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

Chapter 61 The Prince Arrives
Shen Shuyi felt a chill run down her spine under Pei Dongzhou's complicated gaze.

What's wrong with Prince Pei? It's as if she did something outrageous that made him want to explode, but he could only try his best to hold back. Last night, he was the one teasing her, and he even drew his sword against her, almost killing her.

"Is something wrong, Cousin Prince Pei?" Shen Shuyi carefully took a step back, afraid that Prince Pei would draw his knife again.

Pei Dongzhou watched her retreat, and for some reason, a fierce anger welled up in his heart.

He didn't know how she had offended Li Yi, only that this woman couldn't stay still for a day without causing trouble. Li Yi's womanizing was no secret in Daqi, and this prince was favored by Emperor Jinglong. Apart from His Highness the Crown Prince, no one in Daqi dared to provoke Li Yi.

She went and pretended to be the top courtesan at Baixianglou, and even got into trouble with Li Yi, that scoundrel.

If Li Yi were to chase her to the Marquis's residence, no one could protect her.

Unfortunately, he didn't expose her for pretending to be a top courtesan last night, so he couldn't say these things and could only sulk in silence.

"No matter what my cousin does, remember not to implicate the Marquis's mansion. If something happens in the future and a powerful person comes knocking, I'm afraid no one will be able to protect my cousin." In the end, Pei Dongzhou gave a veiled warning.

Shen Shuyi instantly realized that the news of Li Yi bringing her into the Prince of Jin's mansion had reached Pei Dongzhou's ears, and the young master Pei was warning her not to implicate the Marquis's mansion.

"I understand. Is there anything else, Cousin Prince?" Shen Shuyi replied politely.

Pei Dongzhou really wanted to ask her how she got out of the Prince Jin's mansion. She was just a weak woman, powerless to even kill a chicken, how did she manage to escape from that mansion guarded by so many soldiers?

But he only said expressionlessly, "Cousin, take care of yourself!"

After saying that, he turned and left. He was afraid that if he walked too slowly, he would want to strangle her!
As soon as Pei Dongzhou left, A-Jian immediately ran to Shen Shuyi and, while crying, told her about Pei Dongzhou coming to Fusang Courtyard to find her yesterday.

Shen Shuyi frowned upon hearing this: "Did Xia Nianchu say that I didn't return to the Marquis's residence yesterday?"

"Yes, when the young master came to ask me, I said that the young lady said she was going to Chunxi Road, and I didn't say anything else."

Shen Shuyi felt that A-Jian was becoming increasingly clever, but Xia Nianchu knew that since she hadn't returned to the Marquis's residence, there was no way she hadn't made a move. The female lead would definitely seize the opportunity to spread the word about this matter throughout the Marquis's residence.

"Has the news spread throughout the Marquis's residence that I wasn't here last night?" she pressed.

"No." A-Jian suddenly thought of a possibility. "By the way, before you returned to Fusang Courtyard, Qingyun was guarding outside Fusang Courtyard. Could it be that the young master helped you cover up this matter?"

Shen Shuyi's eyes flickered slightly, thinking to herself, "Is that really possible?"
How could Prince Pei possibly cover for her when he dislikes her so much?

However, Prince Pei values ​​the reputation of the Marquis's mansion most. If the news of her not returning home at night spreads, it may affect the marriage prospects of other young ladies in the Marquis's mansion.

If that's why Pei Dongzhou helped her cover it up, then it makes sense.

Therefore, it's perfectly normal for Pei Dongzhou to want to kill her. With a ticking time bomb like her around, she could implicate the entire Marquis's mansion at any moment.

No wonder Prince Pei warned her before he left; her presence would indeed affect the Marquis's residence.

She could only hope to complete the task as soon as possible so that it wouldn't bring further harm to the entire Pei family.

She also felt uneasy about Li Yi. She thought she saw his face before he fell unconscious. Although she was wearing heavy makeup and looked very different from her usual self, she was afraid that she might accidentally run into Li Yi again and be recognized by him.

From now on, whenever she leaves the Marquis's residence, she must still wear a veil to avoid accidentally bumping into Li Yi and rekindling today's grudge.

She didn't dare tell A-Jian that she had been taken into the Prince of Jin's mansion, otherwise the girl would be frightened to tears again.

She lay on the bed, lost in thought, when suddenly she jumped up. She remembered—in the original story, Sun Wang died at Li Yi's hands. Oh no! Had her drugging Li Yi today implicated Sun Wang?
The next time I see Sun Wang, I must warn him again that he must not sell drugs to anyone anymore. Now that he's on the path of legitimate business, he should sever all ties with the past.

When Xia Nianchu woke up, it was already evening. She hadn't eaten all day and was starving, so she quickly looked for something to eat.

After eating and drinking to their hearts' content, they couldn't wait to go to Fusang Courtyard to cause trouble for Shen Shuyi.

She fell asleep as soon as she returned to Mengyunxuan yesterday and slept for a whole day. It seems like someone did something to her.

"Did you drug me and make me sleep from last night until now?" Xia Nianchu demanded as soon as she saw Shen Shuyi.

Shen Shuyi was taken aback, and immediately understood why Xia Nianchu hadn't spread the news that she hadn't come home last night. It turned out that someone had drugged Xia Nianchu.

And that person was none other than Prince Pei.

Pei Dongzhou went to great lengths to help her cover it up.

At this moment, she felt that from Pei Dongzhou's perspective as the heir to the Marquis's mansion, someone like her was truly not worth dying for.

Xia Nianchu felt a chill when she saw Shen Shuyi's bewildered look. Had she guessed wrong?

No, besides Shen Shuyi, who would drug her and make her unconscious for so long?

“My cousin might have paranoia. I’m all alone in this Marquis’s mansion, how could I possibly do anything to her? Besides, I have no reason to do such a thing,” Shen Shuyi replied calmly.

Xia Nianchu said in a deep voice, "Because you didn't return to the Marquis's residence last night, you drugged me to cover it up, thinking that this would conceal the news of your secret rendezvous with another man!"

Shen Shuyi chuckled: "I stayed at Fusang Courtyard perfectly fine last night, what nonsense are you spouting, cousin?"

She was too lazy to get entangled with the female lead any longer and asked A-Jian to see the guest out.

Xia Nianchu didn't believe Shen Shuyi's words. After leaving Fusang Courtyard, she asked the gatekeeper what time Shen Shuyi had returned to the Marquis's residence last night. The gatekeeper told her that Shen Shuyi had returned to the residence last night, and at exactly the same time that she had informed Pei Dongzhou.

For a moment, she began to doubt whether she was overthinking things.

But why did she sleep for so long?

When she returned to Mengyunxuan, a maid came to apologize, saying that she had accidentally put the wrong calming medicine in her tea the night before.

This explains everything, but Xia Nianchu still felt something was amiss last night, though she had no proof...

That night, at Baixianglou.

As soon as Li Yi woke up, he rushed over. Seeing his angry appearance, Pei Xizhou quickly asked what had happened.

"Where is the crabapple tree?!" Li Yi went straight to the point.

Upon hearing Haitang's name, Pei Xizhou couldn't help but launch into a long tirade: "Don't even mention it! Haitang came back this afternoon. That woman last night wasn't Haitang at all. Haitang said she was drugged at the teahouse yesterday and only returned to Baixiang Tower after waking up today. I don't know what kind of woman is so audacious as to dare to impersonate the top courtesan at Baixiang Tower!"

Li Yi suddenly came over to interrogate him. Could it be that the woman who was impersonating Haitang escaped from Li Yi's hands?

(End of this chapter)