Chapter 59 Tea Banquet
"Master..." Duan Yingying glanced at the palace servants standing guard everywhere, and quickly changed her words, asking with tears in her eyes.
"Fourth Prince, I heard that you were punished. Is your injury a problem?"
Xiao Yuan said nothing, his dark eyes staring gloomily at what Duan Mengmeng was holding in her arms.
Ling Chenyi also followed his gaze and his brows twitched violently. Isn't this the lucky gift his mother gave to the girl from the Shen family? How could it be in Duan Mengmeng's hands?
"Fourth Prince..." Duan Mengmeng was frightened by Xiao Yuan's gloomy expression and took a small step back.
Ling Chenyi asked hurriedly, "Is that a painting in Miss Duan San's hand?"
When this was mentioned, a faint smile immediately appeared on Duan Mengmeng's frightened little face, and she nodded heavily.
"Yes." Without waiting for Ling Chenyi to ask again, she took the initiative to say, "At the Second Prince's banquet the day before yesterday, Miss Shen said she didn't like this painting and was willing to sell it for two thousand taels of silver, so I bought it back."
After saying this, she showed a trace of annoyance again, "Fourth Prince, please don't mind. This painting will be the same in my hands. I will definitely keep it well."
She held the painting tightly in her arms, "Two thousand taels of silver took up all my savings, but it's worth it to get this painting."
She looked at Xiao Yuan with affection in her eyes, and her smile slowly froze in his extremely cold eyes, "Fourth, Fourth Prince."
Xiao Yuan's face looked extremely ugly, and his hands in his sleeves were clenched into fists. The pain in his body could not match the anger in his heart.
That woman actually hated him so much?
The curtain of the carriage was thrown down fiercely, and Xiao Yuan ordered the driver in a cold voice, "Return to the mansion."
"Fourth Prince, Senior Brother..." Duan Mengmeng stared blankly at the carriage going away, and staggered forward two steps.
When the carriage completely disappeared, the innocence and clarity on her face was replaced by a slight mockery, and she smiled grimly.
The atmosphere in the carriage was stagnant and cold. Even Ling Chenyi was sitting obediently in a corner, not daring to say a word.
I’m afraid that some word might hurt someone’s feelings and cause them to suffer resentment.
After a long silence, Xiao Yuan suddenly asked in a cold voice, "Did Shen Changhe go to propose marriage today?"
"Yeah." Ling Chenyi responded while trying not to say another word.
As expected, Xiao Yuan's expression became even uglier. "Have the people we sent to Jiangnan returned?"
Ling Chenyi, "I replied a few days ago, but since you were busy, I didn't give it to you."
At this time, the driver shouted outside, "Fourth Prince, Prince Ling, we're here."
Xiao Yuan got off the carriage with a sullen face. Ling Chenyi followed behind him and went to the study in the front yard together.
In the study, Qing'an served tea and went to wait.
Xiao Yuan sat behind his desk, reading the letters sent from Jiangnan, with one wrist resting on the edge of the table and his eyes slightly narrowed.
"When did he get another sister?"
Ling Chenyi frowned, "On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival in the restaurant, I also remember that he only said that he had a younger sister, and did not mention an older sister."
"But according to the letter, his sister is six years older than him. I guess she was adopted by the family, so there shouldn't be any problem."
Xiao Yuan placed the letter on the desk and stared at the contents. "So, there is no problem and it's just your guess?"
...Ling Chenyi’s expression froze.
"A sister who is six years older than me, there can't be anything fishy going on with Zhang Yeyang, right?"
Xiao Yuan looked up at him, his face calm and composed, but Ling Chenyi immediately said, "I'll send someone to visit his hometown and ask questions."
Xiao Yuan then withdrew his gaze indifferently, and Qing'an immediately stepped forward, collected the letter on the desk and destroyed it.
"But it shouldn't be much to gain, after all, his sister is getting married soon."
Xiao Yuan, "Show me the evidence."
Ling Chenyi pursed his lips and nodded.
"Oh, by the way, Li Huaiyan sent someone to keep an eye on the scholar and found out that he passed a letter to Miss Shen through a cook in the Shen Mansion today."
"Then what?"
"Then Mo Xiang, who was beside Miss Shen, personally went out of the house and went to the restaurant to meet him. It is unknown what they said."
"Yes." Xiao Yuan picked up the official document and began to annotate it, his face as calm as water.
Ling Chenyi was somewhat surprised at how calm and composed he was at this moment.
"If there's nothing else, I'll leave first."
Xiao Yuan buried his head in official documents and said, "Let Jiangnan investigate thoroughly within three days."
... "Three days? That's not even enough to send a letter back and forth, right?"
