After Princess Jiayang invited the ladies from various mansions to sit and chat, Shen Yuning went to the flower hall to join the young ladies for some fun.
However, she had outgrown the age for such amusements. So she just sat in the corner sipping tea, watching the young ladies chattering away, either engaging in poetry contests or playing the arrow - throwing game.
Weirui was very graceful. She played the arrow - throwing game with several girls. When others asked her to participate in the poetry contest, she didn't mind but just shook her head. "I'm not well - versed in poetry. I'm not very good at it. I'll just listen to you."
Now that she was the granddaughter of the princess, no one dared to look down on her. No matter what they thought in their hearts, on the surface, they all said she was modest and generous.
As for Shen Yuning, this time it wasn't as cold as during previous banquets. Many familiar noble young ladies came over under the pretext of old acquaintance to make small talk. Unfortunately, most of Shen Yuning's childhood friends had already married. The girls here were mostly their younger sisters. There was an age gap, so there wasn't much to talk about.
But even though they didn't have much to say to each other, it didn't stop Shen Yuning from listening to their conversations.
Mostly they were talking about the situations of various mansions. For example, the Duke of Tang was sentenced to immediate execution, and his family was raided and all nine generations of his kin were implicated. Several families related to the Tang family, like the Gao family, were also raided and their members executed. There were no descendants in the direct line, and the collateral branches were demoted to slaves.
The young ladies were most concerned about the girls. For example, among the girls from the Tang family who had married, those whose husbands' families weren't implicated quickly and mercilessly divorced them, and the Tang girls had to live in a very cautious way.
As for Concubine Xian, the younger sister of the Duke of Tang, it was said that she had committed suicide in the cold palace. It was a serious crime for a concubine to commit suicide, but since there was no one left in the Tang family, it didn't really matter.
Then they talked about Princess Zhaoming, who was originally engaged to the heir of the Tang family.
Since Shen Yuning and Xue Yuxin had once witnessed Yin Zhaoming confessing her love to Zhu Bin, when she heard this, she couldn't help but prick up her ears and listen carefully.
"After all, she is a princess," said a round - faced girl. "The Rong Prince's Mansion announced that she was ill. I guess they'll send her away after she recovers and bring her back in a few years when the situation calms down."
Some people felt sorry for her. "It's a pity. She is a princess of the prince's mansion, such a noble status. If her family hadn't chosen this marriage with the Tang family for her, tsk tsk tsk..."
But they completely forgot how jealous they were when they heard that the heir of the Tang family was going to marry Yin Zhaoming.
Another girl curled her lips disdainfully. "Who doesn't know that the Rong Prince's Mansion is also involved in this matter? They have a side concubine from the Qiao family!"
The Qiao family used to be the number one imperial merchant and was also a force on the side of the Second Prince. Their end this time was not good.
The girls sitting here were all daughters of high - ranking officials. They all looked down on merchants and disliked Concubine Qiao of the Rong Prince's Mansion.
The round - faced girl had a particularly different attitude towards this fallen girl from the Qiao family and Yin Zhaoming of the Rong Prince's Mansion.
"That Qiao Peilan, just because she became a rural lady, thought she had become a phoenix. She thought she could sit with us. She doesn't even look at her status. She is just a merchant's daughter. Isn't she just relying on the fact that there is a side concubine in the Rong Prince's Mansion in her family? Humph, it was even rumored that she was going to marry into the Second Prince's Mansion..."
A girl next to her pulled her, hinting that there was also a rural lady from a merchant family, Shen Yuning, sitting next to them.
The round - faced girl rolled her eyes and immediately changed her tone with a sweet smile, saying to Shen Yuning, "I'm so outspoken. Please don't blame me, Rural Lady Shen. You're different from that Qiao Peilan. You were raised in the Xue Mansion. We all know that the old Marquis Xue is the most upright and honest. Moreover, you got the title of rural lady by doing practical things for the common people. We all respect you."
Shen Yuning smiled slightly and nodded to show that it was okay.
The round - faced girl breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't dare to talk nonsense anymore. Before the late emperor passed away, he said that he would reward Rural Lady Shen. Although the reward hadn't been officially announced, what the emperor said was like the law. Moreover, Shen Yuning's niece was the granddaughter of Princess Jiayang. She was barely related to the royal family.
But she didn't know that Shen Yuning was really itching to ask her about Qiao Peilan's current situation. According to the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the men of the main branch of the Qiao family were beheaded, and the female relatives should be confiscated as slaves. She didn't know where Qiao Peilan had been sent to be a slave.
Since the girls didn't dare to speak ill of the girls who had committed crimes, they started talking about the young masters from various mansions.
The round - faced girl was very active. Her face flushed as she said, "It turns out that Young Master Zidu of the Zhu family is actually a prince. I heard that his face is similar to the emperor's. He must be extremely good - looking."
Someone next to her joked, "Have you seen the emperor?"
The new emperor had been in poor health since childhood and rarely showed up. Since the girls sitting here were all young, very few of them had seen him. But the former Second Prince used to visit various mansions often. He was very handsome. Presumably, the emperor and the regent, as his brothers, were not much different.
The round - faced girl said seriously, "I once heard that the emperor has the appearance of a celestial being. That's why he has so many disasters and illnesses. The mortal world can't keep such a celestial being. Although I haven't seen Young Master Zidu's real face, I have seen his figure from afar. Judging from his appearance, how could he be bad?"
