freenovelworld Chapter 325 Marriage Grant (1)
Chapter 325 Marriage Grant (1)
The two walked to a secluded spot, and Wen Ruohuan immediately knelt down.
"In urgent situations, we must act expediently. Please forgive my rudeness just now, Your Highness."
She could tell that Li Zhilan was angry, but since she had achieved her goal, it wouldn't hurt to coax her now.
With so many people seeing her go out with the princess, it will be difficult for her to escape later.
She concealed the smugness between her brows, her expression growing increasingly anxious.
Li Zhilan snorted upon hearing this, thinking that she was wise to know her place.
"Tell me what's going on."
Wen Ruohuan laid out the draft she had prepared earlier.
“Shen Funian, who is also Lord Shen’s sister, has noticed my feelings for Lord Shen. I was worried that she would tell Wen Jiayue, so I quickly discussed countermeasures with the Princess.”
Li Zhilan glared at her fiercely: "Idiot! How can you be so careless!"
If it weren't for the inappropriate occasion, she would have already slapped him.
"This humble woman is guilty," Wen Ruohuan lowered her head, "I beg Your Highness to save this humble woman."
Li Zhilan composed herself and asked calmly, "What do you mean?"
“In my opinion,” Wen Ruohuan raised her head, a dark glint in her eyes, “we should cut the Gordian knot.”
Li Zhilan laughed upon hearing this; it was vicious enough, and she liked it.
Unfortunately, he wasn't smart enough. Killing someone at this critical juncture would have given them leverage against him, and it would have been a losing proposition.
After a moment's thought, Li Zhilan asked, "Did Shen Funian also attend this coming-of-age banquet?"
"Exactly."
Li Zhilan said indifferently, "In that case, put the mute-inducing drug into her teacup and poison her to make her mute."
This is a perfect opportunity to use someone else to do the dirty work, and shift all the blame onto the Duke of Qi's mansion.
Wen Ruohuan's eyes lit up: "Your Highness has a good plan, but I have an even better candidate, Princess Nanping."
"Her?" Li Zhilan asked, puzzled. "What's their feud?"
Wen Ruohuan then briefly recounted how Princess Nanping mocked Shen Funian and how Xiao Suye rescued her as a hero.
Li Zhilan pondered for a moment, then slowly said, "I have an even better idea."
While the two discussed their strategy, Shen Funian and Xiao Suye returned to the hall one after the other.
Wen Jiayue asked in a low voice, "Why did you take so long?"
Shen Funian hesitated, then shook her head and said, "I'll tell you when we get back to the manor."
Judging from her expression, she didn't seem to have encountered anything serious, so Wen Jiayue didn't ask any more questions.
"Mother."
Zhao Zhao suddenly spoke up, her voice sounding somewhat anxious. Wen Jiayue quickly lowered her head and asked, "What's wrong, Zhao Zhao?"
Zhao Zhao pointed diagonally across the street, and Wen Jiayue looked over accordingly.
Then you see the boy who had been staring at Zhao Zhao the whole time while watching the play sitting there.
He was still looking at Zhao Zhao, his eyes unblinking. When Zhao Zhao looked over, his face turned red, but he stubbornly refused to look away.
Although her son is young, he kept staring at the little girl, which made her feel a little embarrassed.
She gave a friendly smile: "Mrs. Shen, I'm so sorry, I don't know what's wrong with Ayu, it must be because your daughter is too cute."
This was the first time Wen Jiayue had encountered such a situation, and she gave a hasty smile.
In her past life, she rarely attended banquets, so Zhao Zhao naturally wouldn't go either.
The lady then remembered to introduce herself: "I am from the Ningguo Duke's Mansion, my surname is Bai, and my son's name is Cui Yu, his nickname is A Yu, and he has just turned three years old."
Wen Jiayue had heard of the Ningguo Duke's Mansion; it was low-key, knew how to choose sides, and had a history of over a century.
