Minister Family's Black Belly Woman Chapter 30 How Can I Say No To The First Young Lady's Invitation?

Madam Su was stunned and stayed where she was. Her fingers trembled slightly. "You...what do you want to say?"

"The Second Prince is coming back on July 15, auntie. That's the Ghost Day." Shen Ninghua's voice was not high, but it stirred up waves in Madam Su's heart.

Listening to Shen Ninghua's cool voice, Madam Su shuddered. "You mean this day...No way. The empress is not so bold."

"I didn't believe it either. But being a mother makes a woman stronger. Auntie, you should be able to experience such a feeling." Shen Ninghua sighed faintly. "Auntie, I just don't want you to regret it after the bad thing has happened. I've made the Zhao family lose face this time. They will not leave the matter at that. My mother has pa.s.sed away, and my father ignores me. I am alone, and there is nothing for me to worry about. But auntie, you are different. I am grateful that you have helped me many times. That's why I reminded you. Auntie, if you don't believe it, you can take this as nonsense."

Madam Su was silent for a long time. "Ninghua...I need some time to think about it...

Shen Ninghua smiled. "Auntie, don't worry so much. Maybe I am overthinking. Bi Zhu, escort my auntie back."

"Yes, miss."

After seeing off Madam Su who had lost her wits, the expression on Shen Ninghua's face gradually disappeared. Bai Ruo changed the cold tea by her hand. "Miss, are you worried about the Second Lady?"

"Although she is straightforward in character, she does know how to calculate. I'm sure she'll figure out the lurking dangers."

"In that case, miss, what else is there for you to worry about?"

Shen Ninghua frowned. "What do you think of Chu Junyi?"

Bai Ruo was slightly shocked, and thought about her wording before she replied, "I only met Master Chu twice. But I feel that he seems to be a little unconventional, and is very considerate to you."

Shen Ninghua shook her head and said, "There is nothing for you to do here. Now you go to see if all the things I need have been sent by the Zhao family. If they are all here, I'll brew the wine today."

Hong Ling said. "Miss, do you really want to make wine for Miss Zhao?" Although Zhao Ruyun knelt down and apologized, Hong Ling was still angry with her. What if she healed and came to make trouble for the miss again?

"Now that I have given my consent, I must honor my word. After I brew the wine, you will send it to the Zhao family. Tell my aunt to find an imperial doctor to check the wine to make sure there is no problem before you come back. Do remember to tell my aunt and cousin that the wine can only be used after being stored for 14 days... they don't wait long enough..."

"Haha, yes, don't worry, miss. I will tell them." Hong Ling chuckled. She remembered that if the wine wasn't stored for long enough, it would be of some bad use.

Shen Ninghua lowered her eyes and looked up at the dazzling sun outside the window. There was a haze lingering in her heart. In the previous life, the Second Prince also came back on July 15. She remembered that the whole city was empty on this day. Everyone knelt down and shouted excitedly to welcome the Second Prince. It seemed that overnight, the Second Prince's name spread throughout the country, and everyone was admiring his bravery and valiance. The Second Prince gained a large number of supporters, but the emperor only awarded him some gold, silver, and jewelry. For a long time, he was even deprived of all his military power.

An emperor hated it when someone had too high a reputation, even if this person was his own son! The Crown Prince was able to defeat the Second Prince later thanks to this incident.

"Still too young." Shen Ninghua murmured. Then she got up and went to the writing desk to continue copying books.

Two days later, people gathered in the streets. The sensation caused by the return of the Second Prince was beginning to appear.

Madam Su and Shen Ninghua were sitting on the second floor of Linyue Pavilion, looking out through the window at the crowds. Madam Su saw a lad in armor, and her eyes were instantly filled with tears. "It's Hua'er!"

Shen Ninghua looked at the lad. "Cousin is darker than before, but he is also stronger. Auntie, you can be relieved now."

Madam Su looked at her. "Ninghua, is what you said before true?"

"Maybe I was overthinking, auntie. You can forget about it."

Hearing Shen Ninghua's words, Madam Su's eyes were still full of worries. "My husband and I have only one child. Ninghua, your mother risked her death to give birth to you. I can feel that if it were me, I would make the same choice."

Shen Ninghua gestured with her fingers. "Auntie, you are right."

"I can feel your hostility to the First Lady and the Shen family, and I'm willing to be your ally. But there is a premise. Nothing bad should happen to the second branch."

"Auntie, you have been kind to me, and I am not a person who returns kindness with ingrat.i.tude."

Looking at Shen Ninghua's smiling eyes, Madam Su's heart slowly relaxed. If it were in the past, she would not believe that a 14-year-old girl was trustworthy. But after seeing that the First Lady failed to frame up Shen Ninghua and was forced to hand over so many things, and that Zhao Ruyun knelt down under Madam Zhang's pressure to admit her mistake, she suddenly realized that the girl was different. As long as Shen Ninghua wouldn't hurt her family, she didn't care at all about whatever happened to the Shen family.

"Long live the Second Prince!"

"Auspiciousness for His Highness!"

Downstairs, people knelt down, and the voice of excitement shook the sky.

Madam Su was a little proud. "The Second Prince really made great contributions this time. Even people are especially grateful to him. It's also good for Hua'er to gain some experience." As a mother who saw her child sent to the frontier and battlefield, she was both worried and proud. For a while, the ambivalent mood made her unable to express her feeling.

Shen Ninghua bowed her head to drink tea. "Apparently, people are excited, but they seem to be too excited."

