"Mother, she's clearly my younger sister. You can't be so partial, can you?"
Being tugged by his mother on his ear in front of the girl he fancied, Zhen Yuanfeng felt extremely embarrassed. However, his mother remained unmoved.
She stretched out her finger and pressed it hard on her son's injured left abdomen. Instantly, Zhen Yuanfeng gasped in pain, and his mother's voice rang out:
"Go lie down in your room right now!"
Just like that, Zhen Yuanfeng, who was eager to show off in front of the beauty, was sent back to his room dejectedly by his mother.
After Zhen Yuanfeng left, Mrs. Zhen swept her gaze and landed on her eldest son who was standing behind the round wooden pillar in the corridor. She raised her voice and said:
"Shao Cheng, do you also think the weather is so nice that you can't afford to waste such good time?"
The figure behind the pillar stiffened. Then he walked out of the corridor awkwardly, nodded to Yun Xi, and said honestly to his mother:
"Mother, your son just went to the toilet. That's all."
Zhen Shaocheng was holding a board under his arm, his arm in a sling. He hung his head and deliberately lowered his voice. A blush crept up to the tips of his ears.
"Oh, it was my fault for wrongly suspecting you. Go back to your room and rest."
She thought so. Among her sons, the eldest was the most steady and honest one. How could he be as useless as the third one? Unable to take his eyes off the girl he liked!
Hearing this, Zhen Shaocheng felt as if he had been pardoned. He bid farewell to Yun Xi and left the yard in a hurry.
Looking at the lively and interesting Zhen family, Yun Xi couldn't help but curl her lips.
After entering the living room, Zhen Bao came over and hooked her arm around Yun Xi's. She whispered with a giggle:
"Yun Xi, you don't know. Usually, when my third brother sees a girl, he looks like a fierce god. He's scared so many girls to tears."
"But when it comes to you, he can't take his eyes off you. He really likes you!"
Yun Xi was rendered speechless and almost embarrassed to death. She tapped Zhen Bao.
"Don't talk nonsense."
With a jealous guy like Qi Rong around, she didn't want to cause any misunderstandings.
Once his jealousy was aroused, the consequences would be very serious!
"It's true!"
Zhen Bao quickly scanned the room. Finding that her mother was not around, she tried hard to prove it:
"Last night, after my third brother came back, he said he wanted to go to the prime minister's mansion to propose marriage, but he was scolded badly by my mother! She said that for matters of the heart, both sides should be willing. Being too hasty would be impolite and counterproductive!"
Yun Xi's face flushed red. Such a thing had actually happened?
Yun Xi was at a loss for words. As if remembering something, Zhen Bao straightened her little face and said seriously:
"My fifth brother said that the bad guy Qi Rong also likes you. Do you like him too?"
Yun Xi was stunned by the question and didn't know how to answer for a moment. Zhen Bao continued:
"Although my brothers are not as good at martial arts as him and not as good-looking as him, if you become my sister-in-law, we can be together every day. But if you marry that guy, I don't even know if I can still see you!"
Suddenly, Zhen Bao hugged Yun Xi, looking extremely reluctant:
"Yun Xi, I don't want to be separated from you!"
Knowing that Zhen Bao was simple-minded and said these words because she really liked her, Yun Xi felt quite helpless looking at the girl hugging her.
She had never thought about getting married from the very beginning. Even though Qi Rong had expressed his feelings for her last night, she still couldn't believe it. She even felt faintly uneasy because of Qi Rong's domineering.
Her feelings for Qi Rong were complicated. Sometimes even she herself couldn't figure them out.
But if she were to marry into the Zhen family, she thought it was even more impossible!
First of all, Qi Rong was inexplicably obsessed with her. With his cruel and domineering nature, she didn't want to harm the Zhen family!
Secondly, although she was still rather naive about matters of the heart, she also knew that she didn't have any special feelings for the brothers of the Zhen family. If she were to marry into the family reluctantly, it would only be a let - down.
"Zhen Bao, why are you clinging to Yun Xi again?"
Mrs. Zhen walked in from the door with an invitation card in her hand. Seeing her daughter clinging to Yun Xi like a piece of dog - skin plaster, she couldn't help but find it both funny and annoying.
