Chapter 77 Borrowing
Chen Yu took the brocade box and said, "Please thank your princess for me."
After the maid left, Shen Yu opened the brocade box, which contained the pair of purple jade hairpins that Shen Wan had taken a fancy to.
"This is too expensive..."
They were so expensive that Chen Yu felt a little embarrassed. She had no friendship with Princess Jiangling. If she knew that Princess Jiangling would give her this pair of jade hairpins, she might as well buy them directly.
Shen Wan said, "The Princess of Jiangling will be getting married next month, and my eldest sister can give her some dowry as a return gift."
Chen Yu thought this arrangement was fine, but she also felt strange. "How do you know that Princess Jiangling is getting married next month?"
She knew it so clearly because in her previous life, Princess Jiangling got married just a few days later, and her eldest brother married Qu Yan. How could she forget two marriages that happened so close together?
Just thinking about the fact that Princess Jiangling hanged herself less than a year after her marriage, Shen Wan couldn't help but feel a lump in her throat.
The Princess of Jiangling County was to marry the heir apparent of the Marquis of Wucheng. This marriage was arranged by the Empress Dowager and personally granted by the Emperor.
The Prince of Wucheng is the nephew of the wife of the Duke of Song and the cousin of Xiao Yun's cousin. He is of noble status, handsome and talented, and married with a grand wedding dress that is ten miles long. Who wouldn't envy him? Everyone thinks that Princess Jiangling and the Prince of Wucheng will be a perfect couple.
But in the end, when Princess Jiangling committed suicide, she was still virgin. The prince of Wucheng Marquis was fond of adultery, and he got drunk and fell from the upstairs of Xianggu Pavilion, breaking his leg. This became known to everyone, and Princess Jiangling could not bear the humiliation and committed suicide.
The marriage was granted by imperial decree, and divorce was impossible, so the only option was death.
In her previous life, Chen Wan and Princess Jiangling did not have many interactions. After Princess Jiangling got married, she became depressed and rarely left the house. But whenever they met, she was always very kind to her. When she was scolded by Queen Song, Princess Jiangling spoke up for her, but was also scolded by Queen Song.
The one that Princess Jiangling wanted to be engaged to was an ordinary family. Even for her kindness just now, Shen Wan would have tried every means to pull her out of the fire pit. However, Princess Jiangling and the Marquis of Wucheng were matched by the Empress Dowager and the Emperor granted the marriage. She was really powerless. All she could do was to inform them of the matter tactfully, and perhaps help postpone the wedding date.
But since the emperor will not revoke the imperial decree granting the marriage, she will have to get married after all.
This feeling of helplessness of knowing that the other person is about to jump into the fire pit but being unable to help to avoid it makes Shen Wan feel anxious and suffocated.
Shen Yu noticed it and asked, "Wan'er is worried?"
Shen Wan shook his head.
Shen Wan decided to find an opportunity to remind Princess Jiangling, and then stopped thinking about it. She talked about other things with Shen Yu, or lifted the curtain to look outside.
When he was almost at the gate of Duke Dingguo's Mansion, Shen Wan saw the horse tied to the temporary hitching post outside the gate, and his face became strange.
That is Xie Jingyu's horse.
She had seen it several times and recognized it at a glance.
Is that guy coming to Duke Dingguo’s Mansion again?
Wasn't he coming to the Duke Dingguo's Mansion too frequently...
Although the last time he came was a few days ago, he didn't come as often as when her elder sister got married.
This is what she knew about, there must have been times when she came here without knowing about it.
Shen Wan was afraid to see Xie Jingyu, so she pretended not to know, but she had a good idea. As soon as she returned to the mansion, the servant reported to her, "Second Miss, the Prince of Jingbei is here."
Now it’s no longer possible to pretend not to know.
Chen Yu smiled and said, "You go see the Prince of Jingbei."
…Can she say she doesn’t want to go?
However, Shen Wan went anyway, because the maid told her that Shen Li and Xie Jingyu were sparring in the arena.
