Shen Lixue had long considered leaving the Prime Minister's residence, but living alone in an unfamiliar place was somewhat dangerous. In addition, Lei Shi was cunning and determined to kill her. If she left the Prime Minister's residence, she would be in great danger.
Although living in the Prime Minister's residence would also attract schemes, it is, after all, the Prime Minister's residence, with many eyes watching from outside. Lei Shi and Shen Yingxue would have to be more cautious and not be too blatant if they wanted to deal with her. Therefore, compared to other places, the Prime Minister's residence is the safest.
Moreover, Shen Minghui, for the sake of his official position and reputation, and Lei Shi, for the sake of her reputation for being gentle and magnanimous, would also advise her, an orphan, not to leave the Prime Minister's residence. If she insisted on leaving, the rumors would be detrimental to her!
Staying behind to maintain this false father-daughter relationship would provide relative peace and quiet, while also allowing her to secretly investigate certain matters. Moreover, the Lei family and Shen Yingxue, this mother and daughter pair, were utterly despicable, constantly plotting against her. If she were to leave just like that, wouldn't that be letting them off easy?
Of course, if Shen Minghui does something she cannot tolerate, no matter how dangerous it is outside, she will leave the Prime Minister's residence without hesitation.
Before that, she first needed to ensure that she lived in the bamboo garden and would no longer be bothered by those petty people.
"Ye Lei will return to the Imperial Academy tomorrow. He'll only come back for one day a month. I'll keep a close eye on him and teach him a lesson so he won't cause you any more trouble!" Lei Shi smiled slightly and solemnly promised, but a cold glint flashed in her eyes. She was clever enough to take advantage of every opportunity to gain the greatest benefit for herself.
"Then I'll have to trouble Father and Madam!" Shen Lixue smiled slightly and walked slowly forward. With Lei's guarantee, Shen Yelei would not dare to cause her trouble again. If he dared to provoke her, she could rightfully teach him a lesson.
As she passed by Shen Yingxue, Shen Lixue glanced at her injured arm and gave her a mysterious smile: "It's late, I'll go back to the bamboo garden to rest first, I won't disturb your family reunion!"
Shen Yingxue gritted her teeth in anger. So what if she stayed at the Prime Minister's residence temporarily? What's she so smug about? You bitch.
Shen Lixue disappeared into the night. Shen Minghui racked his brains to coax Shen Yelei, whose face was swollen from being slapped. This was his only son, and there should be no grudges between father and son.
Lei and Shen Yingxue returned to Ya Garden.
"Mother, with such a good opportunity today, why didn't you drive Shen Lixue away?" After entering the inner room and dismissing the servants, Shen Yingxue asked unwillingly.
Shen Yingxue's arm was broken, and she was in unbearable pain. It took her a lot of effort to fall asleep. But when she woke up, she found that her most trusted confidantes, Xia Rou and Xia Jin, had been forced to be beaten to death by Shen Lixue. She was furious and felt a surge of anger.
Just as Shen Yelei returned, she set up this trap, hoping to use Shen Yelei to drive away Shen Lixue. However, after the incident, Lei Shi and Shen Minghui tried to persuade her to stay.
“If word gets out that Shen Lixue was driven out of the Prime Minister’s residence by Ye Lei, people will criticize your father and me for failing to raise our son properly, for favoring the eldest son and being harsh on our first wife’s daughter. Our family of four will be despised and ridiculed by the nobles, and your father will be impeached by the censor, and his official position will be in jeopardy. Shen Lixue is the victim; she has a home but cannot return. People will not ridicule her; they will only sympathize with her!” A sharp glint flashed in Lei’s eyes.
"Mother means that it would be more justifiable for Shen Lixue to make a big mistake and be punished by being expelled from the manor?" Shen Yingxue understood the key point in Lei Shi's words and was secretly annoyed that she had been too hasty and had not considered things thoroughly.
"Not entirely!" Madam Lei shook her head, her gaze unfathomable: "Shen Lixue is very clever and cunning. Guess where she would go if we kicked her out of the manor now?"
"This..." Shen Yingxue frowned in thought. Shen Lixue said that she could embroider and paint to support herself... Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck her: "The Holy King's Mansion!"
“That’s right, it’s the Holy King’s Mansion!” Lei’s lips curled into a cold smile. In Qingyan, a woman who is engaged is considered part of her husband’s family. If something happens to her family and she has no other relatives to take care of her, she can go to her husband’s family to stay temporarily at any time.
Shen Lixue's mother is dead, and she was driven out of the Prime Minister's Mansion by her biological father. With no other relatives to rely on, she would naturally go to live in the Holy Prince's Mansion as the fiancée of Prince An.
"That bitch, she's so clever! I almost fell for her trick!" Shen Yingxue gritted her teeth in anger. Luckily, her mother was smart enough to give her a reason to stop her from leaving. Otherwise, it would have been a foregone conclusion that she would have moved to the Holy Prince's Mansion and married Prince An. Her father would have lost his official position, and she would no longer be the noble daughter of the Prime Minister's family. Just thinking about the miserable life of eating simple meals made her shudder.
"To drive Shen Lixue out of the manor, besides tarnishing her reputation and making people lose sympathy for her, we must also ensure that she has no one to rely on outside!" Lei Shi said calmly, her eyes once again becoming unfathomable.
"Mother means, snatch Prince An away!" When Dongfang Heng was mentioned, a blush appeared on Shen Yingxue's beautiful face. Prince An had always been her favorite person, and marrying him was her greatest wish in this life.
“That’s right!” Lei sneered silently. If Shen Lixue leaves the mansion now, the reputation of the Prime Minister’s mansion will be completely ruined. At that time, Dongfang Heng will never be able to marry Yingxue again. If Shen Lixue makes a big mistake and is removed from the Shen family, Yingxue can rightfully marry in place of her sister.
