Shen Yuning seemed completely unaffected. She picked up her bowl and started eating. Xuan Zhi beside her also picked up his bowl, as if nothing had happened just now.
Ye Cuigu cried for a while. Seeing that no one paid attention to her, she had to pull herself together and forced a smile at Shen Yuning. "Yuning, this..."
Shen Yuning looked up and forced a smile in return. "Are you worried Yuanbao will be hungry? This is an inn. There's always warm porridge available, no matter how late it is. She can eat when she's hungry."
Ye Cuigu stammered, "I really had no other choice... My husband wasn't happy about me coming out this time. After all, our child at home is still very young. I had to plead for a long time before I could come. If I were to take my daughter from my previous marriage back with me, I'm afraid... I'm afraid..."
Shen Yuning sighed. For someone with both sons and daughters, every child is precious. Maybe because she wasn't Ye Cuigu and didn't have to make such a difficult choice, she couldn't understand how Ye Cuigu could abandon her own daughter.
She asked, "Sister-in-law, when you said your son is very young and needs your careful care, did you ever think about whether you took good care of Yuanbao when she was a baby?"
Ye Cuigu replied instinctively, "It's not the same at all. Yuanbao is just a girl..."
Halfway through, she felt a bit embarrassed and just looked at Shen Yuning sheepishly, not knowing what to do.
Shen Yuning ignored her and lowered her head to continue eating. After she finished, she looked up. "Don't worry. Yuanbao has been doing well all these years without you. She'll be fine even if you're not around in the future."
Ye Cuigu finally felt relieved, but the bitter feeling in her heart could only be understood by herself.
The next day, when mother and daughter were parting, Ye Cuigu cried her heart out. But Yuanbao just sat there with her mouth half-open, looking blank. There was not a trace of sadness on her face.
Even when Huzi was being naughty and tried to kick a neighbor's puppy, and then fell on his butt when the puppy ran away, Yuanbao burst out laughing.
Ye Cuigu's sobs got stuck in her throat. Feeling rather silly, she just gave Shen Yuning a few instructions and then resolutely got on the carriage, not daring to look at Yuanbao again.
Xuan Zhi stroked Yuanbao's head. "You're heartless."
Yuanbao showed her teeth and laughed at him, then went off to play with Huzi.
After what happened the day before, even though Chen Wenwei came to see them off, Shen Yuning didn't get out of the carriage. She just asked Shen Fugui to wave goodbye to Chen Wenwei, and then the group headed back to Xitian Town.
The days that followed were busy again. Shen Yuning didn't think about anything else and went to Maohe County to manage the newly opened shop. Just when she thought Chen Wenwei had already returned to the capital, the shopkeeper rushed to the back with a letter in his hand. He grabbed Shen Yuning and said,
"Boss, hurry up! The master said you must go back quickly. A noble guest is coming to the house."
Shen Yuning took the letter. The handwriting was Yuanbao's. It didn't say who the noble guest was, only that a noble guest from the capital had made an appointment and would come to Shen's Embroidery Workshop in Xitian Town soon. Master Chen had sent someone early to ask them to find her and bring her back quickly.
A noble guest from the capital? And a guest that Chen Wenwei was so eager for her to meet?
Shen Yuning wondered if it could be the cousin from the Xue family who had come specifically to see her.
When she rushed back to Xitian Town in a hurry, she saw that although the door of Shen's Embroidery Workshop was open, there were two rows of guards standing at the door, blocking the whole street.
Shen Yuning's carriage couldn't pass, so she had to get off and walk forward. She was puzzled. If the cousin from the Xue family had come to see her, it was probably because of the grandmother of the Xue family. But the Xue family was usually very amiable. Except for the second branch of the Xue family, her adoptive father, no one else would put on airs. This time, the cousin's entourage was really too large.
She looked at the guards who were blocking the common people outside and walked towards them.
The guard was a bit impatient and used the butt of his spear to block her. "Get out of the way, idlers! Don't come near."
Shen Yuning looked at the guard and thought that these guards didn't seem to be the ones she was familiar with from the Xue family. The eldest uncle of the Xue family was a nostalgic person. Why had he replaced all the servants?
But on the surface, she just smiled at the guard. "I'm the boss of Shen's Embroidery Workshop. I got a letter from my family and came back specifically from outside."
When the guard heard her introduce herself, his serious face immediately broke into a smile. "So you're Miss Shen. Wait a moment. I'll go and announce your arrival."
A little while later, an eunuch came out from inside. He was a familiar face.
Shen Yuning exclaimed softly, "Eunuch Yu?"
Eunuch Yu beamed and trotted forward. "Oh, Miss has a good memory. You still remember me."
This Eunuch Yu was not young. His wrinkled face showed kindness. He was a favorite of the emperor. Shen Yuning used to be a famous lady in the capital, so Eunuch Yu naturally recognized her.
At this moment, a guess popped into Shen Yuning's mind. She was a bit nervous and pointed in the direction of the embroidery workshop. "Is it..."
Eunuch Yu quickly bowed and made an obeisance towards the sky. Then he nodded and motioned for Shen Yuning to go in with him. He said with a smile, "Our master has been waiting for Miss for a long time. Miss, please go in quickly."
Shen Yuning didn't dare to hesitate and quickly followed Eunuch Yu into the embroidery workshop. Outside, Old Man Zhang, Shen Fugui and the others stood there, not daring to straighten their backs or look around.
