With legs weak, the sickly stable boy became a mad regent.

The firelight illuminated half the sky in front of the prince's tent.

The guards were busy putting out the fire, while the young masters and ladies watched the spectacle from outside the tents.

Crown Prince Xiao Jing was helped out from inside, his clothes were disheveled, and there were several fingernail marks on his face, as if he had been scratched. He was still unconscious.

Immediately afterwards, a woman was also carried out; her hair was down, obscuring her face, making it impossible to see who she was.

Her clothes were barely hanging on her body, the neckline open, revealing a large expanse of snow-white skin and shocking red marks on her neck.

"Ouch--"

Someone gasped.

"Why is there a woman in His Highness's tent?"

"He was dragged out of bed..."

Tong took a step forward and saw the woman who was barely clothed. She couldn't suppress the urge to smile.

"oops!"

She cried out, her face filled with heartache and despair.

"My dear girl, how could you do such a thing?!"

The crowd erupted in uproar.

"Miss Shen?"

"No way...isn't she engaged to the Pei family?"

"How did she end up in the Crown Prince's tent? What happened...?"

"Didn't you see the mark on her neck? Tsk tsk, what else is there to say?"

"Shameless! I heard she was even arguing with a stable boy before, really..."

"Indecent and immoral."

Tong listened to the whispers and pointing fingers around her.

She covered her mouth, her voice trembling as if she were crying, but the smugness in her tone was obvious to everyone.

"My dear girl, why aren't you dressed in the Crown Prince's tent...?"

As she spoke, she covered her face with a handkerchief and cried with such genuine emotion.

"It's your second aunt's fault for not watching you properly, letting you do such a shameful thing... Where is the Shen family's reputation now..."

The murmurs in the crowd grew louder.

"So this is what the eldest daughter of the Shen family is like!"

"I heard General Shen is still fighting on the border, and his daughter is doing this kind of thing in the capital..."

"Tsk tsk tsk, a daughter of a military family? More like a dissolute daughter of a military family."

Tong cried even harder, but inwardly she was laughing.

Shen Nannan, you're finished.

Your reputation, your engagement, everything is over.

"What are you all doing standing here? It's so lively!"

A clear, crisp voice came from behind, lazily.

Everyone turned around.

Under the moonlight, Shen Nannan stood outside the crowd, her clothes neat and her hair perfectly styled.

She tilted her head, looking in this direction with a blank expression.

Behind him followed the stable boy wearing a silver mask, holding a white rabbit in his arms, his face expressionless.

The crowd fell silent for a moment.

Everyone was stunned. They looked at her, then at the disheveled woman in front of the tent, looking back and forth several times.

Shen Nannan tilted her head and looked at everyone innocently, "What's wrong? Why are you all looking at me?"

Tong's crying sound was stuck in her throat, as if someone was choking her.

She stared wide-eyed at Shen Nannan, her expression shifting from smugness to disbelief, and then from disbelief to terror.

"You? What's wrong?"

"What's wrong with me?" Shen Nannan took two steps forward, smiling. "Isn't Second Aunt looking for me? I'm here."

"Miss Shen... Miss Shen?" someone stammered. "Who... who is that?"

Shen Nannan followed everyone's gaze and saw the woman being supported. She frowned slightly, took two steps forward, as if to get a better look.

"This is... Flowing Light Brocade?" She tilted her head, her voice tinged with doubt.

"Isn't this the same fabric that my second sister 'borrowed' from me?"

The crowd fell silent once more.

"Second sister?" someone realized.

"Shen Yin from the second branch of the Shen family?"

"Yes, Shen Yin."

Shen Nannan nodded, her face innocent.

"That's what she's wearing today. I even complimented her on how good she looks."

Someone stepped forward and brushed the woman's hair aside.

In the moonlight, a pale face was revealed—

It was Shen Yin.

The crowd erupted in chaos.

"It's Miss Shen the Second!"

"Tsk tsk tsk, so it's her..."

"Then who just said it belonged to Miss Shen?"

Tong's smile froze on her face.

She stared wide-eyed at the face, her lips trembling.

It's not Shen Nannan.

It's her daughter.

She's her biological daughter!

"Yin'er..." Her voice was squeezed out of her throat, as if someone was choking her.

"How...how could it be Yin'er..."

Shen Yin's body was covered in red marks, her neck, collarbone, and shoulders were covered in them, a shocking sight.

The brocade quilt was torn to shreds, barely covering her body, but it couldn't cover anything at all.

Tong stared at the marks, her pupils suddenly contracting.

"Who did this?!" She looked up abruptly, her gaze piercing Shen Nannan like a knife.

"It's you! It's you, isn't it!"

