The next day, when the others returned to the house, they reported that on their way into the city, they were blocked by a group of ruffians in front of a large crowd of people coming and going from the south to the north, and one of them, an unusually ugly and dirty man, said that he had just seen a young girl in the carriage of the party who had opened the curtain and smiled at him, and that he had come to ask for her name and wanted to make the acquaintance of a young beauty.
With the sound of people laughing and giggling, everyone knew that this was the convoy of the Marquis of Zhenbei's residence, and more and more people gathered around to see what all the fuss was about. But there were no women in the caravan at all, Shen Xiang, Shen Wen and Chun Lu ,Su Wan Niang, He Shi had returned to the house the day before. The young man leading the caravan ordered the curtains of all the carriages to be opened so that the onlookers could see that there were no women in the procession at all, and then nodded to the guards. The guards of the Marquis had always been arrogant, who had never received such a blatantly false accusation before.The marquis guards had always been arrogant and had never been subjected to such blatant false accusations. In anger, they hit the man who said that a woman had just waved at him, along with a few other ruffians, and beat them to the pulp. It was only when the men begged for mercy, saying successively that it was no such thing and that they had only come to extort some silver, and that the young man leading the escort did not want to get anyone killed, so he had the men stop.
Just after this incident, when they entered the city to the bustling place of the market, a few more sultry-dressed girls from the youth house came over and said loudly that they were invited to meet their original sisters here to see if they could also be bought into the Hou residence. The young man leading the escort laughed coldly and had someone report to the magistrate, confronting the women in the street and saying they were slandering people with lies. These women swore that they had indeed received a message, and asked the guards to ask the maid in their party to find out, or to go and identify them in person, who had agreed to meet them here. Only when the magistrates arrived did the young man leading the party disperse the escort and open the carriage again so that the people could see that no woman was in it. Amidst the laughter of the crowd, the magistrates escorted the woman who had caused the disturbance away.
Yang Shi and the Old Furen listened silently for some time, and only when everyone had retired did Yang Shi wipe her eyes with her silk and say angrily, "These people are trying to ruin XiangEr and Wen Er!"
If there was a girl in the carriage and the scoundrel insisted on saying she waved at him, who could tell the truth? Even if a maid confessed, others would still say she was taking the blame for Young Miss. In the downtown area, if Su Wanniang was there and those girls from the Brothel house went over to identify her, what would the people around think of Shen Wen who used such a maid?
When she thought of how much Shen Xiang and Shen Wen would suffer if these things were done, Yang Shi's eyes burst into tears with anger. She would rather suffer herself than let her child suffer. As soon as she saw that someone had done something against her child, she wanted to fight to the death.
The Old Furen frowned and shook her head, whispering, "Nowadays, there should be no movement; if we do face each other, it will be our side that loses out." This side was underage girls, and the slightest and the first sign of trouble would be a stain on their backs.windfall would carry a stigma.
Yang Shi gritted her teeth and said, "If you bully people like this now, it will become a real thing in the future..."
The Old Furen coughed and looked at Yang reproachfully, "Why are you still so foul-mouthed? Now that you're the head of the family, you have to be calm!"
Yang Shi strained her neck and did not look at the Old Furen. The old Furen sighed again and said in her heart to the dead Old Marquis: this is the problem of marrying the daughter of a small family, when it comes to big matters, she can't make up her mind at all, she just knows to be angry there.
Yang Shi gripped the silk tightly and said, "What sense does it make to tell the truth, why do you play these dirty tricks? What a bad thing!"
The Old Furen said helplessly: "Listen to you, you sound like a six-year-old! In this world, where is innocence? If you can't do anything, you have to put up with it first. Didn't the Marquis also write back? Let the children go out less. Didn't I say this time that it was best for them all to stay away, but you still let them go out, and if that child Yi'er hadn't been alert, wouldn't this have been something?"
Don't you see how happy they are and how they didn't dare to say anything? And now they are blaming me. Yang Shi could not fight with the Old Furen and could only say with hatred, "Do we have to hide at home? Whose children have to live their lives so stifled?"
Seeing that she couldn't get through to Yang Shi, the old Furen shook her head even more: "You've got a temper! It's not that you want to hide for the rest of your life, it's better for girls to stay at home to sharpen their temper. Wen Er is seven and Xiang Er is only ten, there are still a few years left. Just let those people talk and make some noise for a few days to get it out of their way. There's plenty of things to do, who would hold on to a child and not let go? Just don't let Wen Er go out these days."
