The Obsessive Crown Prince Can't Let Me Go-Chapter 27: Everyday Relies on Lu Ying for Support

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Gao Zheng’s temple veins throbbed harder, and he cursed angrily: "What brothels and taverns, Yin Shanshan, are these the kind of words you should be saying?! You’re a virtuous lady from a good family, how can you have such filthy places on your tongue?! While my Gao Family may not be a noble and prestigious lineage, we are at least a scholarly household. How could we ever stoop to earning money from such disreputable businesses?! Are you afraid that our Gao Family hasn’t been humiliated enough today?!"

Betting houses, even more absurd!

Anyone who runs a betting house in the Capital must have significant backing, but what does our Gao Family have?!

And loan sharking—honestly, I have no idea how Yin Shanshan’s brain works. Our household can’t even keep itself afloat right now; where would we get the money to lend for high interest?!

"Zhenglang," Yin Shanshan was stunned by the scolding, "These are all proven ways to prosper! If you don’t approve of me doing them, fine, but why would you scold me? You’re becoming as pedantic as Shen Yinning lately!"

Gao Zheng’s face was blacker than the bottom of a pot: "If it weren’t for the fact your brother is the Crown Prince’s trusted confidant, I’d use the family rules to punish you! Stop embarrassing yourself here—hurry back and reflect on your behavior behind closed doors!"

Unwilling to accept it, Yin Shanshan stomped her foot and ran out in tears.

After everyone dispersed from the Hanging Flower Pavilion, Gao Zheng called out to Shen Yinning along the corridor.

He seemed a bit uneasy: "Miss Shen..."

"If Master Gao has something to say, feel free to speak."

Gao Zheng’s cheeks burned, and he bowed his head, staring at the hem of Shen Yinning’s skirt, which was swirled by the summer breeze: "The bail money required by the Ministry of Justice is no small amount. I’ve already borrowed from my colleagues and owe them quite a bit—it doesn’t feel right. When I’m on duty, it always feels like I’m beneath them. So, I want to... I want to ask if you could... you could..."

Seeing his stammering, Shen Yinning smiled: "You want to borrow money?"

Gao Zheng lowered his head even further: "...Yes."

Borrowing money from a woman is never a glorious thing.

Especially borrowing from a woman he liked.

Shen Yinning plucked a pure white, round gardenia flower from beyond the corridor.

After fiddling with it for a moment, she raised her eyes with amusement: "It’s not impossible, but..."

Hearing that borrowing money was possible, Gao Zheng’s eyes lit up. "But what?"

Shen Yinning said unhurriedly: "I often hear people mention how exceptional Yin Shanshan’s elder brother is, the most trusted confidant and advisor to the Crown Prince. Do you happen to know his name?"

She had asked Lu Jiazhe to investigate Lu Ying’s advisors.

But there was no one with the surname Yin among them.

So she suspected—could Yin Shanshan and her brother be of different surnames?

Gao Zheng replied: "Her elder brother’s name is Yin Yang. It’s said the Crown Prince values him greatly, consulting with him on many important decisions. Even the Crown Prince’s daily itinerary is managed by her brother. The level of reliance is such that if her brother says to go east, the Crown Prince absolutely won’t go west."

Shen Yinning casually tucked the gardenia flower into her hair.

How could she not know of such a figure in Lu Ying’s inner circle?

What’s more, even she couldn’t control Lu Ying—how could Yin Shanshan’s brother possibly sway his opinions?

Suppressing her doubts, she instructed Gao Zheng to retrieve money from Haitang.

In truth, she didn’t have much money herself.

Her daily expenses were completely covered by Lu Ying.

When she first returned to the Capital, she had coyly charmed Lu Ying into giving her the token for his money shop, allowing her access to plenty of funds—a bail amount was nothing to her. Besides, she didn’t expect Gao Zheng to repay her.

She sat down on the Imperial Concubine Couch by the window and instructed Wei Yu: "Go investigate whether there is such a person as Yin Yang inside the Eastern Palace."

