Chapter Three is absolutely unacceptable.
They all surrounded Xie Yanzhi, exchanging pleasantries. After all, the Marquis's mansion would eventually be handed over to Xie Yanzhi, and now that he had been entrusted with an important task by the Emperor, they all wanted to exchange a few more words with him.
On the other side, Madam Xue looked at Xie Yanzhi with affection, took out a handkerchief, and wiped her eyes: "Yanzhi, during the days you were gone, your mother had some winter clothes prepared for you, and they will be delivered to your courtyard in a little while."
Shen Qingnian was stunned when she first heard the name, then suddenly looked up at Xie Yanzhi.
She gripped the handkerchief tightly in her hand.
Ling'er's eyes widened in shock as she turned to look at her young mistress.
Seeing Shen Qingnian looking at the eldest young master, she immediately understood that the eldest young master must be that person.
Shen Qingnian never expected that the eldest son of the Marquis's mansion would be named Xie Yanzhi.
When she ran away, her mother only said that the man she was betrothed to was named Xie Yanzhi.
Could it be Xie Yanzhi?
Shen Qingnian tightened her grip and frowned slightly.
At this moment, Xie Yanzhi looked at everyone with a gloomy face.
Shen Qingnian pursed her lips: "His face is as black as the bottom of a pot, I absolutely can't accept him."
In her daze, she suddenly met a pair of all-knowing eyes.
Shen Qingnian hadn't expected this fiend to be so perceptive.
She quickly lowered her head; Xie Yanzhi's gaze was like that of a hawk, capable of chilling one to the bone.
Shen Qingnian looked at Ling'er again and made a shushing gesture, telling her to be quiet for the time being.
Another large hand reached out, holding several peeled walnuts.
Shen Qingnian looked up and saw Xie Zhao's smiling face.
She paused for a moment, then took the walnut, ate one, and noticed that gaze was fixed on her.
She dared not look in that direction again.
Xie Yanzhi frowned as he glanced at Xie Zhao's obsequious behavior towards Shen Qingnian.
He had just noticed that the woman who was trying to freeload, while pretending to be focused on talking to Xie Zhao, was secretly glancing in his direction.
He pursed his lips, revealing a hint of sarcasm.
This woman is probably not simple.
I had already warned her.
Before he entered the house today, the steward had already informed him that another cousin had come to the mansion to freeload.
He saw it clearly when he was at the moon gate; the woman's eyes were full of spring waves, and she seemed to be both rejecting and welcoming Xie Zhao.
This behavior is exactly the same as those who tried to climb the social ladder before.
This time, however, she targeted Xie Zhao, the second son of a concubine. He and Xie Zhao were the only male heirs in the current generation of the Jingnan Marquis's household.
But Xie Zhao, like a fool, fell into her trap.
So he wanted to make her realize her place and teach her a lesson.
Unexpectedly, she ignored his warnings and was flirting with her cousin while also coveting him.
He wanted to look away, but he couldn't help looking at her again.
The tassels on the silver hairpin at her temple swayed gently, her face was fair, and her eyelashes, like feather fans, cast a small, light shadow on her eyelids, making it impossible to look away.
With her small, delicate nose and puffed-out cheeks, she was eating walnuts. They looked at each other and laughed, seemingly having talked about something amusing.
Xie Yanzhi scoffed coldly and looked away.
These women who come seeking refuge are adept at such clumsy tricks; he knows their true colors all too well.
He rubbed his temples again. He had rushed back to the capital overnight and still had to write documents to present to the emperor. He really didn't have the energy to deal with things here. He only stayed for a while, told his mother, and then took his leave.
The gathering was originally for Xie Yanzhi's sake; now that he's gone, everyone has dispersed.
Aunt Su wanted to stay and massage the old lady's shoulders, so Ling'er tied Shen Qingnian's cloak and headed back.
On the way, Ling'er wanted to ask about the eldest young master, but she didn't know how to bring it up and hesitated.
