“In fact, it’s not a big deal. But considering the situation of the second sister and the third sister, it is best for them to choose a husband from the candidates of the Palace Examination. At least we know about these candidates. It’s much better than knowing nothing!” Zhao Xiran smiled awkwardly and said.

Zhao Xiran’s words were like saying nothing at all, but Shao Wanru suddenly came up with an idea.

Choose a husband from the candidates of the Palace Examination. In her last life, Shao Wanru had chosen her husband from the candidates of the Palace Examination. Now that the Examination was at the corner, had Zhao Xiran chosen that Childe Yan Xi again?

In the last life, Shao Wanru and Yan Xi had obviously been framed. Now, had Zhao Xiran chosen Yan Xi, or had she got other plans?

“This is not a simple matter in any way!” Shao Wanru thought to herself.

“Have you chosen any candidate for the Palace Examination?” Shao Wanru asked calmly and glanced at the faces of several people in the room with her watery eyes.

“It hasn’t been decided yet. In fact, I have chosen a few families and they have taken a fancy to our family. But for us—the daughters of Marquises, we can’t actually marry an imperial scholar. At least we will wait until he wins the first test of the Palace Examination. But now we need to hurry up and get an answer from Commandery Prince Qing’s Mansion. If they really don’t value us, we can give up the marriage!” Zhao Xiran said helplessly.

Shao Wanru understood what she meant.

Chu Qing had been keeping Marquis Xing’s Mansion in suspense. He didn’t say whether he would marry Marquis Xing’s daughter or not. Before he gave a definite answer, Marquis Xing couldn’t betroth his daughter with another man. No matter how inappropriate Chu Qing was, he was still a son of the imperial family. Moreover, he had relations with the Former Emperor, so Marquis Xing’s Mansion had to be more careful sometimes.

Moreover, at that time the incident happened in the Palace, so many people knew about it. If Marquis Xing’s Mansion wanted to pull it back, it would not be so easy. They had to wait for Chu Qing to express his attitude.

However, this statement was obviously different from what they had decided before. “Did something happen in the past few days and make Marquis Xing’s Mansion change their attitude?” Shao Wanru wondered.

“Didn’t Second Uncle have someone to ask about Commandery Prince Qing’s attitude?” Shao Wanru asked. People said that the bridegroom should be reserved, but given Shao Jing’s character, she did not believe that he hadn’t taken the initiative to ask Commandery Prince Qing.

Now Shao Jing was behaving passively and wanted to take advantage of the situation and leverage Chu Liuchen’s power to press Chu Qing quietly so that Chu Qing had to express his attitude to Marquis Xing’s Mansion.

Compared with Chu Liuchen, Chu Qing, the son of the Former Emperor, was really unimpressive.

“Father had sent someone to ask about it before, but Commandery Prince Qing didn’t give a definite answer. Grandmother had no choice but to seek help from you. If this matter is delayed any longer, your sister’s marriage will be ruined. It’s fine if they don’t like the daughter of Marquis Xing’s Mansion, but what should we do about their meaningless delay? It will take another three years for us if we miss this year’s Palace Examination! Your sisters have grown up and can’t wait for so long!” Zhao Xiran said earnestly.

For a sister-in-law that had just married Marquis Xing’s son, Zhao Xiran had done a good job by standing on the side of Marquis Xing’s Mansion wholeheartedly.

Shao Wanru blinked and looked at Shao Jie’er. Shao Jie’er had no reaction by now as if she was listening to someone else’s business that had nothing to do with her. She still sat there with her head down.

Shao Caihuan reacted a little uneasily. She stole a glance at Shao Wanru, looked at Zhao Xiran, and then also lowered her head, but peeked at them from time to time.

So, the sister they were talking about was Shao Caihuan, not Shao Jie’er. Shao Jie’er should have been engaged!

Shao Wanru thought of what Shao Jie’er had said at the very beginning and there was a trace of darkness in her eyes. Shao Jing gave up Shao Jie’er’s marriage with absolute certainty. It seemed that the two sides had agreed with each other.

Given Shao Jing’s character, if he betrothed Shao Jie’er’s ex-fiance to Shao Caihuan, Shao Jie’er’s new fiance should be better than Commandery Prince Qing’s son, so this person must also be from the imperial family.

Among the sons of the imperial family, there were only Prince Yue, Prince Zhou, and Prince Xin.

There was also a Prince Cheng. Shao Jie’er’s fiance should be among them. Shao Wanru didn’t know which one of them Shao Jing had contacted or had given him a reason and an opportunity to marry his daughter to that person.

Thinking about this, Shao Wanru didn’t panic at all. After hearing Zhao Xiran’s words, she said unhurriedly, “Since this matter is so urgent, I’ll talk to Prince Chen later. But I don’t know whether Prince Chen is willing to pass the message or not. It seems that there is no contact between Prince Chen and Commandery Prince Qing!”

“It doesn’t matter whether the marriage can work or not. As long as Prince Chen can help us pass the message, it’ll be fine. Your sister’s marriage can’t be delayed. The youngest sister—the Fifth Sister is married first. The other sisters also need to get engaged as soon as possible. Otherwise, it’s inappropriate!” Zhao Xiran said with sincerity as if all her words were sincere.

