Shi Ning'an shifted towards the window of the carriage, then lifted the curtain and asked, "Brother, could you tell me where my cousin is on duty?"
The guard on horseback jolted, quickly moved closer, and replied, "Miss Shi, we are all guards of the Imperial Guards, responsible for the safety of the imperial city in the capital."
Shi Ning'an nodded, then with an innocent look, said, "You are all so amazing. If it weren't for you just now, I would have lost my life."
The guard smiled and said, "Miss Shi, don't be afraid. Under the leadership of the Crown Prince, the public security in the capital is very good. Today's incident was an accident. After the Supreme Court makes its judgment, there will surely be an explanation for you, miss."
Only then did Shi Ning'an pat her chest as if in fear and said, "That's good, that's good."
She deliberately wanted to chat more with the guard. In her previous life, before her marriage, she had been confined to the inner chambers and knew nothing. She had heard so much about how domineering the Rong family was, how they flaunted their achievements and were cruel. She hated the Rong family so much that she didn't even want to care about their affairs.
Finally... Finally, when her grandfather was on his death - bed, kneeling on the ground, he begged her to adopt Zhi'er... She was so stupid. She let her grandfather, who was seriously ill and had a leg problem, kneel on the ground, and even thought she was kind - hearted for helping him.
Now was not the time to regret. Shi Ning'an straightened her attitude. If she didn't want the Rong family to follow the old path of her previous life, she had to know as many things as possible.
Nanny Zhang had been frowning for a long time. She finally spoke up to persuade, "Miss, it's really not proper for a gentle lady to lift the carriage curtain and talk to a man outside."
Her voice was not low. The guard outside blushed and quickly bowed slightly, saying, "It's my fault. I've disturbed the miss."
Shi Ning'an lowered the carriage curtain and gave Nanny Zhang a cold look. "I think you don't have much ability, but you do have a lot of rules."
Nanny Zhang looked embarrassed. Thinking she was right, she said seriously, "Miss, this servant is doing this for your own good. No noble lady in the capital would dare to talk so boldly to a man outside. It will damage your reputation."
In her previous life, Shi Ning'an had been obedient. She really thought that the capital was different from Nanling, a place strictly restricted by etiquette, where men and women should not sit together after the age of seven. But later she found that the capital was not an uncivilized place. Men and women could interact normally as long as they didn't meet alone or get too close.
Later, she was accidentally saved by Wei Hongmiao. She thought that since they had physical contact, she had to marry him.
It was simply ridiculous.
Shi Ning'an sneered and said, "According to Nanny Zhang, when you talked to the bandit just now, was that against the rules?"
At this moment, what Nanny Zhang feared most was to mention the bandit incident. She blushed with shame, lowered her head, and didn't dare to say a word.
Shi Ning'an didn't say much either. She closed her eyes and rested.
Before long, they arrived at the gate of the Shi Mansion. Two majestic stone unicorns stood on both sides. However, there was not a single gatekeeper or guard in sight.
The news that Shi Ning'an was about to arrive had been sent back early. After she was frightened in the suburbs of the capital today, the Imperial Guards had also informed the Shi Mansion in advance. But at this moment, neither her "kind - hearted" father, "virtuous" step - mother, nor "gentle" elder sister came out to greet her. Not only they didn't come out, but also none of the servants in the Shi Mansion came out.
It was as if she was a beggar coming to ask for help.
Nanny Zhang sent someone to knock on the door and deliver the message. Then she came back and stood beside the carriage, asking Shi Ning'an to get off.
Shi Ning'an said indifferently, "I'll get off after someone comes to greet me."
Not long after, a woman with a long face came out from the side door. She stepped forward and asked Nanny Zhang, "Where is the miss?"
Nanny Zhang quickly turned to the carriage and said, "Miss, the nanny beside the madam has come to greet you. Please get off quickly."
The woman frowned. This young miss had such a big airs that she just stayed in the carriage and didn't get off?
She endured it. Seeing that there was no response from the carriage, she urged, "Miss, please get off and follow this servant in."
Shi Ning'an's tone remained indifferent. "Why don't you open the main gate?"
The woman showed a look of contempt, but her words were calm. "Miss may not know. Usually, the main gate of the mansion is not opened unless there is a major event. People usually enter and exit through the side door."
In her previous life, Shi Ning'an had believed this nonsense. In fact, she never really cared about which door to use. But the fact that she entered and exited through the side door when she first returned to the mansion was ridiculed by her half - sister in the mansion for a long time. Later, she found out that Xu Youqing had stipulated that illegitimate children were not allowed to use the main gate.
The ridiculous thing was that she, the legitimate eldest daughter of the Shi family, was asked to enter through the side door like the illegitimate children on her first return home?
"Do you mean that the madam also enters and exits through the side door? Although I'm the legitimate eldest daughter of the Shi family and it's my first time coming back today. But if your madam always uses the side door, I'll reluctantly use the side door today too."
The woman was stunned. She didn't dare to lie, but she also couldn't swallow this humiliation. So she simply got on the carriage, lifted the curtain, and reached out to pull Shi Ning'an. "Miss, stop being naughty. The madam and the other miss are waiting for you. It's important to get back to the mansion first."
"Let go!"
The sharp voice made the woman tremble. Subconsciously, she let go and looked at the young girl in front of her. Although she was a young girl, the serious look on her face seemed to have an air of authority without getting angry.
The woman stammered for a while and then said, "Miss, this servant doesn't have the authority to open the main gate. And... it's getting late. Otherwise... it's not good to keep the madam waiting, right?"
