After being forced into a marriage with a wealthy family, the virtuous wife caused a huge uproar.

"You know the Fourth Prince?" Rong Zhixiu asked, somewhat surprised.

He had only seen this person twice from afar in the capital and had never interacted with him.

Rong Yingluo then recounted how she met Yuwen Zhang.

Both of them concealed their identities, and if they hadn't met by chance the day before yesterday, they wouldn't know when they would have crossed paths again.

"Okay, I'll definitely deliver it to you." Rong Zhixiu accepted the task.

He understood what his sister meant; she wanted to use this opportunity to get to know the Fourth Prince so that the Rong family would have someone to look after them in the future.

The Rong family is the richest family in the capital, but they are not imperial merchants. Instead, they do business throughout the country based on their reputation, and they have some business in the Eastern Yue Kingdom, the Northern Cang Kingdom, and the Western Jin Kingdom.

To maintain a low profile, the Rong family keeps many of their businesses hidden away, yet they remain among the most prominent in Nanxia Capital.

Every year, the Rong family would voluntarily hand over a sum of money to the national treasury. The emperor favored merchants like this the most.

Therefore, any high-ranking official who wants to take advantage of the Rong family has to think twice.

"Brother, how much do you know about the Fourth Prince?" Rong Yingluo knew very little about Yuwen Zhang, and Yinghong knew only limited information as well.

"What I know is only what everyone else knows on the surface."

The current emperor has four sons. The eldest prince was born to Consort Cao, who is now the Crown Prince.

The second prince was born to the empress, but he went missing when he was two years old for unknown reasons and was never found again.

The third prince died young at the age of seven.

The fourth prince was born to a lowly palace maid. It is said that the emperor was tricked by a noble lady and drugged with an aphrodisiac. The emperor killed the noble lady and had a palace maid give birth to the fourth prince after she was drugged.

The emperor disliked the fourth prince, even though he only had two sons by his side.

When he was fifteen, the Fourth Prince suddenly left the capital and disappeared without a trace. More than a year ago, he returned with mobility issues and has been keeping a low profile in the capital.” Rong Zhixiu recounted what he knew.

"I see." Rong Yingluo sighed.

It turns out that his birth was not anticipated, and even as a prince, he lived a miserable life.

Now that he is unable to walk properly, the emperor probably doesn't even consider him a son.

She was determined to cure him and let him live with dignity.

Rong Yingluo chatted with Rong Zhixiu about many interesting things, revealing all the bad things she had done after entering the Duke's mansion, which made Rong Zhixiu laugh heartily.

He was relieved that his second sister was so capable.

"The young master is back." Before Rong Zhixiu's laughter had even finished, Yinghong outside shouted, reminding the two people in the study.

Why is the eldest son laughing so loudly? He should restrain himself a little.

Gu Ce also learned that Rong Zhixiu had come, so he made a special trip back during his lunch break.

He didn't go on the day of his return visit to his parents' home. Since they were going to pretend to be a loving couple, it was necessary for him to come back and meet his brother-in-law, whom he had never met before.

The brother and sister immediately stopped their pleasant conversation and left the study.

"Why are you back at this time, my husband? Weren't you having lunch at the government office?" Rong Yingluo asked curiously, as she hadn't returned home for lunch the previous two days.

Gu Ce stepped forward, took her hand, and said gently, "I heard that your brother-in-law is here. I couldn't accompany you on your homecoming the other day because of work, so I came to see him today."

"Greetings, Prince Gu." Rong Zhixiu stepped forward and bowed first. Even though he was from the maternal family, the difference in their status was too great, so it was only proper for him to bow first.

"Brother, please don't stand on ceremony. We're all family. There's no need to worry about these formalities in the future." Gu Ce treated Rong Zhixiu with great courtesy.

Rong Zhixiu was stunned. He had only heard his sister talk about how to deal with the Duchess and her sister-in-law, but he hadn't heard her mention that she had a good relationship with Prince Gu.

At this moment, Gu Ce seemed to be very affectionate towards his younger sister.

