On this day, Jiaoyue got up early and went to Sufangzhai in the west of the city to queue up to buy the steamed milk cakes that Shen Li loved.
This could have been done by the junior maids in the mansion, but Jiaoyue didn't trust them. So she went there herself. Unexpectedly, when she got there, she didn't manage to buy the cakes. Instead, she heard some rumors and got really angry. Then she rushed back in a hurry.
Mingyue saw that Jiaoyue had just gone out not long ago but was back so soon. Curiously, she asked, "Sister Jiaoyue, you're back so quickly?"
Jiaoyue just let out a grunt and then rushed into Shen Li's room.
"Miss! Something bad has happened!"
Shen Li was checking the account books in the room. She had dug out all the account books of the Shen family's management over the years and wanted to sort them out. It wasn't something that could be done in a day or two. When she saw Jiaoyue come in, her abacus didn't stop clicking quickly.
"What's going on? Why are you so flustered?"
"Miss, when I went out today, I heard people on the street talking about you everywhere."
"Oh? What did they say? Jiaoyue, tell me!"
Jiaoyue swallowed hard. "They said that you, Miss, are disrespectful to your elders. As an unmarried daughter, you're trying to take control of your uncle and aunt's family. You're disrespectful to your elders and even want to drive out the uncle and aunt who raised you!"
Shen Li wasn't angry after hearing this. She just said indifferently, "Is that all?"
Jiaoyue knew that Shen Li didn't really care about these things, but she still couldn't help persuading her, "Miss, although what they said is all false, if these rumors keep spreading, it might affect your reputation!"
"Miss, you'd better think of a way!"
"Their mouths are on their faces. Let them talk. We can't stop everyone in the world from talking."
"Moreover, I'm only afraid that these rumors aren't big enough and not enough people know about them!"
In the following days, from the small street vendors to the high - ranking court officials, everyone in the capital knew about the powerful young lady from the Shen family in the capital.
The capital was, after all, at the foot of the Son of Heaven. There was no shortage of noble and powerful people. Shen Junming was only a fourth - rank official. In other places, he might have been a local official, but in the capital where princes and royalty were everywhere, he was nothing special.
Normally, he wouldn't have attracted so much attention. But this time, because of the Shen family's deliberate publicity, everyone knew about Shen Li's so - called "deeds" of bullying others, disrespecting her elders, disregarding human relations, and being ungrateful.
Ordinary people were always curious about the affairs of the noble families. Now that there was such a noble young lady who was even worse than the villagers in the countryside, it was like a story that spread from one person to ten and from ten to a hundred.
Even the maids and eunuchs in the palace had heard about it.
Princess Jiugongzhu, Luo Ning, who heard about this from the maids, of course didn't believe it. She even went to Princess Wugongzhu, Luo Yao's palace to talk about it.
Before the maid could explain the whole story to Princess Luo Yao, she sat down beside Princess Luo Yao and complained.
"How could Sister Shen be such a person? They're clearly lying!"
"Those people haven't even met Sister Shen. How can they say such things about her?"
Actually, Princess Luo Yao had heard these rumors earlier. She also didn't believe that a woman who could paint such wonderful paintings could be as the outsiders described.
But rumors were terrifying.
After the banquet that day, she sent people to interrogate the maid. No matter how they interrogated her, the maid insisted that it was all her own doing and that she hadn't been instigated by anyone.
Princess Luo Yao would never believe this result. She also interrogated all the maids and eunuchs who were present at the banquet that day and found out that Ruxue, the personal maid beside Princess Yajing, had sent a maid away.
And on the day of the banquet, Miss Shen Miao, the second daughter of the Shen family, was also with Princess Yajing.
It was hard for her not to connect these two people.
"Alright! Mother will take care of this matter! You should also spend more time on your studies. I heard that your teacher scolded you again today. What happened?"
Princess Luo Ning said weakly, "The teacher's lessons are so boring. I... accidentally fell asleep!"
"You..." Princess Luo Yao pointed at her head, feeling disappointed.
"Since you can't take good care of your mistress, let Ruizhu and Yuzhu beside you each receive ten blows on the palm later!"
Hearing this, Luo Ning said anxiously, "Sister, it's all my fault. It has nothing to do with them! I promise I won't fall asleep in class again. Please forgive me this time!"
Ignoring her coquetry, Princess Luo Yao still ordered the punishment for Ruizhu and Yuzhu to teach Luo Ning a lesson.
On this day, the Shen family prepared the carriage early.
Early in the morning, Shen Li took her maids Jiaoyue and Hanyue to Pufa Temple outside the city to offer incense and eat vegetarian food.
Since it wasn't a major Buddhist ceremony day, there weren't many people in the temple. Most of them were the villagers from nearby who came to burn incense.
Pufa Temple was the largest temple in the capital and had been around for more than 400 years. The temple preached the Dharma and provided relief to the victims every year, so it had always been very famous.
In front of the temple, there were 999 steps winding up.
To show her sincerity, Shen Li didn't take a sedan chair but walked all the way.
When she got inside the temple, Shen Li was led by a young novice monk to offer incense in the main hall.
Having been reborn, she naturally respected the gods and Buddhas. Looking at these Buddha statues with either kind or solemn expressions, she felt a bit sad.
After silently having some vegetarian food in the temple, Shen Li took Hanyue and Jiaoyue for a stroll in the temple.
"Miss, I just heard from the master in the temple that the scenery in the back mountain is very nice. Why don't we go and have a look?"
In her previous life, she didn't like going out very much. She had only accompanied the Shen family to offer incense once.
That time, it was the first time she saw Xiao Hanzhi.
She accidentally wandered into the backyard of the temple and saw Xiao Hanzhi playing chess with a master in the temple.
Although he was just sitting there quietly, the confident and calm way he held the chess pieces was engraved in her mind and she could never forget it.
Slowly, she fell into the trap of Xiao Hanzhi and didn't escape until she died.
In this life, she didn't plan to get close to that backyard again. So she chose a different path from the one in her previous life.
The back mountain of Pufa Temple was very large. Although the scenery wasn't as beautiful as that of the pavilions and gardens, it was natural and had a unique charm.
"Clang!"
"Clang!"
After walking a few more steps, Shen Li heard the sound of fighting, and the air was filled with a strong smell of blood.
She exchanged a look with Hanyue behind her.
Hanyue nodded and immediately used her lightness skill to check the situation.