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Shen Chuwei picked an empty table and waited for Xiao Jinyan to sit down first.

Xiao Jinyan lowered his eyes and glanced at the table; the grease stains were clearly visible. As someone with a cleanliness obsession, he indeed found it quite unbearable to dine in such an environment.

Shen Chuwei sighed, who asked him to be the Crown Prince? She took a handkerchief out of her sleeve and wiped down the table, then pulled out another handkerchief from her pocket to place on the chair.

She looked at Xiao Jinyan with a smile, "Master, you can sit now."

Only then did Xiao Jinyan reluctantly sit down on the chair.

Shen Chuwei turned her head and shouted to the Boss Lady, "Two bowls of wontons, please, one spicy with scallions, and one without."

The Boss Lady called out, "Alright, please wait a moment, dear customers."

Xiao Jinyan, watching Shen Chuwei’s actions, couldn’t help but be curious about her previous living environment, and where she came from.

The Boss Lady brought over two steaming bowls of wontons and placed them on the table with a cheerful tone, "Enjoy your meal."

Shen Chuwei placed the bowl of wontons without chili in front of Xiao Jinyan and pulled out a pair of chopsticks for him, "Master, you can eat now."

Xiao Jinyan cast his gaze down at the steaming wontons in front of him. Shen Chuwei actually knew he didn’t eat onions or spicy food, but even so, he wasn’t very hungry.

Conversely, Shen Chuwei was quite hungry; she pulled out a pair of chopsticks, stirred the chili into the wontons evenly, then picked one up and bit into it. It tasted a bit different from the modern version, but it was also pretty good.

Xiao Jinyan lifted his head to look at Shen Chuwei opposite him. Her mouth didn’t seem any different from usual; as long as it was food, she was constantly eating.

This made Xiao Jinyan even more curious about her past. What had she experienced?

Why was she so enthusiastic about food?

After Shen Chuwei finished eating, she reached for her handkerchief to wipe her mouth, then noticed that the wontons in front of Xiao Jinyan were untouched. She asked in confusion, "Master, aren’t you eating?"

Xiao Jinyan faintly uttered three words, "It’s unhygienic."

Shen Chuwei stared at the wontons, feeling it would be a shame not to eat them, "If Master isn’t eating, then I will. We can’t waste food."

Xiao Jinyan pushed the wontons in front of him toward her, saying indifferently, "Go ahead."

"Thank you, Master." Shen Chuwei picked up the chopsticks and continued to eat.

Xiao Jinyan took a glance at her stomach, wondering how that flat belly could hold so much food?

After devouring both bowls of wontons, Shen Chuwei contentedly took out a small handkerchief to wipe her mouth.

Seeing her satisfied look after having eaten her fill, Xiao Jinyan stood up and said, "Let’s go back."

"Alright." Shen Chuwei stood up and followed Xiao Jinyan away from the wonton stall, one hand holding tea pastries and the other holding a dough figurine.

Weichi paid for the wontons.

When they got back to the horse carriage, Shen Chuwei stared at the dough figurine in her hand for a while.

Xiao Jinyan noticed Shen Chuwei staring at the dough figurine, the corners of her mouth carrying a faint smile, as if she were very happy.

Was just the sight of a figurine of him worth such an expression?

Shen Chuwei stared at the figurine, wanting to taste it, but since it resembled Xiao Jinyan, she found it somewhat hard to bite into it.

She turned her head to look at the dough figurine in Xiao Jinyan’s hand, which was made in her likeness. Eating one resembling herself didn’t feel strange to her.

However, Xiao Jinyan had no intention of giving it to her.

Until they returned to the East Palace, he still didn’t give her the dough figurine.

When Shen Chuwei returned to Xiyun Pavilion, Chun Xi greeted her excitedly, "Young Mistress, did you have fun?"

"Of course I had fun. I had some wontons and even brought back some tea pastries." Shen Chuwei placed the oiled paper package on the table and unfolded it, picking up a conjoined double pastry and taking a bite. It melted in her mouth, sweet but not cloying.

