Chapter 61 Not Worried About Her Presence

"Mother, I am not worried about Er-ya, she doesn't know how to do anything." Shen Yiheng shook his head and said frankly, "Your son is not worried about her existence."

To Shen Yiheng, Er-ya was merely a little tool to bring a smile to his mother's face, nothing worth his concern.

He pressed his lips together, standing before Dou Hongyan with a mature air far beyond his years, and asked solemnly, "Heng-er wishes to know if everything is well with the household, and whether Mother is still able to cope."

"You, child... why worry yourself with so much?"

Dou Hongyan tapped Shen Yuheng's head in amusement and teased, "This marquisate belongs to you and me, so naturally it is under my control. You must not let worldly matters interfere with your studies, understand?"

"And another thing!" she suddenly called out to stop him.

"Although you know very well that you share no blood ties with Er-ya, she is still your younger sister. You must not view her—"

"Mother!" Shen Yuheng was caught between laughter and tears.

Interrupting Dou Hongyan's suddenly dangerous train of thought, he helplessly replied, "She doesn't even recognize a few basic characters. Aside from a pretty face, what else is there?"

The implication was clear: he could never take a liking to Er-ya.

Dou Hongyan narrowed her eyes, and only then did she set her mind at ease.

Since the conversation had already turned to this, Shen Yuheng simply stopped in his tracks and turned back. "There is one more matter I should have told Mother earlier. Recently, while studying at the Imperial Academy, I noticed that when the other students speak of the Crown Prince, their tone grows increasingly indignant. Someone must be manipulating public opinion behind the scenes, fanning the flames and spreading detrimental remarks about him."

Dou Hongyan had no reason to doubt the information he brought.

Shen Yuheng was precocious. Even though his relationship with Xiao Ze remained distant, he understood that their alliance was, for now, mutually beneficial.

"Thank you for keeping an eye on these things, Heng-er. Mother knows. You should go back and rest first."

"Mother—"

"Alright," Dou Hongyan said gently. "It is nothing. You need not trouble yourself with these matters; just focus on your studies."

Realizing he had appeared a bit too eager, Shen Yuheng stopped in time and obediently answered, "Yes." The moment he turned and walked away, his clear gaze instantly grew dark and unfathomable.

After he departed, however, Dou Hongyan's relaxed expression also sank.

In the past,顾昭昭 would have suppressed such trivial matters behind the scenes immediately. Yet this time, she had allowed the rumors to spread all the way to the ears of a mere child like Shen Yuheng?

The waters within the Crown Prince's residence ran deep, and Dou Hongyan pondered for a moment, unsure whether Gu Zhaozhao was plotting something else once again.

Soon, the day arrived when she had to entertain Shen Yishuo and his riffraff companions.

A grand banquet was held at the tavern, bright with lanterns and echoing with the deafening sound of gongs and drums—a most lively scene.

Before they had even exchanged a few words, the men were already heavily intoxicated, their speech slurred: "Never expected... Shen brother's wife... to look, *hic*... to look so breathtaking, gorgeous as a celestial fairy. The finest courtesan I've ever laid eyes upon doesn't even measure up to a tenth of Madam... *hic*!"

Hearing such near-insulting remarks, Liu Yun was so furious she itched to slap the man across the face.

Yet she was stopped by Dou Hongyan.

Giving a cool glance at Shen Yishuo, whose expression had turned somewhat unsightly, she said indifferently, "I cannot hold my liquor and am in no state to host. Husband, please make yourself comfortable."

Since the other party had spoken without restraint first, Shen Yishuo was uncharacteristically left speechless and could only watch helplessly as Dou Hongyan took her leave.

The moment Dou Hongyan stepped foot into the carriage, a strong force pulled her, causing her to tumble straight into a firm embrace.

A sinister, mocking voice murmured by her ear: "Cannot hold... your liquor?"

Without a word of explanation, he pressed her close against his chest, toying with a strand of her hair, his tone simultaneously intimate and chilling: "So utterly useless? Yet you still insisted on staying to entertain his guests?"

"His Highness is in high spirits."

Dou Hongyan gave an indifferent, light chuckle, closing her eyes to compose herself. "Plagued by scandals and rumors, yet you still find the time to seduce a married woman."

"Scholars' tongues are the most reckless." Xiao Ze's tone deepened, the air around him turning cold.

He remarked nonchalantly, "Gu Zhaozhao will naturally take care of these matters."

He said it so casually, and Dou Hongyan listened just as casually. Yet once those words settled into her ears, the more she pondered them, the more insipid they felt, causing her closed eyes to furrow with annoyance.