Chapter 90 - An Important Piece of News

Seeing Shen Linghan leave, Shen Ninghua curled her lips indifferently. She was not willing to pay heed to Shen Linghan right now, but if Shen Linghan came to her door to seek her own death, she would not mind wiping her out.

The house that Shen Dong rented was not big and could barely provide enough space for the large Shen family. Old Lady Xiao’s condition was better and she lived alone in a room in the east side.

When Shen Ninghua arrived at the door, she happened to meet the Sixth Concubine who was going out of the room.

The Sixth Concubine saw Shen Ninghua and was stunned for a moment. “Eldest…Eldest Young Lady.”

Shen Ninghua nodded and walked past her into the room. The furnishings in the room were relatively clean. However, there were broken porcelain pieces scattered on the ground and a smell of herbal medicine. Shen Ninghua twitched her nose slightly and her eyes turned cold.

“Grandmother, how are you these days?”

Hearing her voice, Old Lady Xiao turned her head and widened her muddy eyes. Except her arms, she could not move any part of her body. She could only vaguely spit out a few words. “Ning…Ninghua…”

“Grandmother, you don’t look very well. I see, this place isn’t comparable to the Shen Mansion. How can it be comfortable to live here?”

Old Lady Xiao raised her hand with difficulty and waved it in the air for a long time. Finally, she grabbed onto Shen Ninghua’s clothes and said with an imploring look in her eyes, “Ninghua…my good granddaughter…take…take me away…”

Shen Ninghua lowered her head and glanced at her withered fingers. She sighed with emotion. “Although His Majesty has let me break away from the Shen family, I still carry the Shen bloodline in me. If you are willing to go with me, I am also happy. Bai Ruo, pack up the things and take my grandmother with us when we leave.”

Bai Ruo hurriedly answered, “Yes, Your Highness.”

A ray of light flashed through Old Lady Xiao’s turbid eyes. She pulled Shen Ninghua’s hand and shook it. She wanted to put on a smile, but she failed and only drooled on her face.

The Sixth Concubine had been standing at the door and did not leave. When she heard Shen Ninghua’s words, she thought for a long time. In the end, she could not help but ran in and knelt on the ground with a plopping sound. “Miss, please take Yulan away with you.”

Shen Ninghua lowered her eyes and looked at her. “Hong Ling, help her up. Although she is a concubine, she has served my father for so many years. I cannot accept her kneeling.”

‘”No, Eldest Young Lady, I know that there is nothing that I can offer to you now, but for the sake of Shen Yulan’s potential use, please take her away. Although Yulan is impetuous, she is still young and innocent. You can take her with you and train her as you like. After all, she is your sister, so she is easier to use than others. What do you think?” Shen Ninghua was already the Prefectural Princess. With the Emperor’s favor for her, she would become very successful. Even if she used Shen Yulan as a means of political bargain, she would definitely give Shen Yulan a better future, at least better than staying here.

The Sixth Concubine was quite clever. She did not say anything like blood ties or sisterly affection. The word “use” sounded pleasant to hear. “Sixth Concubine, you have deep love for your daughter. However, I’m afraid that Shen Yulan may not appreciate it.”

“No, Yulan is much more sensible now. As long as you send someone to properly teach her, she will definitely be obedient.”

Shen Ninghua did not say anything. Instead, she raised her head to look at the door.

Shen Yulan ran in with an indignant expression. Seeing the Sixth Concubine kneeling on the ground, a trace of disgust and disdain flashed in her eyes. “Concubine mom, what are you doing? Why do you kneel to her? Hurry up and get up.”

The Sixth Concubine’s face turned pale. “Yulan, kneel down. Beg your eldest sister to take you back.”

‘”Beg her? You’re crazy, concubine mom. I won’t beg her. Although father has been demoted, he will definitely rise again. I won’t follow a sinister woman. You, hurry up and don’t embarrass me here.”