Xiao Yuan raised his eyes calmly, and before he could speak, Ling Chenyi immediately said, "Okay, I got it, I'll ask someone to hurry it up."
Only then did Xiao Yuan lower his head and continue to annotate.
Ling Chenyi sighed and left the Fourth Prince's Mansion.
The betrothal ceremony between the Shen and Lin families went very smoothly. After the two families exchanged invitations, they were just waiting to match their horoscopes and set a date for the wedding.
Mrs. Shen was very happy, and the next day she began to plan to go to Xiangjue Temple again to set the wedding date directly. She could welcome the new bride as soon as possible so that she could feel more relaxed.
"There's no rush to get married. Let's arrange my sister's marriage first." Shen Changhe said in a calm voice.
When mentioning this, Mrs. Shen's smile drooped. Marrying a new bride and marrying a daughter are completely different states of mind. If you say how happy she was just now, you will feel as uncomfortable now.
What's more, she was not satisfied with the scholar, but for some reason, her son and husband both agreed with him and urged her to settle down quickly. She didn't know what they were in such a hurry for.
"An'an, what do you think?" Mrs. Shen tilted her head and looked at Shen An'an.
"Everything is up to mother." Shen Anan pretended to be shy.
Madam Shen sighed again. She said she would listen to her, but in fact she wanted her to do it as soon as possible. "It's true that girls can't be kept when they grow up."
"Alright, since you all agree, let's just settle it."
Shen Anan breathed a sigh of relief, raised her eyes and met her elder brother's gloomy eyes, and lowered her head guiltily.
"Once your marriage is decided, I will go to Xiangjue Temple again and ask Master Wenyin to calculate two more auspicious dates for you to get married. Then my mission will be completed."
The brother and sister had no objection to this.
Madam Shen frowned, "The news that An An and the scholar have known each other for a long time must not be known to the outside world. If we hastily arrange the marriage, others will inevitably be suspicious..."
"How about this, I'll discuss it with your father later, and invite all those students who are on the list, have decent talents, and are expected to be officials in the capital, and hold a banquet. In the name of choosing a son-in-law for An An, we'll arrange for that scholar to have some limelight, and then decide on him, so that it won't cause gossip in the outside world."
Shen Changhe nodded, "That's fine, but if we want to invite them, I'm afraid it would be unreasonable not to invite the children of the noble families."
It is also suspicious that the Shen family, a family of great stature, would choose a son-in-law from a humble family.
"Then please all come in." Madam Shen made the final decision, "You can watch over the men's side at that time, I don't think there will be any mistakes."
After all, my daughter is not young anymore, and holding a banquet to choose a husband is something that all the powerful families would do.
Shen Changhe nodded.
Seeing that the three had no objection, Madam Shen immediately arranged for the nanny beside her to notify the housekeeper to make preparations and send invitations to each family.
After everything was discussed, Mrs. Shen asked, "He'er, how was your contact with Miss Lin yesterday?"
"All good."
Mrs. Shen nodded, "That's good, life passes slowly, and feelings are cultivated slowly."
As long as his son doesn't reject her, it means that the girl is to his liking.
Mrs. Shen curled her lips and smiled. She said that her vision had never been wrong. It was only a matter of time before her son fell in love with such a good girl.
At first he looked reluctant, but after meeting her a few times, he had already accepted it.
Shen Changhe lowered his eyes and drank tea without saying a word.
For a girl like that, I think her life will not be chaotic regardless of whether she develops feelings for him or not.
After Mrs. Shen discussed with Shen Wen, they immediately began to prepare for the banquet, and they moved very quickly.
Two days later, the post had been delivered to various wealthy families and poor students.
They all moved around in this circle, and as long as they opened the post, they knew the purpose of the Shen Mansion's banquet, especially since they invited children from poor families. For a while, Shen Anan's marriage became a topic of discussion among all the families.
Qingfeng and Qingan stood on both sides of the study, exchanging glances, neither of them wanting to go in and bring bad luck.
Qingfeng turned the post over and over again, but seeing that Qing'an refused to go, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and push the door open.
"master."
Xiao Yuan raised his head from the official documents and saw the invitation in his hand. He continued to deal with the documents with his head down with an expressionless face.
He asked calmly, "Which one?"
…Qingfeng swallowed, "From the Shen Mansion."
Xiao Yuan paused with his pen, leaving a large stain of ink on the document. Qing Feng quickly interrupted and said, "The Shen family is holding a banquet and has sent invitations to all the major families. Do you want to go?"
Obviously, it was sent to the Fourth Prince's Mansion as a side item. If the master was not of noble status, the Shen Mansion would not have even sent it.
"What party?"
"Tea tasting."
Have tea? Xiao Yuan was a little surprised, the Shen family was a military family, but they had never held such an artistic banquet.
Throwing the document aside, he asked calmly, "Who did you invite?"
