Chapter 161 What a Coincidence

Wu Shaozhong wore a broad smile as well. "Yu'er has grown so much. The last time your uncle saw you, you were just a little child, not even half your height now. All these years have passed in the blink of an eye."

"Let's not talk standing in the doorway," Madam Shen said. "Come inside quickly. The courtyard prepared for you has already been cleaned up. Once Miaofu's coming-of-age ceremony is over, it will be Sian's wedding time, so you'll just happen to stay."

"True," Wu Shaozhong said as he walked, "I heard about the Emperor bestowing a marriage on the way here. Sian is about to become the Prince Consort—what a tremendous joyous occasion."

As his voice trailed off, he looked at the magnificent and imposing estate of the Defender-General and clicked his tongue in constant admiration.

This made Wu Miaofu beside him frown, and she tugged lightly on his sleeve. "Father, say no more. You must be exhausted from such a long journey; go and rest quickly."

Madam Shen nodded. "Indeed, we can talk over dinner tonight. Go and rest for now."

Wu Shaozhong agreed, "Very well."

Not until he was safely escorted to his quarters did Madam Shen and Shen Nanyuan turn and leave.

The servants in the courtyard all bowed in greeting, causing Wu Shaozhong's eyes to curve into slits with satisfaction.

"Your aunt lives such a comfortable life here every day. How have these past few months been?"

"Very well," Wu Miaofu lowered her gaze and spoke flatly. She glanced at the servants in the courtyard and then said, "Father, come with me."

Wu Shaozhong was somewhat puzzled, but nevertheless followed Wu Miaofu into the room.

"You may all withdraw."

Hearing this, the servants curtsied and replied, "Yes, Miss Cousin."

Wu Shaozhong sat down, poured himself a cup of tea, and drank it in one gulp. "It truly was the right decision to send you to the capital. If one didn't know better, seeing you here would make them think you were the young lady of the Defender-General's Mansion itself—thinking you had lived in the capital your whole life."

If only that were the case.

Yet who in the capital did not know she was merely the cousin of the Defender-General's Mansion?

Wu Miaofu sat across from him with a calm expression. "I have something to tell Father."

"What is it?"

"I know Father came to the capital this time for my marriage, but your daughter has her sights set on none of those men. Since I look down upon them, Father naturally will not fancy them either."

Wu Shaozhong's brows furrowed instantly.

"There are many people of prominent and distinguished backgrounds in the capital. Why would you look down upon them? Could it be that your aunt has not put her heart into this?"

He stood up. "I entrusted you to your aunt with peace of mind, never expecting her to act like this. It turns out that once people attain high status, they no longer wish to bother with us poor relatives. No matter what, our family is a prominent clan in Yunzhou; your father will not take this kind of insult!"

Wu Miaofu hastily stood up to pull back Wu Shaozhong, who was about to go find Madam Shen right then and there. She urged anxiously, "Father has misunderstood! It is not that Aunt hasn't put her heart into it."

He absolutely could not be allowed to go find Madam Shen right now; otherwise, the timid and gentle persona she had deliberately cultivated in front of Madam Shen would be exposed.

She continued, "Aunt has put in a great deal of effort and frequently takes me to banquets hosted by noble and illustrious families. It is simply that I did not fancy any of those men."

Wu Shaozhong's emotions subsided only slightly at this.

With an expression of exasperation at her refusal to meet expectations, he said, "If you look down even upon such people, whom else could you possibly fancy? You have lived in the Defender-General's Mansion for more than half a year, but fundamentally, you have no direct ties to the estate. How much better it would have been to listen to your aunt earlier and marry someone of prominent status and wealth."

"Father," Wu Miaofu said, "Your daughter looks down upon those people because I have long since made a different choice."

Her gaze was steady. "I cannot tell Father who it is just yet. However, this person's status is a hundred times more illustrious than those scions of noble families."

"So today I only wanted to tell Father not to worry, and simply to trust my choice. You know that your daughter has always had a strong mind since childhood, and my choices have never had any flaws over the years. Therefore, please just trust me this time as well."

Wu Shaozhong hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Very well."

During the remaining days, when Shen Nanyuan had nothing to occupy her, she would go to the Prime Minister's Mansion to visit Meng Chuyue.

Meng Chuyue was soon to be married far away to Houlan, yet unlike others who were nervous and busy ahead of their weddings, she appeared completely unbothered. On one occasion, Shen Nanyuan even ran into the Fifth Prince at the Prime Minister's Mansion.

He was locked outside the gates, shouting at the top of his lungs inward, "I won't tease you anymore, stop being angry! Open the door for me, truly! I promise I'll never make you angry again. Chuyue, Chuyue, open the door."

Caught in such a scene, Shen Nanyuan found herself neither able to advance nor retreat, standing awkwardly in her tracks until the Fifth Prince spotted her.

"Yong'an County Princess?" he drawled leisurely. "What a coincidence. Are you here to see Chuyue too?"

Murong Ming did not show the slightest bit of awkwardness. Shen Nanyuan nodded. "Indeed..."

Since the person directly involved felt no awkwardness, she, a mere bystander, had even less reason to feel any.

She slowly walked up to the tightly shut courtyard gates, wondering how she should speak, when suddenly she heard the voice of a maid coming from beyond the door.

"Miss Shen?"

It sounded like the voice of Meng Chuyue's personal maid.

"Please come in quickly, Miss Shen."

Before she even had a chance to speak, the door instantly parted a crack, revealing the maid's nervous face. "Troubling Miss Shen to step inside quickly."

By the time the Fifth Prince noticed, Shen Nanyuan and Qingrui had already slipped through the narrow gap into the courtyard, and the door was slammed shut with a creak.

Murong Ming: "..."

Meng Chuyue was sitting in the courtyard drinking tea, smiling as she looked at her. "Yuanyuan."

Immediately following that, the Fifth Prince's helpless voice drifted in from outside the gate: "Chuyue, I'll take my leave then?"

"I'll come again next time."

Acting as though she heard nothing, Meng Chuyue reached out and poured a cup of tea for Shen Nanyuan. "You've been treated to a rather amusing spectacle."

"It's nothing," Shen Nanyuan asked, "What is going on with the Fifth Prince... exactly?"

"Nothing much, I just didn't want to see him, so I casually found an excuse to chase him out."

Meng Chuyue remarked, "We'll be seeing each other every day in the future anyway, so let me indulge my wilfulness for a few times first."

From childhood onwards, she had always behaved sensibly and rarely acted wilfully, but those were merely facades she put on. Now, suddenly, she no longer wished to keep up the pretense.

Having said this, she raised her eyes slightly, a trace of apologetic expression resting on her face. "I heard it's your cousin's coming-of-age ceremony very soon. I probably won't be able to attend, but I will prepare a generous gift to be sent to the Defender-General's Mansion."

"It's fine," Shen Nanyuan said. "You don't need to come. Anyway, I don't have any real affection for that cousin of mine to begin with."

In the past, she had considered her a timid and fragile younger cousin and thus showed her some care, but the more they interacted, the more she realized that the other girl was not as she appeared on the surface, having uttered several rather harsh and petty remarks on a few occasions.

She had felt no fondness for her before, and even less so now.