The noble girl is beautiful.

**A few days ago, it rained, and the weather has since cooled down, with a slight breeze in the mornings. After a simple wash, Shen Yourong ordered the servants to move the tables and chairs under the eaves and watched as the women in the courtyard carried in her dowry items.**

Lady Yang had sent over the dowry list yesterday, and since Shen Yourong had some free time today, she asked them to bring everything out for inspection.

Hua Mei brought some snacks and a pot of tea, while Du Juan read aloud from the list: “…Twenty gold necklaces, twenty sets of gold and jade jewelry, two hundred gold and jade hairpins each, two hundred pairs of gold and jade earrings, twenty pairs of bracelets and armlets, and sixty jade belt rings.”

The maidservants carried the gold, silver, and jade items forward, and Du Juan checked each one off the list before having them placed into the dowry boxes. After confirming everything, Du Juan marked it off and continued, “Sixty bolts each of gold brocade, silk, satin, gauze, and other fabrics; one hundred and twenty sets of seasonal clothing; six chests of large fur clothing; six chests of small fur clothing.”

The women moved the items forward, and Du Juan inspected each one, checking it off before moving on to the next item.

“One carved yellow pear wood canopy bed, one yellow pear wood reclining couch, a set of yellow pear wood desks, various tables, Eight Immortals table, tall cabinets, book cabinets, a complete set of purple sandalwood furniture, and a complete set of rosewood furniture.”

These were large items, so Shen Yourong didn’t have them moved. Instead, she went into the storeroom herself to inspect them. Du Juan followed and said, “Besides these wooden furniture pieces, there are also several sets of sandalwood inlaid jade screens, and a set of twenty-four embroidered screens with sandalwood borders, which are old items from the old Lady.”

Shen Yourong nodded and instructed, “Be careful with these items. Make sure they don’t get damaged.”

Du Juan acknowledged her instructions. Shen Yourong then asked, “How much is left?”

“This is only half,” Du Juan replied, flipping through the dowry list. “What’s left includes various gold, silver, jade, horn, and tortoiseshell cups, plates, and bowls, as well as ancient bronze incense burners, vases, and ornaments. There are also over a thousand volumes of classics, hundreds of paintings by famous artists, various musical instruments like zithers and flutes, and other items like chess pieces and fans.”

Hua Mei was overjoyed, “Look at all this, this is all our young lady’s property!”

“No wonder getting married is such a joyous event,” Shen Yourong said as she touched the embroidered screens. “Getting married means you acquire so many valuable items; the speed at which this enriches you is comparable only to passing the imperial exams.”

“Listen to what the young lady is saying,” Du Juan remarked. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime event, not just a way to get rich.”

Shen Yourong smiled, and Hua Mei, recalling the wedding dress she tried on yesterday, exclaimed, “That wedding dress was truly beautiful. The embroidered phoenixes were so lifelike; I felt like they were going to fly right off the fabric. Even if we fall into hard times later, that dress alone must be worth a thousand taels of gold.”

“Don’t talk about falling into hard times,” Du Juan chided her. “And besides, that wedding dress was made by a hundred embroiderers from Suzhou over four months. Such craftsmanship is beyond the reach of money.”

Du Juan then turned to Shen Yourong, “Miss, you should also focus on your veil. It still needs some embroidery.”

Leaning against the screen, Shen Yourong smiled, “I know.”

Although her wedding day had not yet arrived, Consort Shen’s birthday had. Shen Qingyan, not one for grand celebrations, did not invite the court officials and noblewomen, instead only accepting gifts from the Emperor and Empress and inviting the Shen sisters to keep her company.

One might say that not allowing noblewomen to enter the palace for celebrations was somewhat ungracious. But given the Emperor’s current state, who still cared about royal etiquette? Shen Qingyan didn’t feel wronged and was relieved to avoid such formalities.

Shen Yourong, accompanied by Shen Qinghan and Shen Sihui, first went to the main palace to pay their respects to the Empress. The Empress didn’t keep them long, exchanging a few polite words before letting them leave. The familiar Jiang Lu from Consort Shen’s palace led them to her residence. Shen Qingyan had set up a banquet, but instead of hosting it in the main hall, it was arranged in the side pavilion. In the center, she reclined on a long couch, dressed in a crimson embroidered gauze robe. Ice basins filled with fruit and drinks surrounded her. On small tables around the pavilion, various tea and snacks were laid out, prepared for Shen Yourong and the others.

After the Shen sisters presented the gifts from the Shen family elders, Shen Qingyan looked them over; they were mostly gold and jade items.

“Please, have a seat,” she said. “It must have been hot walking over here. Sit down and cool off.”

Shen Yourong and the others sat down. Their teacups were filled with a refreshing fruit drink, cooling them down immediately.

Not long after, a man holding a sword entered the courtyard. He had a tall, slender, and flexible figure, wearing a dark robe. His sharp brows and bright eyes made him exceptionally handsome. As the music from the qin and se started, the man began to perform a sword dance in front of the group. Though his performance lacked the grace of a woman, it was instead marked by a powerful and vigorous beauty.

When the dance ended, the man knelt on one knee in salute. Shen Qingyan was delighted and said, “Reward him!”

She glanced at her sisters, noticing that Shen Yourong seemed to be enjoying herself while Shen Qinghan looked a bit embarrassed.

