Chapter 111 You two are really something...
Chapter 111
Li Yicheng was soaked to the bone, like a disheveled puppy abandoned by the roadside, water dripping down his hair and chin, his collar completely drenched, leaving only his bright eyes, filled with shock and anger, but mostly confusion, as if he hadn't yet realized what had happened.
He had disguised himself to meet Xu Lanji today, looking like an inconspicuous scholar, and even put on powder. After being splashed like this, he looked completely disheveled.
Li Yicheng had never been treated like this before. Even though he was an unloved prince since childhood, he was raised in Shou Kang Palace. No matter how much his father disliked him, with the protection of the Empress Dowager and the support of his status as a prince, he was still the noble and inviolable Prince Zhao in the eyes of outsiders. No one dared to disobey him.
But today, Shen Suining poured cold tea over his head, right in front of the girl he liked.
He heard Shen Suining ask him, "You like Xu Zhen, don't you, Your Highness Prince Zhao?"
Her voice was cold, even carrying a hint of displeasure and questioning, but Li Yicheng didn't seem angry. He simply murmured "Ah," and nodded rather solemnly, "Yes."
Xu Lan felt a little embarrassed and reached out to grab Shen Suining, but Shen Suining dodged her hand. She took a step forward, placed one hand on the table, and looked directly at Li Yicheng.
“I shouldn’t have asked that, lest I embarrass Xu Zhen. But Your Highness,” Shen Suining said, emphasizing each word, “the way you courted her was truly awful! If you genuinely like someone, you should let her see your sincerity, not put on airs here and deliberately humiliate her. Besides, Xu Zhen has just gone through something so terrible. Doesn’t Your Highness think what you just said went too far?”
Li Yicheng couldn't refute it because what Shen Suining said was true. His last words sounded to others like he was using the life and death of the Xu family as a condition to threaten Xu Zhen into selling his body. He belatedly realized how cruel and hurtful those words were to Xu Zhen, who had just experienced a family tragedy, even though that was not his intention.
How could he say such outrageous things about Xu Zhen, such a proud and strong-willed girl?
Coming to his senses, Li Yicheng immediately stood up and looked at Xu Lanji, appearing somewhat helpless like a child who had made a mistake, and said, "I'm sorry, cousin, I just..."
But what was it? Li Yicheng couldn't say it. He just didn't want to admit that the girl he had liked since childhood didn't have any feelings for him at all.
Seeing that the situation was getting awkward, He Hansheng stepped in to smooth things over. He said gently to Shen Suining, "Ningning, it's getting late. You and Miss Xu should go back first."
Shen Suining glanced at Xu Lanji, nodded, and the two turned and left.
Li Yicheng looked longingly in the direction Xu Lanji had left. The suppressed redness in her eyes when she turned to bow made Li Yicheng want to slap himself to death.
After everyone left, Li Yicheng slumped into a chair, not even bothering to wipe the tea off his face. He asked He Hansheng, "Cousin, was my performance just now... really that bad?"
He Hansheng didn't stand on ceremony with him and answered without thinking, "Yes."
Li Yicheng: "...You two are really straightforward, one more direct than the other."
"Your Highness has heard plenty of polite words from others, and is probably tired of them," He Han chuckled, then suddenly remembered Shen Suining's actions just now, and carefully said, "Just now, Ningning..."
Li Yicheng raised his hand to interrupt him: "Don't worry, cousin. Putting aside the fact that what my sister-in-law just said makes sense, she saved Xu Zhen twice, which is an enormous favor. Even if she steps on my face and insults me in the future, I won't hold it against her."
"..." He Hansheng didn't dare to say anything. Shen Suining was really capable of doing this. She had been too restrained just now.
Li Yicheng could probably sense it too, and said to He Hansheng with a mixture of envy and lingering fear, "Your sister-in-law is still looking out for you, otherwise I feel like she really could have dumped the cup on my head."
He Hansheng paused for two seconds before truthfully saying, "I don't have that much influence with her. She was just afraid of embarrassing Miss Xu."
“…That’s fine too,” Li Yicheng said, trying to smooth things over. After thinking for a while, he finally managed to squeeze out a sentence: “My sister-in-law is a very sentimental person.”
Li Yicheng recalled that when he was a child, people always said that he was aloof and had few people he could talk to. In fact, Xu Zhen was the same as him. Whenever Xu Zhen attended any banquet, big or small, she would obediently follow behind Madam Xu without communicating with anyone. Even if she was bullied, she would not argue back but would just silently hide in a place where no one else was to wipe her tears.
Xu Zhen appears strong on the outside, but she's probably quite lonely inside. If she had a friend like Shen Suining by her side, perhaps she would suffer less.
“Cousin, tell your wife to tell Xu Zhen that I will handle the Xu family matter,” Li Yicheng said to He Hansheng after a moment of silence. “She just needs to take care of herself. As for the rest, just pretend I didn’t say anything… but I can’t pretend I didn’t say anything. I will go and apologize to her again.”
...
On the carriage ride back, Xu Lanji didn't say much, but Shen Suining could tell from her red eyes that she was clearly trying to control her emotions.