"Chun Xi, you should try some, too."

Chun Xi looked at the delicate pastries, picked one up, and started eating it. The taste was indeed good; no wonder why their young master was always thinking about them.

Shen Chuwei had been confined to her quarters for four days, and rumors began swirling within the East Palace.

Xu Chenghui let out a light laugh, "Lady Shen is certainly delicate. Her recovery has taken almost a half month and still no sign of improvement. Your Highness runs to Xiyun Pavilion every other day. It’s truly enviable, indeed."

Lady Bai clicked her tongue twice, "I’ve never seen someone with such thick skin, pretending to be seriously injured to vie for favor. I wonder how long she can keep up this act?"

"Lady Bai makes sense. We sisters can’t stand those who feign illness to curry favor. It’s truly shameless." Lady Xu laughed lightly, waving her handkerchief, then turned her head to ask Lady Chang, "Has Lady Chang’s foot healed yet?"

Lady Chang’s tea-drinking motion paused. How could she not hear the sarcasm in that remark?

She said, unfazed, "It has healed."

"Lady Chang is different from Lady Shen, she would definitely not use her injury to solicit attention." Having said that, Lady Xu looked at the others, "Sisters, wouldn’t you agree?"

Lady Bai and Xu Chenghui both awkwardly lifted their tea cups. Who didn’t know that Lady Chang had called for His Highness to visit when she injured her foot?

Lady Xu glanced at the three people before her, smiled, and also picked up her tea cup to drink, not feeling at all that her words were too overtly sarcastic.

Upon returning to Lanyue Hall, Shen Mingzhu always wanted to have her maid inform His Highness that she had injured her foot, but once back in Lanyue Hall, she was confined and not allowed to go out.

She was not content, yet had no way to change the situation.

Cai He comforted, "Young mistress, don’t worry. Lady Shen definitely won’t survive smallpox. It’s just a matter of a few days now."

Shen Mingzhu said indignantly, "His Highness is too doting on Shen Chuwei. She clearly had smallpox, yet he risked letting her return to the palace. He isn’t afraid the Emperor will find out and punish him."

"Young mistress, you mustn’t speak carelessly. It’s true that His Highness’s favoritism towards Lady Shen is inappropriate. Sooner or later, he will realize that Lady Shen isn’t worth it," Cai He consoled.

The maid cleaning heard this, quietly left Lanyue Hall, went to a secluded spot, mimicked the call of a cuckoo, then stuffed a slip of paper into a crack in the wall.

On the other side of the wall was a young eunuch who pulled out the paper, glanced at it, and quickly walked away.

Xiyun Pavilion

Little Bunny had been waiting by the door and, seeing a group of people heading toward Xiyun Pavilion, got a bad feeling.

She saw hundreds of guards surrounding Xiyun Pavilion.

Little Bunny stepped forward and asked, "Eunuch Li, why is Xiyun Pavilion being surrounded?"

Eunuch Li, who was leading them, was a favored servant by the Emperor’s side.

"Of course, it’s because Lady Shen contracted smallpox. The Emperor has ordered that Lady Shen be relocated to Xiaoxiang Pavilion to prevent others from getting infected."

Little Bunny explained, "Eunuch Li, there must be some mistake. My young master hasn’t contracted smallpox."

"Whether she has smallpox or not, the Imperial Doctor will know after an examination," said Eunuch Li, turning his head to command, "Would you please give Lady Shen a thorough check, Imperial Doctors."

Little Bunny tried to intervene but was detained by the Imperial Guard.

Two Imperial Doctors, wearing face covers, went inside.

After they entered, Eunuch Li put on his own face cover and leisurely walked in.

Shen Chuwei had just finished her morning meal and was about to lie down on the soft couch to get some sleep when she saw Chun Xi rush in from outside, flustered.

"Something’s wrong, young mistress, there’s been an incident."

...

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