His voice was seductive. If it weren't for the slight stinging from the calluses on her face that kept her alert, she probably would have confessed on the spot.
She lived two lives and did this one thing that she felt guilty about, but it shouldn't be considered deceiving him.
Shen Wan remained silent, while Xie Jingyan said, "Haven't you figured out how to fool me yet?"
Who fooled him?
This person is not easy to fool. At most, she wouldn't tell the truth, but she wouldn't dare to deceive him. Shen Wan said, "I'm not lying to you. If you don't believe me, I'll swear to you."
As he spoke, he raised his hand as if to swear an oath.
However, as soon as Shen Wan raised her hand, Xie Jingyan grabbed it. His intuition told him that this woman was definitely hiding something from him. He had noticed more than once that her eyes were filled with guilt and unease when she looked at him. However, he really didn't know what she had been deceiving him about. This guilt and unease was most likely because she had used his position as the principal wife to express her feelings. He didn't even want to ask her any more questions.
Xie Jingyan held Shen Wan's hand, his expression seemingly casual yet serious. "If you lied to me, then keep it a secret. If I find out, you won't be able to leave me for even a moment, not in this life, but in the next."
A subtle feeling welled up inside Shen Wan. She muttered a couple of things, but Xie Jingyan, not hearing her, asked, "What did you say?"
Shen Wan snorted and said, "I wonder who said they would drink at my and Prince Jin's wedding."
Xie Jingyan, "..."
Xie Jingyan's face turned as black as the bottom of a pot, and he gritted his teeth, saying, "What did you say?!"
She should have been confident and assertive, but instead, she seemed to be the one in the wrong. Shen Wan shrank her neck and said, "I said we're almost at the Prince of Jin's residence."
The Ling Prince's Mansion and the Jin Prince's Mansion are only two streets apart, and it usually takes only a short time to get there. However, today, the Jin Prince's Mansion was holding a wedding, and there were so many people going to offer their congratulations and attend the wedding banquet that the roads were congested and the carriages could not go fast. They had to stop and go, and it took an extra fifteen minutes to reach the gate of the Jin Prince's Mansion.
Stepping out of the carriage, Shen Wan saw the gilded plaque of the Prince of Jin's mansion and the two large stone lions in front of the gate, adorned with red ribbons, creating a lively scene.
After Xie Jingyan got off the carriage, he helped Shen Wan down and held her hand tightly. There were many couples who came to the Prince of Jin's mansion to drink wedding wine together, but none of them held hands like this. The Prince of Ling and the Princess of Ling had been married for more than a month, and their deep affection was truly enviable.
Xie Jingyin led the bridal sedan chair to the Duke of Zhongguo's mansion. Several princes greeted the guests on his behalf. When Shen Wan and Xie Jingyan entered the Prince of Ling's mansion, the Third Prince and the Fourth Prince came to greet them.
Seeing them, the princes felt somewhat awkward. After all, they had all come to the Prince of Jin's residence to drink the wedding wine for Xie Jingyan's marriage to Shen Wan, while only the Eighth Prince was at the Prince of Ling's residence.
They all regretted it a little, knowing that Xie Jingyin would be married twice, they had gone to the Ling Prince's mansion for the wedding banquet back then.
Xie Jingyan and the others were in the outer courtyard. A maid came to lead Shen Wan to the inner courtyard. Shen Wan looked at Xie Jingyan, who said, "Go ahead."
Shen Wan nodded and left with the maid.
Just as he turned around, he heard the Fourth Prince say, "Where is the Eighth Prince? He was just here a moment ago, where did he go?"
The seventh prince said, "When the eighth prince heard that the sixth prince had arrived, he was so frightened that he turned around and ran away. I couldn't stop him."
The fourth prince asked in surprise, "The eighth prince has always been closest to the sixth prince, why is he running away?"
"I don't know what he did, but he said he was afraid that his sixth brother would beat him up," the seventh prince said.
Shen Wan was glad she wasn't standing next to Xie Jingyan, otherwise it would have been too awkward.
However, the fact that the Eighth Prince was avoiding Xie Jingyan would surely arouse the curiosity of the other princes. Thinking of this, Shen Wan was somewhat worried that the Eighth Prince would not be able to withstand the questioning from the other princes...
