After Reincarnating, the Ice-Cold Prince Won’t Leave Me Alone - Chapter 16
Chapter 16: Great Xiang Country’s monastery
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Outside the door, Madam Li led the old women and maidservants over as if nothing had happened. When they got closer, they looked at the tightly shut door with a glint in their eyes.
The best way to control a woman was to get hold of a fatal vulnerability.
It was not easy for the Marquis of Yong Chang Residence to have a Princess Consort. Unfortunately, Shen Mingjiao had a deep grudge against the Marquis’ Residence. There was no one in the Estate who could restrain her, so she could only use some extraordinary methods.
She gestured for the old woman to open the door. When she pushed it open, a rich fragrance wafted over.
Madam Li covered her mouth with a handkerchief in disgust and called out softly to the inner room, “Fourth Girl.” When she did not hear any response, her heart sank and she quickly lifted the curtain to enter.
Although she was the one who came up with this idea and she was also the one who found the man, she could not let anything really happen between the two of them. One had to know that if the Princess Consort lost her virginity before marriage, the entire Duke Mansion would not have a good time.
Therefore, she had come at the right time. She planned to catch them red-handed before they could succeed. Women of this time valued reputation the most. When faced with shock and fear, Shen Mingjiao would be terrified and listen to them obediently.
When she entered the inner room, she saw that the bed curtains were down. A man’s low gasp could be heard from inside. That sound made one’s imagination run wild and blush.
Madam Li couldn’t care less and hurriedly went forward to open the tent.
However, Shen Mingjiao was not inside. There was only a handsome man with a half-opened shirt and a red face.
When the man saw her, he grabbed her wrist. He looked up with his beautiful and dazed eyes, and said pitifully, “Madam, help me. I feel so uncomfortable.”
Madam Li waved her hand away in disgust and asked coldly, “Where’s Shen Mingjiao?”
At this moment, she heard a commotion at the door.
Haitang came back with hot water. When she saw the maidservants surrounding the door, she couldn’t help but ask Cui Liu, “What are you doing? Where’s my girl?”
With that, she rushed into the house with the water. Cui Liu panicked and screamed, “Stop her!”
Two old women immediately went forward to hold her arms.
Haitang was a little stunned, but she subconsciously put down the wooden bucket and took a step back. She grabbed the two women’s hands and was about to throw them out when someone patted her back.
She turned around and heaved a sigh of relief when she saw that it was her girl. “Miss, where did you go?”
Shen Mingjiao gently patted the little girl’s shoulder and said nonchalantly, “It’s too stuffy in the room. I went out to take a breather.”
She looked up at Cui Liu and the others, who were dumbfounded. “Why are you all standing here on such a hot day?”
She passed through everyone and entered the house. When she saw the gloomy Madam Li and the handsome Young Master lying on the bed panting, she immediately exclaimed in understanding.
“Ah! This is Aunt’s other lover. But this is a sacred place for Buddhists! Aunt, I don’t think this is nice!”
Knowing that her plan had been exposed and she had failed, Madam Li glanced at her coldly and left with her people.
The beautiful Young Master was left dumbfounded.
Shen Mingjiao chose another room to stay in, and the night passed uneventfully.
After breakfast the next day, Madam Li and the others prepared to set off back to the residence.
Shen Mingjiao and her servant came from afar and saw that Madam Li looked surprisingly well. However, when she saw Shen Mingjiao, her face immediately turned cold.
Shen Mingjiao did not care about it. She got into the carriage at the back that the maidservant was sitting in.
Haitang whispered in her ear, “I keep feeling that Madam is a little strange today. Her eyes are so relaxed, it is as if she had become younger by a few years.”
Shen Mingjiao gently scratched her nose. “My Haitang has such great improvement in reading a person’s body language!”
Haitang was very happy to be praised by her master, but she didn’t forget to ask curiously, “Miss, what do you think happened to Madam?”
Shen Ming smiled mysteriously. “Who knows? Perhaps the Feng Shui of Daxiang Monastery is good for the human body!”
The horse in front of them jolted violently, and the convoy was forced to stop. Cui Liu lifted the curtain and chided unhappily, “What happened?”
The coachman lowered his head and said, “A cat… just… rushed over…”
Cui Liu rolled her eyes. “It’s just a cat. If it dies, so be it. How many lives do you have to compensate for Madam if she gets injured?”
Madam Li’s displeased voice came from the carriage. “Go to the Head Chief when you arrive back in the residence to receive your punishment.”
The coachman’s face turned pale as he responded, and his head drooped even lower.
A conversation with the car guard was heard.
“Qian Da is really pitiful. Previously, he was the Marquis’s servant, but he did something wrong and was demoted to a coachman by the Marquis in a fit of anger.”
“I heard that his mother is sick and he doesn’t have much money. He’s been asking around to borrow money these few days.”
The few of them sighed and did not say anything else. No one dared to get too close to a servant who was despised by his master.
Haitang also sighed. “Qian Da is too pitiful!”
Shen Mingjiao played with her nails. “Since you think he’s pitiful, send him some silver when its convenient next time.”
Haitang was a little surprised. Her lady was not a nosy person. However, she did not take it too seriously. She only thought that her lady was rich now and wanted to do something good.
…
When they returned to the residence, the days went on as usual.
The three people from the Li Family still did not give up on the idea of having her bring Shen Mingyao into the Prince’s Mansion as a secondary consort.
The old lady even invited her to Shou’an Courtyard from time to time. Seeing that it was useless to use filial piety to suppress her, she changed to a gentle strategy and tried to use their almost nonexistent grandparent-grandchild relationship to convince her. After visiting twice, Shen Mingjiao felt annoyed and simply refused to go.
Madam Li even thought of using Haitang’s indenture as a threat. In order to increase the effect, she even hired a slave trader.
Therefore, Haitang gave a performance of lifting a large water vat in front of all the maidservants in the courtyard. She even walked around everyone in a very comical manner.
Everyone was so frightened that they screamed, afraid that she would slip and smash the vat down.
Madam Li was also so frightened that her legs went weak. She thought to herself, “Back then, I felt that this girl was silly and eats too much, so I threw her into Shen Mingjiao’s courtyard. I didn’t expect her to be so capable.”
In the end, this matter was taken to be settled. After seeing Haitang’s divine power, the slave trader escaped faster than anyone else.
When it was the Dragon Boat Festival, the family gathered for a family banquet. During the meal, Madam Li smelled the fragrance of the meat on the table and suddenly covered her mouth and retched.
This was nothing much. Everyone thought that Madam Li had eaten something bad.
Shen Mingjiao blinked curiously. “Aunt, are you pregnant? Oh, congratulations. Looks like I’m going to have a younger cousin again.”
Third Madam rolled her eyes at her. “How can you say just anything? You’re a princess. Your aunt can already be a grandmother, how can you say such ridiculous things?”
When Madam Li heard Shen Mingjiao’s words, her heart skipped a beat. In the next moment, her stomach churned again.
However, Shen Mingjiao was still chattering non-stop. “Look! Doesn’t she look like she’s pregnant? Besides, there are many older women who are pregnant. Censor Han’s wife is almost 50 years old but two years ago, she still gave birth to a fat boy…”
Madam Li only felt panic in her heart. It wasn’t easy for her to stay up until the end of the banquet. When she returned to the courtyard, she dismissed everyone and ordered her trusted nanny to call for a doctor. She sat alone in the room and stared at the bronze mirror in a daze.
She recalled that day at the Daxiang Monastery. When that man looked at her with such clear and hazy eyes, her heart instinctively skipped a beat.
