Shen Qing looked up at Lu Zemin and said in a casual tone, "So you're the young master of the Lu family. Is there something you need?"
Lu Zemin scratched his melon-shaped hat and chuckled, "My father wants us to get married, so I came to find you."
"Married?" Shen Qing was taken aback. "Are you sure you're not mistaken? The person you're going to marry is Shen Yu, right? The third son of the Shen family."
“My father said that the person I should marry is Shen Qing, the fifth son of the Shen family.”
Shen Qing found it amusing.
This Mr. Lu is really opportunistic.
Knowing that she had machinery and a business, he immediately wanted his son to marry her, regardless of whether the conditions were suitable or whether his son liked her.
Shen Qing suppressed her agitation and said, "Lu Zemin, let me tell you the truth, I've been married before, and my husband is dead. Do you still want to marry me?"
Lu Zemin was clearly unaware of her situation and was taken aback: "You've been married? I didn't realize that."
Shen Qing laughed: "You can tell that?"
"Of course! You can tell the difference between a young woman and a teenage girl."
Shen Qing felt that this person was extremely slippery, subtly praising himself as still a young girl.
But she did enjoy being praised for being a young girl.
Who isn't a cute girl at heart?
"Who is this?" A familiar voice came from behind. "How come I didn't know you had such a friend in Yongzhou?"
Shen Qing glanced at Cheng Zhiwen and was about to speak when Lu Zemin extended his hand to Cheng Zhiwen: "Hello, my name is Lu Zemin, and I am Shen Qing's fiancé."
Shen Qing: "..."
Cheng Zhiwen looked down at her, and although he was smiling, his gaze carried a strong warning.
Shen Qing ignored him, took Su Lan's hand, turned around and left, leaving him and Lu Zemin to talk by themselves.
She didn't want to see either of those men.
Shen Qing, along with Su Lan and Chun Ju, continued guessing riddles.
Su Lan was truly clever; she picked out five riddles, guessed them all correctly, and exchanged them for five beautiful little lanterns.
Shen Qing helped carry a small rabbit lantern, and they were quite happy on their way back to the Shen family home.
Firstly, because I need to return to Jiangzhou tomorrow.
Secondly, it resolved Chen's situation in the Shen family, which can be considered as fulfilling a filial duty to the original owner.
Just as they were about to reach the Shen family's residence, Cheng Zhiwen suddenly emerged from a nearby alley, hands in her pockets, and stood there watching her.
Shen Qing pretended not to see him and walked past him.
As they passed each other, he suddenly grabbed her hand and darted into a nearby alley.
Chunju and Sulan understood immediately, and with a smile, they stood at a distance to wait.
The alley was completely dark, without a single ray of light.
Shen Qing was dragged into the darkness by Cheng Zhiwen, as if she were blind.
His back slammed into the wall, and he was locked between the wall and his chest.
She was panting as she looked up at him, but she couldn't see his expression, only his indistinct silhouette hidden in the darkness.
They both remained silent, neither of them uttering a word.
Having not seen him for half a year, Shen Qing actually had many questions she wanted to ask him, but after seeing Miss Liu standing with him just now, she didn't want to ask anything anymore.
It's meaningless.
Noticing that Cheng Zhiwen was still holding her hand, she got a little angry and tried to shake him off, but she couldn't.
Cheng Zhiwen held her hand tightly, seemingly unwilling to let go.
Shen Qing turned her face away.
Even in the dark, she didn't want to face him.
After a long pause, Cheng Zhiwen finally spoke, her voice unreadable: "You've returned to Yongzhou this time to get married?"
Shen Qing mimicked his tone and asked in return, "Did you come back to Yongzhou this time to marry Miss Liu?"
Actually, she knew the answer without even asking.
He made it so clear on the ship that he was marrying Miss Liu because the Liu family had the backing of Prince Beile and connections with the Qing court.
Although he was a traitor, he also wanted to maintain his relationship with the Qing court so that if his plan to betray the country failed, he could still rely on the Liu family's connections to defect to the Qing court.
Shen Qing cursed inwardly: Damn it, how despicable!
Unexpectedly, Cheng Zhiwen denied it, saying, "No. I don't plan to marry anyone."
Shen Qingliang laughed out loud: "You never tell the truth, I'm too lazy to waste my breath on you!"
She pushed his arm and turned to leave, but he pulled her back, locking her between the wall and his embrace.
“Let’s get back to your matter.” He suddenly leaned down, buried his face in her neck, and whispered, “Isn’t Brother Zhenheng in love with you? Instead of going to that Lu guy from earlier, you should go to Brother Zhenheng. If nothing unexpected happens, Brother Zhenheng should be the future Governor-General of Liangjiang…”
Shen Qing asked in surprise, "How come you...?"
"How did you know that Brother Zhenheng was in love with you?" He raised his hand and gently stroked the stray hairs that had fallen beside her ear. "That's not important."
Shen Qing countered, "Then what is important to you?"
"ideal."
He uttered those two words crisply, then took something from his pocket and stuck it in her hair.
Shen Qing raised her hand to touch it and felt a familiar outline.
It's the ruby hairpin knife that killed Master Zhao!
Recalling that incident, Shen Qing's vision instantly filled with blood, and her body trembled slightly: "The hairpin... the hairpin knife... how did you..."
Noticing her fear, Cheng Zhiwen immediately hugged her and whispered, "They can't trace it back to you. Don't worry, you can marry Qi Zhenheng. He can make you happy."
She couldn't hear what he was saying at all, and clung to him tightly as if she were grasping at a piece of driftwood in a vast ocean of fear.
The man's warm lips touched her earlobe, kissed it, and then quickly released her, his figure disappearing at the end of the alley.
...
The following day, Shen Qing set off back to Jiangzhou.
Mrs. Chen saw them off amidst tears and sobs.
Before Shen Qing got into the carriage, he instructed, "If anyone bullies you, just go to the old lady, she will help you."
Shen nodded, wiping away her tears.
Shen Qing boarded the carriage, and the carriage slowly began to move.
Lifting the curtain, Madam Chen followed closely behind the carriage, weeping, "Qing'er... Qing'er... come back to visit often..."
Shen Qing waved to her, "Go back now, I'll find time to come back and see you."
The carriage sped up and eventually ran, making Chen's figure appear smaller and smaller until she became a tiny black dot. Only then did Shen Qing lower the curtain and get back into the carriage.
Chunju sighed, "It's fine to just go back to Yongzhou like this."
Shen Qing looked up at the roof of the carriage and asked, "If we just go back to Yongzhou like this, how will we support ourselves? Will we have to ask the Shen family for our monthly allowance?"
And then continue to be at the bottom of the Shen family's food chain, bullied by everyone?
If the old lady hadn't seen her earn ten thousand taels of silver from Boss Lu that day, and realized she could make money, and if Wang hadn't framed her and Chen on New Year's Eve, forcing Shen Liang to drive them out of the Shen family, the old lady definitely wouldn't have said a word.
As the apex predator in the Shen family's food chain, the old lady wished she could drive out all these parasites who contributed nothing to the Shen family and just ate for free.
How could she possibly go back to live with the Shen family?
If even a mere Shen family is in this state, isn't society in the same predicament?
If you're incompetent, you'll get beaten up no matter where you are.
Thinking of this, Shen Qing cheered up, clapped his hands, and said loudly, "The New Year is over, everyone get back to work!"
Outside the curtain, Old Xu called out loudly, "Alright!"
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