Chapter 347 Shen Lanxi is someone who can sit among men and be ranked among the top!
Shen Lanxi glanced around and asked, "Where is Mother?"
Madam Liu glanced at the old lady furtively and whispered, "She went to the temple again. I wonder what good things are in that temple that seem more important than her children's marriages."
"Cough cough..." Old Madam Shen rolled her eyes at Liu.
The latter quickly shrank his neck.
"Lanxi, Yuanxu is the first male in our family to get married properly in the capital, so we can't be careless!"
Shen Yuanxu couldn't listen anymore.
"Mother, I've already been married once before, have you forgotten?"
It's better not to mention it, because Liu Shi will explode as soon as it's mentioned, and she'll chase after Shen Yuanxu to beat him up.
"Tell me what kind of person you married before? They had to be fed and watered. Is that what you call a marriage? What sins did I commit in my past life to give birth to such a wretched child like you..."
Shen Lanxi quickly stepped aside, making room for Liu Shi to fight.
When Liu actually took action, she couldn't bring herself to continue.
"Lanxi, what exactly does His Majesty mean?"
Before she could say anything, Shen Yuanxu warned, "Mother, you must not speak ill of the royal family!"
Liu was so frightened that she quickly covered her mouth.
Not long after, someone from the palace came to deliver a message to Shen Lanxi, informing her that the Dali Temple had taken over the matter of the literary banquet and that she no longer needed to concern herself with it.
That afternoon, two more palace servants appeared in the Dali Temple prison, and then word spread that the case was closed.
The banquet for reciting literature was proposed by Qi Yingqun. Now that something has gone wrong, she is pushing palace servants to take the blame. Emperor Renxiao may not be sure who did it, but he must know it was someone from the palace, which is why he hastily closed the case.
Sometimes, just like ordinary people, royalty doesn't want their family scandals to be aired in public.
Just one day later, the Shen family and the Hu family had already begun the engagement ceremony.
Shen Lanxi was present that day. Although the Hu family did not make any mistakes, it was clear that they were being perfunctory.
After all, she was a perfectly good princess consort. The prince with the best chance of inheriting the throne in the Great Zhou Dynasty would become the empress once Zhou Ruyuan ascended the throne. Marrying Shen Yuanxu, at best, would only lead to a government official position. The difference in their priorities is obvious.
After a hasty engagement ceremony, they began discussing the wedding date. Emperor Renxiao's intention was very clear: speed was key!
The Hu family felt ashamed that their eldest daughter had married an unknown nobody as a concubine. They hastily chose the nearest auspicious day, which was seven days later, and then sent the guest away.
The next day, a maid from the Hu family delivered an invitation to Shen Yuanxu through the side door, asking him to meet her.
The invitation passed through Shen Lanxi's hands before finally reaching Shen Yuanxu.
"Lanxi, could it be that Miss Hu is going to back out of the engagement?" Shen Yuanxu approached Shen Lanxi again with the invitation.
Shen Lanxi said calmly, "Tell her that although you didn't pass the imperial examinations, you have one advantage!"
Shen Yuanxu was unaware of his own advantages. He was just an ordinary person, and although His Majesty had praised him, it was all empty talk.
What kind of advantage is that?
Shen Lanxi: "Tell her that no male member of our family is allowed to take a concubine. Anyone who dares to take a concubine will die a horrible death!"
Shen Yuanxu: "..." He glanced at Shen Lanxi and silently went to keep his appointment.
When she came back the next day, she was much happier and asked Shen Lanxi to help her choose things that the woman liked to give to Miss Hu.
After much deliberation, Shen Lanxi gave Shen Yuanxu a treasure box.
"These things are my heirlooms for you."
Seeing how mysterious she was, Shen Yuanxu became curious and wanted to open it to take a look, but Shen Lanxi stopped him.
"I didn't even send this to His Majesty."
