Chapter 23, Chapter 23, makes her beg for mercy? She can beg her mother to kneel to death...
Chapter 23
After Shen Fengyu left, He Hansheng let out a soft breath and asked, "When did you wake up?"
“…I woke up as soon as you came in,” Shen Suining opened her eyes, looking somewhat tired. “I’m not good with unfamiliar beds. I need someone to be next to me when I sleep in unfamiliar places, otherwise I can’t fall asleep.”
He Hansheng looked at her and uttered two words: "Spoiled."
"You don't know anything," Shen Suining rolled her eyes at him. "The world is dangerous. If I don't have someone I trust watching over me, I might be stabbed to death in my sleep without even knowing it. Just like now, you drove Feng Yu away and are sitting here. I don't even dare to blink, afraid that you'll plot against me."
"..." He Han chuckled, "I'll go call Feng Yu back. I'm leaving?"
"May I?"
“Dream on,” He Hansheng refused directly. “On our wedding night, if I don’t stay in the room, people will laugh at us tomorrow.”
"Oh, so if you fight with your bride on your wedding night, won't people laugh at you?"
He Hansheng thought about it carefully for a moment and replied, "Even if we fight while we're in the same room, people will just say it's just playful banter between husband and wife, and it's not a big deal."
"..." Shen Suining turned away, too lazy to pay him any attention.
He Han chuckled softly, his gaze sweeping over the Heqin wine on the table. He nudged Chen Suining and said, "Get up."
"What? Are you going to fight again?" Shen Suining was a little impatient. She was really too tired, and even just lying down would be more comfortable.
“Get up and drink the Heqin wine,” He Hansheng said, bringing over wine and a cup to pour. “We can’t not drink the Heqin wine since the veil hasn’t been lifted yet.”
"..." Shen Suining rolled her eyes, thinking that this person was really sick in the head.
She propped herself up and sat facing He Hansheng on the bed, took the wine he offered, and drank it all in one gulp. "Satisfied?"
"..." He Hansheng was speechless for a moment, then coughed twice, "That's not how you drink Heqin wine."
"Then what should we do?"
He Hansheng pursed his lips, and seeing Shen Suining's attitude, he immediately lost interest.
"Alright, go to sleep," He Hansheng said, putting the wine aside. "There's no need to bother with these formalities."
Shen Suining thought to herself that this person was really quite ill. He had to wake him up to drink for no reason, and then he would get upset after drinking. He was really difficult to please.
Exhausted, Shen Suining turned her back to He Hansheng and lay down again, eventually drifting off to sleep.
In her hazy state of consciousness, she felt a dent on the other side of the bed, probably because He Hansheng was sleeping next to her. There was some distance between them, but she could clearly feel his breathing and heartbeat.
Shen Suining was so tired that she didn't have time to worry about these things. It wasn't until she opened her eyes the next morning that she belatedly realized—
She and He Hansheng slept in the same bed for one night.
Shen Suining sat up abruptly from the bed, still wearing her festive red undergarment. The bed next to her was neat and tidy, with no sign that anyone had slept there.
There were two heavy-looking wooden boxes.
Shen Suining was somewhat curious, so she opened the lid, which immediately emitted a sharp popping sound.
Shen Fengyu burst through the door, anxiously asking, "What's wrong? What happened?"
She saw Shen Suining sitting on the bed with her hair disheveled, and two full boxes of silver in front of her, and she instantly understood.
“The young marquis said he was sorry for what happened to you yesterday and asked me how I could make it up to you. After thinking it over, I realized that our young master’s favorite things, besides beautiful women, are these silver and gold items,” Shen Fengyu picked up a silver ingot, tossed it into the air, and caught it steadily. “What do you think, young master? Does my suggestion suit your taste?”
Shen Suining couldn't hold back her smile and gave Shen Fengyu two thumbs up, "Fengyu understands me best, I'm so relieved."
As she spoke, Shen Suining took out two ingots from the box, and let Shen Fengyu take the rest and put them away.
A short while later, Xiangye and Mingke came in to pay their respects to Shen Suining and help her with her hair and makeup. Xiangye gently reminded her, "Madam entered the household yesterday. According to the rules, she should go to serve tea to the Princess first thing in the morning."
Shen Suining hummed in agreement. “My father told me yesterday that I will have to trouble the two young ladies to teach me the rules of this mansion in detail from now on.”
Xiang Ye and Ming Ke said in unison, "Don't worry, Madam, we will serve you wholeheartedly in the future."
Shen Suining was very satisfied and, for the first time ever, gave each of them a silver ingot.
Shen Fengyu was almost speechless with astonishment. She had followed Shen Suining through thick and thin, nearly losing her life many times. But normally, it was harder than climbing to heaven to squeeze any money out of this tightwad. Yet today, he was being so generous to others in front of her.
"Where is your young master?" Shen Suining pretended not to see Shen Fengyu's unhappy expression.
Mingke replied, "The young marquis went to pay his respects to the princess early this morning and was summoned to the ancestral hall by her. And then... this servant knows nothing more."
“Alright, I understand,” Shen Suining looked at the two of them through the mirror and said with a smile, “Since we have a long time to spend together in the future, there are some things I have to say upfront. Being loyal to me is different from being loyal to the Marquis or even the Princess. You two need to be able to distinguish between them, understand?”
Xiang Yemingke: "This servant understands."
After dressing and grooming herself, Shen Suining had Xiangye lead her to pay her respects to the Princess and offer her tea.
