"What? What's the matter this time?" After what happened this morning, Shen Mingzhu's tone was not very amiable. She glanced at him.
Xie Lang looked at Shen Mingzhu with a hint of helplessness in his eyes and said, "My father will be back tonight. There's going to be a family dinner."
"Family dinner?" Shen Mingzhu paused slightly upon hearing this and looked at Xie Lang. "What kind of family dinner?"
The Xie family rarely had family dinners. Even on festivals, they might not be able to gather together.
Why was there suddenly a family dinner for no reason today?
"That Liu woman probably wishes she could invite her whole family over."
As Xie Lang said this, a hint of sarcasm appeared on his face. He curled his lips and said, "Her nephew is here today. I don't know what she said to my father, but all of a sudden, he decided to hold a family dinner."
Seeing the displeasure on Xie Lang's face, Shen Mingzhu raised her eyebrows. "Then let's not go."
Xie Lang was taken aback upon hearing this. Looking at Shen Mingzhu, he suddenly burst into laughter and said, "That's actually a good idea."
"Indeed." Shen Mingzhu nodded. She didn't quite understand why Xie Lang was so entangled, but she continued, "Now you're the princess consort of this princess. Who dares to order you around?"
Xie Lang let out a soft laugh.
Seeing Xie Lang laughing, Shen Mingzhu just realized that her tone now actually had a bit of Xie Lang's flavor. So, regardless of her dignity, she gave him a disdainful look.
"Well..." Shen Mingzhu was silent for a moment and then said, "Since General Xie will be here tonight, don't you need to give them greeting gifts?"
There were a lot of things in Shen Mingzhu's storeroom. There were all kinds of gadgets whose craftsmanship was comparable to or even better than those in the palace. It was said that there were also thousand - year - old medicinal herbs and the most common gold...
But Shen Mingzhu guessed that Xie Lang wouldn't want her to give those things to those two people.
From Xie Lang's tone, Shen Mingzhu could tell that he must have had quite a feud with those two.
Upon hearing this, a flash of displeasure crossed Xie Lang's face. He was silent for a long time. Shen Mingzhu even wanted to speak up.
"Ah, I remembered."
Xie Lang slapped his head and looked at Shen Mingzhu with a smile, curling his lips. "I just received two paintings by Mr. Wensong. It's just right to give one to each of them."
Shen Mingzhu: "..."
She didn't know what to say. Xie Lang was really good at fooling people.
Sure enough, for the rest of the day, Shen Mingzhu only heard Xie Lang say that he had something to do and then he disappeared.
As the family dinner was about to start, Shen Mingzhu also got up and went out, wondering where Xie Lang was.
As soon as she went out, she saw Xie Lang holding two scrolls in his hand. He naturally took Shen Mingzhu's hand and there was a meaningful smile on his face.
[Tsk, I'm being too kind to them.]
"What?" Xie Lang said with a smile on his face, looking at Shen Mingzhu. "Your Highness has been looking at me. Why?"
Shen Mingzhu was silent for a moment. Hearing Xie Lang's inner voice of laughing non - stop, the words "You're so noisy" that were on the tip of her tongue were swallowed back. She frowned and said, "It's nothing. I'm just a bit hungry."
After hearing this, Xie Lang couldn't help but look her over carefully. After making sure there was nothing wrong, he said suspiciously, "If you're hungry, just tell the kitchen. It's not like I can't afford to feed you."
"Does this princess need you to feed me?" Shen Mingzhu gave him a half - smiling look in private and said with a smile, "In this world, there probably isn't anyone who can afford to support this princess yet."
Xie Lang instinctively wanted to refute, but then he suddenly remembered that the Shen Mingzhu in front of him was not only rich, but also powerful and had a fief. So, he reluctantly closed his mouth.
[Ah, why is Shen Mingzhu so rich! It's so annoying! If only...]
Before Shen Mingzhu could hear clearly what Xie Lang was thinking, she saw him suddenly stop and look at her seriously and say, "Your Highness."
Seeing that they had already reached the door, Shen Mingzhu thought Xie Lang was going to say something important. So, she also stopped and said, "I'm really not as rich as you. So, why don't you support me?"
It was originally a joke. The conversation between the two of them was getting more and more out of tune. Even Chuntao beside them was used to the sudden jumpiness of the princess consort. Shen Mingzhu was also becoming more and more lively because of him.
Before Shen Mingzhu could say anything, there was a heavy sound of footsteps behind them.
She turned around and saw General Xie looking at her with a complicated expression. He also gave Xie Lang a look of hating iron for not being steel, and then said, "I pay my respects to the princess."
Behind him were Liu and a man and a woman. Seeing their conversation, there was undisguised contempt on their faces, but they could only grit their teeth and pay their respects.
Shen Mingzhu said calmly, "General Xie, there's no need for such formalities."
After saying that, she gave Xie Lang a hard look, pulled her hand out of his arm, and walked forward on her own.
Xie Lang couldn't help but let out a soft laugh and was patted on the shoulder by General Xie with a look of hating iron for not being steel.
After everyone was seated, Liu couldn't wait to introduce the two people.
Shen Mingzhu listened absent - mindedly and didn't even remember their names. She subconsciously glanced at Xie Lang.
Xie Lang smiled back with the corners of his mouth raised.
"Your Highness and the eldest young master are really newlyweds." A sarcastic voice sounded. Shen Mingzhu looked in the direction of the voice and saw a woman in plain clothes looking at her and Xie Lang with a smile on her face. She said softly, "It really makes this concubine feel nostalgic."
Shen Mingzhu looked at her intently for a while but just couldn't remember who this person was.
Xie Lang suddenly let out a soft laugh and said, "Nostalgic for what? I'm the husband of Your Highness. Aunt Wang is also nostalgic..."
Xie Lang deliberately held back the next few words maliciously.
Aunt Wang hated it the most when others mentioned her status as a concubine. Hearing this, her face turned green.
Liu proudly glanced at her.
Because of the awkward silence caused by Xie Lang at the beginning, no one said a word during the whole meal.
After the meal, Shen Mingzhu and Xie Lang glanced at each other. They didn't expect that Liu didn't cause any trouble, and even Aunt Wang beside her kept her mouth shut tightly. So, Shen Mingzhu frowned a bit uncomfortably.
Sure enough, before Xie Lang could step out of the front hall, a young voice sounded from behind. "Cousin, I wonder what you gave us. Can we open it and take a look?"
Shen Mingzhu turned around and saw Liu's nephew smiling at Xie Lang and then unfurling the scroll.
Shen Mingzhu couldn't even remember his name, so she glanced at Xie Lang.
"This..." The man was surprised. He looked at it carefully for a few times and said, "Cousin, this can't be a painting by Mr. Wensong, can it?"
"This looks a bit..."
Then he showed a hesitant expression and said to Xie Lang, "Cousin, could it be that you don't usually read much about calligraphy and paintings, so you were cheated by someone?"
Hearing what the two of them said, Shen Mingzhu couldn't help but sigh in her heart. These two were really siblings. Their words had the same flavor.
Suddenly curious about Xie Lang's inner voice, Shen Mingzhu took a few small steps to the side.
[Tsk, are they secretly saying that I'm uneducated again? What? This was painted by Mr. Wensong himself. Are you not satisfied?]
The corners of Shen Mingzhu's lips curled up slightly.
"This..."
Originally thinking that Xie Lang would refute, unexpectedly, he just looked at her with a troubled expression and then said, "I got this from Your Highness. It shouldn't be fake, right?"
The expressions of everyone present changed greatly. A flash of greed quickly crossed Liu's eyes.