"Mother, I know what to do!" Shen Yingxue nodded gently, a hint of coldness flashing in her beautiful eyes. She was determined to make Shen Lixue infamous before kicking her out of the mansion, or she could win over Prince An's heart and then kick her out, which wouldn't be a big deal.
Looking at Shen Yingxue, Lei nodded with satisfaction. This daughter was finally starting to understand things: "Yingxue, you must take good care of your arm!" The number one beauty of Qingyan must be flawless!
"Don't worry, Mother, I will take special care to make my arm heal as soon as possible!" Shen Yingxue gently stroked the layers of white cloth wrapped around her arm with her slender fingers. Her cold gaze was unusually firm. Once her arm recovered, she would definitely compete with Shen Lixue to snatch Prince An away.
The return of the War King to the capital was a major event. The emperor held a banquet in the palace to welcome him back, and all civil and military officials were welcome to attend.
The Empress Dowager loved lively gatherings. It just so happened that the Imperial Garden was in full bloom, with hundreds of flowers vying for attention and vying for beauty. From afar, the garden was a riot of colors, a truly beautiful sight. So she issued an imperial decree, inviting all the officials and their families to the palace for a banquet.
Three days later, Shen Lixue arrived at the gate of the Prime Minister's residence at the invitation of her nanny. A luxurious carriage was parked outside. Shen Yingxue lifted the curtain, her beautiful face full of smiles, and greeted Shen Lixue warmly: "Sister is here, please get in the carriage!"
Shen Lixue raised an eyebrow. "Unsolicited kindness is always suspicious. Shen Yingxue is being so friendly to me today, she must have ulterior motives."
"Sister, don't just stand there, get in the car! The flower viewing party is about to start, we can't delay any longer!" Shen Yingxue smiled warmly, almost ready to get out of the car and pull Shen Lixue along.
Shen Lixue got into the carriage and looked at Shen Yingxue's arm in the sling. It was so badly injured, and instead of resting at home, she went to the palace to attend a banquet. She was so vain: "There are a lot of people at the banquet. Sister, you have to be careful with your injured arm!"
"Thank you for reminding me, sister. I'll be careful not to let anyone touch my arm!" Shen Yingxue smiled slightly, using her uninjured arm to pick up the teapot and pour tea. "This is jasmine tea. I wonder if it suits your taste, sister..."
Steam rose slowly from the white porcelain cup, filling the carriage with a rich aroma. Shen Lixue frowned. "Thank you for your kindness, sister, but I don't like tea that's too fragrant..."
"Hehe, it was my oversight. I'll definitely prepare some light tea for you next time!" Shen Yingxue smiled slightly, elegantly picked up her teacup and sipped her tea. A sly glint flashed in her eyes. This was her carriage, and the food prepared inside was, of course, all her favorites.
Shen Lixue boarded the car empty-handed. There was no tea she liked to drink, nor any snacks she loved to eat. It was her own fault for not being prepared. She was thirsty and hungry the whole way, but it had nothing to do with her.
Mother's intention is for me to ruin Shen Lixue's reputation and make her infamous. I must think carefully and come up with the most perfect plan to use at the most opportune time, so that she can be cast into the deepest abyss and never rise again.
Officials and their families gathered at the palace, their colorful clothes forming a continuous expanse. The beauty of the scene was no less than that of the flowers in the Imperial Garden. After entering the palace, Shen Yingxue ignored Shen Lixue and went straight to the noble ladies she knew.
"Yingxue, what happened to your arm?" A sharp-eyed young lady saw Shen Yingxue and exclaimed in surprise. The Shuntian Prefecture had issued a gag order to the officials about the prison break, and neither Dongfang Heng nor Shen Lixue had mentioned it to anyone. Therefore, the noble ladies did not know what had happened that night.
Shen Yingxue touched her injured arm, glanced at Shen Lixue furtively, and a bitter smile appeared on her lips: "I bumped into something and broke it..."
The young ladies from prominent families, having nothing better to do than gossip, noticed the way Shen Yingxue looked at Shen Lixue and their eyes lit up, thinking there was more to the story: "Yingxue, did you break your arm?"
"It has nothing to do with Sister Lixue, I really broke it by accident..." Shen Yingxue explained anxiously, her eyes filled with worry, repeating over and over, "It has nothing to do with you, sister, it really has nothing to do with you..."
Shen Yingxue's explanation was seen by the noble ladies as an attempt to cover up the truth. They all looked at Shen Lixue with reproachful eyes. They were all sisters. Even if they had a conflict, they could just scold her a few times. Was it necessary to break her arm?
“Sister Yingxue, there’s no need to defend me anymore. It was my fault that you and Sister Kexin got injured in the fight. If I had arrived a step earlier, you would have only suffered minor injuries. How could one of you have a broken arm and the other a broken leg…” Shen Lixue spoke slowly and deliberately, her voice not loud, but loud enough for the young ladies from prominent families nearby to hear clearly.
What? Shen Yingxue and Zhuang Kexin got into a fight, one broke an arm, and the other broke a leg? Shocked gazes turned to Shen Yingxue, as if asking, "Is what Shen Yingxue said true or false?"
Shen Yingxue was so ashamed she wanted to disappear. She glared at Shen Lixue fiercely, then quickly lowered her head, gritting her teeth. "Shen Lixue, you're ruthless!"
"Look, Zhuang Kexin is here!" someone exclaimed. Everyone looked up and saw Zhuang Kexin slowly walking in a small sedan chair. She was dressed in a rouge-colored ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), looking beautiful and charming, with no signs of anything unusual.
The young ladies were puzzled. Didn't Shen Lixue say that Zhuang Kexin was injured? But she looked perfectly healthy.