Lihoumen

Chapter 12 Turn a Deaf Ear to Harsh Words

Shen Han and Shen Feng walked in front, occasionally greeting officials and dignitaries they met on the road. Qingqing followed closely behind Li, humbly listening to Li's occasional advice.

"Princess Qingning, why are you so slow today?"

Li was whispering with Qingqing. When she heard the call, she raised her head and saw the ladies in front of her. She quickened her pace and said, "You are here early today."

"We just arrived and haven't seen you yet, so we'll wait for you here for a while." A noble lady replied.

Li walked forward with Qingqing. The noble ladies noticed Qingqing following behind her. They exchanged glances and someone asked, "Who is Qingning bringing with her today?"

Li forced a smile and introduced Qingqing to everyone, saying, "This is my third brother's wife."

"Is she General Shen's wife?" someone asked in surprise.

"That's right." Li's face showed a slight embarrassment, and then she explained: "My third brother's wife is not in good health, so she rarely goes out to socialize, so you haven't seen her."

Ever since Qingqing married into the Marquis's Mansion, the old lady has disliked her background. She was even more afraid that she would lose face for the mansion as there were social interactions within the mansion, so she never allowed her to attend.

After Qingqing heard Li's cover-up, she slowly stepped forward, bowed slightly to the noble ladies, and introduced herself, "My name is He, nice to meet you ladies."

As she came closer, the ladies looked at her more calmly. Although it was not obvious on their faces, Qingqing could see from their eyes that these people were curious about her and looked down on her from the bottom of their hearts.

"Mrs. Shen, there is no need to be so polite. General Shen is very famous. Today I am fortunate to see your beauty. You are also a great lady. You and the general are a perfect match." Someone greeted politely.

"Mrs. Shen is so elegant and graceful. The way you dress makes us all look so vulgar." Someone echoed.

Li knew the temperaments of these noble ladies very well. She could hear the sarcasm in their words. She smiled awkwardly and said, "My husband and my third brother are in front. We will go ahead and talk again after we enter the banquet."

Li was born a princess and had always enjoyed status among the noble ladies. Today, she was accompanied by Qingqing, a commoner girl who had never seen the world. She felt embarrassed and exchanged a few words with the noble ladies before hurriedly walking away with Qingqing.

Even after walking a long way away, I could still vaguely hear the whispers of those ladies.

"For a man like Mr. Shen San, I really don't know what he was thinking? He actually married such a country bumpkin."

"Haven't you heard that this woman saved General Shen's life?"

"Saved a life? How?"

"Hehehe, you always like to think in the wrong way."

Shen Han was walking in front of her, so he must have heard these words. Qingqing felt sad and glanced at Shen Han secretly, but she saw that he was chatting and talking with the dignitaries and important officials as usual, as if he turned a deaf ear to those harsh words.

For the first time, she felt guilty towards Shen Han.

The palaces in the inner palace were majestic, and exotic flowers and rocks could be seen everywhere, but Qingqing didn't dare to look around and just followed Li inside with her head down.

It's just that the tree wants to be still but the wind does not stop. In this treacherous imperial city, it is not possible to keep a low profile just because you want to.

Qingqing was walking towards the inner palace obediently, when she saw a group of people coming towards her, including a handsome young eunuch and many palace maids.

Walking in front was a young woman dressed in extremely luxurious clothes.

"Oh my God! I've run into this enemy."

When Li saw the person coming, she could no longer care about anything else. She muttered something in frustration, then quickly turned to Qingqing and said, "The person coming is Princess Chaoyang. She will definitely make things difficult for you. You must endure it."

As they were talking, the one called Princess Huayang was approaching with a group of people. Li didn't have time to say anything more to Qingqing. She just winked at her and said, "You must bear with it." Qingqing was confused by what Li said. She didn't know this princess, and Qingqing didn't understand why this precious princess wanted to pick on her.

