Your Highness, your wife has had her virginity mark applied and married someone else.

"Ugh—"

Suddenly, a large hand covered her mouth and nose. Wei Ziye easily squeezed into the courtyard, and with a "bang," the wooden door was slammed shut.

Shen Mingshu was slammed against the wooden door, her eyes filled with terror. "What do you want to do!"

"Fine, Shen Mingshu. You went to Tiange to get it repaired yourself, and then you even instigated my mother to buy it for you. What are you trying to do?"

The burning heat near her ears was terrifying. Shen Mingshu was pressed against the wall, and her struggling movements suddenly stopped!

"What are you saying? I don't understand! Let me go, or I'll call for help!"

"You crave men that much? I'll grant your wish."

Wei Ziye spoke in a deep voice, his slender fingers tracing patterns on Shen Mingshu's waist and back before slowly lifting her skirt.

A chill ran down her hem, and Shen Mingshu's pupils constricted!

If he finds out that I've had my virginity repaired, I'll be ridiculed to death!

Shen Mingshu suddenly began to struggle violently, "No! No! Wei Ziye! Let me go! Help! Someone help me—uh!"

"Shut up!"

Wei Ziye lowered his voice and hissed, then suddenly tightened his grip on Shen Mingshu's shoulder!

The wooden door squeezed Shen Mingshu's ample bosom, causing her to cry out in pain.

She quickly backed down, saying, "I'll shut up, cousin. Let go of me, it hurts, it really hurts..."

Her soft, pleading voice was particularly pitiful. As Wei Ziye watched her delicate neck gradually turn red from the blood, the anger he had been suppressing subsided slightly.

He eased his grip slightly, disdainfully tossing off her skirt: "Touch you? Humph! This young master finds you disgusting!"

He was disgusted by her and pressed down on her!

Shen Mingshu was furious, but she didn't dare to confront a martial arts champion head-on.

She felt as if her neck was about to be snapped, sobbing and pleading, "Cousin, my neck hurts too. Can you let me go first? I promise I won't scream anymore, okay?"

The person behind her was silent for a moment, then Shen Mingshu felt the pressure on her ease.

Her legs buckled, and she collapsed to the ground instantly.

Before she could catch her breath, Wei Ziye flipped her over like a broken doll.

"Eat it."

A white pill appeared before her eyes, and Shen Mingshu instinctively reacted with wariness and resistance: "What... what is this...?"

Wei Ziye raised an eyebrow dismissively: "What do you think?"

Shen Mingshu shrank back in fear, swallowing nervously as she looked into Wei Ziye's deep, dark eyes.

"The medicine from... Tiange Pavilion?"

Because she was supporting herself on the ground with both hands, her clothes were slightly exposed, and Wei Ziye's gaze was uncontrollably drawn to the dense hickeys on her collarbone. His murderous aura became tangible like a tidal wave!

He lost patience, pinched Shen Mingshu's face, and tried to force the food into her mouth.

"Wait!"

With tears in her eyes, Shen Mingshu held his hand tightly, pleading pitifully, refusing to admit anything.

"Cousin, I don't want to die! I didn't instigate Auntie, she... she gave me aphrodisiacs! She wanted me to feed them to A-Yuan, so that he could... he could..."

Shen Mingshu bit her lip shyly and murmured, "So you can hide it from me for my first time..."

"But I haven't fed them yet!"

Shen Mingshu sincerely assured him, "I'm afraid this will conflict with the medicine I bought for him at Tiange last time, so I haven't fed it to him yet."

"If you don't believe me, cousin," Shen Mingshu quickly took out a porcelain bottle from her bosom, her face full of sincerity, "Here you go, you can have Liu Yi investigate."

Wei Ziye lowered his eyes, looking at the porcelain vase she was holding, and gave a cryptic sneer: "Shen Mingshu, keeping everyone in the dark, has it given you any pleasure?"

"I'm not lying to you!"

Shen Mingshu anxiously shoved the porcelain bottle into his hands: "Whether it's a lie or not, you can find out with a simple investigation. Why would I lie to you with such an easily debunked lie?"

"At the very least, you can go ask your aunt directly."

