Chapter 31 The General Brings Back a Woman

When Shen Hong heard that Shen Rou had died, he thought the matter was settled and couldn't wait to visit her the next day.

He didn't beat around the bush. Since the prices were clearly marked, he just asked for his remuneration directly.

"My Lord, can we do what we agreed on before?"

Rong Zhengde raised his eyebrows: "Don't talk nonsense, I haven't promised you anything."

Upon hearing this, Shen Hong was stunned and he repeated it subconsciously.

"My Lord, you are really a forgetful person. You forgot that you promised me that as long as I testify and expose Shen Rou's scandal, you will let Yu Yao marry the Second Young Master after the storm has passed. In addition to the due betrothal gifts, you will also give me ten thousand acres of fertile land, and you will be able to speak well of me in front of His Majesty about my promotion to the Minister of Rites."

In fact, what excites Shen Hong the most is the promotion.

Even though he and Si Yan were both marquises, Si Yan had worked hard to get to his position, while he only benefited from his ancestors' influence and it took him many years to be promoted from the seventh rank to the sixth rank. Every time he went to court and saw young men younger than him standing in front, he felt jealous.

Now he is old, the position of Minister of Rites is vacant, and His Majesty has not made a decision yet. This is probably his only chance. He wanted to use the reputation of Marquis Wu'an to become a force in the court by letting Shen Ning marry Si Yan. If one daughter is not enough, he can have another one. Shen Rou's life can be exchanged for his meteoric rise to power, and it would be worth giving birth to her.

These conditions were proposed to him by the Duke, and Shen Hong thought that there would be no mistakes. But after he finished speaking, Rong Zhengde actually laughed as if he had heard something funny.

"Hahaha, you actually believed it. No wonder you can only be a sixth-rank official your entire life."

Shen Hong realized something was wrong after hearing this, and immediately stood up and said with a straight face: "What do you mean?"

Rong Zhengde did not hide it: "What I mean is that you are dreaming. Giving birth to such a shameless daughter has not brought enough harm to my family. How can I want your daughter from the Shen family? You are not worthy of being the Minister of Rites."

Shen Hong's face flushed red: "You, you clearly said it at that time, you want to regret it now."

Rong Zhengde also stood up and looked down at Shen Hong: "Who said that? Do you have any evidence, whether it is personal or physical evidence?"

Shen Hong was indeed stupid, otherwise he would not have been fooled by the Rong family. He was so angry that he wanted to faint. He gasped violently for a few times before he could steady himself. Thinking of those rumors, he said bluntly, "The rumors are all true, right? You deliberately framed Rou'er and Xiaoman. If you confuse right and wrong like this, aren't you afraid that they will come back to you in your dreams at midnight to seek revenge?"

Rong Zhengde smiled, but what he said shocked Shen Hong: "I should go find you, don't you want to clean up the mess?" At this point, Shen Hong knew that he was being tricked. In agitation, he stepped forward to hit Rong Zhengde: "Despicable, shameless, villain!"

But he forgot where this was, and before he could touch Shen Hong, he was held down by a servant nearby.

At this point, Shen Hong was of no use. Rong Zhengde straightened his clothes, walked out the door with his head held high, and before leaving, he did not forget to instruct: "Entertain the Marquis well."

*
After sending Shen Rou away, Shen Ning felt very bad. She thought that if she could start over again, everything could change.

But in fact, her power was very limited, and her plan was not as fast as the changes. So many changes happened in less than a month. Although Shen Rou was still alive, she didn't know when they would see each other again.

From then on, she no longer had a sister.

In order to keep a memory, Shen Ning moved all the things she and Shen Rou used in their childhood to the general's mansion and found a special room to store them.

To make matters worse, the emperor sent envoys to the frontier, and several princesses went with them. It was said to be a friendly exchange, but in fact it was an unspoken marriage to consolidate the relationship between the two countries.

There were frequent civil unrests in Xirong, and this was not a good job. Perhaps the emperor had also heard about the farce in the Duke's Mansion and the Xuanping Marquis' Mansion, and he disliked Shen Jie and actually included him in the list of envoys.

As a result, in just seven days, Shen Rou and Shen Jie left one after another, and Shen Ning felt quite isolated and helpless.

Maybe it was because he was too lonely, Shen Ning actually missed Si Yan. They had agreed that he would stay for three to five days, but it had been seven days already, so why hadn't he come back yet?

While she was thinking, Caiyun suddenly ran in in a hurry: "Madam, the general is back."

After hearing this, Shen Ning curled his lips unconsciously, straightened his clothes, and made sure his appearance was normal before he walked out the door.

She looked at Caiyun who was standing there in a daze and said, "Why do you look so depressed? Come on."

Caiyun thought about it and decided to tell Shen Ning so that she could be mentally prepared.

She pulled Shen Ning's sleeve and whispered in his ear, "The general didn't come back by himself. He brought a woman with him. They looked very intimate."