Chapter 01 Falling into the Water It was

a spring day with bright and beautiful scenery, and the clouds were steaming and the peach blossoms on both sides of the palace road were in full bloom.

It happened to be the Qianqiu Festival Banquet of the Empress Shen Heng in the Central Palace. In order to show the favor of His Majesty to the Shen family, the banquet was extremely grand, and all officials above the fifth rank in Shengjing and their families were invited to attend the banquet.

When Ning Yuan hurriedly came with her maid Zhuo Xing on the fragrant snow, she couldn't help but sigh when she saw the beauties in the palace from afar: "...There are so many people."

Compared with her reluctance, Zhuo Xing seemed much more excited.

"The Empress is holding a banquet today, and Lord Shen is her brother, so he will surely come!"

"...What bad luck."

Hearing the name of Shen Yan, Ning Yuan pursed her lips and couldn't help but sigh.

The reason why she called him unlucky was because of the unclear relationship between them.

Their mothers were good friends, and they had agreed before they gave birth that if the genders were the same, they would be called brothers and sisters, and if it was a boy and a girl, they would be married.

In fact, the marriages of children from wealthy families were mostly mixed with interests.

For Ning Yuan, there was no such thing as parents' orders and matchmaker's words. She would just get married. She didn't ask for mutual understanding, but for mutual support.

But the bad thing was that the other party was Shen Yan.

He looked at everyone with a sour face as if someone owed him 8 million taels of silver.

Even though he was deeply in love with her, he was still merciless in his words. Black could be turned into white in his mouth, which made Ning Yuan very disgusted.

But he had a charming appearance, handsome, elegant and tall, which attracted many young ladies in Shengjing.

Therefore, as Shen Yan's "fiancée", she was always surrounded by gossips. In addition, due to this status, she missed many peach blossoms that she should have at this age.

But she didn't want to marry this stinky-faced monster. She

just wanted to find a man with noble character, proper and gentle.

Therefore, every time Duke Ning talked about marriage, she would refuse in every possible way.

Looking up, Ning Yuan saw that her face had fallen without her knowing when, and hurriedly comforted her: "Miss, with your family background and appearance, I'm afraid only a man like Lord Shen, who is like a banished immortal, can be worthy of you... Hey, Miss, look, isn't that Lord Shen?"

Ning Yuan looked in the direction of her fingertips, and could only vaguely see a man sitting in the pavilion of the rockery , sipping tea.

He was hidden behind the green shadows of the bamboo forest and the curling tea smoke, wearing a white shirt, surrounded by green trees and red flowers, and in the vibrant colors, his simplicity was dazzling.

Although she couldn't see the man's face clearly, she knew it was Shen Yan without a doubt just by looking at his side profile, which was so calm and yet so imposing. Seeing him as soon as she came, it was sure that

something bad would happen later.

She quickly pulled the star-grabbing pendant to cover herself, and walked towards the palace with her head down.

On the pavilion, the brilliant clusters of flowers that bent the branches poured down from the vermilion tops to the side of Shen Yan who was talking to his sister, falling like snow.

He frowned slightly, glanced at the palace corridor nonchalantly, and his indifferent eyes were locked on the slender pink figure.

Now Ning Yuan was with her black hair hanging down, secretly following the maid, with tiny steps, as if avoiding someone. She didn't look like

a lady from a noble family, but rather petty.

Shen Yan couldn't help but show some disgust in his eyes, and he pulled up his wide sleeves, letting the petals pile up a pink cloud beside him.

Queen Shen noticed his gaze, covered her lips with the cup and smiled, and said seriously: "I see that Yuanyuan has become more and more beautiful and charming, and her temperament is also gentle and gentle, which is very suitable for you. The Shen and Ning families have already made an engagement, when do you plan to marry her?"

Shen Yan put the teacup on the low table and refused decisively: "She is not suitable."

Shen Yan thought that his marriage with Ning Yuan was extremely absurd.

At that time, they didn't know their appearance or temperament, and their parents didn't consider the future prosperity and decline of the family, so they hurriedly engaged.

Now thinking about it, it was really a short-sighted act.

His wife, Shen Yan, can't say that she is smart, but at least she should be dignified, right?

Shen Heng looked at her brother leisurely, and saw his slender fingers lightly resting on the flawless white porcelain teacup, his emotionless eyes still hanging on the foot of the mountain.

She smiled slowly and said nothing more, fearing to disturb his gaze.

Before Ning Yuan reached the gate of the courtyard, she heard the sound of a young lady's charming laughter.

