Shen Shen Shen doesn't pursue men, only money

Chapter 125 The mantis stalks the cicada

Xunyu Cottage is the exclusive courtyard of the prince of the Prince's Mansion. It is the largest and most luxurious courtyard in Prince Zhong's Mansion except for the main courtyard. After Prince Zhong inherited the prince's throne and moved to the main courtyard, Zhu Yanxiao became the master here.

Cao Yunhui was sitting in the main seat in the front hall of the outer courtyard, wearing the regular dress of a princess in the prince's mansion, sipping tea leisurely. When she heard the hurried footsteps of her eldest son, a gentle smile appeared on her face and she looked towards the door.

Zhu Yanxiao came into the room and saluted: "Mother, please forgive me for being so rude today."

"Ziyuan, there is no need to be polite. Sit down and answer." The princess smiled at her eldest son and said slowly, "The prince rarely invites mother to your courtyard. It is very nice to come and sit occasionally."

"Thank you, mother, for your understanding."

Putting down the teacup, the princess said with a sweet smile, "Ziyuan brought Miss Shen from the Marquis's Mansion to the palace? Ruihuang said that Miss Shen is sleeping on Ziyuan's bed right now?"

"Forgive me, mother." He said respectfully, "It is because Miss Shen was drunk and unconscious on the bed in my inner room that I troubled you to move to Xunyu Cottage."

"Oh? Drunk? What's going on?"

"Today, I have an appointment with Miss Shen Er to meet at Heyin Tower. She brought many invitations to give to me, saying... they are all my admirers."

"This Second Miss Shen is really interesting." The princess covered her mouth with a handkerchief and laughed, "She must have known about the engagement and sent me an invitation to the banquet, right?"

"Yes."

"So Miss Shen came here today to find Ziyuan and ask for punishment?"

"Mother, Shenshen is not a jealous person. Because there is a post from... the eldest daughter of the Zhou family in the Duke of Jing'an's mansion."

"Yunxi..." The princess restrained her smile and said, "A few years ago, the prince saw that Ziyuan and Yunxi loved each other, and he proposed to me to discuss marriage. But before that, the Queen Mother of the Zhou family passed away, and the two families did not exchange engagement letters. Not many outsiders know about this. Could it be that... Miss Shen is investigating Ziyuan?"

"Mother, Shen Shen knows nothing. Yesterday she took the note to ask my elder sister how to deal with it, and my elder sister suggested that she only go to the Zhou family mansion. Today, she came to ask my son Shen Caizi's opinion whether it is feasible. I didn't expect that she guessed my son and Yunxi's past."

"Miss Shen's suggestion?" The princess pondered, "It seems that Shen Caizi is not simple."

"Mother means..."

"Letting her younger sister take the invitation to look for Ziyuan and only going to Zhou's house for the banquet, these two ideas must have been deliberately made by Miss Shen. It can be seen that Miss Shen No. 2 trusts this eldest sister very much."

"Shen Caizi... I am not familiar with her, what is her purpose in doing this?"

The princess thought for a moment, "Shen Caizi will marry the son of the Minister of Revenue, Li Liangzhi, the Junior Minister of the Honglu Temple, as his legal wife next year. It is said that they have been childhood sweethearts and have a very good relationship. If Ziyuan had not offended her... Is it possible that the prince would embarrass the Minister of Revenue, Li Liangzhi, in the court?"

"Mother, even if father wants to make things difficult for the Minister of Revenue, Shen Caizi is just a girl from the harem. How can she interfere in the affairs of the court?"

"From Ziyuan's tone, the prince did have a disagreement with Minister Li. Mother guessed that Ziyuan and Second Miss Shen must have had a very unpleasant quarrel today, otherwise why would Second Miss Shen be drunk?"

Zhu Yanxiao answered the princess in silence.

"So, mother said that Shen Caizi is not simple." The princess hinted, "She must know about Ziyuan and Yunxi's past, and deliberately instigated Miss Shen Er to find you with the invitation. Sure enough, you two had a conflict. Even if the matter got out of hand, the legitimate daughter was not interfering in the affairs of the court. She just let her younger sister know about her future husband's past. I didn't expect that she is a chess master, and she is very good at using a little effort to achieve a great result."

Zhu Yanxiao narrowed his eyes. He didn't expect Shen Caizi to be willing to use Shenshen to vent her husband's anger. But, if she dared to use Shenshen... then don't blame her for targeting the Li family in the future.

Seeing the eldest son's bad expression, the princess advised: "Ziyuan, please advise Miss Shen Er, you will be the Crown Prince's consort in the future, and you will have to manage the entire palace in the future, so don't trust others easily in everything. You don't even know that you are being used by others. You are really simple-minded."

