The woman staggered under the push and almost fell to the ground.
She steadied herself against the rockery wall with difficulty and said, "My dear Shen, I've been waiting for you for so long. Must you be so heartless?"
"My dear Shen" was Shen Yunfeng. A flash of cruelty passed through his eyes, but thinking that the woman was still of some use, he suppressed his annoyance and explained gently, "Don't you know my feelings for you?"
"If it weren't for the fact that after I took Concubine Yun in, the princess went to the emperor to complain, which brought trouble to our family and made my grandfather lose his position as the prime minister... Alas, if I could avoid implicating my family, I would surely give you a proper name!"
"Seeing you staying in the princess's mansion as just a distant cousin without a proper status, my heart aches like being stabbed with a knife."
Shen Yunfeng was extremely good - looking. His almond - shaped eyes stared at Xie Xiner affectionately, which softened her heart a bit. Her original anger vanished, leaving only full - fledged joy.
A blush appeared on Xie Xiner's face. She leaned towards Shen Yunfeng again.
This time, instead of pushing her away, Shen Yunfeng pulled her into his arms and whispered, "I know your affection for me. But as we agreed before, we should blame Concubine Yun for Baozhu's drowning so that the princess will punish her. Then I'll step in and save Concubine Yun."
"Publicly, we'll claim that the princess is jealous and can't tolerate Concubine Yun. Privately, Concubine Yun will be our helper. After I get divorced from the princess, I'll drive her out and keep only you."
With just a few words, Shen Yunfeng successfully coaxed Xie Xiner. But then he changed the subject, "But why did you drug Baozhu? After all, she is my own daughter! They say love me, love my dog. Rou'er, do you really love me?"
Xie Xiner was stunned for a moment. Then she said anxiously, "I really love you, my dear Shen. You must believe me."
"Then why did you drug Baozhu? Because of what you did, Baozhu woke up and kept asking for her mother. In the end, they all went to Yunmiao Courtyard."
"Baozhu is on good terms with Concubine Yun and her son. How could the princess punish Concubine Yun in front of them? The plan already had loopholes. We were just gambling on the princess's eagerness for her son. Now that the plan has failed, once the princess comes to her senses, she will surely find out about me. How can I get divorced from her and marry you?"
"You really disappointed me this time."
Shen Yunfeng's tone was earnest, with a hint of disappointment, but his eyes were extremely cold.
Xie Xiner nestled in Shen Yunfeng's arms. Only then did she realize that her actions were inappropriate this time. She bit her lower lip gently and racked her brains to think of an explanation.
Among the three children of Princess Jingning, although Shen Baozhu was the youngest, she was the most considerate. Shen Yunfeng also doted on her a lot. If the eldest young master hadn't been favored by the old lady of the Shen family and the third young master hadn't been away in the military camp for a long time, Shen Yunfeng wouldn't have targeted her.
But Xie Xiner was just unwilling. She hated Shen Baozhu the most. Out of selfishness, she secretly drugged Shen Baozhu behind Shen Yunfeng's back, hoping to make her a fool.
But in front of Shen Yunfeng, Xie Xiner had always been a weak and helpless woman. She didn't dare to reveal her vicious thoughts. So she just casually made up an excuse, "I... I was just afraid that Baozhu would wake up too early and disrupt our plan. So I asked Cuiliu to drug her with a sleeping pill. I didn't expect Cuiliu to be so clumsy that Baizhi saw her..."
Hearing the name Cuiliu, Shen Yunfeng frowned tightly, "Is she your personal maid from before? Get rid of her as soon as possible. We mustn't let the princess trace back to you through her."
There was no need for Xie Xiner to think twice about choosing between the maid who had accompanied her for many years and her beloved Shen Yunfeng. She chose the latter without hesitation.
Inside the dark rockery, only the dim light of the candle flickered. In the silent darkness, Xie Xiner softened her body and leaned against Shen Yunfeng bonelessly. Her slender and fair fingers caressed Shen Yunfeng's cheek, and she trembled, "My dear Shen..."
