Sheng Xing'an glanced at Liu coldly and agreed.
The final word is the hammer.
Liu almost vomited blood. She swallowed hard, and a strong fishy-sweet taste rose in her throat.
Her bare hands grasped the edge of the table tightly, her fingertips turning white, and she managed to keep herself from falling.
Sheng Xingan drank several cups of tea, his face turned pale and blue, and his chest heaved.
Only Sheng Xiyan was in a very good mood. She happily placed half of the pearl flower on the tea table, twirling it around with her slender white fingers, with a faint smile in her eyes.
Until a maid came in and reported: "Master, Madam, the Marquis of Yongning and his wife are here."
Sheng Xing calmed down, gave Liu a warning look, and said, "Please ask the Marquis and his wife to go to Zhengxi Hall."
Sheng Xingan was very concerned about his reputation. Liu Shi, who had already made him very unhappy today, did not dare to play any tricks on him. He put on a smile and said to Sheng Xiyan, "Sister Yan, you should come with us. Say hello to the Marquis of Yongning and his wife."
Sheng Xiyan readily followed suit and casually put half of the pearl flower into her sleeve pocket.
Because the Queen Mother had already arranged the marriage, the two families did not say much and the engagement was cancelled smoothly.
When Sheng Xiyan saw Sheng Xing'an taking back his engagement letter from Marquis Yongning, the corners of her mouth curled up, and her beautiful almond eyes were filled with undisguised joy.
Finally, she won't have to have anything to do with the Yongning Marquis' Mansion in her life!
The wife of Marquis Yongning couldn't help but frown.
Even though she also looked down on Sheng Xiyan, the eldest daughter of a widow, she still felt uncomfortable seeing her rejecting the engagement with her own son.
If she hadn't come here to break off the engagement, she really wanted to ask Sheng Xiyan if she was blind. What was wrong with her son? How could he not compare to the short-lived Prince of Zhenbei?
"…The Marquis and his wife will take their leave now. We will invite Master Sheng out for a drink another day."
"My Lord, please."
Sheng Xing'an personally saw them off. When they left Zhengxi Hall, the wife of the Marquis of Yongning winked at Liu. The two of them stepped back a few steps and exchanged pleasantries. They said that even if they couldn't become in-laws, they could still visit each other often. Suddenly, the wife of the Marquis of Yongning changed the subject and said in a low voice, "Madam Sheng, that thing..."
Liu: “…”
Liu curled her lips and said, "Madam, you know that our sister Yan was born to the first husband. Alas, it's hard for a stepmother. There are some things I can't decide. However, I will do my best to do what I promised you before."
A lot of words were said, but none of them were put into practice, which made Lady Yongning Marquis feel restless.
Liu was also in a bad mood and was too lazy to explain to her, so the two of them walked absent-mindedly.
After seeing off the Yongning Marquis and his wife, Sheng Xing'an returned to the Ministry of Rites to work.
The engagement with the Yongning Marquis's Mansion was cancelled, but for three consecutive days, the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion did not send anyone to the door. This contemptuous attitude made Sheng Xing'an's face more and more ugly, and his temper would be ignited at the slightest. Liu was kind and gentle, and lived in fear. She gritted her teeth and gave all the "loss bill" that Sheng Xiyan had someone send her, which was several times over, and asked Sun Mama to deliver it to her personally.
Sheng Xiyan's purse was suddenly full and she smiled with her eyebrows curved.
Not only did Madam Sun send over the silver, she also brought over a key and presented it to Sheng Xiyan: "Madam asked me to give this to you, young lady. It is the key to the warehouse where the previous Madam kept her dowry."
"Thank you for your help." Sheng Xiyan took the key and said nonchalantly, "Mammy, you sent me this key at the right time. My grandfather gave me my mother's dowry list that year. I'll go to the warehouse to sort it out while I have some free time these days, so I won't have to worry about the accounts in the future."
Mrs. Darong's dowry list came in two copies, one for her husband's family and one for her parents' family.
When Xu passed away, Sheng Xiyan was less than eight years old, and the dowry list and dowry were kept by Sheng Xingan. Sheng Xiyan guessed that since Sheng Xingan even let Liu take care of the dowry, the dowry list would most likely end up in Liu's hands.
Now that Nanny Sun has delivered the storehouse key but not the dowry list, it is somewhat intriguing.
When Nanny Sun heard this, her old face froze, and she said with a wry smile, "I will go back and report to the Madam now."
Over the years, Liu did not dare to sell Xu's dowry. The managers of the shop and the farm were all arranged by Xu during her lifetime, and she did not dare to change them casually. However, she did not care so much about the income that was paid to the mansion every year, and she embezzled a lot of it to support her parents' family. At first, she took great pains to cover it up in the accounts, but later, seeing that Sheng Xing'an did not care at all, she became more and more daring, and paid less and less attention to the accounts, which were simply full of loopholes.
Originally, Sheng Xiyan was going to marry into the Yongning Marquis's Mansion.
Liu and the wife of the Marquis of Yongning had a tacit understanding. The wife of the Marquis of Yongning wanted something from Xu's dowry. In exchange, she also agreed to write off the account book, and 50% of the income from those industries would be given to Liu. The wife of the Marquis of Yongning was Sheng Xiyan's mother-in-law. If Sheng Xiyan wanted to gain a foothold in her husband's family, she had to listen to her. Therefore, Liu was not afraid at all.
No one expected that things would turn out so unexpectedly on this day. Not only could the maid who had been prepared long ago not be placed in the room, but Sheng Xiyan also found something wrong with her, so that Liu dared not directly hand over the account book full of loopholes.
