"You wild girl, how dare you deliberately flirt with me!" Yao Ruoqin glared at Shen Qianmo and roared angrily.
"Ruoqin, don't be angry." In front of everyone, Shen Qianxin naturally wanted to show her kind and harmless side, so she held Yao Ruoqin's hand and gently persuaded her.
"Get out of my way! You're always siding with her! I think you're clearly conspiring with her to trick me! Your Prime Minister's Mansion is really going too far! I'm going back to tell my father!" Yao Ruoqin was both ashamed and angry at this moment, and she couldn't listen to Shen Qianxin's advice. She was already angry enough about what had just happened, and now this had happened. How could she swallow this anger?
"Go ahead, go ahead! Do you think my father is afraid of your father?" Shen Qianmo's eyes revealed a hint of smugness as he continued to fan the flames.
"Sister, stop talking." Shen Qianmo was also a clever woman, and she naturally understood the relationship between the Prime Minister's Mansion and the General's Mansion. That's why she deliberately befriended Yao Ruoqin, so that it would be easier for them to get along in the future.
"Second sister, didn't you tell me that you're here for me no matter what? Why are you telling me not to talk about it now?" Shen Qianmo deliberately quoted Shen Qianxin's words of comfort, misinterpreting their meaning.
"Fine! You two really did conspire! I, I'll go back and tell Father!" Upon hearing this, Yao Ruoqin naturally assumed that Shen Qianmo and Shen Qianxin had joined forces, and ran away with a face full of resentment.
Shen Qianxin wanted to stop Yao Ruoqin from running away, but she didn't know what to say. Her gaze toward Shen Qianmo was filled with resentment, but she still forced a smile on her face. "Sister, you're really being ridiculous. Come back to the manor with me now."
"Second sister, I'm not going to cause any trouble, am I? You have to protect me." Shen Qianmo looked scared and held Shen Qianxin's hand, appearing very dependent.
Shen Qianxin's eyes darted around, and she couldn't help but wonder why she was doing this, since it wouldn't benefit Shen Qianmo either.
Is Shen Qianmo simply retaliating because she grew up in the mountains and doesn't know the rules, and because Yao Ruoqin made things difficult for her earlier, or does she have some other purpose?
Regardless, the rift between Yao Ruoqin and her has already formed, and it probably won't be easy to mend it. Moreover, Yao Ruoqin is much more difficult to deal with than Shen Qianmo. So she decided to pretend to stand on Shen Qianmo's side.
"I understand. If Father asks later, your second sister will answer for you," Shen Qianxin said with a smile.
Shen Qianmo nodded, her eyes sparkling with a captivating liveliness. This was exactly the result she wanted. With Shen Qianxin's testimony later, she was sure to enrage Shen Lingyun.
Yao Ruoqin was no pushover either; she would undoubtedly embellish the story when she got back.
Given Shen Lingyun and Yao Shan's cunning, they would not think this was just their children causing trouble. They would definitely escalate it to the point where the other party was dissatisfied with them. So, if she exerted a little more effort, the Prime Minister's Mansion and the General's Mansion would inevitably fall apart.
Chapter Eleven: Right and Wrong Reversed
After returning to the Prime Minister's residence with Shen Qianxin, Shen Qianmo and Qianqian changed their clothes and stayed quietly in their room for a day without making any noise.
"Third Miss, Master wants to see you in his study," a maid announced as she entered Shen Qianmo's courtyard.
Shen Qianmo refused all the maids and servants, citing that she had grown up in the mountains and was not used to being served. Shen Lingyun did not stop her, partly to show his indulgence towards Shen Qianmo, and partly because he had lost patience with "taking care" of this useless daughter.
"A day and a half. This reaction is a bit slower than I expected." Shen Qianmo was not surprised by the maid's words. She just muttered something casually and then lazily followed the maid to the study.
When I arrived at the study, Shen Qianxin was already there.
Shen Lingyun, dressed in a dark red robe, sat in the study chair with an air of officialdom. His thick, dark eyebrows were deeply furrowed, and the anger in his eyes showed that he was in a very bad mood.
"Qianmo, Qianxin, tell me, what's going on with Miss Yao!" Shen Lingyun glanced at Shen Qianmo and Shen Qianxin, his feigned affection gone, and even his address changed from Mo'er and Xin'er to Qianmo and Qianxin. It was clear he was genuinely angry.
"Father, Qianmo and I were just joking with Ruoqin, but Ruoqin cursed at us and was very disrespectful to the Prime Minister's Mansion. Qianxin thought that the Prime Minister's Mansion and the General's Mansion had always been on good terms, so she swallowed her anger. But my sister couldn't stand Ruoqin's insults to Father, so she argued with Ruoqin." Shen Qianxin said in a delicate voice, looking like she was about to cry.
Shen Qianmo raised an eyebrow. Shen Qianxin's words were truly excellent. They explained that Yao Ruoqin was being unreasonable and insulting the Prime Minister's residence, while also demonstrating her own knowledge, understanding of the bigger picture, and protection of her younger sister. It was very tactful.
