Chapter 276 The First Direct Confrontation

Tan Qingrou has a keen sense of smell; the moment the tea flowed from the spout, she could smell a unique fragrance.

She glanced at the golden tea in the cup and asked the maid who was pouring the tea, "What kind of tea is this? It seems different from the previous one."

The maid seemed startled; her hand trembled, and the teapot tilted forward. The teacup, which was already nearly full, overflowed under the impact of the rushing water, quickly flowing down the stone table and onto Tan Qingrou's legs.

A few drops splashed onto Sheng An's swollen belly.

"oops!"

Tan Qingrou let out a soft gasp, subconsciously got up and stepped back, quickly patting the water stains off her clothes.

Today she was wearing a peach-pink coat, which was damp with golden tea, and her darker-colored petticoat underneath was showing through.

Fortunately, the tea wasn't too hot; Tan Qingrou only felt the heat through her clothes and didn't experience any burning sensation.

Sheng An quickly took out a clean handkerchief to wipe Tan Qingrou, but she was too heavy to stand up for a moment, so she urged Hong Liu to come forward and help.

Hongliu and Tan Qingrou's personal maid helped Tan Qingrou wipe the tea stains off her clothes.

The maid who was pouring tea was terrified. After realizing what had happened, she hurriedly knelt down and begged for mercy: "This servant deserves to die, this servant deserves to die, please forgive me, Madam and Miss!"

The commotion attracted the attention of the other ladies.

It wasn't a big deal to begin with, and Sheng An and Tan Qingrou weren't harsh people. Seeing the maid so frightened, they said at the same time, "It's alright, get up quickly."

The maidservant shakily got up and stood huddled to the side, unsure of what to do.

A clever maid saw this and immediately told her to go down and receive her punishment, while she went up to ask Tan Qingrou if she had brought any change of clothes so she could go to the room next door to change.

Tan Qingrou glanced at the hem of her dress and felt there was no need to go through the trouble, so she waved her hand to indicate that she didn't need to change.

The main problem was that she hadn't brought any other clothes.

Sheng An glanced at the area and saw that the wet spot was almost dry and didn't look too bad. He didn't think there was any major problem, so he comforted Tan Qingrou for a few moments before the two of them continued drinking tea and chatting.

Not long after, a bustling sound came from ahead.

Sheng An subconsciously looked over and heard a maid's voice announce from the entrance of the courtyard: "Princess Shanmin has arrived—"

Splash!

All the noble ladies in the courtyard looked over. Some of those who knew their status hurriedly stood up, ready to greet them, but no one looked up at the entrance.

In particular, several pretty girls instinctively hid behind their mothers, wishing they could bury their heads inside their bellies.

They were terrified that if Princess Shanmin saw them, they would be whipped and disfigured.

Tan Qingrou was also very nervous. She stepped forward to help Sheng An up and whispered a reminder: "Sister An'an, Princess Shanmin has a bad temper. Let's be quiet for a while and not attract her attention."

This reminder was tactful.

Princess Shanmin was not just bad-tempered, she was downright violent, as evidenced by the reactions of the ladies and young women of lower status.

When Tan Qingrou spoke, she didn't notice Sheng An's expression or that her body was stiff.

Sheng An never expected to meet Princess Shanmin here.

This woman gave her a strong sense of crisis, a sense of crisis that she had felt since their first meeting three years ago at Shenhu Mountain.

After learning who Princess Shanmin was, Sheng An felt an even stronger sense of hatred towards her.

This feeling of disgust seemed to be etched into her bones, constantly reminding her to stay away from this dangerous woman.

During these years plagued by nightmares, Sheng An found it hard not to suspect that Princess Shanmin was the culprit behind her past life's tragedy.

Hearing Tan Qingrou's kind reminder, Sheng An took a deep breath and gave her a smile: "Yes, I will be careful."

Just as she finished speaking, footsteps came from the entrance. A woman in heavy makeup and palace attire, surrounded by more than a dozen maids, was Princess Shanmin.

Except for a few high-ranking ladies who remained seated, everyone else curtsied and greeted, "Greetings, Princess!"

Princess Shanmin slowly walked into the courtyard, her sharp gaze sweeping around before settling on Sheng An, who had disappeared into the crowd.

Seeing her protruding belly, a chilling glint flashed in Princess Shanmin's eyes.

Then, the corners of her scarlet lips curled up slightly, like the tip of a blood-stained knife, and her nonchalant voice reached everyone's ears: "No need for formalities."

The crowd shouted again, "Thank you, Princess!"

The two young ladies from the Marquis's mansion led the way for Princess Shanmin. The two sisters invited Princess Shanmin to take a seat, one on each side: "Princess, this way please."

Princess Shanmin did not stand on ceremony and sat directly in the center position.

Seeing her sit down, the other ladies and young women cautiously returned to their own seats, no longer chatting and laughing as freely as before.

With Tan Qingrou and Hongliu's help, Sheng An was about to sit down on the stool when she heard Princess Shanmin's voice, as if it were a demonic whisper:

"I heard that the wife of the third-ranked scholar has also come. I wonder where she is. Come over so that I, the princess, can see what a stunning beauty the wife of the exceptionally talented third-ranked scholar has married."

As the words fell, the crowd's gazes, seemingly unintentionally, turned towards Sheng An, a mixture of sympathy, pity, and fear...

Princess Shanmin's fondness for men was known to everyone in the capital.

A man as talented and handsome as the third-ranked scholar must have already caught the eye of Princess Shanmin.

I heard that Princess Shanmin personally went to see the parade on horseback on the day of the parade.

I thought that Princess Shanmin hadn't made any moves during this period because she hadn't taken a liking to the current top scholar.

Now it seems that he didn't look down on her at all; he was clearly planning to take his anger out on the person who "got there first."

This pregnant wife of the third-ranking scholar will probably not be able to leave the Marquis's residence unscathed today.

Not only did the ladies and young women present think this way, but the two daughters of marquises who accompanied Princess Shanmin were also too frightened to breathe.

Remembering his second brother's repeated instructions, one of them gritted his teeth and quickly gave a wink to a maid in the corner.

The maid, having received the order, quietly slipped away from another corner when no one was looking.

The moment Princess Shanmin appeared, Sheng An felt a bad premonition.

At this moment, Princess Shanmin pointed at her, and she clenched her hands under her sleeves.

Under Tan Qingrou's worried gaze, Sheng An slowly walked up to Princess Shanmin and curtsied from a distance of ten feet, saying, "This humble woman greets the Princess."

Princess Shanmin's cold eyes glanced at Sheng An, making no attempt to conceal her malice:

"You're just a plain-looking girl, yet you managed to win the heart of a top scholar. Did you use some underhanded tricks?"

Sheng An's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, sank to the bottom in an instant.

Reason told her that Princess Shanmin was not someone to be trifled with, and that she could not confront her directly, or her life would be in danger.

But the overwhelming malice told her that no matter how humble she was, how much she begged for mercy, or even how much she admitted to using underhanded means to seduce Jin Nian, this woman would not let her go!

Thinking of this, Sheng An suddenly raised his head and looked directly at Princess Shanmin with an open and honest gaze:

“My husband and I were betrothed by our elders and the matchmaker. We bowed to heaven and earth three times and made a vow to stay together until death. If these are considered despicable means, then I’m afraid there is no innocent couple in the world.”