High-class maid

"No, we wouldn't dare. It would be better if this young master stayed away from us. We are young ladies, and it wouldn't be good if someone with ulterior motives misunderstood us."

Shan Tao pulled Shen Xing'er back a step, her disdain evident in her eyes.

"Please be magnanimous, ladies. Don't hold it against my mother. This is the money you just paid. Consider it my apology."

Shen Juyi held the silver that Shen Xing'er had thrown on the table. The indifference in the eyes of the two girls made him feel uncomfortable. It was the first time he had ever been disliked.

“Young Master Shen, let me give you a piece of advice: loose lips sink ships. Your mother has only offended us two young ladies today. Now that you are under the Emperor’s nose, you are not like the powerless villagers. If you offend an official one day, it will be a great loss.”

Seeing that Shen Juyi was quite sensible, Shen Xing'er kindly reminded him.

Shen Xing'er's words made Shen Juyi even more ashamed. His face turned extremely red, and he wished he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

"We don't want this money, and we won't come back again." Shen Xing'er didn't even look at the money in his hand, and pulled Shan Tao away.

"Hmph, that old woman Yu, if only she had half the manners of her son." Shan Tao complained as the two walked back.

"This kind of woman is so arrogant, always thinking that no one is good enough for her son. I wonder which girl is so unlucky to marry into such a family," Shen Xing'er said.

"I think that man is quite reasonable. This is what they mean by 'bad bamboo produces good shoots,'" Shan Tao remarked with feeling.

"Oh, when did Xiaoshan Tao learn these words? Tell me quickly, what else don't I know?" Shen Xing'er pinched Shan Tao's cheek and teased her with a smile.

"Hmph, you're just making fun of me. I'll scratch you!" Shan Tao said angrily, about to scratch Shen Xing'er.

"Good mountain peach, good sister, I was wrong, please forgive me." Shen Xing'er laughed until tears streamed down her face as she was tickled, and begged for mercy helplessly.

The two sisters returned to Jinxiufang amidst playful banter. Shantao couldn't wait to go upstairs to embroider, since Shen Xing'er had only bought four embroidery frames, Shantao was using the ones left over from the previous shop.

"How about I go buy you an embroidery frame? This one is old and a bit shaky, will it be able to embroider well?" Shen Xing'er said.

"It's alright, it's much better than holding a small embroidery in the mansion and embroidering it by hand. What pattern do you want? Pick one for me quickly, I want to embroider the biggest one!" Shan Tao said with great enthusiasm.

“I happen to have a pattern for a screen here, why don’t you embroider it?” Shen Xing’er said.

She had been pondering flower patterns these past few days. One day, she suddenly realized that there were no large pieces in the shop, so she spent the whole night revising and refining them until she finally drew a satisfactory flower pattern.

Now that Shantao has come to the shop, it has solved her immediate problem.

"Okay, bring it over quickly." Shan Tao said, rubbing her hands together eagerly.

Shen Xing'er breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Shan Tao had finally forgotten about her family matters. For a woman as carefree as Shan Tao to be able to make her cry, one could imagine how outrageous her sister-in-law must have been.

Inside the palace.

"Well, have you found out everything?" the Emperor asked, looking at the guard kneeling before him.

"Your Majesty, we have found out everything." After the guard finished speaking, he presented the statements he had in his hand.

The Emperor did not rush to look at it. Instead, he waved his hand to dismiss the guards, then took a deep breath before slowly beginning to speak.

"Very well, very well, you're incredibly audacious! Go and summon the Crown Prince!" The Emperor slammed the confession onto the table and coldly ordered Eunuch Su.

"Yes." Eunuch Su wiped the sweat from his forehead and quickly retreated.

At this moment, the Crown Prince was also pacing anxiously in his residence.

"Are these two useless? They've never been caught swapping exam papers in previous years, so why were they caught this year?" the Crown Prince roared at his advisors.

"Your Highness, please calm down. The Gao family has already been arrested. Everyone in the court knows they are your protégés. Your best course of action now is to clear your name as soon as possible!" the advisor earnestly advised.

"It's alright. Neither of them would dare to implicate me. As long as I insist that I was wronged, Father Emperor can't do anything to me."

After calming down, the crown prince returned to his seat and poured himself a cup of tea.

"Your Highness, the best course of action now is to find out who reported this matter to the Emperor, and who that scholar named Wu Xunzhi met with? What was his reaction after learning that he had failed the exam?"

Seeing the Crown Prince's inexplicably confident demeanor, the advisor felt a little scared and couldn't help but remind him.

"He's just a student. If he had powerful connections, would the Gao family dare to let someone impersonate him? Thanks to him, I've become a target of the Emperor's wrath. Let him be granted a complete corpse."

The crown prince said casually.

"Yes, I'll go and make the arrangements right away," the aide said, his heart sinking.

It is said that serving a ruler is like serving a tiger. The Crown Prince is not only ruthless, but also doesn't care about human life. He would casually take the life of a learned scholar.

If one day I were to stand in the way of the Crown Prince's interests, would he not hesitate to take my life as well?

Before the Crown Prince could even relax, someone from the palace summoned him. The Crown Prince deliberately didn't even change his clothes before following the eunuch into the palace.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects. It has been a few days since I last saw you. Is your cough any better? This is pear syrup that I made myself. I have heard that it can relieve coughs."

Before the emperor could speak, the crown prince preemptively played the emotional card.

Unexpectedly, the expected shout did not come. The crown prince knelt on the ground, at a loss. He felt that his father was watching him, but he dared not raise his head.

"Get up."

After a long while, the Emperor's voice finally rang out from above his head.

The crown prince felt as if he had been granted a pardon, and stood respectfully to the side, no longer daring to utter a single sarcastic remark.

"Are the Gao family uncles and nephews your students?" the Emperor asked.

"Indeed, why does Father ask such a question? What have the two done wrong?" the Crown Prince asked, feigning ignorance.

"How is your business among the common people?" The emperor did not answer him, but changed the subject.

The crown prince's eyes darted around, unsure what the emperor wanted to ask. After a moment's hesitation, he cautiously replied...

"Reporting to Father Emperor, it can't be considered good, nor can it be considered bad. Business after the New Year is not as good as before the New Year."

"How much private money does your mother give you each month? And what about your maternal grandparents' family?" the Emperor asked again.

The fact that a prince's maternal family would send him money was an open secret within the palace.

The princes needed money for entertainment and living expenses, while their maternal families relied on the princes' influence to make a living, which has been a tradition since ancient times.

"This is not much. Your Majesty, I am always frugal and keep most of my money in the bank. But does Your Majesty need money? Your Majesty, I will send someone to fetch it right away."

The Crown Prince wasn't sure what the Emperor meant, but it was always a good idea to appease him first.