Then Cheng Zhiwu, with his hands behind his back, strode into the outer hall.

Jiang Shen, who had been patrolling somewhere in the courtyard, also appeared and was now guarding the gate, his eyes fixed on Cheng Zhiwu.

The old woman immediately stepped forward and bowed slightly to Cheng Zhiwu: "Young Master, you've arrived."

Cheng Zhiwu stared at her coldly: "Get out of here!"

The old woman immediately left the courtyard with her personal maid.

Shen Qing noticed it.

The old woman who was not afraid of Cheng Zhiwen was terrified of Cheng Zhiwu.

It seems that Cheng Zhiwu's style in the Cheng family must be quite tyrannical; otherwise, the old nanny, who is so arrogant and fearless, wouldn't be so afraid of him.

Thinking of this, Shen Qing became more cautious and glanced at Jiang Shen standing at the door.

Jiang Shen nodded to her, which reassured her somewhat.

Cheng Zhiwu sat down on the sofa, and Shen Qing bowed slightly to him: "Big brother, you've arrived."

Cheng Zhiwu smiled at her and gestured with his chin to the seat opposite him: "Sit down."

As he spoke, his eyes were fixed on a section of skin at her neckline.

Shen Qing quickly pulled the collar of her bathrobe tighter.

Cheng Zhiwu immediately looked away and picked up the newspaper on the table.

He stared at the photo of Shen Qing and Cheng Zhiwen kissing in the newspaper, remaining silent for a long time.

Shen Qing asked, "Brother, would you like something to drink?"

Cheng Zhiwu snapped out of his reverie, put down his newspaper, and looked over: "Tea."

Shen Qing asked Zi Yan to bring tea.

"Your name is Shi Ning?" Cheng Zhiwu asked. "How many years have you spent in England?"

Shen Qing reacted quickly: "I've been in England for seven or eight years."

It has been seven years since Cheng Zhiwen returned from studying abroad, so Zhu Shining and his classmate must have moved to England around the same time he returned to China.

Cheng Zhiwu scrutinized her with his eyes: "Seven or eight years? Can you speak foreign languages?"

Shen Qing smiled: "Yes, I will."

After saying that, he switched to English and said, "I live in London. Welcome to London, brother."

Cheng Zhiwu's pupils contracted, but he said nothing.

Hot tea was served, and after taking a few sips, he put down the cup and looked around.

After pacing around the outer hall for a while, he went into the inner room, looked around, and said, "Are you settling in well here?"

"It's great, I like living here."

Cheng Zhiwu nodded, looked around the inner room, and then went to the bathroom door to peek inside.

Shen Qing felt a little embarrassed, remembering that his and Cheng Zhiwen's dirty clothes from last night's shower were still inside. He said, "Big brother, shall we sit outside?"

Cheng Zhiwu suddenly turned his head.

Shen Qing was caught off guard when she met his deep eyes.

I suddenly got goosebumps all over my body.

Cheng Zhiwu's gaze frightened her.

At this moment, Jiang Shen walked in and said respectfully, "Miss Zhu, the Chinese medicine is ready. Mr. Cheng told you to be sure to take the medicine on time."

Shen Qing knew that he was worried about Cheng Zhiwu, so he found an excuse to come in and quickly agreed, "Oh, okay, I'll go out and take my medicine now."

After saying that, without waiting for Cheng Zhiwu to see what was still inside, he quickly went to the outer hall.

Just then, Ziyan brought in the medicine, and Shen Qing quickly took it and drank it all in one gulp.

Cheng Zhiwu walked out slowly with his hands behind his back, looked at her for a while, and suddenly said, "Do you like rose-flavored shortbread?"

Shen Qing subconsciously said, "Zhen Yuantong's is not bad, I quite like it."

Cheng Zhiwu nodded, said nothing, and left the courtyard.

Shen Qing felt that this person was a bit strange.

He pulled his bathrobe tighter, sat down on the sofa, and saw that Jiang Shen was about to leave again, so he called him back.

"Are Su Lan, Chun Ju, and the Gao family all well?"

Jiang Shen nodded: "Nothing has changed, Lord Qi has been taken care of."