"She wouldn't lie to you, would she?"

"..."

Shen Mingshu spoke her last sentence with a sense of satisfaction.

Even someone as cunning as Wei Ziye could not have known that he was being completely manipulated by his most trusted mother.

Upon learning that he had lost a child, would he feel heartache for the child who died young, or would he only feel sorrow for being betrayed by someone he trusted?

Shen Mingshu's eyes were incredibly sincere, and coupled with her seemingly weak demeanor, it was easy for people to trust her without being on guard.

Unfortunately, the person opposite her, Wei Ziye, was the one who distrusted her the most in the world.

"Shen Mingshu, are you stalling for time, thinking you can force the issue and get into the Wei family?"

Wei Ziye slightly lifted his eyelashes, his indifferent eyes sweeping over the momentary unnaturalness at the corner of her mouth, the subtle curve of his thin lips full of sarcasm.

"Today, I, the Crown Prince, will send you to see for yourself how everything you hold dear has shattered!"

……

At the entrance of Qingyun Academy.

Shen Mingshu was lifted up by Wei Ziye with one hand and easily jumped over the wall.

Shen Mingshu was just looking down on Wei Ziye, a dignified prince, for doing such a despicable and shameful thing, when she suddenly heard Wei Yuan's voice coming from inside the room.

"Master, this article was written by your own student and there is absolutely no plagiarism. Please judge for yourself."

"Wei Yuan, come forward and take a look at this."

The gentleman gently stroked his graying beard and solemnly handed over a manuscript.

Shen Mingshu was also very curious, so she dug a hole in the window and leaned down to peek.

When Wei Zishi saw this, the corner of his mouth curled up slightly and he said calmly: "Does it look familiar to you?"

When Wei Ziye loves someone, he wants to find all the good things in the world for her. Even for her daily manuscripts, he provides Shen Mingshu with the most luxurious gold-flecked mica paper.

Shen Mingshu stared at the pages of paper that shimmered with a faint light, and her heart sank—this was the manuscript she had used to copy the final draft!

On the night she fell into the water, her belongings had already been thrown out of the Wei family mansion and snatched away by some beggars, who divided them up completely.

Afterwards, rumors circulated in the capital that she had had some romantic affairs with these beggars, and the personal belongings they divided up were the best proof of this.

Shen Mingshu also thought about going to get them back, but when she found those beggars, some of their things were so filthy that she couldn't bring herself to touch them.

At that point, she was truly too ashamed to stay in the capital any longer.

But now, how could this most valuable manuscript remain here?

Shen Mingshu frowned and looked at Wei Zishi: "It's you——"

"Wei Yuan, how did you come across Shen Mingshu's topic regarding whether it's necessary to abolish the distinction between嫡子 (legitimate sons) and 庶子 (illegitimate sons)?"

Shen Mingshu's fingers tightened suddenly on the wooden window. Forgetting what Wei Ziye was trying to do, she quickly looked at Wei Yuan's reaction.

"You should know that if you get involved with a woman like Shen Mingshu, your reputation in the capital will be completely ruined, and it might even affect your imperial examinations."

The man asked sternly, "Tell me honestly, what is your relationship with her?"

"..."

Shen Mingshu could only see Wei Yuan with his head down, like a statue, quietly staring at the manuscript in his hands.

Shen Mingshu's palms were sweating with nervousness, and Wei Ziye's provocative voice rang in her ears: "What do you think he'll say?"

Compared to what Wei Ziye cared about, Shen Mingshu cared more about something else.

Three years ago, when asked about the necessity of abolishing the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children, Shen Mingshu answered no.

At the time, a purely rational analysis suggested that the distinction between virtuous and unvirtuous was easily disguised, while the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children was immediately clear, thus completely ending any conflicts of interest and moral considerations arising from this topic.

But now, what will Wei Yuan, this illegitimate son, think of these words?

Moreover, Shen Mingshu now affirms his views on this article.

On the same issue, she had different attitudes. She changed her views because of the people around her. What would Wei Yuan think of her behavior?

Furthermore, when Wei Yuan returns to the capital, is it really as simple as it appears?