A young man and a young woman were here for an affair. Shen Yunfeng understood what she meant. He held Bai Xinrou's fingers, hugged her, and blew out the candle.
...
Early the next morning.
Just waking up, Shen Baozhu got up groggily with her messy hair. Opening her eyes, she saw her mother sitting by the bed.
She rubbed her eyes in disbelief, "Wow! Is mother here to accompany Baozhu this morning?"
When Shen Baozhu was three years old, she had her own courtyard and slept alone. Usually, it was the maids who guarded by her bed. Occasionally, when the princess was free, she would come to see her.
Seeing Shen Baozhu's dazed look, Princess Jingning laughed and poked her little face, "Silly girl, take a look where this is."
With the reminder, Shen Baozhu remembered that she had slept in the main courtyard yesterday. She threw herself into Princess Jingning's arms and mumbled unhappily, "Baozhu is not a silly girl. I just forgot."
After playing with Princess Jingning for a while, Shen Baozhu finally got up to wash up.
Today, Shen Baozhu was wearing a light pink ruqun. She sat upright on the chair, holding the spoon tightly with her small hands and eating heartily.
She ate so deliciously that Princess Jingning couldn't help but eat more.
When Shen Baozhu ate something delicious, she couldn't wait to share it with her mother. She scooped up a shrimp dumpling with a clean spoon and put it into Princess Jingning's bowl, "Mother, try this shrimp dumpling. It's so delicious!"
"Okay, let mother have a taste..." Just as Princess Jingning was about to eat it, Qingdai stepped forward and whispered something in her ear.
Princess Jingning's eyes turned cold slightly, but when facing Shen Baozhu, she smiled again and swallowed the shrimp dumpling in one bite, "It's really delicious... Baozhu, mother has some things to deal with. After I finish them, I'll come back to accompany you, okay?"
Shen Baozhu nodded obediently.
Looking at her daughter's obedient appearance, Princess Jingning felt better. She ordered Baizhi, "Tell the kitchen to make a few more servings of shrimp dumplings tomorrow. Send two servings to the academy so that the young masters can all have a taste."
Among the three young masters in the princess's mansion, only the eldest young master, Shen Heqing, and the concubine - born Shen Danqing were studying in the academy. The third young master, Shen Haiyan, was in the military camp, and they couldn't send food in on weekdays.
Baizhi understood what Princess Jingning meant, that is, yesterday's incident would not affect the status of Concubine Yun and her son in the mansion. She lowered her head and took the order.
After Princess Jingning left, Shen Baozhu didn't leave the main courtyard. She was playing with a Luban lock in the study. Hongshen stood guard at the door to prevent yesterday's incident from happening again.
Shen Baozhu was trying hard to solve the Luban lock, but this one was a bit difficult. She had studied it for a long time but still had no clue.
[Try pulling out the second wooden strip on the right.]
A row of glittering golden words appeared again. Shen Baozhu instinctively followed the instruction and finally successfully solved the Luban lock. She said happily, "Thank you, Immortal, for your guidance!"
"I told you I could solve it. Big brother didn't believe me. When he comes home this time, I'll show him my skills."
After putting away the Luban lock that proved her skills, Shen Baozhu looked up at the empty air and bowed seriously, "Baozhu thanks the Immortal for saving my life."
The little chubby girl pursed her lips and knelt down on the ground to kowtow properly, looking quite interesting.
In the Monster Beast Forest in another world, the immortal venerable in white clothes with black hair looked indifferent. He used his silver spear to fend off the monster beasts in front of him. As the corpses of the monster beasts piled up, the system prompt sounded.
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully upgrading. You can send six messages per day and give three gifts per month.]
Hearing the prompt, the immortal venerable put away his magical weapon.
Looking at the cute and proper appearance of the little child, he felt admiration in his heart. She was neither over - boastful nor impatient, and she still remembered to thank him for saving her life. She was a good child.
The immortal venerable replied, [It was just a piece of cake. You don't need to be so polite.]