In this way, there was no need for Shen Yuning to sit at the end of the corridor. She was immediately invited to the front. Princess Jiayang was especially overjoyed and sat at the same table with Shen Yuning. All the noble ladies quickly stepped forward to congratulate Lady Shen on her great joy.
Princess Jiayang looked extremely happy, as if it was she rather than Shen Yuning who had received the imperial reward. She hugged Weirui and said with a loving look on her face, "It's a pity that I have no fate with children in this life. Otherwise, if I could have a son or daughter, I wouldn't be so lonely."
How could a noble princess of the royal family be truly lonely? Even if she didn't have her own children, there were plenty of people who would send their more intelligent children to the princess. As long as a child could gain a bit of the princess's favor, they could achieve great success in their life.
It was just a pity that Princess Jiayang had a strange and unpredictable temper. She didn't take a fancy to every child. On the contrary, because many young children were too naughty and annoying, Princess Jiayang found them bothersome. Later, she forbade children from coming in front of her to annoy her.
Now, the princess seemed to have taken a fancy to this child from Lady Shen's family? However, this child was already eleven or twelve years old and could remember things and recognize people. Even if one wanted to adopt a child, they wouldn't choose one so old, would they?
Weirui looked up at this kind - hearted old lady who doted on her and showed a look of pity on her face. "If the princess doesn't mind, I'll come to accompany you often in the future. How about that?"
The ladies standing nearby all felt somewhat speechless. This child seemed to be a bit smart, yet also really ignorant of the ways of the world. The princess had just sighed casually, but she actually showed such a pitying look. Did the princess need the pity of others?
However, Princess Jiayang was very touched when she saw Weirui like this. She hugged the little girl tighter. "Little Weirui, you must keep your word. Don't think I'm an old woman always asking you to come and find me annoying later."
When the elders were talking, the younger generation didn't need to be around all the time. Xue Yuxin had been tugging at Shen Yuning from behind. Unable to bear it any longer, Shen Yuning found an opportunity and slipped out of the crowd with her. It was like a breath of fresh air.
Xue Yuxin pulled Shen Yuning and said, "I was suffocating inside. You used to be so impatient with such occasions when you were a child. How come you can sit still for so long now?"
Shen Yuning looked around, afraid of being seen by Xiao Shi or Xue Yujiao.
Xue Yuxin dragged her towards the nearby woods. "Oh, stop looking. So what if they see? You're a Lady of the Township now and favored by the emperor. Are you still afraid that they'll really bully you?"
Shen Yuning helplessly tapped her on the forehead. "I'm worried about you. If they cause trouble later, I'll just be verbally mocked. I can just ignore it. But it's different for you. If they cause trouble in the Marquis's Mansion, it's still you who will suffer."
Xue Yuxin shrugged and said indifferently, "Anyway, we've separated the family, and my reputation is already ruined. Really, if it weren't for my grandmother, I wouldn't even want to care about them."
The two of them sat on the ground in the cedar forest, undisturbed and extremely happy.
Xue Yuxin chattered on non - stop, starting from the health of her grandmother at home and talking about her young niece Xue Xi. She sighed, "You don't know. I'm so annoyed at home now. My mother keeps nagging in my ear every day, saying that when she was my age, my elder brother was already three years old."
Shen Yuning laughed and shook her head. "Auntie doesn't seem like a nagging person."
Xue Yuxin pinched her face again. "You haven't seen her for years. You don't know how nagging she is now. Well, my elder brother has already said that he'll support me for the rest of my life, but my mother is still so anxious."
Shen Yuning reached out to pinch her in return. "Don't burden my elder brother and make him so hard - working."
"Tsk tsk tsk." Xue Yuxin rolled her eyes. "Finally calling him elder brother? Don't worry. When that regulation you proposed about women establishing independent households comes out, I'll apply to establish my own household. I definitely won't burden my elder brother."
Both of them couldn't hold back their laughter.
Suddenly, Xue Yuxin's face darkened. She quickly covered Shen Yuning's mouth. The two girls leaned against each other and listened intently. They heard a woman's complaining sobs and a man's soothing voice.
The two of them slowly stood up and walked towards the source of the sound.
After walking for a while, they saw a man and a woman standing deep in the woods. The woman was someone they knew, Princess Zhaoming of the Rong Palace. The man had his back to them, so they couldn't recognize him for a moment.
They heard Yin Zhaoming sobbing softly, "You're just trampling on my sincere heart like this?"
The man seemed a bit flustered and waved his hands repeatedly. "I, Bin, have nothing to offer. I'm really not worthy of the princess. Please don't make things difficult for me..."
Bin?
Shen Yuning suddenly realized that it was Zhu Bin from the Duke's Mansion. In terms of status, one was the legitimate eldest grandson of the Duke's Mansion and the other was a princess of the Rong Palace. They were quite well - matched. However, it seemed that one was interested while the other was not.
While she was sighing, she looked back and saw Xue Yuxin's face full of anger. A thought flashed through her mind. Last time, she had felt something was wrong. The relationship between Xue Yuxin and Zhu Bin seemed to be rather special. Could it be...
Xue Yuxin flicked her sleeve and turned around to leave. However, the noise she made while walking was quite loud and immediately alerted the two people over there.
Yin Zhaoming stopped sobbing, wiped away her tears, and shouted angrily, "Who's that sneaky person eavesdropping on this princess's conversation?"
Shen Yuning couldn't run as fast as Xue Yuxin. Caught eavesdropping on the scene, she had no choice but to walk out bravely. She bowed to the two of them. "Princess Zhaoming, Young Master Zhu, I was just passing by and accidentally interrupted your conversation. It's my fault..."
Yin Zhaoming, being self - important due to her noble status, felt even more embarrassed that someone like Shen Yuning had seen her being rejected in her confession. She quickly asked, "What... what did you see?"
