Shen Miao?
Feng Anning couldn’t help but be startled. She and Shen Miao sat at the same table daily in Guangwen Hall, so naturally, she could see more clearly than others. That was indeed Shen Miao.
These days, Shen Miao’s temperament had quieted considerably. Although she had been quiet before, she no longer followed behind Shen Yue and Shen Qing, saying foolish and ignorant things. Her quieter demeanor wasn’t bad at all. Feng Anning had thought Shen Miao had merely become smarter, but she hadn’t expected that when properly dressed up, her appearance would be so stunning.
Due to falling ill after the incident of falling into water some time ago, she had become thinner. No one had paid attention daily, but looking at her now, her chin had become slightly more pointed, making her look more like a fourteen-year-old budding young lady than the eleven or twelve-year-old she had seemed before.
Like a fierce beast cub that had been curled up in its den, finally showing its claws and teeth for the first time after a long slumber.
Scholar Pei was also among the male guests. Although he was currently only a mathematics teacher at Guangwen Hall, people respected talented individuals, so he still held a respectable position among the officials. He was still young, and with such talent, if he were to enter the court as an official, he could certainly hold a position. Those in officialdom were shrewd and knew how to pave the way for the future. Pei Lang might one day rise to prominence.
Shen Miao’s gaze swept across the men’s seating area, lingering momentarily on Pei Lang.
She knew that during today’s examination, although Pei Lang was a mathematics teacher, during the talent competition, when confident students challenged their teachers, Pei Lang’s essay “On Regulatory Policy” would be brilliant in both style and substance. It would catch Fu Xiuyi’s eye that day, and later, Fu Xiuyi would make many gestures to win over this talent, finally obtaining the great general Pei Lang.
In this lifetime, she absolutely could not allow this to happen.
Pei Lang sensitively perceived that the young lady’s gaze seemed to have fallen on him from afar, scrutinizing him like a wild beast assessing its prey’s value, stirring a strange feeling in his heart. He returned her gaze, but Shen Miao had already turned her head away.
The officials around him were all praising: “General Shen’s legitimate daughter has such dignity at such a young age. She truly cannot be underestimated in the future.”
“Her appearance is quite good too,” said a blue-robed young man. “How did we not notice before that Shen Miao is also quite a beauty?” Young men looking at young ladies were only seeing their appearances.
“Pity she’s a fool,” Cai Lin said after recovering from his brief surprise. Dissatisfied that everyone was looking at Shen Miao and ignoring Shen Yue, he snorted.
“You’re the fool!” a sudden voice exploded near his ear, startling Cai Lin. He saw a red satin-clad ball of a boy glaring at him angrily. Though short in stature, the boy had an imposing presence.
“My apologies,” said a blue-robed young man who rushed over after hearing the commotion, smiling good-naturedly at Cai Lin. “My younger brother is being rude and has offended you.”
Cai Lin was about to curse, but seeing that it was Su Mingfeng, the heir to the Pingnan Marquis, and that the little ball was the second young master Su Minglang, he swallowed his words. Who would dare offend Su Mingfeng, Xie Jingxing’s close friend?
“Big brother,” Su Minglang tugged at Su Mingfeng’s sleeve, “that sister is so beautiful. You should marry her and make her my sister-in-law.”
Su Mingfeng’s smile froze, but fortunately, Su Minglang’s voice was very soft, and no one around heard. He bent down slightly and asked, “Does the second brother know Miss Shen?”
“No, I don’t,” Su Minglang innocently played with his fingers.
Su Mingfeng then fell silent.
Shen Miao followed behind Ren Wanyun’s group, walking to the women’s seating area.
Generally, the ladies in the women’s section sat casually with their close friends, and the young ladies did the same. But Shen Miao spent her days either at Guangwen Hall or the Shen residence. Needless to say, Shen Yue and Shen Qing had their groups, and at Guangwen Hall, no one was willing to befriend her. She wasn’t bothered or afraid, simply finding a seat for herself. She wasn’t afraid of being isolated by these young ladies; on the contrary, she rather enjoyed this quiet feeling.
The young ladies who were already jealous of Shen Miao’s different appearance today wanted to see her embarrassed and deliberately ignored her, but they saw that Shen Miao sat alone without appearing miserable. On the table were chess sets and cards prepared to entertain the young ladies. After some thought, she picked up the chess pieces from the basket and began to play by herself.
Among the four arts—zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting—she was skilled in none. Previously, it was because of the deliberate teaching and disdain from the second and third branches of the family, and later, after marrying Fu Xiuyi, she had no time to learn. So in her previous life, when she returned from Qin State, facing the talented and graceful Madam Mei, who could sing and dance, she couldn’t help but feel inferior. The concubines in the palace compared her with Madam Mei, saying she was a crude person from a military family, lacking refinement and vulgar, no wonder Fu Xiuyi ignored her, his Empress.
However, chess doesn’t necessarily require someone skilled to play. Although she didn’t know chess, during those years in Qin State for Fu Xiuyi, she had studied many military tactics. She might not know chess, but she knew military strategy. This was war chess.
The daughters of noble families watched from afar, seeing Shen Miao calm and collected, her coldness and superior demeanor clearly setting her apart from others, as if she were above and others below.
“The fifth miss seems to have changed quite a bit,” Madam Yi said to Ren Wanyun with a smile. “It seems she has grown into a young lady.” She couldn’t directly say that Shen Miao now outshone both Shen Yue and Shen Qing, so she could only subtly remind Ren Wanyun.
How could Ren Wanyun not know? She was good at reading people’s expressions. All the way here, people’s gazes were not on her, nor Shen Yue and Shen Qing, but clearly on Shen Miao, who walked last. She was seething inside, thinking that Shen Miao must have gone all out this time, knowing that Prince Fu would also come to the examination, trying to attract his attention and compete with her Qing’er.
She raised her teacup and smiled at the men’s section across from her: “Indeed, she is not young anymore. The Old Madam dotes on little fifth. Since her father is not around, the Old Madam specially asked me to look out for suitable matches for her before we left this time.”
Chen Ruoqiu, sitting beside her, stirred. Matchmaking?
Shen Yue and Shen Qing were both older than Shen Miao, yet they were looking for a match for Shen Miao first. This couldn’t possibly be due to Old Madam Shen’s kindness. Old Madam Shen hated the entire first branch of the family; how could she possibly want anything good for Shen Miao?
Chen Ruoqiu’s gaze fell on Shen Qing, who was talking with Yi Peilan. Why was Ren Wanyun in such a rush to arrange Shen Miao’s marriage before Shen Xin returned? Was it because Shen Qing also admired Prince Fu? Was she trying to eliminate this biggest threat to Shen Qing?
As she was thinking, there was another commotion from the men’s section. Madam Jiang said, “Prince Yu has arrived.”
Shen Miao, who was placing a chess piece, paused in her movement. The white piece immediately landed on the board. She raised her eyes to look at the men’s section, her gaze completely calm.
Prince Yu—the lame widower that Old Madam Shen wanted her to marry in her previous life. Lecherous and cruel, he was now forty-two years old.
If not for her infatuation with Fu Xiuyi that led her to elope with him back then, she would likely have become just another set of dry bones in Prince Yu’s mansion.