Chen Mianmian chuckled, "Don't talk so capriciously. Do you think the people from the Marquis of Xuanping's residence are just dropping by? They're here to apologize to you. How can you not go?"
Bai Qingzhou naturally understood this principle. He thought for a moment and then said seriously, "Then I'll go by myself. I'll explain to my mother later that you're not feeling well today."
Chen Mianmian was taken aback. "Really?"
"Why not? They're the ones apologizing, not us. Why should the whole family come out to kneel and welcome them? Don't worry about this. Leave it to me."
Looking at the handsome young man with his fair and delicate face, Shen Mianmian was overjoyed. She couldn't help but hug him and give him a loud kiss on the cheek. "Thank you! I'm so happy to have the young master protecting me."
Bai Qingzhou was both amused and exasperated. "You're happy now? You're too easy to please. Okay, I'm not going to say anything more. I'm going to the front yard. You can do whatever you want at home."
"Yes." Chen Mianmian affectionately took the young man's hand and said in a sticky voice, "Your Highness, I will see you out."
Bai Qingzhou found it both amusing and endearing, and let the woman lead him out of the room and towards the courtyard gate.
Standing at the gate of Mingyue Courtyard, Chen Mianmian smiled and said, "Young Master, please return soon. I will be waiting for you at home."
Bai Qingzhou was slightly taken aback, and a warm, itchy feeling suddenly welled up in her heart. "Okay."
It's as if I've suddenly found my home.
In his final resting place, someone was always waiting for him.
A short while later,
Seeing the figures of the master and servant getting further and further away, Chen Mianmian turned around and went back to her room.
Hanrong hesitated several times before finally speaking out, "Auntie, this... isn't good. If you don't go, Madam will be unhappy!"
She also wanted to say: The young mistress is scheming against the concubine. If the concubine doesn't go, the young mistress will have something on her and who knows what she'll say about her.
But... she can't say!
She hated herself for betraying her aunt and taking the young mistress's money, but it was too late to say anything now.
And...she needs money!
My younger brother is gradually recovering from his illness, but he needs a lot of expensive medicinal herbs.
The family still needs to pay off the debts incurred for the younger brother's medical treatment, and his health is poor. If the dowry isn't high enough, he might not be able to find a wife in the future. All of this requires money.
Shen Mianmian nodded. "I know. Actually, I'm starting to regret it now. I was really impulsive today."
She and Lady Anning were not family, but rather had a superior-subordinate relationship. During work hours, if a superior asked a subordinate to attend an event and the subordinate refused, would the superior be happy to accept it?
She had originally planned to go, otherwise she wouldn't have changed her clothes so early.
But secretly, I really didn't want to go, so I just mentioned it casually. Who knew that Fengchu would say she didn't have to go.
At that moment, her selfish desires began to revel, and "reason" rushed out. Grabbing her "selfish desires" was her shoulders, which she shook violently to calm her down.
Selfishness calmly slapped reason twice across the face, and then punched it away a thousand miles away.
It wasn't until the prince left with Guanshui that she finally calmed down and realized... this time, she had really gone too far and acted willfully.
Since transmigrating into the book, she has always kept her character in mind and kept to her duty. She kneels when she should kneel and sleeps with someone when she should sleep with them. She will never grow up with that useless rebellious spirit.
But seeing the boy's doting affection for her today, her long-suppressed selfishness and willfulness surged forth, taking over the high ground of reason.
Sure enough, people can be spoiled.
Hanrong breathed a sigh of relief—thankfully, her aunt still had some sense. She was genuinely afraid that her aunt would become arrogant and give the young mistress a handle to use against her.
"Auntie, what should we do? Is it too late to catch up now?"
Shen Mianmian estimated the time and shook her head. "It's too late. The young master and Guanshui left in a hurry. They should be in the front yard now. Once they get there, they'll definitely make up an excuse for me. If I show up right after they finish their excuse, it'll be like ripping them off in front of everyone. If it were just the madam, it would be fine, but there are people from the Xuanping Marquis's mansion. We can't let our mansion down."
Hanrong was secretly anxious, "Then... what can we do?"
Chen Mianmian smiled and reassured her, "Don't worry, if I have to attend the front courtyard, Madam will find an excuse to summon us. These people in the inner quarters have many ways to do things."
"I'm relieved now."
Chen Mianmian waved her hand, "Go and rest, I'll play cards for a while."
Hanrong whispered, "If you're bored, Auntie, I can stay and keep you company."
"No, I prefer playing cards."
And so, Hanrong left the room.
After leaving the room, Hanrong felt a pang of jealousy, because she could sense that her aunt was deliberately distancing herself from her. Sure enough, evil people get their just desserts; a traitor like her could never win her aunt's favor.
At the same time, she felt that although everyone said that the concubine was a frivolous young woman and the young mistress was a talented and beautiful young lady, she always felt that the concubine was much smarter than the young mistress.
Actually, Hanrong really misunderstood.
Shen Mianmian was indeed keeping her distance, but not because she disliked her or was wary of her. Rather, it was because of their special relationship that she did not want feelings to develop between them.
It's best to stick to the facts and remain clear-headed.
Half an hour later.
Sure enough, someone from the front yard came to summon Aunt Shen over.
Chen Mianmian, accompanied by Hanrong, left Mingyue Courtyard with a maid from the front courtyard.
As they walked, Chen Mianmian asked, "Before I even reached the front hall, what did the young master say to the madam?"
