Chapter 2 Chapter 2 How could a married woman like her have any connection with him...

How come she was served meals just when she was so hungry that she could hardly sit in the carriage and felt dizzy?

Not to mention that the food boxes used in the Marquis' Mansion are all made of high-quality lacquer wood, and the carvings are better than those of ordinary people. Just look at the meals. They are exquisite, hot, delicious and colorful. More importantly, they are rewards from the palace.

The four rooms and two warehouses of the Imperial Kitchen in the palace employ the best chefs in the world, so the meals they make are naturally extraordinary.

Even though Zhu Yinluan was upset and had no appetite at the moment, looking at these things aroused some of her taste buds.

"Time waits for no one. You will be busy later. I don't know how long the eldest lady's matter will be delayed. Let's hurry up." Mingya lowered her voice to coax her for fear that the maid outside would hear.

"Although these are not given to you directly by the palace, you are lucky enough to eat them today!"

Seeing Yinluan picking up her chopsticks after her persuasion, Mingya was very happy to talk to her. She helped her hold the handkerchief and pour tea, and stared at the curtain of the carriage, fearing that the annoying old woman would interfere again and ask for a sip.

There was only the sound of repairing the carriage outside, and no more sour words were heard. Mingya and Zhu Yinluan guessed that it was the people from the Shen family across the street who frightened the old woman.

Indeed, through the curtains blown by the wind, Zhu Yinluan noticed that the guards in full dress were standing by the carriage of the Shen family in the Marquis' Mansion and were staring at everything. The scene was comparable to that of the nobles in the palace.

The old woman in the Zhu family is very considerate and naturally would not do anything that would be criticized under the other party's gaze.

She ate slowly and handed Mingya a pair of silver chopsticks, asking her to taste the food, but Mingya refused and told her to eat it herself.

She was still whispering happily beside Zhu Yinluan, "Last time, Madam went to Xiangguo Temple to burn incense and worship Buddha, and she followed the Minister's wife and had the honor of tasting a bite of the cakes bestowed by the emperor. When she came back, she openly and secretly criticized you for being worldly-wise. Now if she knew that you accidentally enjoyed the meals and cakes in the palace, she would be so jealous."

As the Wei family prospered, Pang began to make friends with the higher-ups, but the families they could reach were limited, and Pang could not even get close to powerful families like the Shen family.

"Don't mention this matter after you go back." Zhu Yinluan warned.

"Miss is a low-key person. I have followed you for more than ten years, so I naturally understand that." Ming Ya nodded, which made her worried.

"Yeah." She knew very well that Mingya was just letting her vent her anger for what happened last time - even if this vent was only said behind her back, it was ultimately to make her feel more relaxed.

Zhu Yinluan knew very well that Pang Shi didn't like her and liked her sister more.

No matter how much she did after marrying into the Wei family, her mother-in-law always looked down on her background. She was just a concubine's daughter who was lucky enough to be named after her stepmother.

Wei Ruzhuo is the eldest son of the Wei family, so this marriage is considered too high for her.

But even though he was the eldest son of the Wei family, she didn't want to marry him from the beginning, and no one asked her.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yinluan slowed down her eating pace and soon stopped eating and asked Mingya to put it away.

"Why don't you eat anymore? I see that the carriage at the Marquis' Mansion still needs some time to be repaired!"

"It looks like there's no more room for it." She let Mingya eat it.

Although the little maid was greedy, she didn't dare to do so and still waved her hand to refuse.

After a while, the Shen family's carriage was repaired and the attendants came to get the food boxes and plates.

Zhu Yinluan said that she would clean it and send it back, but the other party smiled politely and said it was not necessary, and said that he had kept her waiting for a long time, and gave some gifts as an apology. Zhu Yinluan waved her hands and said it was not necessary, after all, she had already eaten the meal and pastries, but the other party insisted and said it was the courtesy of the prince.

If Zhu Yinluan insisted on returning it, he would let her go and say it in person, after all, he was just an errand boy.

Although she had never actually met the Marquis's son, Shen Jingzhan, her name was well-known, and if she really had to meet him face to face, she would not be afraid.

However, the capital city was bustling with people coming and going, and because of the matter of repairing the carriage axle just now, many passers-by had been secretly paying attention to this side when they saw that it was the flag bearer of the Shen family's carriage.

The Wei family is a smaller family than the Shen family, and she has been a married woman for several years. If she had any "involvement" with the number one young master in the capital, it would drag down the reputation of both of them, so it is best for her not to show up.

This close minister of the emperor was not easy to mess with. Even the father-in-law of the Wei family did not dare to offend him. Zhu Yinluan had no choice but to let Mingya put it away. He thanked her several times and said that it was not a problem and there was no delay.

The two carriages were facing each other on a narrow road. Logically, the Wei family, as they were of lower status, should have given way, but the Shen family of the Marquisate let the Zhu family go first.

The two carriages passed each other for a long time before Zhu Yinluan dared to let Mingya open the brocade box. Inside was a jade wheel for pressing the face. One could tell at a glance how luxurious the jade material used for the jade wheel was.

I'm afraid only the imperial concubine in the palace can afford this. Why did Master Shen give her such an expensive apology?

Ming Ya was very excited, and kept talking in a low voice, "I heard from others that this prince of the Marquisate was unattainable, cold and difficult to approach, but I didn't expect him to be so warm and considerate!"

"Miss, I heard that using a jade wheel to massage your face can make your skin whiter than snow and keep you young forever! This Master Shen is really generous!"

However, Zhu Yinluan felt that it was too valuable to take, so she asked her to stop talking and put it away carefully and not tell anyone else. If the maid asked about it later, she could say that they were some cakes given to her and she ate them.

