Chapter 42: Lingering Spirit

Mama Yu turned and walked out, closing the door behind her.

Descending the stone steps, she looked at Gu Yanran kneeling in the courtyard, her brows slightly furrowed: “If you’ve angered the Princess Consort, Miss Yanran, you should show your sincerity in apologizing and not resort to other tactics.”

Gu Yanran’s face turned pale, her eyebrows slightly knitted: “I… I don’t understand what you mean, Mama Yu.”

“If you don’t understand, then so be it.” Mama Yu said with a faint smile. “I’m just a servant and have no right to interfere in your masters’ affairs, but you’ve lived in the Regent’s estate for five years and should understand that the Master has no romantic feelings for you, otherwise it wouldn’t have taken until now.”

Gu Yanran’s face grew paler, her heart filled with shame and embarrassment, making it impossible for her to maintain her gentle expression.

“Before the Princess Consort arrived, the estate had no female master, and yet you had no chance. Now that there is a Princess Consort, do you think you can still compete for victory? Therefore, making things difficult for the Princess Consort is completely unreasonable.” Mama Yu told her the facts rationally and mercilessly. “The Princess Consort is the only female master of the Regent’s estate. I hope you understand this point.”

After saying these words, Mama Yu left without looking back.

Gu Yanran clutched her handkerchief tightly, her face alternating between red and white, as intense jealousy and unwillingness consumed her reason.

In her heart, she vehemently refuted: The Regent had no interest in her before because she was too young, not because he had no feelings for her.

If Shen Ning hadn’t married in, she would eventually become the Regent’s main wife!

Her aunt had once promised her this, she was her closest relative, and they were a family bound by blood.

She and her cousin were meant to be even closer, like the most intimate of couples.

Shen Ning had intruded, and she was the outsider!

She wouldn’t accept her fate, she absolutely wouldn’t.

Gu Yanran stared at the door with a gaze full of resentment for a long time. Eventually, she rose silently and left.

She wouldn’t apologize to her again.

What right did Shen Ning have to make her humble herself?

When she moved into the estate, Shen Ning didn’t even know where she was.

Just wait and see, she would definitely make sure Shen Ning couldn’t be the Princess Consort.

Inside the room, Shen Ning had changed into comfortable clothes and lay on the bed, already in a light sleep, unaware of Gu Yanran’s resentment, her departure, and completely indifferent.

After a half-hour nap, Shen Ning got up to wash her face. Shi Qin and Shi Qi had prepared a table full of sumptuous dishes, with a perfect balance of meat and vegetables, appealing in color, aroma, and taste.

Shen Ning enjoyed a delicious meal and then took the silver that Shi Qin had withdrawn from the accounts room, bringing them along to go shopping.

Shengjing City was bustling with activity. The upper city streets were filled with officials and nobles dressed in splendor. The various shops lining the streets were crowded with people, especially those selling jewelry, silk, and cosmetics.

Shen Ning did not linger in the bustling areas.

She mostly visited pharmacies, entering every medical hall and pharmacy her carriage passed, buying a little bit of various medicinal herbs, both useful and not. She never bought more than two types of herbs from the same pharmacy.

Some medicines were hard to buy, or the physicians were reluctant to sell them, so Shen Ning would use the Regent’s identity, exerting absolute power to achieve her goals.

She wasn’t at all worried that such actions would attract the attention of the palace.

Ji Yucang had said that when your power and abilities are so great that everyone fears you, even the Emperor can’t do anything to you.

Shen Ning knew this was true.

The establishment of rules is to restrain the weak. When the strong are unwilling to abide by these rules, who can stop them?

So, in half a day, she managed to buy all the medicinal herbs she needed, with a good harvest, though she spent quite a bit of silver.

By the time she finished buying the herbs, it was already evening. On the way back to the estate, she inevitably had to pass through the bustling streets of the upper city.

Shen Ning encountered Qin Yanshu once again.

His carriage blocked the way in front of hers, and when Qin Yanshu stepped down from his carriage, a phrase flashed through Shen Ning’s mind: lingering spirit.

Qin Yanshu stared straight at Shen Ning, his gaze deep and suppressed, filled with regret and pain: “Ning, I want to talk to you.”

There were many people on this long street.

