The new emperor's first decree upon ascending the throne was to forcibly take his cousin as his

Before the doctor even arrived, Ruan Xianrong threw herself into Ruan Xiang's arms and wept.

"Father, you must stand up for me! It's all Zhao Xuelan's fault. She bullied me. Look at my feet!"

Zhao Xuelan knew her identity and thought she was easy to bully. If she didn't teach her a lesson now, who knows how she would bully her in the future.

Ruan Xiang was heartbroken. "Don't worry, daughter, your father will definitely avenge you."

"Does the injury hurt? Father has already sent someone to fetch the imperial physician, just wait a little longer."

"Father, there's something else I need to tell you."

"you say."

"We should investigate our family's personnel. Zhao Xuelan said some things to me today, and my daughter thinks there's a spy from the Zhao family in our family."

Not many people knew that she wasn't a daughter of the Ruan family, yet Zhao Xuelan brazenly revealed it today.

Although the Prime Minister's residence is powerful, the Duke of Zhao's residence has a deep foundation and prestige that the Prime Minister's residence cannot match.

It's not difficult to find out some information.

But it would be going too far to plant an informant in the Ruan family.

"spy?"

Ruan Xianrong didn't know how to explain. Her parents hadn't told her about looking for their biological daughter, and she had just blurted it out, making it even harder to explain.

"I don't understand exactly what she said, but those words shouldn't have come out of her mouth. Those were things Father said when discussing state affairs with the court officials. How did Zhao Xuelan know?"

She started making things up; as long as she could arouse her father's suspicion and make him investigate the people around him, the specifics of what she said didn't matter.

"Father, you must believe me, it's true."

Seeing his daughter's unusual seriousness, Ruan Boheng also became serious.

The Zhao family and the Ruan family have always been at odds, so it's not impossible that the Zhao family planted spies in the Ruan family mansion.

The Duke of Zhao has been looking for something to do with him. Over the years, the two families have been fighting each other in the court. If he really planted a spy, he would have something to say to His Majesty.

"Don't worry, I'll investigate when I get back."

Because of their injuries, the Ruan family's carriage left first.

Her feet were bandaged so badly by the imperial physician that they were unrecognizable, and Madam Sun, standing beside her, kept scolding her out of distress.

"That Zhao Xuelan has been spoiled since childhood. She's bullied all the noble ladies in the capital. Now she's even daring to bully you! How dare she!"

"Don't worry, Her Majesty the Empress already knows about this matter and will definitely seek justice for you. This will also serve to curb the Zhao family's arrogance and prevent them from becoming complacent all the time."

Ruan Xianrong nodded, "Mother is right. My injuries can't be in vain. I have to teach that Zhao Xuelan a lesson."

This injury is actually a good thing. She didn't want to go to the palace before, and she used to have to find excuses to avoid it. Now, with this foot injury, it won't heal for at least ten days to half a month, so she doesn't have to go out for the time being.

She lay on the bed, one leg raised high, munching on an apple.

Yinque helped her sort through the gifts that had been delivered. "These are from the Second Prince, that one is from the Third Prince, and this one is from Young Master Shen. The Prince Yong's residence also sent a gift."

Most of them were tonics, just to express our feelings. The palace also sent people to see them, and after sending a lot of things, they went back to report.

Ruan Xianrong held a fan and slowly waved it, resting with her eyes closed.

"thump"

The sudden sound was like something falling into the yard.

People inside and outside the house were startled, and Yinque quickly went out to check the situation.

As I walked under a tree, I saw a man fall flat on his face, but he was holding up a food box. The man had fallen quite badly, but the food box was completely undamaged.

"Who are you? How dare you climb over the wall and break in!"

"Guards, drag him out and hand him over to the patriarch for disposal."

The person on the ground coughed a few times, struggled to raise his head, and said, "Wait, wait a minute."

Yinque finally saw his face clearly and exclaimed in surprise, "Second Young Master Shen? It's you?"

Shen Qinghe got up, dusted himself off, and looked a little embarrassed.

"You...how did you climb over the wall to get in?"

He didn't want to climb the wall, but the main gate wouldn't let him see Ruan Xianrong, so he had no choice but to climb over the wall to get in.

I thought things would go smoothly, but then I slipped.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

Shen Qinghe was already in poor health, and climbing the wall left him in a sorry state. As soon as he finished speaking, he coughed so hard he could hardly breathe. Fearing something might happen, Yinque quickly went back to ask her mistress for permission.

When Ruan Xianrong heard that Shen Qinghe had climbed over the wall to get in, she was so startled that she almost dropped her teacup.

That poor kid.

"Let them in."

After inviting the person in, Yinque quickly served tea. After drinking a few sips of water, she felt a little better.

"You're getting bolder and bolder, daring to climb over the wall to get in here. It's a good thing my older brother isn't here today, or I'd break your legs."

Shen Qinghe took a breath and smiled, "Then I'm pretty lucky."

His shameless behavior earned him a glare from Ruan Xianrong.

"Tell me, why did you go to the trouble of climbing over the wall to get in?"

Shen Qinghe then opened the food box in his hand. "I know you're injured, can't go out, and have to watch your diet. But it's hot, and it's easy to get irritable, so I brought you some food to cool you down."

Sweet Fragrance House's ice cream and chilled cold dumplings are the most popular summer treats in Kyoto.

The ice cream had melted a bit because of the long delay on the road.

Shen Qinghe was a little disappointed. Arong was very delicate, how could he let her eat the melted ice cream?

Ruan Xianrong didn't miss the expression on his face and couldn't help but find it amusing. After all, he was young and couldn't keep things to himself.

How could she possibly complain about his good intentions?

"What are you standing there for? Didn't you say you brought me food?"

Shen Qinghe walked forward slowly, his head drooping.

"It won't taste good if it melts, so let's forget about it."

"We've already bought it, wouldn't it be a waste not to eat it?"

He had Yinque bring him a silver bowl and gave him half of it.

Shen Qinghe's earlobes turned red instantly. The silver bowl in his hand didn't feel cold at all; it was even a little hot, and the ice inside melted even faster.

After finishing half a bowl of shaved ice, Ruan Xianrong didn't forget to scold him, "You can't do such dangerous things again. Don't you know your own body? Climbing a wall almost killed you. Do you really not want to live anymore?"

Shen Qinghe is only fourteen years old this year. In modern times, he wouldn't even be in high school yet; he's just a kid.

Kids at this age are probably rebellious; the more you forbid them from doing something, the more they do it.

Shen Qinghe pouted, "I'm not a child anymore. I know my limits. Although I'm not in good health, I'm not so bad that I'd collapse if I climbed over a wall."

Ruan Xianrong slapped him on the head. "Who was it that insisted on going on the spring outing last time? They got sick when they came back, and your older brother almost ate me alive."

She originally didn't want to get too close to Shen Qinghe; being the third male lead's younger brother was still risky.

Moreover, his appearance in the book is mainly to provoke hatred towards her.

She's cannon fodder; she can be linked to anything that harms others.

Besides framing the female lead, she also caused the death of Shen Qinghe, and from then on, Shen Qinglian wished she could skin her alive.

But this kid was so clingy when he was little, always following her around like a shadow.

He was good-looking, and as a child he was a soft and cuddly little dumpling. He called her "sister" all the time, who could resist that?

She would bring him along to play, which made Shen Qinglian feel that she had ulterior motives and was instigating Shen Qinghe to do bad things, so she would say unpleasant things whenever they met.

The female lead hasn't even appeared yet, and she's already offended the third male lead. It's all that kid's fault!