Madam Su's face turned pale when she thought about Shen Ninghua's words carefully. "Ninghua, you mean these people..."

"Auntie, you can surely figure it out. After all, after the defeat of the Great Yue State, general Su turned over his military power and volunteered to return to his hometown. The emperor repeatedly asked him to stay, but he didn't compromise. Finally, the emperor took back general Su's military power and cancelled the reward of the t.i.tle of prince. After that, the emperor kept general Su in the capital and allowed him to be a general with an honorary t.i.tle but without actual power."

Madam Su's face became paler and paler. Surely she understood that those in power would not allow others to sleep beside their couches. If her grandfather weren't smart enough in dealing with the emperor, the Su family wouldn't be able to enjoy the glory now.

"What should I do now? Hua'er might not be involved. After all, he is so young..." There must be someone among the crowds who intentionally encouraged others to push up the reputation of the Second Prince.

Shen Ninghua handed Madam Su a cup of tea. After seeing Madam Su's looks relaxed a lot, she said, "The emperor is a wise man. Surely my cousin will not be involved. But as a member of the Second Prince's team, even if my cousin is not punished for the time being, he will not have a smooth career in the future." In the beginning, the First Lady was able to suppress the second branch and completely control the whole Shen family. This had a lot to do with Shen Xuanhua's frustrations in career. Now Madam Su was determined to help her, so she would naturally offer some advice to her.

Madam Su's eyes were cold. She looked downstairs again. The Crown Prince had come out with the officials of the Ministry of Rites to welcome the Second Prince.

Baili Jinyi, dressed in bright yellow robe, looked particularly handsome. He seemed to be born to be an emperor. Even if he was so far away, Shen Ninghua could feel the n.o.ble makings in him.

The Second Prince was wearing armor. Compared with the gentle and n.o.ble Crown Prince, he was more like a valiant general.

The whole welcoming ceremony reached the climax when the Crown Prince toasted to the Second Prince. Thousands of people knelt down and shouted. The Second Prince raised the wine jar and drank it up.

Shen Ninghua smiled and looked downstairs. "Auntie, you should go back home now and be prepared. Cousin is young and doesn't need to go to the Palace to be received by the emperor. At this time, he must be anxious to return home as soon as possible."

"Well, I'll go back first." Madam Su got up and walked two steps forward. Suddenly she turned around, as if she had made a decision. "Ninghua, if you can make your promise, the second branch will always support you, no matter what you do!"

Shen Ninghua had a smile at the bottom of her eyes. "Thank you, auntie. Your trust will never be betrayed." If Madam Su really lived up to her promise, she didn't mind protecting a few more people.

After watching the Crown Prince's gentle and polite performance for a long time, Shen Ninghua's smile became deeper. "Bai Ruo, let's go back."

However, she did not see Bai Ruo and the other maids. Instead, she was met by Chu Junyi's smiling eyes. She did not know how long he had been standing here.

"Where are Bai Ruo and the other maids?"

"I ordered my people to invite the girls to come down for a cup of tea. Don't worry, I'm sure they'll return safe and sound." Chu Junyi said as he sat opposite to Shen Ninghua.

"Master Chu, why don't you go down to join in the fun? I heard that the relations.h.i.+p between the Second Prince and the Xiao family is pretty good." The Second Prince's maternal family and the Xiao family was related to some extent. That's why the Second Prince could get the emperor's attention all the way. When his brothers had no real power, he could be entrusted by the emperor to lead the army. Unfortunately, the relations.h.i.+p between the two families was not stable after all, and the Xiao family was loyal only to the imperial power. When the Second Prince lost his power, the Xiao family didn't offer help, although they didn't take advantage of his downfall.

"The old saying goes that a cousin is not a close relative. Although the Second Prince's mother, imperial concubine Lan, is a cousin of the Xiao family, she..." Chu Junyi stopped speaking before finis.h.i.+ng his words, but Shen Ninghua naturally understood what he meant.

"It's such an impressive scene. I'm afraid even if the emperor himself returned from a military expedition, the scene could not be more impressive."

Chu Junyi's eyes s.h.i.+vered. "First Young Lady, you are really big-mouthed. Aren't you afraid of being accused of being disrespectful to the emperor?"

Shen Ninghua looked back. "What did I say?"

"You..." Chu Junyi suddenly nickered. "You are right. There are only my people here. Your words won't be spread out. Since I don't have any evidence to prove what you said, it's not easy to accuse you."

Shen Ninghua smiled without speaking. However, her mind was full of thoughts. Although Chu Junyi was good at concealing his feelings, a while ago, Shen Ninghua saw clearly that when he looked at the Crown Prince and the Second Prince, his eyes were filled with indescribable contempt and coldness. That was quite worth thinking about.

Chu Junyi looked downstairs for a while. Finding there was nothing else to see, he stopped looking. "Do you like the luminous pearl I gave you last time?"

"Of course I like it. Although you didn't ask for a gift in return, I must repay you for your favor. It's my grandmother's birthday in a few days. Would you like to come?"

"Are you inviting me to congratulate the old lady on her birthday?" Although old lady Xiao had an official mandate, he also had a t.i.tle in the court. He was not interested in paying homage to a backyard woman.

"No, I invite you to see a performance." Shen Ninghua's eyebrows were glamorous, and her eyes were s.h.i.+ning brightly. At one glance of her, Chu Junyi was even held in spell, and he regained his presence of mind only after a moment's daze.

"How can I say no to the First Young Lady's invitation?"