Yang Shi half gambled, "Then don't let her go out even for a year!"
However, Old Furen did not think Yang Shi was playing with her temper, and immediately asked someone to summon Su Wanniang and her nursemaid He Shi, telling them not to let Shen Wen go out casually for a year or so, and to come and speak to herself before doing anything. In addition, she told them to keep a good eye on the courtyard and not to let anyone rumour about it. Su Wanniang and He Shi were busy answering properly.
Su Wanniang returned to the courtyard and said with a start in front of several young maids, "Miss, Madam said she won't let you go out as you please!"
He Shi also sighed, "Madam is only doing it for ......" For what, she couldn't say.
When Shen Wen heard this, she immediately said tearfully, "I didn't do anything! Why would mother do that?" She took out her handkerchief and covered her eyes, twitched her shoulders and went back inside.
With a sullen face and one hand resting on her waist, Su Wanniang raised her voice and said to everyone: "Everyone, be careful! Madam said that in the future, this yard will be strictly managed, and no one can talk nonsense about the young lady!" Su Wanniang waved her hand and told everyone to go down, putting on a solemn face of having to properly console the young lady and closing the door to the house.
In the inner room, Shen Wen sat on the bed, tilting her head and thinking about things. Su Wanniang sat beside her and whispered, "Isn't Miss upset?"
Shen Wen smiled, "I can go out at night, what's there to be sad about?"
Su Wanniang sighed, "I didn't expect that Grand Prince to be quite so calculating." She lowered her voice, "If he does this, the Eldest Gonzi and the others probably won't be willing to stop."
Shen Wen shook her head, "Brothers, they are good at fighting openly, but not at scheming."
Su Wanniang asked quietly, "What does Miss want to do?"
Shen Wen bristled, "There's nothing difficult about it, don't be afraid to behave if he dares, just have someone put out the word that the Grand Prince doesn't like the seven-year-old daughter of the Marquis of Zhenbei and find someone to ruin her innocence!"
Su Wanniang nodded her head, in this way, the viciousness of the Grand Prince was revealed: what did a seven-year-old girl know? He was a married man who had harmed the reputation of a child, and that was a lack of character.
Shen Wen shook her head again, "It's just that ......"
Su Wanniang interjected, "We don't have anyone."
Shen Wen nodded, "You now understand why I must find you, without people, nothing can be done."
Su Wanniang whispered, "Why don't we tell the Eldest Gongzi and the others about this idea and ask them to find someone?"
Shen Wen shook her head again, "No, first of all, they won't do that."
Su Wanniang let out a hint: this rumour would mention Shen Wen, and even if it defended her, it would be damaging to her reputation. A girl's reputation is not good if it is interspersed with negative comments about others. Naturally, the gentry of the Marquis would not have slapped their own sister's face like that.
Shen Wen continued, "Even if they agree, the Hou's residence is crowded, and this will leave a handle if it is not done properly."
Su Wanniang thought for a moment and said softly, "I'll do it."
Shen Wen shook her head and said, "You will be remembered and recognised later, I have to go myself."
Su Wanniang frowned, "How are you going to do that?"
Shen Wen said with a smile, "They use the Brothel House to talk about things, then we will use the Brothel House too, I will go to the Wanhua House at night."
Su Wanniang understood and said, "You must be careful not to let anyone see you."
Shen Wen said, "It's okay to be seen, you dress me up as a maid."
Su Wanniang sighed, "Still be careful, try not to show your face."
Shen Wen answered and said to Su Wanniang, "You should tell Shen Xiang not to let big brother and the others make a move now, the Grand Prince's side is probably keeping an eye on the marquis Mansion, so you must wait."
Su Wanniang nodded, and Shen Wen added, "Oh, go and ask around, who was it that led the team people back there?To be able to get the magistrate downtown instead of calming things down ......"
She paused. Su Wanniang, with one heart of a hundred, whispered, "Miss is finding him reliable, but fears he is gaining trust by doing so?"
In her previous life, Shen Wen had not cared for the servants and guards in the Marquis Mansion, and after her death, she only knew the names of the few loyalists who had died with her father, brother and sister and names of backstabbers through people's discussions or records. Now she did not dare to trust people casually. She said, "Let's ask for a name first, and see if I know him."
Su Wanniang didn't hear anything different, remembered it all carefully, and then quietly went to sew Shen Wen's clothes for the night.
