The Grand Princess was of high status, and it was not her turn to show up at such an occasion, so it was Shen Xin and her sisters-in-law Yan who went to the Zhou residence to pay their respects this time.
If it was an ordinary family, Fang might not show up, but because this time it was her younger sister's husband's family, and Pingliang Marquis Mansion had been experiencing a series of misfortunes recently, she was eager to discuss future matters with Fang Birong and find out the whereabouts of the Zhou Mansion.
The blue cloth sedan chair that entered the second gate was what happened. It was just a coincidence that the wife of the Marquis of Pingliang also got off the sedan chair at this time, so the few people were polite to each other. After a while, Shen Xinyan and Yang were led into the hall by the maids of Zhou Mansion, while Fang and the Marquis of Pingliang were led away by Fang Birong's maid Xiang'er.
What was even more coincidental was that just as the maid led Shen Xinyan into the hall, the person who came towards them was the eldest lady of the Zhou Mansion, Mrs. Wen.
When Wen saw that it was her, she stepped forward and greeted her: "Madam of the Crown Prince!"
Shen Xinyan politely returned the gift, and a little later a maid came to inform Wen that there was a shortage of teacups in the east hall, so the Second Madam asked someone to go back to the First Madam.
Wen said "Excuse me" and left in a hurry.
Shen Xinyan glanced in the direction she left with understanding.
It seems that the inner struggle within the Zhou residence has already begun to intensify, and even on such an important occasion, such a mistake that should not have happened was made.
I wonder if the deceased Madam Zhou would be so angry that she would come back to life after seeing this scene.
"In such a situation, even a teacup has to be asked of the master. What kind of chaos has the Zhou mansion got into?" Yang clicked her tongue.
What about the Prime Minister's wife? She didn't do anything about it? How embarrassing it would be if the guests saw this!
"Don't you see that in this huge hall, the hostess sitting here is an unmarried girl from the mansion? What happened? The old lady just passed away, and the inner chambers of this mansion are in such a mess?" The voices of women's discussions reached my ears.
"Now that the old lady has passed away, all the men in the mansion must observe mourning. His Majesty has not issued any decree to seize the lover. The Zhou family is anxious, and because of this anxiety, they are in chaos!"
"Hearing what you said, it makes some sense."
"That girl just now is the eldest daughter-in-law of the Prime Minister's wife, right? I heard that she was born a concubine? She is really good-looking. Looking at her figure, you really can't tell that she is already the mother of several children!"
"If a concubine's daughter doesn't have a good appearance, can she marry into the Prime Minister's Mansion?"
"She is now the wife of a prefect. She lives with her husband outside. She doesn't have a mother-in-law watching her, and her sisters-in-law can't make things difficult for her. She lives a comfortable life!"
"But now that I'm back home, I feel like a blind man. I can easily fall into a trap if I'm not careful. No wonder the inner house is in such a mess!"
…
Whispers could be heard all around. Shen Xinyan lowered her head and sipped her tea, sighing in her heart.
Without a job outside, they naturally started to fight for it inside. Although Wen was a concubine's daughter-in-law, she was still the eldest son, and Boss Zhou's official position was not low either. If she wanted to fight for it, she might not be unable to win.
As for the direct line of the Zhou family, their two biggest backers are Prime Minister Zhou and Empress Zhou. Now both of them are incompetent and don't care about the fights between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, and between sisters-in-law in the mansion.
Shen Xinyan sat with Yang for a while, and chatted with several ladies present. Then she saw Fang Birong come in with her maid, while the wife of Marquis Pingliang and Fang's mother and daughter came in after a while.
It seems that Mrs. Fang Wu, Fang Birong, is here to accompany him.
Shen Xinyan understood, but she didn't know whether this was Fang Birong's initiative to ask for remarriage, or a compromise after the internal struggle in the Zhou Mansion.
"I haven't seen you for a while. How is the Crown Prince's wife?" Fang Birong walked up to her and greeted her with a smile.
"Thanks to Madam Wu."
Shen Xinyan saw that she looked in good spirits and the servants in the Zhou Mansion treated her with respect. It seemed that her life in the mansion was not as difficult as Yang had thought. This made Yang, who had been waiting to see her laugh, quite disappointed.
Then she responded appropriately, behaved gracefully and politely, and showed no fear in front of the ladies in the room who were older and of higher rank than her. In just a short while, she received a lot of compliments.
When she was about to leave, Fang suddenly remembered that she had something to tell her sister, so she apologetically asked her and Yang to wait for a moment, and then she hurried to look for Fang Birong.
Seeing this, the maid from the Zhou residence who was leading the way led them to a pavilion not far away to wait for a while.
Anyway, there was nothing else to do, Shen Xinyan had no objection, and the same went for Yang.
After a while, the unique clear and soft voice of a little girl came from not far away. Shen Xinyan looked over and saw several little girls about seven or eight years old coming out from under the flower trees. Looking at their dress, she guessed that they might be girls from the mansion. Until she saw a familiar face, she confirmed this guess.
Because it was the mourning period, the girls were dressed rather simply. Despite this, Shen Xinyan recognized Zhou Wanning among them at a glance.
This was because among these children, Zhou Wanning's appearance was so eye-catching, like a bright pearl emitting a radiant light, which easily attracted the attention of people around her.
