When Shen Wan was twelve years old, she went to pick winter plum blossoms with Shen Rong, the eldest daughter of the third wife. They laughed and played along the way. When they were crossing the garden bridge, Shen Rong slipped and pushed Shen Wan into the icy lotus pond.
There were few maids in the garden at the time, and her personal maid was also not there. Shen Rong was terrified and ran to look for someone. While she was struggling in the water and losing consciousness, someone hugged her from behind.
"Don't be afraid, I will save you."
She only heard voices but didn't see anyone before she fainted.
When she woke up, she was lying in the snow beside the lotus pond, covered with a silver fox fur cloak. When she opened her eyes, she saw the departing figure of Prince Jin.
She thus concluded that the person who saved her was Prince Jin, and when Shen Rong went to find someone to save her, she also sought out Prince Jin.
Fearing blame, Shen Rong begged her not to tell the truth, so she told her father that she had accidentally fallen into the water...
She was sick for more than half a month after falling into the water that time, and it took her almost half a year to recover.
The more serious his illness, the more grateful he was to the Prince of Jin.
Over the years, she never doubted that Xie Jingyin was the one who saved her, until Shen Ying revealed the truth to her before she died in her previous life.
It wasn't enough that he had deceived her for one lifetime; in this lifetime, he wanted to use the life-saving grace from back then to trap her.
Shen Wan really wanted to ask: Was it really the Prince of Jin who saved her?!
But she managed to hold back.
A small act of impatience can ruin a great plan.
Shen Wan looked at Shen Ying, "Second sister, do you really want me to marry the Prince of Jin?"
Shen Ying looked up and met Shen Wan's eyes. Those eyes clearly held a smile, yet they sent chills down one's spine.
Was it just her imagination? Why did she feel that her eldest sister had changed? Shen Ying felt a little uneasy. She calmly said, "Who eldest sister marries is her business. I just don't want people to say that the girls of our Pingyang Marquis's mansion are cold-hearted and ungrateful."
Shen Wan stared intently at Shen Ying, her tone sharp, "Grandmother is such a grateful person, yet this time she made me listen to Father and didn't say a single word to persuade him. Could it be that in Second Sister's eyes, Grandmother is also ungrateful and cold-hearted?!"
Shen Ying was surprised that Shen Wan would bring up the old lady, and for a moment she was speechless.
After a long pause, Shen Ying finally spoke, "Even if you don't choose Prince Jin, you can't choose Prince Ling, who has a broken leg."
Shen Wan said, "Prince Ling has broken his leg and will not participate in the struggle for the crown prince position. Only by marrying him can I prevent the Pingyang Marquis's mansion from being dragged into the struggle for the crown prince position, and only then can you rest easy."
This was the first time in Shen Wan's two lifetimes that she had lied against her conscience, and she never expected that she could do it so confidently and so easily.
Not wanting to waste any more words with Shen Ying, Shen Wan turned and left after speaking.
As Shen Ying watched Shen Wan's departing figure, she was furious at not gaining the upper hand for the first time, twisting the embroidered handkerchief in her hand.
That's incredibly foolish.
With his uncle holding considerable military power, how could he possibly escape the struggle for the crown prince position simply by avoiding involvement?
My uncle saved the emperor's life. As long as the emperor is alive, the Pingyang Marquis's family can continue to enjoy wealth and honor. But the emperor will eventually pass away. With each new emperor comes a new set of officials. Without the merit of supporting the emperor, will the new emperor still give important positions to the Pingyang Marquis's family?
Of all the princes, Prince Jin is the most likely to seize the throne. If he could also gain the military power of the Marquis of Pingyang's mansion and the wealth of the Yun family, the position of crown prince would be his for the taking. Instead of seizing such a good opportunity, he abandoned Prince Jin and chose someone else, and the most useless one at that. This is what truly drags the Marquis of Pingyang's mansion into an abyss of no return.
