The beauty of the Hou family and the king's plan

Next to the elegant room of Ning'an Marquis' Mansion on the third floor is the private room of Zhongyi Marquis' Mansion. After Wang brought the three young ladies to greet the mistress of Zhongyi Marquis, she asked Shen Jie Zhang and Shen Jie Min to take the three girls downstairs to play.

She stayed in the private room of the Marquis of Zhongyi's mansion to talk with her sister-in-law.

This time, Wang completed the task assigned by the Duke of Zhongyi's Mansion. Wang's sister-in-law Zhao was very enthusiastic about her and was even willing to worship her sister-in-law as an ancestor.

Accompanying Shen Baozhao and his group were three young ladies from the Earl of Loyalty's Mansion.

When they arrived at the pavilion built by the emperor's order, the singing and dancing performance had already begun, and the people had surrounded the stage of the pavilion.

The noble families did not join in the fun, as there were many such performances at ordinary banquets and they were not rare to them.

Several girls suggested going to the Bi Bo River to release lanterns.

Every year during the Shangsi Festival, girls like to release lanterns. They can write their wishes on pieces of paper and let them float with the lanterns.

The little girls can write down the things they cannot say on a daily basis, so everyone likes it very much.

Shen Baozhao calculated the time and thought that there would be plenty of time to do business after lighting the lanterns. So he and Shen Jing asked the maids to buy lanterns and went to the Bibo River.

Light the lantern, slowly put it into the water, and let it drift with the waves.

Unexpectedly, before Shen Baozhao's lantern floated three feet away, it was knocked over by a lantern rushing over from the side.

The woman in red next to him burst out laughing. "Shen Si, your lantern is no good. It's as weak as you."

Following behind were a number of noble ladies from aristocratic families, all of them started laughing.

Shen Baozhao and others stood up and looked, and found that it was the Princess of Duanning County.

Bao Zhao couldn't help but have a headache. Princess Duanning was the daughter of Princess Shuhui, and she had been arrogant and domineering since she was a child.

He is Shen Yan's mortal enemy, and never takes Shen Baozhao and others seriously when they meet each other.

Now that Shen Yan is married, Shen Baozhao and the others have become the targets of Princess Duanning's anger.

Shen Baozhao thought that he had more important things to do today, so he didn't want to pay any more attention to them. He bowed to them and was about to leave.

Who would have thought that the Duan Ning County Lady would wave her whip and stop them: "Shen Si, did I let you go?"

"What else does the county lady want to say?" Shen Baozhao asked calmly.

"Your lantern bumped into Yuheng's lantern. I want you to apologize." Lady Duanning raised her eyebrows, looking like, "What can you do to me?"

Yuheng is the Su family's legitimate daughter, the second Miss Su, who is wearing a golden hibiscus jacket and a dark green embroidered skirt. She is inseparable from the Duanning County Lady and is the niece of the virtuous concubine in the palace.

She pointed a finger at Shen Baozhao and said, "That's right, you have to apologize to me."

Shen Baozhao was really impatient to argue with a few little girls, so he thought about just apologizing and being done with it.

Unexpectedly, Miss Wang San, the legitimate daughter of the Loyalty Earl's Mansion, could not help but say, "It was clearly your lantern that was used to decorate Miss Shen Si's lantern. How could you be so arrogant and unreasonable, confusing right and wrong?"

As soon as she said this, Lady Duan Ning looked at Miss Wang San and looked her up and down: "Who are you? Is it your turn to speak here?"

Without waiting for Wang Sanniang to introduce herself, he swung the whip at her.

No one expected this to happen. Wang Sanniang just stood there motionless.

In a flash, Shen Baozhao grabbed the whip of Lady Duanning.

"Shen Si, get out of the way." Princess Duanning scolded.

"Princess Duanning, I will apologize to you." Shen Baozhao wanted to settle the matter as soon as possible.

Princess Duan Ning was indeed unyielding at this moment: "It's too late to apologize. I want this arrogant man to kneel down here and polish my shoes for me."

Hearing what Lady Duanning said, Miss Wang San was a little scared and tugged at the corner of Shen Baozhao's clothes.

