Chapter 148 Taking Advantage
After leaving Yongning Marquis Mansion, Shen Anan still frowned, thinking about something, her beautiful little face looked a little absent-minded.
Xiao Yuan got on the carriage and hugged her directly into his arms. He held her waist with his big hand and prevented her from moving. "What are you thinking about?"
"I'm wondering whether you will marry Miss Li the day after tomorrow?" She pushed his hand away, but did not push it away. She glanced at him from the side.
"It's broad daylight, why don't you let go?"
Xiao Yuan didn't care. He put his head on her neck and said lazily, "What's wrong in broad daylight? I've done even more ridiculous things. I'm in my own carriage, so what's there to be afraid of?"
Shen Anan breathed a sigh of relief, at least he didn't jump up and down when he heard the three words "Miss Li".
"The Emperor and Concubine Liang have set a date, and the Ministry of War's Office should have been notified. What are you going to do?"
"What should we do?" Xiao Yuan looked tired, and leaned back and lay directly on Shen Anan's legs, his fingers dishonestly hooked on the buttons on her dress.
"Whoever agrees will get married. Didn't I say that a long time ago?"
“…”
"Then should I marry back to the Shen family, or marry back to your Fourth Prince's Mansion?"
"What are you thinking about?" As soon as she finished speaking, the man in her arms gently hooked his neck and bit her lips, "You already have me, and you still want to marry someone else?"
"...Didn't you say that?" Shen Anan stared at him helplessly, not knowing whether it was because he bit her, her lips were red and bleeding.
"Besides, she is a woman, and I don't have any special fetishes."
"That's hard to say." Xiao Yuan's eyes were filled with a deep black, and he stared at her brows. "Your husband is considered to be both talented and handsome in the capital, but you don't buy it. How can I know... whether you are..."
His fingers slid down and finally stopped at her heart, with a meaningful look in his eyes, which was slapped away by Shen Anan.
"What nonsense," she said, wanting to laugh in anger.
Could she imagine that his indifference in his previous life was because he was a homosexual?
"I never knew when the Fourth Prince started to brag about himself."
Xiao Yuan grasped her slender and tender hand and placed it against his thin lips, then chuckled and said nothing more.
"Since our father has agreed, then of course he should marry her. It's annoying to have him thinking about us all the time, and this is a good opportunity to stop everyone from thinking about us."
Shen Anan didn't understand, "Besides the emperor, who else is he thinking about?"
After he finished speaking, he immediately realized that Xiao Yuan was probably referring to all the families who wanted to move into the Fourth Prince's Palace.
"Those people are more or less helpful to your future, but you don't want to marry them?"
"Do you want me to marry you?" Xiao Yuan sat up and leaned closer to her, his lazy brows revealing a hint of sharpness.
Shen Anan followed his meaning and shook her head, "If I don't marry, I will naturally be more peaceful, but..."
"You don't want me to marry you just for the sake of peace and quiet?" There was a dangerous light in his eyes.
Shen Anan simply stopped talking, “I listen to you.”
Every word she said was about his future, but he didn't hit the point at all.
Xiao Yuan stared at her, thinking that it would be better to put an end to her thoughts completely. If she brought her home to him without telling him, he would be so angry that he would die.
"I have no intention of taking a concubine. No matter who mentions it in front of you, you just put it on me. If you have reason, then you can reason with me. If you don't have reason, then you can muddy the waters. I will deal with you later."
“……”Is she so useless?
"I see."
The carriage was silent for a while, with only the creaking sound of the wheels pressing on the ground. Shen Anan suddenly asked in a low voice, "You don't want to take a concubine, is it because of Concubine Shu?"
Whether in this life or the previous one, he had never had any thoughts in this regard, not even a casual one.
Xiao Yuan's expression froze for a moment, then returned to normal, "You should call me mother instead."
“…”
This was the first time Shen Anan mentioned Concubine Shu in front of him. In the end, she followed his wishes and changed her words to "Mother Concubine."
Xiao Yuan lazily leaned against the wall of the car, his finger not forgetting to hook her little finger, "It has nothing to do with mother, I just feel it's noisy."
Making trouble?
Shen Anan frowned, and then heard Xiao Yuan continue, "I am a human, not a stud like Xiao Ze, who accepts everyone who comes."
After hearing this, Shen Anan's lips curled up.
"What are you laughing at?" Xiao Yuan asked.
"Laugh at all the powerful people in this city. How many of them are among the studs you mentioned?"
She restrained her expression, glanced at Xiao Yuan, and considered her words carefully, "Can you... tell me about mother's matter?"
Xiao Yuan's eyelids trembled, and he immediately turned his head to look at the shaking curtain, "He is a brainless idiot who only knows about love. There is nothing much to say."
The carriage stopped at the gate of the prince's mansion. Xiao Yuan hooked his fingers around hers and had no intention of letting go. Shen Anan wanted to pull them back, but he refused.
“It’s time to get off.”
He then reluctantly let go and got off the carriage.
He turned around and helped Shen Anan get out of the car.
After returning to Wutong Garden, she sat on the couch, and he also sat on the couch. She ate a snack, and he opened his mouth too. After several times, Shen Anan looked at him with a frown.
"Don't you have anything to do?"
