Chapter 100 "We still have so much more..."

Good news: The imperial physician arrived just in time.

Bad news: It's here... but it's no use.

The vast Prince Heng's mansion seemed to have been put on pause for a moment. The sounds of clinking glasses and exchanging pleasantries all disappeared, leaving only faint wails coming from the backyard, which was truly nauseating.

Soon, the calming soup administered by the imperial physician took effect, and even the wailing stopped.

Silence reigned, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Prince Heng's face was as black as the bottom of a pot. He rushed over from the front courtyard, grabbed the imperial physician, and asked anxiously, "How is the situation? Can it... be saved?"

The imperial physician lowered his head, not daring to meet his gaze. "Your Highness, the bleeding from Jiang Yibin's wound has stopped, but I'm afraid it might... This humble servant is not skilled enough, Your Highness should go to the palace as soon as possible to find a scalpel to treat it, otherwise, with the weather getting hotter and hotter, the wound is likely to fester and not heal."

Prince Heng felt dizzy and only managed to steady himself by grabbing his attendant's arm. As if he hadn't recovered yet, he asked in a strained voice, "What do you need the knife maker to do?"

The imperial physician lowered his voice even further, "The knife makers are experienced, quick, and precise. If we get them to cut it cleanly, Jiang Yibin will suffer less."

Prince Heng turned his head and saw Princess Rongcheng sitting leisurely under the eaves, admiring the flowers. She had her legs crossed, and the tips of her shoes were dangling. The sharp scissors were placed beside her, still smeared with Jiang Ping's blood.

He stormed over, his voice barely audible, "Xiao Fei, are you crazy? Today is your wedding day, there are so many guests outside, are you going to make the entire Hengwang Mansion look bad with you?"

Princess Rongcheng suddenly grabbed a large pair of scissors from beside her, startling Prince Heng so much that he took several steps back, pointing at her tremblingly: "You wretched child, you still want to lay a hand on me?"

"Father is joking, I dare not."

The county magistrate of Rongcheng slowly closed the blades of the scissors, held them tightly in her hand, and smiled slightly at him: "I just wanted to keep them safe so that they wouldn't accidentally hurt someone."

Even so, Prince Heng still dared not get too close. He pointed at the Princess of Rongcheng and mumbled "you, you, you" for a long time before finally turning away in disappointment.

Princess Rongcheng shouted at his retreating figure, "Father, if you're going to try and force any more ugly men on me, I'll cut them all off!"

...

Princess Lekang stood silently in the corner of the crowd, staring at the Rongcheng County Princess's defiant and fearless face, and was so surprised that she couldn't come to her senses for a long time.

So that's how it can be done...

She bit her lower lip lightly. No wonder her elder sister always said that she was useless and couldn't stand up for herself.

Rongcheng was more daring and more like a princess than her.

If only she had understood this sooner, perhaps Yun Zhi wouldn't have...

Just thinking about him makes my heart ache again.

Princess Lekang secretly made up her mind that if her father insisted on choosing a consort for her, she would tell him in advance that they would only be husband and wife in name only.

If he doesn't agree... then she'll have no choice but to buy a large pair of scissors.

...

Such a major event at the Prince Heng's residence could not be kept secret from the palace.

Before Prince Heng could decide whether to go to the palace to invite a knife maker, the chief eunuch by Emperor Qingxi's side had already sent someone over.

"I heard that Jiang Yibin drank too much today, tripped and fell in the new house, and injured himself there?"

Prince Heng: ...?

The chief steward looked regretful and said, "His Majesty was very worried when he heard this, and specially ordered me to come and visit him."

With a wave of his hand, a middle-aged man with a square and serious face, who never smiled, walked up from behind him. He was the most experienced knife maker in the palace.

"Go in quickly and check on Jiang Yibin. Be quick so the nobleman doesn't suffer," the chief eunuch instructed, then smiled and said to Prince Heng, "His Majesty has summoned the prince to the palace to give a report. Please come in."

...

"How strange, why didn't the old emperor punish the Princess of Rongcheng?"

Shen Lingyue pushed the scarf onto the table to groom its fur, while sharing the latest gossip with Yan Yi: "According to reliable sources, Prince Heng was summoned to the palace and scolded, and it seems he was even physically assaulted. The guards at the palace gate saw him coming out with his head covered."

"Could it be that the son's debt is being repaid by the father?" Yan Yi calmly analyzed, "Back then, it was Prince Heng who insisted on marrying Princess Rongcheng to Jiang Ping. Now that he has ended up like this, it can be said that he got what he wanted."