"Princess Duan Ning, today is the Shangsi Festival and many officials and their wives are here. Miss Wang San is the legitimate daughter of the Loyalty Earl's Mansion. If someone with ulterior motives sees her, it will affect the reputation of the Princess's Mansion. What do you think?"

Princess Duanning looked around and saw that many noble ladies had already noticed the commotion here.

After thinking for a while, she said: "Today is the Shangsi Festival, and this county lady will not bother with you. Shen Si, you can apologize to Yuheng and let this matter be over."

Shen Baozhao didn't want to delay any longer here, so he bowed to Miss Su Er and said, "I accidentally bumped into the lantern today, please forgive me, Miss Su Er."

Who would have thought that Su Erniang's family was a sworn enemy of the Shen family, and the virtuous concubine in the palace was no match for the virtuous concubine. Outside the palace, Su Erniang and Shen Yan would quarrel as soon as they met.

She still felt that Shen Baozhao's apology was not enough: "Shen Si, Shen Er got married, so you became weak?"

"No wonder, Shen Er got married with a rooster, and your Shen family's daughter is the only one in Kyoto who does this.

If I were you, I would be too ashamed to go out. The daughter of the Ning'an Marquis is really lowly."

Su Erniang spoke without thinking. Princess Duanning frowned, as if she was dissatisfied with her words, but she did not speak to stop her.

When Shen Jing and Shen Chan heard this, their faces turned red with anger.

Shen Baozhao saw that the other party's words were becoming more and more outrageous. If he gave in any further at this moment, he would be afraid that he would not be able to report back to the Ning'an Marquis' Mansion.

Then he said, "I don't know how the girls in Ning'an Marquis's Mansion are, or what people think of them.

I only know that His Majesty praised Concubine Shu for being virtuous, modest, respectful and cautious.

I wonder who the second Miss Su is referring to as a lowly person? Could it be that the Su family has a grievance against the emperor?"

"You're talking nonsense. I have never had any complaints against the emperor." Su Erniang blushed.

"Oh, if you don't think His Majesty is wrong, then it's you, Su Erniang, who is talking nonsense and ruining the reputation of my Ning'an Marquis Mansion.

In this case, just apologize to us. "Shen Baozhao didn't want to confront Princess Duan Ning, but the Shen family didn't need to be afraid of the Su family.

Su Erniang lost face in front of everyone and couldn't save herself.

Lady Duanning County thought that Su Erniang came with her after all, and she would be ashamed if she lost face.

Then he stepped forward and said, "Shen Si, don't be so unreasonable. Let's both take a step back and go to Changchun Restaurant to compete. If we win, this matter will be over.

If you win, let Yuheng apologize to Miss Shen, how about that? "

In previous clashes with the girls from the Shen family, it was Shen Yan who dealt with them.

One has to say that Shen Yan is quite capable and never loses out every time, whether it is playing the piano, chess, calligraphy or painting, everyone in Kyoto knows her.

But the other girls in the Shen family were indeed unknown, and Lady Duan Ning was sure that there was no outstanding girl in the Shen family, so they would definitely win.

Su Erniang also thought of this, so she was not in a hurry.

Shen Baozhao frowned. There were more important things to do today and she didn't want to waste time on other things.

More and more young ladies from aristocratic families were looking over here, some familiar and some not.

If she doesn't accept the offer today, Miss Shen will lose all face.

She glanced at Shen Jing, and Shen Jing leaned over to whisper something in her ear, and Bao Zhao felt relieved.

While no one was paying attention, Shen Jing quietly went to look for Shen Jie Zhang and found out where he had gone.

"We can compete, but what should we compete in?" Shen Baozhao asked.

Lady Duan Ning thought for a moment and said, "For the sake of fairness, how about we go to Changchun Restaurant and ask Mr. Su Zhi to judge the competition? We can also ask him to decide the rules of the competition."

When everyone heard Mr. Su Zhi, they were all eager to try.

She is a great female scholar of our time. If she could receive a compliment from Mr. Su Zhi, I'm afraid there would be many suitors lining up at her door.