Qi furen was very punctual, Shen Jingshu and Dan Yuerong had not been speaking for very long when someone informed them that the guests had arrived.
“Shen furen, today we will brazenly impose upon you. Come Dong-er, Yan-er, quickly greet Shen furen!”
“h.e.l.lo Shen furen!” The two children had very good etiquette. Qi Shaodong was a little older so his salute was already very well practiced. Although he still had the face of a young child, it was not difficult to see that in the future he would be a handsome man. It was no wonder that in the past life it was not only Shen Jingshu, but her meimei 1, Shen Jingya, who was also captivated with him.
Shen Jingshu looked at the other person’s appearance, and could already faintly see the outline of his grown up self. Looking at the face she had seen for so many years now, Shen Jingshu’s eyes held no reliance or love, there was only ice cold hatred.
“Look at these two children, after not seeing them for a few days, they’ve actually become more attractive and intelligent.”
It had to be said, Qi Shaodong and Qi Xueyan both had good features which made their appearance very good. A handsome son and also a beautiful daughter, although they were young, just their appearance would make one fond of them.
“Qi furen, you are really fortunate!” Dan Yuerong had always been envious of Qi furen’s pair of son and daughter, but Qi laoye was not like Shen Wenhua who only had feelings for one person.
“Haha, my good fortune pales in comparison to yours.” Although Qi furen had a son and daughter, her husband’s children were not only her two children, but also shu2 children. On this point, Qi furen truly envied Dan Yuerong, who had a genuine and sincere husband.
“I hope so!” Touching her stomach, of course Dan Yuerong hoped that this time it would be a male. Otherwise, in the future, she would certainly be troubled.
“Haha Dong-er, didn’t you say you had not seen Jingshu in a long time? You still have to give Jingshu the gift you prepared, why are you not saying anything?”
Naturally Qi furen was trying to make both children work hard to increase their feelings towards each other. Shen Jingshu came from a literary family and Shen Wenhua was a top scorer in the imperial exam, a daughter from such a family would not be lacking in anyway. For the two families to be connected through marriage, it was very beneficial for them. She could sense something was wrong with Shen Jingshu, so of course she wanted to put in extra effort to win her over.
“Shen meimei, when I heard you were sick a few days ago, I originally wanted to see you but I traveled to my uncle’s home and had no time to get back. My teacher also gave me many tasks so I have not been able to come over. Shen meimei, I am really happy to see you better now. I heard Master Hui accepted you as a disciple, I have prepared an inkstone for you. I hope Shen meimei will study hard in the future!”
Qi Shaodong was three years older than Shen Jingshu and had started learning earlier, he could be considered an intelligent person. When he said these words, they had the hint of a little adult. Qi furen looked satisfied, but the inside of Shen Jing Shu’s heart was filled with anger.
“Thank you, Shaodong gege,” She forced out those four words even though she was clenching her teeth. Looking at that familiar face, if not for the strong effort she used to restrain herself, Shen Jingshu really would not have been able to endure not rushing and killing the other person!
An unsoiled reputation was important to a girl, how could this person …
If he really did not want to marry her, then straightforwardly withdraw the marriage, why corner her to such a state?
“Look at this child, he is also considerate. Previously he was too busy to see Jingshu and was delayed with homework these past few days. The teacher did not allow it but he still managed to come over today. He heard that Jingshu wanted to go to school and insisted on preparing a gift, I could not dissuade him in any way.” These words were used to praise Qi Shaodong, to make it seem that Qi Shaodong was very sincere towards Shen Jingshu, Qi furen was helping her son emphasize this point.
Her son was very good; in the future with the help of the Shen family, he would certainly exceed her husband!
“Shaodong is too kind.” Dan Yuerong could see that her daughter did not treat Qi Shaodong with the same fondness as before; she noticed that when Shen Jingshu accepted the gift, she randomly handed it to Chun Mei. Unlike before, she did not adore and treasure the gift, Dan Yuerong made a note of it quietly in her mind, “Qi furen, sit.”
“En, the two of us can talk here and the children can go play together. With us here, they will be uncomfortable.” When children were this young, they did not differentiate between male and female. Not to mention, the customs of West Chu were still very open; there were not too many restrictions on women.
“That is also good. Shu-er, you properly entertain Shaodong and Xueyan. Chun Mei, properly look after them.”
“Yes, Furen!”
Shen Jingshu said a few words according to etiquette and left with the other children. Once they left, Qi Shaodong became more talkative.
“Shen meimei, are you okay? I can see that your complexion is not good, are you still sick?”
On the surface his words inevitably held concern, watching this made Shen Jingshu remember her dream from the previous night, she would give anything to tear his face to shreds! Seeing this kind of expression on his face again, she really wished she could tear off his deceptive mask!
Previously, it was exactly because of this gentleness and consideration that she fell for him, so much so that she mistakenly believed that he was her true love and looked forward to their blessed and happy life together. But the result? The result was that this person was dissatisfied with her orphaned ident.i.ty so much that he even forced her to become a concubine. Loving this kind of person, she was really once a blind dog!
“Haha, Jingshu, you see, gege is very concerned about you. He was going to go to uncle’s birthday party but when he heard you were sick he immediately came back. If it weren’t for his teacher not allowing him to see you, he would have come earlier. Compared to me, his sister, gege treats you much better!”
Qi Xueyan had always played the role of “little matchmaker“, she and Shen Jingshu were similar ages so they had always played well together previously. Of course she hoped that Shen Jingshu and her gege could also play well together.
“Really?” Smiling as she looked at Qi Xueyan’s face, Shen Jingshu once considered Qi Xueyan to be her best friend. At that time, because she was orphaned, she became antisocial. Since she was not very good at the four arts, she was ridiculed by the capital’s rich daughters. Qi Xueyan comforted her then but did not find her to play afterward. Previously, she did not understand why, but now, how could she still not understand?
Qi Xueyan had gotten tired of the Shen Jingshu in the previous life, but with her current status and her future potential, none could be certain who would get tired of whom in the end.
Shen Jingshu clearly remembered that in those years when both her parents died, Qi daren replaced her daddy’s position and became Jingnan’s second prefectural magistrate. Later he curried favor with the third prince and was promoted to the capital.
But that was the extent of it, when she finally came of age Qi daren was nothing more than a second ranked official in the capital. Unfortunately for him, in this life ,Qi daren would not have such an opportunity. When the time came, she would like to see how Qi Xueyan, this small fourth-ranked official’s daughter, would be able to look down on others?
Although Shen Jingshu felt hate in her heart towards the the two people in front of her, she would not let them know on the surface, “Haha, yes, Shaodong gege treats me very well!” Yes, very good. Good enough to have a secret affair with her cousin, good enough to destroy her good reputation, so much so that he even cheapened her and made her become a concubine!
She remembered all of these things well. In this life, she would give them a taste of the pain she had suffered in her past life bit by bit!