RWNEFE -Chapter 437 Shen Shuniang and Shen Huiniang Come Calling!

After the court session ended, civil and military officials gathered in groups, all discussing the matter of the Yue prince proposing marriage to Shen Lanxi.

Yue Chuhe quickly walked up and blocked Shen Lanxi’s path.

“Lord Shen, I was presumptuous yesterday. I apologize to you here.”

Shen Lanxi replied, “No need. Yesterday’s contest was fair. Though there was no declared winner or loser, people know the truth in their hearts. There’s no need for Your Highness to dwell on it.”

“I’m not dwelling on it. I meant what I said!” Yue Chuhe hurriedly insisted.

Shen Lanxi stopped walking and looked at him directly. “As far as I know, Your Highness already married the legitimate daughter of the Yue prime minister as your principal consort. I would like to ask—if you marry me, what happens to the prime minister’s daughter?”

“I am the Duke Protector of Great Zhou. Setting aside whether I would even be willing to be your secondary consort, just the act of deception alone would give Great Zhou an excuse to destroy Yue.”

Yue Chuhe’s face turned pale. He hadn’t expected Shen Lanxi to know so much about Yue affairs.

Divorcing the prime minister’s daughter was impossible, and there was no way she could be demoted to a secondary consort.

“Lord Shen exaggerates. Since I dared to propose in open court, I certainly would not let you be a secondary consort.”

Shen Lanxi curled her lips. “So you would make me the principal consort? In that case, I’ll write a letter to the Yue prime minister today and advise him to act wisely and take his daughter back home early.”

Yue Chuhe felt a chill in his heart. He hadn’t expected Shen Lanxi to be so ruthless, trying to undermine his very foundation.

The reason he wielded influence in Yue was largely because of his father-in-law, the prime minister. If the prime minister learned he intended to replace his daughter as principal consort, would he even be able to return to Yue alive?

Ignoring Yue Chuhe’s pale face, Shen Lanxi continued, “Or does Yue have a tradition of taking two principal wives? I’ve never heard of such a custom.”

Yue Chuhe inwardly wished he could kill her.

Yue’s customs were similar to Great Zhou’s; there was naturally no such tradition. She was merely a discarded woman, yet she dared to imagine becoming his principal consort—where did she get such nerve?

Even if she was the Duke Protector of Great Zhou, she was still a woman who had been used and abandoned. Allowing her into his household would already be a great favor; Shen Lanxi was truly ungrateful.

“Misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding! Since Lord Shen has no interest in me, I shall take it as ‘the falling flower is willing, but the flowing water is heartless,’” Yue Chuhe said with a stiff smile.

Shen Lanxi found it amusing but merely nodded calmly. “I see. That’s truly a pity. If you had insisted a little more, I might have gone to Yue to be the principal consort in your residence.”

Yue Chuhe gave an awkward laugh and fled as if escaping for his life.

A woman so vicious and scheming—she would never set foot in his prince’s residence!

Zhou Ruyuan walked over quickly.

“What did he just say to you?”

Shen Lanxi raised an eyebrow and looked at him with a half-smile. “Is the Prince of Zhen’nan interrogating me?”

Zhou Ruyuan frowned, his face serious as he looked in the direction Yue Chuhe had left.
“I’m only worried he might harm you.”

Shen Lanxi replied, “Then thank you for your concern, Prince of Zhen’nan. Unfortunately, even if Yue Chuhe wanted to harm me, he doesn’t have the strength to do so.”

“You shouldn’t underestimate him,” Zhou Ruyuan said. “If he was chosen to come as an envoy, he must be both cunning and capable.”

Shen Lanxi raised an eyebrow, smiling faintly. “I thought the Prince of Zhen’nan was worried about grain supplies. It seems I was mistaken.”

Zhou Ruyuan looked momentarily choked.

Inwardly, Shen Lanxi gave him two words: hypocrite.

Zhou Ruyuan stood there, staring in the direction Shen Lanxi had gone. Why was she always so stubborn, refusing to heed advice?

…

Shen Lanxi’s sudden return to the residence caught everyone off guard.

The harmonious scene of filial daughters and kindly mothers froze instantly.

“So this is Lanxi? Oh my, it’s been seven or eight years—we almost couldn’t recognize you!”

“Lanxi has returned! Come closer and let your aunt have a good look at you!”

Shen Congwen’s two younger sisters, Shen Shuniang and Shen Huiniang, spoke one after another, their tone affectionate as they beckoned to Shen Lanxi—yet neither of them rose from their seats.

Old Madam Shen’s heart skipped a beat. She had been so happy earlier that she had forgotten to warn her two daughters.

Shen Shuniang smiled and pointed to the two sons and one daughter beside her. “Children, quickly greet your cousin.”

“My daughter, call her Cousin.”

Not to be outdone, Shen Huiniang also introduced her three daughters and one son.

“Go on, greet her. We’re the closest of relatives. You even used to play together when you were little.”

Among the seven young people, there were looks of appraisal, curiosity, and scrutiny—along with contempt and disdain hidden deep in their eyes.

“Cousin…”

“Cousin…”

Shen Lanxi looked at them coldly. She tolerated the people in her household, but that didn’t mean she would tolerate them.

“Lanxi, your two aunts have come from a thousand li away to see me. They even brought many things unique to Jiangnan for you,” Old Madam Shen said quickly, softening her tone in hopes that her granddaughter would give her some face.

Shen Lanxi replied indifferently, “Since you’ve come, stay for two days and then return. Jiangnan must be busy, and you should go back early to attend to your affairs.”

Shen Shuniang and Shen Huiniang immediately pulled long faces and leaned back in their chairs.

“Lanxi, that’s not right. We came from so far away, yet instead of asking us to stay longer, it sounds like you can’t wait for us to leave!”

In the past, when the Shen family had been prosperous, they could bring their entire households and stay for half a year, and no one in the Shen residence dared say a word.

Now they were being slighted by this little wretch—Shen Shuniang immediately put on the airs of an elder.

“Yes, Lanxi, this is indeed improper. Your aunt and I came from so far away, yet instead of treating us well, you sound as if you want to drive us out,” Shen Huiniang chimed in, echoing her sister.

Old Madam Shen’s heart tightened. Out of pride, when writing to her daughters before, she had always described everything as perfectly fine and never mentioned that Shen Lanxi now ruled the Shen household like a tyrant.

Now her two daughters were about to bring disaster upon themselves.

“Silence! Stop putting on airs with your petty, small-family manners!” Old Madam Shen scolded her daughters darkly.

Shen Shuniang and Shen Huiniang assumed their mother was scolding Shen Lanxi on their behalf, and each looked at Shen Lanxi smugly.

Just wait—they thought. Mother would deal with her.

“I’m talking about you! Why aren’t you getting up and apologizing to Lanxi at once?” Old Madam Shen barked.

Shen Shuniang and Shen Huiniang’s expressions changed instantly.

Apologize to Shen Lanxi?

Had they heard correctly?

Seeing that her daughters didn’t move, Old Madam Shen immediately rebuked them again.
“You’ve brought unrest to the household the moment you arrived. If you came to cause trouble, then pack your things and return to Jiangnan immediately. From now on, you need not set foot here again!”

Shen Shuniang and Shen Huiniang’s faces changed drastically.

They couldn’t go back.

“Mother, what did we say wrong just now?”

“Yes, Mother, when have elders ever apologized to juniors? Wouldn’t that disgrace the younger generation?”

“If outsiders heard of it, they would surely say Lanxi is disrespectful to her elders.”

“Exactly! If such a reputation spreads, how would the sons and daughters of the Shen family ever show their faces in public?”