"I..." Bai Qingzhou was embarrassed. In order not to let her lover overthink, she finally forced herself to tell the truth, "I... am afraid of my father."
Chenmianmian understood—In the original novel, when Marquis Anning was young, he was a fierce general. It would be an exaggeration to say that he could take on a hundred men, but taking on ten men was no problem.
He was later injured and stopped fighting on the front lines. Instead, he led troops to guard outside the capital and trained the imperial guards for the emperor, earning the emperor's great favor.
The Imperial Guard is directly under the Emperor's command. It is top-notch in terms of equipment and combat power. The selection and training of the guards is of great importance. It is conceivable that the Marquis of Anning, who is in charge of this matter, is an extremely demanding person. It is understandable that the heir apparent fears his father.
Bai Qingzhou regretted it as soon as she finished speaking.
What woman in the world likes a weak coward? He's... a coward now.
"I'm scared too," Chen Mianmian said.
"?" Bai Qingzhou was taken aback.
Chen Mianmian blinked. "Why is Your Highness surprised? Everyone has fear. Not only humans, but animals do too. Fear is the most important survival instinct for animals. If they didn't know fear and didn't know how to hide, they would have been eaten to extinction by their natural enemies long ago. So, there's nothing shameful about being afraid."
Bai Qingzhou smiled wryly, "You're just trying to comfort me."
Chen Mianmian smiled and said, "Your Highness has misunderstood me. Marquis Anning is a man who goes to the battlefield to fight. Even the enemy is afraid of him, let alone people like you and me who have not served in the army. If Marquis Anning cannot even scare people like us, how can he fight a war? Your Highness, don't you agree?"
"..."
Bai Qingzhou pondered for a moment, then sighed softly, "Mianmian, you really know how to comfort people."
Chen Mianmian smiled and didn't argue further.
She was trying to comfort him anyway, using a subtle shift in perspective, changing the prince's fear of his father to the common people's awe of soldiers, making him feel better.
But it seems that he couldn't fool her. Although the young phoenix is weak, she is not stupid.
During the conversation,
The two then arrived at the main courtyard.
Amid the greetings of the servants, Chen Mianmian followed Bai Qingzhou through the courtyard, into the room, and into the main hall.
As soon as she stepped across the threshold, she felt a chilling aura.
She thought to herself, "No wonder Fengchu is afraid; she's a little afraid too."
Chen Mianmian kept her head down, maintaining the humble posture of a "concubine who cannot be brought to the table," and followed the young master to greet the Marquis, his wife, and the young mistress who had arrived early.
"Get up, everyone, go and sit down." It was Madam Ding who spoke.
"This humble servant is Madam Xie."
Chen Mianmian lowered her head and sat respectfully to the left of Jiang Yinjin, while the young master sat diagonally opposite her, to the left of the Marquis's seat.
As soon as Chen Mianmian sat down, she heard Jiang Yinjin's dignified yet gentle voice from the side, "You're here?"
"Ah...yes, I'm late," Chen Mianmian replied hastily.
She thought to herself—if she hadn't read the novel and known how much Jiang Yinjin hated her, she would almost have believed Jiang Yinjin's kindness. As expected of the female lead, she's so flexible and adaptable! Excellent acting! Thumbs up!
Jiang Yinjin smiled faintly, "No, we haven't started eating yet."
As he spoke, he glanced at the lady out of the corner of his eye.
Sure enough, the satisfaction in the lady's eyes was evident—her thinking was simple: as long as the young master was happy, she was happy. In other words, as long as she didn't interfere with the young master and that adulterous couple, Consort Shen, she was a qualified legal wife.
Jiang Yinjin's lips curled into a sneer—the Marquis is impotent, and his wife is living a life of widowhood, yet he thinks other women are willing to live a life of widowhood too. How ridiculous.
In her previous life, she lived half her life as a widow, constantly being disturbed by Shen Mianmian, and eventually died in depression.
In this life, she doesn't want to live as a widow; she wants to die as a widow. She wants Bai Qingzhou dead! Shen Mianmian dead! And all those scumbags from the Marquis of Anding's mansion to die!
On the other side, the Marquis of Anding was speaking with his heir.
It was less of a speech and more of a reprimand, as if he were instructing his soldiers. Bai Qingzhou lowered his head and nodded in agreement.
