Who said the heir would die out? The concubine is pregnant again!

Upon noticing several servants carrying a palanquin outside, Granny Chen's face stiffened. "Miss Shen is merely a concubine; she is not entitled to ride in a palanquin. This is a rule of the Prince's residence. By bringing her here, aren't you just causing her to be the subject of gossip?"

Lian Chuan showed no fear, raising his chin slightly, "The young master said that either Miss Shen should travel there by carriage, or he should come in person and stay here overnight."

Yingzhu secretly praised Liang Yunqian for being a true fortune teller; he was able to predict what Granny Chen would say and even take the opportunity to threaten her.

As expected, upon hearing this, Granny Chen looked slightly alarmed.

How could she dare trouble the young master to come in person? Not only would she be scolded if he came, but it wouldn't be good feng shui either!

"Tingsong Garden is the best place for conception; the Crown Prince should not come here to have sex."

"Then we can only ask Miss Shen to ride in the carriage. Her legs are too weak to walk. If her injury worsens, she will be unable to serve the prince, and thus her task of serving him in bed will be impossible."

After saying this, Lian Chuan ignored Granny Chen. Qing Feng helped Miss Shen put on her cloak and hood before helping her onto the palanquin.

When the young master spoke, Granny Chen dared not stop him and could only watch helplessly as he rode away in his carriage.

Upon returning to Deshan Hall, Granny Chen embellished the story and recounted what had just happened.

"She only knelt for a quarter of an hour, and it's just a few superficial injuries. How could it be so serious that she needs to be carried in a carriage? Shen Yingzhu is being too dramatic, and the young master is being too protective of her."

Princess Rui made several attempts to curry favor with Shen Yingzhu, trying to sow discord between her and Xu Fanglin. However, Shen Yingzhu did not become close to Xu Fanglin; instead, she focused on currying favor with Liang Yunqian.

"Shen Yingzhu is using Yun Qian as a backer. Yun Qian can give her a child, but he can't decide her fate. I need to let her know who the true master of the Prince's Mansion is!"

"Of course it's you, Aunt! Shen Yingzhu is short-sighted and only knows how to seduce my cousin. She doesn't respect you at all. Little does she know that you are the mistress of the Prince's Mansion! If she offends you, even my cousin can't protect her."

Zhao Tangwei flattered him, and Princess Rui smiled slightly, took Zhao Tangwei's hand, and patted it gently to comfort her.

"Tangwei, remember this: we, aunt and niece, are the closest of relatives. All other women are just pawns."

"I allowed Shen Yingzhu to enter the manor so that I could use her, and more importantly, to pave the way for you. Haven't you always wanted to marry Yun Qian?"

Zhao Tang smiled shyly. Since her aunt had brought it up, she mustered her courage and said:

"Aunt, it has now been determined that the problem lies with the Tripterygium wilfordii, not my cousin. Does that mean I can be with him now?"

Princess Rui frowned slightly. "It's not the right time yet. The doctor said that Yunqian needs to rest and recuperate. It will take at least a year for him to fully recover. Right now, the chances of him getting a woman pregnant are slim."

Unless she has a fertile constitution like Shen Yingzhu, compatible with him, it's unlikely she'll conceive. Let's continue to observe until Shen Yingzhu is confirmed pregnant, then I can make arrangements for you.”

"I don't care about children; I truly love my cousin. As long as I can be with him, I don't mind not having children."

Zhao Tangwei playfully clung to her aunt's arm, while Princess Rui solemnly declared.

"Nonsense! We women can like a man, but we must never give up our interests for him. Men may change their minds, but we can hold onto our interests firmly!"

Xu Fanglin is still the Crown Prince's wife! As long as she's alive, you can only be a concubine!

She wants to use Shen Yingzhu to get rid of the mother and keep the child. We just need to wait for her to make her move, and then we can provide evidence to make Yun Qian divorce his wife. That way, we can have both the position of the legal wife and the child.

You must be patient. I will pave the way for you, and when the time is right, I will give you a better status!

"Is this what they call 'the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind'?" Zhao Tangwei suddenly realized. "Auntie is really clever. I was too impatient. I'll follow Auntie's arrangements."

