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

When Ruan Xianrong arrived, a crowd had gathered outside the courtyard.

Yinque had no idea what had happened; she only heard people shouting that something had happened to Cheng Langjun.

Pushing through the crowd, I entered the room to find it in complete disarray.

Ruan Zhaolin was standing by the bed when he pulled a disheveled woman down from inside the bed curtains and haphazardly wrapped her in a brocade quilt.

Seeing her come in, he quickly made her turn around, "Why are you here? Go out first."

Even a blind person could see what was happening in such a scene.

He quickly ordered Yinque to fetch the imperial physician, wanting to go and see Cheng Qing, but was stopped by his elder brother.

"Don't go over there, he's been drugged... it's not a scene you should witness!"

Suppressed, painful moans came from inside the bed curtains. Cheng Qing was curled up, her hands gripping the sheets tightly, veins bulging, and she kept repeating only two words: "Nian Nian... Nian Nian..."

"Wasn't he with his elder brother? How did he end up like this?" Ruan Xianrong asked.

Ruan Zhaolin felt guilty. Today, when he saw the Second Prince, he pulled him aside to spar with him, but fearing being seen, he went too far and forgot about Cheng Qing.

When they remembered to go back, the person was already gone. Then a palace maid came to report that someone was committing immoral acts in the palace.

"It's my fault, I didn't keep a close eye on him, and that's why he got tricked. But don't worry, this kid has some backbone, nothing happened."

Ruan Xianrong frowned slightly, took a deep breath, and calmed down.

"Brother, keep an eye on this woman, don't let her try to kill herself."

Ruan Zhaolin quickly tied the man up, gagged him with cloth, and ordered his men to keep the onlookers in the courtyard and prevent them from leaving.

Yinque hurriedly returned with the imperial physician. Ruan Zhaolin invited him into the house, and a moment later, the imperial physician came out with a furrowed brow.

"This young man has indeed been poisoned with an extremely potent drug, which was mixed with wine, making the drug's effects very strong. Fortunately, he didn't consume much."

"He tried his best to control himself, but his internal organs were in a state of reverse flow of qi and blood, causing considerable damage. He needs to be treated with acupuncture and medication immediately to regulate his qi and blood."

Ruan Xianrong curtsied, "Thank you for your trouble. Please prescribe the medicine and administer the acupuncture."

The side hall wasn't far from the Phoenix Palace, and the news still got out.

In particular, such scandalous affairs within the palace spread like wildfire, reaching even the Phoenix Palace.

When the Empress heard the news, she led her entourage into the palace and took only one look. Her face immediately darkened horribly.

His cold gaze swept over the trembling, kneeling eunuch and nanny in charge, "Very well, very well indeed!"

"General Shen has returned in triumph, and the entire palace is celebrating his victory. Yet, such a despicable act has still occurred right under my nose!"

"Your Majesty, please forgive me. It was my oversight. Please forgive me." The sound of kowtowing echoed loudly.

"Bring that palace maid here. I will interrogate her myself." The Empress flicked her sleeve and sat down on the chair that had been temporarily brought in, exuding natural majesty.

The woman wrapped in a quilt was escorted to a side room and guarded by two strong and burly old women.

When she was mentioned to the Empress, she cried uncontrollably, repeating over and over that she was a palace maid responsible for cleaning this place, that she was knocked unconscious, and that she woke up here, knowing nothing else.

"Your Majesty, please spare me! I really don't know anything. I woke up here, and that Mr. Cheng dragged me away... I... I really don't know anything, Your Majesty."

The Empress listened patiently for a few moments, her eyes growing colder.

That's quite a scheme.

If she uses the Ruan family as a pretext, and something goes wrong, not only will she, as the Empress, be held responsible, but the Ruan family will also be implicated.

Fortunately, it was discovered in time, preventing a major mistake. Otherwise, if the prospective son-in-law of the Ruan family were to engage in such shady activities in the palace, wouldn't that be handing over a handle against him?

Thinking of this, the Empress's expression grew even more somber.

She ordered her trusted nanny, "Investigate everyone who handled the banquet and drinks today, and everyone who came and went here. Don't let a single one escape. Interrogate her thoroughly about who the maid saw before she fainted and where she went!"

"And another thing," she said sharply, "find out who leaked the information and who attracted so many people to watch the spectacle."

"Yes!" The old woman accepted the order and hurried away.

In the side hall next door, the imperial physician administered acupuncture, and Cheng Qing finally calmed down. Ruan Xianrong went in to see him, nearly biting off a piece of her lip, with blood still seeping from the corner of her mouth.

It took a lot of effort to pry open his tightly clenched hands; his palms were covered in bloody marks.

She felt sorry for him seeing him like this.

Cheng Qing has no relatives or friends in the capital, so there's no need to harm him; he's probably just being implicated again.

I wiped the sweat from his forehead with a damp cloth, then applied medicine to his wound, and the person on the bed opened his eyes.

Cheng Qing had just had a nightmare in which someone wanted to harm him. He was out of control of his body and watched helplessly as someone stripped off his clothes.

He desperately tried to escape back, but Niannian thought he was dirty and didn't want him anymore. No matter how much he begged, she wouldn't even look at him again.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes, and there she was in front of him. He grabbed her hand tightly, and his eyes instantly welled up with tears.

"Niannian, I'm not dirty. Please don't abandon me. I didn't touch her, I really didn't touch her."

"Niannian, I really didn't touch her..."

Seeing that Ruan Xianrong did not respond, Cheng Qing panicked and hugged her tightly.

"Niannian, I'm really not dirty, really, look for yourself."

As he spoke, he grabbed her hand and tried to touch his waist.

Although he looked quite disheveled, Ruan Xianrong couldn't help but laugh.

This scholar, who always talks about the way of the gentleman, actually had such a moment of losing his composure.

"I understand. You rest first. You need to report back once you can get out of bed."

As soon as she finished speaking, the person in front of her froze, and the hands holding her trembled.

The blush that had just faded from his face returned. What... what did he just do?

They're not married yet, holding hands is fine, how could you be so abrupt?

Seeing that he still had time to be shy, Ruan Xianrong knew that he was alright, so she asked, "Aqing, what happened at the banquet? How did you get here?"

Cheng Qing composed himself and tried hard to recall the last scene before the chaos, his expression gradually becoming serious.

"I only had a cup of tea outside of the banquet today."

"Tea? Which maidservant brought it? Do you remember what she looked like?"

Cheng Qing shook his head, "It's not a maid, it's..." He hesitated for a moment, then told the truth, "It's General Shen."