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Shen Chuwei opened her eyes to find Xiao Jinyan sitting on the bed, looking down at her.

A person suddenly appeared on the bed, and she was slightly startled.

Then she noticed the hand holding hers, their hands seemed to be clasped together.

Xiao Jinyan paused for a moment before letting go of her hand.

"Your Highness, when did you arrive?" She had gone to bed late tonight—she estimated it was after eleven o’clock—by that time, she hadn’t heard Xiao Jinyan say he would come~

Xiao Jinyan said, "I just arrived not long ago, the mastermind behind the scenes has been caught."

At these words, Shen Chuwei felt a surge of excitement, not forgetting to butter him up, "Your Highness, you’re so fast, to think that within just one day, you’ve already caught them."

Curious, she asked, "Your Highness, who was it?"

Xiao Jinyan’s reply was concise, "The King of Xuan."

Shen Chuwei sighed, "Born from the same root, why the rush to incinerate each other!"

Xiao Jinyan’s eyes paused for a moment, and he praised her, "This poem is not bad."

Shen Chuwei had just mentioned it offhand, and from Xiao Jinyan’s tone, he probably hadn’t heard this poem before.

"I just made it up."

"I wasn’t wrong about you, you are very clever."

"...Your Highness flatters me."

Xiao Jinyan said, "If he wasn’t constantly after my life, he wouldn’t have ended up like this."

Shen Chuwei nodded in agreement.

She couldn’t help but yawn.

Xiao Jinyan saw it, "I woke you up."

Shen Chuwei shook her head to indicate it was fine, "Are you going to sleep now, Your Highness?"

Xiao Jinyan nodded, "Yes."

Shen Chuwei suddenly remembered the gift she had prepared and reached under her pillow to pull out a small stone and offered it to Xiao Jinyan, "Your Highness, this is a New Year’s gift for you."

Xiao Jinyan couldn’t recall how many years it had been since he last received a New Year’s gift; he was somewhat surprised that suddenly someone wanted to give him one.

"You even prepared a gift?"

Shen Chuwei said, "Your Highness gave me New Year’s money, so I prepared a New Year’s gift for Your Highness, it’s only proper to reciprocate."

Xiao Jinyan looked down at the necklace in her hand, picked it up and examined it for a few moments, the necklace was made from red string, and the pendant was a good-looking... it didn’t feel like gold or jade, yet it somewhat resembled a stone.

He looked up at Shen Chuwei, "Is this, a stone?"

Shen Chuwei proudly admitted, "This is my favorite little stone; it glows at night."

Fearing he wouldn’t believe her, she leaned in close, her hands tightly cupping the small stone, showing it to Xiao Jinyan, "Look."

Xiao Jinyan could see, from between her fingers, the small stone in her palm emitting a faint green light.

"It indeed glows."

Then Xiao Jinyan asked, "Is it the same as the stones in the backyard?"

Shen Chuwei shook her head, "No, it’s different; the stones in the yard glow by absorbing sunlight, while this stone glows with temperature."

Xiao Jinyan found it novel, "Your gift, I will accept it."

Shen Chuwei made room for Xiao Jinyan, while also letting go of the covers in her embrace.

Xiao Jinyan lay down beside Shen Chuwei, covering himself with the blanket. The bed was very warm, and even the faint scent of peach blossoms lingered.

The two of them were very close but had grown accustomed to each other’s presence, not as resistant as the first time.

Xiao Jinyan was indeed tired. He closed his eyes, and drowsiness quickly overtook him.

Shen Chuwei had been awakened by the noise, but now with her eyes closed, she too could continue to sleep.

The next day

Xiao Jinyan woke up to a bright day; even through the bed curtains, he could see the sunlight outside was just right.

He withdrew his gaze and looked at Shen Chuwei, who was sleeping on his right side. She seemed to be having a sweet dream, the corners of her lips curled up slightly.

Xiao Jinyan always got up before dawn, even on the second day of the New Year, he had to rise early.

