An ugly girl starts off, then becomes a beauty

"What are you afraid of?"

After returning to the West Mansion, Shen's anger was revealed as soon as she opened her mouth.

At that time, in the gossip hall, the Sang family girl hadn't done anything yet. She was already scared before she even started the fight. She looked at the other person and was stunned. Not only could she not say a word, she was even slow to return the greeting. In fact, she was also a girl, and she looked at the other person and was stunned.

"So what if she's pretty? Xuanwen ran away on the day of his wedding. Do you think he ran away because he was seriously ill?"

"Your cousin has always been in good health. I haven't heard of any serious injuries since he came back from the northwest. He was just punished by the old man last year and had to recuperate for a while. It was just a flesh wound. What kind of illness could be so serious that he would run away from his wedding? I watched him grow up, and I've never heard of it."

"If he really values ​​appearance, he wouldn't run away from the wedding. This Sang family girl hasn't even consummated her marriage yet. I really don't know why you are afraid of her."

As Shen said this, she asked the maid to pat her shoulders, her tone still full of indignation, she didn't know that her niece was so disappointing. Shen Huajun raised her eyes timidly and asked first, "Aunt, how do you know that she didn't consummate the marriage?"

Although they often went to the East Palace in the past, they had not yet been able to place anyone in Wuyuan. How did she know this?

"Just look at her steps." Shen sneered, "From the time the wedding gift was made up to today, she has come to the Hall of Justice every day to pay her respects. Is there any hesitation in her steps? She looks so unfamiliar and ignorant. She is definitely not the daughter of a married woman."

If a newly married girl has consummated her marriage, anyone who has experienced it can tell at a glance. Look at the look of the Sang family's daughter, and then look back at when she and Nie Ce came to the hall to pay their respects. The couple were so distant and reserved even when talking to each other. How could they look like they were just getting intimate?

"You." She sighed, but still pulled him over with a distressed look on her face. "Don't think too much about it. Although you can't be the principal wife now, when Xuanwen finishes his work, I'll go and ask her to let you enter Wuyuan anyway."

As long as Hua Jun is married off and wins the favor of that kid Nie Ce, the two families can truly merge into one - and there will be hope of getting the power to be the head of the family back.

But thinking about how the Sang family girl had rejected her today, Shen's grudge came up again, so she lowered her eyes and smiled again, "Teach her a lesson, so that she won't be so ignorant of etiquette in the future."

Shen Huajun then dropped her hands on her knees, and her breathing became slower. She had always known her aunt's methods, which were always subtle and silent. The daughter of the Sang family really shouldn't have rejected her aunt's invitation the first time.

*

Unlike her aunt Shen, Shen Huajun behaved very reservedly in front of Sang Ling when she came to Wuyuan to deliver fruit.

Sang Ling could also see that the few words she said as a greeting were spoken with great pressure.

She introduced that the fruit was grown in the geothermal area of ​​Mount Li, and talked about which one was sweet and which one was crispy. She wanted to ask Sang Ling something else, but the lines were stuck in her throat and she couldn't come out for a long time. Sang Ling didn't think of forcing the conversation to continue. He just smiled and waited for her to finish. After exchanging a few more pleasantries, he sent her away.

Later, Shen Huajun also came twice, but his intention was unclear. On the surface, he seemed to be just visiting to talk.

Once, by chance, he bumped into Zhang who was bringing some wine. So the three of them sat opposite each other in the main house of Wuyuan and drank a small cup of chrysanthemum wine.

This wine was not as strong as the pepper wine that she drank at the Sang Mansion's return banquet. Plus, Sang Ling only drank half a cup, so it felt okay - or maybe she had developed some tolerance for alcohol. Anyway, she was very clear-minded the whole time.

After all, Zhang was older, so she was relaxed when talking to others. Even though it was obvious that she wanted to get close to Sang Ling, she didn't want to be too close. When she ran into Shen Huajun who came over to talk that day, she was able to chat with him for a few words, but it was hard to tell how good the relationship between the two families was.

Sang Ling didn't talk much during the whole process, and only replied a few words when Zhang started talking to her.

Often at such times, Shen Huajun would just listen silently, and even if she drank a lot of wine, she couldn't really get excited. Even when Zhang and Sang Ling laughed at something interesting, she didn't laugh.

After the small gathering in the noon garden was over, Sang Ling saw the two off at the door before he turned his eyes to Shen Huajun and asked Cheng Niu beside him softly, "How is your relationship with Fang Niu going?"

"I am a little more familiar with him than the others." Cheng replied. "Why, what do you want to know?"

As expected of an old confidant brought up by Sang Feng'e, since she entered the Marquis' Mansion, she began to build her own network of connections in the mansion. At the very beginning, she hooked up with Fang Ai, who was beside Madam Zhaoyu. The two old ladies were about the same age and both were efficient and capable, so it was easy for them to get along with each other. Although Fang Ai was extremely rigorous in her daily work and occasionally quite ruthless, she was still a human being after all, and she always had a human side. Cheng Ai started from this aspect. After hearing that Fang Ai's son and daughter-in-law were working in the farm in the east of the city, she used her connections in the Gao Mansion to help his son settle two disputes between neighbors. As a result, she became one step closer to Fang Ai, and they were like old besties.

Sang Ling stared at the front door of Wuyuan and smiled, "I'm not asking for any information. Just tell her about Aunt San and Shen Huajun coming to visit me as if they were chatting."

If such a thing were to reach Fang Ai's ears, it would most likely be passed on to Madam Zhao Yu.

If Zhang and Shen had some purpose in approaching her, Madam Zhaoyu could know it earlier, so that if something happened in the future, she, who had not yet established a firm foothold in the Marquis' Mansion, would be held responsible.

……

At the end of the month, Grandpa Nie went to the Wai Zengtai River to fish, and stayed in the Nie family's villa over there for several days. As a result, the people from the two mansions had some free time and didn't have to go to the Shifeitang to pay their respects.

Sang Ling and Cheng Ai sat around a fire in the main room of Wuyuan. After a while, she called Zong Xiang and Wei Chu over. After observing for two or three months, she saw with her own eyes that these two maids were really sent to her by Madam Zhaoyu and had no ulterior motives. So she gradually got rid of her previous estrangement and began to try to get along with the newcomers.

Although it was approaching mid-spring, there was still a freezing chill in the Chang'an city this year. Except for the early morning when the sun was setting, there were few servants coming and going in the garden to clean it. The master and servants would half open the door, look at the scenery in the garden and chat for a while.

"Who is that?" Aunt Cheng stood up and looked around the yard, then suddenly called out.