Chapter 2: Tricky Love Saburo's Infatuation
Tang Lin'er's pupils shrank slightly, and the bright smile on her face froze.
She looked at Shen Xingwan's face carefully. Although she looked normal, she felt that the temperament she exuded was very different from usual, as if she had suddenly become a different person.
"I'm your sister's cousin."
Tang Lin'er lowered her eyes and pursed her lips: "Sister invited me to come and enjoy the flowers yesterday. Was it just a joke? It turned out that I was too sincere and took it seriously."
Anyone who saw her aggrieved look, almost on the verge of tears, would be heartbroken.
The young palace maid standing to one side said with some embarrassment: "The Empress Dowager only sent a letter to summon Miss Shen, the daughter of the Prime Minister. This cousin is not qualified to enter the garden."
Tang Lin'er's face suddenly looked a little embarrassed, and her fair ears turned slightly red. She was in a dilemma for a moment.
Shen Xingwan saw this, and raised the corners of her lips slightly. She reached out and held Tang Lin'er's hand, patted the back of her hand soothingly, and turned to the palace maid and said, "Although she is only the daughter of a seventh-rank county magistrate, she is my cousin after all. It wouldn't be wrong for her to go with me as my personal maid, right?"
The maid bowed and said yes, then turned sideways and raised her sleeve to make a gesture of invitation: "Miss Shen, please follow me."
Led by the little palace maid, Shen Xingwan held Tang Lin'er's hand and walked forward together.
Tang Lin'er lowered her head, beads of sweat oozing out of her palms, and she couldn't help but shiver.
Shen Xingwan glanced at her sideways and saw her face turning blue and red, and couldn't help but find it a little funny.
Is this unbearable? What should I do in the future?
She didn't want to kill her easily, that would be too easy for her.
She wanted to destroy her completely, bit by bit.
Shen Xingwan smiled and took Tang Lin'er's arm, and softened her voice a little: "My dear sister, the rules of the royal family are very strict, so I have to ask you to pretend to be my maid. You won't be angry with me, right?"
"Of course not, sister is so thoughtful, how dare I be angry."
Tang Lin'er sighed, "It's just that I am of humble origin and unworthy of traveling with my sister."
Naturally, I don't deserve it.
Shen Xingwan only hated herself for being so short-sighted in her previous life that she actually felt pity for this hypocritical so-called cousin.
In her previous life, Tang Lin'er had a low status and was not qualified to attend the Chengyuan Flower Viewing Banquet. She cried in front of Shen Xingwan for a long time. Shen Xingwan couldn't bear it, so he used his connections to get her a seat.
But now, she naturally would not bother Princess Guang'an to send an invitation for her, so she just let her stand aside and serve her at the banquet.
Several people walked along the way, passing by flowers and willows, walking around the winding corridors and passing through the hanging flower gate. A garden full of gorgeous flowers appeared before their eyes.
A group of elegantly dressed noble ladies walked in groups of three or five, hidden among the colorful branches, with faint fragrance in the air, like a picture of beauties competing for beauty.
As soon as Shen Xingwan appeared, sharp-eyed noble ladies hurried forward to greet her and surrounded her as she walked towards the ladies' seats.
It was still early and the empress dowager had not yet arrived. The young ladies were sitting around drinking tea and chatting. Shen Xingwan took the seat before the chief female guest and responded to the flattering conversations of the ladies with a smile.
Tang Lin'er followed behind Shen Xingwan, and no one paid any attention to her. She had no seat and had nowhere to sit, so she could only purse her lips and stand beside her.
The little palace maid came forward with a tray to serve tea. When she saw this situation, she brought the tray directly to Tang Lin'er.
Tang Lin'er was stunned for a moment, and her face suddenly turned red and hot.
According to the rules, noble ladies are served tea by their personal maids, and the little palace maid obviously treated her as a servant.
Tang Lin'er turned her head to look at Shen Xingwan, only to see that she was chatting happily with the young lady from the Minister of Revenue's Mansion, and seemed to be completely unaware of her embarrassment.
