Shi Ning'an took a step or two back and almost lost her balance, nearly falling off the steps. Fortunately, Rong Sui caught her firmly.
Her eyes sparkled, and her face was flushed. Was that kiss that night real? Hadn't she been dreaming?
Rong Sui let go of her and smiled. Then he took her hand. This time, there was no sleeve between them. He could feel her hand. Her fingertips were cold, but the palms were a bit damp with cold sweat.
He said gently, "Ning'an, if I had known my own heart earlier, I would never have been so hasty."
"Ning'an, I've fallen for you."
Shi Ning'an walked back to her room in a daze. This time, it wasn't late at night. She was fully awake and knew it wasn't a dream. He had feelings for her? She wasn't mistaken. He liked her.
Lu'er watched her young lady pacing back and forth in the room. Sometimes she covered her face with her hands, and sometimes she smiled like a blooming flower. She even went to tease the almost sleeping bird late at night. The bird flapped its wings in panic, but the young lady seemed even more delighted.
Lu'er couldn't help but nudge Xingli beside her and whispered, "What on earth has happened to our young lady? Has she gone crazy?"
Xingli looked at the fruits in the fruit plate on the table. The young lady hadn't touched any of them. She shuffled over, took one, and stuffed it into her mouth while mumbling, "If any girl gets engaged to the third young master, I'm afraid she'll go crazy too."
Lu'er shook her head in disagreement. "This engagement has been settled for three days. We didn't see the young lady acting so... crazy in the past few days."
Xingli explained with an air of knowing everything. "The young lady didn't realize it in the past few days. Didn't you see how dull and out of it she was? Today, the third young master put on her shoes himself and escorted her back to the yard. Tsk, tsk, tsk. The young lady has finally realized it."
With this explanation, Lu'er clapped her hands happily. "Our young lady has finally turned over a new leaf. In fact, our young lady and the third young master are a perfect match. Why didn't the old master, the eldest master, and the eldest mistress consider them before? They've wasted so much time."
The next day, Shi Ning'an received an invitation from the Duke of Tang's mansion. It said that the two daughters of the Tang family invited Shi Ning'an to go on a spring outing in the suburbs of the capital.
The Tang family had three daughters in total. The eldest legitimate daughter was Tang Chutong. Since the incident with Yin Taiping a while ago, the crown prince had sent Yin Taiping to a remote place, and the Tang family claimed that Tang Chutong was ill. So far, it was said that her condition was getting worse and there was no sign of recovery.
The two daughters mentioned today were not the biological daughters of Lady Tang. One was the concubine - born daughter of the second branch, and the other was the legitimate daughter of a side - branch.
Shi Ning'an knew in her heart that Lady Tang managed the Tang family well. It was said that the concubine - born daughter was not from a good concubine and was not usually brought in front of people. And the legitimate daughter of the side - branch had never been seen before.
Without the company of an elder, these two daughters would not have come out to play with the noble ladies alone. So, this time, they were just a cover for Tang Chutong.
Princess Zhaoming sighed. "Lady Tang has really gone to great lengths for that girl, Chutong."
Shi Ning'an coquettishly said, "Aunt, although you're not my biological mother, haven't you also gone to great lengths for me?"
Princess Zhaoming laughed heartily and tapped her on the nose. "I'm afraid Chutong is going to be sent away. We don't know when she'll come back. It's good for you to accompany her. I'll ask your fourth cousin to go with you the day after tomorrow."
On the day of the appointment, Shi Ning'an got up and went to the front hall. She saw Rong Sui standing there at a glance. He was talking to Rong Heng, Xia Anhai, and Zeng Haomiao about something.
As she got closer, Rong Sui saw Shi Ning'an and immediately took two steps forward, just blocking Xia Anhai in front of him. He was tall, and Xia Anhai was half a head shorter than him. Being blocked like this, Xia Anhai was completely obscured.
Xia Anhai subconsciously moved left and right, trying to say hello to his cousin. However, whether it was by accident or not, Rong Sui also moved left and right, still blocking Xia Anhai completely.
There were Rong Heng and Zeng Haomiao on either side, so Xia Anhai couldn't get out for a while.
Zeng Haomiao was the first to speak. "Ning'an, you got up so early?"
Shi Ning'an bowed and saw that Zeng Haomiao had prepared a big box. She couldn't help but be curious. "Where are you going, Cousin Zeng?"
Zeng Haomiao's eyes curved into a smile. "I've made an agreement with Ruoyun. These days, we're both free. She'll go to the southern suburbs and I'll go to the northern suburbs to hold a free medical consultation for a few days."
Shi Ning'an clapped her hands and laughed. "Is Cousin going to the southern suburbs? Coincidentally, I've also made an appointment with some sisters to go to the southern suburbs today. I can go and find her."
When Rong Sui saw Shi Ning'an come in and only talk to Zeng Haomiao, his face looked a bit unpleasant.
Zeng Haomiao looked up and just saw Rong Sui touching his cheek. He quickly said, "Third brother, I heard the other day that your teeth were not good. Seeing you like this today, is your old ailment still not cured?"
Rong Sui was stunned for a moment, then put down his hand and nodded vaguely. "Yes, toothache..."
Zeng Haomiao laughed and took out a packet of medicine from his medical kit. "This is the medicine for toothache. It mainly uses cloves. It can not only relieve toothache but also leave a fragrant smell in the mouth. Third brother, you can give it a try. However, this is just a pain - relieving medicine, not a therapeutic one. When you're free later, I'll take a good look at you."
Rong Sui quickly shook his head. "No, no. Brother Zeng, you go ahead and get busy..."