The maid replied, "Reporting to Madam, the young master said that you felt a little dizzy when you got up this morning. Madam was very worried and said she would call a doctor. However, the young master said that it was nothing serious and you would be fine in a while. Just now, Madam Huo mentioned you, so she sent me to invite you."
Chenmianmian understood—Fengchu said that after she felt dizzy, the lady might mistakenly think she was pregnant, so she excitedly went to find a doctor. Fengchu realized that the lady had misunderstood and was afraid that the lady's expectations were too high, so she could only say that she would be fine in a while.
That young phoenix was truly intelligent, completely different from the one described in the novel.
Of course, as a reader, she can understand that different perspectives in a novel lead to different portrayals of the characters' personalities.
For example, the same Emperor Yongzheng is portrayed as a fat, chubby man who is easily manipulated in "Empresses in the Palace," but as an almost perfect and majestic emperor in "Yongzheng Dynasty."
This is the subjectivity of different perspectives in literary works.
Well, although she didn't study Chinese, she studied English and even took a course in British literature, so she's practically a literary person too.
Chen Mianmian and the others did not go to the front hall because they heard from the maid that the madam and others had moved to the garden, so they went directly to the garden.
Chen Mianmian has never been to the garden of the Marquis of Anning's mansion.
The reason is simple—the madam and the young madam often visit, and she, a transmigrator caught up in the plot, doesn't want to get involved in the main storyline, so she tries to avoid the two of them.
Besides, she had no interest in looking at flowers; she would rather spend that time and energy running a couple of laps around the training ground.
The Marquis of Anning's residence had few people, so there was enough space to build a garden.
The garden is very large, with ponds, pavilions, artificial hills, and other beautiful features.
Shen Mianmian was completely stunned. She thought to herself, "I should take back my previous idea. I still need to take a stroll through this garden sometime. I'll find out when the madam and young madam are coming so I can sneak over and play without them."
They strolled along, admiring the scenery, but upon reaching the center of the garden and finding no one there, they turned back in confusion. "Madam and the others..."
The sound paused, and then it was discovered that no one was behind it.
What about the maid? What about Hanrong?
They're lost? Bah, there's definitely something fishy going on. She has to get out of here right away.
Just as she was about to leave, she suddenly heard a strange man's voice behind her, "Miss."
Shen Mianmian turned around and saw a tall, slender figure emerging from the artificial hill. It was a handsome young man.
The man wore a golden crown and a dark blue brocade robe, suggesting he was a regular martial artist, as he was lean, wiry, and had long legs. Beneath his long, slanted eyebrows, which swept upwards towards his temples, were a pair of beautiful, almond-shaped eyes. Combined with his dashing and debonair demeanor, and the beautiful scenery of the garden, he was strikingly handsome, almost otherworldly.
Huo Rang, who had accidentally gotten lost, originally wanted to ask the woman for directions to the front hall.
But the moment he saw the woman, he was stunned—how could there be such a beauty in the world?
The beauty had a graceful figure, a shapely figure, a face like a lotus flower, and skin as smooth and flawless as snow, which shone almost transparently in the sunlight.
Her eyes were bright and captivating, and her lips were glistening and rosy. In surprise, her alluring lips parted slightly, revealing her pearly white teeth.
Huo Rang had seen many beauties, some as pure as fairies, some as alluring as demons, but he had never seen one who was both pure and alluring, both like a fairy and like a demon.
Who is this person?
Because of the special circumstances of the Marquis of Anning, there were very few people in the Marquis of Anning's mansion, only the Marquis's wife, Bai Qingzhou, the young mistress, and that thin concubine.
The concubine was resting in her room because she was sick, so this person should not be the concubine.
Could they be Bai Qingzhou's cousins?
That's possible. Since the Marquis of Anning's residence has few people and the Marquis of Anning is often away from the capital, his wife's sisters often bring their children to stay at the residence to keep her company. This is not exactly a secret in the capital.
Bai Qingzhou, that effeminate man, actually has such beautiful cousins?
That's possible. Putting aside the effeminate and disgusting temperament, just looking at her appearance, Bai Qingzhou has fair skin and a beautiful face. Even if she were dressed in women's clothing, she wouldn't look out of place.
Moreover, Lady Anning was one of the most beautiful women in the capital back then, and every time my mother mentioned Lady Anning, the jealousy in her eyes was very obvious.
This thought process was completed almost in the blink of an eye, and Huo Rang immediately stepped forward, "Miss, please wait."
Shen Mianmian knew it was a trap, so she ignored the man and ran away.
This kind of harmful method is common in novels—either the man or the woman is drugged with aphrodisiacs, and then they get into a fight, get caught, and cause misunderstandings.
As a seasoned online novel reader, how could she let such a melodramatic thing happen?
Just run for your life, who cares who it is, you have to find a witness as soon as possible.
But Chen Mianmian made a mistake!
She ran very fast, but the man behind her was even faster; after all, he was a martial arts practitioner.
Shen Mianmian's wrist was grabbed, and because she was caught off guard, she was suddenly pulled and lost her balance.
Huo Rang was startled and, fearing the woman would fall, quickly turned to the side and stood in the direction where she was about to fall.
As a result, Chen Mianmian threw herself directly into the man's arms.
Chenmianmian—From now on, I will never complain about the melodramatic plots of novels again; these melodramas are truly unavoidable! How did they end up hugging?
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