Especially her gentle temperament, which makes her naturally suitable for such simple and elegant dressing. Although she is still young, her appearance as an adult is gradually showing.
"That little girl looks like this. Wow, in a few years, all the girls in Beijing will be outdone by her!" Even Yang, who has always been a bit mean, sighed in amazement.
Shen Xinyan smiled and looked over again, and found that Zhou Wanning was walking alone on the other side. The other girls were either holding hands or whispering to each other, obviously squeezing her out.
She was not surprised by this.
This "daughter-in-law" of hers never had many friends. Even those who could barely be called "friends" at first would always gradually become distant due to one thing or another.
She retracted her gaze, lowered her head and brushed away the leaves that had fallen on her skirt at some point, and suddenly heard Yang beside her scream "Ah!"
She suddenly raised her head and looked in the direction she was looking, and unexpectedly saw Zhou Wanning falling into the pool on the side.
The pond was not very big, but it was not easy for a seven-year-old girl to climb out of it.
She stood up with a "whoosh", but then she saw a boy suddenly appear from nowhere, jump into the pool with a "plop", and pull up Zhou Wanning who was struggling in the pool.
The little girls who were with Zhou Wanning earlier screamed and ran away when they saw her fall into the water.
The servants of the Zhou residence who had heard the unusual noise came over and carried the soaking wet Zhou Wanning away.
Shen Xinyan stared closely at the boy who saved Zhou Wanning. She saw him waving his hand disapprovingly at a middle-aged man dressed as a butler. After a moment, he seemed to mutter something and then ran away like a flash.
"Tsk tsk, the Zhou family's education is really bad. They can attack their own sisters at such a young age. What will happen if they grow up?" Yang, who witnessed the whole process from beginning to end, curled her lips with some disdain.
"Second sister, isn't that right?" After saying that, she touched Shen Xinyan's arm again.
"Why attack your own sisters?" Shen Xinyan had come back to her senses and asked in confusion.
"So you didn't see it? The most outstanding girl was pushed down by the tallest one." Yang explained.
Shen Xinyan was a little surprised, but not too surprised.
"I think she is probably jealous that the other girl is prettier than her!" Yang came to the conclusion directly.
Shen Xinyan felt that her reason was really convincing!
"I'm sorry to have kept you two brothers and sisters waiting for so long. Let's go back home now!" Fang came over and said apologetically.
"It's okay, it's okay. You sisters haven't seen each other for a while, so naturally you have endless private conversations. Anyway, my second sister-in-law and I don't have anything important to do, so it's okay to wait for a while." Yang said meaningfully.
Fang pretended not to hear and smiled apologetically, and the three sisters-in-law set off to return home.
The carriage had gone some distance when suddenly a loud noise was heard outside the carriage, and it seemed as if someone was saying that an imperial decree had arrived.
"Is there an imperial edict? Could it be that His Majesty has issued an edict to reinstate me?" Yang said subconsciously.
If that's the case, then Chang Fang and Fang Birong are so lucky!
Fang's mind moved and she also thought of this possibility.
Shen Xinyan didn't care about what the two people said. She kept thinking about the boy who had just rescued Zhou Wanning.
Due to the distance, she could not see the child's appearance clearly. She only knew that he was a child about the same age as her son, and judging by his attire, he seemed to be the son of a wealthy family.
"She is not trying to steal the affections of the Prime Minister, but his illegitimate son. In this case, isn't this illegitimate son the only one in the Zhou family who is still in the court?"
"The weather in Shufu Prefecture is about to change!"
…
Perhaps because there were too many vehicles and pedestrians, the carriage was moving a little slowly, so that the discussions of the pedestrians outside the carriage could be heard through the window curtains.
Fang's expression changed immediately when she heard these words, while Yang's expression was a little strange, as if she wanted to laugh but was trying hard to hold it back.
Shen Xinyan naturally heard it as well and was a little surprised, but she calmed down in just a moment.
In his previous life, Zhou Mao also had a successful career in the government. The huge Zhou Mansion was a turning point after the death of Zhou's first assistant, Ding You. From then on, the eldest son of a concubine's family gradually suppressed the legitimate family and became the biggest winner of the Zhou Mansion.
As for the other girls in the Zhou family who are still deliberately targeting Zhou Wanning today, the cruel reality will teach them a lesson in the future. Zhou Wanning, whom they once despised the most, will be the one they try hard to curry favor with in the future.
A father who is a third-rank official but dotes on his daughter, a brother who has a bright future but is a protective sister-loving maniac, a husband who is a close minister of the emperor but loves his wife infinitely, twin children born in the shape of a dragon and a phoenix who symbolize good fortune, and a duke's wife who is of the highest rank.
Zhou Wanning will become the object of envy, jealousy and hatred of all the ladies in Beijing in the future!
Even though he still didn't like her, Shen Xinyan had to admit that this girl was indeed a favored child of heaven and was full of blessings.
***
"Madam, Madam, hurry up, the rebels are coming this way!"
"Get out! Get out of here!"
"No, Mother...don't..."
The man in military uniform rode up on horseback, holding tightly the young woman who was struggling and crying in his arms. The thick white mist came and went, and the man's face became clearer and clearer...
Shen Xinyan woke up suddenly.
She finally remembered who had saved Zhou Wanning today. It was her future admirer and her son's biggest rival in love - Murong Tao, the eldest son of the Zhenguo general.