"It was all dealt with two days before the wedding." He had to pester her for two days anyway, "Why, Madam, do you find me annoying?"
"No." Shen Anan said inconsistently.
Xiao Yuan's lips twitched slightly, and he said in a sarcastic tone, "When Madam went to the restaurant to eat and see that dead scholar, she was very patient."
“…” Shen Anan tilted her head and glared at him.
It's such a trivial matter, why does this person still remember it?
"I'm alive and well, why do you always call me a dead scholar?"
"You feel sad." He stared into her almond-shaped eyes, resentment slowly rising in them.
"...No, you can say whatever you want."
The day of marrying into the Fourth Prince's mansion was truly beyond her expectations.
Xiao Yuan's eyes suddenly showed a smile, and he moved closer to Shen Anan, "He also gave us a wedding gift, do you want to see it?"
"..." Shen Anan looked at Xiao Yuan blankly, "Didn't he go to Jiangnan to take up his post a long time ago? Why would he send a gift?"
Xiao Yuan did not say that he had sent someone to inform him on purpose, and said perfunctorily, "My marriage is such a big event, everyone in Daliang knows about it."
Shen Anan was not in the mood, so she nodded slightly and said nothing.
Fortunately, Qing'an called him away not long after, otherwise Shen An'an's head would have been about to explode. It was precisely because she knew something about him that she found it difficult to accept the current Xiao Yuan.
"Mo Xiang, call the housekeeper."
Tomorrow is the day to return home, so she has to make some arrangements first.
The housekeeper handed the long booklet to Mo Xiang, who then passed it to Shen Anan, "This is the gift I prepared for my return visit. Please have a look at it, Princess."
Shen Anan opened it, and the long list of things dazzled her, "Why are there so many?"
The housekeeper said, "This was decided by the master a long time ago, and now everything is in the warehouse."
Already? Shen Anan closed the book and asked the housekeeper, "When was it prepared?"
Butler: "…About last month."
Mo Xiang let out an inappropriate laugh, and the butler felt a little embarrassed.
Shen Anan was silent for a moment, then handed the booklet to the housekeeper, "Since it has been prepared long ago, let's do it according to it."
"yes."
"By the way," Shen Anan asked again, "The Spring Festival is coming soon. Have you prepared the gifts for each family?"
"Replying to the princess, everything is almost ready. Our mansion does not have any festival gifts except for the closest relatives and Duke Li's mansion, so the preparations are simple."
Shen Anan raised her eyebrows slightly, "Bring the booklet to me."
After the housekeeper left, Mo Xiang couldn't help but say, "Miss, your husband is a prince, shouldn't there be many people to visit for the New Year gifts? Why are there only a few royal relatives?"
Shen Anan shook his head and said nothing.
Even if it was to avoid the suspicion of forming a clique for personal gain, it would not go so far. New Year gifts were different from everyday trivial matters. Almost all officials in the court had interactions with each other. To put it bluntly, they were giving gifts to each other.
After a while, the housekeeper came back with the booklet. Shen Anan took a rough look and found that it was just as the housekeeper said. Apart from a few old princes from the royal family, there was only the Yongning Marquis' Mansion.
This year, Duke Li’s Mansion and Shen’s Mansion were newly added.
"Is the Prince's Mansion like this every year?"
"Yes," the butler nodded.
Shen Anan never paid attention to these things before, but she never noticed them.
The housekeeper was a shrewd person. He immediately understood what Shen Anan meant and said hurriedly, "There is another list in the mansion. It is the festival gifts that various families have given to our mansion in previous years. Would the princess want to take a look?"
"Go and get it."
The butler took it with him and immediately handed it over, "Princess, please have a look."
Shen Anan took the names of the officials and the holiday gifts they sent one by one, but didn't gain anything.
Just as she thought, almost all the civil and military officials in the court sent gifts, and the gifts were not expensive, and there was nothing wrong with them.
She gave all the books to the housekeeper and asked him to go down and get busy.
The butler left Wutong Garden and stood on the bluestone path, hesitating for a long time, before finally turning around and heading for Xiao Yuan's study.
"master."
Xiao Yuan was discussing something with Ling Chenyi. "Speak."
The housekeeper frowned and whispered, "Just now... the princess called me over to ask about my return home tomorrow, and..."
His voice paused slightly, and Xiao Yuan asked, "Anything else?"
"There are also the New Year gifts given out by our mansion and the New Year gifts received. This old servant showed the mansion's booklet to the princess."
After a while, Xiao Yuan said "hmm" softly and let him leave.
Ling Chenyi put down the memorial, raised his eyebrows and said, "What do you want to do, cousin? Check who are your followers?"
Xiao Yuan's expression was calm, "I'm not afraid of her knowing."
"That's not what I meant." Ling Chenyi's face was unusually serious. "Xiao Yuan, you should know why she married into your family. It doesn't matter if she wants revenge, but if she uses your power, it will inevitably bring you trouble in the end."
She was originally very rude to Xiao Yuan, but her attitude suddenly changed after Madam Shen passed away. Everyone knew that she married Xiao Yuan with the intention of revenge.
Xiao Yuan leaned back in his chair, his posture indescribably casual, "If she marries me, if she doesn't use my power, will she use someone else's? Will I agree to that?"
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