The Obsessive Crown Prince Can't Let Me Go-Chapter 16 The Crown Prince Wants to Kill Me!

As if reading their minds, Shen Yinning’s voice was hoarse: "You’ve served me before. If Shen Yunxi knows about this, given her temperament, I doubt she’d tolerate you in the future. Instead, why not follow me? If I win the Crown Prince’s favor, become his consort, and enter the Eastern Palace, your lives will rise with mine, wouldn’t they?"

Haitang and Wei Yu fell silent.

Clearly, Shen Yinning’s words had struck a chord.

After a long pause, Haitang and Wei Yu bowed: "We will do as Madam wishes."

Shen Yinning smiled with satisfaction, her moist and enchanting phoenix eyes filled with ambition and intrigue.

Shen Yinning rested in Shen Garden for two days before returning to the Gao residence in Lotus Blossom Alley.

Upon entering, a servant informed her that Gao Zheng had fallen ill.

Stepping into Gao Zheng’s bedroom, she saw Gao’s mother and Yin Shanshan weeping sorrowfully by the sickbed.

Catching sight of Shen Yinning, Gao’s mother immediately scowled, her lips cracking with agitation: "You finally remembered to visit?! Your husband has been ill for two days now—do you even know?!"

Yin Shanshan sobbed into her handkerchief: "Sister, the doctor said my husband’s illness is caused by severe shock, leading to heart palpitations, anxiety, paralysis, and fainting. He can’t even drink his medicine now—what should we do?!"

The man on the sickbed had sunken cheeks and a deathly pale complexion, looking utterly weak.

"Severe shock?" Shen Yinning raised a brow. "Who did he meet before coming back?"

Yin Shanshan wiped away her tears: "On the Dragon Boat Festival, my husband said a few words to the Crown Prince. When he returned, he became like this."

Shen Yinning understood instantly.

It was likely Gui Quan had reported her and Gao Zheng’s dealings to Lu Ying, prompting Lu Ying to chastise Gao Zheng.

She found it amusing.

Imagine, a grown man being scared into such a pitiful state.

She remarked, "He’ll be fine."

"That’s easy for you to say!" Gao’s mother cursed angrily. "Zheng can’t even crawl out of bed! He hasn’t been to the government office for roll call! Which eye of yours sees him being fine?! It’s all your damn fault—if anything happens to my Zheng, I’ll hold you responsible!"

Yin Shanshan gave Shen Yinning an accusatory glance but then comforted Gao’s mother: "Mother, don’t worry too much. I’ll go find my brother now and ask him to plead on Zheng’s behalf before the Crown Prince."

"Yes, yes, yes! Your brother carries weight with the Crown Prince—we can still rely on him!" Gao’s mother echoed eagerly. "Go to the storeroom and take money with you; smoothing things over always requires money. Though, I wonder if our savings will be enough..."

The mother and daughter-in-law busily planned their visit to the storeroom.

Shen Yinning brought over a cup of cold tea and splashed it onto Gao Zheng’s face.

Gao Zheng groggily opened his eyes. Seeing Shen Yinning, his face grew even paler.

He stammered in fear, "M-Miss Shen... You’ve returned? The Crown Prince, he... he wants to kill me!"

"He won’t kill you." Shen Yinning leaned lazily against the bed. "You’re still useful to him, so he won’t go that far. Gao Zheng, remember: As long as a person has value, they won’t be easily discarded by those in power."

Gao Zheng’s eyes were bloodshot, his lips dry and cracked.

He stared dumbly at Shen Yinning, her fair skin and black hair breathtakingly beautiful.

His Adam’s apple bobbed as he rasped out, "D-Do I have any value to Miss Shen?"

Shen Yinning flashed him a smile: "Of course."

Her smile was mesmerizing.

Gao Zheng was spellbound.

"So you better get better quickly," Shen Yinning added.

