The couple stared at each other.
Shen Mingzhu felt even more like an outsider.
She became a bit flustered.
But then she thought, her elder brother and sister-in-law's affection wasn't a recent development.
They had always been deeply in love.
And their deep affection was something she always wanted to emulate.
Looking at her brother and sister-in-law, she sometimes couldn't help but wonder what kind of man her future husband would be.
Whoever he was, he had to be like her elder brother to her sister-in-law.
And she would naturally be as good to him as her sister-in-law was to her brother.
“By the way, Mingzhu, why did you suddenly come to the front yard? Is something wrong?”
Su Xiaoqi remembered hearing Shen Mingzhu’s hurried footsteps earlier.
She thought there must be something important.
“Elder Brother, Sister-in-law, the thing is, I went to Chen Jin Ji to make new products today.
I heard people outside talking about the Emperor’s newly favored Concubine Ming.
She’s also called Mingzhu, isn’t she?” Shen Mingzhu hesitated.
There were many people with the same name, and it felt improper to come to her elder brother and sister-in-law over a common name.
Shen Yun nodded and said yes.
Mingzhu’s given name was indeed Mingzhu.
He had already considered that Shen Mingzhu shared the same name.
“It’s just sharing a name, not a surname. Mingzhu, you don’t need to mind,” Shen Yun said.
He genuinely didn’t think there was anything wrong with having the same name.
After all, there were countless people in the world, and only so many characters.
And even fewer combinations sounded pleasant.
Especially for a common name like Mingzhu.
Therefore, when Shen Yun first encountered the imperial concubine Mingzhu, he had also felt there was an issue with her name.
But by then, she had already been officially recognized and had become the Emperor’s person.
It was naturally inappropriate to change her name at that time.
Thus, the matter was dropped.
Now, with Shen Mingzhu bringing it up, Shen Yun began to re-examine the situation.
“But, alas, I know that’s the name of an imperial concubine in the palace, and I certainly wouldn’t dare ask her to change it.
Is it okay if I change mine?” Shen Mingzhu pouted, her eyes welling up with tears.
Shen Yun was somewhat surprised. It was just a name.
Why was her reaction so strong?
Su Xiaoqi, however, understood. She took Shen Mingzhu’s hand and led her to a round chair, supporting her shoulders as she sat down.
She asked softly if Shen Mingzhu had been wronged outside.
Shen Mingzhu initially just cried and refused to speak.
It wasn’t until Su Xiaoqi instructed Zhang Yu to invite Xiao Liu from Chen Jin Ji to inquire about the situation that she finally couldn’t hold back, covering her face and crying even more sorrowfully.
Shen Yun grew anxious and urged, “Girl, why are you crying? Your elder brother and sister-in-law are here.
If you’ve been wronged outside, speak up, and we will naturally champion your cause.”
“Wuwu… wuwu…” Shen Yun’s words did not stop Shen Mingzhu’s crying; instead, she cried even harder.
Tears and snot flowed.
Su Xiaoqi quickly took a handkerchief to wipe her face and nose.
She also sent someone to fetch water for her to wash her face.
The warmth of the water on her face finally cleared Shen Mingzhu’s head.
She lowered her head and pursed her lips, suddenly feeling a little embarrassed.
She had been too fragile just now.
She couldn’t even bear to look at herself.
How could she be so sad and distressed over such a small matter?
Oh dear, how unpromising she was!
She cursed herself inwardly.
“Mingzhu, please tell us,” Su Xiaoqi’s gentle and melodious voice rang out.
Surrounded by such a pleasant voice, Shen Mingzhu immediately opened up.
It turned out that today, Shen Mingzhu was at the Chen Jin Ji shop teaching Xiao Liu and the shop employees how to make the new ice-skin mung bean cakes that Su Xiaoqi had developed.
While they were making them, people from the Ning Prince’s mansion arrived.
“Who came?” Shen Yun asked sternly.
Shen Mingzhu mumbled, “Qiong Hua County Princess.”
“Her again!” Even Su Xiaoqi couldn’t help but get angry this time.
The rest of the story was quite simple.
Qiong Hua County Princess saw Shen Mingzhu and immediately recognized her as Shen Yun’s younger sister and Su Xiaoqi’s sister-in-law.