"It doesn't matter. I'm in the carriage. I won't get sunburned or frozen. If you can't open it, then let someone who can open it come. How come, as the madam's chief nanny, you need me to teach you such a simple thing?"
The woman looked ugly and didn't say anything more. She just turned back and winked at Nanny Zhang.
Nanny Zhang had been angry with Shi Ning'an in her heart. Now that she was back in the mansion and thought she had the madam's support, how could she still endure the humiliation like before?
So she stepped forward in a sarcastic tone. "Oh, miss, our Shi family is a noble family after all. There are many people coming and going in front of the mansion. If people see you like this, won't they laugh at you? Otherwise..."
Shi Ning'an chuckled and said, "Nanny Zhang is right. It's really a joke that the Shi family won't let me in. Lu'er, tell the coachman to change the route and go to the Rong family. I met my cousin today. My cousin said that if I'm not happy here, I can just go to the Rong family. The Rong family will welcome me."
Both Nanny Zhang and the woman were greatly shocked. They had been ordered by the madam to make things difficult for the young miss and give this country girl a hard time. But if the young miss really went to live in the Rong family, it would still be the Shi family that would lose face.
Naturally, they didn't dare to let that happen. They could only endure their anger, find the steward, and open the main gate to welcome Shi Ning'an in.
This wasn't Shi Ning'an's first time back at the Shi family, but everything still seemed a bit strange. In her previous life, she got married a year later. After her marriage, she never even returned to her natal home. She had managed the Wei family for ten years.
At that time, she had gradually grown from a timid and cowardly girl into a woman like Shi Qingmei. She had spent so much effort to gain a foothold in the capital and to be respectfully called Madam Wei in public.
Madam Wei, the second daughter of the Shi family. But no one ever remembered that she was just herself, Shi Ning'an.
Shi Ning'an walked to the main courtyard. Xu Youqing and Shi Qingmei, mother and daughter, were sitting in the hall waiting. It was not until she walked in that Xu Youqing stood up and stepped forward to greet her.
"Oh, my dear child. You must have had a hard journey."
Xu Youqing hugged Shi Ning'an tightly, with tears in her eyes.
In her previous life, Shi Ning'an had been deceived by these tears. She thought that Xu Youqing really felt sorry for her because she lost her mother at a young age and was taken to Nanling by her great - aunt. So this "my dear child" made Shi Ning'an call Xu Youqing mother from then on.
If she really felt sorry for her, not to mention waiting for her at the city gate, she didn't even wait for her at the mansion gate. Instead, she sent a useless nanny to stop her?
Shi Ning'an let Xu Youqing hug her. She raised her eyes and sized up the elegant young girl behind, who was Shi Qingmei.
Of course it was Shi Qingmei. She had been elegant and generous since childhood. At the age of twelve, she wrote a poem about plum blossoms and was praised for her beauty and talent, becoming the most talented young lady in the capital. At the age of fifteen, her guqin performance was so amazing that even the Queen praised her for her outstanding talent.
Such a Shi Qingmei, even if she turned into ashes, Shi Ning'an would still remember her.
Shi Qingmei was also sizing up Shi Ning'an. She had long heard from her mother how beautiful Shi Ning'an's biological mother was in the past, how she was the most beautiful woman in the capital. She thought that a woman as beautiful as that would surely give birth to a beautiful daughter. So today she had dressed up heavily, wanting to show her elegance and not be outshone by Shi Ning'an.
Unexpectedly, even though she had put on such heavy makeup and changed her clothes four or five times, she was still not as beautiful as Shi Ning'an's natural beauty.
The jealousy in Shi Qingmei's heart was almost uncontrollable. She pinched the palm of her hand hard to prevent herself from losing her composure. She knew that Shi Ning'an's return would steal her limelight.
She was the step - daughter of the Shi family, not the biological daughter of her father. For so many years, because Shi Ning'an was not around, she had taken Shi Ning'an's place and been the eldest daughter of the Shi family for so long. Now...
How could she not be panicked?
Xu Youqing didn't know what was on her daughter's mind. She let go of Shi Ning'an and looked at her lovingly. "Are you tired?"
Shi Ning'an nodded woodenly and then asked, "Are you the madam?"
Xu Youqing's face showed a moment of collapse, then she smiled and said, "Child, why are you being so formal? We are a family. You can call me... mother."
She originally wanted to say that she could call her mother, but looking at Shi Ning'an's aloof face, she just couldn't say it.
After hearing this, Shi Ning'an didn't obediently call her. She just shook her head and said, "No. You didn't give birth to me or raise me, so I won't call you mother."
Such a straightforward rejection almost made Xu Youqing scold her out of anger.
Seeing this, Shi Qingmei quickly stepped forward with a smile and said, "Mother, sister has just come back. Why are you talking about these things with her? Sister must be very tired. How about letting sister sit down first, have a good rest, and have some hot food?"
Shi Ning'an still looked wooden. She raised her eyes and asked, "Who are you?"
Shi Qingmei was stunned. She looked at Nanny Zhang behind Shi Ning'an. But for some reason, Nanny Zhang, who was usually very smart, didn't look at her at this moment. She was just in a daze, not knowing what she was thinking.
Didn't Nanny Zhang tell Shi Ning'an about the family?
Thinking of this, Shi Qingmei smiled and said, "I'm your elder sister, Shi Qingmei."
"Oh." Shi Ning'an replied expressionlessly. "So you're my cousin."