Zeng Haomiao didn't insist either. He just said, "Don't be afraid to seek medical advice. Well, I'll go ahead with Brother Xia."
Shi Ning'an stared curiously at the medicine in Rong Sui's hand and asked doubtfully, "Third cousin, do you have bad teeth?"
Rong Sui was silent for a moment and didn't answer. He just stood up and said, "It's time for me to go on duty."
He patted Rong Heng on the shoulder. "You must protect Ning'an well."
Rong Heng scratched the back of his head. "I've never heard that my elder brother has bad teeth before. Since he came back this time, I've seen him looking unwell several times. He always said it was toothache. Later, we should still ask your cousin from the Zeng family to take a good look at my elder brother. If it's really some stubborn or serious illness, it won't be good."
Shi Ning'an got into the carriage. They were going to the southern suburbs today, and the journey was a bit long, so she got up so early. Even so, when they arrived at the appointed garden, she saw that many young ladies had already arrived.
The second young lady of the Tang family and the eldest young lady of the side - branch were also there. These two obviously didn't come here often and seemed a bit out of place.
After chatting with other familiar noble ladies for a while, Shi Ning'an walked up to the second young lady of the Tang family and chatted with the two of them for a while.
The second young lady of the Tang family had a cherry - like mouth and was a bit too thin. She didn't seem to be from the capital. It was said that her biological mother was a famous geisha from the south of the Yangtze River. This second young lady must have inherited from her mother. Her waist was incredibly slender.
But her speech was very respectful and soft. "Miss Shi, Miss Zheng has gone to the adjacent garden to play. She asked us to tell you."
Shi Ning'an understood. Tang Chutong was in the adjacent garden.
She nodded, said hello to the other noble ladies, and then got up and went to the adjacent garden.
Although the two gardens were said to be adjacent, they were actually not very close. One garden was extremely vast. The nobles came up with a way to relieve boredom by enclosing the land into one garden after another. There were guards around, so people coming to play wouldn't be disturbed by ordinary people.
Just as she was about to leave the garden, several girls came from the front. Shi Ning'an frowned subconsciously and stopped.
The girl in the lead was Shi Qingmei. Now, Shi Qingmei's circle of friends had changed. The people she associated with now were either from ordinary families or the wives and daughters of newly - promoted officials from other places, and most of them were concubine - born daughters. The legitimate daughters of high - ranking families disdained to associate with a daughter like her who had lost her reputation.
When Shi Ning'an looked at Shi Qingmei, Shi Qingmei was also looking at her.
Shi Qingmei showed a sneering smile and raised her eyebrows.
Shi Ning'an only glanced at her and then looked at the girl beside her. She shouldn't have known this girl, but somehow she did.
In fact, in her previous life, Shi Ning'an always respected Shi Yongtang because she thought that Shi Yongtang and Rong Shuyu must have had feelings for each other. Even if Shi Yongtang married Rong Shuyu because of the Rong family's influence, she thought that if Shi Yongtang didn't love her, he probably wouldn't have been so sincere and had a two - year - long affectionate relationship with Rong Shuyu.
However, the appearance of this girl in front of her completely shattered her dream. In her previous life, she didn't want to think about it and didn't dare to think about it, but in this life, she thought it through clearly.
All that so - called affection was just a lie. It was always just exploitation. Maybe there was a bit of affection in that exploitation, but it was just a little bit. Shi Aoxue was seventeen this year. It was exactly one year after Shi Yongtang and Rong Shuyu got married, when their love was at its peak. She was the illegitimate daughter that Shi Yongtang had outside.
Shi Aoxue's eyebrows and eyes resembled Shi Ning'an's quite a bit. When they weren't standing together, it wasn't very noticeable, but now that they were facing each other, it was obvious.
Different from Shi Qingmei's dignity and Shi Ning'an's reservedness, this Shi Aoxue looked innocent and lively.
In her previous life, it was also Shi Aoxue who made Shi Ning'an understand that the strict and serious father who was strict with his children, Shi Yongtang, could also dote on his daughter like a precious treasure.
Shi Ning'an sighed. What was meant to come couldn't be avoided. She thought that since the Shi family was declining in this life, Shi Yongtang wouldn't bring this woman from outside back to the mansion, but unexpectedly, Shi Aoxue still appeared in front of everyone.
She clenched her fists. She had had little interaction with Shi Aoxue in her previous life. Every time she saw her, she was only envious. But the hidden hatred and resentment in her heart couldn't be hidden anymore the moment she saw Shi Aoxue.
Shi Yongtang, how heartless you are! You've ruined Rong Shuyu's whole life!
Shi Qingmei was the first to speak. "Sister."
Shi Ning'an looked straight ahead. Miss Shao beside her sneered. "Oh, it's been half a year. Do you still want to claim kinship? Everyone in the capital knows that Ning'an is a daughter of the Rong family. What does she have to do with your Shi family?"
Another noble lady chimed in. "Exactly. The Shi family is so rude. Fortunately, Ning'an got away in time."
This was referring to what happened to Shi Yongtang and Shi Qingmei at the New Year's Eve banquet.
Shi Qingmei's expression remained unchanged. She sighed slightly and didn't argue. She just introduced, "Sister Xue'er, this is Princess Zhonghui, Ning'an."
Shi Aoxue sized Shi Ning'an up and down, raised her head haughtily, and let out a "humph" from her nose. "A disrespectful daughter is not worth mentioning. Fortunately, Father still has us."
Yingtao glared angrily, but Shi Ning'an held her hand down.
Shi Ning'an turned back and nodded at Miss Shao. "Thank you, sisters, for speaking up for me. I'll go ahead first."
Shi Aoxue stepped forward to block her. "Hey, can't you hear us talking?"