To put it bluntly, Princess Rongcheng's scheme against Qi Xiuyuan back then failed, and Jiang Ping ended up getting the better deal. Although she was caught red-handed in front of everyone, she is, after all, the old emperor's granddaughter. As long as she refuses to marry, it will only cause some gossip. Is she really going to risk her life for the sake of her reputation?

Princess Rongcheng is not a pushover; she will only kill others, never herself.

The ones who truly couldn't let go of their reputations were Prince Heng and Jiang Ping, who fantasized about using this opportunity to rise to the top.

Shen Lingyue pulled the tuft of fur out of the comb, rolled it into a ball, and tossed it to the little fox to chase and play with. Then, she asked Yan Yi with great interest, "What do you think will happen to Princess Rongcheng and Jiang Ping in the future? Will they get a divorce?"

Yan Yi thought for a moment and shook her head. "Probably not. No matter how incompetent Jiang Ping is, he was still the top scholar chosen by His Majesty last year, but now he has been...crushed by the Princess of Rongcheng. His Majesty must make a conciliatory gesture to quell the anger of the scholars."

"No wonder there are rumors circulating outside that Jiang Ping got drunk and accidentally fell and injured himself there, but the entire Hengwang Mansion still stays by his son-in-law's side and takes good care of him."

Shen Lingyue spread her hands and concluded: "Now the storyline of Princess Rongcheng is back to normal—she married a husband, but it's like she's not married at all, and she can still keep ten or eight male concubines in the future."

Yan Yi was amused by her peculiar thought process. Hmm... how can it not be considered a case of different paths leading to the same destination?

...

This summer was very lively, with families holding weddings in droves. Shen Lingyue and Yan Yi followed Meng Wanyin to attend the banquets in turn. Occasionally, they would run into familiar friends and gossip together, sharing the latest gossip from each other, mainly to exchange information.

But soon Shen Lingyue would be caught up in her own family's gossip—her older brother Shen Ming'an and Sang Wenyuan were finally getting married.

This is the first time the Shen family has had a daughter-in-law, and the one getting married is Zhao Lan's most proud eldest son. She, who is usually calm and composed in managing the household affairs, has been a little anxious lately. According to Liu's mother, she has been suffering from insomnia for a month.

Shen Lingyue and Shen Yuanjia have been making frequent trips to Zhao Lan's parents' home lately, helping her to double-check the wedding arrangements and ensure that all the necessary items and food for the wedding day are prepared.

And Shen Ming'an's yard was cleaned three times a day. Not only were the rat holes in the corners of the walls blocked, but even if a tile on the roof was missing a corner, it had to be replaced immediately.

Even so, Zhao Lan was still not satisfied. The more she looked at her own house, the more cramped and confined she felt, fearing that she would wrong the daughter-in-law she had finally managed to win over.

She murmured to her two daughters, "If only the family next door on the east side were willing to sell their house, Ming'an and Wenyuan could move there and have a small door made in the wall, so the young couple could have some peace of mind."

Shen Lingyue exclaimed dramatically, "Big sister, listen to this! My sister-in-law hasn't even entered the family yet, and Mother is already planning to give my eldest brother to her to live separately."

Shen Yuanjia covered his mouth and chuckled: "I envy my sister-in-law for having such an understanding and kind mother-in-law."

"By the way, sister, has your mother-in-law been giving you any trouble lately? Is she still pressuring you to have a baby?"

Shen Lingyue winked at her, and the two sisters understood each other without saying a word—the eldest sister's husband was probably already beyond saving.

Shen Yuanjia stole a glance at Zhao Lan and saw that she was still engrossed in calculating. He leaned close to Shen Lingyue's ear and whispered, "Hurry up, why aren't you urging him? It's just that he's the one being urged now."

Last year, Shen Yuanjia followed Zhao Lan's arrangement and gave Han Zhihuan two concubines. Han Zhihuan actually thought that Shen Yuanjia had changed his ways. He praised her as a virtuous wife to everyone he met in the Earl's mansion, and secretly promised her that as long as the two concubines could give birth to a son, he would take the mother and keep the child, and bring the child to the main courtyard for her to raise. He swore to the heavens that he would never do the thing of favoring concubines over his wife.

Shen Yuanjia listened and let it go without refuting, coldly watching Han Zhihuan try every trick in the book to cultivate the land. He worked hard for half a year, almost exhausted, but still couldn't get any good news.

