Chapter 249 Her Protector

Today is the birthday of Meng Henian, the eldest son of the Meng family. The Shen family is related to him, so they came to the banquet.

In Chunhua Garden, the grass grows tall and the birds fly, flowers sway and willows cast shadows. Some people go boating, drink tea, and admire the flowers, while many children fly kites on the hillside not far away.

Half an hour ago, Shen Lishu, Meng Jingshu, Gu Lingrong, Jiang Yuning and others went boating on the lake.

Meng Jingshu lost face in Tianning City because of the matter concerning Prince Rui. Because Pei Siyan favored the Second Grand Secretary Du Hao, Meng Jingshu's position in court was precarious. This was her first official public appearance since the 'palace coup'.

Her mind naturally turned to Shen Yanzhou, and she racked her brains to hint at it several times, hoping that Shen Lishu could help her make the connection.

But for some reason, Shen Lishu pretended not to understand her words and didn't respond at all.

Meng Jingshu's face grew increasingly grim, and she even lost interest in boating.

Before long, the group disembarked from the boat, with Shen Lishu and Gu Lingrong walking ahead.

Meng Jingshu raised her hand and rubbed her temples with her fingertips. Her brother's banquet today was not only to build relationships with the Meng family's disciples, but also, more importantly, to promote her marriage with Shen Yanzhou. However, there was still no progress.

She glanced resentfully at Shen Lishu's retreating figure, her heart growing increasingly agitated.

Jiang Yuning lagged behind, and seeing her expression, she had already guessed what she was thinking. She lowered her voice and said, "Don't rush. If you can't do it openly, you can do it secretly. If you don't use some tricks, you might never get him in your life!"

Jiang Yuning's father, Minister Jiang, was demoted to Lingnan for corruption. The Jiang family was not implicated because of Consort Jiang. Perhaps because they were in similar circumstances, the two became closer.

Meng Jingshu understood his implied meaning and pursed her lips. "If I anger him, he will resent me..."

A hint of amusement flashed in Jiang Yuning's eyes, and she curled her lips into a smile. "Once you marry him and have children, even the greatest resentment will dissipate. Young Master Shen is outstanding in every way; would any other man catch your eye?"

Shen Yanzhou is a man of integrity and unwavering loyalty in his relationships. If one could marry him...

In the future, she will not have to worry about other women around him at all; he is indeed the person she has been longing for.

Seeing that Meng Jingshu seemed to be deep in thought, Jiang Yuning knew that she had taken it to heart, and said meaningfully, "I know a kind of potent drug..."

A look of surprise flashed across Meng Jingshu's eyes, and she stared blankly.

She had originally thought she would marry Prince Rui, and even though she couldn't let go of Shen Yanzhou in her heart, she had to give up on that idea.

But King Rui is actually a descendant of the Rebel King!

Fortunately, her father had told her that she had contracted the plague, which saved her from this marriage.

But all the powerful and noble families knew about her engagement to Prince Rui, so now it would be incredibly difficult for her to find a satisfactory marriage.

If she could successfully marry Shen Yanzhou, she would have no regrets in this life.

Jiang Yuning glanced at Shen Lishu in front of her again, and curled the corners of her lips. "Some people don't know what's good for them. Don't you want to vent your anger?"

Before she could react, Jiang Yuning lifted her skirt and took a few quick steps, "Li Shu? Wait for us."

Shen Lishu suddenly stopped, looked up at the small hill not far away, and smiled, "Lingrong said she's going to fly kites over there, do you want to go?"

Jiang Yuning feigned concern, "Li Shu, I only just found out that you were jilted. Such a big thing, yet you weren't affected at all. I really admire you; you're always so optimistic and cheerful, no matter what."

"If I were you, I don't know how much I would cry."

Shen Lishu's expression changed slightly, and she bit her lip. "Yu Ning, are you worried about me?"

Her breakup with Dou Mingxiu hadn't caused a big stir; very few people knew about it, and so much time had passed. Although she didn't think it was a big deal, what did Jiang Yuning mean by bringing it up now?

Jiang Yuning's voice was neither too loud nor too soft, just loud enough for everyone nearby to hear, "How dare the Dou family break off the engagement with such a virtuous and kind woman like you? They're incredibly audacious! It's outrageous! But why did they break off the engagement?"

At this moment, several noble ladies by the roadside stopped in their tracks and cast gossipy glances at Shen Lishu.

Meanwhile, Shen's servant, sensing something was wrong, ran off to find Shen Yanzhou.

Shen Lishu turned pale and was speechless for a moment.

Gu Lingrong, standing beside her, was completely taken aback by Jiang Yuning's antics and couldn't help but spit out, "Jiang Yuning, are you doing this on purpose? You can't just say whatever you want. Is this the place to discuss this kind of thing?"

Breaking off an engagement isn't something to brag about.

Isn't her loud shouting, regardless of the occasion, just an attempt to ruin Shen Lishu's reputation?

Jiang Yuning's disdainful gaze fell on her, and she said sarcastically, "Miss Gu's brother is the commander of the Imperial Guards. With him backing her up, she naturally won't take anyone seriously. Am I wrong? Li Shuben broke off the engagement. I just wanted to ask her a few words of concern. Look how anxious you are."

Seeing that more and more people were gathering around, Gu Lingrong didn't want to make a scene. Suppressing her anger, she said, "Jiang Yuning, don't go too far. Li Shu doesn't need your concern. For the sake of our past sisterhood, I don't want to hold it against you, but you're not allowed to mention this matter again today."

Seeing that the two were on the verge of exchanging blows, Shen Lishu just wanted to calm things down as soon as possible, so she patiently advised, "Alright, let's both stop talking and go fly kites."

Jiang Yuning persisted, staring intently at Gu Lingrong, her tone provocative, "I heard that Dou Mingxiu would rather have a courtesan from the Jiaofangsi than marry Shen Lishu. Do you think that's true?"

She was very close to Dou Mingyan for a period of time, and knew much more than the average person.

Shen Lishu clenched her fists tightly. She had never taken the matter of breaking off the engagement with Dou Mingxiu to heart, but being misunderstood and humiliated like this still made her feel utterly humiliated and extremely embarrassed.

She forced a smile, trying her best to suppress her emotions, "Miss Jiang, you are right. It's not that Dou Mingxiu is unwilling to marry me, but that a man like him is not good enough for me. Therefore, our Shen family took the initiative to break off the engagement."

“I don’t think breaking off an engagement is a shameful thing, so you don’t need to go to such lengths. I believe that justice will prevail, and any family with upright values ​​would not want to marry their daughter to a man of such poor character.”

"Miss Jiang, is there anything else you'd like to know?"

Jiang Yuning looked away guiltily and pursed her lips. "Li Shu, don't be angry. I just acted impulsively. Don't hold it against me. I'm just worried about your marriage. After all, it's much harder for a woman who has broken off an engagement to find another one."

"Is that so?" a deep male voice rang out.

Dressed in a smart outfit, Gu Yufeng strode out from the crowd, a brightly colored and exquisite paper kite twirling in his hand.

Everyone was shocked.

Jiang Yuning had just said that it would be difficult for her to re-arrange a marriage meeting, and then a man suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Wasn't this a blatant slap in the face to her?

Gu Yufeng said in a deep voice, "Just now, Miss Jiang kept saying that my sister was bullying others by relying on her power. I wonder what power my sister was relying on?"

Zhang Chengxian, hidden in the crowd, curled the corners of his lips into a smile.

Ha! She even has a protector?