Dong Hui looked at s.h.i.+ Qingxue with doubt, "What could it be?"

s.h.i.+ Qingxue shook her head and asked, "What about the aunts? There was such a big joke caused by uncles. Why did they come to our house instead of going back home to take care of uncles?"

Dong Hui showed some helplessness and sighed, "What could I do? I didn't know what was wrong with Madam Zhou today. She kept inviting them to visit our house. You knew about your two aunts. They liked to covet little advantages and agreed after several words. And Zhang kept persuading me aside that this was a great opportunity to get close to them. I thought so, and then I promised them."

Zhang Jing and Zheng Xia were servants brought with the dowry by Dong Hui from the Dong Family. They had been serving Dong Hui without getting married. They were experienced in the house and won deep trust of Dong Hui. Even s.h.i.+ Qingxue would call them Mammy respectfully.

But when s.h.i.+ Qingxue heard this, she couldn't help but frown, "Then it would be okay if they came to the house. Weren't they used to sit in Zhenghe Garden in the east and then leave with some things? Why did they go to Shou'an Hall this time?"

"Zhang told me that the two sisters-in-law would like to greet Princess Royal. I thought that they were my relatives and I needed to recommend them. Unexpectedly, your grandmother went to the garden in the south to meet your Third Uncle, and we went there in vain and caused such a matter. It was really..."

Dong Hui blamed it on her bad luck.

s.h.i.+ Qingxue pursed her lips and then said, "It was Mammy Zhang again!"

The meaningful words made Dong Hui glance at her, "What do you mean?"

s.h.i.+ Qingxue would not keep her mother guessing, and said straightforwardly, "Don't you feel it strange? How could a distant relative of the Qin Family, whom we didn't even know, suddenly come to partic.i.p.ate in the wedding banquet of Third Princess? Don't forget that the Emperor has just permitted the marriage of Fourth Prince and the Qin Family."

Dong Hui didn't think of it at all and became speechless.

"What's more, the distant relatives of the Qin family quarreled with my uncles, and when it broke out, he chose to settle it down calmly right away. No matter how you thought about it, it would be strange, wouldn't it?" s.h.i.+ Qingxue didn't believe in coincidences.

Hearing that, Dong Hui was in surprise, but then she felt it wrong after thinking for a while, "Then what was the matter with Zhang?"

s.h.i.+ Qingxue hit the nail, "If she hadn't been there, would you have brought my aunts back home or go to the Shou'an Hall?"

Dong Hui couldn't say anything.

But it was still hard for her to believe, "But Zhang is the experienced servant I brought from the Dong Family. How can she betray me? This is impossible!"

s.h.i.+ Qingxue became silent. She wanted to say that Zhang Jing had done more disgusting things than this in her previous life!

"Sixth Lady, Princess Royal asks you to go to the lobby. King Rui's eldest son wants to see you." Zhu ran into the ancestral hall and interrupted the conversation between the mother and daughter.

s.h.i.+ Qingxue didn't want to leave Dong Hui, but she just made Mo Shujun lose face. This time, she was afraid that she would really break the relations.h.i.+p with Mo Shujun if she refused again. She could only tell Dong Shuang a few words and get up heading to the lobby.

According to the fact, King Rui was just an unloved son given birth by a concubine. He returned to the capital city to settle down from his rewarded land and had no power or force. There was nothing of him that the s.h.i.+ Family should notice.

But not knowing why, every time Mo Shujun saw King Rui's eldest son, she had a faint feeling that the gentleness of this man was just the surface, and the power hidden behind could surprise everyone.

This was the vigilance that Mo Shujun gained when she went to the war with s.h.i.+ Lei for many years when she was young. Such alert had saved her many times, so even if she hadn't figured anything out, she would definitely not look down upon Mo Junyang as others did.

At some time, she even had an idea to please Mo Junyang. She didn't want to be his enemy when she could be a friend. Even when Mo Junyang wanted to see s.h.i.+ Qingxue without any excuses this time, she didn't hesitate to find her here.

Even when Mo Junyang asked for a private talk with s.h.i.+ Qingxue, Mo Shujun, who had always been courteous, didn't feel that there was a problem and left them alone.

On the contrary, Zhou Ruyu had a lot of opinions, "Mother, although our family is related to the imperial family, we don't have direct relations.h.i.+p with King Rui's Family. They are not cousins. Isn't it proper for them to meet in private?"

Mo Shujun gave Zhou Ruyu a strange look, "What's wrong with it? You didn't say anything when Fourth Prince sat in the Luotong Boudoir before."

Wasn't that because they took Mo Junhao's bribes and promised to cause chance for him and s.h.i.+ Qingxue?

Of course, she couldn't speak such words out. Zhou Ruyu said in a more euphemistic way, "After all, they are both unmarried. If it is spread out, people will gossip!"

"They just sit in the yard, with all the servants around. They aren't meeting in private. Who dares to say anything about it?" Mo Shujun waved her hand impatiently.

Zhou Ruyu saw that she was not able to provoke her, and then said, "Don't you worry about any private relations.h.i.+p between them? After all, King Rui's eldest son was close to Qingxue when he lived in the s.h.i.+ Family several days ago!"

No matter in which era, private relations.h.i.+ps were forbidden, even those of unmarried people.

Mo Shujun's expression did become serious as she had expected, then she turned to look at Zhou Ruyu for a long while before murmuring, "Do you think that Qingxue and Mo Junyang... Impossible! How old is Qingxue now? She doesn't know that much. And it doesn't look vague when they meet each other. How can they..."

The more Mo Shujun thought about it, the more she felt that Zhou Ruyu was talking nonsense. Even if she didn't know much about Mo Junyang, wouldn't she understand s.h.i.+ Qingxue?

