Shen Xin and the others did not quite understand what happened, but seeing that Shen Miao was throwing a tantrum, they thought that it was probably because the two girls had a grudge. It was not appropriate for men like them to interfere in little girls’ matters, so they let Shen Miao do as she pleased. Today, they were probably extremely curious, so they could not help but ask.
“It’s not that I don’t like her,” Shen Miao said. As soon as she finished speaking, Jingzhe said, “Miss likes to be alone. But her cousins keep on coming over to talk to Miss, especially her cousin brother. He insists on chatting with Miss. Miss doesn’t like to talk to strangers to begin with. I think Miss is just a little annoyed.”
As Jingzhe spoke with a serious expression, Shen Miao couldn’t help but turn around to look at her. Shen Xin and Luo Xueyan’s expressions suddenly changed. On the surface, Jingzhe seemed to be saying that Shen Miao was a little annoyed with the Jing siblings, but in fact, there were many meanings in her words. It really seemed inappropriate for a young man to keep pestering a young girl. Luo Xueyan said angrily, “What exactly does your nephew want?”
“Madam, calm down.” Shen Xin quickly comforted her. Then, he said to Shen Qiu, “Brat, you put so many guards in the courtyard. Didn’t you notice that your sister is pestered by them every day?”
Shen Qiu felt bad. “I really didn’t notice…”
He naturally could not notice it, because the places Jing Guansheng picked to meet Shen Miao were not in the west courtyard. They met either at the entrance of the mansion, in the garden, or in the corridor. In short, they could “coincidentally” meet anywhere at any time.
“Go and guard the courtyard door. If you see those two siblings again, tell them that the courtyard is closed because the soldiers are training. No one is allowed to open the door for them!” Shen Xin shouted.
Shen Qiu immediately went to execute it.
Luo Xueyan patted Shen Miao’s head. “Jiaojiao, if that person comes to pester you in the future, don’t be nice to him. Beat him up.”
Shen Xin was speechless.
After Luo Xueyan and Shen Xin went back to practising, Shen Miao glanced at Jingzhe. “You talk too much.”
“I know I overstepped my boundary, but Miss.” Jingzhe lowered her head. “He clearly has ill intentions towards you. You know it all along, but why didn’t you tell Master and Madam?”
“Jing Guansheng is a smart person.” Shen Miao smiled. “It’s a pity to not use a smart person like him. He is still of some use to me.” She paused for a moment. “However, after hearing what you said today, I think some things will be sped up. Let’s wait and see.”
…
Ever since Shen Qiu got someone to set up a group of guards at the entrance of the west courtyard to prevent Jing Chuchu and Jing Guanfeng from coming in, the west courtyard had become much quieter. Without the disturbance of the two siblings, Shen Miao was much more at ease. However, some people were anxious.
In Rongjing Hall, Old Madam Shen stared at Jing Chuchu with a sharp gaze, as if her amiability previously was just an illusion. She said, “Chuchu, what exactly have you done? Why can’t you even enter the west courtyard now?”
Jing Chuchu lowered her head in anger and said in a low voice, “For some reason, Fifth Sister seems to be very wary of me. Eldest Brother actually treats me quite well, but Fifth Sister always tries to sow discord between us. The guards at the door of the courtyard were also put there by Fifth Sister.”
“It’s Shen Miao again!” Old Madam Shen was so angry that her face was ashen. Beside her, Mrs. Zhang quickly patted Old Madam Shen’s chest and comforted her. “Old Madam, calm down.”
“That girl is really wily. She’s first wary of your brother and now she even guards against you!” Old Madam Shen originally hoped to use Jing Guansheng and Jing Chuchu to deal with Shen Miao and Shen Qiu. However, Shen Miao was a woman after all. Once something happened between a man and a woman, the woman would always be the one at a disadvantage. With Shen Xin and Luo Xueyan’s bad temper, they might do something. If it were between Shen Qiu and Jing Chuchu, the one at a disadvantage would be Jing Chuchu, and people would naturally speak up for her. In the past, the people of the west courtyard were carefree and would never fuss over such small matters. How could people who were used to holding knives and spears pay attention to trivial matters? Unexpectedly, the style of doing things in the west courtyard changed drastically this time and they even went so far as to lock the door.
