Heir Apparent of the Marquis of Zhennan
Seeing Shen Yao's gaze sweep over her, she hurriedly lowered her head. Shen Yao said, "...Since you've come to invite me, you should go quickly."
"No." Lan Yunyi raised her chin, half her face hidden in shadow, and said to the maid, "Go back and tell your mistress that it is already a mercy of the princess to let her stay at the Lan residence tonight. After that, don't let her appear again."
The maid was startled by his tone and quickly got up to take her leave.
Shen Yao frowned at him, but knowing he meant well, she didn't say anything. A short while later, Song Qingqing arrived with her maid.
Song Qingqing was wearing a light blue long dress and carrying a wooden tray with a blue bowl on it.
As soon as she arrived at the gate, Xia Guo noticed her and stopped her at the gate, saying, "Miss Song, please wait."
Song Qingqing noticed her and, seeing that she was an unfamiliar face and dressed in luxurious clothes, immediately guessed Xia Guo's identity.
She smiled and bowed to Xia Guo, saying softly, "This must be Aunt Xia Guo."
Xia Guo looked down at her, and Song Qingqing did not force her way in. She handed the wooden plate in her hand to Xia Guo and said, "I have troubled Your Highness with my visit. I hope Your Highness will forgive me. This bowl of porridge is something I made myself. I hope Your Highness will not find it offensive."
Xia Guo felt a little lost seeing her gentle attitude.
If the person in front of them is evil at heart, that's fine; they have plenty of ways to deal with them. But the real problem is encountering someone with a soft personality, who might compete with the princess for favor in the future.
Although the princess seemed unafraid of the general's disloyalty, the whole thing was still disgusting, like having a fly stuck in your throat that you couldn't swallow or spit out.
Seeing that she remained silent, Song Qingqing stepped forward, placed the tray in Xia Guo's hands, and then bowed and left.
Xia Guo brought a tray to the study, handed the bowl of porridge to Shen Yao, and explained the whole story. After listening, Shen Yao said, "She's quite thoughtful."
Lan Yunyi: "It's just a bowl of porridge. She doesn't even know if the princess likes porridge. How can that be considered thoughtful?"
Shen Yao didn't reply.
She just felt that Song Qingqing was quite polite, and she really didn't understand what Lan Yunyi was nitpicking about.
At dinner, fearing food waste, Shen Yao had Xia Guo bring up the bowl of porridge. Lan Yunyi intercepted it for her, drank the porridge herself, and said, "Isn't the princess afraid it might be poisoned?"
Shen Yao glanced at him, puzzled, and said, "Whatever the Prince Consort says goes."
She didn't know Song Qingqing well, and Lan Yunyi didn't seem to trust her as much as she trusted A Yuan. Shen Yao didn't want to dwell on things she didn't understand, so she didn't argue with Lan Yunyi anymore.
Lan Yunyi stayed overnight at her place as usual, making a ruckus for most of the night before finally stopping. Lan Yunyi hugged her and cuddled her, calling her "sister, sister" for a while, but Shen Yao didn't react. He probably thought Shen Yao was asleep, so he let her go.
He quietly lifted the covers, chuckled as he put on his clothes, then got up, left the bedroom, and went out into the yard.
Shen Yao turned over, moved to the inside of the bed, and continued to sleep.
Tomorrow, either send Song Qingqing back to the countryside or back to the capital.
As for Lan Yunyi, he actually dared to favor someone else in front of her. Shen Yao would definitely repay him a thousandfold for the fly she had swallowed tonight.
Shen Yao couldn't fall asleep for a while, until Lan Yunyi came back and, as usual, silently hugged Shen Yao from behind.
Shen Yao: "...Where did you go?"
Lan Yunyi said softly, "I delivered some things. What did you think I went to do?"
Shen Yao closed her eyes and said, "You're just being mysterious."
"Did I keep you awake?" Lan Yunyi's tone rose slightly as he lowered his head and nuzzled against Shen Yao's neck.
Once you get to know him, you'll realize that this is a signal that he wants a hug.
Shen Yao didn't know where he got the nerve to ask for a reward after making fun of others.
Shen Yao closed her eyes and didn't turn around again all night, no matter how much the other person begged.
The next morning, while Shen Yao was having breakfast, Xia Guo suddenly came into the room and said, "Princess, Miss Song's maid came and said that Miss Song... has gone blind."
Shen Yao frowned: "What?"
She thought she had misheard, so Xia Guo repeated it. She said that when Song Qingqing got up this morning, she suddenly realized she couldn't see and was now shouting in the yard.
"Then hurry up and fetch Doctor Zhang!" Shen Yao stood up, her eyes immediately noticing Lan Yunyi standing to the side. She couldn't help but lower her voice and ask, "What did you do?"
Lan Yunyi smiled and accepted the blame: "It's nothing. Just a warning. The effects of this medicine won't last long; her vision will return to normal tonight."
Shen Yao: "...Why did you go to such lengths?"
Lan Yunyi: "Didn't the princess say she was meticulous? But she didn't even know she had been drugged. What kind of meticulousness is that?"
Shen Yao almost choked: "Is the Prince Consort really after this?"
Lan Yunyi thought for a moment and said frankly, "...Of course, her disobeying my orders and returning to the Lan residence without permission is also a reason. But it's fine, anyway, she will return to the capital sooner or later. Originally, I was thinking of discussing it with my sister after a while before making any plans, but now it seems unnecessary. I want her to leave now."