Qingfeng tried to shrink his head, "The children of the major aristocratic families, and... the poor students who made the list."
No need to guess, you can tell at a glance what the Shen family’s plan for this banquet is.
Even without raising his head, Qingfeng could see his master's extremely ugly expression.
The silence in the study was terrifying, and Qingfeng began to sweat on his back. After a while, he asked with gritted teeth, "Master, are you going?"
"The banquet will be held the day after tomorrow." Qingfeng added.
Today, the Second Prince's power has revived, and the master is extremely busy. Logically, he has no time to attend the banquet.
But the banquet at the Shen Mansion, especially the banquet for choosing a husband for Miss Shen, cannot be judged by common sense.
Xiao Yuan raised his head, tapped the desk with his fingertips, and smiled grimly, "Let the butler prepare the gifts."
That's what it means to go.
Qingfeng immediately nodded in agreement, put down the note and walked out.
Xiao Yuan did not continue to deal with the official documents, but picked up the post and read it. There was silence in the study until the afterglow fell. Then he slowly folded the post into a ball in his hands and finally threw it into the trash can.
…
Two days later.
This banquet not only invited male guests, but also many ladies from prominent families. Almost everyone with status was present.
The housekeeper was in charge of the invitation. When people arrived, she was suddenly surprised to find that the Duan sisters were also invited.
The Duan family is a family of scholars, and Old Master Duan once taught the prince. It would be unreasonable not to invite him, but it would be a shame to invite him...
Now that everyone was here, Shen Anan had to suppress his thoughts and do his best to be a good host.
Rarely, Duan Mengmeng did not say anything sarcastic today, she just glanced at Shen Anan and walked in with many ladies.
"Miss Shen." Duan Yingying knelt and saluted.
Shen Anan returned the greeting.
Almost everyone had arrived, so Shen Anan led everyone to sit in the flower hall.
Miss Lin arrived early and was now surrounded by several other girls, who were joking, "Miss Lin, how do you feel about visiting your future husband's family?"
"I'm sure he's distracted. He just wishes he could go to the front yard to see the graceful figure of the Shen family's young master."
Several of them were girls who were on good terms with her, and they teased her without mercy.
Lin Yurou glared at them angrily, "Alright, stop talking nonsense. You want others to laugh at me when you're out in public."
A few people laughed, "Okay, let's stop talking. Don't be upset. We are just surprised that you are usually quiet, but suddenly you got engaged, and it's to the popular eldest son of the Grand Marshal. We are almost jealous."
Although they said that, there was no jealousy in their eyes. They were just happy for Lin Yurou.
Lin Yurou smiled at Shen Anan embarrassedly, blushing and not daring to look up.
Although the Shen family is not as noble as the prince's, they are the best among the children of aristocratic families in terms of family background. Moreover, Shen Changhe is both civil and military. At a young age, he is a favorite of the emperor and commands the imperial guards. The young hero has captured the hearts of countless ladies.
He is tall and handsome, but unfortunately there are very few men who can match the status of the Shen family. The ladies have the desire but dare not dream about it.
Now, when they suddenly learned that the son of the Grand Marshal ended up marrying only the daughter of a Hanlin Academy family, many people were jealous and regretful, and of course, there were also many who were jealous and sarcastic.
However, in the Shen Mansion, no one dared to show it, and Shen Anan would not give them a chance.
"My eldest brother specifically told me yesterday to take good care of Miss Lin."
Lin Yurou's face turned even redder, and she glanced at Shen Anan embarrassedly.
Thinking of his thoughtfulness and consideration on the day of engagement, Lin Yurou was filled with joy and even began to look forward to the wedding day to come as soon as possible.
Duan Mengmeng looked coldly at the many ladies who were doing their utmost to praise Lin Yurou and Shen Anan, and sneered.
But she is just a daughter of the Hanlin Academy, why is she so proud? I don’t know what’s wrong with the Shen family. It would be fine if their eldest son married the daughter of a civil servant who has no real power, but when their daughter was dating, they actually invited a boy from a poor family.
Is it that no one wants these brothers and sisters? They just keep on doing backward compatibility and looking for garbage.
However, if Shen An settled down, no one would compete with her for it, and Concubine Shen would give up the idea, so she was very calm today and did not make any trouble.
She lowered her head and sipped the tea served by the maid.
It must be said that the Shen family did a good job in this regard. At least the reputation of tea tasting was not in vain, and the tea they served was rare and exquisite.
She lowered her head, and suddenly saw the water drops from the teacup beside her, which caused ripples. She frowned and said, "I'm visiting someone, why are you crying?"
Duan Yingying's knuckles turned pale as she held the teacup. She lowered her head in panic and said, "No, I... I just got blinded by the mist."
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