The Sixth Concubine’s face turned paler and her heart was chilled. She knelt on the ground and begged a young girl to give her daughter a chance. However, her daughter despised her for embarrassing her. She even called her “concubine mom”. She was her biological mother!

Shen Ninghua’s eyes became even more indifferent. “Sixth Concubine, it seems that she is not as sensible as you said.”

“Eldest Young Lady, listen to me…”

Shen Ninghua interrupted her. She pulled off a golden hairpin from her hair and handed it over to her. “This hairpin is worth at least five hundred taels of silver. You can sell it to get silver to buy what you need, or you can take it to my mansion to ask for help in times of trouble. If I’m in a good mood, I might help you. Alright, I’m leaving.”

The Sixth Concubine opened her mouth and wanted to plead for mercy, but when she met Shen Ninghua’s calm eyes, she forcefully swallowed the words. She knew that Shen Ninghua gave her this golden hairpin entirely due to her sensibility. If she continued to pester Shen Ninghua, she could only arouse Shen Ninghua’s antipathy.

Seeing that she had understood what she meant, Shen Ninghua nodded in satisfaction. She turned around and walked out of the room. She was happy to deal with smart people. If the Sixth Concubine made up her mind to discipline Shen Yulan, she wouldn’t mind helping them.

Shen Dong did not personally send Shen Ninghua off. Instead, he stood at the entrance of the main hall and looked in the direction of the courtyard entrance. Shen Ninghua instructed Bi Zhu to send him a ticket of a thousand taels of silver and walked out of the courtyard.

Shen Xuanlin had been waiting anxiously inside the carriage. When he saw Shen Ninghua coming out, he cheered and hurriedly got up, attempting to jump out of the carriage to welcome Shen Ninghua. Qing Que pulled him back and stopped him from doing so.

Shen Ninghua got into the carriage and tapped him in the forehead. “Now you are still as lively as a monkey. Does the injury on your body still hurt?”

“No. It didn’t hurt at all the moment I saw Eldest Sister.”

“Did I become a painkiller?” Shen Ninghua was amused, and her eyes were full of smiles.

Shen Xuanlin covered his forehead with a dumb look, which made people unconsciously relax down.

Back in the Prefectural Princess Mansion, Shen Xuanlin looked around curiously. His eyes were filled with surprise. “Eldest Sister, this place is much more beautiful that before.”

“Alright, do you have a yard that you like? You can choose one to live in.”

Shen Xuanlin’s eyes lit up. “I want Qinxue Courtyard.”

Shen Ninghua raised her eyebrows. “Why do you want that place?” That used to be Shen Linghan’s courtyard.

“Because Qinxue Courtyard is close to your Yingyue Courtyard.”

Shen Ninghua smiled. “I don’t live in Yingyue Courtyard anymore. I live in the main yard, Ruixi Courtyard. I’ll let you live in Yingyue Courtyard.”

Being able to live in the courtyard where Eldest Sister used to live made Shen Xuanlin laugh so hard that his teeth were exposed and his eyes were concealed in the smile. “Thank you, Eldest Sister.”

“Don’t just be happy. Liu Yun will continue to teach you martial arts as your master. Also, you must finish the calligraphy practice every day. Don’t slack off.” Shen Ninghua said seriously.

“Yes, don’t worry, Eldest Sister. I will definitely live up to my words.”

After she finished making arrangements for Shen Xuanlin, the person who was sent to pick up Old Lady Xiao had returned. Shen Ninghua arranged for her to live in her previous residence, Songtao Courtyard, and ordered the maidservant to take good care of her. After making these arrangements, she stopped paying further attention to Old Lady Xiao. She didn’t have much hatred for Old Lady Xiao, but she definitely didn’t have any affection for her. It was already benevolent for her to take care of Old Lady Xiao for the rest of her life.

She had just arrived at the door of the study when she felt an aura coming from the study. She frowned and opened the door. She saw Chu Junyi, who was half leaning against the soft couch and reading a book.

Hearing the sound, Chu Junyi immediately put down the extremely boring book in his hand. “Ninghua, you’re finally back. I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I heard that you were giving out gifts. I also want to share some happiness.”

