In May and June, the sun blazes fiercely.
Amidst the chirping of cicadas, ice bowls began to be served in the Shen family kitchen.
Put crushed ice and watermelon pulp together, add some brown sugar water, and it's icy cold and very refreshing in the summer.
The matter at the Rongguo Duke's Mansion was not yet over, but Shen Mingshu and Shen Mingxi were given half a day to return home to visit their relatives.
As for why only half a day is being given, that's something worth pondering, but Shen Mingzhuang wasn't in the mood for it.
Because as soon as Shen Mingshu returned, she rushed straight to her courtyard. She was holding a jade bowl and sipping ice. The bowl contained bayberries, which were sweet and sour and very appetizing.
Kyoto doesn't produce bayberries, and bayberries are difficult to preserve, so ordinary people can't afford them, and even if they have money, they can't find them. These were sent by the Wen family, and it goes without saying that Jiang Wang ordered them.
A green bowl, white ice, red bayberries, and light pink juice with added maltose—a perfect balance of sweet and sour. On a hot summer day, a bowl of ice like this is simply a heavenly treat!
The once tranquil and beautiful Cui Xuan Residence was immediately placed on high alert due to Shen Mingshu's arrival.
Everyone knows that the Third Miss is difficult to get along with. People are already easily angered in this hot weather, and the fact that she went straight to Cuixuan Residence as soon as she returned makes anyone think that she's here to cause trouble.
Coincidentally, Shen Mingzhuang thought so too.
"Shen Mingzhuang, have you finished embroidering the 'Hundred Sons and Thousand Grandsons' design that I asked you to do?!"
So that's what it was about. She thought she had violated some family rule.
"No."
After finishing his concise speech, Shen Mingzhuang picked up a piece of watermelon chilled in well water from the red glazed dish with floral patterns and ate it in small bites, as if no one was around.
Seeing Shen Mingshu staring at him with wide eyes, Shen Mingzhuang even forked a piece of food and asked her, "Do you want some?"
Shen Mingshu was furious. She had said she wanted it, so how could she not do it? She immediately bypassed Shen Mingzhuang and ran to Shen Mingzhuang's bookshelf to rummage through it.
The bookshelf was full of books, except for a scroll of embroidery in a red lacquered carved box at the very bottom. Judging from the scroll, it was quite large. When Shen Mingshu saw the embroidery, she immediately hugged it to her arms. When Shen Mingzhuang saw her take out this thing, he quickly told her to put it down.
"You worthless wretch, you dare to fool me! You deserve to be disliked by your family all those years in Jiangzhou!"
Shen Mingzhuang wanted to say that it wasn't some kind of "hundred sons and thousands of grandsons" picture, but upon hearing this, he swallowed back the words he was about to say.
Since she doesn't appreciate it, let her take it. After all, she's of high status, and the Empress Dowager wouldn't dare to touch her.
Shen Mingxi, who had followed along, became suspicious when she saw the embroidery being carried by the maid. She had encouraged Shen Mingshu to ask Shen Mingzhuang to embroider the "Hundred Sons and Thousand Grandsons" picture with the intention of making things difficult for her, and yet she actually managed to embroider it?
She felt something was off.
She was about to suggest that Shen Mingshu open it and take a look, but she quickly suppressed the thought.
Why should she bother? If this is truly a "Hundred Sons and Thousand Grandsons" embroidery, then Shen Mingzhuang will become famous. In the future, there will be no shortage of people asking her to embroider. If she refuses, she will offend people. If she doesn't refuse, then she can just wait to embroider until she goes blind!
If this were not an embroidery of a hundred sons and a thousand grandsons, then both the person who presented the gift and the person who created the gift would be investigated by the Empress Dowager. It's killing two birds with one stone, so why not do it?
She stepped forward with a smile, took Shen Mingshu's arm, and said, "Now that we have the item, sister, you must keep it safe and don't let Ninth Sister steal it. It would be best to lock it up."
