The clingy concubine ran away, and the sickly prince lost control.

Luo Chengyong was spitting blood from his mouth, and he couldn't stop it no matter how hard he tried.

Looking at her blood-stained hands, Madam Sun cried out in a trembling voice, "Someone, someone!"

"Mother." Luo Haitang heard Sun's anxious cry for help, pushed open the door and rushed in, followed by her father Luo Daocheng, who was frantically buttoning his clothes.

"In broad daylight, you still have the mind to be with that bitch Piaoxue, how reckless!" Sun roared when she saw Luo Daocheng's disheveled clothes.

When she came back, Luo Daocheng promised that he would listen to her in everything and come whenever she called. Is this how he came to be?

Madam Sun was furious, but for the moment, Yong'er was the priority. She suppressed her anger, panting, and glared at Luo Daocheng.

"Don't talk about anything else, what's wrong with Yong'er?"

Seeing that his son was vomiting blood uncontrollably, Luo Daocheng panicked.

"Little brother, are you feeling unwell?" Luo Haitang asked with concern.

Luo Chengyong just shook his head, indicating that he felt no discomfort.

A moment later, the doctor arrived. After examining the patient, he shook his head, unable to diagnose the illness and helplessly left with his medicine box.

Madam Sun stared blankly at the pool of blood on the ground, which was still spreading and not yet dry, slowly staining the torn pieces of Luo Qingyan's birth information on the ground.

"Go and invite a Taoist priest."

Sun growled.

Could something have happened so quickly?

"Mother, don't believe it," Luo Haitang said awkwardly.

"Go now..." Sun shouted angrily, shoving Luo Haitang aside.

"No, I'll go myself."

Ignoring her blood-stained clothes, Sun rushed out the door.

Half an hour later, the Taoist priest arrived.

"Master, what's wrong with my son?" Madam Sun asked anxiously.

"Your fate is ruined; there's no way to change it." The young Taoist priest shook his head and sighed. "Madam, borrowing someone else's luck is not the right path."

Sun's eyes widened in disbelief. More than a decade ago, she had given that old Taoist priest a thousand taels of silver in exchange for being able to give birth to a child.

"No, Taoist priest, please save him. I'll give you any amount of silver." Madam Sun knelt down with a thud.

The Taoist priest waved his hand and left, saying, "I will spend the rest of my life in poor health and sickly condition."

Sun collapsed to the ground: "No, my son."

He then rushed towards Luo Chengyong, embracing him and weeping bitterly.

"Why don't you want Luo Qingyan's birth date and time? How are you going to live after this?!"

The wailing of Madam Sun echoed throughout the Luo Mansion.

Luo Haitang also wiped away tears. Luo Daocheng sighed repeatedly.

No one noticed that the figure quickly leaving outside was Granny Wang.

"Luo Chengyong will spend the rest of his life in pain. Girl, this is retribution."

When the news from Granny Wang arrived, Granny Liu was overjoyed.

Luo Qingyan also felt that a certain heaviness that had been weighing on her heart had disappeared.

Two days later, the annual archery competition held at the Imperial College began.

The location is at the entrance of the Imperial College, where passersby can see the students' demeanor.

Pei Shiyuan, the top scholar from the Imperial Academy, was invited to sit in the best seat with the best view.

Luo Qingyan, dressed in a plain white outfit, sat down beside her.

Xiao Xingzi and Shen Nanxun came over to say hello.

"Young Master, Sister Luo, watch closely later."

Little Xingzi crossed her arms and looked very confident.

"Go for it, Xiaoxingzi!" Luo Qingyan clenched her fist to cheer Xiaoxingzi on.

"Greetings, Your Highness, and Consort Luo." Shen Nanxun bowed respectfully.

Luo Qingyan smiled and nodded politely.

"Brother Shen, you're welcome. I'll be watching your archery skills later." Pei Shiyuan smiled, a rare smile on his lips, still directed at Shen Nanxun.

