Chapter 7 - Heading Out

In the end, Shen Ziqiao failed to refuse Sheng Peiyin and Shen Ziyang. She was brought to the most prosperous and lively east street. Sheng Peiyin was the owner of Shangpin Teahouse behind the scenes. Those who came to cheer her on were either rich or powerful. She completely displayed the radiance of a heroine.

“There are a lot of customers today. Please don’t take offense to the lack of greeting and service.” Sheng Peiyin looked at the people bustling around in her own teahouse in satisfaction. She turned around and said that to Shen Ziqiao.

“Don’t mind me.” Shen Ziqiao said silently inside. She smiled and replied, “Sister Sheng, go and do your work. You don’t need to take care of me. I’ll just find a seat and sit down.”

Sheng Peiyin coquettishly glanced at her. “If you want Old Madam Shen to ground you again, just casually find a spot. I’ve already arranged a private room for you. You and Yang’er can go there.”

Shen Ziyang excitedly looked around, moving to Sheng Peiyin’s side. In a small voice, “Third Miss Sheng, I heard that the Ninth Prince is also coming today. I admire his literary talent. Can I see him?”

“How do you know the Ninth Prince will be coming here today?” Sheng Peiyin was slightly shocked. She looked over at Shen Ziqiao, comforted when she realized she didn’t hear their conversation.

She didn’t tell Shen Ziqiao that the Ninth Prince would appear today because she didn’t want that idiot to disturb him, so that she could avoid him getting angered by her.

Shen Ziyang proudly jutted his chest up and said loudly, “This young master naturally has his own ways. Sister Peiyin, just let me see the Ninth Prince.”

Sheng Peiyin hurriedly said, “Lower your voice. I’ll tell you when he comes.”

“Okay!” Shen Ziyang smiled and nodded.

“Jiao Jiao, let’s go to the private room upstairs.” Sheng Peiyin said to Shen Ziqiao, grabbing her attention back.

Shen Ziqiao snapped out of her trance and faintly smiled at Sheng Peiyin. “Sure.”

She saw Qi Zheng… She didn’t expect to see him here. She saw him glance around questioningly and confusedly, like a fool.

Sheng Peiyin settled them down in a private room near the window on the second floor. Shen Ziqiao noticed that the teahouse was quite huge. In terms of arrangement, it was probably considered five-stars.

“When I went up, I saw some customers heading towards the back. Where were they going?” Shen Ziqiao casually asked.

“Oh, it’s the VIP room inside.” Sheng Peiyin was worried that Shen Ziqiao wanted to head back, so she hurriedly added, “It’s for those elderlies to quietly brew tea and play chess.”

Shen Ziqiao said “oh,” seemingly not interested.

Sheng Peiyin had someone prepare some dishes and snacks before giving an excuse and leaving.

Shen Ziyang sat on the chair, acting like an adult, holding the winecup and pretending to taste the wine. He swayed her head and said, “Good wine, good wine. I didn’t think that Third Miss Sheng is quite talented. Jiao Jiao, don’t you feel ashamed to stand next to Third Miss Sheng?”

“I feel more ashamed when I’m with you.” Shen Ziqiao stood next to the window and said this as she glanced at the scene on the streets.

“You should feel ashamed. I’m going to be attending the children’s exam next year. Teacher said I’m talented and smart, so I definitely will do pretty good on the exam. Look at you. You’re illiterate and you only know how to fight and cause trouble with others. If it weren’t for father and elder brother pampering you, you can’t even be compared to your second sister and the others.” Shen Ziyang glanced at Shen Ziqiao in dislike. He had grown up by Old Madam Shen’s side from a young age. Influenced by Old Madam Shen, he didn’t even treat Shen Ziqiao as his sister. He only thought of her as Shen Family’s humiliation.

Shen Ziqiao was too lazy to fight with the little bastard, so she pretended like she couldn’t hear him.

Seeing that Shen Ziqiao didn’t burst into anger, Shen Ziyang thought that he hadn’t said enough. He continued, “An idiot like you is only fit to marry Qi Family’s fool.”

“Who said I’m going to marry that fool?” Shen Ziqiao turned around when she heard his words, glaring at him.

“Madam Qi already visited grandmother and asked for your birthdate characters. How could this be fake?” Shen Ziyang said, taking pleasure in her misfortune. He accidentally drank the wine in his winecup, making him spit his tongue out because of how spicy it was.

Shen Ziqiao was shocked and speechless. So it was the old woman adding fuel to the fire so that she could marry a fool.

“I don’t want to marry Qi Zheng.” No matter whether he was a fool or not, she didn’t want to get married at this time. What is this joke? Look at how young she is!

“You were in the same room as that fool alone. Who else can you marry besides him?” Shen Ziyang smiled and said. “There was news that Duke An wants to pass on the position of heir to that fool. This is why grandmother started to hesitate. But Madam Qi already said that Duke An would never let a fool inherit the position of an heir.”

Shen Ziqiao understood. If Qi Zheng was really the heir, he’d become the future marquis. Shen Family’s Old Madam was unresigned to let her become the wife of a marquis, so she wouldn’t let her marry Qi Zheng. Since there was no way Qi Zheng could become the marquis, Old Madam Shen was probably delighted in her heart.

Glancing at the change in Shen Ziqiao’s expression, Shen Ziyang was even happier. “Could it be that you still haven’t given up on the Ninth Prince yet?”

She didn’t even know how the Ninth Prince looked. So therefore, mentions of whether she had given up or not on him doesn’t exist.

When Shen Ziyang saw her disapproval, he thought she still liked the Ninth Prince. Therefore, he continued to mock and attack her, “The entire capital knows that the Ninth Prince only likes Third Miss Sheng. Yet, you still try to show your face in front of him. Aren’t you just looking for humiliation?”

“What?” Shen Ziqiao shockingly turned around. “What do you mean?”

“As expected, you still know nothing. It wasn’t surprising that grandmother grounded you. Who dares to tell you this?” Shen Ziyang glanced at her sideways, and exclaimed, “I’ll tell you this out of kindness then.”

Ahhh. She really wanted to punch this child bastard! Look at his expression. He made her seem like she was garbage.

“Speak!” Seeing that Shen Ziyang had the intention of putting her on suspense, Shen Ziqiao flicked his head moodily.

Shen Ziyang called out loudly, “Don’t you dare hit me. Don’t you dare hit me with your dirty hands.”

“My hands are dirty? Then what type of hands do you have? Let me chop it off and take a look.” Shen Ziqiao sneered.

“Humph, no wonder the Ninth Prince isn’t interested in you. It was love at first sight for the Ninth Prince and Sheng Family’s Third Miss. He even said that he was going to marry Sheng Peiyin. You must be ashamed and unwilling to show your face, hm? You bugged Third Miss Sheng to visit the Ninth Prince every day, but he just saw her for the first time a few days ago when he said he was going to propose marriage. Shen Family is just losing face having you as a daughter.” Shen Ziyang mocked.

Right, she almost forgot. The Ninth Prince seems to be one of the male side leads that had a thing with Sheng Peiyin…

Shen Ziyang looked down at Shen Ziyang, smiling beautifully. “You dare to say this in front of father? In front of our elder brother?”

If she didn’t guess wrong, it must be because that old woman often cursed her out in front of Shen Ziyang, so he remembered it.

Shen Ziyang was most scared of Shen Family’s Eldest Master, Shen Zikai. She shrunk back and humphed, saying nothing.

Meanwhile, Shen Zikai pampered and loved Shen Ziqiao a lot.