Shen Ninghua sat down on a chair by the side and said, “Do you lack this bit of happiness from me? I’ve heard you are going to have a great event. The Xiao family intends to betroth their Eldest Young Lady to you. You should have your face lit up with joy.”

Chu Junyi curled his lips and looked at her beautiful and cold face with a gentle smile in his eyes. “What? Are you sour with jealousy?”

Shen Ninghua raised her eyebrows. “I have always hated sour things. The same for people. Stay away from me. I don’t want to get stuck by dirty things.”

Chu Junyi lowered his head and sized up his spotless clothes. “I can’t even see a speck of dust on my body. Where are the dirty things?”

Shen Ninghua’s gaze swept across the spice sachet on his waist. Her meaning was obvious.

Chu Junyi pulled the spice sachet off and asked with a frown, “Is there something wrong with this sachet?”

“It’s not a big problem. It only weakens the body. Your martial arts skills are exceptional. The things in this sachet won’t affect you in a short time.”

As Shen Ninghua spoke, she suddenly frowned. In her previous life, she wasn’t impressed much by Chu Junyi. She only remembered that this Peerless Dual Master had a brilliant performance at first and was indeed appreciated by the Emperor for some time. The Fifth Prince had made a lot of efforts secretly to win his loyalty, but it seemed that he was in poor health and left the capital to recuperate.

She had thought that he deliberately avoided the competition among the princes, but now, it didn’t seem to be the case. Someone plotting against him?

“What if I wear it for a long time?” Chu Junyi twirled the sachet with his fingers. His expression was unclear, but the baleful aura in his eyes leaked out.

“There is cyperus inside. It will cause the coldness in one’s body to flourish. If used well, you will get twice the result with half the effort when practicing martial arts. If not, it will damage your physique and harm your health.”

Chu Junyi suddenly narrowed his eyes. A dangerous cold light flashed through his eyes, “Ninghua, I owe you one debt again. I really don’t know how to repay you. How about giving myself to you?”

Shen Ninghua glanced at him and said, “If I knew that you would start to be glib-tongued so soon, I wouldn’t tell you about the problem with the sachet.”

“Haha, you’re always so stingy.” She was like an angry cat with her hair lifted once being touched. Uh…it was inappropriate to call her a cat. She should be a tiger, a tiger that could slap a person to death with one palm.

“Alright, if there is nothing else, I won’t keep you here anymore.”

Chu Junyi sat still and didn’t care about Shen Ninghua’s announcement of eviction. “I have an important piece of news for you.”

“What news?” After spending the past few days together, she vaguely learned that Chu Junyi had a special source of information, and that he could obtain intelligence about many secrets unknown to others.

“There is someone in your maternal grandfather’s family who is still alive.”

“The Xia family?” Shen Ninghua was shocked. The Xia family had been framed for treason and exterminated. Other than Xia Jingyan who was married out of the clan, who else was left alive?

“Speaking of which, you should call her aunt. She was born by a concubine of the Xia family, and she and your mother are sisters. When she made a mistake, your maternal grandmother arranged for her to marry a Sixth Rank officer outside the capital. This allowed her to avoid the disaster. Just a few days ago, her husband was promoted and transferred to the capital.”

Shen Ninghua frowned. “How could there be such a coincidence?” She had just moved out of the imperial palace into the Prefectural Princess Mansion and was just about to prepare for the ceremony of her fifteenth birthday marking her adulthood. Now a relative from the Xia family was found.

“What a coincidence. Besides, I’ve been investigating for a long time, but I still haven’t found out who was behind it. It seemed like it was really a normal official transfer.” Chu Junyi took a sip of tea and said with interest.

“I see. Let’s wait for them to return to the capital.”

As soon as the two finished speaking, Bai Ruo knocked on the door and walked in with an anxious expression. “Miss, the matriarch of the Zhao family, Old Lady Feng, has come to visit the Old Lady!”