This jade wheel...if there is a chance in the future, I will return it to the prince of the Marquisate.

Inside the Shen family's carriage, a handsome man in a brocade moon-shaped round-collared robe and a jade crown was opening the food box brought to him by his servants. His slender jade-like fingers were stroking the edge of the food box, touching the places she might have touched.

She ate very little and looked like she had barely touched the food, but even so, he could still tell what she had picked up and how much she had eaten.

The dishes were a little cold, but he picked up the silver chopsticks and tasted all the dishes that the woman had touched.

The man ate slowly but seemed to be enjoying his meal to the fullest, with a faint smile always on his thin lips.

“…”

It took about half an hour for Zhu Yinluan to arrive at the Luo family.

Zhu Chentan had finished her quarrel with Luo Xuan and was sobbing in the room. She lay on the bed, crying intermittently, her hair a little messy, and the maids were trying to persuade her.

After seeing Zhu Yinluan, she bowed to her and told Zhu Chentan that she was here.

"How are you, elder sister——" The word "good" had not yet come out.

Zhu Chentan had already stood up and asked, "Why are you so late?"

"If I was bullied by Luo Xuan, you would come to collect my body now, right?"

After two harsh rebukes, she asked again, "Isn't Ruzhuo here?"

Zhu Yinluan choked, "..."

Even though the two were once engaged, the sister couldn't change the way she addressed her husband.

When Zhu Yinluan came over for the first time, her elder sister Zhu Chentan called her husband's name in a very intimate manner. Mingya couldn't help but remind her, but she slapped her hard in the face out of anger. She also scolded Zhu Yinluan and asked her how she usually educated her servants. The master didn't say anything, so why did she...interfere?

The slap was directed at Yinluan's face through Mingya, and the words were also scolding her explicitly and implicitly, saying that even if she was married under the name of her stepmother, she would still be just a servant. But she couldn't say anything, as she was the eldest sister who was doted on by her father and mother, and she had no support from her natal family or husband's family, so she could only swallow her bitterness.

"My husband...is in trouble."

"What's the matter?" Zhu Chentan asked without knowing the limits.

"I don't know what's going on in the court."

When Zhu Yinluan heard the word "imperial court", she noticed that her elder sister's expression seemed to strangely ease a little.

She frowned, suppressed her discomfort, and said nothing.

Zhu Chentan was filled with anger, and in the next moment he started crying to her, no, he started scolding her.

When asked why she didn't inquire about Wei Ruzhuo's whereabouts, she said that he was handling court business. Maybe he was out drinking and having fun like Luo Xuan, but she was just too stupid to know.

She blamed both of them together, and Zhu Yinluan couldn't tell who she was talking about.

If it were in the past, she would have foolishly argued that Wei Ruzhuo would not do that, but this would be tantamount to adding fuel to her elder sister's anger. Does she really know what her elder sister will scold her man for?

Could it be that she understood Wei Ruzhuo as well as she did? And what else did she say that she had been with Wei Ruzhuo for longer than she did! But when she mentioned this matter, Zhu Yinluan's face turned bad. The maid next to her gave her a look and she fell silent again, her face becoming very strange.

He turned around and started to scold Luo Xuan, saying how nice they were when they first got married, but they changed after a few years.

After a few times, Zhu Yinluan no longer argued with her. She just nodded along with her words and said softly that she was right.

This time was just like the previous time. After half an incense stick, Zhu Chentan cursed until his mouth was dry. Then he wiped his tears and sat down to drink tea.

He calmed himself down, glanced over, and examined Yin Luan from head to toe, and asked her to sit down.

Such a look of contempt made people feel uncomfortable, but it was difficult to show it, so Zhu Yinluan could only sit opposite her with her eyelashes lowered.

"Why are you so late today?" she asked again.

Even if it was slow in the past, it wouldn't take that long.

But before Zhu Yinluan could say anything, the maid who went to call her had already quickly explained the whole story to Zhu Chentan.

Zhu Chentan frowned, and stared at her with narrowed red eyes, "You bumped into the young master of the Shen family in the Marquis' Mansion? He even sent you meals and cakes from the palace as an apology?"

"There were a lot of people there in the afternoon, and the horse driver was not careful..." Yin Luan explained.

But Zhu Chentan didn't listen. She stared at Zhu Yinluan and asked, "You didn't hit her on purpose, did you?"

Zhu Yinluan choked up and said, "The Shen family of the Marquis' Mansion is a noble family. How dare Yinluan offend them?"

"Then why did he send you meals and cakes from the palace as an apology?"

Speaking of apology, she asked Yin Luan to take it out.

Mingya was about to explain, but Yinluan said, "The apology was also cakes, which I ate in the carriage."

Zhu Chentan didn't believe it and continued to stare at her with suspicion.

Zhu Yinluan asked Mingya to take out the prepared brocade box. Seeing that it was empty and looked like it was used to hold pastries, Zhu Chentan looked at the old woman next to him.

To be honest, the old woman just took a peek and couldn't see clearly. The box looked like the one that the Shen family handed to Zhu Yinluan.

After identifying it for a while, she nodded towards Zhu Chentan.

Zhu Yinluan lowered her eyelashes.

This was barely settled, but Zhu Chentan reprimanded him again, "The Marquis's son, Chen Jingzhan, is now in charge of the Secretariat and the Censorate. He is such a gifted child, and he will definitely marry a princess or a county magistrate, or the daughter of the Grand Marshal in the future. Don't even think of having any ideas!"

After hearing this, Zhu Yinluan didn't get angry at all, she just thought it was ridiculous.

How could a woman who had been married for many years like her have any connection with such a young talent who was at the pinnacle of power in the capital?

I'm afraid people don't even know who she is.