Chapter 2 The Fourth Prince's Consort Can Be Anyone

The banquet was over, and Shen Anan was kept by Concubine Shen as expected. Seeing Madam Shen and Lord Shen leaving the palace, her eyes turned red uncontrollably.

“Hey, why doesn’t Miss Shen leave? Do you want to stay in the palace to heal your injuries?”

When Shen Anan turned around, she ran into a pair of peach blossom eyes that were gloating. Li Huaiyan walked in a square step with a look of evil on his face.

Shen Anan frowned, his eyes paused on Xiao Yuan beside him, and bowed, "Fourth Prince."

His tone was calm without any ups and downs, and he turned around and was about to leave.

"Why are you running? Is Xiao Yuan some kind of monster?" Li Huaiyan stepped forward and blocked her way.

"Is that a hairpin hidden in your sleeve? It's quite sharp. Can you show it to me?"

Shen Anan’s expression changed.

Li Huaiyan actually saw it, which means Xiao Yuan also knew it?

She did not take Xiao Yuan's thoughts into consideration, but what she did was to deceive the emperor.

Li Huaiyan saw her expression change, and the teasing in his eyes faded a little, "Don't be afraid, I won't expose you, but I can't guarantee whether he... will or not."

He pointed at Xiao Yuan.

Shen Anan said, “The Fourth Prince cherishes words like gold, and he won’t be as idle and nosy as Master Li.”

Her expression was grim.

Li Huaiyan didn't realize he was being ridiculed at all and continued to smile gracefully.

Xiao Yuan frowned, the words "sparing with words as if they were gold" sounded ironic.

"I'm in a hurry to get scolded, so I'll leave first." Shen Anan walked towards the harem with a sullen face.

Li Huaiyan laughed, "This Miss Shen is quite interesting."

When I turned around, I found that the person behind me was gone.

"Hey, wait for me."

The moment the carriage curtain fell, his figure flashed and he got into the carriage of the Fourth Prince's Mansion.

"Hey, Master Li..." The servant Qing'an didn't have time to stop him, and all that was left was the shaking curtains of the carriage.

"My carriage is not as spacious as the one in the prince's mansion. Please send it back to me on the way."

“…”

The Fourth Prince's Mansion and Duke Li's Mansion, one faces south and the other faces north. How can they be on the same route?

"Throw away Wanhua Tower to him." Xiao Yuan's voice came out coldly.

Wanhua Tower is a famous brothel in Kyoto, and Li Huaiyan is a frequent visitor there.

Qing'an responded, whipped his horsewhip, and sped away.

In the carriage, Li Huaiyan's face was full of gossip. "You say, Concubine Shen will be so angry that her nose will be crooked. She tried her best to win you over, just to marry her niece to you so that she can have someone to rely on. Now she is about to get her wish, but nothing happens."

“That Miss Shen, I don’t know what she is being scolded for now.”

Xiao Yuan was a little annoyed by his chattering, and stared at him coldly, "You want to know?"

"Think, what an interesting thing. I haven't seen such an interesting girl in many years."

"Qing'an, turn around and send him to the palace to find Eunuch An."

Xiao Yuan smiled, "After you get out of Eunuch An's place, you can go to the harem and watch the fun as you please."

"This is the only method you have." Li Huaiyan complained dissatisfiedly, but then he became much more honest.

"Let's get back to the point. Miss Shen, regardless of her status or the Imperial Concubine Shen in the palace, would be a great help to you if she could become your Fourth Prince's consort. I thought I could get the marriage granted by His Majesty today, but something unexpected happened. What are your plans?"

Xiao Yuan's expression did not change. "As long as we behave ourselves, it doesn't matter who the Fourth Prince's wife is. If the Shen family doesn't work, we can just switch to another family. What's the point of planning?"

Since he must marry a prince's wife, he might as well marry one who doesn't require him to worry about her. It doesn't matter who she is.

