"Miss Ye?"
This surname sounds familiar.
Fu Xia ran up to Shen Yunjiao and said, "Miss, have you forgotten? Ye Zhixuan, your best playmate before, the one who moved to Yongzhou later."
Ye Zhixuan...
A flash of inspiration struck Shen Yunjiao; she suddenly remembered that there seemed to be such a character in the novel.
Ye Zhixuan was the daughter of Ye Shaoqing, the prefect of Yongzhou.
Ye Shaoqing and Shen Jianzhang were colleagues before Shen moved, and Ye lived across from Shen's family. The original owner often played with Ye's daughter, Ye Zhixuan, when he was a child.
Ye Zhixuan is the same age as Shen Yujiao, but she accidentally fell from a height when she was three years old, which caused her to walk with a limp and uneven gait.
Although Shen Yunjiao and Ye Zhixuan were good friends when they were children, when she got older, she began to dislike Ye Zhixuan because of her limp and stopped playing with her.
Later, the Ye family moved to Yongzhou.
When Ye Shaoqing was falsely accused of embezzling disaster relief funds and the Ye family was raided, Ye Zhixuan came to the capital alone to seek help from Shen Yunjiao.
Although Shen Yunjiao verbally agreed, she didn't actually take the matter to heart.
At that time, the original owner was trying her best to please Pei Zhixuan and improve her reputation in the capital. Therefore, she did not want people to find out that her former close friend was actually the daughter of a disgraced official and a cripple.
So when Ye Zhixuan asked to stay at Shen Yunjiao's house temporarily, she was rejected without hesitation.
Unexpectedly, when the Shen family fell into misfortune, their family was destroyed, and Shen Yunjiao was left alone and destitute on the streets, the noble ladies who had been on good terms with her refused to see her. Instead, it was Ye Zhixuan who took her in.
Ye Zhixuan was a kind person. She forgave the original owner's previous actions and instead actively offered help. She even used her meager monthly salary as an embroiderer to buy many things to help the original owner make a living.
Later, when the original owner returned to the Pei family, it seemed as if she had forgotten the existence of this friend, and she never went back to visit her.
The original owner must have had no conscience.
How could you not cherish such a good best friend?!
“Miss, Miss Ye is waiting to see you in front of the Shen residence right now. Uncle Lin said that she refused to come in even when the servants called her, and insisted on waiting to see you before entering. The master and young master are not home right now, and no one dares to persuade her to come in.”
Fu Xia's voice pulled Shen Yunjiao out of her memories.
She quickly nodded and said, "Then let's go home and take a look."
Ye Zhixuan stood alone in front of the majestic red gate of the Shen family, her heart filled with unease.
She lowered her eyelids slightly, trying to avoid the curious yet inquisitive gazes of the servants at the gate, and also politely declined the offers from some people who came forward to invite her into the mansion to wait.
She is now the daughter of a disgraced official, and she fears that if she enters casually, it will implicate the Shen family, and she also fears that Shen Yunjiao will be unhappy.
The Shen family carriage slowly drove in from the street. The golden bells tied to the Shen family's waist badge on the carriage jingled together.
Ye Zhixuan's heart was in her throat. She didn't know how Shen Yunjiao would react when she saw her.
Ye Zhixuan knew that if she hadn't been so desperate that she had asked all her relatives for help and none of them had helped her father overturn the case, she wouldn't have had the nerve to ask her friend who had previously avoided her like the plague.
The carriage slowly came to a stop in front of the Shen residence. The first person to step out was a maid wearing a green vest.
The maid took out a small stool and placed it on the ground before carefully helping the woman out of the carriage.
The woman wore a begonia-colored red dress, was tall and slender, with red lips and white teeth, and had a golden hairpin with a hundred birds paying homage to the phoenix in her hair. When she got out of the car, the hem of her dress swayed gently in the wind, like a fairy who had descended to earth.
Ye Zhixuan, standing to the side, suddenly appeared even more reserved and embarrassed.
Having not seen Shen Yunjiao for many years, she has now blossomed into an even more dazzling beauty.
Will she still remember herself?
Ye Zhixuan silently lowered her head, nervously rubbing the hem of her skirt.
Just as she made up her mind to go up and greet Shen Yunjiao, she looked up and found a fair and jade-like arm already on her hand.
"Zhixuan, it's been a long time."
Shen Yun smiled and took Ye Zhixuan's hand along her arm, only to find that her palm was very rough, unlike the hand of an official's daughter, but rather like that of a peasant woman who had done a lot of hard work.
Shen Yunjiao thought to herself that it would take at least half a month to walk from Yongzhou to the capital. Since her family had been raided, she naturally had no money on her. She must have suffered a lot on this long journey.
Shen Yunjiao then noticed that Ye Zhixuan's moon-white silk shirt had turned grayish-white after the long journey, and there was still some mud on the plain-colored hem of her skirt. Her flat cloth shoes were also worn out.
The sun was shining brightly outside, and the golden sunlight was so bright that it was hard to open one's eyes.
Shen Yunjiao quickly said to Ye Zhixuan, "Zhixuan, let's go inside and talk."
When Ye Zhixuan heard Shen Yunjiao invite her to the mansion, she was momentarily stunned.
Her voice trembled slightly as she asked, "Yun Jiao, as the daughter of a disgraced official, wouldn't it be inappropriate for me to enter the Shen family?"
Shen Yun chuckled and patted the back of her hand to dispel her doubts, saying softly, "With me here, no one will dare to say anything to you. Besides, no one here knows you, so don't worry."
Ye Zhixuan held Shen Yunjiao's hand, speechless for a moment, but her eyes glistened with tears.
Shen Yunjiao led the person into the house and then instructed the servants to fetch a bucket of water to the bathroom.
Fu Xia, ever the perceptive one, brought over a new set of clothes. "Miss Ye, please take a bath and change."
Ye Zhixuan glanced at Shen Yunjiao cautiously and said in a voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz, "No need, I'll just say a few words and then leave."
Shen Yunjiao pulled her to the bathroom, "Hurry up and wash, we'll have a good talk when you come out."
Ye Zhixuan couldn't refuse, so she went along with Shen Yunjiao's wishes and took a long-awaited hot bath, then changed into the clothes that Shen Yunjiao had prepared for her.
When she washed away the dirt, changed into clean clothes, and combed her hair, Shen Yunjiao's eyes lit up.
Ye Zhixuan was actually a great beauty!
Her face was exquisitely beautiful, her eyes were bright as stars, and her long black hair was simply tied back. She was like a piece of jade that had been polished by time, gentle and reserved.
Shen Yunjiao couldn't help but praise, "Zhixuan, you're so beautiful."
A faint blush rose to Ye Zhixuan's face. She slowly limped to Shen Yunjiao's side, but dared not sit down next to her, and just stood quietly.
Seeing that she was uneasy and uncomfortable, Shen Yunjiao quickly reached out and pulled her to sit down on the bed.
Ye Zhixuan was startled and even more at a loss, not knowing where to put her hands. "I am now an ordinary citizen, and it is not appropriate for me to be on equal footing with you anymore."
Shen Yunjiao chuckled softly, “Everyone is born equal. Just because someone gains power doesn’t mean they are of high or low status. Besides, we are close friends, so there’s no need to care about these things.”
Ye Zhixuan was taken aback for a moment before lowering her eyes and smiling, "Thank you, Yun Jiao."
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