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

Chapter 304 The Jealous Prince
Emperor Jinglong was always a suspicious man. Ever since the Crown Prince was poisoned, he felt that all the princes were coveting the throne and that everyone had ulterior motives.

Especially now, everything about Pei Nanzhou seems suspicious.

Seeing Pei Dongzhou today, I suddenly suspected that Pei Dongzhou and Li Yi were in contact.

"Continue to send people to keep an eye on Minister Pei. If Pei Dongzhou behaves strangely, report to me immediately." Emperor Jinglong was still worried and whispered his instructions to Wang De.

Wang De sighed inwardly. His Majesty's paranoia was growing stronger. Now, His Majesty trusted no one. Even though he intended to make Li Yi the crown prince, deep down, His Majesty didn't trust anyone.

However, Crown Prince Li Hong will definitely be deposed. The reason why Emperor Jinglong has not deposed Li Hong as Crown Prince is very likely because he does not want to establish another prince as the heir apparent too soon.

Pei Dongzhou also noticed that someone was watching him. He didn't know who the person was, but he didn't care. He was only thinking about sitting with Shen Shuyi.

When Shen Shu saw Pei Dongzhou come to the west hall, she thought he would just glance at her and leave, but to her surprise, he kept talking to her and showed no sign of leaving.

The West Hall was filled with noble ladies and wives of noble birth from the capital's elite circles. When they suddenly saw Pei Dongzhou clinging to Shen Shuyi, everyone cast curious glances at them.

Shen Shuyi only felt embarrassed.

She really didn't think that Prince Pei was the kind of person who could accomplish great things. Didn't he feel that he was drawing attention to himself here? Moreover, he was clinging to her, acting as if he couldn't live without a woman.

"Isn't Cousin Pei going to social events?" Shen Shuyi asked in a low voice, wanting Cousin Pei to stay away from her.

Pei Dongzhou sighed softly, feigning a pitiful expression: "Now that I am not valued by His Majesty, no one wants to pay attention to me. I might as well stay by my cousin's side and chat for a while."

He couldn't very well tell his young wife that his actions were being controlled by someone else, could he?
If he were to exchange more words with other officials, he might be misunderstood as forming cliques for personal gain. If he were to speak with Li Yi, it would raise even more suspicions, and Emperor Jinglong might very well suspect that Li Yi was colluding with him.

It would be better to let everyone see that he is just a clingy husband who doesn't pose any threat to anyone.

Shen Shuyi felt that Pei Dongzhou's words could only be believed halfway. Being a smart woman, she quickly realized that it would be best for Pei Dongzhou to stay by her side, at least so that no one would suspect that he and Li Yi were in cahoots.

"So, Cousin Crown Prince is quite pitiful," Shen Shuyi said, seemingly serious but actually feigning nonchalance.

“I’m so pitiful, cousin, please don’t send me away.” Pei Dongzhou took it for granted.

Seeing Pei Dongzhou clinging to his daughter, Madam Liang found it amusing. She inexplicably thought her daughter was quite capable, able to keep a man like Pei Shizi so docile. Was this what was called the art of managing a husband?

Moreover, Pei Dongzhou didn't care about the strange looks from others, and seemed to think there was nothing wrong with sticking to his wife's side.

In fact, while all the women present found this scene strange, even if some secretly despised Pei Shizi for being so useless and spending so much time with women, most of them envied Shen Shuyi.

This is especially true for married women.

Women have a low status at home; they are always the ones clinging to their men. How could men possibly be willing to give themselves to them?

Yet Shen Shuyi manages to attract someone like Prince Pei to her side.

Just as everyone was spying on what was happening at Shen Shuyi's table, the groom, Li Yi, suddenly came to the west hall to offer a toast. Li Yi had come to the west hall specifically because he had guessed that Shen Shuyi was having her banquet there.

But he really didn't expect that he would see a man sitting in the middle of a group of women from afar, right next to Shen Shuyi. Wasn't he the culprit who had instigated him to compete for the position of crown prince?
He secretly despised Pei Dongzhou for being a good-for-nothing, but he was more envious of Pei Dongzhou for being able to legitimately stick to his cousin Shen's side.

He had originally thought he could take the opportunity to get a better look at Shen Shuyi, but he felt that if he showed even a little interest in his cousin Shen, Prince Pei might simply refuse to cooperate with him.

"The prince has arrived," someone announced.

Everyone looked at the newcomer, and sure enough, they saw Li Yi, the groom, coming over with a wine glass, clearly to toast everyone.

At this point, everyone couldn't help but wonder: was it necessary for the Prince to come to the West Hall to offer a toast on such an occasion? After all, the people present were mostly women, and it seemed unnecessary for the Prince of Jin to offer a toast.

When Pei Dongzhou saw Li Yi arrive, he subconsciously glanced at Shen Shuyi.

Shen Shuyi felt that his gaze was a bit strange. In the end, she realized what he meant. Could it be that Prince Pei thought that Li Yi had come over to toast her on her own behalf?
If it weren't for the fact that they were in a public place, she would have loved to punch him to bring him to his senses. That Prince Pei is really something; is he a jealous maniac? He's jealous of everything.

Li Yi then pretended to toast the female guests at the other tables first, before "casually" wandering over to Shen Shuyi's table. He looked at Pei Dongzhou and teased, "Why did Young Master Pei end up in the west hall? Isn't there enough wine in the east hall for Young Master Pei?"

Pei Shizi actually didn't care about worldly opinions and mingled with a group of women, which left him speechless.

"The wine in the East Hall is indeed not as flavorful as the wine in the West Hall, what do you think, cousin?" Pei Dongzhou's nauseating gaze was fixed on Shen Shuyi's face.

Shen Shuyi subtly stepped on Pei Dongzhou's foot, then readily agreed, "The wedding wine at the Prince Jin's residence is naturally delicious everywhere. Congratulations on Your Highness's wedding today, you've married such a beautiful woman!"

Li Yi thought to himself that Pei Dongzhou had already taken the real beauty, so after toasting, he didn't want to linger and turned to leave.

Pei Dongzhou glanced at Li Yi's departing figure, and his expression suddenly darkened.

Seeing his expression change, Shen Shuyi whispered a reminder: "Cousin, the Crown Prince, please watch your expression."

Pei Dongzhou gently squeezed her hand, his eyelids lowered, seemingly lost in thought.

Just then, Shen Shuyi saw a figure flash in the distance. She guessed that someone was watching Pei Dongzhou's every move. She wondered whose person it was and why they were suddenly focusing on Pei Dongzhou.

Afterwards, Pei Dongzhou stayed by Shen Shuyi's side and refused to leave. When the banquet was halfway over, Pei Dongzhou wanted to take Shen Shuyi back to the Marquis's residence.

Shen Shuyi also disliked lingering in this environment. She felt it was best to return to the Marquis's residence and hide there as soon as possible to avoid causing trouble.

After bidding farewell to Madam Liang, Shen Shuyi followed Pei Dongzhou and left the banquet to head to the Marquis's residence.

Perhaps Pei Dongzhou had drunk too much, for he remained silent in the carriage, feigning sleep with his eyes closed. This made Shen Shuyi extremely nervous; she kept peeking out the curtain, wondering if the man from before was also following behind their carriage.

Only after returning to the Marquis's residence and going back to Fusang Courtyard with Pei Dongzhou did Shen Shuyi ask in a low voice, "Who was secretly monitoring my cousin, the Crown Prince?"

(End of this chapter)