Two years ago, the old Duke of Ningguo passed away due to illness, and his heir ascended to the throne. The new Duchess's surname became Bai.
Wen Jiayue praised Cui Yu and also revealed her and her daughter's names.
Cui Yu listened intently, repeating, "Zhao Zhao..."
Zhao Zhao tilted her head, wanting to call his name, but after uttering "Ah" for a while, she still didn't know how to pronounce "Yu," so she simply said in a childish voice, "Brother!"
Cui Yu's face turned even redder, but she nodded earnestly.
He looked up and asked his mother for her opinion: "Mother, can I go and play with Zhao Zhao?"
Shen Funian watched with great interest and nudged Wen Jiayue's arm.
"I knew it! Zhao Zhao is so charming; she won over a man so quickly."
Wen Jiayue covered Zhao Zhao's ears and frowned, saying, "Don't talk nonsense, don't corrupt Zhao Zhao."
Shen Funian sighed: "If I don't talk about this, I'll have to think about Xiao... Never mind, if I don't want to talk about it, then I won't."
As the two were talking, Cui Yu walked over.
The three-year-old child has thick eyebrows, big eyes, red lips, and white teeth, and has a gentle and refined temperament, suggesting that he is very well-mannered at home.
He asked politely, "Auntie, may I play with Zhaozhao?"
Wen Jiayue also looked at Zhaozhao and asked, "Zhaozhao, do you want to play with your brother?"
Zhao Zhao nodded, and Wen Jiayue put her down.
She didn't want Zhao Zhao to stay under Li Zhilan's nose. If Li Zhilan suddenly felt like hugging Zhao Zhao again, her heart would leap into her throat.
Wen Jiayue instructed the wet nurse to take good care of the young lady.
Cui Yu said earnestly, "Don't worry, Auntie, I will take good care of Zhaozhao."
Wen Jiayue couldn't help but smile. Although Cui Yu was young, he did look quite composed.
Shen Funian watched the two children walk away hand in hand and said softly, "I originally wanted to raise Yao'er to be like this, but unfortunately he went astray."
Wen Jiayue covered her mouth and smiled, comforting her, "Yao'er is doing very well too. She's already practicing swordsmanship quite well now."
Shen Funian pouted: "But I still want him to study hard."
Just as Wen Jiayue was about to speak, Li Zhilan and Wen Ruohuan walked in.
The two fell silent, bowed, and then focused on their meal.
Li Zhilan looked around and parted her red lips slightly: "Nanping, why are you sitting so far away?"
Princess Nanping, who was sitting at the corner table, stood up and explained with a forced smile, "I don't want to disturb my elder sister's meal."
Although they were cousins, there was a nearly ten-year age gap between them, and Princess Nanping had been afraid of this capricious cousin since childhood.
Moreover, she had caused trouble today, so naturally she dared not attract attention.
Besides, Shen Funian was sitting there too, so she didn't dare to go over.
If they anger the Shen and Xiao families again, the Xuanwang Mansion will likely be doomed.
"Come and sit down," Li Zhilan said without waiting for a reply. "Don't make me say it a second time."
Princess Nanping had no choice but to sit down upon hearing this.
Li Zhilan asked in a calm voice, "Before I came, it seemed that you and Miss Shen had a disagreement?"
Upon hearing her bring up the old matter again, Princess Nanping responded softly, behaving as obediently as a quail, completely devoid of her arrogant and domineering demeanor.
“This is indeed your fault,” Li Zhilan instructed. “Apologize to Miss Shen, and this matter will be considered closed.”
Shen Funian said nonchalantly, "Princess Nanping apologized just now, and I have already forgiven her."
"Really?" Li Zhilan said with a smile, "Miss Shen is really easy to talk to."
"Your Highness is too kind."
Li Zhilan changed the subject: "I think you and General Xiao's son are a perfect match. Since he says he wants to marry you, why not do it today? I'll bestow a marriage upon you both."