“This is someone I recently discovered,” she said. “He was originally a musician in the Imperial Music Bureau, but he taught himself to dance because of his love for it. I think he’s quite good, and I’m sure he’ll soon be the talk of the capital.”

Covering her mouth to stifle a laugh, Shen Yourong said, “No wonder Eunuch Jiang was so attentive when bringing us here. He must be afraid you’ll get bored of him and find someone new, so he wanted to make sure we speak well of him.”

“Is that so?” Shen Qingyan responded. “Jiang Lu must be overthinking things. Pay him no mind.”
**After the sword dance concluded, a group of young women came out and began performing a gentle dance.**

As she watched, Shen Qingyan sighed, “Around this time in previous years, the Qixi Festival would have just passed. We’d still be together, playing games like threading needles to test our skill, and comparing whose embroidery was the best. But this year, I’m stuck in the palace, and it feels so dull.”

She turned to Shen Yourong, “Have you embroidered anything new this year?”

Shen Qinghan replied, “How could she have had the time? She’s been busy embroidering her wedding veil.”

Shen Qingyan nodded, “That’s true.”

Shen Yourong smiled and said, “I had thought about embroidering a fan, but I got busy and forgot. But I’ve noticed that nowadays, the noblewomen in the capital don’t really use embroidered fans anymore. They prefer ones that are painted. I heard you started that trend?”

Shen Qingyan laughed, “I was just being lazy, but who knew everyone would follow suit?”

The group laughed together. At that moment, a maidservant from Dowager Consort Shu’s palace arrived, saying that it had been a long time since she’d seen the second and fourth young ladies and invited them over for a visit.

Shen Qinghan and Shen Sihui followed the maid to Dowager Consort Shu’s palace. Shen Qingyan also stood up and said, “Sitting for too long is tiresome. Let’s go for a walk.”

A group of palace maids and eunuchs followed them as they walked to the Imperial Garden. Though life in the palace was dull, there were still some pleasant sights to be seen in the garden.

As they walked slowly, Shen Yourong recalled the first time she had come to the Imperial Garden. It had been raining, and Dowager Consort Shu had ordered her to pick gardenias.

Shen Qingyan couldn’t help but laugh, “What a strange request.”

Shen Yourong found it amusing as well, “Who knew back then what the situation would be like now.”

As they reached the end of the path and were about to turn, Shen Qingyan suddenly grabbed Shen Yourong’s arm, stopping her in her tracks.

“Look,” she said, pointing. Following her gaze, Shen Yourong saw a pavilion in the distance with several figures inside.

The man sitting on the long couch was Ji Chengyao, who always seemed shrouded in gloom. Across from him was Ji Zhuo.

Ji Zhuo’s expression was cold, his gaze fixed on Ji Chengyao as if he were looking at someone insignificant. There was an undeniable aura of dominance about him. Though his features were familiar, they seemed more imposing, making him appear inscrutable. At a glance, Ji Zhuo no longer resembled a gentle, refined gentleman but rather a powerful, treacherous official.

He didn’t say a word, but Shen Yourong noticed that Ji Chengyao across from him seemed to be getting more and more tense, as if he were being pushed to the brink.

“What’s going on?” She asked. Ji Chengyao had been sidelined and rarely confronted Ji Zhuo. Ji Zhuo, too, had no time to torment him, so they usually stayed out of each other’s way.

“You don’t know?” Shen Qingyan whispered. “A few days ago, the Emperor visited a concubine, and during the night, she saw the Emperor’s scars and lost her composure. The Emperor was furious and had her dragged out and beaten to death.”

Shen Yourong was slightly shocked. Shen Qingyan, still angry, continued, “A life was just snuffed out like that. The concubine’s family is not to be trifled with, and they’ve submitted a memorial condemning the Emperor’s cruelty. The Emperor, in a fit of rage, said something foolish during court, claiming, ‘I am the Son of Heaven, a mere palace maid’s life is as insignificant as grass, so what if she died?’ Somehow, this reached the scholars’ ears, causing an uproar.”

Shen Yourong glanced over at the pavilion as Shen Qingyan said, “Right now, Prince Duan is probably demanding that the Emperor admit his mistake.”

Shen Yourong asked, “Will the Emperor admit he was wrong?”

Shen Qingyan scoffed, “Making him admit a mistake is harder than making him die.”

Shen Yourong slowly replied, “But I think Prince Duan is not the type to give up until he achieves his goal.”

Sure enough, after a while, Ji Chengyao picked up a brush and wrote something. Changming, who was beside Ji Zhuo, immediately stepped forward to take the paper. Ji Zhuo glanced at Ji Chengyao with disdain before ordering Changming to take the document and leave the pavilion.

As soon as Ji Zhuo left, Ji Chengyao flew into a rage, sweeping everything off the table in one angry motion. Still not satisfied, he overturned a small table with a flick of his hand.

Shen Qingyan and Shen Yourong quickly retreated and made their way back along the same path.

Shen Qingyan, still shaken, remarked, “What method did Prince Duan use to make the Emperor suffer more than if he had killed him?”

“How would I know?” Shen Yourong thought to herself. “If I had his ability to destroy my enemies without even lifting a finger, I wouldn’t still be here.”

Shen Qingyan clicked her tongue in admiration, “With a brother-in-law like him, you’re going to be completely at his mercy in the future.”
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