Her mother-in-law, Lady Pingxi, was also anxious, wondering if her son really couldn't have children. She specially found two virtuous women from outside the family, both with slender waists and large hips, who were particularly good at bearing sons and had five or six brothers. She spent a lot of money to buy them into the mansion as concubines.

Shen Lingyue clicked her tongue: "Two become four, will my brother-in-law be able to handle it?"

Shen Yuanjia smiled and said, "You haven't seen him in a long time, otherwise you would be shocked. He has lost more than ten pounds since last year, and the study is filled with the smell of medicine all day long. He dares to put all kinds of nourishing folk remedies into his mouth."

Lady Pingxi is completely out of options. I heard that she has recently started thinking that if all else fails, she can just adopt one of Han Zhihuan's nephews to him.

"Elder sister, please don't agree!" Shen Lingyue hurriedly said, "You don't even want a son born out of wedlock, let alone a nephew."

Shen Yuanjia nodded, "I'm not stupid. Besides, your brother-in-law is unwilling. He thinks he can have a child if he tries harder."

Her mother-in-law was also a fool. The lesson of the Dongxiang Marquis's family was still fresh in her mind. Now, when the ladies of the capital heard that someone was going to be adopted, they felt uneasy.

Shen Lingyue comforted her, "Heng'er is doing well at the girls' school. When she gets a few more years older, she might catch the eye of Princess Tong'an and have a bright future."

Don't forget, Yan Yi saw that in a few years there will be female officials in the court, and maybe Heng Jie'er will be able to get one?

If we dream of something even bigger, what if Sister Heng makes a great contribution to the country? Perhaps the emperor sitting on the dragon throne will wave his hand and grant her permission to inherit the title?

In short, Shen Lingyue is still full of confidence in the future. Although she cannot say it outright, she can try her best to protect Heng Jie'er's precious status as an only child.

All you illegitimate sons and adopted sons, get out of the way!

...

With the wedding date approaching, Shen Lingyue and Yan Yi went to the Sang family together to help Sang Wenyuan with her wedding attire.

Walking in the Sang family courtyard, Shen Lingyue and Yan Yi sighed, "I'm both part of my husband's family and my own family, I'm so busy."

Yan Yi was about to reply with a smile when a familiar figure emerged from around the corner.

Her eyes lit up. "Aunt Sang, when did you get back?"

"I just got home a few days ago." Sang Zhi Qiu walked over with a smile. "It's been a long time. Judging from your complexions, you're doing well."

After traveling for more than half a year, her skin was tinged with a light wheat color by the sun and wind. The only thing that remained unchanged was her pair of bright and resolute eyes, which now held a greater sense of worldly wisdom and open-mindedness.

Shen Lingyue happily grabbed her arm, "That's wonderful! I was just talking to my mother about you yesterday. I'll send someone back to let them know in a bit, and they'll definitely save you a good seat."

Sang Zhi Qiu's eyes flickered slightly, and a faint blush rose on her cheeks. "One seat might not be enough."

"Huh?" Shen Lingyue blinked, still not quite understanding.

Sang Zhi Qiu smiled without saying a word, then led the two of them in a different direction to the guest courtyard.

"Ah Qiu, you're back."

A tall man, about thirty years old, stood up from the stone table, holding a few pages of paper in his hand. "I just finished organizing our observations in western Sichuan... And who are these two?"

Sang Zhi Qiu gently introduced, "They are the two young mistresses of the Pei family that I mentioned to you."

The man suddenly realized what was happening, quickly stepped forward, and solemnly bowed to the two of them.

"I have long admired your noble character, ladies. Thank you for speaking up for me and rescuing me from this misery. Without you, I and I would not be where we are today. In fact, I should prepare a generous gift to thank you both."

Shen Lingyue exclaimed, her words tumbling out in excitement, "You, you're Uncle Sang?!"

The man raised his head, a smile on his face, and looked at Sang Zhi Qiu with a serious and affectionate expression.

"Haha, it's not too late for you to change your minds once A-Qiu agrees to marry me."

Yan Yi smiled and said, "Congratulations, Aunt Sang."

Sang Zhi Qiu was initially a little embarrassed, but after receiving their sincere blessings, she became less reserved and said frankly, "Zhen Sheng and I met in Ganzhou. After passing the imperial examination, he failed twice and gave up on pursuing fame and fortune, deciding instead to travel all over the country. We shared the same interests and traveled together, and later..."

Shen Lingyue cupped her face in her hands and smiled like an aunt, "That's wonderful! This is what they call a predestined marriage!"