"Yin Yang?" Wei Yu, who had been sitting on an embroidery stool working on a handkerchief, laughed when she heard the name. "There’s no need to investigate; I know him."

"Tell me."

"He’s the Eastern Palace’s official sedan bearer for the Crown Prince. A tall, burly man—carries the sedan really steadily! But he’s quite fond of gambling. Last year, he finally managed to marry a wife, but ended up gambling away everything, even using his own wife as collateral! Because of this, even the palace attendants have heard of him!"

Shen Yinning couldn’t help but laugh after hearing this.

She had thought Yin Yang was quite formidable, only to find out he was just a sedan bearer.

Talk about "making the Crown Prince go east and never west"—well, he’s carrying the sedan, so of course it’s heading wherever he goes!

Shen Yinning sipped her tea, the clear and bright reflections in her eyes sparkling with subtle light.

Her interest piqued, she remarked: "Since he’s a gambler, his funds must be extremely tight. Pass along a message—if he provides me with the Crown Prince’s daily itinerary, I’ll pay him five hundred taels of patterned silver per month."

Five hundred taels of patterned silver!

That was no small sum!

Wei Yu was shocked. After glancing outside the door to confirm Nanny Chen was not nearby, she lowered her voice: "It’s not just the money—but if the Crown Prince finds out you bribed the Eastern Palace sedan bearer to gather information about him, wouldn’t he be furious?"

"What’s there to fear?" Shen Yinning said indifferently. "As long as we don’t speak of it, he won’t find out. Besides, even if he does, what of it? He’d only assume that I’m madly in love with him, hence why I’ve gone to such lengths to track his movements. Wei Yu, remember this: if a woman makes a mistake, it’s not a big problem—the key is to blame that mistake on her love for him. Because a man won’t have the heart to punish a woman whose every thought and feeling revolves around him."

Wei Yu was left bewildered.

She stared at Shen Yinning.

The fading golden light of the summer dusk streamed through the vermilion gauze window. Reclined lazily on the Imperial Concubine Couch, the beauty exuded an enchanting charm. Her jade-green shawl and pomegranate-red skirt elegantly flowed to the floor, adorned with a snow-white, round gardenia flower on her temple. With willow-like brows and phoenix-like eyes raised slightly, she languidly held her porcelain tea cup; she was like a flawless portrait of a noble maiden.

Shen Yinning was not only breathtakingly beautiful, but she also truly understood men.

In the Eastern Palace, no beauty could rival her cunning.

Wei Yu couldn’t help but feel a tinge of admiration for her.

Haitang entered with a basket woven from golden bamboo: "Madam asked me to give Master Gao funds. I’ve already taken care of it. Besides the bail amount, I followed your orders and gave him an additional two thousand taels of patterned silver—it should be enough to cover Gao Mansion’s expenses for the next half year, saving you from any further disturbances from Old Madam Gao."

Wei Yu grew curious: "What’s in the basket?"

Haitang smiled and lifted the red cloth covering the basket: "Lychees from the Eastern Palace."

The lychees were just a small bundle, about two or three pounds, but each one was vibrantly red and perfectly round, looking exceptionally fresh.

Wei Yu exclaimed excitedly: "Madam, lychees are such rare treasures!"

"Eight hundred miles rushed from Lingnan, with horses run to death en route—how could they not be rare?" Haitang placed the lychees into ice water. "I’ve even heard that the ladies in the palace only get a small share. For our Madam to receive a whole bunch proves that the Crown Prince still has feelings for her."

Shen Yinning toyed with her tea cup.

The scent of lychees wafted through the boudoir.

But her mind wandered to Shen Yunxi’s upcoming cherry banquet.

A scheme suddenly formed in her mind.

She handed Haitang the money shop token from Lu Ying: "Go out and buy all the cherries in every fruit shop, inside and outside the city. Just tell them it’s for the Crown Prince’s use."

If Shen Yunxi wanted to host a cherry banquet, then she would buy out all the cherries in advance.