Chen Mianmian looked up and was immediately stunned.
this……
It's the Marquis of Anning!?
However, the man sitting in the main seat was wearing a dark brocade robe. Because it was summer clothing, the fabric was thinner, and the man's muscles were taut, with the lines and angles seemingly showing through the fabric.
He was tall and imposing, with broad shoulders and a slender waist, without an ounce of excess fat. His skin was a healthy wheat color, and his features were deep-set, with sharp eyebrows, bright eyes, and a chiseled face, making him extremely masculine.
Perhaps due to years of martial arts training, or for some unknown reason, he did not grow a beard, making him look much younger than his actual age, appearing to be only in his early thirties.
However, based on the age of the Phoenix Chick, the Marquis of Anning should be around thirty-seven or thirty-eight.
The book doesn't say that Marquis Anning is this handsome!
Also, why does Fengchu look nothing like his father? He's fair-skinned and delicate, and he does resemble his wife more.
It's such a pity that such good genes didn't continue, and they never will.
After all, Marquis Anning... is infertile.
Shen Mianmian couldn't help but steal a few more glances at Marquis Anning. She swore she was very careful and avoided the gazes of the Marquis, his wife, and Jiang Yinjin.
Despite her best efforts, she couldn't keep out someone's gaze.
But then she saw that the prince, who had been bowing his head to be scolded, was now looking up at her. His pure black, bright eyes were as sharp as arrows, seeing right through her thoughts.
Shen Mianmian hurriedly lowered her head—Oh my god! She didn't mean that!
I wonder if Fengchu will misunderstand her... Actually, it doesn't matter if she misunderstands. It's best to quietly banish her to the cold palace and avoid any arguments.
Because arguing will displease the lady; if the lady is displeased, she will get closer to Jiang Yinjin; if she gets closer to Jiang Yinjin, she will be incited by Jiang Yinjin to side with Prince Jin.
Tsk, that's all she ever wanted, always so simple and unpretentious.
After that, Shen Mianmian kept her head down and never looked up again.
Although... she really wanted to see Marquis Anning a few more times.
With such a great physique, those broad back muscles and powerful biceps, eight-pack abs must be a piece of cake!
That face was also cold and aloof. Who would have thought that the happiest person in this novel was actually Lady Anning?
But then I thought about it again, and the lady seemed to be in a bad situation too, because she could only look at such a handsome marquis but couldn't have him, and was very anxious.
The Marquis then lectured the young master like a soldier for a long time, until the young master's delicate face turned deathly pale. Only then did the lady have no choice but to speak up and advise the Marquis to have his dinner first.
Afterwards, everyone moved to the dining hall.
During dinner, the Marquis did not reprimand the young master again, but his gaze toward the young master was full of disdain, so the dinner was naturally not pleasant.
That night.
Because the prince was in a bad mood, the two of them did not go to the training ground to exercise, and fortunately, they did not eat much in the evening.
Instead of practicing calligraphy, Chen Mianmian looked through some regular script calligraphy books and studied the works of other calligraphers.
While looking at the calligraphy model, he secretly glanced at the crown prince.
The prince did not sit at the same table with her all night, but instead sat alone on the soft couch by the window.
His gaze was fixed on the view outside the window.
The bright moonlight shone through the open window, illuminating the boy's porcelain-white face, making his fair complexion resemble a pearl in the mortal world, elegant yet fragile, like scattered jade.
Shen Mianmian recalled the scene in the main courtyard just now, where the young master had a pale face and was being reprimanded by Marquis Anning. She felt an indescribable bitterness in her heart.
She shook her head, feeling that this matter had nothing to do with her, and continued looking at the calligraphy copybook.
But the image of the boy, all alone, kept lingering in her mind.
He struggled with the contradiction for a while.
Finally, he put down the calligraphy copybook, ran over, and sat on the other side of the soft couch.
"Your Highness, what are you thinking about?"
The boy didn't answer her immediately.
After a long while, her butterfly-like eyelashes fluttered, and she slowly withdrew her gaze, her eyes as cold as the moon. "You... like my father?"
Chen Mianmian was stunned for a moment, then roared, "Are you sick? He's my father-in-law! I don't have such a heavy taste!"
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