Yan Yi nodded to Mo Zhensheng, subtly probing, "Mr. Mo, what are your plans for the future? Will you take the exam again?"

Mo Zhensheng waved his hand without thinking, "I won't take the exam anymore, I'm just not cut out to be an official. Aqiu and I came back this time to attend her niece's wedding, pay our respects to the elders of the Sang family, and ask them to allow me to take care of Aqiu. After that, we'll stay in the capital for a few more days at most, as we still need to go to the Tea Horse Road to follow the camel bells."

Shen Lingyue listened with extreme envy; these two were practically a pair of wilderness adventurers, seasoned backpackers.

"By the way, I heard from Wen Yuan that you recently took over a study?"

Remembering his business, Sang Zhiqi went to Mo Zhensheng's room and retrieved a stack of manuscripts.

"These are some notes and observations I wrote during my travels with Zhensheng. Mr. Shen, please take a look and see if you think they can be published and sold?"

Shen Lingyue and Yan Yi shared the book, and were soon captivated by the diverse and magnificent natural landscapes described in their writings, depicting different places and scenes.

Sang Zhiqi and Mo Zhensheng, one the daughter of the Imperial Academy Chancellor and the other a proper scholar who passed the imperial examinations, naturally possess excellent writing skills. Moreover, they also included many local customs and observations, blending scenery and emotions, nature and culture, making it a rare gem among travelogues on the market.

"Yes, of course!"

Shen Lingyue took full responsibility, saying, "Aunt Sang, you can play and write at the same time. Once you've collected enough copies, send them back to the capital. After you sell the books and divide the money, I'll send it to you as travel expenses."

This could also open up a new avenue for Langhuan Pavilion.

Sang Zhi Qiu smiled and said, "Then we must thank Boss Shen for his generous donation."

"Hehe, it's a win-win situation. We make money and allow more people to enjoy the beautiful scenery without leaving home!"

Shen Lingyue and Sang Zhiqi agreed that when she had time, she could go directly to Langhuan Pavilion to find Lian Shu to sign the contract.

Poor little Manager Lian, he's probably going to be busy again. ^_^

By the way, my cousin's new book is almost due, so don't forget to check on her progress when you get back.

I heard her complaining about Calvin last time—it seems even the most talented players can't escape the Calvin curse.

Why not take advantage of Aunt Sang's stay in the capital for a few days and let her meet with Dong Lanyi and Xiao Suzhen, have some tea, chat, and inspire each other?

These are her most precious "money trees," and she must take good care of them!

Seeing that Shen Lingyue suddenly lost in thought while talking, Sang Zhi Qiu, not knowing what was wrong, asked Yan Yi in a low voice, "What's wrong with her?"

Yan Yi smiled lightly, "It's nothing, she's just obsessed with money."

...

Shen Ming'an and Sang Wenyuan's wedding went smoothly and without any mishaps. It was a grand and successful event.

When Shen Ming'an grasped the scale beam with slightly trembling hands, he lifted the red veil embroidered with twin lotus flowers, revealing the beautiful and charming face of the new bride.

Amid the cheers of the guests, Sang Wenyuan looked up at him, her red lips smiling, and her eyes glistening with tears.

"Waaah..."

Shen Lingyue grabbed Yan Yi's sleeve and cried even harder than a newlywed couple.

Yan Yi patted her, both amused and exasperated, "What's wrong? This is a joyous occasion!"

Shen Lingyue was still choking up, sobbing as she said, "I'm so angry. It suddenly occurred to me that we were never able to witness each other's wedding day."

It's all the old emperor's fault. Why did he have to let them both enter the palace on the same day?

Yan Yi couldn't help but laugh.

Actually... there's nothing worth witnessing.

Unlike Shen Ming'an and Sang Wenyuan, who were deeply in love and committed to each other, when she and Xiao Yueliang married into the Pei family, although they were happy to be reunited, they were also nervous and apprehensive about facing that strange man.

Fortunately, although the process was a bit tortuous, the result was quite satisfactory.

She held Shen Lingyue's hand earnestly and said, "Let bygones be bygones. We have a lot of future ahead of us."

-----------------------

Author's Note: Chapter 100! Hooray! [Hooray][Hooray] To maintain a beautiful and happy atmosphere, I've decided to pause here. [Dog head][Dog head] I'll post another chapter tonight!

//As usual, leave a 2-point comment within 24 hours of this chapter and I'll send you a red envelope! [heart][heart]