Tang Lin'er had no choice but to reach out and pick up the teacup, holding it in front of Shen Xingwan, her voice trembling slightly, "Sister, please have some tea."
“What an unruly maid, can a servant like you call Sister Shen?”
The eldest daughter of Grand Tutor Su had been trying to get close to Shen Xingwan by calling her "sister". Suddenly, she heard a little maid calling her that. She immediately raised her eyebrows and looked Tang Lin'er up and down.
"Sister Shen is really too generous. A mere maid is wearing the most fashionable moon-shadow gauze, and she is also wearing eyebrows and eyes painted like this, and is wearing pearls and jadeite. It's too presumptuous."
"Yes." The lady of the Ministry of Revenue curled her lips and said, "She came to the banquet today dressed like this, I'm afraid she has some other intentions."
To put it bluntly, this flower-viewing banquet was actually a blind date banquet, and everyone knew it. Tang Lin'er felt her face burning as if on fire after being rebuked. Her fingertips trembled slightly, and she could hardly hold the teacup.
Shen Xingwan smiled, looked up at Tang Lin'er, and raised her hand to take the teacup.
She lifted the cup lid and gently scraped off the foam, then took a sip. "In that case, go change your clothes."
Before she finished her words, Tang Lin'er seemed unable to stand any longer, so she lowered her head, turned around and ran away.
Several young ladies were still making indignant comments, but Shen Xingwan did not argue. She just glanced at the back of the person who was almost running away.
When the second cup of tea was served, Tang Lin'er still hadn't come back. Shen Xingwan knew everything clearly in her mind, so she made an excuse to go get some fresh air, said goodbye to the ladies, and walked towards the lake.
"It's a bit cold, Feiyun, go get my cloak."
"yes."
Shen Xingwan dismissed Feiyun and went to those secluded places.
She walked slowly alone, her eyes moving, as if admiring the colorful and exotic flowers and plants.
"...Believe me, I will never let you suffer this kind of injustice again."
Shen Xingwan's heart suddenly skipped a beat, and then it felt as if an invisible giant hand was squeezing it hard.
She was very familiar with that voice.
That was the voice of the Third Prince Wei Zilin. In that gentle tone, he had whispered his longing for her thousands of times.
"Lin'er is not afraid of being wronged, she just hates that she is useless and can't help Sanlang. All Lin'er has is a heart that loves Sanlang."
That soft and tender female voice that was speaking in a coquettish voice, wasn't it Tang Lin'er who had gone and never returned.
Shen Xingwan took a few steps forward quietly and disappeared into the shadow of the rockery.
"Sanlang, you are all I have... uh huh..."
"I have already placed the pebbles. It will be up to you later."
"Um……"
The last sound broke into suppressed gasps, and Shen Xingwan took several steps back before he could stand firm.
The pain in her palm made her look down and she saw that the tip of her nail had left a bloody mark on her palm.
So that's how it is.
Her heart was broken.
In her previous life, many princes and noble families had admired her since she was a child. Among them were some crazy playboys and infatuated men, including the third prince. However, she never took them seriously.
However, during the flower-viewing banquet, she accidentally fell into the water while boating with others. It was the Third Prince who first jumped into the water to rescue her without hesitation. Only then did she think more highly of him and finally agreed to the Queen Mother's matchmaking.
But why did she fall into the water for no reason?
Today, the mystery was finally solved. Yes, if Tang Lin'er hadn't used some tricks, who could have gotten close to her without any defense?
If Wei Zilin hadn't known that she would fall into the water, how could he have happened to be standing closest to her and been the first to jump into the water and rescue her?
What a fake hero saving the beauty.
She only hated that she had been kept in the dark about her past life and had never noticed anything unusual about those two people.
Shen Xingwan took a deep breath, turned around and quickly left the rockery.
When he calmed down a little and returned to his seat, the Empress Dowager's carriage was about to arrive.