Qingqing was wondering when Princess Chaoyang came closer.

Shen Han and Shen Feng walked in front. When they saw Chaoyang, the two brothers clasped their fists and saluted. The talkative Shen Feng was the first to greet them with a smile: "I haven't seen Princess for a few days. Chaoyang has become more graceful and beautiful."

"My eldest cousin praises me as soon as we meet. He is worthy of being the top scholar and knows how to talk." Chaoyang smiled and exchanged pleasantries with Shen Feng. Then he turned his eyes to stare at Shen Han beside him, half-raising his chin, and asked Shen Han in an arrogant tone: "Third cousin, what do you think of Chaoyang?"

The Shen family's lady-in-waiting is the eldest princess. In fact, the Shen brothers and the royal family's children are cousins.

Although Shen Han raised his head, his eyes were empty. He said politely with a blank expression: "The princess is a beautiful woman, how can Shen Han make such a rash comment on her?"

After hearing what Shen Han said, Hua Yang snorted coldly, "Third cousin has always kept people at a distance. Why? Now that he's married, he's even less willing to talk to people?"

As she spoke, she looked behind the Shen brothers and asked, "Has your new wife, who was born a commoner, come with you?"

Seeing this, Li didn't dare to say much and just winked at Qingqing secretly.

Qingqing didn't say anything, but Princess Chaoyang's vicious gaze passed over the Shen brothers and shot straight at her.

It's like it wants to eat people.

At this moment, Qingqing didn't have time to think about why the royal princess was targeting her. For the sake of self-protection, she was thinking about whether Shen Han could protect her if this arrogant princess insisted on making things difficult for her.

Qingqing frowned and lowered her head subconsciously.

"You still want to hide?"

The proud princess seemed to see through Qingqing's thoughts and walked straight towards her. As a royal princess, she had her own aura and aggressive momentum. Out of the instinct of self-defense, Qingqing subconsciously clenched her hands under her wide sleeves into fists.

The ladies walking behind them also stopped not far away, watching the show with gloating eyes, waiting to see her make a fool of herself.

Just when Qingqing was panicking, a tall figure blocked her way.

"Chaoyang, what are you going to do?" Shen Han protected Qingqing and asked coldly.

Seeing Qingqing being firmly protected by Shen Han, Chaoyang stopped, looked up at Shen Han, and sneered, "I thought you were cold to everyone, but I didn't expect that you, Shen Han, would also protect others."

Shen Han replied: "She is my wife, so I must protect her."

After Chaoyang heard what Shen Han said, she rolled her eyes and said angrily, "You treat a country bumpkin who has no knowledge like a treasure. Shen Han, are you blind?"

"This is Shen's private matter and has nothing to do with the princess." Shen Han's tone was already filled with anger.

Seeing that the two were about to quarrel, Shen Feng hurried over to smooth things over, saying, "You two are really enemies. You quarrel every time you meet." Then he looked at Chaoyang and coaxed him, "Forget it, forget it. Today is the celebration banquet held by the Queen Mother and His Majesty for my third brother. If the Queen Mother knew that you two were quarreling again, we would inevitably be scolded again. Chaoyang, just give your eldest cousin some face and don't bother with my third brother."

Seeing that Shen Han was wholeheartedly protecting Qingqing, Chaoyang knew that she could not gain any advantage, so she rolled her eyes at Shen Han and said hatefully: "Hmph! We'll see." Then she left with a group of people.

Qingqing stood behind Shen Han until she heard the noise of Princess Chaoyang leaving. Then she carefully poked half of her head out from behind Shen Han like a frightened little rabbit coming out of a hole and secretly glanced outside. Seeing that the unruly princess had indeed left, Qingqing breathed a sigh of relief. When she raised her eyes, she saw Shen Han looking down at her.

Their eyes met and Qingqing smiled awkwardly.

"The person is gone, it's okay." He looked at her with a calm tone.

(End of this chapter)