"You and Ying Kai are spending the Lantern Festival together?" Shen Chen poured a cup of tea for Wei An and was about to close the window. He glanced at Lin Sanshao and exclaimed, "That's quite tragic!"
Young Master Lin ignored his sarcasm and lowered his head to peel shrimps: "The Concubine Shu summoned me to the palace. It was nothing more than the same thing as before. Although she said she didn't urge me to get married, she wanted me to get married, so I had no choice but to hide."
Speaking of marriage, Shen Chen stopped joking and said after thinking for a while: "Didn't Concubine Shu say a few days ago that she had taken a fancy to a girl from the Chen family in Haining? The Chen family in Haining is a famous family with generations of reputation. The girls are all excellent. You can take a look first."
Young Master Lin didn't mention this matter. He glanced at the stage below, raised his eyebrows and asked Shen Chen: "What's going on? Could it be that your princess knew you were having dinner here and specially asked someone to sing to disgust you?"
The audience was singing the part where the Emperor of Heaven saw that the number one scholar was unfilial, so he ordered Taibai Jinxing to descend to the earth to reprimand the unfilial son. The unfilial son repented and followed orders to bring back his stepmother. The actors were singing in a mournful manner, and Shen Chen lowered his head and sneered, "Whether it's true or not, I won't acknowledge him anyway."
"What's the point of you not acknowledging me?" Young Master Lin sneered, "Everyone in this world knows that you are the adopted son of the Linjiang Palace. They don't know what role the princess plays in this. They only know that the prince and princess are your adoptive father and mother. If you go against her wishes in the future, it will naturally be unfilial."
Princess Linjiang hasn't been making any trouble recently. Apart from the time she tried to form an alliance with the Xu family over the marriage of their children, she has been much more honest and well behaved recently, and has been very kind to Shen Chen.
Several times Shen Chen went to her to pay his respects, she always asked him questions with great concern.
But Shen Chen didn't believe that she had no other thoughts. Apart from anything else, the recent incident in which Prince Zheng was blocked from returning to the capital could not be said to have no involvement of Princess Linjiang.
Just like now, if he were to say that it was Princess Linjiang who ordered someone to perform this play, he would believe it.
He didn't say anything, raised his hand to close the window, and hummed: "I have already told my father that since I have acknowledged my ancestors, I will naturally be surnamed Shen in the future. I can't get any benefit from the royal family. Even if the princess wants to use filial piety to hold me hostage, as long as I don't want to be crowned king, she can't do anything to me."
Princess Linjiang has not been targeting Shen Chen recently, but she has said a lot of dissatisfied words about Wei An to Prince Linjiang. She also keeps saying that she is considering Shen Chen, saying that Wei An has too stubborn temper and is too tough in his approach, and she is afraid that he will not be docile enough in the future and will cause trouble.
Shen Chen has already told Prince Linjiang that since the princess doesn't like Wei An, she should see him less often in the future.
He knew Princess Linjiang's temper and didn't want Wei An to suffer her sarcasm.
Now that Young Master Lin mentioned it, he knew that Young Master Lin was worried about Wei An, so he didn't hide it from him and told him his plan directly: "I have discussed this matter with Old Madam Wei. When Prince Zheng comes back, we will ask His Majesty to decree the marriage. What His Majesty decided when he was alive cannot be changed even if she becomes the queen. The status has been determined. As long as I don't live in the capital, can she still reach out to my backyard?"
Young Master Lin was just worried about Wei An. Since Shen Chen had already made a plan, he didn't say anything. He just reminded him, "You still have to be careful. Although you are not afraid of anything now, you are afraid that she will harm Wei An later."
Wei An was beside him and laughed: "Don't worry, Third Master. If she wants to harm me, she needs a chance. Killing a person is not as simple as killing an ant. Besides, I am the princess now. If she uses etiquette to deal with me, I naturally have ways to deal with it. Since I am the daughter-in-law of the Shen family, why should I be disciplined by her?"
Although she would be the queen at that time, as long as she behaved properly, she could not do anything to others without reason.
But no matter how you look at it, this matter is not always a happy one. Wei An had no appetite for the rest of his meal, and when he got to the street, he felt a little listless.
Shen Chen touched her hair, knowing that she felt aggrieved, and whispered, "I'm sorry, An An."
He originally liked this girl and wanted to give her the best things in the world. He wanted to treat her well for the rest of his life and didn't want her to suffer any grievances. However, people always have times when they are powerless. He couldn't completely resolve the issue of Princess Linjiang and could only protect her as much as he could.
Wei An looked up at him, and seeing that he looked very guilty, he shook his head: "You haven't let me down. I told you before I agreed to this marriage, I already knew what I would have to face. I can't say that I feel wronged."
Compared to before, it is much better.
She was just a little scared. Young Master Lin was right in one thing. Princess Linjiang couldn't deal with Shen Chen, but she could always deal with her. There were many ways women could use each other. She was not afraid that Princess Linjiang would target her, but she was afraid that the relationship between her and Shen Chen would be affected.
But these are things that haven't happened yet, so there's no point in worrying. She smiled and cheered herself up: "Didn't I hear there's a lantern riddle guessing game today? I want to go and take a look."
Zhengyang Street was bustling with activity. It was not yet time, but both sides of the street were already filled with stalls, with a dazzling array of goods that was too much to take in. Wei An had never been to such a place before. It was so strange that everything he saw seemed new to him.
Shen Chen bought her some candied haws and soup dumplings for her to try, and laughed, "You don't know, there's a small stall selling wontons in front, they're extremely delicious, fresh, fragrant and sweet, usually there's not enough space, you have to reserve a seat."
Wei An followed him to take a look, and sure enough, he saw that the small square tables near the stall were full, and there were many people queuing up next to them waiting for a seat. He couldn't help but laugh: "Is it really that delicious?"
Shen Chen responded, "Of course. Look at the carriages parked nearby. Most of them are brought by rich young men..." As he was speaking, he heard a shout from the front, and Shen Chen stopped talking.
Wei An couldn't help but frown.
A little girl with tears on her face was embarrassed and scolded by a sturdy woman. Even she felt a little uncomfortable and whispered, "What's going on?"
As she was talking, the woman had already started to attack. She grabbed the little girl's ear and walked away: "You are so arrogant. Do you think you are something special? You complain that the food at home is not tasty, so you spend money to eat this. Do you think you are capable and can be my master? You are wrong!"
The girl was thin, and she almost fell down when she was pushed and pulled by her. Wei An was about to speak when he saw Shen Chen's fingers move, and the stout woman's knees bent down all of a sudden. (To be continued)