Such a good opportunity must not be missed. Well, she didn't mean to watch them compete. She had always wanted to find a chance to go to the eldest brother's study, find the painting that the eldest brother treasured, and see who the girl the eldest brother liked was.
The discussion would take a while, so she could take the opportunity to look for it.
Shen Wan walked towards Shen Li's study decisively.
There was no one inside or outside the study, so Shen Wan hurried to look for it. She only knew that there was a secret compartment in her eldest brother's study, but she didn't know where it was, and she couldn't find it after searching for a long time.
After searching through all the boxes and cabinets for a long time, he finally found the secret compartment. It turned out that the box in the secret compartment contained silver bills.
Chen Wan was so angry.
It's just a banknote, is there any need to hide it in a secret compartment?
Chen Wan was too lazy to even think of robbing her own elder brother. If she had the time to rob her elder brother, she would get more by robbing her cousin.
After putting the banknotes back, Shen Wan searched again but couldn't find the other secret compartment. She was quite disappointed. Could it be that because she had alerted the enemy, her brother was afraid that she would come to steal the painting and had hidden it somewhere else?
It is possible.
The things that my eldest brother values are hidden in the study and the bedroom.
Shen Wan decisively left the study and went to Shen Li's bedroom. Coincidentally, when she went there, Shen Li happened to be in Shen Ji's study in the outer courtyard. Xie Jingyu was not there, so he must have left.
Chen Wan sneaked into Chen Li's bedroom. Although she was his biological sister, she couldn't enter her eldest brother's room casually.
Shen Wan pushed the door open, entered the room, closed it, and began to search.
He went to the table first, opened the drawer and looked for it, but couldn't find it. Then he walked towards the screen. There was a bed behind the screen. As a result, he walked around the screen and was almost scared to death.
Behind the screen was a bathtub, and there was a person soaking in it, none other than Xie Jingyu.
Their eyes met.
If Shen Wan hadn't been so frightened, she would have screamed out loud.
"You, you, why are you in my big brother's room?!"
Shen Wan quickly turned his back, his face red as if it were exploding.
Xie Jingyu said, "I've worked up a lot of sweat in the martial arts competition. I can't go see my father-in-law with all that sweat on my body. I'll borrow your eldest brother's room to take a bath and change into clean clothes."
"But you——"
There was something dangerous in his tone.
Chen Wan's mind was filled with his "father-in-law". Who was his father-in-law?!
I was already blushing, and because of this name, my face got even hotter.
Chen Wan turned around to leave, but she was unwilling to do so. She came here to look for something. If she missed today, she didn't know when she would have the next chance. Besides, she couldn't leave. There was a knock on the door, and the servant pushed the door open and came in to add hot water for Xie Jingyu.
When the servant came in, Chen Wan decisively looked for a place to hide, but there was really nowhere to hide, so he could only use the bathtub to block himself, and then looked at Xie Jingyu with a pleading face, asking him for help.
Just as the servant was about to come over, Xie Jingyu said, "Just put the water on the ground."
The servant was a little confused.
The hot water is placed so far away that Prince Jingbei has to get up to fetch it. Wouldn’t it be better for him to pour it directly into the bathtub?
The servant felt strange, but didn't dare to ask any more questions and just did as he was told.
The servant placed the bathtub next to the screen, then went out and closed the door.
Xie Jingyu looked at Shen Wan and said, "Bring the hot water over here."
Someone just helped her avoid being discovered, so Shen Wan had to help with such a small favor. However, for a spoiled lady from a wealthy family, carrying a wooden bucket of water was indeed a bit heavy for her.
What's more important is that she felt embarrassed. Although this bastard had flirted with her many times in his previous life, she was not so shameless.
It's just to meet her father, but she has to take a bath and change into a brocade robe. Is it that serious?
Shen Wan poured hot water into the bathtub, and Xie Jingyu looked at her, "What are you looking for?"
Doesn't this bastard think he's asking too many questions?
Shen Wan said with a ferocious look on his face, “You are not allowed to tell my eldest brother that I came here to look for something.”
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
