Looking at Shen Yu's eyes that were watery and misty but inexplicably contained a hint of provocation, Shen Yuan's expression was unusually calm.
Shen Hongliang continued chewing his food in silence, ignoring what Shen Yu said.
Liu and Shen Han watched the two sisters' joke calmly.
Shen Yu couldn't help feeling a little proud when she saw that Shen Yuan didn't reply to her immediately. Just when she was about to let go of Shen Yuan's hand, she saw that she actually covered the back of her hand with her other hand.
Shen Yuan's palm is extremely soft.
But Shen Yu still felt uncomfortable.
Just when she was about to break away from Shen Yuan, she heard her reply in a gentle tone: "Yu Jie'er, look at what you said. As the eldest sister, I naturally hope that you live a good life. How can I feel uncomfortable? But there has been no movement in the Earl's Mansion. When does this Earl Kangping plan to marry you?"
Nearly ten days have passed since Shen Yuan and Lu Chen called off their engagement.
But Lu Chen's mother, Mrs. Lu, threatened him:
If he can't marry the legitimate daughter of the Yong'an Marquis's Mansion, forget about marrying the missing concubine's daughter.
Shen Yuan's words really hit the pain point in Shen Yu's heart.
Shen Yu always felt that if Shen Hongliang had not brought Shen Yuan from Yangzhou to the capital, Lu Chen's mother, Lu, would never have used the excuse of the difference between legitimate and illegitimate children to disrupt her marriage with Lu Chen.
At the moment, Lu Chen still hasn't convinced his mother.
Shen Yu always felt like there was a heavy stone hanging in his heart.
Thinking of this, Shen Yu's eyes turned cold.
After shaking off Shen Yuan's hand, she said in a dark tone: "Sister, instead of worrying about my marriage with Kang Pingbo, you should worry more about your own marriage. You are not young anymore. Girls in Beijing get married at the age of seventeen. Sister, you should be seventeen by the end of the year, right? It's not easy to get married at this age."
When Shen Han heard this, she became excited and joined in, "Yes, elder sister, you are really not young at this age. But I heard that Prince Ying is planning to take a second wife. If elder sister is lucky enough to be favored by Prince Ying, it would be great to be a princess."
When Biwu heard the three words "Prince Ying", a hint of hatred appeared in her eyes when she looked at Shen Han.
Not long after she and Shen Yuan arrived in the capital, they had heard of Prince Ying's bad reputation. Not only did he exploit the people, he was also a lustful man.
He had countless concubines and mistresses, and many despicable habits. It was rumored that when he was over 50 years old, he had killed many young girls.
If Shen Yuan married such a person, it would be like jumping into a fire pit.
"Ding-clang".
Before Shen Yuan could reply, Shen Hongliang placed the food bowl on the Eight Immortals Table and said in a deep voice, "Even a table full of delicious food can't stop you guys from talking. Say less."
Everyone immediately fell silent.
Shen Hongliang did not blame his two daughters for being disrespectful to their eldest sister, but he carefully pondered what Shen Han had just said in his heart.
Prince of England.
Shen Hongliang silently repeated these three words in his heart.
Shen Yuan's status is enough for her to be a successor. By then, their Shen family will have a princess, which is a respectable thing.
But after changing his mind, Shen Hongliang immediately gave up this plan.
Now in the court, Lu Zhiyun and Prince Ying are fighting fiercely.
Although he was the Minister of Works, the internal strife among these people could not affect him.
But if he really has to take sides, he still wants to place his bets on the prime minister of the cabinet.
Prince Ying seems to be an arrogant person, but if the two sides really fight, he will not be a match for Lu Zhiyun.
——
In a blink of an eye, it was the Qiqiao Festival.
The day before yesterday, Shen Yu had been sending people to appear in front of Shen Yuan, as if she had to let her know that she was going to visit the Lantern Festival with Lu Chen on the Qiqiao Festival.
Shen Yuan had no interest in these two people at all. He originally wanted to rest in the yard that day and read some books to kill time.
As the sun set in the west and black swallows flew low by, the warm yellow afterglow shone into the inner room from the window.
Just when Shen Yuan was about to ask Biwu to serve the dishes, the servant from the Lotus Hall came over.
The servant said respectfully, "My dear lady, the Marquis wants you to come over. He said he has something to tell you."
After Shen Yuan put down the book in his hand, he had a bad suspicion in his mind.
When Shen Han mentioned Prince Ying that day, Shen Yuan felt that Shen Hongliang seemed to have thought about it.
So she simply tidied her clothes and hair, then took Biwu with her and went to the Lotus Hall with a worried heart.
As soon as he entered the room, Shen Yuan felt that there was something wrong with Shen Hongliang's aura.
"Father, you…"
Before Shen Yuan could finish his words, a gust of cold wind suddenly blew over.
Then, there was a loud and crisp "pop" sound.
Before Shen Yuan could react, her pretty face was slapped hard by her father.
Although Shen Hongliang had never learned martial arts, his attack was extremely brutal and merciless.
In addition, Shen Yuan's skin was delicate and tender, and in an instant, a huge palm print appeared on her right cheek.
"Father..."
His cheeks felt burning with pain, and several tears suddenly fell from Shen Yuan's eyes.
She covered her cheeks with her hands, wondering why Shen Hongliang was so angry.
——"Your mother asked you to leave the house and run the shop in order to relax your mind. You should also be more self-disciplined! Don't keep frequent contact with a widower just because you think you can't get married. I don't care who that man is, you should break up with him as soon as possible! The capital is different from Yangzhou. You should correct those bad habits you developed in Yangzhou as soon as possible. If the reputation of the Shen family is ruined by you and your sisters' marriages are delayed, how will you bear this responsibility?"