Princess Royal still thought that Sixth Lady would show all her feelings on her face and was easy to be guessed out as before. She didn't pay attention to Zhou Ruyu's words. Instead, she sneered, "Okay. If you are free, it will be better for you to think more about Madam Dong. This time we not only failed to drive her back home, but also dragged the s.h.i.+ Family to lose face together with the Dong Family. Look what you have done!"

Zhou Ruyu immediately looked upset and cried for justice, "Mother, you wronged me. I didn't do anything. I..."

Before she said the following words, she shut her mouth up out of guilt with Mo Shujun's cold sight.

After a while, she was still reconciled, and said, "But mother, you shouldn't let her go today! The token granted by the Emperor is rewarded by the Royal Family, and it is for saving life, not for the wife avoiding being divorced! This time, it is Madam Dong who has made our family lose face!"

"Huh! The token granted by the Emperor was given to her by Yunyang in front of the whole s.h.i.+ Family. At that time, he said that as long as she took out this thing, everyone in this family must promise her one thing. Don't you obey Yunyang's words?" Mo Shujun stared at Zhou Ruyu and became more dissatisfied in her heart.

Zhou Ruyu quickly confessed her mistake, "I don't mean it. I'm just thinking that father has made such a request and you also have promised her. Then can we take back the token?"

When it came to the token granted by the Emperor, Zhou Ruyu's eyes became blinking. She couldn't help coveting it. She still needed to pretend to share the worries with mother, "In all the families owning tokens granted by the Emperor in the capital city, they all leave such a good thing to their most beloved son born of the legal wife, and no one ever gives it to granddaughter. After all, when the granddaughter grows up, she should belong to someone else's family. Does she even take the token away with her?"

Mo Shujun squinted and looked at Ruyu. How could she not know Zhou Ruyu's thoughts?

Saying the most beloved son born of the legal wife, wasn't she just trying to get the toke granted by the Emperor and give it to s.h.i.+ Juncai?

However, hearing Zhou Ruyu's words, Mo Shujun really started to plan this, and it had to be fast. When s.h.i.+ Lei gave this token to s.h.i.+ Qingxue, apart from asking the s.h.i.+ Family to promise her one thing, he even hoped that this could keep s.h.i.+ Qingxue a carefree life, considering her spoiled personality at the young age.

s.h.i.+ Lei only told Mo Shujun and s.h.i.+ Junhe about this, even s.h.i.+ Qingxue herself didn't know it. So if she wanted to take back the token granted by the Emperor, she would have to do it before s.h.i.+ Junhe came back to the capital city.

Mo Shujun thought that s.h.i.+ Qingxue's performance these days had completely made her disappointed, making her determined to take back s.h.i.+ Qingxue's tool!

When Mo Shujun had just started to plan, s.h.i.+ Qingxue, who was upset a while before, ran in with joy, smiled at the two of them and said, "Great! My father... He is back!"

Hearing this, Mo Shujun opened her eyes in surprised and her eyeb.a.l.l.s seemed to be about to fall. She had just thought of a way to deal with s.h.i.+ Qingxue, and her father came back to protect her?

With s.h.i.+ Junhe, let alone taking back the token granted by the Emperor, they didn't even have the chance to harm Dong Hui!

Zhou Ruyu also did not expect s.h.i.+ Junhe to return so soon. First, she was happy, but then said with dissatisfaction, "Why is he back? Does he quit the war in the northwest? Can the Emperor permit him?"

It sounded like that s.h.i.+ Junhe escaped back from the battlefield.

s.h.i.+ Qingxue suddenly looked mad, "Auntie, what do you mean? Of course my father has won the war and returned home with his army. If you slander a general like this, won't you be afraid that grandmother will punish you?"

After that, she turned to Mo Shujun, which seemed to be asking for justice from Mo Shujun.

Mo Shujun was uncomfortable in her heart, but on the surface, she could only tell Zhou Ruyu to shut up. However, she also didn't believe that s.h.i.+ Junhe could return so soon with triumph, "We also have sent people to the northwest. Why isn't the news that the s.h.i.+ Army has won spread here? Shouldn't it..."

Mo Shujun wanted to say that if the news was wrong, but s.h.i.+ Qingxue didn't want to waste more words with them. Instead, she said joyfully, "Father has won the war, and that means he is back. I won't say more. I am going to welcome my father with mother at the North Gate."

s.h.i.+ Qingxue was too happy, ignoring how complicated their thoughts were, and ran to the ancestral hall to bring Dong Hui. And the two went straight to the North Gate.

As for whether her behavior was meant to help Dong Hui escape from the punishment?

Who knew?

Even though the sun was already down, both sides of the entrance street at the North Gate were still full of people who heard of the news and rushed here. s.h.i.+ Qingxue was unable to squeeze in. In addition, Dong Hui's legs were injured. They could only wait in the private room at the window arranged by Mo Junyang in a restaurant.

"When will my dad enter the city?" s.h.i.+ Qingxue stood by the window for a long while, but didn't see s.h.i.+ Junhe. She began to be anxious.

Mo Junyang patted her shoulder and smiled, "Why are you so anxious? The pioneer has said that Duke s.h.i.+ will enter the city before dark today. Wait a moment and he will arrive soon."

"Fine." s.h.i.+ Qingxue responded in disappointment. She still stared at the direction of the city gate, and hoped to see her father enter the city at the first sight.

Mo Junyang was ignored, and he was somewhat dissatisfied in his heart. He wanted to use other things to attract s.h.i.+ Qingxue's attention, when he found that Dong Hui was looking at them and seemed surprised.

He thought for a moment and knew what Dong Hui was thinking.

A plan came to his mind. Mo Junyang smiled again!