Shen Yuning thought this princess was really stupid. How could she answer this question? Could she say that she had seen clearly the scene of unrequited love they were acting out?
"I just came here... I didn't see anything."
Princess Zhaoming scrutinized Shen Yuning. Knowing that this Lady Shen was now favored by the emperor, she couldn't easily deal with her. She thought that this person had been smart since childhood and probably wouldn't gossip. So she decided to threaten her and then let it go.
Before she could act, Zhu Bin stepped forward and firmly grasped Shen Yuning's wrist. "Why are you here? Are you alone? Where's Yuxin?"
Zhu Bin was a martial artist with great strength. Shen Yuning cried out in pain. However, Zhu Bin didn't notice his own strength at all and still held her wrist tightly. He continued to ask nervously, "Isn't Yuxin with you? Where is she?"
It was Zidu who walked over from the side. He reached out and grasped Zhu Bin's hand, giving it a gentle twist. Zhu Bin's hand lost its strength and he let go of Shen Yuning.
Zidu glanced at the mark on Shen Yuning's wrist indifferently and took out a porcelain bottle to hand it to her. Then he said to Zhu Bin, "Cousin's strength is beyond that of ordinary people. How could you hurt Lady Shen like this?"
Zhu Bin realized his mistake only later. He didn't care about his numb hand pinched by Zidu. He quickly bowed and apologized. "Lady Shen, it's my fault. I was impulsive for a moment. I hope the lady will forgive me."
Shen Yuning didn't take the medicine from Zidu. She rubbed her hand and saw that her wrist was already swollen and red. She felt even more aggrieved. The look in her eyes when she looked up at Zhu Bin was still filled with painful tears.
Zhu Bin was bowing his head and didn't see it. It was Zidu who walked over quietly, stuffed the medicine bottle into Shen Yuning's hand, and also separated the two of them.
On the other side, Yin Zhaoming never expected that so many people would see her confession today. Feeling ashamed, she didn't even bother to threaten others not to talk about it and left early.
Zidu turned to look at Zhu Bin. "I just saw Miss Xue running in that direction. It's not good if a young girl is alone and runs into something bad..."
This was the princess's villa with servants everywhere. How could she run into something bad? But as soon as he pointed, Zhu Bin had already run in that direction.
Shen Yuning looked at the smile on Zidu's lips, and that strange feeling in her heart rose again. She quickly drove away her wild thoughts and asked, "Young Master Zhu... and my eldest sister..."
Zidu resumed his gentle appearance and nodded slightly. "You can rest assured. The wife of the heir and the wife of the marquis are sitting together now. Maybe in a few days, you'll hear some good news."
Shen Yuning clapped her hands and laughed. Although Zhu Bin always seemed a bit slow - witted, judging from today's incident, he really liked Xue Yuxin. Moreover, Zhu Bin had a good family background and was said to be brave on the battlefield. People said that he was even better than his second uncle and was truly a great general of the Great Zhou. If Xue Yuxin married into his family, she would be the mistress of the Duke's Mansion in the future. It was really a good marriage.
However, after Zidu sent Shen Yuning back to the others and turned around, he showed no hesitation at all.
Shen Yuning craned her neck to look at Zidu's back and thought that his action seemed a bit like turning a cold shoulder.
Just as she was thinking, she looked up and saw a delicate girl glaring at her fiercely. She was quite confused. She didn't know this girl. Maybe she was the daughter of a newly - prominent family in the capital. But they were strangers. Why did she arouse the girl's anger?
Because of Shen Yuning's ennoblement, the regulation about women establishing independent households was soon successfully incorporated into the legal code of the Great Qi.
Shen Yuning chose a good day and moved into her new home with the Zhang family. She also spent a large amount of silver to hire chefs from the famous Binhong Lou in the capital to prepare a feast at the Lady of the Township's mansion.
Apart from her own family, the only people she invited were Princess Jiayang and the familiar Chen family. She had been back in the capital for a long time and had met many old acquaintances. But in the end, only the Chen family and the eldest branch of the Xue family had always treated her the same as before. Others avoided her and didn't want to associate with her anymore.
Shen Yuning wasn't a person who got entangled easily. Not all of those people were snobbish. It was really because there was a difference between officials and merchants. Since they had concerns, it wasn't good for her to pester them.
As for the invitation sent to Princess Jiayang, although it was delivered, Shen Yuning's original intention was just to make a gesture. She didn't expect Princess Jiayang to really come to the humble Lady of the Township's mansion as a guest regardless of the shabbiness.
On the day of the housewarming, Shen Yuning went to the door early in the morning, thinking that the fourth young master of the Chen family and his half - sister Chen Dai would come.
However, she never expected that there would be so many carriages. Shen Yuning looked up and saw that besides the Chen family's carriages, there were also those of the Xue family.
It wasn't that she didn't take the initiative to send an invitation to the Xue family. It was just that things had gotten a bit ugly with Xue Yujiao. If she went after them eagerly, it would be rather inappropriate.
Shen Yuning smiled even more happily. It must be that her elder brother and elder sister were afraid that her feast would be dull, so they came to support her specially.
Sure enough, Xue Yuxin jumped out of the carriage, stepped forward and hugged Shen Yuning. She pinched Shen Yuning's face and said, "You heartless little thing. You didn't even send me an invitation. Do you look down on me?"
After the two of them had a good time joking around, they saw Xue Yusong get out of the carriage. But he didn't come over. He just stood beside the carriage, waiting for the people in the carriage.
For some reason, Shen Yuning's heart started pounding. She stared intently at the middle - aged man in a black robe in the carriage. He slowly got out of the carriage, looked up at her and smiled. "Little Yuning."