's scenery... Hey, stop swaying, I'm dizzy." Shen Shuyi felt as if her feet were walking on cotton, and the scenery in front of her swayed with every step she took.

If she fails to complete her task in the next few days, she will not have another chance to see the lantern festival.

“This servant didn’t sway…” A-Jian suddenly changed her words in time, “It was this servant’s fault, this servant stopped swaying.”

"Are you trying to cry? I'm not dead, why are you crying? Let me tell you, I'll be fine in a few days. I feel like I'm a menace, and menaces live a long life... have you heard of that saying?" Shen Shuyi kept rambling on, trying to cheer herself up.

Unfortunately, her head became increasingly dizzy, and in the end, she could not hold on any longer, and her consciousness gradually faded.

A-Jian was pinned down by the unconscious Shen Shuyi and couldn't move. She wanted to ask the Pei brothers for help, but she didn't dare.

When Pei Xizhou saw that his cousin Shen, who had been chattering incessantly, had suddenly fallen silent, he knew something was wrong. A life was at stake; he couldn't rely on the young master Pei. He didn't care about his reputation anyway, so even if someone saw him hugging his cousin Shen, it wouldn't matter much.

He was only afraid that he would ruin his cousin Shen's reputation.

After a moment of inner struggle, he was about to step forward and pick up his cousin Shen when, to his surprise, Prince Pei was faster. He snatched Shen from A-Jian's arms and headed towards the street corner where the Pei family's carriages were parked.

Xia Nianchu happened to arrive, and when she saw Pei Dongzhou carrying Shen Shuyi, her eyes widened in fury: "How could my cousin, the young master,..."

Pei Dongzhou acted as if he didn't see her and carried Shen Shuyi into the carriage.

Previously, to avoid suspicion, her cousin, the heir apparent, did not ride in the same carriage as her, but instead got directly into Shen Shuyi's carriage.

For a moment she forgot how to react, and just watched helplessly as Pei Dongzhou and Shen Shuyi's carriage gradually drove away.

Pei Xizhou was also somewhat bewildered, never expecting that the young master Pei, who usually valued his reputation the most, would react in this way.
His only worry was that someone would see this scene, and then Prince Pei would have no way to explain himself. He couldn't help but wonder if this was a ruse by his cousin Shen.

If it really is a self-inflicted injury ploy, then this tactic is far too effective.

(End of this chapter)