Shen Nannan stood there, looking down at her.

"Second Aunt," she said innocently, "I've been enjoying the moon in the peach grove, which is about half a mile away from His Highness the Crown Prince's camp. Why are you accusing me of this?"

Tong choked.

"But my second aunt," Shen Nannan said slowly.

"You called my name as soon as you came in, as if you already knew there was a woman in His Highness's tent..."

She paused, then tilted her head: "How did Second Aunt know?"

Whispers arose from the crowd.

"I just said that Miss Shen would never do such a thing."

"That's right, I was just thinking the same thing. This Tong family member even claims she's Miss Shen, isn't that just deliberately throwing dirty water on her?"

"Exactly, exactly. Their own daughter did something like this, and they still want to blame it on Miss Shen. What kind of person is that?"

Tong screamed, her vision went black, and she fell straight down.

The old women behind her quickly helped her up, pinching her philtrum and patting her back, creating a chaotic scene.

Just then, the Crown Prince also woke up.

Ah Chao stepped aside to block Shen Nannan.

Blocked from view,

Crown Prince Xiao Jing was helped to sit up. He opened his eyes groggily, and when he saw the firelight in front of him, his expression changed instantly.

He abruptly shoved away the person who was helping him, staggered to his feet, and rushed into the tent, shouting, "My carriage—! My precious thing—!"

All the carriages were burned; the curtains were charred black.

He tried to rush into the fire like a madman, but was held back by the guards.

"Your Highness! Your Highness cannot go in! The fire is still burning!"

"Release me! My treasures—the treasures I acquired at a cost of hundreds of thousands of taels—burn them all!"

He struggled a few times but couldn't break free, and ended up sitting on his bottom.

The onlookers looked at each other in bewilderment.

"What treasure?"

"I don't know... Why is His Highness crying?"

"Several hundred thousand taels? What could be so expensive?"

Several princes who were nearby peeked inside, but saw nothing of value, only a pungent, burnt smell.

It had a certain indescribable, sweet scent.

Someone frowned and took a step back.

Standing in the crowd, looking at the Crown Prince's appearance, Shen Nannan suddenly remembered something.

In my past life, after a spring outing, a certain medicine suddenly became popular in the capital.

It is said to have come from the Western Regions, and it is said to be so delicious that it makes people feel like they are in heaven. One bite is enough to make you addicted, and many noble families have become addicted to it.

Later, a prince from a noble family ate too much and died in a brothel, causing a great uproar throughout the city.

The prince's aunt was a concubine of the current emperor. She cried before the emperor, who was furious and ordered a thorough investigation.

The case fell into He Jinzhi's hands, and he investigated it thoroughly.

In the end, all the clues pointed to Futailong.

The crown prince's purse was thoroughly investigated, and although he managed to shift the blame in time, he still suffered heavy losses.

That batch of medicine was transported into the capital during the spring outing.

Shen Nannan turned her head and looked at A Chao.

He stood half a step behind her, a rabbit tucked into his arms, his eyes lowered, the firelight flickering on his silver mask.

Just how big of a scheme did this person orchestrate?

When did it start?

The wine that was replaced with Yun Jin?

Or even earlier—from the day she decided to come on the spring outing?

Futailong, banned drugs, the Crown Prince, the Tong family—

He had calculated everything, and then, step by step, placed all the pieces in their proper positions.

She simply happened to be walking on the path he had paved.

Shen Nannan's fingertips began to feel cold.

She looked at his expressionless face.

This is not the boy who pretended to be innocent and pitiful in front of her.

Even if he wasn't reborn, deep down,

He is still—

Xiao Yunzhao.

In his previous life, he was a regent who held absolute power and could turn the world upside down with a flick of his wrist.

Shen Nannan felt a chill run down her spine.

Although she knew he was indeed very capable.

but……

"Miss."

He suddenly spoke, bending down to get closer to her.

The eyes beneath the mask were dark and unreadable, revealing no emotion whatsoever.

"It's windy, we should go back."

Shen Nannan opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but found her throat so dry that she couldn't make a sound.

The rabbit sniffed, smelled something in the smoke, and darted into Ah Chao's clothes.

at this time,

The princes who were near the carriage swayed one after another and collapsed to the ground.

"What's going on—!"

"Help! Help!"

"Summon the imperial physician! Quickly, summon the imperial physician!"

Shouts rose and fell, and the firelight reflected on everyone's faces, revealing a scene of terror.

Shen Nannan's vision went black for a moment.

Just as she was falling, she felt a pair of hands catch her, steady and tight.

Immediately afterwards, a dignified yet familiar voice rang out.

"Dali Temple is handling a case! Everyone stay put!"