The setting sun cast its slanting rays.
Suyun returned to Fuhua Garden a step late after completing the tasks Shen Miaoyi had assigned her.
Thinking of the exorbitant price demanded by the restaurant her mistress had taken a fancy to, Suyun couldn’t make the decision herself and hurried back to let Shen Miaoyi decide.
“Sister Suyun, the Second Young Master and Second Young Mistress are in their room. Please wait,” the maid guarding the door stopped her.
Hearing this, Suyun had no choice but to wait patiently.
Inside the room.
“Sister brought Madam Weisheng’s spirit tablet back to the manor?” Shen Miaoyi asked in astonishment upon hearing this from Pei Che.
What kind of bride brings her deceased mother’s spirit tablet when marrying?
How audacious! Wasn’t she afraid of being criticized behind her back?
Shen Miaoyi thought Shen Sangning must have lost her mind. “Where will this spirit tablet be placed?”
Pei Che nodded slightly, holding Shen Miaoyi’s small hand while leaning casually on the couch. “Right now, elder brother is discussing with father and mother. I overheard that they plan to place it in the Ancestral Hall.”
“The Ancestral Hall?” Shen Miaoyi’s voice trembled slightly, unable to believe it.
Beyond shock, she felt indignant.
How could Pei Ruyan go to such lengths for Shen Sangning!
Forgetting her usual delicate demeanor, she spoke bluntly: “What status does Wei Shengshi hold? How could our parents-in-law agree? Sister is truly foolish, taking advantage of the Heir’s accommodating nature to make such an unreasonable request.”
Shen Miaoyi didn’t even need to ask—she could guess it must have been Shen Sangning’s request.
Otherwise, how could someone as meticulous as Pei Ruyan act so rashly?
In her indignation, she suddenly met Pei Che’s piercing gaze.
Her tone softened immediately. “Why are you looking at me like that, Erlang?”
Pei Che watched his delicate wife’s evasive eyes and spoke seriously, “What status does she hold?”
Shen Miaoyi seemed confused, her eyelashes fluttering slightly. “Who?”
Pei Che released Shen Miaoyi’s hand, concealing the coldness in his eyes, his lips curling into an enigmatic smile. “The legal mother you referred to as Wei Shengshi—your father’s original wife.”
“Oh, her,” Shen Miaoyi understood but didn’t think she had said anything wrong. “She came from a merchant background, not worth mentioning.”
“Miaomiao.” Pei Che sat up straight, addressing her intimately yet speaking cryptically—
“Is this how your parents taught you?”
Sensing his displeasure, Shen Miaoyi said uncertainly, “Erlang, did I… say something wrong?”
Seeing her aggrieved expression, Pei Che wondered if his tone had been too harsh and softened slightly:
“Although Madam Weisheng came from a merchant family, she was your father’s wife. You should address her as mother.”
Shen Miaoyi frowned. “But just the other day, Erlang clearly opposed me doing business, saying merchants were vulgar and undignified. Now you want me to respect Madam Weisheng?”
Pei Che’s recently softened tone turned cold again. “Those are two different matters.”
“Scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants represent social status, but family members shouldn’t measure each other by such standards.”
Even though others might see Pei Che as a pampered young master.
As a son of Guogong Manor, he understood the principles he ought to know.
That’s why he couldn’t approve of his father-in-law Shen Yi’s behavior today.
If you look down on someone, don’t marry them. If you knowingly marry someone from a merchant background, you should take responsibility.
The only thing Pei Che hadn’t anticipated was that the wife he married had inherited Shen Yi’s bad habits.
“Miaomiao, when I wanted to marry you, I never gave up because your biological father was only an eighth-rank official.”
With these words, he stood up and stormed out of the room.
Shen Miaoyi’s heart was in turmoil, the words “eighth-rank official” leaving her face deathly pale.
The identity she wished to forget could never truly be erased.
