Chapter 86

Chapter 86: She Was Definitely Pretending

Madam Cui froze. Madam Cui had not expected Sheng Zhi Wan to bring it up first.

But Sheng Zhi Wan was right. Madam Cui snorted and nodded: “Then have the courtyard next to Wei Yang Courtyard cleaned up for Huan Zhu to live in.”

Sheng Zhi Wan said: “I’ll thank Mother on Huan Zhu’s behalf.”

Sheng Zhi Wan left Wen Xi Courtyard.

After Sheng Zhi Wan had only taken a few steps, a soft, sweet voice called from behind: “Princess, please wait.”

Sheng Zhi Wan paused. It was Meng Yang, along with the maidservant beside Meng Yang named Qing Xing.

Sheng Zhi Wan stood there at ease and waited.

When Meng Yang walked up, Sheng Zhi Wan let out a small laugh: “Miss Meng thought this child in your belly had secured your place, so Miss Meng wanted to use the same old trick again?”

Meng Yang’s body recoiled without thinking. Meng Yang held Meng Yang’s belly, face tense: “Princess, this concubine only wanted to tell Princess that from now on, this concubine will definitely manage the Duke’s estate well, and won’t disappoint the Heir Apparent or Princess.”

“Oh?” So Meng Yang had come to show off.

Sheng Zhi Wan clicked Sheng Zhi Wan’s tongue and chuckled: “Miss Meng, should this Princess praise you for being clever, or call you foolish? Miss Meng didn’t truly think that holding the Duke’s estate’s household accounts meant Miss Meng’s status rose above this Princess, did you?”

Sheng Zhi Wan smiled, lips curved: “This Princess actually admired you. After all, no one’s concubine worked like you did. Miss Meng had to give the household offspring, earn silver for the household, and then exhaust yourself running the household too.”

Sheng Zhi Wan’s smile deepened. “If Miss Meng did well, you might get a few compliments. But if Miss Meng did poorly… then what?”

There was no need for a blade. This was how you stabbed someone straight through the heart.

Meng Yang’s chest tightened as if something blocked it.

Meng Yang stared at Sheng Zhi Wan’s back as Sheng Zhi Wan turned to leave. Then Meng Yang bit Meng Yang’s lip and called out: “The Heir Apparent said yesterday that this concubine could be a worthy match, but it’s the first time this concubine has managed the household accounts. If there’s anywhere I do poorly, I hope Princess won’t blame me!”

Meng Yang refused to believe Sheng Zhi Wan truly did not care.

Women understood women best. Looking at everything Sheng Zhi Wan had done in the past, Meng Yang believed that without deep love, Sheng Zhi Wan could never have gone that far. So Meng Yang was certain that Sheng Zhi Wan’s calmness had to be an act.

Right now, Sheng Zhi Wan had to be jealous and miserable inside.

With that thought, Meng Yang made a silent decision. Meng Yang would manage the Duke’s estate perfectly and show Sheng Zhi Wan that only Meng Yang was the woman the Heir Apparent was most satisfied with.

That night, both Meng Yang and Huan Zhu changed into pink dresses and entered the estate through the side gate, officially becoming Qi Shu Xian’s concubines.

Inside Ping Lan Residence, everything stayed quiet.

Sheng Zhi Wan lifted Sheng Zhi Wan’s tender, white-jade toes out of the bath. Ting Lan immediately wiped them clean with a soft cloth, then carefully spread a thin layer of sheep-fat ointment over them.

Sheng Zhi Wan turned a page of the book in Sheng Zhi Wan’s hands and suddenly laughed softly.

In the past life, Meng Yang had stayed in the estate for three years without any name or proper status. Only after Meng Yang’s fame spread through the capital, and only after Meng Yang gained a powerful backer in Prince Huai’s consort, did Meng Yang finally get to “make up” for it with the so-called concubine-taking ceremony, in front of capital city commoner and countless nobles.

They called it taking a concubine, yet the spectacle was no less than marrying a Principal Wife. There were matchmakers and endless betrothal gifts, an eight-bearer sedan chair, and banquets that ran for three full days without stopping, drawing who knew how many crowds.

But now, the concubine had already been carried in, and the registry had already been written. Meng Yang would never get that chance again.

Tonight was a fine scene.

Some people took concubines.

Other people gathered in small groups.

Shang Xing Yu, Ye Rong, and the others met up for the first time since the banquet that day.

Perhaps because they had received more praise these past few days than in the previous dozen years combined, the young men who used to spend their days drinking flower wine, gambling silver, and fighting crickets suddenly did not know what to do.

Ye Rong drank listlessly and sighed: “This is boring.”

Pei Yu An waved a fan: “I wonder if Yu Zhu won this round’s Top Courtesan title.”

Chen Bao Jing hugged a soy-braised pork elbow and gnawed with full focus.

Pei Yu An said: “How about… we go take a look? We used to go to the brothels and pleasure boats all the time. Who said you can’t go after becoming a hero?”

Ye Rong’s interest stirred too. Ye Rong slung an arm around Shang Xing Yu: “Shang Er, what do you say?”

“I didn’t care,” Shang Xing Yu said, rising to his feet.

Shang Xing Yu walked toward the door as Shang Xing Yu spoke: “Whether I’m a dandy or a hero, my father doesn’t care. Let’s go. Being a dandy is more comfortable. Someone kneads your shoulders, someone massages your legs, someone feeds you.”

Shang Xing Yu turned his head, still walking. “Aside from having a rotten reputation, being disliked, and shaming the family, it’s not that bad.”

But when Shang Xing Yu reached the doorway and looked back, Ye Rong and Pei Yu An did not follow.

Shang Xing Yu lifted a brow: “Why did you stop?”

Pei Yu An laughed awkwardly: “Well… I thought about it. I don’t want to be a dandy anymore. You don’t know this, but when my mother found out I got praised by His Majesty, my mother got so excited that my mother couldn’t sleep for three days. My mother even worshiped every ancestor in the family. I… I don’t want to see my mother disappointed.”

Shang Xing Yu looked at Ye Rong: “And you, Ye Rong?”

Ye Rong scratched his head: “I didn’t want my father to be disappointed either. That day my father went home, my father hugged me and said a bunch of drunken things. Turns out… I’d always been making my father worry.”

Chen Bao Jing raised Chen Bao Jing’s head between bites of pork elbow: “Me too! My father said whether our family can rise depends on me, heh heh!”

The others stared at the oil smeared around Chen Bao Jing’s mouth.

Maybe Censor Chen should place hope on some other son instead.

Zhou Yu Zheng said: “I’m fine either way.”

Zhou Yu Zheng’s father had said that no matter what Zhou Yu Zheng did, following Shang Xing Yu and Ye Rong would never go wrong.