Perhaps anger, perhaps sadness, perhaps all sorts of other emotions—from the time the Xu family's incident occurred until today, Shen Suining had never seen Xu Lanji show any significant emotional fluctuations on her face; today was the first time.
Thinking of Su Xiyao's instructions, Shen Suining said with some nervousness, "If you feel uncomfortable, find a gentle way to vent, but please don't get angry."
She could only offer advice, but Shen Suining was also furious. She thought that if she hadn't been afraid that He Hansheng wouldn't be able to handle the situation, she would have slammed that arrogant and lousy Prince Zhao's face onto the table to vent her anger.
Seeing Shen Suining's nervous expression, Xu Lan suddenly chuckled. Her back was aching from all the exertion today, so she adjusted her posture slightly, keeping her back straight.
She told Shen Suining, "I'm not angry. I know that His Highness Prince Zhao didn't mean to humiliate me when he said those words, and I don't blame him."
Shen Suining frowned, "You and King Zhao..."
Xu Lan remained silent, but Shen Suining immediately added, "I'm not trying to interfere in your private affairs. But you need to think things through. After all, your father's situation... ultimately depends on him."
After a long silence, Xu Lan finally spoke softly, "I know, I understand."
Shen Suining pursed her lips, her heart filled with indescribable emotions.
Back in Yangzhou, thanks to the reputation of Shuyu Manor in Jiangnan, she couldn't be said to have absolute authority, but she could handle most of the business deals she encountered with a little effort. However, after arriving in Huadu, she experienced helplessness far too many times.
From her perspective, Shen Suining couldn't accept that Xu Lanji would sell herself out to make a deal with Prince Zhao for the sake of her family. But from Xu Lanji's perspective, she had no one to rely on. In Huadu, let alone Xu Lanji, even Prince Zhao himself would have to suffer a lot to deal with the Xu family.
Shen Suining sighed. No wonder she had heard her mother say she disliked Huadu since she was a child. This godforsaken place was truly awful.
Just as Shen Suining was lost in thought, Xu Lan hesitated for a moment, but still took Shen Suining's hand.
Xu Lanji was not good with words, and she had never had any close friends growing up, so she couldn't even express her sincere gratitude. She felt that the weight of any words was too light compared to the kindness Shen Suining had shown her. Xu Lanji knew that this was originally something that had nothing to do with her, or even with the Yong'an Marquis's mansion, but she still risked getting involved.
Such a groundbreaking feat made Xu Lan wonder how she could ever repay her kindness.
Seemingly seeing through Xu Lanji's thoughts, Shen Suining frowned and withdrew her hand, deliberately saying in a nonchalant tone, "This time it's not something that can be settled with just a few boxes of pastries. After your child is safely delivered, you can think of a proper way to thank me."
Xu Lan smiled and subconsciously placed her hand on her abdomen.
She was less than a month pregnant, and her abdomen was still very flat. If it weren't for the occasional discomfort, Xu Lan would never have imagined that she was carrying a little life.
When Xu Lan first learned that she was pregnant, her first reaction was fear. She had been disciplined too much since she was a child and knew that such behavior would be a devastating blow to a woman's reputation, especially for a family like hers. Her father had a student whose sister was pregnant out of wedlock. His parents felt that it was a disgrace to the family and wanted to drown her in a lake.
Xu Lanji certainly didn't want to die, but she understood her father's situation in Huadu and knew what the Xu family valued most. She couldn't let the Xu family's reputation be damaged, so she thought of secretly buying an abortion pill to terminate the pregnancy.
But the medicine arrived before the doctor's; it was my mother who got there first.
She knelt before Madam Xu for a long time, but the other side remained silent. After a while, Xu Lan finally heard her mother calmly ask her: When did this happen?
Xu Lan said that on the winter solstice, Madam Xu asked her again: Was she doing it voluntarily?
Xu Lan didn't say anything, but Madam Xu understood.
She told Xu Lanji to get up and said that she didn't need to take the matter too seriously, as it wasn't her fault. She shouldn't have to bear the burden of gossip and slander caused by others.
Xu Lan immediately thought of her mother, her expression softened, and she held back tears. She counted the days since her mother left, thinking that if people really have an afterlife, perhaps she could be reincarnated as her child.
Not wanting to lose her composure in front of Shen Suining, Xu Lan quickly composed herself and said with a smile, "If you don't mind, I'll make you his godmother after the child is born."
Shen Suining snorted: "I didn't give him a red envelope."
After exchanging a glance, the two of them burst into laughter simultaneously.
Just then, the carriage suddenly stopped on the road. It wasn't too late yet, and the sun hadn't completely set. However, the area was secluded and sparsely populated, so even the slightest rustling of wind or grass could be quickly noticed.
Shen Suining became alert, immediately gripping the weapon beside her, lifting a corner of the carriage curtain, and exchanging glances with Ling Rui.
Ling Rui nodded, turned around, and set up the carriage again. Several agile figures flashed across the rooftop and ran in the opposite direction. They were the secret guards of Bifeng Hall led by Yan Zhen.
Upon hearing the commotion, Shen Suining realized that they were being watched.
Moreover, the other party is a difficult guy.
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