Outside the door, Pei Che’s instructions to the servants echoed, “Take good care of the young mistress. Don’t wait for me tonight.”
Then, his voice faded from the courtyard.
When Suyun entered the room, she saw Shen Miaoyi smashing a cup in fury.
“Suyun! Tell me, what have I done wrong? The Weisheng Family’s lowly status is lowly—that’s an unchangeable fact!”
“He claims to love me, yet he gives me this cold shoulder because of this? Does he look down on me?”
The sound of shattering porcelain continued inside the room, causing the maids outside to retreat in fear.
“Young mistress, please calm down,” Suyun hesitated before speaking, “The annual rent for that restaurant in the east of the city is ten thousand taels, with a three-year lease.”
The motion of throwing things froze mid-air. Shen Miaoyi was aghast, “Thirty thousand taels?!”
What an outrageous demand!
After selling several poorly located shops these past two days and adding her dowry money, she had only managed to gather fifteen thousand taels.
She was still short by half!
This dreadful news was nothing less than adding frost to snow for Shen Miaoyi.
But what could she do?
“I still have other shops. I’ll sell half of them. If that’s still not enough, I can pawn my dowry items and jewelry—they should fetch a good sum.”
Shen Miaoyi declared decisively.
Her eyes gleamed with greed as she convinced herself—she would earn it all back anyway.
Especially after Pei Che called her the daughter of an eighth-rank petty official, her resolve grew even stronger.
“Young mistress, perhaps you should reconsider. What if you can’t earn it back…” Suyun asked tactfully.
After all, the dowry shops could still generate income through rent. Once sold, they’d be gone forever.
“No need. I’m certain I can earn it back,” Shen Miaoyi was utterly convinced she would outshine Shen Sangning’s previous life glory.
“I must open that restaurant at all costs.”
Temporary financial shortage didn’t matter.
Once she persevered through this period and the Weisheng Family’s money bags arrived, her funds would be replenished.
Qingyun Courtyard.
Small kitchen.
Shen Sangning was supervising the kitchen’s dinner preparations.
Ziling watched her mistress’s subtle movements with inexplicable nervousness, “Young mistress, are you sure about today?”
“Just two days ago you were sharpening knives eagerly. Why are you afraid today?” Shen Sangning lifted her sleeve and, while no one was looking, slipped the medicine into the soup.
The freshly prepared sweet soup was still steaming hot. The pale blue medicinal liquid blended instantly, leaving no trace.
“Because these past two days, this maid has become familiar with the Duke’s mansion staff,” Ziling gritted her teeth, “I’ve heard many things.”
“They say the Heir usually appears gentle, but he’s actually strict with subordinates and doesn’t tolerate mistakes.”
Shen Sangning remained unperturbed as she walked out of the small kitchen, “Strictness is good. Being cautious isn’t a bad thing. But this has nothing to do with me administering medicine—I’m not his subordinate anyway.”
The mid-March wind carried a chill, though it didn’t affect the flowers blooming splendidly in the courtyard.
Amid the flower beds, a pure white long-haired cat looked up, revealing sapphire-like eyes.
The cat looked exactly as she remembered. Shen Sangning felt a surge of delight and was about to approach to hold it, but the unfamiliar creature darted away.
Beside her, Ziling’s hesitant voice emerged—
“Ahem, there’s something about the Heir… This maid wants to tell you, but I’m afraid you might get jealous.”
Shen Sangning rubbed her temples, unable to imagine what could make her jealous, “A romantic affair?”
Zisu, who had remained silent all along, twitched her eyelids at these words and looked toward Ziling. “Don’t add to the trouble. If it shouldn’t be said, then don’t say it.”
Ziling completely ignored Zisu and nodded emphatically. “Scandal plus violence!”
Then, she glanced around and, seeing no outsiders, nervously began—
“I heard that when the Heir was young, he admired a girl and even made a copy of her portrait. But then an errand boy saw the painting, and the Heir flew into a rage on the spot!”