Shen Qing asked anxiously, "Do you know how I can see Brother Qi? Cheng Zhiwen won't let me go to Jiangzhou right now."

Jiang Shen thought for a moment and said, "It's best if you don't leave the Cheng family for now. Only Lord Qi can come to Yongzhou to see you. But this requires Mr. Cheng's consent."

Shen Qing shook her head helplessly, recalling Cheng Zhiwen's reaction that morning: "He disagreed. He seemed very angry when I mentioned wanting to see Brother Qi this morning."

Jiang Shen didn't dare say anything more and left.

After drinking the Chinese medicine, Shen Qing felt sleepy again, so she went back to bed and took a nap. When she woke up again, it was already afternoon.

She was sore all over from lying down and was also afraid of getting a blood clot, so she asked Ziyan to take her for a walk in the garden.

Jiang Shen was worried, so he followed them out.

The Cheng family had about a dozen gardens of various sizes. Shen Qing didn't dare to go far, so she just strolled around the gardens near the main courtyard.

We got tired and rested in the pavilion.

Servants and maids from other courtyards passed by, whispering among themselves.

The traditionally stable Cheng family mansion has recently become lively, all because the second young master, who was originally engaged, brought a girl into the courtyard.

The second young master's fiancée is the eldest daughter of the Liu family, a trusted confidante of the prince. The Liu family is one that the Cheng family cannot afford to offend. Therefore, the second young master's courtyard has never had a maidservant for many years, but now he has brought a girl back directly.

All the maids and servants in the Cheng household were waiting to see what the Liu family would do.

After gossiping about the second young master's love life for a few days, the topic has recently shifted to his ex-fiancée.

Shen Qing hadn't paid attention to what they were saying until she heard the sentence, "The second young master originally had a fiancée, the illegitimate daughter of the rice merchant Shen family..."

The Shen family, the rice merchants, isn't that the original owner's maternal family?

Shen Qing listened attentively.

"Isn't the Shen family, the rice merchants, quite well-off? And I heard that the Shen family's illegitimate daughter is exceptionally beautiful. It's said that she visited the manor before, and everyone who saw her said she was beautiful..."

"No matter how rich the Shen family is, or how beautiful their illegitimate daughter is, aren't they just common merchants? How can they compare to the Liu family, who are the Prince's confidants?"

"This illegitimate daughter of the Shen family is also pitiful. She is a young lady who has not done anything wrong and has waited for the second young master for many years. As a result, as soon as the second young master returned from studying abroad, he insisted on breaking off the engagement."

"And then what?"

"If you get dumped, the locals will think that you must have some serious problem to be dumped. Who would dare to propose marriage to you then?"

"And then what?"

"Later, the illegitimate daughter of the Shen family married someone from another place, but we don't know exactly where she married... According to the maids of the Shen family, the illegitimate daughter of the Shen family became a widow less than half a year after her marriage..."

"Oh dear! How pitiful!"

A voice broke in, mysteriously saying, "You guys don't know, do you?"

"Know what? What do you know? Then tell me!"

"I heard that after the second young master broke off his engagement with the illegitimate daughter of the Shen family, the eldest young master went to beg the master to let him marry the illegitimate daughter of the Shen family, which made the master very angry!"

"Huh? The eldest young master is going to marry the illegitimate daughter of the Shen family? She used to be his younger brother's fiancée!"

"Exactly, it's a miracle the master isn't driven mad!"

"Who knows what the young master is thinking? He probably sees that the Shen family patriarch has a lot of money and a big business, and he thinks he should keep the profits within the family?"

"What a great idea of ​​keeping the good stuff within the family..."

As the sound faded into the distance, Shen Qing got up and walked down from the pavilion.

She glanced at Jiang Shen, who also looked shocked, and whispered, "Let's go back."

Just as the group returned to the courtyard, Cheng Zhiwen and He Fei came back.

He Fei handed the large and small bags to Zi Yan.

Cheng Zhiwen instructed, "This is fresh milk. It needs to be mixed with ice and brewed with coffee for Shining's breakfast. This is ginseng from Changbai Mountain. It needs to be used to make chicken soup for Shining's midnight snack."