Chapter 643 Return (6)

She rubbed her hair irritably and closed the box, but inadvertently saw a jade token lying quietly next to the box.

The order of the Jinyu Bank...

It was clearly returned to Xie Jingxing, but he hadn't figured out when he'd left it here. He must have done it on purpose. She had never seen anyone give such large sums of silver away so easily. Shen Miao felt deeply sorry for the Yongle Emperor of Daliang.

After putting the jade token away, Shen Miao shook her head, thinking that if she met Xie Jingxing someday, she would have to return this thing to him.

In the Qin Wang Mansion, late at night, there was also a woman sitting in front of the mirror and dressing up.

The woman sitting before the mirror was also in her prime, and quite pretty, especially with the faint scholarly air emanating from her body, making her a truly exceptional beauty. At the moment, she was wearing a snow-white midriff-baring gown, and facing the mirror, she was clearly a beauty, yet her expression was somewhat gloomy.

This person was none other than Shen Yue, who had been missing from the Shen Mansion for many days.

Chen Yue never imagined that one day she would become associated with the Crown Prince of Qin. She had originally planned to leave home and head for Prince Ding's mansion. She reasoned that Fu Xiuyi was such a gentle and gentlemanly person, and since she was the legitimate daughter of the third branch of the Shen family, even for the sake of their friendship, Fu Xiuyi wouldn't ignore her. Furthermore, she was beautiful, friendly, and had a talent for poetry and painting; even a stone-faced person wouldn't be unmoved. If she could then confess her grievances to Prince Ding and earn his affection, she would surely win his heart.

But she had never left the palace alone, so how could she know where Prince Ding's residence was? She asked others for the location, but fearing the Shen family's servants would chase her, she had no choice but to hide. Women like this were common in Dingjing City, either escaping marriage or running away from home after committing a crime. Women who were alone were the most likely to be targeted. Shen Yue was also targeted.

The people who targeted her were a group of hooligans. Before she could find Prince Ding's Mansion, they encountered trouble in a remote alley. The hooligans stole her bag and tried to insult her innocence. In desperation, Shen Yue could only shout that she was the niece of the mighty general.

Although she was unwilling, Shen Yue knew in her heart that her father's name was far less famous than Shen Wan's, especially now that Shen Xin had returned to Dingjing and received the important task from Emperor Wenhui, which was even more powerful than before. Calling out Shen Wan was not as intimidating as calling out Shen Xin.

Someone happened to be walking by and heard her shouting this, so he came to the rescue. Shen Yue later learned that this person was actually from the Qin Palace.

Then Shen Yue met Huangfu Hao.

Chen Yue had only met Huangfu Hao once, at the tribute banquet. He was of high status, so she didn't dare do anything out of the ordinary. This time, she had initially thought Huangfu Hao was simply offering a favor, so she politely thanked him. Unexpectedly, Huangfu Hao seemed quite interested in her, or more precisely, in Shen Miao, asking a lot of questions about Chen Yue.

Chen Yue felt that Huangfu Hao had a crush on Shen Miao, and she was filled with jealousy. Regardless, Huangfu Hao was the Crown Prince of Qin, and one day he would become the Emperor of Qin. If Shen Miao and Huangfu Hao were to become one, and Shen Miao became the Crown Princess, she would eventually become the Empress of Qin. Even if Shen Miao was a concubine, she could still become a Noble Consort. Either way, they would enjoy endless wealth and glory.

Therefore, Shen Yue began to criticize Shen Miao. She slowly and vaguely revealed that Shen Miao was a scheming woman with little talent or virtue. Sure enough, after Shen Yue finished, she noticed that Huangfu Hao's expression was not good. This made Shen Yue feel very happy.

Huangfu Hao was about to send Shen Yue back home when she heard that Shen Wan was going to divorce Chen Ruoqiu, and that Chen Ruoqiu had returned to her parents' home in anger. Upon hearing this, Shen Yue was furious and decided to return home to seek justice for her mother. But just as she was about to leave, she thought again: if she returned now, Shen Wan would definitely marry her off to Wang Bi as his concubine. At the Shen Mansion, Shen Wan and Old Madam Shen were still furious over her and Shen Dongling's marriage swap, and returning would surely lead to bad consequences.

Shen Yue couldn't think of a good solution, but she didn't want to see Chen Ruoqiu suffer. She knew that if Chen Ruoqiu was divorced, even her status as the legitimate daughter would be implicated, and she would have no place to stand in the Shen family in the future. Shen Yue already had a lot of resentment towards Shen Wan and Old Madam Shen, and this time she was even more unwilling to accept it.

Finally, she came up with a solution.

Huangfu Hao is the crown prince of Qin and is extremely powerful. If Huangfu Hao takes action, perhaps everything will be much simpler.

And she only needs to please Huangfu Hao.

She had to stay in Prince Qin's Mansion to avoid being found and manipulated by the Shen family.