Zhao Tangwei was filled with joy and looked forward to the right opportunity. Meanwhile, Yingzhu, carrying a hand warmer, had already arrived at Tingsong Garden in a palanquin.

Upon entering the room, Yingzhu found it warm and cozy with the floor heating on. She then put down her hand warmer.

At first, Amber ignored her when she came. But after she fed Amber a few times, Amber would come to her side on its own whenever she came in, curling its tail around her to show affection and welcome.

"Who is so cute! It's Amber!" Yingzhu happily picked it up, praising it repeatedly.

"Amber is the most beautiful kitten in the world!"

Her bright, upturned eyes were so clear. When she spoke to Amber, her tone was relaxed and cheerful, and her drawn-out voice was soft and sweet, as if she were coaxing a child.

But she only had eyes for Amber. She hugged the cat as soon as she entered the door and didn't even glance at him or greet him!

Liang Yunqian immediately put down the book in his hand. "Amber, you just had some dried fish, and you're already craving more? Come here!"

His solemn voice suddenly rang out, and Amber immediately jumped down from Yingzhu's arms and ran straight towards Liang Yunqian.

Seeing his sullen face and unwell expression, Yingzhu knew that he was still angry!

While he was helping her out of a predicament, he was still doubting her and holding a grudge against her. This stubborn personality of his made him truly difficult to get along with.

Remembering his warning to her last night not to go to his place, Yingzhu obediently went to the small table next to her, ground ink, and continued practicing calligraphy.

She had already mastered writing the character "十" (ten), and wanted to learn new strokes, so she studied the characters and practiced writing the left-falling stroke and the right-falling stroke.

Actually, she could write, but not as elegantly as Liang Yunqian. Besides, if she could learn it on her own, he would be even less likely to teach her in the future.

If he didn't teach her to write, she would lose an opportunity to get close to him. So Yingzhu couldn't be too precise in her self-study. She deliberately wrote the strokes in a careless and unattractive way.

But writing like that would be too wasteful of paper, so Yingzhu changed her mind and picked up her pen, dipped it in ink...

Even without looking up, Liang Yunqian, who was reading, could sense her glancing up at him from time to time.

When a kitten is quiet, it's definitely up to no good.

Yingzhu observed and wrote as she went. She was so focused that she didn't look up for a while. When she looked up again, she was surprised to find that Liang Yunqian had already stood up and was walking towards her.

Startled, she immediately grabbed the paper and hid it behind her back.

"What are you hiding? Something you're ashamed to show anyone?"

Yingzhu smiled awkwardly, "My handwriting is too ugly, I'm afraid it will offend the young master's eyes."

"You were taught to write by my own hand. Are you implying that I didn't teach you well?"

"..." His focus was always so peculiar that Yingzhu didn't know how to refute him.

Unable to refuse, Yingzhu had no choice but to hand the paper to him. Liang Yunqian took a look and saw that she was indeed not writing, but drawing.

He had been looking up frequently, and he thought she was drawing him, but when he arrived, he realized she was drawing a cat!

Simple lines outline a large round face and big eyes, then draw cat ears and a curved cat mouth.

With just a few strokes, without even the texture of hair or any painting techniques, the expression is incredibly lifelike, and the lazy, arrogant look is almost exactly the same as Amber's.

"You drew... amber?"

She thought Liang Yunqian was going to say her drawing was ugly again and ask her what she had drawn!

"Your Highness recognized it? It seems my drawing was quite good!"

Her cat paintings do have imagery, but her painting skills are nothing to write home about.

"Don't you know embroidery? The foundation of embroidery is drawing patterns, so how come your cat drawing is so...simple? There are only lines, but no depth or texture?"

"The embroidery pattern originally only had simple lines, and it was drawn with a stiff, jujube-shaped pen, which was easier to use. But a regular brush is different; it's soft and hard to control! A stiffer brush is much easier to use."

Yingzhu casually mentioned the difference between soft and hard pens, unaware that those words, falling into Liang Yunqian's ears, unconsciously conjured up images of the raging fire of the previous night!

"You like this?"

As they spoke, Liang Yunqian took her hand and guided her to explore downwards.