As he spoke, his face bore a malicious smile. Fu Yun Xi said nothing, only giving him a cold look. The Seventh Prince slowly straightened up, watching the closed door with interest as he reminded, “Lord Zhuang, why not open the door and let us see which young lady is inside?”

Hearing this, Zhuang Shi Yang grew even more furious but dared not vent his anger at the Seventh Prince. Instead, he kicked open the door in a rage.

Fu Yun Xi said coolly, “This Prince warned you once when you were young: the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.”

These cold words carried a shocking chill to the Seventh Prince’s ears. He looked up at Fu Yun Xi in surprise, a sense of foreboding rising in his heart.

Zhuang Shi Yang had lit the lamp. As the door opened, the scandalous atmosphere wafted out. The shameful cries became clearer, striking everyone’s ears one after another.

Prince Wei suddenly staggered forward, taking several urgent steps ahead. Seeing his movement, everyone was puzzled. Zhou felt a sense of doom, and sure enough, as the light brightened, two figures were seen entangled on the large bed. The man on top was dripping with sweat, his naked body causing the women to cry out and cover their eyes. Prince Wei exclaimed in dismay, “Ru Feng!”

Wei Ru Feng?

Madam Zhou and Elder Madam Zhou’s faces instantly turned pale. How had it become Wei Ru Feng?

Hearing Wei Ru Feng’s name, Li Jia Qi, who had been covering her eyes, was stunned and instinctively rushed forward shouting, “I don’t believe it! Young Master Wei wouldn’t do such a thing!” She ran into the room, unstoppable.

Madam Zhou and Elder Madam Zhou felt their legs go weak. It was supposed to be Zhang Wei with Han Yan, how had it become the Wei Heir? Even as a concubine in the Wei Prince’s mansion, she would be beyond their manipulation.

Elder Madam Zhou had another worry: if Wei Ru Feng was here, where had Zhang Wei gone?

Li Jia Qi rushed into the room, ignoring the shocked Zhuang Shi Yang and others’ strange looks, staring directly at the couple on the bed. Seeing Wei Ru Feng so different from his usual refined image – naked, forehead soaked with sweat, in such a lewd state, his half-open eyes showing undisguised desire, even madness – Li Jia Qi had never seen him like this. She stepped back, feeling both heartbroken and angry. When her gaze fell on the person beneath him, her anger exploded, blaming everything on Han Yan, shouting, “Shameless!”

Li Jia Qi reached out to pull at Han Yan, causing the woman on the bed to fall back exposed before everyone. Unexpectedly, it wasn’t Han Yan.

“Zhuang Yu Shan!” Li Jia Qi screamed.

“What’s happening?” A clear voice tinged with fatigue rang out. Everyone turned to see Han Yan walking toward the cottage, supported by Mother Chen.

“How are you here?” Zhou pointed at Han Yan as if seeing a ghost.

Han Yan looked at her in confusion, her voice puzzled: “Earlier, I got drunk at the table, and Sister Yu Shan helped me back to my room to rest. I just woke up, and thinking it would be impolite, I had Mother Chen bring me to the garden where the guests are. Aunt Zhou, is something wrong?”

Elder Madam Zhou smiled, “Nothing, but why did Fourth Miss’s hairpin appear here?”

Han Yan hesitated: “When Sister Yu Shan helped me back to my room, she said my hairpin was very pretty. Since I rarely wear hairpins anyway, I gave it to her.”

Just as she finished speaking, Li Jia Qi’s voice came from inside, somewhere between crying and laughing: “Zhuang Yu-Shan! It was you!”

Everyone was stunned, looking between Han Yan and Zhou, suddenly understanding.

So the one inside was Zhuang Yu Shan, yet they had tried to frame the Fourth Miss of the Zhuang family, even taking her hairpin to shift blame – truly malicious.

Fu Yun Xi stood aside with his hands behind his back, watching Han Yan stand pitifully in place, seemingly full of endless confusion yet afraid to ask – truly worthy of sympathy. If not for the cold smile at the corner of her lips, who would believe this seemingly harmless girl was the orchestrator of this scene? However… why was it Wei Ru Feng? His expression grew serious.

Zhuang Yu Shan was awakened from her daze by the screaming, opening her eyes to find herself exposed naked before everyone, crying out in fright. Li Jia Qi slapped her: “Shameless!”

Caught off guard by the slap, Yu Shan felt both ashamed and angry but dared not openly oppose Li Jia Qi, wondering why Li Jia Qi suddenly despised her. Then she saw Zhuang Shi Yang awkwardly addressing someone beside her, “Young Lord…”

Young Lord?

Zhuang Yu Shan turned back in shock, surprised to find Wei Ru Feng lying beside her!

She had some vague memories of what happened earlier. After Han Yan had drugged her, she lost consciousness, and later dimly felt someone pressing on top of her. That person turned out to be Wei Ru Feng!

Her face still flushed, she quickly thought through all possible outcomes. Now that she had lost her virtue, other families might not want her, but if she could become part of the Wei Prince’s household… that would be an enormous fortune! Looking at the person beside her, Zhuang Yu Shan felt a surge of sweetness in her heart.

At this moment, she became somewhat clear-headed, grateful that Han Yan had drugged her and switched places with her. Otherwise, it would have been Han Yan entwined with Wei Ru Feng today! Thinking this, she covered her face and began crying softly.

Madam Zhou and Elder Madam Zhou rushed into the room, with Zhou trembling as she asked, “Yu’er… how are you here?”

Zhuang Yu Shan just kept crying, not answering Zhou. Li Jia Qi glared fiercely at her: “It must have been you who seduced Brother Wei!”

Standing outside, Han Yan was also surprised to hear Wei Ru Feng’s name. In Zhou’s plan, the one caught in bed should have been Zhang Wei. If she had been caught with Zhang Wei, due to Elder Madam Zhou and Grand Tutor Zhang’s influence, Zhuang Shi Yang wouldn’t dare punish Zhang Wei too severely, and the matter might have been minimized, with her becoming Zhang Wei’s concubine. But now the pair had become Zhuang Yu Shan and Wei Ru Feng – putting aside Zhuang Yu Shan, the noble Wei Prince’s heir had been caught in the act with Zhuang Yu Shan before so many people. Surely unsavory rumors would spread through the capital tomorrow. Yet for Zhuang Yu-Shan to become a concubine, her status was somewhat inadequate.

With things having gone beyond expectations, Zhuang Shi Yang didn’t know what to do. He didn’t dare to rebuke Wei Ru Feng, so he took his anger out on Zhuang Yu Shan, yanking her up from the bed and slapping her hard: “Disgraceful!”

Zhuang Yu Shan was naked, and at this moment she couldn’t even mind the pain in her face. She cried out, grabbing the blanket to wrap around herself, feeling somewhat fearful, and looked toward Zhou while crying incessantly.