Qing'er glanced at her again, then murmured, "Miss...you seem different than before..."
Mu Jin raised an eyebrow and asked, "What's different?"
"The young lady used to value the prince more than her own life, and she was willing to change her personality for him. Now, she talks about the prince like he's a stranger. And... and..."
Qing'er glanced at Mu Jin again and said, "Miss, you used to be so refined, but now you have an indescribable air of heroism!"
Mu Jin smiled, a slight smirk playing on her lips. "Then just consider the old Mu Jin dead."
...
Inside the Autumn Water Garden of the Prince Yun's Mansion, Shen Qianqian was painting with great interest when she saw Cuixiang rushing in and asked, "What's wrong?"
Cuixiang glanced outside the door, closed it, and said, "Miss, I just saw a guard reporting to the Prince that the Princess Consort has returned to the capital."
Shen Qianqian was stunned for a moment, then put down her paintbrush: "What did you say? Mu Jin has returned to the capital, and is she at the Prince's residence?"
"She didn't go back to the Prince's Mansion, but to the General's Mansion. According to the guard, when the Princess got out of the carriage, an injured man also got out of the carriage with her. Although the people from the General's Mansion blocked the way and not many people saw it, the Prince's spies still saw it. It's not proper for a man and a woman to be riding in the same carriage."
Shen Qianqian frowned: "This isn't right. Everyone in the capital knows that Mu Jin loves her cousin so much that she's lost herself. How could she go back to the General's Mansion instead of her cousin as soon as she returns to the capital? You must be mistaken."
“Miss, the prince’s guards’ report must be correct.”
Shen Qianqian chuckled softly and said, "Cuixiang, quickly have someone prepare a carriage. I need to go to the palace to see my aunt."
Consort De, Shen Rong, was very happy to see Shen Qianqian enter the palace in Yongning Palace.
"Qianqian, you've arrived. I was planning to invite you to the palace these past few days. Come quickly and see the wedding dress I prepared for you. Try it on and show it to your aunt."
Shen Qianqian smiled sweetly and said, "Thank you, Aunt. I also have good news for you. My cousin-in-law has returned to the capital."
Shen Rong frowned and said, "What? When did she come back? Why didn't she come to pay her respects?"
Shen Qianqian said, "I only found out when I was shopping and overheard people talking about it. They said that my cousin-in-law and an injured man got out of a carriage, surrounded by people, and they quickly walked into the General's Mansion."
Shen Rong gripped the armrest tightly: "What did you say? That bitch Mu Jin crawled out of the carriage alone with a man, how does that put the Wang family's reputation!"
Shen Qianqian stepped forward and patted Shen Rong's back to comfort her, saying, "Aunt, don't misunderstand. How could my cousin-in-law, who loves my cousin so much, have an affair with another man?"
"You underestimated that poisonous woman too much, which is why you let her harm you. But no matter what, she's back. In half a month, it will be your wedding with Yuntian. She is still the princess in charge. What I'm afraid of is that she will cause trouble for you."
Shen Qianqian lowered her head, her eyes red: "My cousin-in-law has never liked me. If... if she doesn't tolerate me, and now her father and brother have military merits and are backing her up in the capital, if she beats me to death, there's nothing I can do."
Shen Rong stepped forward and hugged Shen Qianqian: "With your aunt and cousin here, she won't be able to touch a hair on your head."
"Aunt, please don't be angry with my cousin's wife. Actually, as long as I can stay in the Prince's mansion with my cousin, I don't mind not becoming a concubine."
Shen Rong patted Shen Qianqian's head: "Silly child, what nonsense are you talking about? Don't worry, your aunt will send someone to give her a warning. With me here, even if she tries to harm you, in your aunt's eyes, her father, who is a great general, is just a servant."
After saying that, she also told Shen Qianqian that she had already sent word to Su Yuntian that he would issue an imperial decree at noon to go directly to the palace to pick up Shen Qianqian and take her to the city to choose jewelry for the wedding.
In particular, the treasures in Shuyulou are no less than those in the palace.
Shen Qianqian was overjoyed to hear that Su Yuntian would accompany her to Shuyulou to buy jewelry. She hugged Shen Rong, buried her head in her arms, and smiled slightly.
From the General's Mansion, Mu Yan, followed by two guards carrying a large box, entered Qingwan Courtyard: "Ajin, Ajin, look what good things I brought you."
Mu Jin came out from the inner room and saw Mu Yan asking someone to open the box. She said in a boastful manner, "Look at the empire your brother has built for you in the past two years."
Mu Jin approached and saw that the box contained animal hides, calligraphy and paintings, as well as some gold and silver jewelry.
Mu Jin picked up a piece of animal skin and looked at it. Mu Yan said, "This sable was hunted in Beiqi Kingdom. I was thinking that you could use it to make a collar in winter. The rest are things I bought for you whenever I saw something nice in a city that you might like."
Mu Jin smiled at Mu Yan and said, "Thank you, brother~ I like it very much, but I want to go shopping today, can you give me some silver notes?"
Mu Yan smiled and took out several hundred-yuan silver notes from his coat and handed them to Mu Jin, saying, "It's right to ask your brother for money if you don't have any. I have these on me. I'll give you some more later. It's a pity that Father asked me to accompany him to inspect the military camp outside the city. Otherwise, I would have gone with you. I'll ask two guards to go with you later."
Mu Jin said, "Brother, you should go quickly. I don't need any guards. I am the eldest daughter of a general's mansion. Who would be so foolish as to want to harm me?"
As she spoke, Mu Jin smiled even more broadly at the sight of the silver notes in her hand. She thought to herself, "In the real world, I didn't spend money properly. Now that I'm reborn as a second-generation official, I must enjoy life to the fullest." With that, she told someone to put the contents of the box away and then left the General's Mansion with Qing'er.
Mu Jin led Qing'er out of the General's Mansion and boarded a carriage, heading towards the busiest part of the street.
Mu Jin lifted the carriage curtain with her hand and looked at the bustling crowd on the street with great curiosity.
She instructed Qing'er to take her to the most expensive and bustling area to shop and eat to her heart's content, and that she would pay for everything that day.
Qing'er was overjoyed and urged the guards driving the carriage outside to head towards the Treasures Street.
Qing'er said to Mu Jin, "Miss, you used to love going to the Treasures Street. It's the most prosperous place in the capital, with the best jewelry, cosmetics and clothing. Many shops require you to have more than a thousand taels of silver on you before you can enter."
Mu Jin thought to herself, "Isn't this just the modern-day practice of verifying funds before inspecting goods? I never imagined this trick was passed down from ancient times."
Before they knew it, they arrived at the Treasures Street. Qing'er got off the carriage first, then turned around and helped Mu Jin down.
"Miss, would you like to go to Shuyu Tower to look at jewelry first, or to Jinxiu Shop to look at clothes, or perhaps to Yan Ruoxue to buy rouge and face powder?"
This was Mu Jin's first time visiting this ancient market. She had only ever seen such markets on television before, so she was very curious about everything she saw.
"Whatever you say, wherever you take me, we'll buy our way there."
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