Report to the Empress and the Eldest Princess: They're using the system to poach your men.

【What the master says is all correct.】

[You today...]

"How long does Your Highness intend to enjoy the scenery?"

Shen Sangwan was still wondering what had gotten into Xiaotong when Wen Yuening's voice rang in her ears.

Looking in the direction of the voice, one could see Wen Yuening standing under the eaves, her hands folded in front of her chest, a posture that seemed out of place with her clothes.

"Yes... Ah Ning!"

Shen Sangwan forced a smile, feeling somewhat awkward.

"Your Highness has suddenly remembered to call me A-Ning again?"

"Didn't I always call her Ah Ning?"

"I only called it twice at most, in Xingde Hall, but that was just something I said casually!"

"Hey—come on, Aning, don't go!"

"I noticed that Your Highness was enjoying the scenery up there quite at ease. Perhaps we came at an inopportune time and disturbed Your Highness's enjoyment."

After saying something sarcastic, Wen Yuening turned around and prepared to walk back. Shen Sangwan quickly begged for mercy in a gentle voice.

"No...no, my belt got caught on a tree branch, please, Ah Ning, save me!"

In her panic, Shen Sangwan flailed her arms and legs in mid-air. The excessive movement caused her clothes to tear, and she crashed directly to the ground.

"Your Highness!"

Wen Yuening exclaimed in surprise, gathered her strength and flew over, catching the other person with lightning speed.

Fortunately, Shen Sangwan wasn't too heavy, and since it was daytime, neither of them fell.

"Huh - so dangerous!"

Shen Sangwan thought she was going to fall flat on her face, but instead she fell into a soft embrace and breathed a sigh of relief.

Upon hearing Shen Sangwan's sigh, Wen Yuening tried to throw him out, but the other person grabbed her neck with both hands in fright.

"Hey... Hey, Ning, you can't do this!"

Qingque, who came out of the hall, happened to see Shen Sangwan's "delicate" scene. Her eyes widened, and she quickly hid behind a pillar, lowering her head and pretending that she hadn't seen anything.

"How much longer will Your Highness stay in Yue Ning's arms?"

Although she wasn't heavy, it was still a bit tiring to hold her like that, especially since Shen Sangwan was wrapping her arms around her neck very tightly, which made it increasingly difficult for her.

"Don't throw me, gently put me down."

After confirming several times, Shen Sangwan dared to release her hand from the other person's neck.

Only after landing safely did she dare to breathe heavily.

Shen Sangwan pointed at the red wall and said in a childlike manner, "This high wall of yours is no good. I'll have it torn down tomorrow."

Wen Yuening didn't reply, but turned and walked towards her own bedroom.

Seeing this, Shen Sangwan followed behind like a child who had done something wrong, but upon seeing Qingque, she immediately changed her expression, pretending to be dignified and domineering.

Once inside the inner hall, he immediately became cautious again, tugging at Wen Yuening's arm and coaxing her.

"Ah Ning, I just called you Empress without thinking when I was in Xingde Palace. It was truly unintentional. Please don't be angry, okay?"

Shen Sangwan had been holding onto Wen Yuening's right arm the whole time, and now she noticed that the other woman seemed to be intentionally hiding her left hand.

"Ah Ning, what happened to your left hand?"

Wen Yuening pulled her hand halfway into her sleeve, her expression somewhat unnatural, and tried to change the subject, "It's nothing. Since Your Highness didn't mean it, let's not mention it again. This morning, Shuyun said that Dongrui started a war. What are Your Highness's plans?"

Shen Sangwan wasn't buying it and forcefully grabbed the other person's hand, saying, "Don't move, let me see."

Seeing that she couldn't avoid it, Wen Yuening didn't forcefully push Shen Sangwan away, but slowly stretched her hand out from her sleeve.

"When were you injured? Back at Xingde Hall, your hand was perfectly fine when I saw it."

"Your Highness, I'm fine. I just hurt myself by accident. They're all minor injuries, nothing serious."

Shen Sangwan noticed that Wen Yuening's eyes were somewhat evasive, and realized that things were probably not as simple as the other party said.

“If you don’t tell me, I will immediately go back and have the palace walls reinforced and all the doors and windows locked, so that you will never be able to climb over the walls of Weiyang Palace or climb the windows of the main hall again.”

Wen Yuening was amused by Shen Sangwan's words and almost poked his nose with her hand. "Your Highness, it's really nothing serious. I just got distracted while carving the puppet and accidentally scratched myself."

"A puppet? The one Qingque mentioned that cleans up sawdust?"

Upon hearing this, Wen Yuening knew that Qingque was covering up the bloodshed for her, so she didn't expose it. Instead, she went along with it and said, "I accidentally made a mistake while carving the puppet, so I stopped carving it and asked her to clean up the wood chips and pick them up."

“There are many types of wood suitable for carving. If one is damaged, we can just replace it. Why would storing it take up space?”

Normally, if a half-finished product takes a long time to complete, Shen Sangwan will simply discard it, let alone something that is ruined.

Therefore, she couldn't understand Wen Yuening's actions.

But Wen Yuening interpreted these words differently.

"Does Your Highness mean that once a person is old or no longer useful, they can be discarded like a damaged object?"

Shen Sangwan was stunned upon hearing this.

Panic ensued, "No...that's not what I meant."

"What I learned in this world is how to make clothes. If there is even the slightest flaw, I will start over immediately. I was inconsiderate in my words. Please don't overthink it. I really didn't mean anything by it."

"okay."

Wen Yuening simply responded with a faint sound, keeping her head down and not looking at Shen Sangwan.

Seeing that Wen Yuening refused to communicate, Shen Sangwan came up with a plan.

“Ah Ning, I don’t know what I did that made you feel increasingly insecure. I’m usually quite oblivious and don’t notice certain details.”

If something makes you uncomfortable or causes you to overthink, can you just tell me directly? Making me guess or figure it out myself will only strain our relationship, and sooner or later I'll get tired of it too.

After saying this, Shen Sangwan's eyes showed exhaustion. Without waiting for Wen Yuening's response, she continued, "Aning, I came today to find out why you are angry."

Now that we know the reason, and since Ah Chen already knew about our relationship, if you feel that my calling you Empress in front of her means I'm not acknowledging our relationship, then from now on, I will call you Ah Ning in front of the Empress Dowager and Ah Chen.

If you still feel it's not enough, then I will go to the Empress Dowager and make things clear, and I will bear all the consequences.

Wen Yuening was somewhat at a loss for words after Shen Sangwan's words, and simply sat blankly in her chair with her lips pursed.

“If Ah Ning hasn’t thought it through, then she should think it through carefully. I think we need to communicate properly, otherwise if too many problems accumulate, our relationship will inevitably run into trouble sooner or later.”

Shen Sangwan got up to go back, but just as she reached the door, Wen Yuening hugged her from behind.

"Your Highness, I'm sorry—"

“Yue Ning has nightmares every night, all of them are images of His Highness on the battlefield in his previous life. She is always inexplicably afraid. Yue Ning does not want to lose His Highness again.”