Shen Yuning didn't have time to greet them. When she entered the inner room, she saw that it had been cleaned spotlessly. The cushions on the chairs were all made of special golden fabric. On the upper seat sat a middle-aged man with slightly gray hair. He was leaning on the armrests with his eyes closed, as if dozing off or listening to someone talking beside him.
Standing beside him were not only guards and eunuchs but also Chen Wenwei. Chen Wenwei was standing upright, with his head slightly lowered, whispering something to the man.
Eunuch Yu entered the room and said softly, "Your Majesty, Miss Shen is back."
Shen Yuning had already knelt down. Her eyes were red, as if seeing a long-lost elder. "This commoner, Shen Yuning, pays homage to Your Majesty. Long live Your Majesty!"
The emperor laughed heartily and waved his hand to signal her to get up. "I'm traveling incognito. There's no need for so many formalities, Miss Yuning. Just act as you normally would."
Shen Yuning thought to herself, if you're traveling incognito, why are you bringing hundreds of guards and making such a big commotion? Even if the common people don't know you're the emperor, they can tell you're a very important person.
She got up carefully and saw the tea on the table. She felt a bit more at ease. Although the tea in her shop was not of the highest quality, the emperor was not an unreasonable person. He knew that her status was different from before, so he probably wouldn't find fault with her.
The emperor just looked at her with a smile. "Miss Yuning has grown up. I remember when you were a child, you were very talented in literature and had a fearless personality."
Shen Yuning blushed slightly and quickly pleaded guilty. "Your Majesty is overpraising me. I was very naive when I was a child."
The emperor's smiling face showed a bit of melancholy. That girl Xue Yuning from the Xue family, although not the daughter of the Marquis of Qiyang, was still a legitimate daughter of the direct branch and had been raised by the old Marquis of Qiyang since childhood. When he was still the crown prince, he had seen little Xue Yuning. She was cute and naughty, completely different from the ordinary noble ladies who pretended to be dignified.
But now, Miss Yuning had not only grown up but was no longer the precious girl from the Xue family.
Time had changed everything. In the past few years, the things that happened in the Marquis of Qiyang's mansion had been much criticized in the capital. Everyone said that the Marquis of Qiyang's mansion couldn't even raise a girl properly. As the ruler, even though he had a good impression of this little girl, he had no reason to interfere in the family affairs of his ministers.
Later, when he read Chen Wenwei's memorial, which described Miss Yuning's deeds, he learned that little Yuning had grown up and had done so many things for the common people after coming to the countryside.
He slowly said, "Your brother's case, County Magistrate Chen has reported it to me in detail."
Shen Yuning immediately straightened her face and nodded in agreement. After hesitating for a moment, she said, "Your Majesty, this commoner has a low status and originally has no qualification to speak to Your Majesty. But since I've been given this opportunity, I have something to say. I wonder if I can say it?"
The emperor waved his hand. "Today, there's no distinction between the ruler and the subject. Just say what you want, Yuning."
Shen Yuning quickly said, "Thank you, Your Majesty. This commoner's elder brother is lazy and useless. He's also a selfish person who is only interested in money. But this is human nature. In the past, there were no laws and moral constraints. This commoner originally thought that as long as I had the ability to earn money and could restrain my brother and support him well, there wouldn't be any big problems. But later, he got addicted to gambling.
As for gambling, when this commoner was a child in the Xue family, the grandfather and the eldest uncle of the Xue family both taught their descendants not to touch it at all. But this kind of thing completely depends on one's own willpower. How many common people in the countryside have such willpower? For example, this commoner's elder brother. Even if he accidentally went to a gambling house to play, if no one lent him usurious money, how could he have gotten into so much debt that he had to use his own daughter to threaten me, his younger sister?"
She raised her head and looked into the emperor's eyes. "Your Majesty, this commoner's elder brother's gambling problem is just a small example. Lord Chen is an official of the court and is in charge of all the affairs in Yun County. He must have seen many such things."
When Chen Wenwei saw the inquiring look from the emperor, he quickly bowed and said, "Your Majesty, Miss Yuning... Miss Shen is right. There are many common people in the countryside who have gone astray. They don't have a prominent family background or a lot of wealth to support them. In the end, they can only sell their wives and daughters, sell themselves into slavery, and even lose their lives because of it. I've dealt with many such cases, but unfortunately, the gambling houses have formal business contracts. I... I'm helpless."
The emperor took a deep breath. "Sell their wives and daughters? Lose their lives? Is this how my people are living? I've heard before that gambling can break up a family, but isn't that just because a small number of people are too greedy?"
Shen Yuning shook her head. "Your Majesty, greed is a weakness of human nature. But people are not sages. How many people don't have such weaknesses? Moreover, those who first enter the gambling houses may not know that what awaits them is an abyss."
The emperor was silent for a long time and then asked, "Do you mean for me to ban the gambling houses?"
Hearing the coldness in the emperor's tone, Shen Yuning quickly knelt down and said, "This commoner is just an ordinary person. What I said is about the situation in the countryside. Moreover, if one person's greed harms his whole family, even the whole clan, and future generations have to bear the responsibility for his greed, this is not a good phenomenon."
The emperor sneered several times. "Xue Yuning, the second daughter of the Xue family, has been smart and clever since childhood. During the years you were with your grandfather, what kind of cases in the Ministry of Justice haven't you seen? Just an ordinary person?"
Shen Yuning straightened her back. "Your Majesty, this commoner's surname is Shen. I'm Shen Yuning from Shenjiapo."