"That being said, the surname and family of the Fourth Prince's wife are extremely important. Apart from the Shen family, I really can't think of a more suitable one."

"Tell me, why doesn't Miss Shen want to marry you? Could it be that she has secretly married another man in Jiangnan?"

The topic returned to the starting point. Xiao Yuan's face was gloomy. "Why don't you go and ask?"

"This... isn't good. After all, she is a girl. But if you are unwilling to accept it, I can risk my dignity and find out the truth for you."

Xiao Yuan knocked on the wall of the carriage with his knuckles, and Qing'an immediately reined in his horse.

He raised his chin and Li Huaiyan pouted. It was the same old story again. He lifted the car curtain and looked out. "This is in the middle of nowhere. How can I go back if you leave me here?"

"Get out." Xiao Yuan's words were concise and to the point. Li Huaiyan knew his bad temper very well. He got off the carriage angrily and watched the carriage disappear into the distance.

—

In Zhaoyang Palace, vases and jades were broken all over the floor. Concubine Shen sat on the couch, so angry that she had trouble breathing.

Shen Anan knelt on the ground in an orderly manner, being extremely obedient.

"Why are you pretending to be mute now, son? I'm asking you a question."

"Do you know how much effort I put in for today? Now it's all ruined by your few words."

If nothing unexpected happens, the Fourth Prince will most likely be the future emperor. Once he becomes emperor, both she and the Shen family will be able to prosper for another hundred years.

Shen Anan raised her innocent eyes, "Anan was raised by my grandmother. When I was in Jiangnan, what I heard most was my grandmother's sigh. She regretted that she had agreed to let my aunt enter the palace, which made my aunt trapped in the palace walls for her entire life, fighting wits and courage with countless women, walking on thin ice."

"My grandmother also repeatedly told me to stay away from the royal family when I returned to Beijing. An An doesn't want my mother to be as sad as my grandmother was for me."

Concubine Shen's surging anger was suddenly suppressed, and she stared blankly at Shen Anan on the ground.

When she married into the palace, she was extremely reluctant, but her father was determined to do so for the prosperity of the family, and her mother could not stop him and almost cried her eyes out.

Over the years, no one had ever cared about how she survived in this place where people were eaten without leaving any bones. Shen Anan was the first person to mention it.

Shen Anan glanced at her expression inconspicuously and breathed a sigh of relief.

Although Concubine Shen was her aunt, the two of them had only met twice in more than ten years, so their relationship was not really deep.

They did have some interactions in their previous life, but she was not liked by Xiao Yuan. Every time they met, she would scold him and despise him. Over time, she became impatient to deal with it, so when her father retired and returned home, she died of depression and he never visited her again.

After a moment, Concubine Shen softened her expression and said in a cold tone, "As a daughter of the Shen family, this is my duty, and from now on, it will also be your duty."

Shen Anan pouted.

The Shen family's prosperity was earned by her father's unswerving loyalty. Whether she gets married or not will not affect the overall situation. She is eager for her to get married only because she is worried that she will be in a difficult situation after the new emperor ascends the throne.

Concubine Shen, of course, didn't know what she was thinking, and said in a deep voice, "A woman should marry a rich man. The Fourth Prince has a promising future. If you don't marry him, do you want to marry the Jade Emperor?"

"Okay, I won't bother about what happened today. I will find a way to deal with the emperor. Just stay in the mansion and wait for the imperial decree granting marriage."

Mo Le added, "Stop trying to be clever."

She didn't know this niece, but her mischievous personality was somewhat similar to her own when she was a child.

Shen Anan was unwilling in her heart, but when she met Concubine Shen's firm eyes, she swallowed her words back.

On this day in her previous life, she and Xiao Yuan had already been engaged. Now, thanks to her efforts, the situation has turned around, and she will definitely be able to find a way to dissuade her aunt from thinking so.

Thinking of this, Shen Anan decided not to get entangled with Concubine Shen at this time. After bowing and paying respects, she was sent out of the palace by the palace servants.