The concubine, a former cannon fodder, becomes pregnant, and the childless prince spoils her rotten.

It seems that Lin Zhizhi is not only smarter than she thought, but also knows how to behave appropriately and is grateful for kindness, just like before.

He does things that make people feel comfortable, and he has no ambition.

"You don't need to worry about her. The prince has asked her to manage the shop's accounts, so she should just do it well. This will save her from having to run back and forth between the prince's residence and the shop, which would be too much for her. If she does a good job, I will definitely put in a good word for her with the prince."

Xi Ying even told the prince in front of him that Lin Zhizhi was favored by the fifth prince and the crown prince, which made everyone in the mansion know that Lin Zhizhi had displeased him, which was an unexpected surprise.

happy Ying had already fallen into a deep sleep, and the princess had someone take her back to the courtyard.

She developed a high fever in the middle of the night, and when she opened her eyes, she saw Lin Zhizhi.

She was gently wiping Xiying's forehead with a damp towel. Seeing that she was still half asleep, she said, "I've made some fever-reducing medicine. If you can take it and get through this, you'll be fine."

Thank you.

Then happy Ying heard Lin Zhizhi ask, "Why did you follow me? And why did you bump into Aunt Zhou, and then save her afterwards?"

"The task assigned to me by the princess."

When happy Ying woke up, Lin Zhizhi was nowhere to be seen. She thought it was just a nightmare caused by her fever and couldn't remember what she had said.

The Fifth Prince's residence was also in turmoil. In front of outsiders, Aunt Zhou was still restrained, but after returning home, she made a scene.

Li Dan was prepared. It was Aunt Zhou who insisted on coming along, so now that an accident had occurred, she couldn't be blamed.

Originally, Li Dan had avoided Zhou Yiniang's advances because of her pregnancy, but that didn't mean she was easy to bully.

What chilled Aunt Zhou's heart was that the Fifth Prince did not punish Li Dan too much for this, but only asked her to go back and copy the scriptures to present to the Madam.

It's unclear what tricks Li Dan used to coax the Fifth Prince into letting him go so easily.

At that moment, she subconsciously bit her lip, and drops of blood fell, her overwhelming hatred unable to be vented.

The Fifth Prince spoke up, "We are still young, we can have more children. You should focus on taking care of your health."

There were more than ten children born in the manor, and many more who did not survive, but this was her first child.

Aunt Zhou was heartbroken and on the verge of tears, but in the end she suppressed all the bitterness in her heart.

Li Dan watched coldly, as if it had nothing to do with her, until the people gathered in the mansion dispersed, and only then did the Fifth Prince come looking for her.

"I thought this time I could drag the seventh prince down with me, but he's as annoying as ever. And that other one is conservative by nature, unwilling to show the slightest bit of cruelty, only knowing how to please Father. Of all my brothers, not one of them is to my liking."

The Fifth Prince was in a bad mood, and Li Dan responded cautiously, saying, "This concubine dares not speak recklessly."

"What's there to be afraid of? I'll let you speak, tell me all the bad things about them."

"Yes, none of them are as good as you, Master."

The Fifth Prince burst into laughter, pulled Li Dan back into the room, and whispered, "That Lin Zhizhi is not bad, she looks like she's worth a lot of money."

"I am not yet trusted, so I will spend more time with her."

"That's good."

After the lovemaking ended, Li Dan left the mansion under the cover of night to meet the boatman.

He handed the package in his arms to him, saying, "This should be enough for you to buy a few ships and move out of the capital. Don't ever show your face again."

"Madam, you didn't say beforehand that such an important person would be there. I was almost scared to death." The boatman's legs were still weak. When he was interrogated during the day, he didn't dare to raise his head and just knelt there begging for forgiveness.

"I'm just doing someone else's job, someone neither of us can afford to offend. If things are exposed, watch your head."

"I know, I know." The boatman smiled as he unwrapped the package, saw the gold ingots inside, and immediately put them into his pocket. "Don't worry, madam, I will definitely not show myself again."

This gold is enough for him to eat and drink without worry for the rest of his life, and he can even marry two wives and enjoy the carefree and happy life of the nobles in the capital.

Having resolved the matter, Li Dan returned to report.

"You handled the matter between Dou Xiuchan and Zhou Shi very well." A clear, cold female voice rang out, and Li Dan lowered her head, not daring to look around.

She said, "Madam Zhou is suspicious and sensitive. I merely let a man sleep beside her while she was unconscious, and the two of us did not consummate the marriage. She then disposed of the man and was determined to get rid of the child in her womb, but she couldn't bear to part with it and wanted to use it to secure her favor, which is why she has delayed until today."

The woman sneered, "If she hadn't cheated on someone before, why would we suspect there was something between her and another man? It's just a guilty conscience. As for Dou Xiuchan, her reaction in the courtyard before revealed her pregnancy. This was just a test, and she actually got pregnant. But that has nothing to do with us; someone doesn't want her to give birth to that child."

Li Dan smiled and said, "Although the eldest son of the Crown Prince's residence is young, he is intelligent, cute, and lovable. It is only right for a mother to protect him."

"Don't speak too much about what happens in other people's residences. Be careful not to let anyone in the Prince's mansion gain my favor. Also, drink this medicine."

"Fortunately, I had my sisters say a few words about Lin Zhizhi to Dou Xiuchan, which diverted all of her resentment and ensured that the Fifth Prince would not be implicated."

Li Dan took the contraceptive soup brought by the maid and swallowed it in one gulp.

Only then did the woman release Li Dan, satisfied.

This matter is not yet completely over; the precious ginseng originally intended for the Empress Dowager was consumed by Lady Zhou.

The imperial merchant reported the truth, which enraged the emperor. It would have been better if the child had survived.

Now that he has lost both his money and his wife, he insists on bringing the Fifth Prince here to ask him if he has any respect for the Empress Dowager.

Just as the Fifth Prince was summoned to the Imperial Study, the Emperor was summoned by the Empress Dowager.

It is said that the Crown Princess was also present, and she calmed the Emperor's anger with just a few words, as if chatting casually.

If the Empress Dowager herself did not pursue the matter, the Emperor had even less reason to punish the Fifth Prince.

However, the close relationship between the Fifth Prince and the Crown Prince made Cen Jingyi, who seemed rather unfortunate, say a few conciliatory words after being summoned by the Emperor.

Cen Jingyi himself did not expect this development. After learning about this, the Crown Prince went back and had a big fight with the Crown Princess, which also alarmed the Empress.

The Prince's Mansion was truly uninvolved. The Fifth Prince and the Crown Prince are both very busy right now and have no energy left to deal with Cen Jingyi.

This is the first time in so many years that Cen Jingyi has felt things are going smoothly.

He pondered this matter in his study, and his expression softened considerably.

Unaware of the situation, Lin Zhizhi was busy with the shop's opening, and she was only responsible for sitting there keeping accounts.

Business was much better on the first day of opening than she had imagined, but most of the customers were men, who did not seem to be buying things for their families.

He just picked out a few things at random, and when it was time to pay, he bypassed Lin Zhizhi and went to Liu Gulan to ask her all sorts of questions.

She heard someone talking about adults, giving instructions, and asking when she would be free, and she secretly thought something was wrong.

This shop belongs to the concubine after all, and Liu Gulan is colluding with her. Could it be that she wants to use her family's influence to make friends with high-ranking officials and nobles, and use these embroideries to seek favors?

If she uses this shop as a way to ask for favors, it will be considered embezzlement and bribery if she is caught. Not only are the accounts difficult to keep, but if she is caught, she may lose her life.