That made sense, so Shen Mingshu immediately had someone fetch a locked box and locked the painting away, planning to take it back to the palace the next morning.
Shen Mingxi was also very satisfied. In this way, Shen Mingzhuang would have no way to defend himself, and she would not be implicated.
The two then went to Meishou Hall together.
The old lady sized up the two of them, and when her gaze fell on Shen Mingxi, she nodded slightly. She had been in the palace for some time now, and was finally less impetuous. But when she looked at Shen Mingshu, the old lady frowned again.
Shen Mingshu was fiddling with the jade chain on her wrist, her head hanging down casually. The old lady looked at her and asked in a deep voice, "This bracelet looks rare. Was it a gift from the Empress Dowager?"
His tone revealed no trace of joy or anger.
Upon hearing this, Shen Mingzhuang immediately launched into a long speech, saying, "In response to Grandmother's question, this bracelet was indeed a gift from the Empress Dowager. The Empress Dowager also said that the Shen family's daughter is well-behaved and sensible, praising Grandmother as worthy of being from the Duke's mansion."
Upon hearing this, the old lady's expression changed slightly. "What else did the Empress Dowager say?"
Shen Mingshu then recounted to the old lady everything the Empress Dowager had said.
Shen Mingxi listened from the side and couldn't help but click her tongue. How could there be such a stupid person? The Empress Dowager intended to promote the Lin family and wanted Lin Youdao, the father of the Lin family, to become a royal merchant. She had directly told her about this. What if it didn't work out in the end? Wouldn't that be a slap in the face?
Moreover, the old lady didn't want to have close ties with the Lin family in the first place. Even when they did interact, she always suppressed the Lin family, which shows that she disliked the Lin family very much. How could the old lady be happy to hear such words?
Shen Mingshu knew, of course, that her stepmother disliked the Lin family! But she wanted to tell her all this, to let her know that the Lin family would get better and better in the future, and that her mother and she were not people she could manipulate at will!
"Alright, you should be more careful in your actions while you are in the palace. You must not anger the Empress Dowager. You haven't gone to see your mother yet, have you? Why don't you go and keep her company?"
After hearing these words, the old lady's expression returned to normal, and she smiled as she sent the two people to Madam Lin's place.
However, as soon as the others left, the old lady's lips curled into a sneer.
Being the Empress Dowager's money-making hand is not so simple. It's good that the Lin family found a way to refuse this matter. If they really foolishly went for it, they would be courting death!
Thinking about all these messy things, the old lady felt a throbbing pain in her temples. She closed her eyes, leaned against the large pillow, and sighed before asking Granny Tian, "Why haven't I seen Fourth Aunt and Cousin these past two days? Where have they been?"
Upon hearing this, Granny Tian said, "I heard that Fourth Aunt has only been seeing some old friends from her time in Kyoto these days, and nothing else."
The old lady couldn't help but sigh upon hearing this.
It's true what they say, a married daughter is like water spilled from a cup. Her maternal grandparents' family is facing such a huge threat, and the Shen family is also in dire straits, yet she still has the mind to go out for tea and opera. After all, she's someone else's daughter-in-law now, and she's become estranged from her mother!
Thinking about it this way, her heart grew colder. The old lady sighed and changed the subject: "When the Seventh Miss comes back this time, you should go and ask her later if there is anything she wants to bring to the Wen family. After the betrothal gifts are exchanged and the betrothal ceremony is held, the wedding date will be set. There is not much time left."
Upon hearing this, Granny Tian hesitated and said, "Isn't this a bad idea? The two families haven't made any decisions yet, and we're already telling Seventh Miss. What if something unexpected happens? How will Seventh Miss handle that?"
Deep down, she still felt sorry for the seventh young lady whose aunt had died young, especially after seeing her kneeling on the ground crying and begging the old lady that day. She felt a pang of inexplicable sympathy for Shen Mingxi.
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