Chapter 63 Not Shameful

She did not speak, but just stepped aside to make way for him, bowed, and said, "Fourth Prince, take care."

Xiao Yuan did not move, his dark eyes fixed on Shen Anan.

The two remained in this deadlocked position for quite a while.

Shen Anan frowned and looked up. She wanted to leave, but Xiao Yuan blocked her way and she couldn't get through.

"Fourth Prince, is there anything else?"

She didn't even care that he ruined her place today, so what else did he want to do?

"Have I ever told you that the scholar is not a good man?" His voice was low and cold, and his whole body was emitting bursts of chills.

Shen Anan frowned even more tightly, and finally raised her head to look directly at Xiao Yuan, "You have to try to know if he is a good person or not. How can you break up with him just because the Fourth Prince says he is not a good person?"

"Tried?" Xiao Yuan leaned closer to her, his eyes sharp, "How? Marry him and try?"

"Then what? Can you get away with it?" He suddenly grabbed Shen Anan's wrist and gritted his teeth, "Do you know that once you get married, you will bear his last name for the rest of your life?"

"So what?" Shen Anan frowned and tried to shake off his hand, but he was too strong and her strength was like an ant trying to shake a tree.

"Xiao Yuan, this is the Shen Mansion, let me go."

Xiao Yuan was unmoved, and only raised his thin lips slightly, "So what if it's the Shen Mansion? Even if it's the imperial palace, it's mine, and no one else can dare to get their hands on it!"

There was obvious deep meaning in his words, but he still loosened his grip on Shen Anan.

When he was strong towards her, she hated him; when he was gentle towards her, she pushed him too far; when he talked nicely, she ignored him. Xiao Yuan felt very depressed and irritated.

Although they have lived together in two lives, Shen Anan has never seen Xiao Yuan so strong and stubborn, just like a wild beast protecting its food.

She rubbed her wrist bones and took a step back involuntarily, feeling a little panic in her heart.

"Have a good rest. Mr. Mo, just think about some trivial things." Xiao Yuan glanced at her solemnly and walked away.

There was no way he would let her step out of the city gate of the capital.

Because of what happened in the Second Prince's Mansion, Shen Anan's forced calm and indifferent expression towards Xiao Yuan was broken again. She tilted her head to look at the man's leaving back, her almond-shaped eyes filled with resentment.

What a bastard, why didn’t she realize in her previous life that he was so nosy.

Shen Anan calmed down and continued walking towards the lakeside pavilion, but before she got there, she ran into Zhang Yeyang who came out of the pavilion in a daze.

He was wearing the only piece of clothing he had, but it seemed so out of place among the luxurious and noble children of the aristocratic families, coupled with the spacious and elegant Shen Mansion.

Shen Anan frowned. She had already asked Mo Xiang to buy him some clothes. Why didn't he wear them today?

Zhang Yeyang looked like he had lost his soul. He walked forward with unsteady steps and his face was as pale as paper.

Suddenly, he heard the servants' respectful greetings, "Miss."

He subconsciously looked up and saw a noble and beautiful girl standing in the corridor. She looked at him with a smile in her eyes. She was so beautiful that she didn't seem like a human woman.

But he couldn't be happy. He tried hard to pull up the corners of his lips, but his smile was extremely stiff.

His feet felt like they were filled with lead and he couldn't lift them at all, as if what separated the two of them was not a path of a few dozen steps, but a chasm that could never be crossed.

He has the confidence and calmness that comes from his family background, education, heritage, and being raised in a wealthy and powerful family since childhood.

Shen Anan looked at him with a shocked look, pursed her red lips slightly, and took the initiative to walk down the corridor to him.

"Mr. Zhang."

Zhang Yeyang felt like he had something stuck in his throat. He opened his mouth and finally spoke, "I'm sorry, I failed Mr. Shen. Madam Shen's arrangement has caused trouble for Mr. Shen and embarrassed you."

His face turned red and he was too ashamed to even look up.

Shen Anan suddenly fell into a brief silence. Looking at Zhang Yeyang like this, for the first time she wondered if she was wrong to drag him into the quagmire.

"Don't say that." Shen Anan's tone was softer than ever before, "None of us expected the Fourth Prince to come to the banquet today, let alone that he would come in person."

I don’t know what’s wrong with me, Shen Anan muttered in her heart, but the words she said were extremely gentle, comforting Zhang Yeyang.

"Not to mention you, even if the other princes, or even all the talented children of the aristocratic families in the capital were gathered together, they might not be his match, so it is not unfair to lose to him."

Zhang Yeyang opened and closed his lips several times, but in the end he didn't say such embarrassing words.

