Chapter 2: It's Great That You're Back...
Editor: Atlas Studios
"Also, I have my own mother. I don't care about being your sister."
What she meant was that he should stop thinking too highly of himself.
Pei Ji was silent for a moment. "I'm sorry. I didn't think it through…"
Shen Mingyan frowned in disapproval. "Fourth Sister, Young Master Pei has good intentions…"
Shen Mingjiao glanced at her lazily. "In that case, Third Sister will pay back the 500 taels of silver on behalf of Young Master Pei!"
Shen Mingyan's face stiffened. She did not have that.
The current Marquis of Yong Chang Residence was just a flowery display. Moreover, she, a lady from a harem, really couldn't take out so much money at the moment! She looked at Pei Ji and stood rooted to the ground, not knowing what to do.
Pei Ji smiled at her reassuringly and took off a jade pendant from his waist. He handed it to Shen Mingjiao.
"I don't have that much silver with me. I'll use this jade pendant as compensation!"
Shen Mingjiao took it and knew that it was top-notch black jade. One piece was worth at least a thousand taels.
She pushed the jade pendant back. "I said 500 taels, not a cent more or less. Young Master, if you don't have any silver on you, you can send a follower back to retrieve it. We'll settle the transaction."
Pei Ji looked at her deeply. "Okay."
The Marquis of Yong Chang Residence was only a street away from the Duke Jing's Estate. In less than twenty minutes, the servant brought over the banknotes.
Pei Ji handed Shen Mingjiao five 100-yuan notes.
Shen Mingjiao took the notes, then the marriage contract, and tore it into pieces in front of the two of them.
Shen Mingyan stared at her in surprise.
Shen Mingjiao looked up and met her gaze. She gave her a flirtatious smile.
In her previous life, this marriage contract had caused her a lot of trouble.
Meeting the other party's knowing eyes, Shen Mingyan instinctively panicked.
Shen Mingjiao waved her hand nonchalantly. "Alright, since the matter has been settled, I shall leave first. Please help yourselves."
Pei Ji watched her leave without hesitation. The matter was finally resolved perfectly, but for some reason, he did not feel as relaxed as he had imagined.
No one saw that there was a person silently standing in the shadows of the artificial mountain opposite. A pair of blue gem-like eyes stared fixedly at that slender figure.
There were too many things hidden in those eyes. There was pain and confusion. In the end, they turned into longing and joy.
The man moved his lips and his voice was as soft as the wind.
"It's great that you're back…"
…
Shen Mingjiao endured her hunger and returned to the Rose Courtyard. She couldn't help but complain about her previous life. Did you have to do this?! How could a man be more important than eating?!
When the maid, Haitang, saw her coming in from outside, she was shocked and asked in a daze, "Miss… aren't you in the room?"
Shen Mingjiao looked at this little maid who had been with her for two lifetimes. As expected, no matter how many years had passed, her delicate face was still so deceptive. She gently rubbed her head.
"Is there anything to eat? I'm starving."
Haitang was obviously stunned for a moment. When she regained her senses, she replied in surprise, "Yes, yes, yes. The big kitchen sent your favorite buns and they're still warm."
Shen Mingjiao entered the room and sat at the table. There was a bowl of millet porridge and a basket of meat buns on the table. She picked one up and took a bite. She immediately frowned.
It's too greasy! There's also ginger, which she hated!
She couldn't help but miss the crystal crab roe buns made by Chef Li of the Prince's Mansion. They were fresh but not greasy, and they were refreshing and smooth.
She swallowed her saliva and lowered her head to eat the millet porridge helplessly.
Sigh! As the saying goes, it's easy to go from frugal to extravagant, but it's difficult to go from extravagant to simple. She had returned to the time before liberation!
She then glanced at the furnishings in the room. Tsk! She really disliked everything!
She took out the five hundred taels of silver that she had yet to warm up and sighed deeply again. In her previous life, just the rosewood bed in her room was worth seven to eight hundred taels.
She couldn't help but complain that fate was unfair. In other people's books, rebirth was about changing fate and taking revenge, but she felt that she was already at the peak of her life!
If she could, she only wanted to shout at the God of Fate: Please give the opportunity to those in need, thank you!
…
On the other side, in the main courtyard of the Marquis of Yong Chang Residence, the Duchess Li had received an invitation from the palace. Next month, the Empress would hold a flower appreciation banquet and invite the women of the intermediate officials and above to the palace for a gathering.
In fact, it was to look after the young lady for the Crown Prince and the Prince.
Madam Li put down the invitation and said to Shen Mingyan, who was fiddling with various hairpins and rings,
"The Duke's Estate has always valued rules. You and Young Master Pei are about to get engaged. Don't go to the palace banquet this time."
Knowing that her daughter loved to go out, she comforted her, "Don't worry, when you marry into the Jing Public House, there will be many more banquets like this in the future."
Shen Mingyan nodded obediently. "Mother, take a few cousins with you!"
Seeing that her daughter was rarely so obedient and docile, Madam Li was quite gratified. "Mother's Yan'er has grown up. This lady should be obedient and docile so that her husband's family will like her…"
Shen Mingyan responded obediently on the surface, but in her heart, she couldn't care less.
There were many docile and obedient women in the capital, but not many of them could please their husbands.
After Madam Li finished nagging her daughter, she thought of something and reluctantly instructed Cui Liu, "Go and inform the Fourth Miss that the palace will hold a banquet next month. Let her prepare well. Don't embarrass the Duke Mansion."
Shen Mingyan looked up in surprise. "Fourth Sister is going too?"
Madam Li waved her hand helplessly. "Yes! Madam Pei specially sent someone to tell me to bring Fourth Girl along to the palace banquet."
She complained unhappily, "Don't you think she's clearly saying that I mistreated my niece? Besides, this marriage was originally yours. If not for the Pei family's misfortune back then, how could Fourth Girl have had a chance? Now that the Pei family is about to regain their former glory, she naturally doesn't want her son to marry an orphan daughter."
"Sigh! You are a future mother-in-law! You look gentle and kind, but you actually have more thoughts than anyone else…"
Shen Mingyan's eyes flashed. She remembered how Pei Ji had looked at Shen Mingjiao before he left. She gritted her teeth and looked up. "Mother, I'll go to the palace banquet next month."
…
After finally persuading her mother, Shen Mingyan returned to the courtyard and dismissed the maidservant. She took a light purple dress from the wardrobe and gently brushed the soft fabric with her fingers.
After a long while, she called the maidservant, He Xiang, over. "Give this dress to Cui Liu, who is by Mother's side. Tell her to send it to Fourth Sister's Rose Courtyard in Mother's name. Tell her that it's the dress she'll wear on the day of the palace banquet."
…
In the Rose Garden, Haitang happily sent Cui Liu away. She held up the purple dress and could not help but exclaim, "Wow! What a beautiful dress. Miss, you will definitely look good in it!"
Shen Mingjiao reached out her slender index finger and tapped the little girl's forehead. "If you like it, I'll give it to you."
Haitang shook her head and said seriously, "Only princesses can wear beautiful clothes."
Shen Mingjiao's heart warmed. She knew that this was not a compliment.
She stared at the gorgeous dress in front of her, her eyes gradually becoming adrift.
In her previous life, her fate had completely changed because of this palace banquet.
-- Gift
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