484 Prince Rui’s Neighbor (3)
Although her tone was gentle, her gaze was very sharp. The two maids freaked out and quickly knelt down. “We don’t dare. We just want to serve Madam wholeheartedly. We don’t dare to have any other thoughts.”
Chen Ruoqiu lowered her head and looked at them for a while. The two maids were so frightened that their legs were trembling. Only then did she say indifferently, “Get up. Since you don’t want to, I have no reason to force you.”
“Thank you, Madam.” The two maids stood up shakily and heaved a sigh of relief in their hearts. Chen Ruoqiu looked gentle on the surface and was kind to people, but as Chen Ruoqiu’s personal maids, they had seen Chen Ruoqiu’s methods. In fact, there were a few maids who looked good and attempted to get close to Shen Wan. Although Shen Wan did not show much interest, he did not explicitly reject them. These maids were later sold by Chen Ruoqiu. Shi Qing and Hua Yi knew very well that Chen Ruoqiu was an extremely jealous person and was ruthless. If they really got involved with Shen Wan, they would probably end up the same.
Chen Ruoqiu sighed. “I can only blame myself for not being capable enough to give birth to a son for my husband. If I could give birth to a son, things wouldn’t be like this now.”
Chen Ruoqiu did not dare to comment casually. After all, not having a son was a sore point for Chen Ruoqiu. Chen Ruoqiu muttered, “Now that the Shen family is in such a state, we actually don’t have a son among the younger generation. Even if the second branch used to have two, they’re all dead now… Now, I’m envious of Luo Xueyan. She has a son and a daughter and has no in-laws. Shen Xin treats her like a jewel and never takes in a concubine. I’m really jealous.”
At the banquet yesterday, Shen Miao stole the show and was in the limelight. However, as for Shen Yue, she was clearly much more talented and beautiful than Shen Miao, but because of the Shen family’s declining status, she couldn’t even find a good husband, let alone marry Prince Ding.
Chen Ruoqiu felt a little indignant that her daughter was inferior to the daughter of a vulgar general she looked down on.
At this moment, a servant suddenly came in from outside and said, “Madam, someone is looking for Old Madam outside the mansion, but she was stopped by the servant. She said that she’s here to seek refuge with the Shen family.”
When Chen Ruoqiu heard that, she frowned, thinking that it must be one of Old Madam Shen’s relatives who came to ask for money. She immediately said with a cold expression, “Since they’re here to ask for money, give them some and send them away. We have no space for freeloaders. Don’t let any Tom, Dick, or Harry in.”
“No.” The servant scratched his head. “Madam, that person doesn’t look like she’s here to ask for money. She said that she’s the daughter of the old general’s friend. Something happened to her family, so she came to ask for help.”
Old General Shen?
Chen Ruoqiu thought for a moment and stood up. “Bring her to the side room. I’ll go and see her.”
…
After Shen Miao returned from the Exiled Immortal Pawnshop, it was still early. As soon as she entered the house, she locked herself in the room, thinking about something. When it was almost evening, Luo Tan returned. Luo Tan bought some jewelry and generously gave some to Shen Miao. She said, “Cousin, we went to a jewelry shop today. The jewelry shop in the capital is huge. Miss Feng and I also picked some for you. I don’t know if you like it or not. Take it first. When you want to go out, we’ll go shopping.”
She looked like she hadn’t had enough.
Shen Miao turned around and nodded. After Luo Tan left, she looked at the half box of jewelry and thought about how much money she could pawn.