It is true that his talent is not as good as the Fourth Prince, but Master Shen had already sent someone to inform him of the content of the competition in advance, giving him sufficient preparation. So today, even though the Shen family helped him cheat, he didn't win. How could he not be ashamed and embarrassed?

Shen Anan smiled gently, "Don't worry, I will ask my parents to think of other ways, you go back and have a good rest, and wait for my news."

Zhang Yeyang smiled bitterly, "I am a man of seven feet tall, and marriage is a big deal, but you, a girl, have to work so hard and think about it."

"Don't say that. After we get married, we'll be a family. There's no distinction between you and me."

Zhang Yeyang looked at Shen Anan's beautiful and bright little face, and really felt that it was a gift from God that he was lucky enough to win her heart. He really didn't know how he could do that!

"Mo Ran, send Master Zhang off."

"Yes." Mo Ran walked out from behind and made a gesture of invitation, "Mr. Zhang, please come this way."

Zhang Yeyang suffered a blow today, said goodbye to Shen Anan, and left quickly.

She then went to the lakeside pavilion. She didn't see anyone along the way. Mo Xiang, who had been holding back on speaking, finally couldn't help but speak.

"Miss, I clearly sent clothes to Master Zhang a long time ago, why did he..."

Shen Anan looked into the distance, and smiled faintly when he heard the words, “Although he comes from a poor family, he also has his own pride.”

It was her negligence that didn't occur to her.

The more those who try to curry favor with the powerful, the more they like these silks and satins. However, if someone has a little backbone, he might feel humiliated and look down on him.

She didn't ask further because she was afraid of hurting his self-esteem again.

"But he was so proud that he didn't even think about whether he would embarrass the girl."

The girl and he are from two different classes. If he doesn't wear it, won't people say he is trying to marry above his station?

Could it be that after they get married, he will ask the girl to adapt to his coarse linen clothes?

Mo Xiang felt that, as a girl born with a talent for heaven, she should not have anything to do with the Han clan. After all, they had different upbringings and would definitely have many disagreements in the future.

Shen Anan turned her head and glared at Mo Xiang, "Don't say this again in the future. Since I want to marry him, you have to respect him as much as you respect me."

Mo Xiang curled her lips and said reluctantly, "I understand."

Suppressing the thoughts in her mind, Shen Anan walked into the lake pavilion. All the guests in the flower hall had left, and only the servant was cleaning up the mess.

She looked around before she saw Shen Changhe in the pavilion.

A guard stood beside him, probably reporting something. Shen Changhe frowned and lowered his head to read the letter handed over by the guard.

Shen Anan turned around and walked towards the pavilion.

"That's about it. Time is tight, so this is all we can find out." The guard said respectfully.

Shen Changhe nodded and handed the letter back to the guard, "You can leave first."

"Yes." The guard turned around, saluted to Shen Anan who was walking over, and then left.

Shen Changhe glanced at Shen Anan and asked calmly, "Have you heard about it?"

"Um."

The brother and sister stood in the pavilion, watching the koi swimming back and forth in the middle of the lake, and did not speak for a while.

Finally, Shen Changhe spoke first, "My mother's plan failed, I'm sure she will be very angry."

Shen Anan remained silent.

"An'an," Shen Changhe tilted his head to look at her and asked again with great seriousness, "Do you really have to marry that scholar?"

"Brother, no matter whether it is the poor family or the noble family, who can win the prize from Xiao Yuan in the flower hall today? Looking at the capital, who can be compared with him, let alone beat him? Although Zhang Yeyang lost, losing to Xiao Yuan is not shameful."

"Alas." Shen Changhe sighed heavily and shook his head.

"Brother, this isn't about winning or losing."

"What is that?" Shen Anan didn't quite understand. Apart from today's talent competition, what else made her eldest brother dissatisfied with Zhang Yeyang?

"They rise with courtesy and yield, and drink with respect; their contention is that of a gentleman."

Shen Changhe frowned tightly, "He is not able to face winning or losing with a normal heart and cannot accept it calmly. He really lacks the bearing of a gentleman."

Moreover, when he asked the servant to reveal the process and topics of the competition in advance, he did not refuse at all. Afterwards, he found it hard to accept that he was not as skilled as others.

After close contact, Shen Changhe was very dissatisfied with this person. He believed that he was not strong and open-minded enough. Even though he was kind, it was difficult for him to maintain his original intention after being immersed in the dye vat-like officialdom for too long.

Hearing this, Shen Anan fell silent again.

When I saw him on the corridor just now, he looked distraught, with unsteady steps and a look of great shock. He was definitely not like the gentleman that my eldest brother described.

"He comes from a poor family, so naturally his character is not free and open-minded."

