"That girl, ever since she came back from Liang Garden, she's been hiding in her room every day and won't go out." Aunt Liu got angry whenever she talked about her precious daughter.
This girl actually secretly told me that she also wanted to marry Prince Pei.
"I certainly can't tell Shen Yunjiao this," Aunt Liu thought to herself.
Although Prince Pei was a handsome and talented man, he was still only a third-rank official.
Despite the high status of the Prime Minister's daughter, Madam Liu still hoped that her daughter could marry a prince or something similar.
But what if my daughter insists?
Aunt Liu secretly glanced at Shen Yunjiao. This Shen Yunjiao was easy to control. If things didn't work out, she would have her maids use some tricks to drive her out of the Pei family, and then Mo'er could move in and become the mistress.
Shen Yunjiao was well aware of Aunt Liu's ulterior motives.
She was just waiting for this old fox to take the bait.
Seeing that Shen Yunjiao looked indifferent, Aunt Liu assumed that she was saddened by the matter of the young master taking a concubine, so she offered a few perfunctory words of comfort, left the young maids behind, and gracefully departed.
"Fu Xia, take them and settle them in first," Shen Yunjiao instructed with a wave of her hand.
Once they had all gone some distance, Granny Lin slowly walked up to Shen Yunjiao and asked curiously, "Can these maids really help Miss win back the young master's heart?"
"How could that be? They are spies sent by Aunt Liu." Shen Yunjiao laughed. "Aunt Liu wants them to monitor my every move and control the Pei family through me."
"Ah? Why did the young lady still want them to stay? Besides, Aunt Liu has always been very kind to the young lady, how could she—"
"Granny, it's easy to draw a tiger's skin but hard to draw its bones; you can know a person's face but not their heart. I'll keep these maids for my own use." Shen Yunjiao had read the whole novel and knew that Aunt Liu was not a good person.
But the people in the Shen family didn't know that. They were still deceived by Aunt Liu's kind and gentle face, and they all thought she was a rare and good concubine.
In particular, Shen's father would soon elevate his concubine to the status of his legal wife and include her in the Shen family genealogy.
She was determined to find an opportunity to expose Aunt Liu's hypocrisy!
"This Aunt Liu treated the young lady better than the second young lady since she was a child. She always gave the best food to the young lady. When the young lady was fourteen and her period had not started, Aunt Liu even went back to her hometown of Qingzhou to invite a famous local doctor to treat her. Everyone said that Aunt Liu had a kind heart, but how could she change so suddenly?"
Granny Lin was talking to herself.
Upon hearing this, Shen Yunjiao sensed that something was amiss.
"You said that Aunt Liu specially invited a famous doctor to treat me before? And then?" Shen Yunjiao suddenly grabbed Lin Mama's hand and asked.
Seeing that Shen Yunjiao's expression was somewhat solemn, Lin Mama also became nervous, "Ah, that's all, Miss."
"The doctor prescribed three years' worth of medicine for the girl and told her to keep taking it."
"Hmph, no wonder my body is so weak!" Shen Yunjiao sneered, slamming her hand on the table with a loud thud. "Granny, is there any more medicine?"
Granny Lin was taken aback. "Miss, that medicine was finished a long time ago."
Shen Yunjiao guessed that the medicine given by Aunt Liu was definitely not good, and that this might be the reason why she was weak and sickly.
“Miss, Aunt Liu’s medicine is effective. After taking it for half a month, your period started.”
The medicine was extremely effective; even Granny Lin was convinced that Aunt Liu's medicine was safe and sound.
But if there's no problem, why are Shen Yunjiao's meridians so disordered, and why does she feel so cold, as if she's been living in a frozen wasteland for a long time?
This matter can only be left unresolved for now; we'll investigate it later.
Shen Yunjiao handled her emotional fluctuations alone. She already had a plan in mind, but she instructed Granny Lin to keep a close eye on the maids.
Later, I learned from Granny Lin that because of her weak health, she had been forced to take herbal baths for many years.
No wonder.
The natural fragrance that Xiao Huaijin described as emanating from his body was likely a blend of various herbs.
In other words, she was infused with the fragrance of herbal water and inadvertently became Xiao Huaijin's walking medicine pot.
——
Urged on by Fu Xia, Shen Yunjiao boarded the carriage back to the Pei residence.