Simple nature? Zhu Yanxiao felt very complicated when he heard his mother's evaluation of Shenshen.

Shen Shen is very extreme.

All her wisdom is limited to the people and things she cares about. As long as she cares about something, her mind works faster than anyone else and she will not suffer any loss. But she never spends time thinking about things she doesn't care about, which makes her very easy to be calculated by the rich and powerful.

"Thank you for your advice, mother. I understand."

Zhu Yanxiao told the princess about what happened today. Of course, he omitted the love words with Shen Shenshen and the encounter with Mu Yejun and the guards at the tavern with the conflict with Fenyingtang.

"Ziyuan went to the Marquis' Mansion to tell the Marquis and his wife that it was Mother's will to keep Second Miss Shen?"

"Please forgive me, mother, for executing the act first and reporting later." Zhu Yanxiao quickly stood up and bowed.

"Alas, Ziyuan's people are gone. Can this princess still bring them back? Well, since Ziyuan likes Miss Shen Er so much, your mother will accept her. Sit down and talk." The princess said again.

"Ziyuan, since we are talking about the Zhou family today, let's talk about it with your mother. If... if that incident hadn't happened, you two might have already made an engagement before the Queen Mother passed away."

Looking at the silent eldest son, the princess continued to ask, "The prince and mother asked you many times during the mourning period if you had a favorite woman, and Ziyuan always answered no. I thought you were not interested in marriage because you wanted to wait until the mourning period was over in the twelfth month of this year to renew your relationship with Yunxi, and that child has been waiting for you."

"I know that she... has never been engaged."

"So Ziyuan still decided to marry Miss Shen Er?"

"The Geng Tie has been changed, why is mother still asking this?"

"Ziyuan, not long ago, mother mentioned that Miss Shen Er came to the palace to pay respects. At that time, I didn't hear you tell me that you liked her. A few decades later, the prince came back to the palace one day and asked me to go to the Anbo Marquis's mansion to ask for Miss Shen Er's hand in marriage. I thought that the prince made the decision to win over the Anbo Marquis, but I didn't expect Ziyuan to go with mother that day, and was eager to marry her in the twelfth lunar month. Mother then realized that it was not the prince who wanted to win over the court, but Ziyuan who wanted to marry him."

"This son likes Miss Shen Er very much. I am willing to take the initiative to ask for her hand in marriage. Because of my past with the eldest daughter of the Zhou family, I asked my father to ask His Majesty to grant the marriage directly to save trouble, but the Duke of Yunsheng's Mansion stopped me."

"Before going to the Marquis of Anbo's mansion, the prince has already told me the whole story. I just want to ask you, Ziyuan and Yunxi... have you really let it go?"

Zhu Yanxiao looked at his mother seriously, "I know that you have been with Miss Zhou for a long time. Since she has won my favor, she will naturally please you. As for Miss Shen, you have never been with her, and she has not yet fulfilled her filial piety in front of you. But Shenshen is really good, and to me, she is different from all other women. If Shenshen does anything wrong in the future, please be more tolerant, mother, and just... fulfill my feelings."

Seeing the eldest son standing up and bowing again, the princess knew that the eldest son and Zhou Yunxi were completely over. She was just curious about how long it took for the second Miss Shen to capture the eldest son's heart. Ziyuan was like a demon obsessed with her.

The princess' voice was still gentle: "Forget it, Ziyuan has already made his own decision. It's fine as long as he likes her. After all, the future is long, and you have to find someone you like to be a wife. But after all, the two of you haven't gotten married yet, so it's not appropriate for Miss Shen to live in your yard. Let her live in the guest courtyard."

"Mother, I will stay in the study tonight and will not cross the line."

Is this to insist on keeping her own courtyard? The princess' eyes moved around the handsome face of the eldest son, raised her tea bowl and took a sip: "It seems that the son is no longer under the control of his mother."

"Forgive me, mother."

He glanced at his eldest son and said, "That's it. Send the daughter of the Marquis back to her as early as tomorrow."

"Your son will follow your mother's instructions and bring the gods to pay their respects to you tomorrow."

"Yes. Mother will go back first." The princess stood up and walked out.

"Your son respectfully bids farewell to your mother." Zhu Yanxiao bowed.

Turning back to the inner bedroom, Zhu Yanxiao sat down beside the bed and quietly looked at the sleeping face of the woman. She slept very quietly, breathing steadily, and he felt that he could sit like this for the rest of his life. The tenderness that he had never given to any woman before, now all was given to one person.

"Prince." The sound of running water sounded outside the house: "The maids and guards of the Crown Prince's wife returned to the Marquis' Mansion a cup of tea ago. When I returned to the palace, I saw Miss Qingsuo just at the door of the Marquis' Mansion."

"Understood, let's go down."