Shanhu suddenly brought himself back. He shook his head and smiled timidly, “I am fine. I have just woken up and am not feeling so well. Let’s just take a break.”

Hearing his words, Shen Tai took back Shanhu’s bowl and said bashfully, “I am sorry that I have been speaking with you all this time, not letting you rest. If anything happens to you, Elder Miss is going to blame me.”

Then he took away the bowl and left.

Shanhu was dumbfounded. However, Shen Tai and Gu Chaoyan did not take any of his reactions to heart.

Gu Chaoyan was in the middle of thinking about what she should do about Li County.

***

At the Heir’s mansion.

The King had already made a plan to let the Heir and Prime Minister Chu visit Li County, and the Heir was leaving first, since Prime Minister Chu had not yet been done with many things in the court.

Zhou Huailing was definitely going to bring Junyi with him on his trip to Li County. After all, Zhou Huailing had no specific plans about how to solve the problem, whilst Junyi had a lot going on in his mind. For him, the trip to Li County was a test, and if he could do it well, he was not only going to prove himself capable in front of Prime Minister Chu, but would also stand out in front of the ministers, and even the civilians.

When they were done packing, they started to leave.

Li County was not very far from the capital, and they did not have much to bring with them. So they finished packing very quickly.

Junyi looked at the things the servants were packing.

He came to Zhou Huailing and asked in surprise. “Heir, are you bringing the Princess Consort to Li County this time?”

Zhou Huailing got startled and asked, “Father assigned me to do the work, why should I bring a woman along with me?”

Junyi felt helpless. He had spent so much time with the Heir and realized that the Heir never thought about things. He could not even understand why he should take the Princess Consort with him.

However… however, despite his helplessness, the Heir was still his boss. Although he was not smart, he was born lucky, so was the Princess Consort.

He explained patiently, “Heir, we don’t have to bring the Princess Consort with us, if she was just an ordinary woman you might be considered as someone who is obsessed with women. However, she is the Phoenix Girl, so you should have her with you. If you finish the task well, then the Phoenix Girl would acquire the support of the civilians too. Civilians are not smart people, and they easily believe those things.”

Hearing what Junyi said, Zhou Huailing nodded.

He had not thought about this. Xie Yan had told him not to bring any women with him, so he never thought about bringing her with him. However, he got angry as he thought about Xie Yan, who was so stupid, and who was always setting him up.

“Junyi, let’s go to the Princess Consort and tell her about this,” Zhou Huailing said with a look of justice.

Junyi hesitated, but he still nodded and followed.

***

Gu Ruxue was just drinking tea and eating lychees, and receiving a massage from some servant. She looked very relaxed.

Hearing what Zhou Huailing said, she became annoyed. “I am not coming!”

“Why not?” Junyi asked confusedly.

“So many people are dead and injured in Li County, why should I, the Princess Consort, be there? Am I asking for death?” Gu Ruxue said with a look of fury.

Junyi had a very complicated look on his face.