Shen Mingzhu suddenly looked up and saw a pot-bellied man standing at the door. His face was shiny with oil, making him look greasy and annoying. "Cousin!"
The man rushed straight forward. The next moment, like a ball of meat, he was knocked down hard by the guards and rolled on the ground a few times.
Shen Mingzhu: "...... Pfft."
Xie Lang had already stepped forward and stood in front of Shen Mingzhu. He stood there with a cold expression, staring at the man on the ground.
"Ouch! Cousin, tell these servants to behave!"
The man took a sharp breath. He got up and tried to step forward, but was held down by the guard beside him.
Shen Mingzhu saw that he was covered in dust. It seemed as if he had even rolled around in some dusty place. His clothes were in a mess, with the collar torn open. He looked extremely slovenly.
Only then did the guards behind rush up in a hurry. When they saw the man, their faces changed drastically. They knelt down and said, "Please forgive us, Your Highness. It was our negligence in guarding that allowed this man to get in."
Shen Mingzhu raised her eyebrows slightly. She was rather curious about how this man had managed to get in.
Moreover, he called her cousin? It seemed that he must be the son of her mother's elder brother.
What was his name again?
Shen Mingzhu couldn't even remember this man's name. Seeing him covered in dust, she didn't know what to say for a moment.
"How did he get in?"
Xie Lang spoke before Shen Mingzhu. The guard kneeling on the ground broke out in cold sweat. He quickly said, "Reporting to the consort, this man asked to see Your Highness. When Your Highness refused to see him, he turned around and left. Unexpectedly, as I was not very familiar with this place, it was only after I walked around that I noticed there was a... "
The guard swallowed hard and continued, "There was a dog hole at the back, and there were signs of someone entering around it. So I quickly followed the trail and found that he had found Your Highness and the consort first."
Shen Mingzhu: "......"
This was really...
Shen Mingzhu never expected that the man in front of her had gotten in this way. She didn't know what to say for a moment. Seeing that he had been taken away with his mouth covered, she couldn't help but let out a long sigh.
Xie Lang's face turned a bit colder. His eyes were full of coldness as he looked at the man in front of him. After a moment of silence, he turned to Shen Mingzhu and said, "Your Highness, you should have your meal first. You've been hungry for so long. It's really bad for your stomach. As for this man -"
"Take him away first."
Xie Lang hesitated for a moment and then continued, "We'll deal with him after Your Highness has finished lunch."
"Mmm mm mm -"
The man kept making sounds, trying to get Shen Mingzhu to let him go. Shen Mingzhu sneered and ignored him. She turned around and left straight away, following Xie Lang to have her meal.
"Want to eat?"
Xie Lang did this to deliberately tempt Shen Mingzhu and calm down his own anger. Unexpectedly, when he saw Shen Mingzhu looking at what was in his hand longingly, his heart softened. After a moment of silence, he still said, "You can't eat. Stop looking."
Chun Tao rarely agreed with Xie Lang, but now seeing Shen Mingzhu looking at it there, she couldn't help but say, "Your Highness, you'd better wait until your injury heals before eating. There's no need to be in a hurry."
As she said this, Chun Tao secretly blamed Xie Lang in her heart.
If it weren't for his childishness, His Highness wouldn't be craving for food!
Xie Lang had already asked someone to take the food away, but the smell lingering around didn't fade for a long time. Shen Mingzhu took a sip of the soup and then started looking towards the stove again.
"Just a bite."
Xie Lang picked up the skewer, used chopsticks to pick off a small bite, and then put it into Shen Mingzhu's bowl. "Just taste it. You can eat to your heart's content when you're better."
Shen Mingzhu was really full of resentment now. After finishing her meal, she glared at Xie Lang fiercely and then turned to Chun Tao beside her and said, "Where's the man?"
"Reporting to Your Highness." Chun Tao spoke and said to Shen Mingzhu, "The man has been temporarily detained in the woodshed. I'll go and bring him here now."
Shen Mingzhu nodded slightly and sat there lazily without moving.
Seeing that Shen Mingzhu didn't say anything, Xie Lang had achieved his goal, but he didn't feel comfortable in his heart.
"Your Highness?"
Xie Lang moved his chair a little closer to Shen Mingzhu and continued, "I've found some good wine these days. How about we drink it together when your injury heals?"
As soon as the words came out, he realized that he seemed to have touched a sensitive nerve of Shen Mingzhu.
Xie Lang silently shut up. He sat opposite Shen Mingzhu with his head down, not saying a word. A trace of regret began to well up in his heart.
After a moment of silence, when Shen Mingzhu saw Chun Tao bring the man up, she slightly raised her eyes and looked over. She looked at the man indifferently, indicating for Chun Tao to uncover his mouth.
"Cous... Cousin!"
The man still didn't give up. He quickly said, "I..."
Before he could finish his sentence, his mouth was covered again at Chun Tao's signal.
Chun Tao gave him a cold look and said, "Who's your cousin! Be more respectful to Your Highness. Don't try to claim a relationship recklessly!"
"If you keep talking nonsense, you'd better think carefully!"
Chun Tao was Shen Mingzhu's personal maid. When she spoke with a straight face, there was naturally a bit of intimidating dignity. It was extremely easy to scare this playboy in front of her.
Sure enough, when his mouth was uncovered again, the man in front of her said very sensibly, "Cous... Your Highness, I'm Song Xuan!"
A vague impression appeared in Shen Mingzhu's mind - a fat and big - eared man. When she looked down at him again, she found that the man in front of her was even fatter than the one in her impression.
So he had gotten fatter. No wonder she hadn't recognized him.
Shen Mingzhu's expression was calm. She said to the man in front of her, "Breaking into my place without permission is a capital crime."
Song Xuan didn't expect Shen Mingzhu to say this. His face instantly turned pale as he stammered, "This... This..."
"Do you mean to say that it wasn't you who broke in?"
Shen Mingzhu looked at Song Xuan stuttering there with a half - smile. There was a bit of coldness in her eyes.
Why had the Song family, with whom she had had little contact for so long, suddenly come crawling back? Could something have happened?
"Please forgive me, Your Highness!" Song Xuan knelt down straight away. Cold sweat broke out all over his body. He quickly explained, "I... I really have something urgent! Your Highness, please listen to my explanation!"
Song Xuan trembled there incoherently, repeating the same words over and over again.
Shen Mingzhu frowned. Xie Lang stepped forward first. He stood in front of Song Xuan and looked down at him coldly, saying, "What do you want to say?"
"Your Highness!" Seeing that Shen Mingzhu didn't seem to be blaming him for the time being, Song Xuan let out a long sigh of relief. He collapsed on the ground, rubbed his eyes, and then continued, "Save the Song family, Your Majesty is going to take action against the Song family!"
"I'm at least your cousin. We're blood relatives after all!"
When Shen Mingzhu heard the words "Your Majesty", she slightly raised her eyebrows. She subconsciously glanced at Xie Lang, her eyes full of deep thought.
What was going on? Why would Shen Mingyuan suddenly take action against the Song family?
Shen Mingyuan wasn't a fool. He would surely not do anything useless. What did the Song family have, or what crime had they committed, that made him stop fighting with those old foxes for a while and turn his attention to the Song family?