Shen Mianmian is very confident in her new appearance. If there were a beauty pageant in the Southern Chu Kingdom, she would definitely participate. With this face and figure, if she doesn't win first place, she'll gouge out the judges' eyes and play with them.
Therefore, he spoke of beauty that could make fish sink and geese fall from the sky, and of beauty that could shame the moon and flowers, speaking with utmost sincerity and confidence, without any hint of guilt.
Bai Qingzhou chuckled, "I've never seen it before, but I have a feeling there's a way."
Chen Mianmian shrugged, "I'm not lying to you, it's really not true."
Bai Qingzhou pursed her lips and remained silent.
The two remained locked in a stalemate for a while.
In the end, Shen Mianmian couldn't bear it any longer and could only say, "It is true that I have no way to do this, but it is also true that I believe the young mistress will not agree to consummate the marriage with the young master."
Bai Qingzhou was taken aback. "She won't agree? What makes you say that?"
Chen Mianmian explained helplessly, "Your Highness, think about it, who is the young mistress? She is a proper lady from a prestigious family, the daughter of an official. Even if I, a mere slender horse, don't have any pride, wouldn't she want me? If Your Highness were both talented and handsome, then the young mistress would be marrying above her station; but now... cough, the young mistress is marrying below her station."
What do scholars hate most? They hate being treated with contempt. This woman is already marrying down, yet she's expected to share a room with the prince as if she's received a favor. What does she gain from that? If I were the young mistress, unless the prince kowtows and begs, he shouldn't expect to touch a single hair on my head.
Bai Qingzhou's heart tightened, her starry eyes looking pitiful, "You don't like me either?"
Chen Mianmian was taken aback. "Ah? Me? No, Your Highness, you misunderstand. I meant, if I were the young mistress..."
Bai Qingzhou stared intently at the woman with a fawning smile on her face, but the woman's eyes held no smile, only a cold, moon-like quality. "You mean, if you hadn't fallen into prostitution and had been born into an official family, you wouldn't like me?"
"..." Chen Mianmian—that's enough! Please stop being unreasonable.
Helpless, for the sake of her persona, Chen Mianmian held the boy's hand and coaxed him softly, "How could I not like the young master? The young master is devoted to me. I must be blind to not like the young master."
To their surprise, they found that the boy's fingers were icy cold.
Summer had arrived, and the weather was getting hotter. Even in summer, people wore several layers of clothing, but the boy's hands were still ice-cold.
Shen Mianmian lowered her eyes, cupped his cold fingers in her hands, and warmed them with her body heat. She sighed softly, "There are no outsiders here, so I will treat you as an equal and speak from the heart. Your anxiety and insecurity are signs of a lack of self-confidence, but self-confidence is built on the foundation of success."
How can you talk about confidence when you haven't succeeded yet? Even if someone tells you to be confident, it's just easy talk and empty words.
Therefore, I believe that Your Highness should not consider whether you are worthy, like, or are excellent. You should stop the internal strife and focus all your attention on preparing for the imperial examination.
What you need now is success. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and a great river is formed from countless small streams. Even a small test is a start to success. Isn't that right?
After saying so many things that ruined her image, Chen Mianmian hurriedly tried to salvage the situation by throwing herself at the boy.
Bai Qingzhou listened quietly, pondered for a long time, and then nodded, muttering, "Bringing you back was the best thing I ever did in my life."
Shen Mianmian's lips twitched—correct my ass! If you hadn't brought her back, you could have married Jiang Yinjin properly, Jiang Yinjin wouldn't have suffered any injustice and wouldn't have been reborn, and she might not have transmigrated into the book.
Thinking about her frustrating transmigration into the book and her uncertain future, Shen Mianmian became irritable. "Since the young master approves of my words, then please take action and go find someone to ask about the registration time for the children's examination?"
Bai Qingzhou suddenly realized, "Right, I'll go to the capital's government office now, are you coming?"
"I won't go," Chen Mianmian said, looking at the boy's haggard face. "Or, could we have Guanshui inquire about it, and you could take a nap?"
She knew that he hadn't slept a wink all night.
"I'm not tired, I'll ask myself," Bai Qingzhou insisted.
Chen Mianmian waved her hand, "Alright, then Your Highness should go and return as soon as possible. I won't go; it's not proper for a woman to show her face in public."
She felt she was flawless in shaping her public image.
Seeing that the woman was unwilling to go, Bai Qingzhou did not insist. After all, they were going to do business, not to enjoy the scenery. Forcing her to come along would only add to their fatigue.
The two then parted ways.
Bai Qingzhou took Guan Shui to the ceremonial office of the capital government to inquire about the children's examination; Chen Mianmian took out the drawings she had made earlier.
As he read, he murmured, "Before, I was busy serving that ancestor Fengchu every day, so I really didn't have time to win over Madam. Now that I've finally managed to get rid of that ancestor, I can finally have some free time to get closer to Madam."
As he spoke, he looked at the squares drawn on the paper, along with the special symbols on each square.
People in ancient times didn't recognize this.
But in modern times, everyone knows mahjong!
That's right, Shen Mianmian was planning to make a set of mahjong tiles and play with his wife.
She had inquired and learned that there was no mahjong in this country. Apart from occasionally going out to visit other people's homes, the lady spent her time growing flowers and plants, or playing some extremely boring ancient games.
Ha, what ancient game can compare to modern mahjong?
Similarly, the female lead, who works so hard to do business and win over the lady's favor, probably never imagined that the relationship between colleagues would never be as good as the relationship between mahjong partners, right?
People can only truly relax and let down their guard when they are entertained. This is one of the reasons why modern business negotiations always involve treating guests to a full range of food, drinks, and entertainment.
She didn't want to steal the female lead's entire place in the lady's heart, but she wanted to steal at least half of it. She wanted to guide the lady and prevent her from getting close to Prince Jin.
As Chen Mianmian flipped through the blueprints, she smiled and became happier with each passing thought—as long as the Marquis of Anning's residence didn't get close to Prince Jin, Jiang Yinjin couldn't use this matter to frame the Marquis of Anning's residence.
She would then think of a way to arrange a meeting between the Regent and Jiang Yinjin, believing that the two would surely spark a romance.
But how do you get the two of them together?
Even if the regent is not the regent now, but just the Prince of Qin, he is still the emperor's younger brother, a high-ranking prince. How could a mere pimp like her possibly contact him?
Even if it were a useless young phoenix, it would be difficult to establish a connection.
"...This is so frustrating!" Shen Mianmian threw down the blueprints and collapsed onto the table, on the verge of tears. "Life is so hard! How am I supposed to get the King of Qin to Jiang Yinjin? Ugh!"
...
At the same time, on the other side.
Main courtyard.
"I'm sorry, Mother, I may have to disappoint you."
Jiang Yinjin stood in the room, head bowed and eyebrows lowered, her upright figure like a proud plum blossom in the snow, yet humble, a perfect blend of strength and gentleness.
Ding looked flustered. "Ah? This... Yinjin, are you still holding a grudge against Qingzhou? Qingzhou was indeed wrong, but now he has reformed and is about to take the imperial examination. I know your difficulties and resentment, but life can't always be smooth sailing. Don't worry, I, as your mother, will make it up to you for what Qingzhou did wrong."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Yinjin smiled with satisfaction.
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