Shen Suining knew a little about the etiquette of serving tea to her parents-in-law on the first day of marriage. Although she was naturally arrogant and unruly, she had been in the martial arts world for many years and had some basic manners and etiquette. Xiangye only taught her once, and she did it very well, only a little clumsy and unfamiliar.
The eldest princess was very fond of Shen Suining. After drinking the tea that Shen Suining offered, she pulled her to sit beside her and started talking.
“If Ningning is not used to anything or lacks anything after entering the manor, you can come and tell me directly. As for Asheng, he was raised by his father in the military camp since he was a child. He has only been in contact with big, burly men and has never been with a girl before. He probably doesn’t know how to be considerate. If he does anything wrong and annoys you, you can come and tell me. I will teach him a good lesson for you.”
“Mother-in-law, you don’t need to worry about me. If I need anything, I will take care of it myself,” Shen Suining smiled, not paying much attention to the princess’s polite words. “You are not feeling well. I will have Fengyu bring Sister Miao over to see you in a little while. She is highly skilled in medicine and very attentive. You can rest assured that she will take care of you.”
“Ningning is so sweet. If I had a daughter like you, I would cherish her like a treasure,” the Princess patted Shen Suining’s hand with great satisfaction. “In the end, it is Ah Sheng who is truly blessed to have such a deep connection with you. However, his father and I have spoiled him a bit. If he is rude to you, please don’t tolerate it and don’t wrong yourself.”
Hearing the princess repeat something similar, Shen Suining was unsure whether she was being sincere or just being polite.
She thought for a moment, "My father-in-law and father were best friends. Whether I'm a junior or a newlywed daughter-in-law, according to custom, shouldn't I also go to pay my respects to him?"
“Ningning is sensible. This is something that Asheng should have done with you, but he…” The princess hesitated, then shook her head and gave up. “Since you have this intention, it’s the same if I take you.”
Shen Suining followed the eldest princess to the He family ancestral hall. As soon as she stepped through the gate, she saw He Hansheng kneeling upright in the courtyard in front of the ancestral hall.
"Mother-in-law, what is he doing...?" Shen Suining asked, suppressing her smile, secretly pleased.
The eldest princess looked coldly at He Hansheng's retreating figure, "Yesterday, on your wedding day, he actually dared to lay a hand on you. He is utterly lawless. I order him to kneel here and reflect on his actions in front of his father. This is a small punishment to serve as a warning."
Shen Suining suddenly realized why Mingke said that He Hansheng had disappeared after going to the ancestral hall with the Princess; he was kneeling here.
In this light, it seems that the princess's words were not entirely just polite talk.
Shen Suining felt secretly pleased. She ignored He Hansheng, who was kneeling on the ground, and followed the Princess into the ancestral hall to pay respects to the deceased He Changxin as the daughter-in-law and future mistress of the Marquis's mansion.
When they came out of the ancestral hall, He Hansheng was still kneeling on the spot, not moving at all.
Shen Suining couldn't help but ask the Princess, "Mother, how much longer is he going to kneel?"
"Kneel until noon."
"At noon, when the sun is at its most scorching..." Shen Suining was secretly thrilled, but could only pinch her thigh to suppress it, deliberately showing a somewhat worried expression.
The eldest princess remained unmoved, seemingly furious, and turned to leave.
Shen Suining quickly followed, giving He Hansheng on the ground a smug look.
He Hansheng saw it and sighed softly.
“My lord, kneeling until noon in this weather is unbearable, even for someone with an iron body,” Jiang Yuchu, who was standing behind, couldn’t stand it anymore. “Why don’t I go and plead with the madam and ask her to beg the princess for mercy?”
He Hansheng sneered, "You want her to plead for me? She can't possibly beg my mother to kneel before me to death."
"This..." Jiang Yuchu thought about it carefully and realized that it did seem to be true.
Not to mention that the lady and the marquis had a deep grudge before their marriage, on their wedding day, the marquis actually fought with the lady in their bridal chamber. Any woman would find it hard to swallow such an insult.
Moreover, the lady is petty and narrow-minded.
Jiang Yuchu sighed, knowing she could only suffer alongside her master and feel heartbroken.
About fifteen minutes later, Jiang Yuchu heard footsteps outside. He thought the princess had given in and was about to be overjoyed when he turned around and saw Shen Suining striding over with her chin raised.
Jiang Yuchu's smile vanished instantly, but she still had to greet him politely: "Greetings, Madam."
"What? You're not happy to see me?" Shen Suining witnessed Jiang Yuchu's instantaneous change of expression and was somewhat displeased.
Jiang Yuchu quickly said, "How could I dare to be unfriendly to Madam? I just felt sorry for the Marquis when I saw him coming."
"Just like your master, you don't know how to appreciate kindness and like to judge others by your own petty standards," Shen Suining sneered. "However, I'm in a good mood today, so I'll let you off the hook for now."
After saying that, Shen Suining walked towards He Hansheng and knelt down next to him without saying a word.
"Madam, you..." Jiang Yuchu was shocked and didn't know what to say. She just wanted to slap herself a few times.
Even He Hansheng was somewhat taken aback. He looked at the sweat on Shen Suining's temples and said in a slightly stiff tone, "It's hot, you don't have to stay with me."
"Don't misunderstand, I'm doing this for myself," Shen Suining ignored him and knelt upright. "Xiangye, go tell the Princess that I want to kneel with the young marquis until noon. I'll get up whenever the young marquis gets up. Also, tell Mingke that when Fengyu returns, she should take Miaowei to the Princess to have her pulse checked, and she's not allowed to come here."
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