Luo Qingyan pursed her lips in surprise. Pei Shiyuan wasn't jealous of Shen Nanxun anymore? She instantly felt much more relaxed. That's right, isn't that great?

Pei Shiyuan was always sarcastic and unpleasant, so she didn't dare to talk to Shen Nanxun.

Shen Nanxun was also embarrassed.

Luo Qingyan looked around happily, but suddenly her smile vanished. The target that had been brought over bore the peacock embroidered by Pei Shiyuan.

The lines of a peacock's feathers, as the angle of light changes, display a blue-green interplay that can confuse the viewer.

Pei Shiyuan had no good intentions. No wonder he was so polite to Shen Nanxun today. He was up to no good and wanted to make a fool of himself.

But Shen Nanxun isn't the only one participating in the archery competition; wouldn't that harm the other students?

"Your Highness, your peacock?" Luo Qingyan asked tentatively.

"I embroidered every single stitch myself, and the peacock feather thread just ran out." Pei Shiyuan's calm tone carried a hint of pride.

"Your Highness, you love embroidery?" Luo Qingyan asked with a smile.

"What's so difficult about this?" Pei Shiyuan said coldly. When they were young, after finishing their homework, they would embroider things as a rest. Luo Qingyan was clearly the kind of person who was not good at needlework.

"Your Highness, you must know that embroidery with peacock feathers can be visually distracting. If it affects the students' performance, and with so many people watching, it's not good."

Luo Qingyan tried to reason with him, appealing to his emotions, to see if Pei Shiyuan could remove his peacock.

"That's exactly what I wanted. I told the teacher to increase the difficulty of archery, and he had no objection. In fact, he was very positive about it. This will encourage students to make progress."

Pei Shiyuan looked at his peacock with great satisfaction.

Luo Qingyan blinked. Was it really not just targeting Shen Nanxun? But her intuition told her that Pei Shiyuan was targeting Shen Nanxun and had also implicated other students, and the reason he gave was very reasonable.

Pei Shiyuan isn't just jealous; he'll take action.

Luo Qingyan was speechless, but then she saw Shen Nanxun striding over.

"Aunt Luo, your embroidery is truly exquisite." Shen Nanxun recognized the peacock feather thread he had given to Luo Qingyan and came over specifically for it.

Compared to the embroidery on the sachet last time, the embroidery on this peacock is a significant improvement.

Luo Qingyan grinned and glanced at Pei Shiyuan. Could she say that he embroidered it?

She didn't want to take the blame if the students complained about the target.

"I embroidered it," Pei Shiyuan said calmly, without any embarrassment.

Shen Nanxun felt a moment of suffocation, as if a flock of crows were cawing past in front of him. Since the young master Pei could embroider, he could only awkwardly say, "Your Highness is very talented. I admire you."

He then quickly left and disappeared in a flash.

Luo Qingyan breathed a sigh of relief; if something went wrong with the archery later, she wouldn't have to take the blame.

The archery competition officially began, and as expected, many students underperformed and left shaking their heads.

The onlookers booed loudly.

The only calmest people present were Pei Shiyuan and the teachers from the Imperial Academy.

Luo Qingyan guessed that they were probably still thinking about how to improve the students' archery skills, completely unaware of the awkward situation at hand.

"oh......"

Another chorus of boos followed.

Luo Qingyan thought to herself, "It's called an archery competition, but it's more of a performance for everyone to enjoy. There's no need to be so competitive. Your Highness, in previous years, everyone cheered at the archery competition. Isn't this a bit much this year?"

"What's wrong with that? Anyone who hits the peacock's eye will get louder cheers than in previous years." Pei Shiyuan said calmly. He would see how capable Shen Nanxun was when he came on stage.

Luo Qingyan nodded: "That's true."

Looking at the order, it was almost Shen Nanxun's turn. Luo Qingyan felt a little embarrassed. Someone had given her peacock feather thread as a gift, and she was turning around and making things difficult for them. It didn't make sense. She silently glared at Pei Shiyuan.

"Alright, the next one is Shen Nanxun, this year's third-place scholar."