When she was about to leave, her father did not come out to see her off; only Shen Qinghuai and Aunt Liu and others were there.
Her brother patted her head and said in a deep voice, "In a few days, your brother will come to bring you back."
How could he allow his beloved younger sister to remain alone and unloved in the Duke of Dingguo's mansion, subjected to ridicule by others?
"Don't worry, brother," Shen Yun said to Shen Qinghuai with a grin, "I won't be staying at the Pei family for long this time."
She didn't want to stay in the Pei residence for even a second longer.
There was nothing she could do; this was a marriage ordained by the Emperor, and if she didn't attend, it would be considered disrespectful to the Emperor.
"But brother, could you please apologize to Father for me? I think I said something that made him angry."
The brother and sister stood there talking for a while. Then Shen Yunjiao got into the carriage.
The black carriage slowly drove back to the Pei residence.
Unexpectedly, the moment she got out of the car, she saw Pei Zhixuan standing with his hands behind his back, his figure as slender as bamboo.
Huh? He's gotten so thin in just a few days!
Did she really go on a diet just for a wedding?
But what does it have to do with me?
She's only here to make a brief appearance.
Shen Yunjiao was still planning to ignore him, but he spoke first.
"You're back." Pei Zhixuan lowered his eyes, his gaze coolly settling on Shen Yunjiao. "Chunhe Courtyard—"
“I know, it’s for Miss Fang to stay in, I don’t have much in here,” Shen Yunjiao said first.
The valuables had already been moved back to the Shen family.
"Shen Yunjiao, can you let me finish?" Pei Zhixuan's face showed a moment of helplessness.
"Then you speak, you speak." Shen Yunjiao looked at Pei Zhixuan.
"I mean, there's no need to decorate Chunhe Courtyard specially. Fang Ziyu won't compete with you for the main courtyard; I've already explained that to her."
Pei Zhixuan spoke earnestly, as if he were talking about something extremely important.
That's it?
"If there's nothing else, I'll be going now." Shen Yunjiao raised an eyebrow, unconcerned, and lifted her skirt as she brushed past him.
She thought it was something important that warranted Pei Zhixuan condescending to stand at the door and wait for her.
Unexpectedly, Pei Zhixuan followed her into Chunhe Courtyard.
She entered the room, and Pei Zhixuan followed her in like a big dog.
Unable to bear it any longer, Shen Yunjiao turned around and glared angrily at the man in front of her.
His lips were tightly pressed together, his eyes were deep and dark, and he showed no anticipation or joy at the prospect of marriage.
Shen Yunjiao crossed her arms in front of her chest and slightly raised an eyebrow. "What exactly do you want?"
After a long silence, Pei Zhixuan said, "I will not neglect you after we get married this time."
Shen Yunjiao immediately frowned.
What do you mean by saying that?
Do you want her to stay in the Pei family mansion, a cage, for the rest of her life, never able to return to the Prime Minister's mansion to enjoy a life of luxury?
This won't do!
So annoying.
"No, no, no, you should just ignore me," Shen Yunjiao chuckled. "Our situation isn't suitable for us to meet again."
“Shen Yunjiao.” Pei Zhixuan didn’t understand why she always liked to provoke him. “You said that when I returned from Jiangnan, you would stay with me every day and take care of me.”
He lowered his eyes, his voice now obscure and difficult to decipher, "These words came from your own mouth, have you forgotten?"
hehe.
These weren't her words; they were said by the original owner of this body.
Shen Yunjiao walked to the table and slowly poured a full cup of warm water from the teapot.
She walked up to Pei Zhixuan, a bright smile blooming on her face like a begonia.
Pei Zhixuan's heart skipped a beat. He thought Shen Yunjiao had come to her senses and was about to reach out and hug her.
Unexpectedly, the next second, Shen Yunjiao splashed all the warm water in the glass onto Pei Zhixuan's handsome face.
Pei Zhixuan stood there, his face covered in water droplets, looking quite disheveled.
Fu Xia and Granny Lin both stared wide-eyed at the two of them.
Shen Yunjiao slammed the teacup down on the table. Her once gentle and delicate face now carried a truly cold expression.
She looked at Pei Zhixuan with disdain and impatience in her eyes.
“Pei Zhixuan, let me tell you, if you sleep with other women after you get married, you will be tainted.”
"I, Shen Yunjiao, don't want things if they're dirty, and the same goes for people."
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