The implication was that he would no longer bother to rescue Jiang from prison.
Upon hearing this, Madam Jiang panicked: "Jin'er, Changshu, and Qingshu are truly all your children. I swear on my life, and I swear on Jin'er's position as Crown Princess. I truly have not lied to you! If there is even a single lie, may I die a horrible death, and may all my children suffer a terrible fate!"
No mother would swear a solemn oath on her child's future. Jiang did this to show Shen Wei her sincerity.
But Shen Wei no longer cared whether she was sincere or not.
"Actually, I had already noticed something when you were pregnant with Jin'er. But I had already given you my child, so I didn't dare to question you or face the truth."
"All these years I've been deceiving myself. You and she are completely different. You always try to please me and remember my preferences, while she has her own personality and talents. She can give me good advice when we disagree and discuss the strategies of the Six Kingdoms and military tactics with me, which are things you don't understand."
"You two only have one similar face, you're obviously easy to tell apart, but I didn't dare to recognize you, and I've made this mistake for so many years. Since we've made a mistake, we both have to pay the price for what we've done. You can stay here in peace, you don't have to wait for me for long."
After saying this, Shen Wei turned around and left without any hesitation.
Jiang lay on the cell door, crying her heart out, but Shen Wei's steps did not falter, nor did he turn back.
Jiang cried for a long time, sobbing uncontrollably and gagging repeatedly. Finally, she suddenly burst into laughter.
Why can't she stand seeing Jiang Qinxue doing better than her?
Everyone has their own life, so why does she always like to compare herself to her younger sister?
Whatever Jiang Qinxue has, she must have too, and it must be exactly the same; Jiang Qinxue's must never be better than hers. Even if they only have one of what they want, it must be split in half and given to each of them.
Since men cannot be divided, she had no choice but to steal them!
After being Mrs. Shen for seventeen years, did she truly love Shen Wei?
Even she herself didn't know the answer.
Jiang was crying and laughing, her erratic behavior irritating the jailers. They lashed the cell door with their whips, which immediately silenced her crying.
"Shut up! What's all the noise about?!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Jiang suddenly turned around, slammed her head against the wall, and shut her mouth completely.
Shen Yuan didn't care about the hustle and bustle outside Changfeng Residence; she only focused on wrapping her own zongzi.
On the first day, she washed the bamboo leaves clean and then soaked them in the water tank for a day and a night.
The next day, she took out all the yolks from the salted duck eggs and dried them.
On the third day, she began to stew the marinated pork.
By the evening of the third day, the glutinous rice was soaked. Shen Yuan tied all her sleeves up with a ribbon, then carried a small stool and sat in the yard to wrap zongzi (sticky rice dumplings).
Holding a bamboo leaf in one hand, she used the other to scoop out glutinous rice, stuff it with pork belly and salted egg yolk, and her fingers flew up and down, quickly wrapping a beautiful and tightly packed zongzi.
The servants of Changfeng Residence all sat in the courtyard with Shen Yuan, helping to wrap zongzi (sticky rice dumplings).
Seeing how skillfully Shen Yuan wrapped the zongzi, Bai Zhi couldn't help but say, "Young Miss is truly amazing! She can do everything! Not only is she well-versed in poetry and literature, but she also has beautiful handwriting! Moreover, she knows medicine and how to do business! Now she can even wrap zongzi so well. She is simply the most capable young lady in the capital! Whoever marries Young Miss in the future will be truly blessed!"
Shen Yuan smiled upon hearing this: "Whether a woman is well-versed in poetry and literature, skilled in business, knowledgeable in medicine, embroidery, or cooking, it's not just for the sake of getting married, but to have the ability to make a living."
"If we work hard for more than ten years to learn needlework and skills, and go to great lengths to improve ourselves, just to marry a good man and put all our savings on one man, what if the man we choose is not good enough? Wouldn't we have to hang ourselves?"
"Throughout history, there has only been one true principle: relying on yourself is worse than relying on anyone else!"
After listening, Bai Zhi nodded as if she understood, and then asked, "But those scholars always say that we women should be virtuous and good-natured, and that we should marry virtuous wives. Women should stay at home to take care of their husbands and children, do laundry and cook, and should not study or show their faces in public!"
Shen Yuan was silent for a moment, then gently patted Bai Zhi: "It will change, maybe... it will change after many, many years."
The fifth day of the fifth lunar month is the Dragon Boat Festival.
Early in the morning, before dawn, the aroma of bamboo leaves and glutinous rice wafted from the roof of Changfeng Residence.
Shen Yuan instructed her maid to deliver the cooked zongzi to Old Madam Shen, Shen Wei, Shen Changshu, and Shen Qingshu.
Shen Changshu and Shen Qingshu did not accept his zongzi. However, Shen Yuan was not angry when she saw that the zongzi had been brought back untouched by the maid.
She only intended to go through the motions; the zongzi had already fulfilled its purpose, so she rewarded it to the beggar outside the mansion gate.
Shen Wei was very happy to receive the zongzi from Shen Yuan, and I heard that he ate three in one go.
Madam Shen also praised Shen Yuanbao's zongzi, saying that she was sensible, considerate, and skillful.
The maid who returned to report to Shen Yuan said, "The old lady said many things praising you, Miss. She truly likes you from the bottom of her heart now!"
Whether he truly liked her or not, Shen Yuan didn't care at all.
She has her grandmother's love to love her, and that's enough.
She packed the first pot of zongzi that she had cooked last night and handed it to Xiao Ling, asking him to take it to Granny Liu and Xiao Jinmeng to try.
Shen Yuan then had Bai Zhi pack several more portions of zongzi to bring into the palace. She then said to the other maids and servants of Changfeng Residence, "I am coming to the palace today. You all got up two hours early to cook zongzi and have been busy for most of the day. I grant you a day off to rest and you do not need to work."
"Thank you for your consideration, Miss!"
There were many people attending the Dragon Boat Festival banquet. When Shen Yuan arrived at the palace gate, she saw that the gate was lined with carriages, all of which belonged to high-ranking officials of the first or second rank. In addition, there were some newly promoted low-ranking officials, such as the newly appointed top scholar Lü Jimin.
Shen Yuan saw Lü Jimin and greeted him.
Lü Jimin returned the greeting.
At the other side of the palace gate, the carriages of the Crown Prince's residence, the Princess's residence, and the Prince of Jin drove in one after another.
Shen Yuan looked at the billowing smoke kicked up by the carriage and smiled. Today... everyone has really come!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com