It is naturally difficult to compare with those children from aristocratic families with profound family background.

Those people have someone to support them, so they have the confidence to face any emergency, and they can take the mere win or loss calmly.

How can Zhang Yeyang compare with them since they have been brought up differently?

"Brother, among those who have climbed up from humble backgrounds, how many are upright gentlemen? If they were all upright gentlemen, how could they have survived and gained a firm foothold in the treacherous court?"

Shen Changhe frowned, glanced at the stubborn Shen Anan, and sighed helplessly.

What he cares about is not these things, but his lack of grace. To put it bluntly, he is petty and cannot be shown off among the powerful and wealthy.

The Han clan also has someone who is very successful in the court, but none of them does not have the ability to handle affairs calmly and calmly.

"Well, since you have made up your mind, I won't say much. I have some clues about the things you asked me to investigate a few days ago."

Shen Anan immediately asked, "How is it, is there any problem in his family?"

"Time was too tight, and the people we sent could only find out that he did have an older sister and a younger sister. His older sister was six years older than him and was set to get married in a month. His younger sister is only eight years old now. But according to reliable information, his older sister is not his biological sibling, and must have been adopted by his parents."

Upon hearing this, Shen Anan frowned, “Not a biological child.”

Not to mention the wealthy families with some money, even the farmers in the village had difficulty supporting their families with the few acres of good land, let alone raising a child who was not related by blood.

His sister...

The problem that Shen Anan thought of was also thought of by Shen Changhe.

"According to the news we received, Zhang Yeyang's parents had been married for three years without having a child, so they adopted his sister, saying that she was destined to have a sibling and could bring children to the Zhang family."

Farmers all believe in these things, especially when they are desperate, they will try any superstitious rumors. After hearing this, Shen Anan's doubts dissipated a little.

"His eldest sister is six years older than him, so there shouldn't be any problem. She already has a good partner. I heard that the man works at the docks, and they have a pretty good relationship."

"Yeah." Shen Anan was completely relieved. Since there was no problem at home, the next step was to discuss the marriage.

But after what happened today, I'm afraid my mother will complain a lot, and she will have to work hard to coax her.

——

At the same time that Shen Changhe received the news, Ling Chenyi's letter also received a reply.

The fourth prince’s study.

Ling Chenyi raised his eyebrows and looked at the contents of the letter. He was stunned for a long time and didn't come back to his senses.

He looked up at Xiao Yuan, who was still in a daze with a gloomy face behind the desk, and asked, "What do you mean by waiting for the girl?"

Xiao Yuan raised his eyes coldly, his gaze fixed on the letter in Ling Chenyi's hand.

"Jiangnan sent it back. Do you want to see it?" He thought he was going to sit there sulking.

"Bring it here."

Xiao Yuan's tone was cold.

Ling Chenyi stood up and handed it to him. "You're right. His sister is indeed not his biological daughter. There are some problems. According to local residents, Zhang's parents adopted that girl to be a bridesmaid for Zhang Yeyang. Our people don't understand what they mean, but no matter how they ask, those people are unwilling to say anything."

Waiting for a man and a girl, just the word sounds a bit dirty.

There is definitely something wrong with the relationship between this sister and Zhang Yeyang.

"What's even more coincidental is," Ling Chenyi rested his hands on the desk and looked at the letter, "a few days ago, the news came back that Zhang Yeyang had passed the imperial examination and would soon return to Jiangnan to take over as the county magistrate. Within two days, her sister's fiancé accidentally fell into the river and his body was never found."

Xiao Yuan narrowed his dark eyes, put down the letter, looked up and exchanged glances with Ling Chenyi.

Having walked on thin ice and been cautious in the palace for several years, they never believed in coincidences.

The fiancé died?

Xiao Yuan's lips curled up in a sinister arc, "Have you asked someone to investigate how he died?"

"Three days is too late." Ling Chenyi sat down opposite him. "Zhang Yeyang's hometown is in a poor and remote place in the south of the Yangtze River. There is no news and no transportation. If you want to find out any news, you have to ask the villagers. Those people are very focused. If they don't want to reveal something, you can't ask them a word."

They were all civilians and they couldn't threaten them with knives, so the information they obtained was very limited.

“However, Shen Jiaying also sent people to inquire. Our people used some means to prevent him from knowing the full situation, so as not to affect your subsequent measures. However, from the description, it should be Shen Changhe’s people.”

"Yeah." Xiao Yuan lowered his head and folded the letter again. His dark eyes gradually became heavy and dark.

"But it is speculated that waiting for a man to marry a girl seems to be a custom in their village, and it is not allowed by the government, so they keep silent about it."

Ling Chenyi frowned and said that it was the first time he heard such a new word.