"Didn't Lord Shen and Ning Yuan already get engaged a long time ago? How come she has been an adult for a long time, but the Shen family has no intention of arranging the wedding?"

"I heard that Duke Ning couldn't bear to part with her, the only daughter born to his first wife, and wanted to keep her for a few more days."

His Majesty's younger sister, Princess Zhaohui, skimmed the tea leaves and chatted with everyone casually, "What... I once heard the Emperor's sister-in-law sigh that Shen Yan just didn't want to marry her." As soon as

these words came out, everyone looked at Zhaohui.

She then went on to say, "Marriages between aristocratic families are always brought together by profit and broken up by profit. Although she is the eldest daughter of Duke Ning, as the saying goes, if you have a stepmother, your biological father becomes your stepfather as well. Didn't you see that Madam Ning only brought her biological daughter to the banquet and didn't bring her at all?"

Zhao Hui finished speaking, glancing at Ning Li who was sitting next to him intentionally or unintentionally, and said with a fake smile, "Even if the Shen family wants to form an alliance with the Ning family, I'm afraid they should marry the jewel in the Ning Mansion, the second Miss Ning."

The ladies present rarely had access to the secrets of the royal family. When they heard that two sisters were competing for the same husband, they could hardly hide their excitement. For a while, the courtyard was filled with gossip.

The palace maid next to Shen Heng was very considerate and poured her another cup of tea. She covered the cup and teased, "No wonder you didn't want to sit down earlier and asked me to hide in this pavilion. It turned out that it was to make me listen to all this."

"Do you prefer Ning Li?"

Shen Yan, who always had a calm face, showed a little doubt.

"Who is Ning Li? I haven't heard of her."

Yuan has Zhi and Li has Lan. Ning Li is Ning Yuan's half-sister.

Shen Heng was speechless, propped up one arm on the table, and tentatively said, "But... after hearing them mention it, I remembered something."

"Well... I heard rumors that Yuanyuan has collected many of your portraits in the mansion."

In fact, these paintings were all painted by her painting studio.

There was no other reason. Besides wanting to save her mother's face, she also wanted to let public opinion pressure her cold-hearted brother.

Who knew that except for the first painting that was hung in the studio for ten days, every subsequent painting would be bought by Yuanyuan as soon as it dried.

"That... Yuanyuan treats you so affectionately, you should not let her down. Otherwise, I will set a date for you two--"

Before Shen Heng finished her words, Shen Yan stood up and interrupted her nagging mercilessly.

"Your Majesty, it's time to attend the banquet."

His voice was cold and stiff, really heartless.

At the same time, the ladies in the courtyard were also discussing this matter.

"...It seems that it's not just Shen Yan's portrait, but the two of them are in the painting together, all kinds of them! Once when I went to the painting studio, I happened to see a painting that had just been finished and was drying the ink. It was the two of them looking at each other affectionately. How shameless."

Ning Yuan actually doesn't like to care too much. She can turn a deaf ear to any gossip, but she can't stand others misunderstanding that she is deeply in love with Shen Yan.

To prevent the paintings from being spread out, she had to buy one after another.

Who knew that the more she bought, the more excited the owner of the painting studio became.

It was not that she intended to collect them!

As the saying goes, the first effort is strong, the second is weak, and the third is exhausted.

For someone like her who always forgets her words in a quarrel and feels that she did not perform well after reviewing it, if she wants to appear to be right, she needs to be quick, accurate, and ruthless, and not give others a chance to speak.

She made up her mind, mustered up her courage, stepped up and hurried into the courtyard, and explained loudly: "What do you know? It is obvious that Shen Yan has a deep love for me! He ordered people to paint those!"

At the same time, Shen Yan, who had just turned down the rockery, appeared on the other side of the palace, and his cold amber eyes met her gaze without hesitation.

If the glare could turn into a sword, she would have been stabbed through at this moment.

He is deeply in love with her?

Is it possible?

Shen Yan stared at those clear eyes.

After not seeing each other for a long time, Ning Yuan's original childishness faded a little, and her chin became more pointed.

Her skin was as white as jade, her lips were like cherry blossoms, and her pair of dark lychee eyes were as bright as the moon.

It's a pity that this face is a liar.

He snorted coldly and said in a light voice: "Really? May I ask, Miss Ning, what is the name of the person I hired, and do you have any witnesses or evidence?"

...

Ning Yuan was deflated for a moment.

Of course she didn't.

She only knew that Shen Yan always paid special attention to her.

