Chapter 182: Obscure Twists and Turns
To Chuntao's surprise, instead of receiving any praise from Shen Jingxuan, she was tapped on the forehead by her.
Her eyes instantly turned red.
"It hurts so much..." Chuntao didn't expect Shen Jingxuan to be so heavy-handed. She looked at her with tears in her eyes.
Looking at her appearance, Shen Jingxuan felt guilty: "It's not like I'm not going, why are you crying? Hurry up and pack up, let's leave the house."
Chuntao said aggrievedly: "Miss, I was... "
"Okay, okay, clean up quickly." Shen Jingxuan interrupted her.
Looking at the red mark on Chuntao's forehead, Shen Jingxuan knew that she had used too much force.
She hadn't woken up yet, and she didn't expect that in her daze, she forgot to control her strength. No wonder Chuntao cried out in pain.
After Shen Jingxuan had packed up, she had breakfast with Chuntao and left the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion together.
There were people coming and going on the street, but at this moment there were less than half as many people as in the teahouse.
Shen Jingxuan and Chuntao didn't even have a place to stand in the crowd, but Chuntao's eyes were full of excitement.
In a private room on the second floor, Chen Yi stood in front of the window, staring at the people in the hall, her eyes lighting up.
"Ying'er, look, Axuan is here too." Chen Yi turned around and looked at Jiang Shaoying.
Jiang Shaoying quickly walked to the window and was about to ask Shen Jingxuan to come over when he was stopped by Chen Yi.
"With so many people here, don't shout too loudly. Just tell the maid to bring them over."
There are so many people here, with people of all kinds of status. If I shout loudly and someone with ulterior motives hears me, I will definitely get into trouble.
And what Chen Yi considered was not wrong at all. What Shen Jingxuan feared most was trouble.
Chen Yi opened the door, gave instructions to her maid, and returned to her room.
"Yier, you are really thoughtful." Jiang Shaoying praised.
Unexpectedly, Chen Yi didn't even look at her, leaving her with only his back.
Jiang Shaoying gritted her teeth secretly. She still remembered what happened yesterday and did not ask Chen Yi for it back.
Today he ignored her again and left her with his back. Is he taking her less and less seriously?
The more Jiang Shaoying thought about it, the angrier she became. She stood up, moved her feet lightly, and quietly came behind Chen Yi.
"Pa..." Jiang Shaoying slapped Chen Yi on the back of the head and quickly returned to his original position.
"Ah..." The intense pain made Chen Yi's eyes wet.
She turned around and looked at the culprit angrily, but saw Jiang Shaoying sitting there quietly drinking tea as if nothing had happened.
Chen Yi said angrily: "Ying'er, you are going too far."
Didn't she just ignore her? Why did she take such a heavy hand?
Jiang Shaoying said nonchalantly: "This is what you owed me yesterday."
Chen Yi stared at her with eyes wide open.
Jiang Shaoying still remembered what happened yesterday? She was indeed careless.
If she knew Jiang Shaoying would do this, she would never give her the chance to retaliate easily.
Chen Yi was secretly annoyed because she had beaten Jiang Shaoying so hard yesterday. She happily went home and had a good sleep.
Today I put yesterday's events behind me.
Sure enough, what you owe must be repaid.
While the two were playing, Shen Jingxuan and Chuntao finally crossed the crowd, reunited with Chen Yi's maid, and came to the private room together.
Jiang Shaoying had just settled yesterday's bill and was in a particularly good mood.
"Ah Xuan, why are you willing to leave the house today?"
Shen Jingxuan looked at Chuntao with resentment: "Our Taoer said there was something exciting to watch, so she pulled me up early in the morning."
Chuntao's face turned slightly red as Shen Jingxuan stared at her, but since there were outsiders present, she had to do her duty as a maid.
Chen Yi looked at Chuntao in surprise, then quickly looked away.
She had never seen a master and maid like Shen Jingxuan, who actually accompanied the maid out of the house to watch the fun just for the maid's preference.
If this happened to any other young lady from an official family, she wouldn’t know how many maids would have died.
Jiang Shaoying had known Shen Jingxuan the longest, and he also knew that her relationship with Chuntao and others was not that of an ordinary master and maid, so he was not too surprised.
"Chun Tao is well-informed. Yier and I only found out about the news when we just arrived on the street." Jiang Shaoying said.
Shen Jingxuan looked at the crowd below: "Do you know what happened?"
They had been to the teahouse several times, but this was the first time they had seen such a scene.
Chen Yi came to Shen Jingxuan's side and said, "It's said to be about the Prime Minister's Mansion, but we have been here for a long time and the storyteller below hasn't started yet."
Shen Jingxuan stared at Chen Yi, waiting for her to continue speaking, but was interrupted by a voice from downstairs.
It was very lively downstairs, and a white-haired old man walked up to the storyteller's seat.
"Everyone be quiet. Today I want to talk about what happened in the Gaomen compound."
Jiang Shaoying said anxiously: "Who wants to listen to you talking about noble families and grand courtyards? Talk about the Prime Minister's Mansion."
She waited for an hour in vain, but what he said was not what she wanted to hear.
Shen Jingxuan said helplessly: "Ying'er, just listen patiently. In any case, for their own safety, they will not directly tell us which prefecture or courtyard they are talking about."
Jiang Shaoying was reminded by Shen Jingxuan and suddenly said, "That's true. I was too impatient."
Chen Yi glanced at Jiang Shaoying and continued to listen to the old man downstairs.
But after a whole hour, the old man spoke seriously and was sweating profusely, but there was not much useful information.
Jiang Shaoying looked down with some disappointment: "So much time was wasted in vain."
Chen Yi looked at Jiang Shaoying strangely: "Can't you use your brain for a while? If you don't use it anymore, you will become stupid as hell."
Although the old man could not mention which mansion it was or the specific person's name, if one listened carefully, one could tell that it was about the Prime Minister's Mansion.
But Chen Yi could only hear these. She couldn't help but ask curiously: "Ah Xuan, do you know what the old man is talking about?"
Shen Jingxuan still stared at the old man: "Has the imperial decree granting marriage to Lu Jinxuan and Xie Zihan been announced?" She asked instead of answering.
Chen Yi was puzzled, but still answered: "Yes, it was announced early in the morning."
Announced? After hearing Chen Yi's words, Shen Jingxuan's doubts were suddenly cleared up.
No wonder it was so lively early in the morning. It must be because the commotion in the Prime Minister's Mansion was too serious and was spread by someone with ulterior motives.
Seeing the curious looks in their eyes, Shen Jingxuan secretly shook her head: "Lu Jinxuan was granted marriage, but Lu Zhenyu disagreed and went crazy in the Prime Minister's Mansion."
"The prime minister saw that Lu Zhenyu was like this before the eunuch who announced the decree left, and he beat Lu Zhenyu angrily."
The two of them stared wider and wider. Chen Yi was puzzled: "Ah Xuan, the old man didn't say that. How did you know?"
Chen Yi tried hard to recall what the old man had just said, and she only remembered that he said that the woman had been engaged, and the eldest son in the family disagreed, so he was beaten by their father.
But no matter how they thought about it, they couldn't connect it with the Prime Minister's Mansion.
In the past, Shen Jingxuan would not have thought so much, but after what happened last night, it became much easier to connect all the things together.
The fact was indeed as Shen Jingxuan said. At this time, the Prime Minister's Mansion was still in the turmoil of the imperial edict, as if this matter would never end unless Lu Jinxuan broke off the engagement.