Shen Yuan's watery eyes were still shedding tears.
After hearing Shen Hongliang's reprimand, her eyes turned from sad to cold.
Shen Yuan tried to calm himself down.
Widower? Where did the widower come from?
Could it be that someone saw her meeting with Lu Zhiyun?
Shen Yuan's voice trembled slightly, but he explained to Shen Hongliang calmly: "Father, I didn't go to meet the widower secretly. Did you hear it wrongly?"
Shen Hongliang looked up and down at Shen Yuan coldly.
The person who said Shen Yuan went to see the widower was Shen Yu.
If this happened on normal days, Shen Hongliang would be angry when hearing this, but he would not hit Shen Yuan.
But today, after court session, he accidentally saw that the assistant ministers and officials of the Ministry of Works were getting closer to the censors and imperial officials in the court.
Originally, the matter of Shen Yuan breaking off the engagement with Earl Kangping became a hot topic among the noble families.
This also reveals from the side that although the Yong'an Marquis Mansion seems noble, it is actually a weak wealthy family .
The ministers under him were all younger and more talented than him.
In recent years, there have been rumors in the court that Lu Zhiyun will sooner or later demote him from the position of minister through the Minister of Personnel Gao Hezhou.
If Shen Yuan really had a secret meeting with the widower, and those nosy ministers reported him to the censors, his position in the court would be even more precarious.
Therefore, he was very angry in the palace.
Shen Yuan happened to bump into him and inevitably became the target of his anger.
——
Before leaving the Lotus Hall, Shen Hongliang did not say a word of comfort to Shen Yuan. He just scolded her again, telling her to be careful and behave herself outside and not to cause trouble for him.
After Shen Yuan returned to the yard, Bi Wu immediately found some freshly cooked chicken eggs. She hurriedly peeled off the eggshells for Shen Yuan, and then applied a massage to the red palm prints on her face.
Shen Yuan turned his head slightly and looked at his swollen face in front of the mirror. There was no sign of crying on his face, but tears were still flowing out drop by drop.
For a moment, she even doubted whether she was Shen Hongliang's biological daughter.
Bi Wu choked up a little and said, "Miss...you have been wronged...it is my fault that I was useless and did not react just now, otherwise the slap from the Marquis would not have landed on your face..."
Shen Yuan shook his head but said nothing.
Bi Wu then asked again, as if to explore: "Actually, someone from the mansion came just now and said... Liao Ge'er wanted to see you today. But your face has been beaten like this, how can you go out?"
Shen Yuan took the clean and flawless egg and applied it to himself, saying, "Cover it up with powder."
Just now in the Lotus Hall, she had found out that Shen Hongliang didn't know that she was teaching Liao Ge'er of the Lu family.
She didn't even know that she could still see Lu Zhiyun occasionally.
Shen Hongliang was like this, and I'm afraid someone was deliberately spreading rumors and causing trouble in front of him.
Shen Hongliang was like this. He always told her to be tolerant and dignified, but when Shen Yu went to see Lu Chen on the Qiqiao Festival, she was also having a secret meeting with a man outside her.
Shen Hongliang ignored Shen Yu and slapped her in the face because of that false rumor.
There was a wound on Shen Yuan's face. If it were according to her previous personality, she would definitely have postponed the meeting with Liao Ge'er.
But because he was angry, Shen Yuan didn't want to stay in the house for even half a minute, so he told Bi Wu again: "No need to apply it anymore, just help me put on the powder."
——
Although Shen Hongliang beat Shen Yuan, he did not restrict her from walking, so Shen Yuan and Bi Wu left Yong'an Marquis Mansion smoothly.
The night market of the Qiqiao Festival is bustling with music and colors, with painted buildings lined up on both sides of the river, green willows filling the embankment, and music and singing incessantly.
But because it started to drizzle, Shen Yuan's face looked a little ugly.
Her skin is as smooth as cream and she never needs to put on any powder.
After applying a thick layer of powder, her complexion looked even more haggard.
Although the silver bracelet could calm her soul, it could not cure her heart disease.
Although the rain today was not accompanied by thunder, Shen Yuan's heart was still beating wildly.
But she was able to endure this kind of pain.
Beside the bank, there are painted boats and drum sheds with lighted windows. As night falls, they shine brightly when they sail out of the river in a line.
Shen Yuan originally thought that she would only meet Liao Ge'er once, because the few times she taught Liao Ge'er before, Lu Zhiyun was busy with official duties and was not present.
But when she reached the shore, she saw a familiar and tall figure.
Lu Zhiyun was leaning against the railing and looking out, but Jiang Feng noticed her and Biwu's arrival.
After Jiang Feng whispered a few words to Lu Zhiyun, Lu Zhiyun took the oil-paper umbrella from his hand and then turned to look at her.
Shen Yuan never guessed that Lu Zhiyun would be here. She didn't want him to see her swollen face, so she subconsciously covered her still swollen right cheek with her hand.
Lu Zhiyun had already walked in front of her and lowered the brim of the umbrella a little to shield her from the drizzle.
The man had deep eyebrows and eyes, and the distant and cold scent of pine wood on his body also brushed across her hair.
He lowered his head and looked at Shen Yuan, and whispered, "Put your hands down."
Shen Yuan raised his eyes timidly, but did not do as he was told. He only called out softly, "Sir..."
Lu Zhiyun's cold eyes gradually became sharp, as if he could see through her at a glance.
His tone became heavier, and he asked again: "What's wrong with your face?"