Shen Yuanxu understood how valuable this thing was. He carried the box like a treasure onto the carriage. When he opened it, he was so shocked by the ginseng inside, with its thick limbs and outstretched branches, that he almost forgot to breathe. When he came to his senses, he was so frightened that he quickly closed the box.
This precious medicine is indeed valuable; to his knowledge, none of the medicines presented to His Majesty were of such high quality.
He was actually a little reluctant to send it to the Hu family.
...
Before long, it was time for Shen Yuanxu's wedding. Wu Tong, a representative from the Wu family of the Left Prime Minister, came with gifts to represent them. Apart from him, most of the court officials also attended.
Emperor Renxiao and the harem sent gifts, so many that they flowed into Shen's residence like water.
Shen Lanxi set up three separate seats: one for Wei Dongzhu and others, one for the Imperial Guards, and one for the examiners from the Ministry of Rites.
As the Duke of Zhenbei, she had seats reserved at all three banquets.
The women ate their food while whispering amongst themselves.
One table was filled with members of the royal family and many others who had previously had private relationships with Shen Lanxi. These people had all come with their husbands.
Several people, seeing Shen Lanxi sitting at the man's table, began to find fault with her.
"Boys and girls should not sit together after the age of seven. What kind of behavior is it for a girl to mingle with a group of men?"
"They're always showing their faces in public, making us women look bad."
"No wonder she didn't reconcile with the Prince of Zhennan. If a woman like that entered the royal family..."
Zhou Yunxue's words suddenly became heated.
"Lanxi is someone who can sit among men and be ranked among them. Who do you think you are, daring to talk about her?"
Zhou Yunyuan's expression froze. She quickly looked to her left and right and saw that everyone at the table was looking at her. Her cheeks immediately burned, and she became angry and embarrassed.
"Zhou Yunxue, who do you think you are, daring to speak to me so loudly?"
Zhou Yunxue's eyes darted around for a moment, then she looked up and stared directly at Zhou Yunyuan.
“I am the legitimate daughter of Prince Ji’s family, and you are the illegitimate daughter of Prince Ping. There is a distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children. Even if this matter is brought before His Majesty, I am not afraid of you!”
Zhou Yunyuan hated it most when people talked about her status as an illegitimate daughter. Hearing Zhou Yunxue say that, she glared at her fiercely.
“My husband is an examiner for the imperial examinations. You dare to offend me? Aren’t you afraid of implicating your husband? Didn’t you used to love following Shen Lanxi around and imitating her? Now that she’s a discarded wife, are you going to imitate her and be divorced by your husband’s family too?” Zhou Yunyuan said arrogantly.
"A discarded woman? I never knew that my reputation among the women of the capital was just that of a discarded woman?" Shen Lanxi's voice suddenly rang out.
Zhou Yunyuan shuddered violently and turned around to see Shen Lanxi standing right behind her.
Shen Lanxi looked at Zhou Yunyuan with a smile: "I heard from someone that when I first returned to the capital, someone gave me a nickname, 'Northwest Butcher.' I really liked the name and wanted to thank these people, so I specially ordered someone to find out more about it."
Zhou Yunyuan's eyes widened in disbelief. Impossible! They were just saying it casually back then. Besides, it wasn't just them who said it; so many people were saying it. Shen Lanxi couldn't possibly find evidence to identify her as the one who said it.
Shen Lanxi: "Coincidentally, two witnesses who saw the rumors firsthand are attending the wedding banquet today."
Liu Yan returned to class, Si Cao stood up and saluted Chen Lanxi.
Zhou Yunyuan had long forgotten about such a distant event. However, upon seeing Liu Yanhui in her brocade robes, a vague memory surfaced in her mind.
When the Zhenbei Army entered Beijing, she did encounter a very elegantly dressed person while talking to her sisters.
Zhou Yunyuan stared at Shen Lanxi without blinking. After so long, she could still bring up old grievances. How could she be so vengeful!
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