"Young Master Gu is too kind; etiquette must not be disregarded." Rong Zhixiu did not take Gu Ce's words as a sign that he was the brother-in-law and could disregard etiquette. Besides, he might not actually become his brother-in-law.

The three of them had lunch together. Gu Ce took Rong Zhixiu to the study in the outer courtyard to talk. Rong Yingluo didn't know what they talked about. Later, she learned that Gu Ce had asked her older brother a lot about her childhood. Only then did she realize that Gu Ce had always suspected her identity.

That night, the couple lay in the same bed as the night before.

The boundary between the two was very clear.

Gu Ce was very disciplined. He hadn't done anything to displease Rong Yingluo these past few nights, except for that time he untied his belt, which was just an accident.

Rong Yingluo fell asleep quickly. Gu Ce found it strange; how could she fall asleep so easily, as if she could control herself when she was deep in sleep? He, on the other hand, had a hard time falling asleep.

With no one to talk to, he could only close his eyes and try not to think about anything, and sure enough, he fell asleep quickly.

In the middle of the night, he felt the person next to him turn over, which woke him up, but he did not open his eyes.

Rong Yingluo did it on purpose; she wanted to see if Gu Ce was really asleep.

She deliberately rolled over heavily again, and when she saw that Gu Ce still didn't move, she realized that he was really asleep.

But just in case, she took out a porcelain bottle and held it to his nose for several breaths before taking it away.

Rong Yingluo changed into a black outfit and quickly left the Silver Willow Courtyard.

Unbeknownst to her, Gu Ce opened his eyes as soon as she stepped outside.

He scoffed inwardly. She claimed to know how to cure poison. He'd been poisoned countless times since childhood; ordinary sedatives had no effect on him. She hadn't even considered that.

He's only avoiding death because of the various poisons that counteract each other.

Despite his thoughts, he quickly put on his black clothes and followed.

After leaving Yinliu Courtyard, Rong Yingluo went straight to the garden of the Gu family mansion. When she reached a corner of the wall, she leaped onto the top of the wall and jumped down.

An ordinary-looking carriage was parked outside the wall.

Rong Yingluo slipped into the carriage in a flash. The coachman didn't ask any questions. Seeing that she had entered the carriage, he immediately urged the horse to start moving.

Gu Ce witnessed this scene clearly.

What is she going to do? And she has someone to meet her.

Gu Ce was even more puzzled and continued to follow at a distance that was neither too close nor too far.

The coachman knew the roads in the capital very well, and he knew exactly where to go to avoid the patrolling soldiers.

When the carriage stopped at the back gate of a mansion, Gu Ce realized where Rong Yingluo was going.

It turned out to be the residence of the Fourth Prince.

It seems that he interrupted their conversation the other day, and the two of them are planning to meet secretly tonight.

But doesn't she love her fiancé very much?

Are they really sworn siblings?

A prince and a merchant's daughter—even if the fourth prince wasn't favored by the emperor, he was still a member of the imperial family. How could he possibly become sworn brothers with a merchant's daughter? Yet the fourth prince spoke with such conviction that he had no choice but to believe him.

The fact that Madam Rong came to the Fourth Prince's residence in the middle of the night must mean she has something she doesn't want to tell anyone.

He wanted to go inside and take another look, but found that the Fourth Prince's residence was heavily guarded.

Where did he get so many people?

What did the Fourth Prince do during the five years he disappeared?

He hadn't received any news, but he hadn't paid any attention to an unfavored prince anyway.

Gu Ce dared not make any rash moves. Knowing that Rong Yingluo had entered the Fourth Prince's residence, he had nothing to worry about and withdrew.

Rong Yingluo was led into the main courtyard where Yuwen Zhang lived.

This mansion is not large, with only three courtyards, and it is not even as big as the residence of a fifth-rank official in the capital.

Just as my elder brother said, he was not favored by the emperor.

"Sister Rong is here?" Yuwen Zhang had been waiting for her for a long time.

"Hmm. Did you take a nap before you got up?" Rong Yingluo asked with concern.

"How could I sleep knowing that Sister Rong was coming?" Yuwen Zhang was very happy to see her.

"Time is limited, let's start early." Rong Yingluo had important business to attend to tonight.