On the third day of the first month of November, the sun was shining brightly, and it was rare to see such a good day in winter.
The general's mansion was cleaned inside and out, and the public servant also took out money to buy new things. The birthday banquet was naturally held in the east courtyard. The environment of the east courtyard was quiet and elegant, the flowers were well-trimmed, and the maids wore refreshing and neat skirts. As soon as people walk in, they feel that they are worthy of being a big family.
Old Shen Furen sat high in the main hall of Rongjing Hall, and many ladies and young ladies came and went to greet her. After all, the Shen family in Ming Qi was a family of first-class military generals, and the dignitaries and nobles had to come to take care of them based on their favor. Ren Wanyun was also busy greeting the guests.
Although Chen Rouqiu was currently in charge of the family temporarily, but in previous years, Old Shen Furen's birthday was all handled by Ren Wanyun. As for dealing with these noble ladies, Ren Wanyun can also do better than Chen Rou Qiu. In the end, Chen Rou Qiu was holding the air of a scholarly family, but Ren Wan Yun was different, she handled it appropriately, and Rong Jing Tang was also laughing and laughing.
Shen Yuanbai cuddled up to the old lady Shen and ate honey lactose, and the ladies underneath would compliment him from time to time for being so clever at such a young age that he would definitely do a lot in the future. Old Shen Furen smiled brightly, and even Ren Wan Yun's heart was swept away because of Shen Qing's haze these days because of these compliments.
On the other hand, Chen Rouqiu felt very uncomfortable when she saw that everyone was praising Shen Yuanbai and Shen Yuan who was outside. The most dreaded thing in the third room was talking about sons, everyone knew that Chen Rou Qiu had been married to Shen Wan for many years, and apart from getting a Shen Yue, she had never had a son. However, Shen Wan had no interest in other women. Old Madam Shen wanted to give Shen Wan a few concubines to open up branches, but Shen Wan refused. Because of this, Old Shen Furen took out her anger at Chen Rouqiu, Ren Wanyun was obviously more favored by Old Shen Furen than Chen Rou Qiu.
"However, why didn't I see the eldest and fifth girls of the Shen family today?" Mrs. Yi said with a smile.
Ren Wanyun was in charge of receiving these ladies, and Shen Yue naturally went to get close to those noble ladies. Take them to eat tea and snacks in the garden. But today they still did not see Shen Miao and Shen Qing.
When Ren Wanyun and Old Shen Furen heard the words, their expressions sank at the same time, and the corner of Chen Rou Qiu's mouth twitched.
Shen Qing's body was not yet in good shape, but now he is finally able to see people rationally, but he kept claiming that Shen Miao's body must be broken into ten thousand pieces. However, these words cannot be heard by outsiders, Ren Wanyun has been comforting Shen Qing these days, lest she have thoughts of suicide. As for how to comfort, Chen Rou Qiu could think of it, it was nothing more than promise Shen Miao would end up with a miserable end.
As for Shen Miao, she did not know where she heard that Old Shen Furen took the Wei family's Geng Tie for her privately. From that day on, she changed her previous silence and resisted like crazy, and threatened to resist. marriage, or even escape. Old Shen Furen heard these words very much, Ren Wan Yun and Shen Shen Furen pondered, and now Shen Miao’s rebelliousness is gradually showing, what she said about resisting marriage and escaping from marriage is indeed something that can be done. But now Shen Miao must never have an accident, once she has an accident, the matter of getting married with sister Shen Qing will be impossible.
So since Shen Miao threatened to resist the marriage, Old Shen Furen and Ren Wan Yun kept Shen Miao locked in the ancestral hall. The ancestral hall is located in the most southwestern courtyard of the Shen residence, and is generally not seen by anyone. The number of guards outside had increased by at least half, and all the girls in the western courtyard, including Shen Miao's four personal girls, were found out by Old Shen Furen and tightly held in the palm of her hand.
The implication was that if Shen Miao made a little movement, these girls could not keep it.
So these days, Shen Miao was kept in the Shen family ancestral hall, chanting and praying every day. Ren Wan Yun hoped to use this to smooth out Shen Miao's reckless temper, and also to prevent any accident. Today is Old Shen Furen’s birthday, if Shen Miao is released, fearing that she will say some shocking words in public, after discussing with Old Shen Furen, she will simply not let Shen Miao appear in front of everyone.
Thinking of Shen Miao, Ren Wan Yun had some headaches. She has been immersed in the mansion for so many years, but now she can't even tell what a little girl is thinking. Speaking of Shen Miao's straw bag, she calmly calculated everyone in the matter of Shen Qing, saying that she was quiet, but she was ostentatious and did not hide the fact that she was about to run away from marriage. Had to lock her up.
Chen Rouqiu finished admiring Ren Wanyun's splendid expression and said with a smile, "Sister Qing is not in good shape, so she will not come out now, and she will come out later at the old lady's birthday ceremony. Sister Miao has contracted a disease and can't see the wind. , there was a rash on her face, and there were so many girls present that she was afraid of infecting a young lady, so she left her in the room by herself."