Shen Yao thought to herself, "He's using my name to do bad things again. He's really figured out how to play the role of the imperial son-in-law."
Shen Yao didn't want to interfere too much, and only asked, "Why is Song Qingqing, the daughter of a vice minister, not in the capital but in Xiliang?"
Lan Yunyi replied, "She was born to a concubine and is the seventh child in her family, with three younger brothers and sisters. She was practically an insignificant person in the Song family. I was on good terms with her eldest brother, and not long after I arrived in Xiliang, her eldest brother sent her here..."
Similar to Shen Yao's situation, the eldest son of the Song family had high hopes for Lan Yunyi. In addition, Song Qingqing was already interested in Lan Yunyi. If they bet right, their whole family would rise to prominence; if they bet wrong, they wouldn't feel bad about losing the stakes.
Shen Yao lowered her eyes and asked again, "And after she went back..."
“Princess, everyone has their own destiny,” Lan Yunyi interrupted her. “Making the wrong choice and suffering the bad consequences is just the cycle of cause and effect. If one doesn’t do anything utterly immoral, how can one be driven to despair?”
Shen Yao remained silent.
She was indeed worried that if Song Qingqing was sent back to the Song family by Lan Yunyi, it would affect her future marriage.
But she was the one who decided to come to Xiliang, and she was also the one who insisted on not leaving. Since she had made the decision, she could not only acknowledge the success but also refuse to bear the consequences of failure.
Her marriage will inevitably be affected by this in the future, but that's all. If she gets stuck in a rut and sees marriage as her only way out, then she will have truly reached a dead end.
Shen Yao didn't think any further and simply said, "May you have good luck."
After saying that, he continued eating.
On her days off, Shen Yao usually goes to Lingshan to pray for blessings, and today was no exception. However, Lan Yunyi was at home, so she decided to bring her up the mountain with her.
She still doesn't believe in gods or Buddhas, but in the past few days, she often had headaches during the process of merging with the original owner's memories. In addition, the emperor never replied, so in addition to her daily work, she needed to find more things to do to keep herself busy.
Later, she discovered that chanting and copying scriptures helped her relax a little, so Shen Yao fell in love with the activity.
While Shen Yao was reciting scriptures to Buddha, Lan Yunyi sat on a chair to the side drinking water.
When the two arrived at Lingshan today, a young monk from the temple came up to greet them and specifically told Shen Yao that distinguished guests had arrived from the capital.
Shen Yao immediately became interested upon hearing this, and Lan Yunyi also raised an eyebrow and asked, "A distinguished guest from the capital?"
The young monk heard his words, but still addressed Shen Yao, saying, "It is Pei Heng, the heir of the Marquis of Zhennan."
Shen Yao's fingers, hidden in her sleeve, twitched slightly, but her face remained calm. She even looked at Lan Yunyi with a blank expression and said, "Perhaps the heir of the Marquis of Zhennan has come for my sake."
Lan Yunyi didn't respond, her face clouded with gloom.
However, Pei Heng was a man of noble birth, and his father, the Marquis of Zhennan, was on good terms with Emperor Sheng, so he was destined to become a prince consort. For the sake of his future, he would never allow any romantic entanglements with Princess Yao.
Thinking of this, the gloom on Lan Yunyi's face dissipated, and she regained her usual calm and composed demeanor.
“Of course it is.” Lan Yunyi smiled, then said to Shen Yao, “Since we’re going to meet anyway, why don’t we invite Young Marquis Pei to have lunch together today?”
Shen Yao nodded, then asked Lan Yunyi, "Since we're inviting Young Master Pei, we can't leave out Master Chengxin."
Lan Yunyi said, "Master Chengxin has been away from the mortal world for a long time, and I had forgotten that there was such a person in Xiliang."
Shen Yao: "..."
Shen Yao also invited Cheng Xin, asking the young monk to pass on a message later. The young monk agreed, and while Shen Yao was chanting sutras before the Buddha, he brought her the two men's affirmative answer.
So Shen Yao made arrangements for A Yuan to go to the princess's residence to prepare a meal.
After doing all this, Shen Yao withdrew her thoughts, closed her eyes, and continued to silently finish reciting the unfinished sutra.
Lan Yunyi sat with his head propped up on his hand. Although he didn't make a sound, he exuded a strong presence. Shen Yao didn't reject his presence; in fact, she felt a strange sense of security because of it.
Has she... let her guard down?
Shen Yao couldn't help but laugh at herself.
After reciting the sutra with a distracted mind, she opened her eyes and looked at Lan Yunyi. Lan Yunyi's figure was reflected in a pale blue light.
When he saw Shen Yao looking over, he immediately put down his cup, got up, walked to Shen Yao's side, helped her up, and whispered in her ear, "The young marquis has arrived."
Shen Yao: "Really?"
Lan Yunyi led her out of the main hall and said with a smile, "I met the young marquis once when I was young. He was a person as pure as a breeze and as bright as the moon, comparable to Chengxin."
Shen Yao searched her memory and found that her impression of Lan Yunyi was very similar.
Pei Heng, the heir of the Marquis of Zhennan, is deeply concerned about the suffering of the common people and is a very popular character in the original novel...
When Shen Yao first arrived at Ling Mountain, the sun was shining brightly, but at this time, for some reason, several dark clouds suddenly appeared in the sky, obscuring the sun, with flashes of lightning visible in the clouds.
Not far away, under the pavilion, stood a tall man dressed in white. In the dim light, he was like the bright moon, instantly brightening the surrounding environment.
It's so captivating just to look at it from afar.
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