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

"I will, but it's too hot today, I'll come another day."

Luo Chengyong, furious, stormed out of the crowd.

"It's just using articles written by others."

Luo Qingyan prepared to shout loudly.

"Oh, I see!"

"No wonder he wouldn't stay silent."

A group of students pointed and whispered behind him.

Luo Qingyan quickly caught up with Luo Chengyong, her eyes sincere: "Little brother, I believe you, just keep quiet! If you don't, you won't be able to get into the Imperial Academy."

"Second sister, I admit I bought the article, so please don't make things difficult for me. I can tell you're not genuinely trying to help me. With the young master's influence, he can get anyone in." Luo Chengyong turned and left.

Luo Qingyan is a jinx, not a lucky star. She has brought no benefit to the Luo family whatsoever.

Ask her for a favor, and she keeps saying she has the ability. If she had the ability, why would she need to ask her for help?

The same applies to the father not getting a promotion.

He thought that Luo Qingyan was just trying to curry favor with the Duke's mansion and looked down on the Luo family.

Those who fawn over the powerful and belittle the weak.

Luo Qingyan stopped, holding up her oil-paper umbrella, smiling broadly, wondering if Luo Chengyong would dare to come to the Duke's mansion to find her again.

Honestly, she didn't want to see anyone from the Luo family at all.

"Auntie, let's go back! Don't stay out in the sun." Liuyue got off the carriage and walked over.

Luo Qingyan turned to leave.

"Second Sister." Luo Chengyong has returned.

"Give me some money. It's too hot. I need to go to Wanfulou to eat something cool to beat the heat, otherwise I'll faint on the way home."

Luo Chengyong was pampered by his mother and could not endure any hardship. He was afraid of getting burned if it was too hot or frozen if it was too cold. He would throw a tantrum if he was slow to get what he wanted.

He didn't study hard or care about his studies, but if he didn't get a bite to eat, he would roll around on the ground as a child. When he grew up, he stopped rolling around and instead vented his anger on others, even kicking the wall himself. Once, he even broke his toe.

Luo Qingyan had no intention of dealing with him. The entrance to the Imperial Academy was a precious place for learning. If she didn't give him money, Luo Chengyong would curse her here, defiling this beautiful and fertile place.

"I, I." Luo Qingyan rubbed her forehead, the oil-paper umbrella slipped from her hand, and she slumped softly into Liu Yue's arms.

"Auntie, Auntie!" Liuyue called out anxiously.

Luo Qingyan secretly pinched her, and Liu Yue understood immediately, saying, "Young Master Luo, Aunt, it might be heatstroke. We'll be leaving now."

Liu Yue supported Luo Qingyan, and Luo Qingyan cooperated by not putting her weight on Liu Yue, so she walked very fast.

"Hey, feed."

He ignored Luo Chengyong's shouts behind him.

The two boarded the carriage. Luo Qingyan breathed a sigh of relief and, through the gap in the curtain, saw that Luo Chengyong's already flushed face was now even redder, like a ball of flame. He angrily flung his sleeves and left.

He has heatstroke? Then she'll pretend to have heatstroke first and quickly get rid of this trouble.

"Auntie, you're so clever. But what if Young Master Luo really gets heatstroke?" Liu Yue thought that Luo Chengyong was, after all, Auntie Luo's younger brother, and if he wanted money, giving him a little wouldn't be a bad idea.

"It's no wonder he got heatstroke. Liuyue, you've never been around them, so you can't give them a single penny. Even if you do, they'll find ways to badmouth you and then demand even more."

Luo Qingyan knows them too well.

They will only take endlessly and then endlessly criticize you.

You keep proving yourself to be good, trying your best to do things for them, just wanting a little bit of their affirmation.

She will no longer dwell on why they treated her this way, as she did in her previous life.

"Old Zhang, let's go."

When Luo Qingyan arrived, she specifically asked Lao Zhang to drive her and to go slowly.

Old Zhang shouted, "Giddy up!"

The carriage sped along.