Everyone stood up, straightened their clothes, bowed their heads and held their breath, waiting for the Empress Dowager's procession.
Tang Lin'er trotted over breathlessly, trying to calm her breathing, lowered her head and stood properly behind Shen Xingwan.
She changed into a light pink maid's uniform, and had two hanging buns on her head. Her makeup was still on, which made her look even more adorable, like a little white flower.
"The Queen Mother has arrived!"
As the eunuchs sang and shouted, everyone knelt on the ground and shouted, "Long live the Empress Dowager!"
Shen Xingwan suddenly felt her body tighten, as if she was under some indescribable pressure.
She couldn't help but look up, and saw a tall figure walking side by side with the Queen Mother.
The man was tall and slender, wearing a dragon robe and a golden crown. When he moved, the dark patterns woven with gold threads on the black fabric shone brightly, which was extremely precious.
Shen Xingwan narrowed her eyes and looked more closely. The man had hair as sharp as a knife, was extremely handsome, had heroic brows and was looking at her without blinking.
That gaze was so hot that it seemed to be tangible, burning her mind. She was so frightened that she quickly lowered her head, not daring to look again.
Shen Xingwan recognized him.
He is the powerful regent of the Wei Kingdom, Yan Jinghuan.
She vaguely remembered that Yan Jinghuan had pursued her when she was young, but she did not like a taciturn boy like him at that time and rejected his confession on the spot.
In his previous life, Yan Jinghuan was the biggest obstacle in the Third Prince's bid for the throne. Shen Xingwan had taken great pains to plan for the Third Prince and helped him defeat that powerful rival.
Shen Xingwan was a little surprised that he appeared here. She clearly remembered that Yan Jinghuan simply disdained to participate in these so-called blind date parties, and he did not participate in the Chengyuan flower viewing banquet in his previous life.
She shook her head, trying to shake off her chaotic thoughts and comfort herself. After all, such a magical thing as rebirth had happened, so what was there to be surprised about?
She didn't care how the Regent could have the interest to appreciate the flowers. She had more important things to do.
After everyone was seated, the Queen Mother said a lot of polite words and then told everyone not to be restrained and to accompany her to visit the garden and appreciate the flowers.
The noble ladies followed behind the Queen Mother, and the invited royal children walked not too far away from the periphery, chatting and laughing as they admired the various exotic flowers.
Some bold ladies tried various ways to get close to the empress dowager in order to win her favor, while some deliberately slowed down their pace and frequently looked back at the princes who had a promising future.
Shen Xingwan did not join in the fun, but just strolled leisurely. Tang Lin'er, just like in her previous life, followed her closely.
In her previous life, Shen Xingwan only thought that she was a little stage-frightened, and she always stayed with Tang Lin'er, taking extra care of her feelings.
Now it seems that she is just looking for an opportunity to attack me.
The crowd gradually walked to the lakeside, where several pleasure boats had already been docked, waiting for the nobles to go boating and enjoy the music.
The Queen Mother was the first to board the pleasure boat. The breeze was blowing gently, the lake was sparkling, and the beauties boarded the boat one by one, chatting and laughing.
When she was almost at Shen Xingwan, she immediately spotted the mossy pebbles on the gravel sidewalk.
She lowered her eyes, pretending not to know, and stepped steadily onto the cobblestone when she was about to board the ship.
"ah!!!"
Just as she was about to step onto the cobblestones, Tang Lin'er suddenly came closer. Shen Xingwan then slightly turned sideways, and Tang Lin'er missed the opportunity and staggered forward.
Shen Xingwan was surprised and reached out to pull her, but when he touched her arm, he pushed her instead, adding fuel to the fire.
Tang Lin'er screamed and fell into the lake. At the same time, someone not far away also jumped into the lake.
"Someone fell into the water! Hurry up and save him!" The crowd suddenly became excited.
Shen Xingwan curled the corners of his lips slightly, turned around and was about to call for help, but suddenly saw Regent Yan Jinghuan standing behind him.
All of my actions have fallen into his eyes.
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