Shen Wan shook her head, banishing these chaotic thoughts, and entered the inner courtyard of the Prince of Jin's mansion under the guidance of her maid.
There were many people in the outer courtyard, and quite a few in the inner courtyard as well. Helping to greet the noble ladies and young ladies from prominent families were Princess Huyang, the Princess of the East, and Princess Shouchun, among others. The garden was full of flowers, and the silvery laughter carried far.
As soon as Shen Wan entered the garden, she saw Shen Ying approaching with her maid. Shen Ying was dressed in a green willow-colored brocade dress embroidered with peonies, her figure graceful and elegant. She wore a peony jade hairpin in her hair, and because her forehead injury had not yet healed, she wore a ruby headband, which gave her a unique charm. However, her unhappy expression ruined some of her beauty.
It's no wonder, though. If Shen Ying could be happy about Prince Jin marrying Fu Shu, the sun would have to rise in the west.
Shen Ying was in a bad mood, and seeing Shen Wan made her even more unhappy. "I didn't expect that my elder sister would come to the Prince of Jin's mansion for a wedding banquet."
Shen Wan chuckled. "Why would you think I wouldn't come? Are you afraid I'll mock you?"
Shen Ying's face was already unpleasant, and now it turned ashen. "What do you mean by that?!"
Shen Wan glanced at her and said, "What do I mean? Don't you know what I mean, Second Sister?"
This marriage was arranged by Shen Ying herself.
"No zuo no die"—that saying is absolutely true.
If Shen Ying hadn't been wary of Fu Shu vying for her position as Princess Jin, or if she hadn't been so jealous of Fu Shu's success and set her sights on Xie Jingyan, Shen Ying's schemes wouldn't have failed. Why did Shen Ying personally send Fu Shu to Xie Jingyi's side and then put on such a self-pitying expression? No one would pity her.
Shen Yingyun clenched her fists tightly, her nails digging into her flesh. Shen Wan took two steps closer to her. "Last time you got yourself into trouble, and I didn't settle the score with you. If you dare to play tricks again today, not only will I not forgive you, but I'm afraid the Empress and Prince Jin will not let you off the hook either."
"You!" Shen Ying gritted her teeth in anger.
Shen Wan reminded her, "You've already become a laughing stock by marrying a concubine to the Prince of Jin. If rumors of discord between us sisters spread, do you think you'll still have any standing in the Prince of Jin's mansion?"
Shen Ying's only respectable status is that of the second daughter of the Marquis of Pingyang's family. If Shen Wan, the legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Pingyang's family, doesn't get along with her, the Marquis of Pingyang will definitely not become Shen Ying's backer. With just the Fourth Master, a fourth-rank official, the young ladies from prominent families who come to the Prince of Jin's mansion for a wedding banquet will not take Shen Ying seriously. If she had to choose between Shen Ying and Fu Shu, she would definitely choose Fu Shu.
Shen Ying is a complete joke.
She'd found herself a rival; once Fu Shu entered the room, she'd see if Shen Ying would still have the time to cause trouble for her.
When a young lady from a prominent family came over, Shen Ying immediately put on a smiling face and even took two steps closer to Shen Wan. After the young lady finished her greetings and walked away, Shen Ying said, "Elder sister is right. We sisters in the same household share the same fate. Let's not let people laugh at us sisters."
Shen Wan didn't speak. Yin Shuang stood behind Shen Wan and couldn't help but mutter to herself, "It's one thing for Second Aunt to be laughed at herself, but don't let her princess be laughed at too."
Shen Ying still had to greet the guests, so the maid led Shen Wan to the lakeside pavilion to pay her respects to Princess Huyang.
Laughter echoed in the pavilion. Shen Wan went in and bowed to Princess Huyang. Only then did the laughter subside a little. Shen Wan and Princess Huyang had no conflict, neither in their past life nor in this one.
Princess Huyang was distant, and Shen Wan was not enthusiastic either. She curtsied and found a place to sit down.
Everyone's eyes fell on Shen Wan without prior agreement. After all, everyone thought Shen Wan would choose Prince Jin, but she chose Prince Ling, who had broken his leg and was confined to a wheelchair. What was even more unexpected was that Prince Ling's leg injury was cured not long after the marriage, while Prince Jin actually married a concubine.
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