The eldest son of the Qin family and the eldest daughter of the Shen family had once been engaged. Later, the eldest daughter of the Shen family encountered bandits on the road, and her virtue was compromised. The Qin family withdrew the engagement, and Shen Ning married the Regent.

This incident was already filled with dramatic elements and was the favorite topic of discussion among officials and the gossiping masses during their leisure time.

Today, the eldest son of the Qin family actually blocked the carriage of the Regent’s Princess Consort in the street, adding even more heat to the topic.

People walking on the long street, as well as the ladies and young women shopping for clothes, jewelry, and cosmetics in the shops on both sides, all quietly came out to watch this melodramatic scene in silence.

Shen Ning sat in her carriage, looking at Qin Yanshu, who was blocking her way: “Did you kneel for an hour at the Prime Minister’s residence?”

“No.” Qin Yanshu pursed his lips, not taking his eyes off Shen Ning for a moment. “Ning, I don’t want us to be even.”

“On what grounds does the Princess Consort make my brother kneel for an hour?” Qin Zhilan came out from the carriage behind, looking coldly at Shen Ning. “Since the Princess Consort has married the Regent, you should stay at the estate and be a dutiful wife and mother, instead of deliberately going out in public and trying to catch my brother’s attention everywhere.”

As soon as the words fell, the air seemed to freeze for a moment.

“The Qin family is indeed skilled at turning the tables.” Shen Ning’s eyes were cold and merciless. “This long street, which anyone can walk on, was built by your Qin family? Wherever your Qin family is, others cannot pass?”

Qin Zhilan’s expression changed: “You’re twisting the truth and being unreasonable!”

“As the Princess Consort, I went out for a stroll, and someone blocked my carriage in the street, committing an offense from a lower position and shouting at me.” Shen Ning sneered coldly. “Shi Qin!”

“Here!”

Shen Ning said coldly, “The eldest son of the Qin family has repeatedly shown disrespect in front of me, addressing me by my given name. How should he be dealt with?”

Shi Qin replied, “If the Regent were present, he would order a beating with a stick.”

“I didn’t bring that many people with me today.” Shen Ning commanded indifferently. “Go and slap him ten times, telling him that if he dares to block my carriage or address me by my given name without permission in the future, I will break his other hand.”

Qin Zhilan’s expression changed: “You dare?”

“Yes.” Shi Qin’s figure darted forward, and in the blink of an eye, she was in front of Qin Yanshu.

Before anyone could hear Qin Yanshu speak, a series of crisp slaps rang out. Shi Qin mercilessly slapped Qin Yanshu ten times, so fast that no one could react.

By the time the ten slaps were over, the Qin family guards had just come to their senses and rushed over.

Shi Qin shook her hand: “The Princess Consort has ordered that if you ever block the carriage of the Regent’s estate without permission or address the Princess Consort by her given name again, don’t blame the Princess Consort for breaking your other hand!”

With that, she pushed Qin Yanshu aside without mercy, as if he were some obstructive filth, and then leaped back to the front of the carriage. Shi Qin drove the carriage around the Qin family’s carriage and quickly drove away.

“Brother.” Qin Zhilan’s expression changed drastically as she hurried over to Qin Yanshu. “Brother, Shen Ning is too much! She humiliated you in public. She’s not worth your—”

“The Qin family really has a fine upbringing.” Someone in the crowd of onlookers suddenly sneered. “The Regent’s Princess Consort was just going out normally, and you blocked her carriage without reason, addressing her by her given name. Not only do you disregard the boundaries between men and women, but you also forget the difference in status, and instead, you turn the tables and falsely accuse others of seduction… Truly, you distort right and wrong, and it’s laughable.”

Qin Zhilan’s face turned red with anger as she turned to look at the speaker: “You’re being insolent!”

This time, the Qin family guards reacted quickly.

As soon as Qin Zhilan’s words fell, they surrounded the speaker.

Others instinctively moved away to avoid trouble.

The speaker was a young man in a blue robe, with a dignified appearance and a hint of a smile that wasn’t quite a smile on his lips.

He looked at Qin Zhilan: “Let me remind you, if you dare to touch a single hair on my head today, I will make your entire family come to apologize, kneeling.”

The crowd was shocked and looked at him in unison.

Who was this person?

In the Shengjing City of the Yong Kingdom, who would dare to make the Qin family, related to the Empress Dowager, come to apologize… Who would be so audacious?