The more cowardly a person is, the more wild they are; I've driven the villainous minister craz

Prince Chen's face was cold, his eyes filled with furious anger. "Where did she go?"

Mingwei, fearing that he would anger himself, quickly massaged his master's shoulders, saying, "Your Highness, please calm down. The princess may just be having fun and has gone out to play."

Prince Chen felt that he was still angry.

"Find her! Send people to find her secretly! Once you find her, immediately send her to the palace and send a message to the Empress Dowager: without my permission, she is not allowed to leave the palace."

Mingwei agreed, "Yes."

Upon learning that Wang Wanshu had disappeared, Prince Chen had a bad feeling.

He always felt that she was going to cause trouble again.

"By the way, Mingwei." Prince Chen remembered something more important and carefully instructed, "Send people to deliver medicinal herbs to the Yun residence on time. Yun Shang and Madam Yu were both injured this time, so have people gather more rare tonics and send them over."

If Yun Shang weren't a man, Mingwei would have suspected that his lord harbored other intentions towards him, cough cough...

He quickly stopped the absurd thought from his mind and responded seriously.

Yun Shang did not refuse the gifts sent by Prince Chen.

Regardless of Prince Chen's motives for sending these things, it was a sign of harmony between the ruler and his subject, and Yun Shang was happy to have a closer relationship with Prince Chen.

The New Year arrived amidst everyone's anticipation.

On New Year's Eve, Yu Wan and Yun Shang were also allowed to leave Min'an Hall.

The two returned to the Yun residence by carriage and saw a group of people standing in a row at the entrance.

Shen Shi, Yun Xi, Zhou Shi'an, and Elder Feng all looked at them with smiles on their faces.

At the bottom of the stairs in the Yun residence, there was a burning brazier, branches that looked like those of a pomelo tree, and a bundle of thorns tied together.

Yu Wan glanced at Yun Shang, her face full of questions, "What are you doing?"

Yun Shang met her gaze, shook his head slightly, and said calmly, "I don't know either."

The words "You're really useless" immediately flashed in Yu Wan's eyes before she turned and jumped off the carriage.

Yun Shang took in her gaze and watched the figure happily skipping towards the door, a smile involuntarily creeping onto his lips.

When he realized he was actually laughing, he lowered his eyes awkwardly and tried his best to suppress the smile.

"Mother-in-law, Yunxi, Elder Feng, Young Master Zhou!" Yu Wan called out to everyone in one breath, asking curiously, "What's going on here?"

Seeing that Yu Wan was about to go around the thorns at the front, Madam Shen quickly stopped her, "Wait, Yu Niang! Don't move!"

Upon hearing this, Yu Wan paused, one foot dangling in mid-air as if she had been paralyzed.

She felt inexplicably nervous. "W-what's wrong?"

Madam Shen smiled and said to the two of them, "Don't rush inside. Let's take advantage of the New Year to get rid of the bad luck."

She looked at Yun Shang, who was walking behind, and urged him, "Hurry up and take Yu Niang with you to step over the fire basin to get rid of bad luck."

Holding hands?

Yu Wan turned her head to look at Yun Shang, just as he slowly raised his eyes to meet her gaze.

That face was exceptionally handsome, almost otherworldly. Yu Wan had a strange feeling that Yun Shang's gaze towards her now seemed less cold than before...

The thought of holding hands with him in front of so many people made Yu Wan's face flush uncontrollably.

She wanted to ask if she could stop holding hands, but unexpectedly, the man walked over in a few steps and reached out to take her hand.

Yu Wan: "!"

what--

Her heart skipped a beat.

Yun Shang felt a momentary tension in her body and said calmly, "Don't be afraid, it won't burn you."

He thought that Yu Wan had developed a fear of fire because of that fire.

Upon hearing this, Madam Shen slapped her forehead, feeling extremely annoyed. "Look at me, I was so focused on stepping over the fire pit to get rid of bad luck that I completely forgot about this."

Yu Wan quickly said, "I'm fine, I'm not afraid of this little fire."

Seeing that she did not look reluctant, Madam Shen felt relieved and instructed them, "Step over the thorns, and the road ahead will be long and unobstructed."

"With the second step, a new leaf emerges, and the future is bright and promising with smooth sailing."

"Step over the fire basin three times, and all evil spirits will go away, sweeping away all bad luck."

Holding Yun Shang's hand as they traversed thorns, new leaves, and a brazier, Yu Wan inexplicably felt as if they were holding a wedding ceremony.

She remembered watching a TV series before where the bride's first step was sometimes crossing a fire basin...

Thinking of this, Yu Wan's face grew even hotter.

Both Shen and Yunxi noticed her blushing face. The mother and daughter exchanged a glance, their eyes full of smiles.

After saying a few more auspicious words, the ritual to ward off bad luck was finally over.

Yu Wan was lost in thought when someone reminded her to watch the threshold as she entered the room, and she was shocked to realize that she and Yun Shang were still holding hands!

Yu Wan quickly withdrew her hand, whispered "thank you," and hurried over to Shen and the others.

Zhou Shi'an waited slowly for Yun Shang, then stood beside him and said with a smile, "Seeing how good the relationship is between Brother Yun and his wife, I'm even thinking of getting married myself."

Yun Shang paused, turning to look at him.

His expression was cold and indifferent.

Zhou Shi'an felt a chill run down his spine for no reason, and quickly raised his hand to swear, "Brother Yun, I swear to heaven and earth, I dare not show the slightest disrespect to my sister-in-law now. I swear, I guarantee that I will treat my sister-in-law with the same respect as you."

Yun Shang then looked away.

He said calmly, "Why are you here on New Year's Eve when you're not home?"

Zhou Shi'an seemed to realize something, a hint of sadness flashing across his eyes. He then feigned hurt and sorrow, "I treat Brother Yun like my own brother, and I came here especially to have a reunion dinner with Brother Yun. Does Brother Yun intend to discard me like trash?"

Yun Shang ignored his performance and said, "Eating is fine, but the Yun family doesn't entertain idlers."

Zhou Shi'an immediately beamed with joy, "Hey, hey, I'll go help Auntie start the fire right away!"

Instead of having the maids prepare the New Year's Eve dinner, Madam Shen had the whole family work together.

Yu Wan and Yun Shang were assigned to pick vegetables together, and whether it was intentional on Shen's part or not, they were only given a small basin.

Every time Yun Shang selects the best vegetables, she has to lean close to Yu Wan before she can put them into the bowl.

So Yu Wan could only endure the onslaught of beauty filters, her mind completely elsewhere from picking vegetables.

Her mind was wandering, and she couldn't control those impure thoughts in her head.

"Yu Niang".

Yun Shang suddenly spoke.

Yu Wan subconsciously looked up in response.

Yun Shang looked at her flushed face and clear, watery eyes, his gaze shifting slightly. His slender fingertips touched her forehead, a hint of doubt in his voice, "Why is your face so red? Do you have a fever?"

Yu Wan: "..." I was so ashamed!

She doesn't have a fever, she has...

Yu Wan, embarrassed, slapped Yun Shang's hand away, stood up abruptly, and said quickly, "There's a little left, you can finish it yourself. I'll go help Yun Xi chop the vegetables!"

Watching someone flee in disarray, Yun Shang gently rubbed his fingertips.

Her body heat seemed to still linger on his fingers.

He lowered his eyes, the smile almost overflowing from them.

Her face turned so red, what was she thinking just now?

Yun Shang realized that he was actually looking forward to Yu Wan having those wicked thoughts about him.