After becoming pregnant, the cold-hearted nobles all went mad.

Shen Lingyi nodded, and he indeed let go, but the next second he raised his hand and grabbed a section of her fair wrist.

He laughed angrily, "So, the kung fu I taught you was just so you could use it against me?"

"What's wrong with me using it to beat up a lecherous man who spied on women bathing?"

After he finished speaking, a hissing sound was heard.

Shen Lingyi's gaze lingered on his bleeding abdomen with hesitation. "What did you come here to do?"

Wei Chengrui covered his wound with one hand, walked upstairs with a dark face, and still had time to confront her.

"Miss Shen shouldn't be happy to see that I'm about to die."

"Once I'm dead, no one will know your true colors, and no one will use what happened back then to blackmail you. You can then rest easy."

"Fine, then why aren't you dead yet?" Shen Lingyi retorted readily, and unsurprisingly, she was glared at fiercely by the boy, his eyes filled with hatred as if he were an enemy.

Although they are indeed enemies now.

But Shen Lingyi still couldn't bear to let someone die here, so she ordered Shaoyao to fetch the medicine.

She brushed off Peony's questions.

A moment later.

Shen Lingyi applied medicine to Wei Chengrui's lower abdomen. His injury was severe, about three inches long, and the wound was white and bleeding profusely from being soaked in water.

The slightest touch caused the boy's abdomen to tense up and the veins in his arms to bulge, indicating that he was in extreme pain.

"If this wound were any deeper, you wouldn't be alive," Shen Lingyi frowned.

Regardless, she still didn't want Wei Chengrui to die.

"They won't die." Wei Chengrui sneered, a cruel smile flashing across his face. "The palace servants who were captured have something to do with it. They gave up a few names. They were accidentally injured when they captured them. That person is quite skilled in martial arts; I reckon they're trained assassins."

"...I'm not bad either."

He gestured, "I slit that man's neck, just like that, blood splattered, and his head fell to the ground."

Shen Lingyi wasn't frightened at all. If she were that timid, she would have been scared out of her wits at the palace banquet.

"You killed the person His Majesty wanted, won't His Majesty blame you?"

Wei Chengrui leaned back casually, "Your Majesty values ​​me. Besides, I have a blood feud with the Wan family."

The entire Wei family was falsely accused of treason because they refused to bow down to the Wan family. Furthermore, their father was a military commander and was feared by others. For years, the Wan family had been secretly fabricating evidence, and finally, they found an opportunity to expose them.

If it weren't for Madam Wei's status as a princess, which saved his life...

And then His Majesty ascended the throne.

Wei Chengrui was already a dead soul.

"His Majesty has arrived."

The eunuch's high-pitched voice startled the two from their reverie.

Shen Lingyi glanced at Wei Chengrui, who was still injured, and without saying a word, pressed him into the pool. "Hold your breath and don't come out. I know you've trained. This little thing won't stump you, Prince Wei."

"Ha! Shen Lingyi, I knew it... Don't press me, why should I hide when His Majesty comes!"

Footsteps approached from afar, and soon Pei Heng, dressed in a dragon robe, came with his hands behind his back.

I reckon they rushed over.

There was still a chill about him.

Shen Lingyi hastily covered herself with a gauze robe, her hair still dripping water, her eyes as clear and bright as if they had been washed with water.

"Why did Your Majesty arrive at this hour? I didn't even have time to get ready."

Pei Heng never expected to witness such a sensual scene. He glared at Fu Quancai and said, "Ahem, something happened in the palace, it's not very safe, so I came to see you."

"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty," Shen Lingyi said, her worried gaze returning to him. "I wonder how Your Majesty is?"

Pei Heng was about to say that he was fine when he smelled a faint smell of blood in the air.

Those eyes immediately darkened.

He laughed, "With the imperial guards surrounding us, the Empress Dowager and I are naturally safe and sound. It's just that the Empress Dowager was a little frightened, and the imperial physician said she needs to rest."

The man idly stroked the ring on his finger, his gaze sweeping over his surroundings.

This place is located inside the palace, and there are not many furnishings inside, except for a screen and this pool.

However... the pool wasn't crystal clear.

It's inevitable that natural hot springs are somewhat murky; people standing on the shore naturally can't see clearly what's below.

Pei Heng stared at the pool water, as if suddenly intrigued. "Did you just finish soaking, or are you about to get in?"

Shen Lingyi's brow twitched. "I just finished soaking."

Pei Heng was already unbuttoning his clothes, and his jade-carved fingers performed this task with a slow and deliberate beauty.

"It's alright, I'll stay with you."

"..."

Seeing no response, the man stopped what he was doing and looked around tentatively.

"What's wrong with the second young lady?"

Shen Lingyi maintained her smile without breaking down, "Your Majesty's actions are probably inappropriate. There are so many people coming and going from the palace, including my sister. If word gets out, my reputation will be a small matter, but Your Majesty's divine authority will be tarnished."

Pei Heng stared at her without moving, a slight smile playing on his lips. "What if I said I didn't care?"

Shen Lingyi felt that she was now acting out of loyalty, risking her life to offer advice.

Pei Heng was clearly the kind of incompetent ruler who, no matter what his ministers said, would always say, "I have my own ideas."

In the past, she would have happily accepted, but there was someone hiding in the pool right now, and she couldn't let Pei Heng go down there, otherwise, if the two of them bumped into each other, it would all be over.

Pei Heng had no idea that she and Wei Chengrui were involved.

"His Majesty……"

Shen Lingyi had just called out when Pei Heng interrupted her, "Don't put on that pitiful act in front of me."

She looked at Fuquan, who immediately looked up and stared at the ceiling, as if there was something special about the cracks in the roof.

Shen Lingyi clenched her fists, and out of the corner of her eye, she could already see the bubbles constantly rising from the pool.

Wei Chengrui had reached his limit in holding his breath.

The man in the black robe approached step by step, a relaxed and carefree smile on his lips, yet his aura was extremely oppressive. "What exactly is the Second Miss hiding that she cannot let me know? One look and I will know."

Shen Lingyi was about to step forward and hug him when Rongxin Mama's anxious shouts came from outside.

"Your Majesty! The Empress Dowager has done something terrible."

This must be the most beautiful voice Shen Lingyi has ever heard.

She suppressed the joy in her eyes and tried her best to appear worried. "The Empress Dowager must have been quite frightened. Your Majesty should go and see her quickly."

Pei Heng pinched her chin and said, "I'll let you off this time."

Before leaving, he glanced at the pool of water as if it were nothing, paused for a moment, and then left.

No sooner had the man left than Wei Chengrui burst out of the water.

The boy, his hair still wet and water droplets clinging to his dark eyelashes, angrily demanded, "What exactly is your relationship with His Majesty?"

Shen Lingyi tossed a handkerchief at his face and said calmly, "Dry your face before you speak, and also clear your mind."

"If I hadn't helped you, you would have been arrested and punished as a lecherous man. Do you think His Majesty would have let you off?"

"I'm asking you a question," Wei Chengrui said through gritted teeth, enunciating each word clearly.

He was soaking wet right now.

It looked just like a wet dog, the kind that looked inexplicably wronged.

Shen Lingyi's lips curled slightly, and she wrapped her slender arms around his neck, breathing softly, "So what if I have an ambiguous relationship with His Majesty?"