I had no intention of attending the banquet.

She hadn't come here today to attend the banquet; having achieved all her goals, she had no intention of staying any longer.

Before she could even speak, Feng Ruoying continued, "Not everyone will sympathize with you for being deceived by your brother. If you keep wandering around with that fake hairpin on your head, people will definitely laugh at you behind your back."

"Let them laugh if they want. I've laughed at others behind their backs plenty of times too." Shen Qiyin acted completely indifferent.

He added at the end, "And I don't think their jokes are necessarily as bad as mine."

Feng Ruoying: "..."

Miss Feng thought to herself, "That's no joke! Who can beat you when it comes to insulting people?"

But then again, how come her stubbornness, like a dead pig not afraid of boiling water, is so similar to her brother's?

“Here, this is for you.” Feng Ruoying said, taking a white jade hairpin from her hair and stuffing it into Shen Qiyin’s hand: “Hurry up and take off that fake hairpin in your hair, don’t embarrass yourself.”

Shen Qiyin looked down at the lustrous hairpin in her hand, somewhat bewildered.

She looked up at Feng Ruoying, who looked uneasy, and asked, "Is this a gift for me?"

"You wish!"

"..." It seems not.

"Although this hairpin is simple in design, it goes perfectly with your elegant outfit today. But don't underestimate it just because it's plain; it's made of the finest white jade."

"It was a birthday gift from my brother last year!" As she said this, Feng Ruoying's smile was as bright as the sun.

Shen Qiyin gazed at her quietly, a smile unconsciously appearing on her face, but her eyes were filled with sorrow.

Seeing this, Feng Ruoying quickly stopped smiling and explained in a slightly flustered manner, "Hey, hey, hey! I didn't mean to provoke you, I just said it offhand."

"But your brother really went too far!"

Feng Ruoying didn't even dare to imagine how heartbroken she would be if her brother tricked her with a fake hairpin, causing her to be pointed at and gossiped about in front of so many people.

That's why she felt some sympathy for Shen Qiyin.

It was as if she suddenly understood why she always gave her the feeling of "I'll drag you down with me even if I die today".

Because she was a woman who was not loved by her parents and had no brothers to protect her, when she was bullied, she would fight back whether she could win or not.

"...You can wear this hairpin for now, just remember to return it to me later." After saying that, she didn't forget to remind Shen Qiyin, "I'm wearing quite a few hair ornaments today, so no one will notice that I'm missing a hairpin. You don't need to worry about anyone knowing that I lent it to you."

"Oh, by the way! If anyone asks you where this hairpin came from, just say that you brought it with you as a spare outfit, but you left it in the carriage and only took it out to change."

"Since this is your first time attending such a banquet, you probably don't know that the ladies and young women usually bring an extra set of clothes, so that they can change into them if they spill wine or soup during the meal."

...

Feng Ruoying went on and on about a whole bunch of things.

Finally, seeing that Shen Qiyin was staring at her absentmindedly, and unsure how much of what she had said had been heard, she frowned and waved her hand in front of her face: "Hey! Were you even listening to me?"

Instead of answering, Shen Qiyin asked, "Why are you telling me all this?"

She twirled the white jade hairpin in her hand: "You're so kind as to lend me your precious hairpin?"

"Stop being so conceited! Who's being kind? I'm just taking pity on you." Feng Ruoying reacted as if to say, "I didn't! Don't talk nonsense."

Their eyes met, and Feng Ruoying inexplicably felt as if she had been seen through. She huffed and said, "I hate you the most," before turning and walking away without looking back.

As Ren Dong watched her receding figure, she murmured, "This Miss Feng's attitude towards Miss... is quite different from when we first met..."

"At that time, she was convinced that I wanted to curry favor with the Feng family, so naturally she didn't treat me well."

However, Shen Qiyin didn't understand why, even though she later took the initiative to break off her engagement with Feng Heng, which indirectly cleared up Feng Ruoying's misunderstanding of her, the two of them would fight whenever they met. Not long ago, she had made Feng Ruoying so angry that she was like a black-eyed chicken. How come Feng Ruoying was now helping her?

Honeysuckle: "Miss, shall we still go to the banquet?"

"I'm not going."

She got up early today; she might as well have gone back to sleep.

"What should we do with this hairpin?"

"I'll go to the Feng family tomorrow and return it to her." Or, when Feng Heng comes to Guangrentang to find his senior brother, I can give him the hairpin; that would be the same.

As Shen Qiyin spoke, she and Ren Dong walked outside.

What one sees is a magnificent palace, with winding corridors and boudoirs, truly like a fairyland.

The winding corridors, the reflections in the water, and the layers of flower shadows create a breathtakingly beautiful scene.

Shen Qiyin couldn't help but sigh inwardly, "As expected of a Marquis's mansion, it is several levels above the Vice Minister's mansion!"

This trip further fueled Miss Shen's ambition.

She wondered how much silver she would need to earn to buy a spacious and luxurious mansion like the Marquis's.

Lost in thought, I suddenly heard the voices of a man and a woman talking not far away.

Through the lush, green hedge, Shen Qiyin could not see the other person's face, but she could recognize their voice.

It's Xie Qing!

Shen Qiyin grabbed Ren Dong, stopping her in her tracks, and then shushed her, signaling her to be quiet.

The master and servant held their breath and began to eavesdrop openly.

Xie Qing said, "I reckon she'll be back soon. Just follow the plan."

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