Chapter 981: The Sober Bulwark Duke (2)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Shen Ruyun’s face turned red. “You’re bullying me too much. Madam, believe me, I really didn’t do that.”

After all, she was still young. No matter how she tried to act, she could not help but look guilty.

That guilty conscience was magnified in the eyes of the madams.

They had seen too many of Shen Ruyun’s tricks in the back residence. She pretended to be weak, pretended to be aggrieved, shouted that there was a thief, and played the blame game… However, those were all tricks used by concubines. How old was Miss Shen?

It was common knowledge that Shen Ruyun’s actions were probably related to her biological mother, Madam Chen. They could not help but look at Madam Shen with sympathy.

It was already pitiful enough for her husband to marry a common wife and suppress her. Moreover, she had no children of her own. Her life in the residence was probably not easy.

Only women understood women the best in the world.

After such a thing happened, it wouldn’t be right for the banquet to continue. Madam Li got someone to prepare generous gifts for the guests and personally sent them out.

“Princess, can I still come and play with you in the future?” Seeing that her carriage was right in front of her, the girl called Tian Tian mustered her courage and said. Her eyes were red from crying and were filled with anticipation. She was also a little nervous, as if she was afraid of being rejected. When the other girls heard her words, they looked at Little Jiajia expectantly.

Little Jiajia pursed her lips and nodded reluctantly.

The girls instantly beamed with joy. Xiao Ruoshui’s heart ached when she saw this. She snorted and whispered in Little Jiajia’s ear, “You’re too evil. In order not to let them snatch Brother Chen from you, you actually became friends with them first.”

They were already friends. The girls would definitely be too embarrassed to snatch him from her.

Xiao Ruoshui felt the same way too. If not for that, she wouldn’t have felt so guilty during the banquet.

“Too bad, too bad.” she thought.

Little Jiajia was stunned for a moment before smiling. “That’s a good idea.” Xiao Ruoshui was speechless.

“Don’t worry.” Little Jiajia patted her shoulder. “No matter how many playmates I have, you’ll always be the closest to me. No one can surpass you.”

Xiao Ruoshui paused, thinking about it. That was more like it. Otherwise, she would have suffered a huge loss.

Madam Shen was the last to leave. She glanced at Shen Ruyun, who had gotten into the carriage first, and said to Madam Li apologetically, “Ruyun is insensible. I’ve really let Madam down today.”

Madam Li sighed. “You’re always like this. That this matter has nothing to do with you, would I be calculative with a child?”

Madam Shen was a typical southern beauty and had a gentle personality. She smiled bitterly and said, “I brought her here after all.”

“How could I not know what goes on behind the scenes?” Madam Li waved her hand to interrupt her. “Then the Shen family… Forget it, you won’t listen even if I tell you.”

She turned around and instructed Bi Zhu, “Bi Zhu, follow the Shen family’s carriage and send Miss Shen back. There’s no need to be in a hurry to return. When Lord Shen is on duty, tell him what happened in the residence today.” Madam Shen opened her mouth but hesitated. In the end, she did not say anything.

She knew that the Duchess was doing this for her own good. She was the one who didn’t stand up for herself.

As expected, Bi Zhu stayed in the Shen family for more than half a day. When she saw Shen Pingxiu, she first told him about Shen Ruyun’s actions and said that Shen Ruyun had offended the princess badly. On account of Madam Shen, the Duchess did not pursue the matter and gave Shen Ruyun some leeway.

It need not be mentioned how afraid Shen Pingxiu was, how angry Madam Chen was, and how regretful Shen Ruyun was.

Little Jiajia solved a big problem and was so happy that she ate two more bowls of rice at noon. When Song Jingchen returned at noon, she happily ran to his courtyard and said that she had made a group of good friends, the kind who wouldn’t snatch her husband away. Then, she mentioned Shen Ruyun and ridiculed her.

Shi An thought to himself, “The Princess is indeed powerful.”

Song Jingchen was speechless.

What a child.

While she was happy, Madam Li was worried.

In the evening, the Duke saw her lying on the bed tossing and turning like a pancake. He could not help but ask, “Did vou meet anvone suitable todav?” Madam Li originally did not want to disturb his rest, but she really had no idea. Seeing that he had asked, she told him everything that had happened at the banquet. In the end, she said, “The Princess still calls Brother Chen ‘hubby’ whenever she sees him. I’m afraid she won’t let us arrange a marriage for Brother Chen.”

The Duke smiled and said, “Then let’s put it aside for now. If the princess can really marry into our family, it might be a good thing.”

Madam Li did not ask what was good about it. She hesitated and said, “But Father-in-law…

“You don’t have to worry. I’ll tell Father myself.”

Madam Li frowned and said suspiciously, “Why do I feel that you already knew that this matter wouldn’t succeed?”

How could he dare to admit it? He laughed and said, “That’s not true. You’ve had a long day today. Go to sleep.”

Madam Li was indeed tired. Since her husband would tell her father-in-law, she stopped worrying and fell asleep soon.

On the other hand, the Bulwark Duke could not fall asleep.

He had indeed guessed it. The reason why he did not bring it up before was because he wanted to show Emperor Chong’an that the Song family had done what they needed to do. They could not control anything else.

Apart from fighting in wars, his father always followed through on everything else. On account of the late emperor’s kindness, he only wanted to follow His Majesty’s wishes as much as possible.

Little did he know that once the emperor’s suspicion existed, it was like a thorn in his eye. Unless he removed this thorn, nothing he did would help.

Now, the Song family was the thorn in Emperor Chong’an’s eye. If they did not want to be eliminated, what they had to do was not to reduce their presence, but to let the thorn pierce deeper into his heart and lungs. They had to let the emperor know that this thorn existed, but he could not pull it out.

As for the princess of the Xuanyuan Kingdom, she was the opportunity for the Song family to make the thorn dig deeper..