Feeling his sister’s concern, Shen Yunan’s heart warmed, and he readily agreed: “Alright, I’ll have someone keep watch.”
“Brother, go rest quickly,” Shen Xihe urged.
“Weren’t you going to introduce someone to me?” Shen Yunan asked.
“Just go rest, Brother. I’ll have someone wait for when you wake up,” Shen Xihe smiled gently. “When you wake up, I’ll make you sugar crisp biscuits.”
“Really?” Shen Yunan’s eyes brightened.
Shen Xihe laughed: “Really. But if you don’t rest properly and I still see bloodshot in your eyes, I’ll give the biscuits to someone else.”
Though Shen Yunan was tall and strong, only Shen Xihe knew of his sweet tooth.
The sugar crisp biscuits Shen Xihe made had a crispy exterior with a layer of sugar inside, sprinkled with sesame seeds on top – sweet but not cloying. Shen Yunan could eat more than ten of them.
Whether it was due to his partiality toward his sister or not, he found something lacking in sugar crisp biscuits made by anyone else.
“I’m going right now!” Afraid the biscuits would be given away, Shen Yunan disappeared in a flash.
Seeing her brother, who always became childlike in front of her, Shen Xihe couldn’t help but smile helplessly as she instructed Hongyu to start preparations.
Just as Shen Xihe finished dressing and was about to have her meal, Moyu came to report: “Princess, Miss Xue Seven is climbing over the wall again…”
This wasn’t the first time Xue Jinqiao had climbed the wall of the Princess’s mansion. Ever since learning that knocking on the door would be refused, she had taken to climbing the wall.
Previously, they would simply return Xue Jinqiao to the Xue family, but last night the Young Master had publicly acknowledged that Xue Jinqiao had helped him, so now they had to seek Shen Xihe’s instructions.
Shen Xihe: “How many times has this been?”
“Forty-three times…” Moyu remembered clearly, as she was the one who escorted the Xue family’s young lady back each time.
Counting the days, since the Chrysanthemum Banquet, Xue Jinqiao had been climbing their wall without missing a single day.
Rubbing her forehead, Shen Xihe said: “Show her in.”
She was naturally solitary, allowing no one but her closest family to get near her.
Xue Jinqiao’s persistence hadn’t moved her, but since her brother seemed to view Xue Jinqiao differently, Shen Xihe decided to treat her better.
Having prepared herself to be thrown back to her mansion yet again, Xue Jinqiao was suddenly led into the Princess’s residence. Her entire being radiated joy, especially when she reached Shen Xihe’s presence, where her almond-shaped eyes curved into crescents with happiness.
Shen Xihe: “Have you had breakfast?”
“Yes…” Before she could finish the word, Xue Jinqiao quickly changed her answer, “No, I haven’t.”
Shen Xihe pretended not to see through her little scheme: “Hongyu, add another bowl and chopsticks.”
“Xihe Sister, I prepared breakfast for you!” Xue Jinqiao immediately said. “It’s outside, I brought it with me.”
Shen Xihe paused slightly: “Did you bring food on other days too?”
She looked toward Moyu, who nodded slightly.
Shen Xihe was puzzled: “Why prepare breakfast for me?”
She prepared it every day, even though she never knew if it would be accepted, never asked about it, and was repeatedly turned away. Yet Xue Jinqiao persisted without a word of complaint.
“Whatever others can do for you, Qiaoqiao can do too!” Xue Jinqiao emphasized.
Others… Did she mean the Crown Prince who sent food boxes?
So, Xue Jinqiao thought her closeness to the Crown Prince was because he sent food boxes to curry favor with her?
Shen Xihe found it both amusing and exasperating, but naturally wouldn’t explain the real reason, and simply instructed Moyu to let Xue Jinqiao’s maid in.
“Why… why do you like me so much?” Shen Xihe still couldn’t understand.
“I liked Xihe Sister from the first glance,” Xue Jinqiao’s large eyes shone with sincerity. “Xihe Sister was the first person to stand up for me.”
Xue Jinqiao’s answer was simple, but it touched Shen Xihe.
Due to her exceptional beauty, Shen Xihe had been admired at first sight since childhood, but her personality was such that few people without ulterior motives could tolerate it. Though she seemed universally praised, she actually had no one to confide in in the Northwest. It wasn’t that others were unwilling, but that she herself remained aloof and disdainful.
This was also why when she met Gu Zexiang, who became her confidante, she maintained long-term contact.
Xue Jinqiao’s initial attraction to her was like everyone else’s admiration of beauty – just a first-sight appreciation of her appearance.
The reason she became so devoted was because Shen Xihe had stood up for her after Hu Yingrao pushed her into the water.
She was the legitimate daughter of the Xue family, her grand-uncle was the Minister of State, her father was the Minister of Personnel, the Xue family was at the height of prosperity – how noble was her status? What could have happened to make her so devoted to someone simply because they stood up for her at the first opportunity?
Shen Xihe couldn’t help thinking about her childhood experiences and softened her voice: “Qiaoqiao, you still have your parents and brothers.”
“No, they would all abandon me.” Xue Jinqiao shook her head. “To please Grandmother, my parents left me at home and took my brothers when they went to serve in other regions. They left me with that eunuch, who whipped me, burned me with candles, forced me to drink sewage water…”
As Xue Jinqiao spoke, her pupils gradually dilated and her whole body emanated hostility. Shen Xihe grabbed her hand: “Qiaoqiao, it’s all in the past…”
The warmth on her hand made Xue Jinqiao’s heart tremble. She immediately gripped Shen Xihe’s hand tightly, her smile becoming sweet again: “But I wasn’t easy to bully – I bit off his ear! Though he was strong and had accomplices, they knocked me out and nailed me into a coffin!”
As Xue Jinqiao’s face darkened again, Shen Xihe squeezed her hand.
“They… they all abandoned me!”
She hadn’t done anything wrong – it was her cousin who had killed someone, but they made her take the punishment for him. When she was being tortured, how she wished someone would save her!
When she woke up in the coffin, suffocating, her fingers bloodied from scratching at the coffin lid until her nails came off, how she wished someone would save her!
When she returned home covered in wounds, she waited so long for her parents to return, how she wished they would punish those evil people, but they didn’t…
They just held her and told her she was a daughter of the Xue family, she needed to consider the bigger picture, she needed to be understanding, she needed to think of her brothers…
From that moment, she knew she was alone in this world, no one would protect her, no one would stand up for her!
So she had to learn to be strong!
To never let anyone bully her again!
Those who bullied her, she would make them unable to live yet unable to die!
“Qiaoqiao, eat,” Shen Xihe clearly felt the intense hatred in Xue Jinqiao’s heart and immediately spoke to pull her thoughts back to the present.
“Mm.” It took Xue Jinqiao a while to calm down before she responded firmly.
Shen Xihe tried to move her hand, but found Xue Jinqiao stubbornly holding on. She frowned slightly, but meeting those large watery eyes, she allowed it just this once.
After breakfast, Xue Jinqiao still wouldn’t let go of her hand. Before Xie Yunhuai could arrive, Bu Shulin, who happened to be off duty today, came first after receiving the spices Shen Xihe had sent.
“What right do you have to hold my woman’s hand!” Bu Shulin strode forward and roughly pulled Xue Jinqiao’s hand away.
Shen Xihe: …