Whenever there was a banquet, big or small, she could always feel his intentional or unintentional gaze. She couldn't bear to look back a few times, but he was angry and glared at her. It

was a coincidence this time. As soon as she came, he went down the mountain.

Doesn't this mean that he was paying attention to her? He

paid so much attention to her, couldn't he be deeply in love with her?

Thinking of this, Ning Yuan felt more justified.

"...You know it in your heart."

The voice was as soft as spring rain, mixed with a little bit of hardness, but only a little bit.

Shen Heng followed closely behind, and seeing this, he hurriedly winked at the palace people.

"The Queen is here!"

With a shout, everyone hurriedly stood up to greet her, and when His Majesty arrived, the banquet finally started.

The current emperor grew up with the Shen siblings. He is a very kind and gentle person, and is very considerate of his subjects. He knew that if he stayed for a long time, they would not be able to talk freely. After three rounds of drinking, he made up an excuse and took Shen Heng away.

Shen Yan wanted to leave with him, but behind a row of weeping willows planted in the courtyard, he caught a glimpse of a rather eye-catching and slender pink figure.

Ning Yuan was trying not to attract anyone's attention and moved out of the courtyard little by little.

After congratulations and toasts, for Ning Yuan, today's palace banquet was over.

The exchanges between those ladies had nothing to do with her, and she was not interested. She was even more annoyed to be in the same place with her stepmother Shen Yan and other annoying people.

So she told Shouxing to wait here, and if anyone looked for her, she should say that she went to change clothes, and she could find a quiet place to stay until the banquet was over and she could go back home.

When she stood on the palace road leading to the lake, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

But what she didn't know was that these actions were defined as sneaky in the eyes of Shen Yan.

Shen Yan didn't want to see any accidents happen at her sister's Qianqiu Festival banquet. Seeing that she was very sneaky, he only thought for a moment and guessed that she had no good intentions. He simply got up and followed her to see what she was up to.

He hid behind a green pine and saw her walking quickly and sneakily in front of him, still looking quite petty.

The next moment, he accidentally bumped into the patrolling guard, his body tilted, and he fell into the lake beside him.

"Miss Ning has fallen into the water! Quick! Someone come!"

The sharp and panicked screams of the palace servants broke the silence on the palace corridor.

Shen Yan glanced at the pine needles beside him without paying any attention.

He was familiar with such tricks.

Ning Yuan was probably always paying attention to him, and found that he was following her, so she deliberately jumped into the water, hoping that he would be a hero and save her, and have a commendable encounter of fate.

If she didn't believe it, she would definitely hold up her eyes that were very good at pretending to be pitiful, and beg him to help her.

Shen Yan walked towards the lake.

The lake was splashing with water, Ning Yuan struggled wildly, the cold lake water wrapped around her, and penetrated into her body through every pore.

She looked around in panic, and happened to see a pair of amber eyes looking down at her.

"Help... cough cough..."

She couldn't even form a complete cry for help, and the lake water was already rushing into her mouth and nose.

It was such a good opportunity to get close to her, Shen Yan would definitely put aside his past airs and come to the rescue.

However, considering that she was about to sink, she reluctantly gave him a chance.

There were only a few people on the shore, and Ning Yuan's eyes were eager. Shen Yan walked over, stopped at the shore, and no longer made any move. Ning

Yuan floated up and down in the water, and then realized that Shen Yan had no intention of saving her.

More and more cold water poured into her internal organs, squeezing the already limited air in her body. Her head began to feel dizzy, and her limbs also became limp and weak.

She had no choice but to look for help from others.

Seeing that the guard who bumped into her was finally about to take off his clothes and jump into the water to save her, Shen Yan suddenly raised his hand.

His slender jade-like fingers grasped the guard's wrist, and the veins on the back of his hand were exposed, as if he had used a lot of strength.

... Not only did he not even look at her, but he also pulled away the life-saving straw on the shore?

It would be fine if he didn't save her, but why did he hinder others! ?

Ning Yuan's heart, immersed in the lake, was colder than killing fish for ten years. She suddenly realized that

Shen Yan might never have liked her at all.

In the past, he treated her coldly and harshly, hoping that she would not be able to bear the humiliation and take the initiative to cancel the engagement.

This time, he watched coldly because he wanted to see her die. If she died, the marriage that had been arranged long ago would no longer count.

From the beginning to the end, he did not want to bear the stigma of breaking a promise!

Wolf-hearted, hypocritical!

Ning Yuan collapsed in his heart and spat.

At the same time, a gentle voice echoed in Shen Yan's mind.

Who is talking?

He held the guard's hand tightly and paused.