Gao Zheng struggled to nod, gazing at Shen Yinning’s face. He grinned foolishly, his cracked lips splitting further.

Meanwhile, Yin Shanshan gathered the remaining two thousand taels of snow-patterned silver notes from the Gao family and presented them to her elder brother Yin Yang.

She said, "Brother, these are all the silver notes the Gao family has left. Please make sure you handle Zheng’s affairs properly!"

Yin Yang licked his finger to count the silver notes greedily, not even bothering to look up: "Little sister, don’t you worry. With this much silver spread around, there’s no problem I can’t solve. Let your husband rest easy—the Crown Prince won’t trouble him if he counts on me!"

Yin Shanshan asked curiously, "Brother, are you close with the Crown Prince?"

Yin Yang scratched his nose, feeling guilty.

He was merely a sedan bearer in the Eastern Palace; the Crown Prince likely didn’t even know his face. How could they be "close"?

Stuffing the silver notes into his jacket, he lied, "Of course! The Crown Prince depends on me so much that he wouldn’t dare go anywhere without me. I tell him to move east, and he wouldn’t dare move west! Stop worrying about it—just leave your husband’s matters to me!"

Seeing her brother’s confident promise, Yin Shanshan felt reassured.

She thanked Yin Yang before returning jubilantly to the Gao residence.

Gao’s mother hurried to meet her: "Shanshan, how did it go?"

"Mother, rest easy. My brother vowed to ensure the Crown Prince doesn’t trouble my husband."

Gao’s mother marveled, "Oh my, your brother-in-law is so impressive! What exactly is his relationship with the Crown Prince?"

"I’m not too sure about the details. All I know is that the Crown Prince relies on him a lot—even his daily whereabouts are decided by my brother," Yin Shanshan beamed. "My brother must be some kind of advisor or strategist! Once my husband makes achievements at the government office, I’ll ask my brother to mention it to the Crown Prince, and the Crown Prince can promote him to a high-ranking official."

Gao’s mother was overjoyed, holding Yin Shanshan’s hands in praise: "Our family has really lucked out, marrying someone as capable as you!"

Yin Shanshan humbly replied, "I’m not as competent as my elder sister."

"She’s just a pretty vase with no substance!" Gao’s mother scoffed. "Shanshan, once Zheng recovers, I’ll make sure he makes you his official wife. You’re the only one fit to be the Young Madam of the Gao family!"

Yin Shanshan was over the moon.

However, with the Gao family’s savings depleted, their daily needs soon became a struggle.

During breakfast, Gao Zheng mentioned how there was only plain congee, and Gao’s mother used the chance to say that Yin Shanshan had given away the remaining two thousand taels of silver notes to Yin Yang.

Gao Zheng nearly spat out blood: "What?!"

Gao’s mother snapped, "What kind of attitude is that? Without Shanshan, do you think the Crown Prince would let you off so easily? Two thousand taels of silver to save your life—that’s a bargain! And this is thanks to Shanshan’s brother!"

Gao Zheng’s face turned green, his heart aching as if it were bleeding.

Miss Shen had said that the Crown Prince merely wanted to scare him a little—and never intended to kill him!

He’d been frantic for nothing!

But Yin Shanshan went and drained their entire savings just to curry favor!

Wasn’t this utterly pointless and ridiculous?!

Yin Shanshan, feeding a child at the table, smiled gently: "Mother, stop praising me. It wasn’t anything important. Money is trivial compared to Zheng’s life."

Gao Zheng gripped his chopsticks tightly: "You gave away all our money—how do we live now?!"

"Why fret over that?" Yin Shanshan smiled serenely. "I have countless ways to make money. Mother, Zheng—just watch. I’ll soon earn back tens of thousands of taels of snow-patterned silver!"

She was nothing like Shen Yinning, that old-fashioned woman.

She was a time-traveler!

Having read countless time-travel novels, she knew all the tricks to build wealth.

Whenever she wished, she could become the richest woman in the land!