Nian An and Nian Ning exchanged a glance and said, "Miss... Your Highness, those two women seemed to be saying that you don't know what's good for you, that you even dared to refuse the Emperor and the Crown Prince, and that you have bad eyesight..."

Shen Pingjin hadn't heard that much and was somewhat distracted. "What else did you hear?"

Nian An shook her head. "I didn't hear the rest. They walked too fast."

Whether by coincidence or not, the two women who had just reached their seats suddenly stopped, one of them, a woman in a pale yellow brocade dress with a pretty face, and her brows furrowed slightly.

Seeing her older sister suddenly stop, Luo Yan asked, puzzled, "Second sister, what's wrong?"

Luo Xi raised her eyes, her voice slightly cold, "I think I just saw Chen Pingjin."

Luo Yan was stunned. "Wh-what? Second Sister, you think you just saw Chen Pingjin?"

She was just chatting with her older sister about the Crown Prince and Shen Pingjin...

Luo Xi shook her head. "I'm not sure, but out of the corner of my eye, it looks a lot like her."

Luo Yan hesitated and said, "Second Sister, shall we go back and take another look?"

After all, her second sister had long admired the Crown Prince, and had basically given up after learning that the Crown Prince was with Shen Pingjin, but then...

Shen Pingjin actually fell in love with someone else, and with a regent with a bad reputation?

Luo Yan shook her head and sighed. This Miss Shen is truly foolish!

Luo Xi nodded. "Come back with me."

Luo Yan knew that her second sister had been tossing and turning and couldn't sleep these past few days because of this matter. She also knew that this was a knot in her heart, and the one who tied the knot had to untie it.

And what a coincidence that Shen Pingjin might also be having lunch at Zuixianglou today?

Luo Yan followed Luo Xi back. When the latter saw the figure in a light pink ruqun not far away, her gaze darkened slightly. "That's her, Chen Pingjin."

Luo Xi was slightly startled, and her gaze fell on Luo Xi. "Second Sister, would you like to go and meet her?"

This matter had been troubling her for a long time. Luo Xi nodded and walked towards where Chen Pingjin was.

Nian An and Nian Ning were chatting with Shen Pingjin about the gossip in the capital these past few days when they heard footsteps. They looked up at Shen Pingjin's back and suddenly fell silent.

Shen Pingjin listened with great interest. She never imagined that her audacious act would be spread like that by people in the capital...

Initially finding it somewhat amusing, Shen Pingjin frowned slightly when she saw Nian An and Nian Ning standing there dumbfounded and silent. "Why are you both so quiet again?"

Nian An and Nian Ning pointed behind Chen Pingjin, "Your Highness..."

Shen Pingjin turned her head to look behind her, her tone puzzled, "What?"

But when she saw the face of the person walking towards her from behind, Shen Pingjin was completely stunned.

The woman wore a light yellow gauze dress, over which was a milky white ivory openwork long robe. Her long black hair was styled into a cloud-like bun with a few silver hairpins. Gold tassels hung from her round and full earlobes. Her delicate nose, red lips, pink eyebrows, and smooth jawline made her oval face stand out. The most prominent feature of her face was her pair of slightly furrowed phoenix eyes, which were sharp and bright, and her gaze was as familiar as if she had lived in a past life.

Shen Pingjin recognized that this person was none other than Luo Xi, the second young lady of the Luo family, who was her greatest rival in love in her previous life.

Beside her stood a girl in a light green gauze dress, slightly shorter in stature, with somewhat childlike features. Shen Pingjin frowned slightly. She had a faint impression of this person from her previous life, but judging from her appearance, she was probably Luo Xi's younger sister, Luo Yan.

Seeing Shen Pingjin turn around, Luo Xi stopped in her tracks, her voice clear and cold, "Long time no see, Shen Pingjin."

She did not address Shen Pingjin as the Regent's Consort, but called her by her given name.

In her previous life, after Shen Pingjin married the Crown Prince legitimately, she met Luo Xi at the Spring Banquet this year.

When the two met, there were bound to be some clashes. Luo Xi publicly harassed her at the banquet, and Shen Pingjin had to endure it step by step to save face for the royal family. In the end, it was only after the Crown Prince intervened that Luo Xi shut up.

But now she is the Regent's wife, and she is not the same person she was in her previous life. Chen Pingjin looked at Luo Xi and frowned slightly. "Luo Xi? Long time no see."

Luo Xi nodded. "I heard that a few days ago, on your wedding day with His Highness the Crown Prince, you accidentally married the Regent instead. The Emperor asked you in public if you had broken off the engagement. Did you say so? Even when His Highness the Crown Prince asked you personally, you still didn't turn back and chose the Regent?"

Shen Pingjin patted her sleeves. "That's right, I chose the Regent."

“But… I remember you weren’t like this before.” Luo Xi stared intently at Shen Pingjin, trying to read something from her face.

Shen Pingjin did not dodge, but boldly met Luo Xi's gaze, "What, can't I change my mind?"

The tone was full of hostility, but Luo Xi's tone became strange upon hearing this, "But you confronted me several times before, which finally made me give up on His Highness the Crown Prince. Why are you so easily giving up now?"

Shen Pingjin vaguely remembered this incident. She smiled and said, "At that time, I just wanted to compete with you. After all, our families are of similar social standing, and I didn't want my father to lose face."

But Luo Xi wasn't so easily fooled. "I don't believe it. The fierce determination you showed when you fought me back then didn't seem fake."

Shen Pingjin raised an eyebrow. "What, you're not happy now that I've mistakenly married the Regent?"

Luo Xi, upon hearing these barbed words, didn't react sarcastically. Instead, she spoke kindly, "We were indeed rivals in the past. But now that you've married the infamous Regent of the capital... I only feel sorry for you. And I don't understand, the person who snatched the bargain is your sister. Don't you feel any resentment or regret?"

Shen Pingjin found it funny, but at the same time, she also felt like crying.

In her past life, in order to marry Su Xuanmao, she started learning needlework from her mother at the age of ten.

The gleaming silver needle pierced through the brocade and silk, and in the dim candlelight, she had pricked her fingers countless times. Over the years, the numerous wounds made it painful for her to hold a needle and thread.

Later, upon hearing that Su Xuanmao liked playing the guzheng, she, who had disliked music since childhood, begged her father to buy a guzheng from Su Xiufang and practiced diligently.

Her fingers, already pricked by needles, plucked the strings. The pain from her palms spread throughout her body, but she endured it, all for the sake of playing "High Mountains and Flowing Water" for Su Xuanmao.

She spent a lot of time finding out what kind of girl Su Xuanmao liked, then dressed herself up accordingly, and even went to Su Xuanmao's school to study hard with him.

She was playful and clever by nature, but for Su Xuanmao, she gradually suppressed her nature and became the person she used to dislike the most.

She tried her best to make Su Xuanmao treat her differently, and finally got him to take her a step further. But later, she found out that Su Xuanmao had only approached her in the first place for the sake of the Crown Prince's prestigious reputation.

Shen Pingjin was blinded by love at the time, and she didn't care about these things. Instead, she followed Su Xuanmao without hesitation.

But what happened to her in the end?

Su Xuanmao was easily seduced by his own sister, and then the group conspired to kill her entire family step by step, bringing them to a terrible end.