Last night, when Zhen Yuanfeng had clamored to go to the prime minister's mansion to propose marriage, Mrs. Zhen had scolded him badly. She had also strictly told Zhen Bao not to mention this matter in front of Yun Xi.
She was afraid of putting a burden on Yun Xi's mind.
Seeing her mother coming in, Zhen Bao immediately straightened up guiltily. Looking at the invitation card in her mother's hand, she asked:
"Mother, what's that you're holding?"
Mrs. Zhen glanced at the invitation card in her hand and smiled as she handed it to Zhen Bao.
"This is an invitation card just sent from the palace. It says that on the nineteenth day of the first lunar month, the queen will hold a banquet in the palace. All the young ladies and gentlemen from various families will be invited to attend."
Seeing the confused look on her daughter's face, Mrs. Zhen explained:
"To put it simply, it's a blind - date banquet organized by the palace. The prime minister's mansion should also have received the invitation."
"Ah? A blind - date banquet? I don't want to go!"
Zhen Bao looked extremely disgusted. She didn't want to get married so soon and lose her freedom!
How could Mrs. Zhen not know her daughter's thoughts? She took the invitation card from Zhen Bao's hand.
"You don't have a say in this!"
Mrs. Zhen lovingly pinched her daughter's wheat - colored cheek and deliberately put on a stern face.
Although the queen's banquet seemed to be a disguised blind - date banquet, it was very likely that it was for the crown prince to choose a consort.
Although the Zhen family doted on their daughter, they didn't have the guts to disobey the queen!
Fortunately, although the Zhen family was a prominent family, they were not at the very center of power. And her daughter was just average in terms of beauty and talent. She was not outstanding among the noble young ladies in the capital.
So, she wasn't worried.
Thinking of this, Mrs. Zhen's eyes couldn't help but fall on Yun Xi's extremely beautiful face. A hint of worry flashed across her eyes.
Yun Xi was different from her daughter. Not only was her father a powerful prime minister, but her maternal grandfather's family was also an extremely wealthy imperial merchant. Coupled with Yun Xi's peerless beauty, her intelligence, and her having helped the refugees solve their livelihood issues, she had been conferred the title of Princess Yongning by the emperor.
A woman like this, who combined power, beauty, and talent, how could the royal family let her go easily?!
It was just that her stupid son thought that he could marry her just because of his one - sided love. She didn't even dare to think about it!
Noticing Mrs. Zhen's gaze fixed on her, Yun Xi was puzzled. She touched her face:
"Madam, is there something strange about my face?"
Realizing that she had been out of line, Mrs. Zhen shook her head with a smile. She affectionately stroked the black hair at Yun Xi's temple:
"I was just thinking what kind of person your mother was to give birth to such a beautiful and intelligent daughter like you. Unlike me."
Mrs. Zhen looked at her daughter teasingly. Zhen Bao immediately shouted:
"Mother, Yun Xi is very nice, but you don't have to praise her and belittle me like this. Are you disliking your own daughter?"
Looking at Zhen Bao boldly acting coquettishly with Mrs. Zhen, Yun Xi felt envious.
She couldn't help but think that if her mother were still alive, she would also be as happy as Zhen Bao.
However, life couldn't be assumed.
Once something was lost, it could never come back. It would only make people sigh and feel melancholy.
After leaving the general's mansion, Yun Xi didn't go straight home. Instead, she went to the embroidery workshop all the way.
Seeing Yun Xi coming, Aunt Qin immediately welcomed her into the room. Beside her was Zhao Chunsheng, the new manager of the antique shop.
"Have you found the person?"
Yun Xi walked in a hurry. Before she even entered the door, she couldn't wait to ask.
"Yeah, we've found him!"
Zhao Chunsheng walked in the front and helped lift the cotton curtain on the door.
"Just as the young lady guessed, the Jiang family really tried to kill that father - daughter pair back then. Fortunately, they managed to escape by a fluke."
"I'm afraid even the Jiang family never thought that the people who were supposed to be silenced by her would actually mix with the refugees and enter the capital, and then be found by the young lady's people!"