"Ningning, over here!"
As soon as Shen Tangning got off the carriage, she heard someone calling her.
She looked up and saw two girls smiling and waving at her from the second-floor window.
The girl in pink was Wen Yao, the daughter of the Imperial Censor, who had delivered the invitation to her. The girl in blue was Jiang Qingyue, the daughter of the Vice Minister of the Chancellery.
She paused, realizing that before she turned seventeen, the three of them had always been inseparable.
Shen Tangning went upstairs, and Wen Yao and Jiang Qingyue got up to greet her.
Wen Yao gently pursed her lips and came up to take her arm: "After we got married, it's really not easy to see you."
Jiang Qingyue smiled and shook her head: "Who says it isn't?"
The three of them sat down. Wen Yao glanced at Shen Tangning's expression and saw that she did not look haggard or disappointed, so she was slightly relieved.
She pursed her lips and asked cautiously, "Ningning, how have you been lately?"
Shen Tangning smiled calmly and said, "It's acceptable."
Jiang Qingyue thought she was forcing a smile, and frowned slightly: "We're all sisters, there's no need for us to beat around the bush. Everyone in Yanjing knows what kind of person that Second Young Master Chi is. Ningning, aren't you really heartbroken?"
Shen Tangning found it somewhat amusing: "What else can I do? I'm already married, and life goes on. If I don't pull myself together, am I supposed to kill myself?"
The two were speechless; that was the logic behind it.
Wen Yao smiled with relief: "It's good that you think that way. If you ask me, although Young Master Chi is a bit useless, he's not a womanizer or fickle! In that respect, he's far better than Chi Jingyu!"
She got angrier and angrier as she spoke, her face full of righteous indignation. Jiang Qingyue nudged her with her elbow, and she realized what was happening. She looked at Shen Tangning's face awkwardly.
Shen Tangning knew that she was indignant on her behalf, so she wasn't angry. She nodded seriously and said, "Isn't that right? They're in love, and I'm stuck in the middle, making me the bad guy. Why don't I just be sensible?"
The two men joined her in her protest for a while before changing the subject.
Wen Yao suggested enthusiastically, "Forget about those unlucky things! We're out here today to have some fun. I know there's a new shop that recently opened in the south of the city with lots of strange and unusual things, supposedly from Southeast Asia. Shall we go check it out?"
Shen Tangning readily agreed.
But she didn't expect to run into Chi Yan, after all, Yanjing is not a small place.
...
The shop Wen Yao mentioned was indeed very popular; there were already quite a few people there when they arrived.
As soon as Shen Tangning entered, she knew why the business was so good; the store sold a wide variety of goods.
There was a telescope that allowed one to see a thousand miles, a luminous pearl larger than a fist, and the rouge, face powder, silks, and satins that women loved...
Yanjing has never lacked wealthy people, but what wealthy people lack is precisely novelty.
The three were invited upstairs by the shopkeeper. Shen Tangning was playing with the Nine Linked Rings when she suddenly heard a familiar voice coming from downstairs.
"I've already said, this young master isn't after any beautiful lady; I'm simply curious about what the Kunshan jade looks like!"
Chi Yan's arrogance was so unique that Shen Tangning couldn't ignore it.
Xueqing, standing to the side, had a look of "I knew it" in her eyes: "Miss, it seems to be the young master."
Shen Tangning raised her hand, signaling her to be quiet.
A hint of surprise flashed in Jiang Qingyue's eyes as she walked over: "Ningning, has your husband come looking for you?"
Shen Tangning curled her lips: "I'm afraid you're not looking for me."
Chi Yan had no idea she was here.
After Chi Yan finished speaking, Xiao Yu, the youngest son of the mighty general, rolled his eyes and said, "Young Master Chi, you still won't admit it. Miss Pingting just said a few days ago that she wanted a piece of jewelry made of Kunshan jade. Today you came here eagerly to see the jade. If you say it's not to please Miss Pingting, who would believe you?"
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