"Just as I thought! The Yao family is truly outrageous! Relying on the Empress's power and military authority, they don't even respect the Prime Minister's residence!" Upon hearing Shen Qianxin's reply, Shen Lingyun looked at Shen Qianxin with a mixture of calculation and admiration in his eyes, before angrily slamming his fist on the table and saying.
“That’s right, Father! Sister Ruoqin also said that the Crown Prince is now incompetent and tyrannical. Once the Third Prince becomes Emperor, the Yao family will be even less afraid of us!” Shen Qianmo deliberately pretended to be innocent and continued to speak to Shen Lingyun.
Shen Qianxin raised her eyes, her gaze towards Shen Qianmo filled with surprise and scrutiny. Shen Qianmo ignored her, looking ahead with a languid expression.
Shen Lingyun, however, was already deep in thought. His original plan was to marry Shen Qianmo to Shangguan Che after her return to consolidate his power, but he was disappointed by her plain looks. Fortunately, he had two daughters, and Shen Qianxin was a good choice.
However, Shen Qianmo's words reminded him of something. Shangguan Che was Empress Yao's biological son and related to the General's family. If Shangguan Che were to ascend the throne, he would undoubtedly rely even more heavily on the Yao family. The Yao family already disregarded the Prime Minister's residence; what would they do if Shangguan Che were to take the throne?
Therefore, the only option now is to rival the General's Mansion. The Eighth Prince, Shangguan Jin, is exceptionally talented, commands a large army, and is a man of deep thought, but he lacks powerful backing, which is why he cannot compete with the Third Prince, Shangguan Che.
But with his support, things would be different. Shangguan Jin and Shangguan Che would then be on equal footing. While this approach wasn't as secure as directly supporting Shangguan Che, Shangguan Jin would ultimately have to rely on him after the matter was settled.
"Father, what are you thinking about?" Shen Qianxin asked when she saw that Shen Lingyun remained silent.
Shen Qianmo still lazily looked ahead and even yawned lightly. Although she only said one sentence, Shen Lingyun should have already figured out the implications.
However, he's probably mistaken. After all his hard work and success, wouldn't it feel good to be pushed down from the top of victory?
"Ah, it's nothing. The Hundred Families Banquet is in a month. The Eighth Prince is a good talent, Qianxin should get to know him better." Shen Lingyun smiled kindly and took Shen Qianxin's hand.
Shen Qianxin looked flattered. Did her father mean to marry her off to Shangguan Jin? Although it wasn't Shangguan Che, her father's words meant he wanted her to be his primary wife, which was still quite good.
"Qianxin understands," Shen Qianxin replied gently.
Shen Qianmo couldn't help but smile. To say that Shen Qianxin was clever was really giving her too much credit. Shen Lingyun was simply using her as a pawn, yet she was still so smug; how naive.
Shen Qianmo smiled slightly, a hint of understanding in her eyes.
"Alright. You may all leave." Shen Lingyun glanced at Shen Qianmo suspiciously. This youngest daughter, who seemed unlearned and unremarkable, sometimes seemed to possess an unapproachable aura, and even had a worldly wisdom in her eyes.
"Sister, why did you say that just now?" Shen Qianxin looked at Shen Qianmo with suspicion, her eyes also showing a hint of coldness. Her words just now were clearly not something a woman who knew nothing would say. No matter what her purpose was, Shen Qianmo was definitely not a simple woman.
"Second sister, what happened to your gentle and tender eyes?" Raising her eyebrows, with a lazy and disdainful look, Shen Qianmo glanced at Shen Qianxin, her whole being seemed to be coated with a layer of luster, making Shen Qianxin feel that even such an ordinary face was still captivating.
"Sister, I don't understand what you mean!" Shen Qianxin's tone was still gentle, but the coldness in her eyes grew stronger.
"You'll understand later, my dear second sister!" Shen Qianmo's lips curled into a sarcastic smile as she glanced at Shen Qianxin. She'd teased them long enough these past few days. She had no more interest in playing the good person and pretending to be innocent with her.
"Shen Qianmo! You've been pretending all along, haven't you? You've been deliberately trying to sow discord between me, Ruoqin, and the princess, and now you're even trying to sow discord between the General's Mansion and the Prime Minister's Mansion. What exactly are you trying to do? You want Father to make me marry Shangguan Jin so that you'll have a chance to marry Shangguan Che, right?" Shen Qianxin was enraged by Shen Qianmo's indifferent and contemptuous attitude and shouted in a low voice.
"Shangguan Che? I wouldn't even look at him!" Shen Qianmo ignored Shen Qianxin's anger, only raising a contemptuous smile, as if Shangguan Che were some kind of filthy thing.
"What exactly do you want?!" Shen Qianxin asked frantically. She had always been confident in her intelligence, but she couldn't figure out what her third sister was thinking at all, which made her furious.
"Be patient. The show will unfold slowly!" Shen Qianmo gently patted Shen Qianxin's shoulder, her eyes filled with sarcasm and coldness, making Shen Qianxin both surprised and frightened.