It was her carelessness, but Shen Wan was far too unaware of the Prince of Jin's character. Once the Prince of Jin sets his sights on someone, there is no escape, not even if they have wings.
She wanted to see how the Prince of Ling, with his broken leg, would protect her.
Shen Wan returned to Qinglan Courtyard, sat down to drink tea, and Yin Shuang put down the brocade box she was holding. This brocade box was the coming-of-age gift that Shen Wan's eldest cousin had given her.
Two large pearls and twelve small pearls.
It's the same as the one given in my previous life.
The other cousins of the Yun family had brought her their coming-of-age gifts when she was confined to her quarters and came to persuade her to give up Prince Jin. They gave her things she liked.
Yinshuang said, "This pearl is so big and round, it's really beautiful. Everyone in the Yun family dotes on the young lady."
Yes, she was so fortunate to have so many people who loved and protected her, but unfortunately, she couldn't protect any of them in her past life.
Thinking about how she had dealt with these pearls in her previous life, Shen Wan's eyes turned cold.
In her previous life, the pearls were delivered to her, and before they were even warm, her headmistress, Mama Wu, came in to report to her. She had seen them and advised her to distribute the pearls among the ladies in the mansion. When Shen Ying and the others went out dressed in fine clothes and were praised, they would remember her kindness. Although she was not good at music, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry, or songs, they would help her cover up for her because of these silks and jewelry. She also needed to show respect to the old lady.
In her past life, she kept only one large pearl from this box of pearls and gave the rest away.
Thinking of this, Wu Mama came in and said something similar to what she had said in her previous life, "Miss has a lot of jewelry, so why not share some of these pearls with the second young lady and the others? This time, the second young lady risked being punished by the old lady to help you sneak out of the mansion, and you haven't even thanked her properly yet. Next time you need help, you'll still have to rely on the young ladies in the mansion."
Didn't she thank Chen Ying properly?
Shen Ying helped her, and she gave her two thousand taels of silver.
Because her father only had her and her elder brother as his children, he was never stingy with money. The Yun family's business was all over the Great Chu, and they would search for delicious food and fun things for her from all over the country. As a result, she developed the habit of giving away things to others in a big way.
If you were kind to her, you could give her gifts, but all she gives are ungrateful wretches.
As her mother-in-law, she was always trying to help others take things from her, as if she had the words "I am a concubine" written all over her forehead.
Shen Wan's cold gaze fell on Wu's mother, and Wu's mother felt a chill run down her spine for no reason.
Shen Wan suddenly smiled and said, "Aunt Wu always cares about me so much and gives me advice."
Madam Wu quickly pledged her loyalty, saying, "I am the young lady's person, so naturally I must think of the young lady in everything."
Shen Wan reached out and touched her hair, finding a gold hairpin. She then picked up a jade hairpin from the side, casually pulled it out, and handed it to Mama Wu, saying, "This jade hairpin is a reward for you."
Upon seeing the jade hairpin, Wu's mother's eyes lit up, and she quickly accepted it.
Yinshuang, standing to the side, wanted to dissuade her, but Shenwan stopped her with a look.
Mrs. Wu happily accepted the gifts, saying, "Then these pearls..."
Shen Wan said, "I have other uses for these pearls. I can give them to my second sister and the others when I have more."
Madam Wu was delighted to receive the jade hairpin, so she didn't try to persuade her any further and left.
After Madam Wu left, Yinshuang said, "That jade hairpin was given to you by Prince Ling. You just gave it away like that. Won't Prince Ling be angry if he finds out?"
It seems she was too generous to people in the past, so even Yinshuang only thought about whether Ling Wang would be angry, without considering that she didn't really mean to give it away.
Shen Wan didn't explain, her gaze passing through the window and landing on the bird peeking out of the tree.
In her past life, she had never had blood on her hands.
Let's start with Mother Wu in this lifetime.
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