Zhao Xiran positioned herself finely. She had considered herself a member of Marquis Xing’s Mansion after marrying Marquis Xing’s son. She talked about Marquis Xing’s Mansion every time she spoke, which satisfied Old Madam. Old Madam thought, “This granddaughter-in-law is not always annoying. These words are right. She is competent.”

Now there was no one in charge of the backyard of the Marquis Xing’s Mansion. Old Madam wanted to take charge of it, but she was too old to do so.

If it hadn’t been for the previous incident, Old Madam would have been fully satisfied with her granddaughter-in-law. But now, she was having second thoughts about her.

“Your sisters are in a special situation now. I can’t do anything about it. You are now Princess Chen but also the daughter of Marquis Xing. You are deeply connected. If your sisters have a nice marriage, you will be able to help each other in the future. It is good for both you and them,” Old Madam said to Shao Wanru gently.

“That’s right. Wanru, you are now Princess Chen. We haven’t congratulated you yet!” Zhao Xiran, who was very good at soft-soaping, said with a smile and bowed to Shao Wanru deliberately.

Shao Wanru slightly tilted to avoid her bow and said with a smile, “Sister Zhao, you are being over-courteous.”

“Well, enough with these dull words. Wanru, don’t take it to heart. I heard that you went to Empress Dowager’s palace before. What did she say?” Old Madam said with a smile, concerned about her little granddaughter.

This was a sign that the serious stuff was over and it was time for small talks!

Shao Wanru sneered in her heart, but she didn’t show it on her face. She talked about some things that happened in Empress Dowager’s palace at that time and chatted casually.

Since they were no longer talking about anything serious and everyone was talking lively, shortly someone came from outside to invite them to have a meal.

The seats were divided into men’s seats and women’s seats. They were placed in the same room but were separated by a screen. It livened up the atmosphere but also respected the etiquette between men and women.

Chu Liuchen didn’t drink. In addition, because of the previous fight between two princes, Marquis Xing’s Mansion didn’t dare to give drinks to Chu Liuchen, so they could only work on the dishes.

However, no matter how hard they tried on the dishes, they couldn’t liven up the atmosphere in front of Prince Chen, who looked gentle but was actually distant.

Even though Shao Jing was tactful and had been trying to get Chu Liuchen to talk on the outside, he only got a huge embarrassment. Prince Chen was obviously not interested in what Shao Jing said and had no intention of getting close to him.

Shao Wanru sat inside and ate very calmly. She was equally embarrassed. As a newlywed bride, Zhao Xiran was not in the position to say anything in this case.

They ate the meal in an incomparably peaceful way.

After the meal, Shao Wanru went back to her Piaoyun Courtyard to rest, while Chu Liuchen went to the guest room prepared for him by Marquis Xing’s Mansion. Originally, Chu Liuchen was going to come to the Piaoyun Courtyard, but Shao Jing kept urging him to go to the guest room as if he had something to talk to Chu Liuchen in private. So, Shao Wanru returned to the Piaoyun Courtyard by herself.

When Shao Wanru arrived at the Piaoyun Courtyard, Qing’er came to report to her as soon as she sat down.

Qing’er said, “Princess, after you got on the bridal sedan chair that day, Second Miss did not go out. Instead, she went to the marquis’s courtyard. The guards outside the courtyard were guarding, so I did not dare to get too close. But after staying there for about ten minutes, Second Miss left the marquis’s courtyard in tears. After that, I stayed for a while and saw that the marquis also left!”

That was to say, Shao Jie’er’s unusual behavior at that time was because of Shao Jing? Or did Shao Jing also notice Shao Jie’er’s unusual behavior and go to ask about it on purpose?

“What happened next?” Shao Wanru picked up the teacup at hand, took a sip, and said unhurriedly. There should be a follow-up to this matter. Shao Jie’er didn’t even dare to raise her head to look at her today. It was really strange.

“Later, I came back and continued following Second Miss. At that time, Second Miss had returned to her own yard. She seemed to be very quiet. I heard that she would continue to go back to the Buddha Hall. The servant girl was preparing some daily necessities for her. The yard was a little busy, and there were many people coming and going. I had been guarding. At night, I saw an old maid coming over. I remember that the old maid is from the outer yard!” Qing’er said.

Qing’er had been working in Marquis Xing’s Mansion for a while. Moreover, she had a very good visual memory. Once she saw a person, she would always remember something about them. Although it was rare for her to see an old maid from the outer courtyard, she had at least seen her.

“I saw them talking in the main room, and Second Miss drove other people out of the room. They talked for a while before the old maid left. I felt that this old maid was strange, so I followed her on purpose. I didn’t expect to see Wang Shengxue!” Qing’er said with disgust.

People from Piaoyun Courtyard disliked Wang Shengxue.

“Wang Shengxue?” Shao Wanru’s heart skipped a beat. This was the connection.

“Yes, it’s Wang Shengxue. He hid aside and talked with the old maid sneakily. He talked for a long time. Later, Wang Shengxue seemed to have left in a rage!” Qing’er reported and finally came to a conclusion. “The unusual behavior of the Second Miss that day should have something to do with Wang Shengxue!”

Shao Wanru nodded. Although Shao Jing was also very suspicious, in that case, if something happened, Shao Jing would also be ashamed. Wang Shengxue was indeed the most likely person to do something with Shao Jie’er…