Luo Qingyan and Liu Yue clung tightly to the carriage wall.

"Old Zhang, you don't need to drive so fast, you can slow down."

Luo Qingyan shouted.

Old Zhang acted as if he hadn't heard anything, and the carriage sped along, returning to the Duke's mansion in no time.

"Old Zhang, your driving skills have improved."

Luo Qingyan praised, took out a silver ingot and gave it to Old Zhang, "Have a drink with everyone."

The carriage traveled quickly but steadily without any bumps. When it encountered obstacles, it braked smoothly, preventing her and Liuyue from being jostled around.

"Thank you, Aunt Luo." Old Zhang raised his face and smiled憨憨地.

He could tell that Aunt Luo wanted to walk slowly when she left, and although she wasn't in a hurry to come back, she wanted to get back to the mansion as quickly as possible in the hot weather.

Liu Yue followed Luo Qingyan through the gate: "Auntie, Old Zhang has been practicing driving diligently lately, and it's really paying off. When I went to find him, he was waiting eagerly!"

"From now on, we'll use Lao Zhang's transportation when we go out."

Luo Qingyan smiled.

After walking around the stream and corridor, Luo Qingyan saw two people carrying boxes into Linfeng Residence.

"Auntie, your clothes should be ready by now." Liu Yue looked at the tailor's apprentice.

Luo Qingyan nodded, eager to know what kind of clothes the tailor had made according to Pei Shiyuan's requirements. Upon entering, she saw Pei Shiyuan sitting weakly in his wheelchair, his face pale.

Pei Shiyuan, in order to lull his opponents into a false sense of security by feigning a more serious illness, also suffered greatly. Luo Qingyan clenched her fist; who exactly wanted to harm the Duke's mansion?

Meanwhile, inside the palace, in a secret room, only a beam of light shone in. A hooded man in black, his back to him, asked, "Pei Shiyuan hasn't said he won't attend the banquet yet?"

"No, the Duke's mansion is very calm. Should we send Physician Feng to make another trip?"

The man in black, who was kneeling on the ground, said.

"No need. You'll find out on the day of the banquet."

The hooded man in black waved his hand, saying that based on the progression of his illness, Pei Shiyuan should be bedridden and have less than a month to live, making it impossible for him to attend the banquet at the palace.

If he comes, there must be something fishy going on.

That side overlooks the wind.

"Young Master, are these clothes suitable for you?"

Pei Shiyuan had dismissed everyone in the room, including Liu Yue.

The clothes were custom-made by him, and he couldn't accept this style yet, so he didn't want people to see them.

"Put it on and let me see," Pei Shiyuan said in a cold voice.

"Oh." Luo Qingyan carried the clothes into the side room. Before even putting them on, she could already imagine that they were not much more fabric than her undergarment.

I have no idea what Pei Shiyuan was babbling about before.

A moment later, Pei Shiyuan saw Luo Qingyan slowly walk out, as if a blush was surrounding her, making him gasp for breath and blink rapidly. "She's so alluring."

"Your Highness, is it beautiful?" Luo Qingyan twirled around, the fragrant hem of her gauze dress brushing against Pei Shiyuan's nose.

Pei Shiyuan's ears immediately turned red: "It's alright!"

He immediately turned his face away after saying that.

Luo Qingyan chuckled.

"What are you laughing at?"

Pei Shiyuan felt a sense of shame and annoyance at being seen through.

"It's nothing." Luo Qingyan immediately stopped smiling and put on a serious expression.

The neckline of this dress is too low, completely exposing the collarbone and half of the butterfly bone on the back, while the other half is covered by a light gauze.

The other fabrics were barely enough to cover the abdomen.

The leg lines at the bottom of the hem are also subtly visible.

She felt so embarrassed by what she was wearing; how could she possibly go out dressed like this? "Your Highness, are you sure you want me to go to the palace banquet dressed like this?"

"Yes." Pei Shiyuan nodded, his expression resolute.

"But, but, I won't be seen by anyone," Luo Qingyan stammered, clutching her chest.