After dressing neatly, he saw the necklace by the pillow, picked it up, and stored it in his sleeve before leaving.

Today was the second day of the New Year, and the festive atmosphere was still very strong.

Tao Chenghui came over for a visit early in the morning.

Shen Chuwei had prepared peanuts, sunflower seeds, and chocolate to entertain Tao Chenghui.

"Sister Shen, I heard you ate poisonous crab on behalf of His Highness; are you feeling better? I wanted to come to see you yesterday, but His Highness said you needed rest, so I didn’t come," she said.

Shen Chuwei replied with a nonchalance, "I am much better now."

Tao Chenghui breathed a sigh of relief, "That’s good. The person who poisoned it is really hateful, but thankfully nothing happened."

Xu Concubine entered, swinging her narrow waist and flapping her handkerchief. Seeing Tao Chenghui, she greeted her warmly, "Tao Chenghui is here too."

Due to the script books Shen Chuwei had provided, the two had engaged in deeper conversations, and their relationship had grown closer.

Tao Chenghui smiled and said, "Xu Concubine has arrived, come join us in cracking seeds."

After Xu Concubine sat down, she turned to Shen Chuwei with a hint of concern, "Lady Shen, you’re alright now, right?"

Shen Chuwei, cracking seeds, replied, "All’s well now, crack some seeds."

Xu Concubine grabbed a handful of seeds and began to snack, "No wonder His Highness is so fond of Lady Shen. You’ve saved His Highness twice. If it were me, I’d be touched too."

Always outspoken in her words, Shen Chuwei and Tao Chenghui were already used to it.

Shen Chuwei laughed it off, "It was purely by accident, as long as His Highness is okay."

Tao Chenghui said with a smile, "His Highness’s fondness for Sister Shen isn’t merely about life-saving grace; His Highness really likes you, Sister Shen. He spent both New Year’s Eve and the first day of the New Year at Xiyun Pavilion."

Shen Chuwei looked surprised, "How do you know about that?"

Xu Concubine said, "It’s not a secret, the entire East Palace knows about it."

Shen Chuwei was even more surprised. Xiao Jinyan had only come to Xiyun Pavilion after midnight last night, and yet they knew about it?

What Shen Chuwei didn’t realize was that even if it was in the middle of the night at Xiyun Pavilion, by the next day, the whole East Palace would be aware of it.

Xu Concubine nodded her agreement, "True, if something happened to His Highness, it would be the end for all of us sisters."

They understood more than anyone the concept of shared glory and shared decline.

The three of them chatted while cracking seeds.

When Lady Li arrived, she was greeted with this harmonious scene.

These past few days, she had been pondering a lot, feeling that currying favor with Lady Chang wasn’t very useful; His Highness frequented Xiyun Pavilion and hadn’t spent a night at Xinlan Hall even once.

After much thought, she decided it was better to ingratiate herself with Shen Chuwei, the big tree.

She came forward and curtsied, "Concubine Xu, Tao Chenghui is here too."

Xu Concubine looked up to see Lady Li and responded without much warmth, "How did Lady Li find the time to come? Aren’t you accompanying Lady Chang?"

"I heard Lady Shen fell seriously ill, so I came to see how you were," Lady Li said, looking towards Shen Chuwei and curtsying, "Are you feeling better, Lady Shen?"

Shen Chuwei spoke faintly, "Much better now."

Noticing the chill in Shen Chuwei’s tone, Lady Li understood that building a good relationship wouldn’t happen overnight.

After all, hadn’t Xu Concubine been at odds with Shen Chuwei at the beginning too?

Now look at them, they were getting along quite well.

Lady Li took a gift box from her maid, opened it, and showed it to Shen Chuwei, "This is ginseng from Changbai Mountain, to help Lady Shen recuperate. Please don’t look down on it."

It was an expensive ginseng, bought at a high price by her family. She had not even been willing to consume it herself.