Since Ren Wanyun had already said so, Old Madam Shen was not so stupid as to not understand what she meant. From what Ren Wanyun said, Prince Yu was clearly a devil. In his hands, Shen Miao would only suffer. The one who really benefited was still the Shen family.
“From what you said, Prince Yu indeed seems to be a good husband for Shen Miao,” Old Madam Shen said matter-of-factly. She was extremely thick-skinned. When she said such words, a trace of disdain flashed across Chen Ruoqiu’s eyes.
“Even Mother agrees.” Ren Wanyun was good at lying through her teeth. She immediately added, “When I pick a husband for Fifth Miss, I naturally won’t choose someone with a low status. Prince Yu is a novel. Fifth Miss marrying him is really a fortunate thing.”
Old Madam Shen nodded when she heard that. Then, she thought of something and said, “Then did Prince Yu send someone over to talk about marriage?”
Ren Wanyun’s face twitched. She knew this old woman was vicious, but she did not expect her to be so anxious to marry off Shen Miao. Of course, the sooner the better. Otherwise, it would be troublesome when Shen Xin returned. However, even if the marriage was a done deal, Shen Xin still might not agree to Shen Miao marrying Prince Yu. Therefore, she had to use some unusual tricks.
“Mother, it’s still too early.” Ren Wanyun smiled and said, “Fifth Miss is still young. There’s no hurry. If we marry her off like this, people will inevitably say something bad behind our backs. Let the two of them get along first. When the two of them are in love and Fifth Miss is happy, we’ll talk about marriage. This way, no one will say that we forced Fifth Miss.”
Chen Ruoqiu smiled and did not speak. Although she also wanted to see Shen Miao suffer, she was cautious by nature. It was better to leave this matter to Ren Wanyun. If Shen Xin really pursued the matter in the future, he would not be able to blame her. Sitting in the arena and watching the tigers fight was what Chen Ruoqiu was best at.
Behind the screen, Shen Yue and Shen Qing were both a little afraid. They did not expect that in just a few words, Shen Miao’s life would be decided. To girls, a husband meant the happiness of the rest of their lives, and Shen Miao was destined to be unhappy. However, Shen Yue and Shen Qing did not have a trace of sympathy for Shen Miao. In the imperial court, Shen Xin was better than their fathers, and in terms of status, Shen Miao was higher than them. Seeing that Shen Miao would suffer, they smiled gloatingly.
Although Old Madam Shen knew nothing about managing a family, she was very good at scheming and using dirty tricks. Back then, she was able to become the mistress of a general because she had some dirty tricks up her sleeve. Therefore, after hearing Ren Wanyun’s words, she understood what Ren Wanyun meant. She smiled and said, “Oh, in that case, let’s get Fifth Miss to be closer to Prince Yu first. Indeed, if we really force Fifth Miss to marry him, it won’t be good for us when the general comes back.”
When an amiable expression appeared on her mean face, it made people feel like she was a weasel with a smile on her face. Shen Yue and Shen Qing shuddered and quickly retreated far away from the screen.
…
In the west courtyard, under the oil lamp, Shen Miao sat quietly. There was a snow-white piece of parchment in front of her. There was nothing on it, and the brush and ink were already prepared. She wanted to write something, but after a moment, she sighed and put away the parchment.
It was good to plan for the future, but now that she was just a young girl, she could only rely on the information she had. However, these things were not of the greatest use to her now. She needed to take one step at a time.
……
Seeing her sigh, Gu Yu and Jingzhe thought that she was thinking about Prince Yu. Gu Yu went forward and comforted her, “Miss, don’t worry. If he’s really trying to hurt you, we’ll protect you with our life. In the capital, there are people who are good friends with your father. At most…”
Shen Miao shook her head. “Prince Yu is a noble and is protected by the royal family. Even if some people are friends with my father, they won’t protect me at the risk of becoming enemies with the royal family.”
“Why don’t we write a letter to Master?” Jingzhe said, “Master can’t return because of his duty, but Young Master can. He won’t be punished if he returns to the capital. With Young Master around, he can always protect Miss.”
“It will take Brother more than a month to rush back from the northwest. How can he make it in time? Do you think they will wait for that long?” Shen Miao said indifferently. They would try to make her marriage a done deal as soon as possible so that even if Shen Xin came back, he wouldn’t be able to change anything.
Shen Miao might let others manipulate her life, but Empress Shen would never!
“Then what should we do?” Gu Yu and Jingzhe’s expressions changed drastically. Although they knew that it was a tricky matter, they did not expect it to be so serious. Whenever Prince Yu took a fancy to a girl, even if they were daughters of high-ranking officials, he would try all he could to get his hands on her and brutalize her before abandoning her. However, these officials couldn’t seek justice for their daughters because Prince Yu was protected by the royal family.
“Other people are unreliable.” Shen Miao looked at the dancing flames. “I can only rely on myself.”
“But Miss…” Gu Yu was a little anxious. How could Shen Miao protect herself? The madams from the second and third branches might have already formed an alliance with Prince Yu.
“I have my ways.” Shen Miao played with the paperweight in her hand.
Prince Yu was protected by the royal family because he once saved the emperor. If the royal family was unwilling to protect him, he was just a miserable rat.
Shen Miao would start with dismantling the royal family from Prince Yu. She looked out of the window and saw a faint figure moving outside. It was a fat figure. Who else could it be but Nanny Gui?
At the same time, she would shake up the west courtyard, getting rid of people who posed a threat to her.
