Reborn to marry, the short-lived prince lived a hundred years

Shen Yunheng had already noticed the burning gaze and met its gaze by slightly turning his head.

The latter was immersed in his own thoughts and would not have realized that he had been discovered if Shen Yunheng had not reminded him.

When Meng Tingyue came back to her senses, she met Shen Yunheng's dark eyes.

After being caught on the spot by herself, Meng Tingyue's cheeks instantly turned red.

In a panic, she instinctively raised the scroll in her hand, half covering her face, and said in a voice as thin as a mosquito: "Nothing... nothing."

Shen Yunheng stared at her crimson ears, quietly watching her clumsy cover-up, a hint of subtle soft joy flashed across his eyes, disappearing in a flash.

"Have you ever been to Wenshui County?"

Shen Yunheng's sudden question successfully diverted Meng Tingyue's attention.

She gently dropped the book in her hand to her chest, her eyes half closed, as if in deep thought.

After a moment of silence, she shook her head and said in a firm and clear tone: "No."

Upon hearing this, Shen Yunheng paused for a moment and asked again, his voice adding a hint of confirmation, "Have you really never been there?"

When asked this question, a glimmer of confusion flashed in Meng Tingyue's eyes.

Seeing that her expression didn't seem fake, Shen Yunheng said calmly: "No problem, just asking casually."

Shen Yunheng turned back again and concentrated on reviewing the memorials, as if the question he had just asked was just a casual question.

Meng Tingyue rested her chin on her hand, lost in thought.

She had no memory of hearing about Wenshui County.

Judging from Shen Yunheng's appearance, Wenshui County seems to be an extremely important place.

The next morning, Shen Yunheng entered the palace to attend the morning court.

Meng Tingyue leaned lazily on the soft couch, with a hint of sadness between her brows.

Her eyes inadvertently shifted to Qinglan and Qingdian who were standing beside her. "Do you know where Wenshui County is?"

The two of them met each other's eyes and shook their heads at the same time, with a hint of confusion in their tone: "I don't know."

After Nanny Qin entered the room, Meng Tingyue asked Nanny Qin again.

"Wenshui County is in the south of the Yangtze River, but it's quite far from Jincheng, where Madam's mother lives. Even by carriage, a round trip would take a whole day. Why did the Crown Princess suddenly ask about Wenshui County?"

After hearing Nanny Qin's explanation, Meng Tingyue asked again, "Nanny, do you know if I ever went to Wenshui County when I was young?"

"The Crown Princess was still young at the time, so how could she possibly have traveled so far? When she grew older and came to the capital, she had no chance to go to Wenshui County."

Hearing this, Meng Tingyue nodded slowly, as if thinking about something.

Nanny Qin went downstairs to get busy again.

Qinglan Hou asked quietly beside her, "Why did the Crown Princess suddenly ask about Wenshui County?"

Meng Tingyue couldn't figure out the problem, so she asked them to help her figure it out together: "Your Highness the Crown Prince mentioned Wenshui County to me yesterday and asked me if I had ever been there."

"Madame Qin said that the Crown Princess has never been there, so it certainly can't be false..." Qinglan murmured, as if she had thought of something, and her expression suddenly became excited.

"Could it be that His Highness mistook the Crown Princess for another girl?"

Meng Tingyue cast a puzzled look.

"I have read some storybooks before. The protagonist in each storybook mistook his wife for someone else's substitute. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had someone else in his mind!" Qinglan spoke with great confidence, and felt more and more that his guess was true.

"If not, why did His Majesty issue an edict to appoint a Crown Princess so early? The Crown Prince must have felt that the Crown Princess looked like the person he loved, so he married her as a substitute."

Meng Tingyue frowned and thought carefully about Qinglan's guess.

"The prince should not be that kind of person. Don't take those messy books you read as reality." Qing Dian frowned.

"Then how do you explain the prince suddenly asking the girl whether she has been to Wenshui County?" Qinglan asked back.

Qing Dian was speechless for a moment, with a lot of thoughts in her mind but she couldn't find the right words to refute.

Qinglan became more and more certain of her suspicions, and could not help but complain, "If His Royal Highness is really such a person, if the beauty of his dreams appears, he will not directly turn against me, right?"

"What if that beautiful lady gets angry and insists on fighting for the title of Crown Princess? What should that girl do?"

Qinglan was so worried that she didn't even call her Crown Princess.

Meng Tingyue gently raised the scroll in her hand and tapped the back of Qinglan's hand. "Alright, alright, stop thinking about so many unnecessary things."

"So what if there really is such a beautiful woman? Since I am the Crown Princess appointed by His Majesty, if the Crown Prince wants to demote me to a concubine or cancel the engagement, His Majesty's consent is required."

Having said that, a subtle but imperceptible ripple still arose in Meng Tingyue's heart, and a trace of unspeakable sadness quietly passed through her heart.

"Don't mention this matter again, and don't let outsiders know about it."

"understood."

……

Before lunch, Ling Qi, on the prince's orders, brought over some items that the prince had left in his study.

Among them are mostly memorials and some trivial matters.

One of the boxes looked a little mysterious. It had no lock on it and was simply covered with a layer of rainproof oilcloth.

After Ling Qi put the things away, he retreated silently.

Meng Tingyue thought about Qinglan's words this morning and felt more and more uncomfortable.

At this moment, her eyes involuntarily fell on the unlocked box. The edge of the thin blanket tightly held in her hands unconsciously wrinkled slightly due to her inner struggle.

After an inner struggle, she finally made up her mind and slowly stood up from the couch, taking each step very lightly, for fear of being discovered.

She took a deep breath, slowly stretched out her hand, lightly touched the lid of the box with her fingertips, and opened it effortlessly.

Something on the top shelf of the box caught her attention.

It was a scroll, and it was very new.

She gently held the painting in her palm, unable to imagine what kind of painting the prince could have hidden so well.

The uneasiness in her heart was like a breeze blowing across the lake, stirring up layers of ripples, but she forced herself to remain calm, and her fingertips lightly untied the red rope that bound the scroll.

As the scroll gradually unfolded, the picture slowly flowed into her eyes. The previous tension seemed to be wiped away by an invisible force, and was replaced by a deep chill that quietly crept into her heart.

Meng Tingyue's hand holding the scroll trembled slightly unconsciously, and a sense of irony and sadness rose in her heart.

Qinglan guessed it right, she really was a substitute.

The scroll slowly unfolded, revealing a man and a woman painted on it.

The man sat upright at the desk, seemingly flipping through a book. The woman stood beside him, so he withdrew his gaze and looked at the woman gently. His eyes were filled with all the tenderness and attachment in the world, and his heart and eyes were filled with only her.

Although only half of the woman's face was visible, that half was extremely similar to her. The woman's face was also full of smiles, and she was looking at the man wholeheartedly.

What a picture of a handsome man and a beautiful woman.