Currently, these were the two enemies she disliked the most in the capital.
She had never gained the upper hand against Su Xiaoqi.
And even less so when dealing with Shen Yun.
The boundary between genders left her no opportunity to make a move against him.
Of course, even if she confronted Shen Yun, she might not be able to do anything to him.
Instead, she would be severely dealt with.
Naturally, Qiong Hua County Princess would not believe these things.
Her nature was such that she wouldn’t turn back until she hit a wall.
Moreover, the relationship between Shen Yun’s family and theirs was now irreconcilable.
If she couldn’t find fault with Su Xiaoqi and Shen Yun, it wouldn’t hurt to pick on the fragile Shen Mingzhu to vent her pent-up frustration.
Therefore, upon seeing Shen Mingzhu, she naturally did her best to attack her.
Although Shen Mingzhu had learned a lot from Su Xiaoqi,
And had improved significantly compared to before,
Facing Qiong Hua County Princess, who had a much higher status and employed endless schemes and tactics,
She was truly no match and could only accept her fate.
“Oh dear, wuwu, Elder Brother, Sister-in-law, Mingzhu is useless, Mingzhu is useless,” Shen Mingzhu started crying again as she spoke.
Su Xiaoqi said, “It’s not that you’re useless, it’s that the opponent is using a dimensional attack. No matter how capable you are, there’s no place to use it.”
Although Shen Mingzhu was also Prince Ning’s biological daughter,
And according to the order of seniority, her status should have been higher than Qiong Hua County Princess,
This matter had not been publicly acknowledged.
No matter how clearly they understood it in their hearts, they would not bring it up.
Therefore, Shen Mingzhu had no chance of winning against Qiong Hua County Princess.
She only asked if Shen Mingzhu had suffered a great loss.
Shen Mingzhu shook her head and said no.
It was just that Qiong Hua County Princess’s mouth was too foul.
She said a lot of unpleasant things, and even compared her name to the Emperor’s Concubine Ming, mentioning them in the same breath.
She said that they were both called Mingzhu and thought of themselves as precious pearls,
But were merely destined to be concubines…
No woman could tolerate being told that she was destined to be a concubine.
Shen Mingzhu was no exception, but she couldn’t do anything to Qiong Hua County Princess, so she just tried to hold her head up and look at her without responding.
Her demeanor enraged Qiong Hua County Princess, who accused her of pretending and said she was exactly like her detestable sister-in-law.
She claimed that while Shen Mingzhu appeared virtuous and upright on the surface, she had engaged in all sorts of debauchery behind people’s backs.
Shen Mingzhu could tolerate insults directed at herself, but she could not tolerate even a single bad word spoken about her sister-in-law.
She hit Qiong Hua County Princess.
“You hit her!” Su Xiaoqi’s attention was drawn away from Qiong Hua County Princess’s insults and completely captivated by Shen Mingzhu’s subsequent statement that she had hit Qiong Hua County Princess.
“Um, I, I slapped her,” Shen Mingzhu said hesitantly.
Fearing that she had caused trouble for her elder brother and sister-in-law, she lowered her head, unable to speak.
Sensing her unease, Su Xiaoqi held her hand and said, “Oh, Mingzhu, you are so amazing!”
Shen Mingzhu blushed and weakly asked, “Sister-in-law, I, I’ve caused trouble for the family. Will it, will it affect Elder Brother’s official career?”
After hitting the person, Shen Mingzhu herself couldn’t quite believe it. She looked at her hands for a long time.
Her palm was red, indeed showing signs of contact.
And Qiong Hua County Princess’s right cheek was already flushed red.
There were even five finger marks visible.
Judging by their thickness and length, whose handprints could they be if not hers?
Only then did she sober up.
She had actually hit someone.
She had hit someone, and it was the noble Qiong Hua County Princess of the Ning Prince’s mansion.
It was over, finished, completely over!
Shen Mingzhu was stunned into silence at that moment.
She remained motionless for a long time.
It wasn’t until her accompanying maid, Lan Ying, cried out, “Ah…”, that she came to her senses.
A scene she had overlooked flashed through her mind.
After being slapped, Qiong Hua County Princess reacted and immediately raised her hand furiously, intending to strike Shen Mingzhu.
Her chief maid, Lan Ying, rushed forward to take the blow for her.