Although Yin Zidu was now the regent, the noble young ladies in the capital still liked to call him Young Master Zidu in private.
The girl next to her joked, "Hey, are you in love with His Highness the Regent?"
The round - faced girl shook her head. "I know my status is low. How could I be worthy of Young Master Zidu? If it were before, I might have dared to daydream for a while. But now that he is the regent, it's impossible."
Shen Yuning listened to their joking and thought that the young girls nowadays were much more talkative and daring than she was when she was a child. They dared to openly talk about their admiration for the young masters. She couldn't help but have a little more affection for the round - faced girl. Maybe it was because she thought the girl's straightforward and passionate personality was really cute.
But for some reason, there was a strange feeling in this affection.
Shen Yuning thought about it for a while and suddenly had an epiphany. Now that Zidu was the regent, his marriage was no longer up to her. She couldn't choose a good sister - in - law for him, so she felt a little stuffy in her heart.
Thinking of this, she looked up and carefully examined the round - faced girl. She really thought that the girl didn't look delicate enough. Her mouth was a little too big when she smiled. She didn't seem to be a good match for her extremely handsome younger brother.
Shen Yuning scanned the girls in the room. She always thought that one girl's figure was not perfect enough, another girl's nose was a little too flat, and the other girl who was good - looking was actually the illegitimate daughter of a seventh - rank official...
In short, it seemed that none of them was worthy of her younger brother.
Shen Yuning suddenly realized that in Xitian Town, she always taught Cen Xiaoniang and Xi'er that girls should be self - reliant and shouldn't judge people by their appearance and family background. But now, wasn't she judging these lively young girls with a picky eye based on their appearance and family background?
But... he was her younger brother after all. How could she let him marry a girl casually?
For a moment, Shen Yuning's thoughts turned to the current queen. The queen's father was a brave general under the Duke of Zhu. In a battle, in order to save the Duke of Zhu, the general gave up his chance to escape. The only daughter of the general was sent to the Qing Prince's Mansion and became the adopted daughter of the Qing Prince.
When the heir of the Qing Prince was young, he had a good relationship with the crown prince. The crown prince often went to the Qing Prince's Mansion. As time passed, he fell in love with the adopted daughter of the Qing Prince.
It was said that the crown prince had damaged his body when he was young and had been bedridden due to illness for a long time. The imperial doctor diagnosed that the crown prince might not be able to have an heir. So the crown prince didn't plan to choose a princess at all until he met the crown princess...
Shen Yuning frowned and tried hard to recall the appearance of the queen. She really couldn't remember clearly. She didn't know if the queen was easy to get along with and if she was good to Zidu. Zidu was alone in the deep palace. The emperor was busy with state affairs. Did the queen know that she should care about him?
Her thoughts drifted further and further. When the maid came and said that Princess Jiayang invited her, Shen Yuning came back to her senses and couldn't help laughing. It wasn't like in Xitian Town before, when their family was just a few people and they had to take care of each other. The palace was so big. Zidu was the emperor's younger brother and His Highness the Regent. The Inner Palace Office would surely serve him carefully. Did he still need the queen's care?
She was just thinking too much.
She frowned. Why did she feel that she wanted to think about every possible woman around Zidu and didn't want them to appear?
When Shen Yuning entered the inner room, she found that Princess Jiayang wasn't with the ladies. She was sitting in front of the dressing mirror, doing her hair.
When she saw Shen Yuning, Princess Jiayang waved to her. "Come and take a look. Do you think the new East pearls I got are beautiful?"
Princess Jiayang, being alone, especially liked gorgeous things. Everything in the princess's mansion was delicate and luxurious.
Shen Yuning had been used to frugality in the past few years. She couldn't even tell the good from the bad of the jewelry that she used to be very familiar with.
Seeing Shen Yuning staring blankly at the East pearls, Princess Jiayang couldn't help laughing. "Weirui is really like you. When I give her something, she just stares blankly like this."
She reached out to ruffle Shen Yuning's hair. Thinking that Shen Yuning wasn't as cute as Weirui, she withdrew her hand.
Shen Yuning laughed along. "I haven't seen Weirui for only a month, but I find that she has grown up a lot. It's all thanks to your good upbringing, Princess."
Princess Jiayang shook her head. "She is smart and well - behaved. I'm so lucky in my old age to have such a granddaughter."
Shen Yuning lowered her head and didn't respond.
Princess Jiayang seemed to be lost in thought. She stared blankly out of the window. It wasn't very cold in early winter, but half of the leaves had fallen. The remaining leaves were all yellow and were trembling on the branches, as if they would fall off with just a slight movement.
Shen Yuning followed her gaze. A little maid was sweeping the fallen leaves in the yard. There was a desolate and sad feeling.
When people reach old age, this was probably what the princess was thinking when she saw the leaves falling.
Shen Yuning noticed that Princess Jiayang was holding a comb in her hand, with a few strands of hair entangled on it. There was a box beside it, full of hair, with a few strands of white hair mixed in.
Princess Jiayang laughed. "Some people recommended hair oil to me, saying that if I use it, my hair will be completely black. But what do I need that for? Pretend that I'm not old yet?"
Shen Yuning replied softly, "You take good care of yourself, Princess. You look like you're in your forties. You're not old at all."
Princess Jiayang burst out laughing. She put the comb on the dressing table and looked at Shen Yuning. "Yuning, let Weirui stay with me in the princess's mansion."