The anxious Liu and Nanny Sun discussed for three days before they wanted to test Sheng Xiyan by returning the key to see if she knew exactly how much dowry Xu had. But Sheng Xiyan seemed to have guessed their thoughts and admitted without hesitation that she had a complete dowry list in her hand!
This is not an easy thing to do...
Nanny Sun's smile could no longer be maintained, and she said hurriedly, "Young lady, take your time, I will take my leave first."
Xigui sent Aunt Sun out.
Sheng Xiyan put the key down and pursed her lips into a straight line.
In her previous life, she had endured whatever the Sheng family did to her. She had always told herself that she would have a home after she reached the age of marriage and married into the Yongning Marquis's mansion, but she had never expected that there was no place for her anywhere.
From the first day she entered the Yongning Marquis' Mansion, she was trapped in the yard and could not move.
She learned in middle school that women should be "quiet, chaste, gentle and respectful". She did so in her previous life, but she never had a happy day.
If that's the case, why should she continue to wrong herself?
God didn't let her live again just to make her suffer for the rest of her life.
Sheng Xiyan seemed to have let go of all the shackles, and her dark almond-shaped eyes shone as brightly as stars.
Xigui saw off Grandma Sun and when he pushed the door open, he saw Sheng Xiyan standing in front of the desk, writing on a piece of rice paper. One horizontal stroke, one vertical stroke, one left stroke, one right stroke, the wolf-hair brush dipped in ink fell on the paper slowly and steadily.
Under the rice paper was a copy of Zhong Yao's calligraphy. Sheng Xiyan's face was focused, with slightly raised lips and relaxed brows, all of which revealed an indescribable sense of comfort.
Xigui did not disturb her. He walked over quietly and ground ink for her.
After finishing one sheet, Sheng Xiyan looked at it carefully for a while, then put it in the corner of the desk and laid a new sheet of paper.
This time, she did not copy the calligraphy, but wrote down the four words "Zhenbei Palace" with a thoughtful look on her face.
The Chu family of Zhenbei Palace has had few descendants for generations. Over the past hundred years, countless descendants of both the direct line and the side branches have died on the battlefield in the northern border.
By the time of the old Zhenbei King, there were only two siblings left. The old Zhenbei King was injured on the battlefield in his early years, and he only had one daughter, Princess Jingle. The late emperor was grateful for the blood shed by the Zhenbei King's family for the Great Rong Dynasty, so he did not force the old Zhenbei King to inherit, but allowed Princess Jingle to marry, and later gave birth to Chu Yuanchen.
Logically speaking, Chu Yuanchen should be the great-grandson of King Zhenbei, but no one knew what the old King Zhenbei was thinking, he requested to be named the Crown Prince, and the late Emperor agreed, so he started to be called that.
Four years ago, Northern Yan mobilized all its national strength and launched a surprise attack on the northern border. The enemy was so powerful that the old Zhenbei King died for his country.
At that time, Chu Yuanchen was only sixteen years old, but he single-handedly led the entire Northern Frontier Army and defended the northern border of Darong.
This war lasted for more than four years. In April this year, Chu Yuanchen finally defeated the Northern Yan army and killed the Northern Yan general. The Northern Yan army suffered heavy casualties and was completely defeated. Before he disappeared, he had captured seven cities in a row.
Chu Yuanchen's life or death is uncertain now, and the Zhenbei Palace will definitely not be in the mood to care about this marriage that the Queen Mother inexplicably assigned to them in the short term.
Sheng Xiyan remembered that the "novel" said that the Prince of Zhenbei died on the battlefield of Beiyan.
After the death of the Prince of Zhenbei, the Zhenbei Palace was completely overthrown in just five years. After that, the Great Rong Dynasty was about to fall. Not only did the Northern Yan make a comeback and slaughter several cities in succession, but the surrounding barbarians were also ready to make a move...
Sheng Xiyan casually crumpled up the rice paper with the four characters "Zhenbei Palace" written on it, and then continued to copy the calligraphy. Without even looking up, she said, "Xigui, you will accompany me out of the palace tomorrow."
Xigui was stunned for a moment, then replied “yes” with a smile.
The customs of the people in the Darong Dynasty were more open-minded than those in the previous dynasties. Even in a family as strict as the Sheng family, as long as the mistress of the house agreed, the sisters could go out.
Liu agreed of course. She had been so exhausted from dealing with the accounts these past few days that her brain was about to explode. She wished that Sheng Xiyan had something to do instead of rushing her. She agreed without hesitation and said with a smile, "I'll ask Madam Sun to prepare a carriage for you. Do you have enough money? If not, have someone send whatever you buy to the mansion and have the accounts department pay for it. You don't have to rush back, and you don't have to come to pay your respects in the evening."
With Liu's promise, Sheng Xiyan went out confidently.
After leaving the mansion, the carriage headed straight for Huashang Street and stopped at the intersection at Sheng Xiyan's signal.
Sheng Xiyan was wearing a veil on her face. Before she came out, she changed into a scarlet embroidered skirt with lace, tied up her hair into two buns, and wore a silver pearl hairpin, which made her almond-shaped eyes look even brighter.
She walked lightly, and found everything interesting, wishing she could visit every store.
But finally, Sheng Xiyan still remembered the purpose of the trip. After strolling around for a while, he went to a teahouse on the street to sit down and take a rest. He then told Xigui, "Go to the Zhou family shop in front and buy me two packs of jujube flower crisps."
Zhou's Shop is a well-known dim sum shop in the capital. When Sheng Xiyan passed by just now, there was a long queue in front of the shop, and she was a little hesitant to move.
As soon as Xigui left, Sheng Xiyan gave the waiter a silver ingot and asked him to keep the private seat for her.
She left the teahouse and headed straight for Baicaotang at the end of the street.