If it is said that Shen Miao is ill, it is inevitable that some people will be curious to investigate and take a look. If it is said that this disease can cause others to contract it, naturally no one will dare to ask about Shen Miao. Especially girls all love beauty, how could they take such a big risk to see him.
Jiang Xiaoxuan's mother, Mrs. Jiang, also laughed, with a hint of tentativeness in her words: "So that's the case, I thought it was the two girls who were busy embroidering dowries, and even we didn't want to see each other. Wan Yun wants to. Take good care of the girls, so that when you get married in the future, you will not delay things." After saying that, he immediately attracted the echoes of the surrounding ladies.
The marriage between the Wei family and the Huang family has been widely reported in the Ding capital, but unfortunately the Shen family has never publicly confirmed it. Exactly which young lady is marrying which one is all confused now, so Mrs. Jiang asked today, wanting to see if the rumored marriage can be done.
Ren Wanyun's eyes flashed, she naturally knew Madam Jiang's intention, she smiled and said, "What are you talking about, even if you are busy embroidering the wedding dress, if the old lady is born, she will naturally come out to show her filial piety, if it is not for the two children It's really unfortunate that you're ill, why don't you come out to see the ladies?"
In the words, he even admitted the meaning of this marriage.
The ladies present were all people who were used to seeing things in the house. They could hear what Ren Wanyun meant, and the congratulations could be heard all of a sudden. Old Madam Shen touched Shen Yuanbai with a loving smile on her face. appearance.
In the garden of Qiushuiyuan, there are a group of young girls around at the moment. They are playing chess and leaf cards on the bluestone table, eating snacks, chatting and laughing.
"Speaking of which, Yue'er," Jiang Xiaoxuan said, "your sister and sister, you haven't seen her until now, could it be that she is really sick?"
"It's really sick." Shen Yue shook her head, her eyes showed a trace of worry: "Eldest sister's illness is always getting better, but fifth sister's condition is a bit severe, and the rash on her face even affects the girls around her. It's all infected. No," she lowered her head: "If you come today, I'm afraid you won't even see the girls beside them."
"No wonder." Bai Wei suddenly realized: "There are so many people guarding outside the western courtyard, and no one comes out. I think the servants who come to the courtyard are also afraid of coming out and infecting others. Mr. Pei didn't say in the school that there were some plagues in the past. Locally, in order to prevent the plague from raging everywhere, isolate those who are sick?"
"That's the truth." Shen Yue said.
Yi Peilan touched his shoulders and fought a cold war: "It's really scary, but don't get it on us."
"Don't worry." Shen Yue said with a smile: "As long as you don't go to the West Court, you're naturally safe. You see, didn't I also get infected?"
“You are really kind to stay with such a younger sister.” Yi Peilan curled her lips, “Why is this Shen Miao like a disaster star, such things happen all the time.”
On the other side, anger flashed in Feng An Ning's eyes, and she held it back and scolded in a low voice, "I don't know if this is trying to attract hatred to Shen Miao or it is really pretentious."
What she said was naturally Shen Yue.
Feng An Ning's face, Qin Qing, snorted coldly, her expression still arrogant, but looking at Shen Yue's eyes, she was also very contemptuous.
For the two of them, Feng Anning and Shen Miao were considered to have a good relationship now, so they were naturally rejected by Shen Yue. As for Qin Qing, who was beautiful and arrogant, she was considered an opponent with Shen Yue in Guangwen Hall. It was Shen Yue who came to greet the daughters, so Qin Qing was naturally ignored. So the two of them, by accident, were able to sit together.
“Who knows if he is sick or not.” Qin Qing never concealed her contempt for Shen Yue, when Feng An Ning heard this, she immediately said, “So you think so too, why don’t we go and see Shen Miao.”
"I don't have any friendship with her, so I'm going to go by yourself." Qin Qing refused without hesitation, and added: "But the west courtyard of the Shen residence is not allowed to enter now, for fear of getting a rash, you won't be able to enter if you want to come. ."
"How can there be such a thing?" Feng Anning was filled with righteous indignation, "They are both granddaughters of the Shen residence, why can't Shen Miao also participate in Old Shen Furen's birthday and lock a person in the west courtyard, isn't that the same as going to jail?"
"You should not worry about other people's affairs." Qin Qing glanced at Feng Anning: "It has nothing to do with you or me."
Feng An Ning bit her lip unwillingly, but she couldn't say why. He could only stare angrily at Shen Yue who was surrounded by the crowd chatting and laughing.
But no one saw a figure in the shade of the tree, and quickly disappeared among the flowers.
The northwest corner of the Shen residence was a barren yard. Due to the bad terrain and many weeds growing, it was immediately abandoned. Except for the occasional flying bird and roosting feral cat, no one comes.
Today, there are a few people standing under the wall.
The leader turned his back to Sonoko, cradling his chest, wondering what he was pondering. Someone behind him said, "Master, my subordinates passed by the East Courtyard of Shen Mansion and heard that someone in the West Courtyard is holding hands."
The other person said, "My subordinates have already checked, and there are only people guarding the west courtyard. The guards are not here. There are many masters outside the ancestral hall of the Shen residence. Could it be..."
"The sound is from the east to the west." The man turned his head and revealed a handsome face: "The stuff is in the Shen's ancestral hall."