Chapter 163 - The Royal Banquet (1)

Three days later, the royal family held a banquet and all the officials were required to attend with their family. Although it was a joyous occasion, everyone knew that this banquet was just a celebration for Shen Xin.

The Shen family held a lot of power, and they had fierce generals like Shen Xin and Shen Qiu. If they were used well, they would be a good weapon for Ming Qi. If they were not used well, they could threaten the people sitting on that throne at any time. The Ming Qi royal family was both dependent and wary of the Shen family. However, before the enemy was cleared, the Shen family was at least safe.

As long as the Shen family did not get involved in the competition for the throne, the royal family would not attack the Shen family for the next ten years. This was something that anyone with a brain could tell. However, previously, Shen Miao was infatuated with Prince Ding, making people think that if Shen Xin married his daughter to Fu Xiuyi, the status of the Shen family in the imperial court would become shaky. However, later on, it seemed that Shen Miao’s interest in Fu Xiuyi gradually faded. The Shen family did not have to be involved in the competition for the throne, so they would naturally be safe. In the next ten years, the title of the mighty general in the capital would still be able to intimidate many people.

Early in the morning, Luo Xueyan came over to see Shen Miao. Over the past few days, Luo Xueyan and Shen Xin had been investigating what had happened in the Shen family over the past year. However, they weren’t able to find anything because it was always done meticulously by the other two branches. Even so, Shen Xin and his wife still felt that something was wrong. These days, they had become much more distant from Old Madam Shen and the others.

Shen Miao did not tell Shen Xin and his wife that Shen Qing had lost her virginity, so it was even more impossible for Ren Wanyun and Chen Ruoqiu to take the initiative to make this news public. As for Nanny Gui’s death, they said that she was kicked out of the mansion because she had sticky fingers. Ren Wanyun thought that Shen Miao would tell Shen Xin the truth, but to her surprise, Shen Miao said nothing.

“Miss, you need more hairpins.” Bai Lu combed Shen Miao’s hair into a long bun. Now that Shen Miao had lost some weight, she gradually looked more like a young girl. It was a little inappropriate for her to dress up in a cute fashion like before. Moreover, she was going to attend the royal banquet today, so she probably had to dress up more gracefully. However, in the past, Shen Miao’s jewelry was all handled by Ren Wanyun, and most of them were gold and silver jewelry. Those jewelry had long been sold and now, the jewelry box was empty.

“Didn’t Master bring back a lot of rewards from the palace yesterday?” Shuang Jiang had an idea. “Miss, why don’t you choose some? There must be a lot of good things in them.”

“Forget it.” Shen Miao rejected the offer immediately. All the things in the palace were stained with blood. Now, she didn’t want to wear those things at all. It was as if wearing them would remind her of those tragic years. She thought for a moment and opened a compartment in the jewelry box to pick out a hairpin.

“Eh, this hairpin is so beautiful!” Bai Lu said in surprise, “When did Miss get such a hairpin? Did Madam give it to you?”

Shen Miao picked up the hairpin and looked at it carefully. On the day of the test, Xie Jingxing used this jade begonia to exchange for the real begonia on her head. If Bai Lu hadn’t mentioned that there was no jewelry in the box, she would have forgotten about it.

The hairpin was made of jade and was a sparkling purple-red color. The craftsman who carved it was also very skilled. The begonia petals were curled up and blooming, making it look like a large piece of prosperous jade. It was cold to the touch, and it was obviously made of high-grade jade. Such a begonia hairpin was probably worth more than a thousand gold. In her previous life, Shen Miao had seen many good things in the palace, so she could naturally tell that this hairpin was extraordinary.