On the one hand, she felt that the eldest young master was an outstanding person, and that her daughter would no longer be bullied after marrying him. On the other hand, she felt that the eldest young master was too fierce.
Just then, an old woman suddenly rushed out from behind the artificial hill and crashed straight into Ling'er.
The old woman was burly and strong. She bumped into Ling'er, causing her pain, and knocked her to the ground.
Shen Qingnian was about to go over to help Ling'er when a menacing voice came from behind her.
She turned around and saw two old women rush out from behind the artificial hill and pin Ling'er to the ground.
Shen Qingnian recognized the newcomer as Gu Lingyu, Xie Yanzhi's cousin, who had been following the First Madam earlier.
Gu Lingyu had already stood in front of her, looking at her arrogantly, her voice even more haughty: "Just a distant relative who came to rely on the Marquis's mansion, where did she get the audacity to bump into my old woman?"
Before Shen Qingnian could react, an old woman slapped Ling'er twice across the face.
Ling'er felt her ears ringing, and hurriedly explained to Shen Qingnian, "Miss, I didn't, she clearly bumped into me herself."
Ling'er was so aggrieved that tears streamed down her face. Her cheeks were red and swollen, and blood was seeping from the corners of her mouth.
Shen Qingnian knew, of course, that the old woman had run into him; it was just that Gu Lingyu was trying to cause trouble for her.
But she and Gu Lingyu had only met for the first time today, and she didn't understand why Gu Lingyu would do this.
She glanced at the old woman on the ground who was still pretending to cry out, then looked at Gu Lingyu: "My girl didn't bump into anyone again."
"If Miss Gu has any misunderstanding about me, why not just say so?"
Upon hearing this, Gu Lingyu's anger flared up again. This vixen has quite a temper.
Gu Lingyu sneered and asked the old woman on the ground, "Aunt Liu, were you badly hurt when you were hit?"
The old woman on the ground immediately hugged her leg and said, "Ouch, ouch, my bones are about to break, it hurts so much, Miss, please do me a favor!"
Shen Qingnian frowned and looked at Gu Lingyu: "The Marquis's mansion has a physician. Why don't we call him over to take a look and see who has the most serious injuries?"
"My girl can't possibly bump into someone and make herself even more injured, can she?"
Gu Lingyu was taken aback, not expecting Shen Qingnian to be so quick-witted.
Today was originally intended to cause trouble for Shen Qingnian under some pretext. If the family physician were actually called and things escalated, it would negatively impact her image in Brother Yanzhi's eyes.
Brother Yanzhi never liked her bullying the servants.
Gu Lingyu gritted her teeth and suddenly slapped Shen Qingnian across the face.
Shen Qingnian was caught off guard by Gu Lingyu's sudden attack. She was slapped so hard that her vision went black and she lost her balance and fell to the ground.
Gu Lingyu walked up to Shen Qingnian with a cold face, bent down, reached out and pinched her chin hard, forcing her to look up. She then warned through gritted teeth, "If you see Cousin Yanzhi again, remember to take a detour. If I find out you're using that face to seduce him again, you'll be in big trouble. Got it?"
Gu Lingyu noticed that her cousin Yanzhi had looked at Shen Qingnian twice today, and that's when she realized that there was such a beautiful person in the second branch of the family.
Brother Yanzhi had never looked at women much before, but he stared at them with that focused gaze for several times.
Even she wasn't looked at like that by Brother Yanzhi, so what makes Shen Qingnian think she is?
This shameless woman, who has only been here for two days, will never be able to seduce Cousin Yan with her foxy face.
Looking at Shen Qingnian's face, she saw that her porcelain-white face was red at the corners of her eyes. Instead of looking disheveled as she had imagined, she appeared pitiful and endearing.
She wanted to slash this face.
Shen Qingnian watched as Gu Lingyu pulled a short knife from her bosom and slashed it towards her face...
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