Lin was so angry that she smashed the entire set of Ding kiln thin-walled porcelain tea set, and only then did she feel a little better.
Jiang Mama looked at her, hesitant to speak. Lin Shi was furious, and no one dared to say anything at this moment. Jiang Mama had served Lin Shi for many years and knew that Lin Shi wouldn't listen to anything she said at this time.
“I used my dowry to help him with his career. Now he’s the Vice Minister of Works, but he hasn’t even entered the cabinet yet. He already doesn’t respect me. He treats a Liu woman like a treasure. He doesn’t even come to see me when he comes back to the mansion. I’m afraid he’s forgotten that he even has me as his legal wife!”
These words were quite unpleasant. Seeing this, Granny Jiang had no choice but to remind her, "Madam, please don't upset Third Master over such a small matter. He may have just returned and is busy with many things, which is why he hasn't been able to attend to you. You should be careful with your words and not let a moment of displeasure damage your marital harmony!"
Upon hearing this, Madam Lin let out a long sigh of relief, realizing she had spoken out of turn. She picked up her teacup, drank it all in one gulp, and sat down.
Seeing that she had become more restrained, Granny Jiang knew that Madam Lin must have taken her words to heart.
“Now the old lady doesn’t like us either. If we lose the third master’s trust, we’ll really have nowhere to stand. Even if you don’t think about yourself, you should think about the second young master and the third young lady. If you completely lose the power of the stepmother, I’m afraid the young master and the young lady will have no one to rely on in the future.”
Upon hearing this, Madam Lin thought of that vixen, Madam Liu, who, relying on her looks, always kept men in her room. Madam Lin was already in the wrong because her daughter had lost her composure at the flower-adorning banquet, and if she caused any more trouble, it would only benefit Madam Liu.
If that's the case, then everything she's worked so hard to build up will have been handed over to someone else. Even if she dies, she can't let that little bitch Liu get away with it!
Only then did she calm down and seriously consider what she should do next.
Upon hearing that Shen Shuchun had returned, Shen Mingzhuang was not in a hurry. Shen Shuchun had been away from the capital for several months, and he probably did not know that his daughter, who had stayed in Jiangzhou for many years, had been replaced.
Such a big matter couldn't possibly be something the Shen family would be so confused as to write it down in a letter to Shen Shuchun.
Whether he knows or not is not important. After all, she will leave the Shen family sooner or later. To her, the Shen family is just a stepping stone to leave. At most, she will not continue to live under the same roof with these people for a year or two.
Moreover, Shen Shuchun's attitude towards her is the same as Lin's attitude towards her, so it won't have much of an impact on her.
However, to Man Huan, who was unaware of the situation, her mistress's actions would only make the already thin parental affection between her and her master even weaker.
“Miss, why don’t we go and pay our respects to Third Master? When you returned, he was still in Huainan and hadn’t returned to the capital yet. He probably doesn’t know you’ve come back.”
Man Huan was thinking of her wholeheartedly, and Shen Mingzhuang understood this. "There's no need to rush. Why should we be the first to act? If we're going to go, we should wait until tomorrow morning to pay our respects to Madam."
Shen Shuchun is back. If Lin Shi continues to feign illness, she may lose her husband's patience. Shen Mingzhuang is certain that Lin Shi will not turn everyone away tomorrow morning.
She'd been keeping track of the time; more than a month had passed since the hairpin-flower banquet, and Pei Jingzhou should have finished his investigation by now.
The news that Miss Shen had returned from Jiangzhou, fell seriously ill, and lost all her memories was spread by Jiang Wang. I was just cooperating with him; there was no way he wouldn't have found out.
If, as described in the original novel, Pei Jingzhou harbors deep and unrequited love for the female lead, he would certainly not overlook this detail, thus discovering that she is Shen Meiling, who escaped death during the case of Grand Tutor Shen's house being raided, and is the same person he called Pin'er that day.
However, she couldn't put all her eggs in one basket. Otherwise, if something unexpected happened, she would lose everything. She had to make backup plans. If she couldn't marry Pei Jingzhou, she would have to prepare travel expenses and be ready to run away at any time.
Just thinking about how things would become infinitely more complicated if that were the case, Shen Mingzhuang couldn't help but sigh to the heavens, feeling utterly exhausted.
At that point, I'm afraid I'll have to rely on the good things Jiang Wang has been bestowing upon me these past few days and the two boxes of treasures Shen Mingshu has delivered to my door as my escape fee.
Pei Jingzhou has indeed been investigating Shen Mingzhuang's matter these days. He has shaken off his previous dejection and suddenly seems like a different person. When Madam Pei talks about this with her husband, she also feels a sense of unease.
“Zhou’er and Meiling have been together since childhood and can be considered childhood sweethearts. Now that the Shen family has suffered a great calamity, he has been in a daze for several months as if he had lost his soul. Now, things are finally starting to look up.”
Lord Pei was somewhat displeased upon hearing this. "It's just that we met a few more times when we were young. Let's not talk about childhood sweethearts anymore, lest it get out and cause more trouble."
The Shen family suffered a devastating blow because they coveted what was not rightfully theirs, which led to this upheaval. Several months have passed, but the matter remains a taboo topic in the court, and even the censors dare not bring it up.
Upon hearing this, Madam Pei looked embarrassed, realizing that she had misspoke. She quickly smiled and corrected herself, saying, "Master is right, I misspoke. However, it is a good thing that Zhou'er is able to cheer up again."
Then she paused, glanced at her husband's expression, and tentatively asked, "I wonder if Master has met the Ninth Miss of the Shen Hanlin Mansion?"
Shen Hanlin was his student. When Madam Pei mentioned it, he recalled it in his mind and it seemed that it had no impact on the young lady of the Shen family. Then he said, "I only vaguely heard that on the day of the hairpin flower banquet, the third young lady of the Shen family and the eighth young lady born of a concubine had a quarrel that was quite ugly. Could it be that it has something to do with this ninth young lady?"
Madam Pei wasn't entirely sure either, and thinking back to what she had seen that day, she felt a stirring in her heart.
"You should also remember the seventh young lady of the Shen family who was appreciated by Princess Jiayuan and brought into the palace. She was noticed by Princess Jiayuan because of that dress. It was actually the ninth young lady of the Shen family who wore that dress that day, but for some reason, it later became the seventh young lady of the Shen family."
Upon hearing this, Lord Pei realized something was amiss, and his expression grew increasingly grave.
"On the day of the Flower-Wearing Festival, when I saw the Ninth Miss of the Shen family, I was shocked. She looked so much like Shen Meiling that I almost lost my composure. But after thinking about it carefully, I realized that I was too abrupt. There are many people in this world who look alike. What a coincidence! If she really was Shen Meiling, how could she dare to appear in the capital?"
Listening to his wife's analysis, Lord Pei's expression did not relax at all.
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