Rebirth of Weak Daughter of the General’s Family

Chapter 12 Lantern city

The First Prince was not in the mood to watch the lanterns again, so he went straight back to his house. When he arrived at his study, he heard that the Shen siblings had gone to watch the Lantern, so he became angry: that child had made a scene and cried, but she still went to watch the Lantern.

 Seeing him frowning in contemplation, one of his staff asked, "What does Your Highness think of that young girl?"

The First Prince felt a deep disgust rise up in his chest, remembering Shen Wen's words that were clearly childish, but which made the Fourth Princess and him lose face at every turn, and he grunted in anger, "A fool! Have people spread the word that she has no upbringing and is like a shrew at such a young age, let's see how she can still marry someone in the future!"

It is easy to hate the person who has disgraced oneself, and this dislike provokes an inner resistance: to reduce the other person to nothing. This leads one to make another mistake: underestimating one's enemy.

The First Prince had brought the Fourth Princess, who was always short-tempered, there tonight to cause trouble for Shen Wen. He wanted to see Shen Wen's reaction. In his anticipation, Shen Wen might keep her composure and deal with the situation calmly or panic and be severely humiliated and disgraced by the Fourth Princess.

        The Grand Prince had brought the ever-tempered Fourth Princess there tonight to cause Shen Wen trouble. He wanted to see Shen Wen's reaction. In his foresight, Shen Wen might keep his composure and deal with the situation calmly or panic and be severely humiliated and disgraced by the Fourth Princess. But he did not anticipate that Shen Wen would tear their faces apart and burst into tears. After all, seven-year-old girls from powerful and noble families are generally taught etiquette, and when in front of outsiders, they can't even cry and have to cover their lips when laughing, where they would be as shameless and impudent as Shen Wen, who doesn't even want her reputation.

There was also a moment when he had thought that perhaps Shen Wen was intentionally playing dumb and scolding him and the Fourth Princess, but immediately dismissed it. Would any intelligent person do such a foolish thing? He was the Grand Prince, what good would it do to the Marquis of Zhenbei to offend him? But anyone with some slight sense would remain polite with him. How old is Shen Wen? If she was really smart, wouldn't she have done such a stupid thing? How could she have the guts to do such a thing?

 If Shen Wen had been really cautious and calm in dealing with the situation, he would have suspected that Shen Wen was scheming, But now he thought of Shen Wen's big red bloated, monkey-ass face and decided that Shen Wen was a stupid, spoiled, uncultured child, and threw all other thoughts away.

Where could he have imagined that Shen Wen had no regard for her own reputation? She knew how many girls would be defiled and die if the Northern Rong entered the country, so what was the point of having a good reputation? Her return this time has carried a thousand years of waiting, and she can even disregard her life, not to mention her reputation. It was not easy for her to keep the bottom line.

The advisor thought for a moment and said, "Your Highness reprimanded that girl in front of everyone, later on this matter will surely reach the ears of the Marquis of Zhenbei, what will His Majesty think?"

The First Prince hummed and laughed: "Royal Father dislikes the Zhenbei Marquis the most. Back then, the old Zhenbei Marquis used to call the old man surnamed Liu a 'forgetful friend', and the surnamed Liu openly praised Royal Uncle. The old Marquis of Zhenbei said several times again that 'if the northern border has the Shen family army, there will be no worries', is this not a threat? If there is no Shen's army, will there be worries on the Northern Border? Royal Father suspected that Royal Uncle was involved with the Zhenbei Marquis at that time. It was only when Royal Uncle died and Royal Father succeeded to the throne that the old Zhenbei Marquis stopped making noises. Now the Marquis of Zhenbei is marrying Liu Shi for his son, which the Royal Father has said is 'uninteresting'. When I disgrace the Marquis of Zhenbei, Royal Father is only happy, not unhappy."

The advisor lowered his voice: "But the Marquis of Zhenbei has a heavy army in his hands, in case ......"

The First Prince tugged at his mouth: "They always talk about 'loyalty to the king and serving the country'. He would not dare to commit rebellion, but at most he would rely on his own troops and try to influence imperial court politics. His sons are close to the Third Brother, so they probably want to play the same trick as the old Marquis of Zhenbei. Good thinking!" He spoke in a relaxed tone, but a chill ran through his staff's hearts.

 When Shen Zhuo and his group arrived at the lantern market, they let a few people follow Shen Xiang and Shen Wen on foot along with themselves, while the others waited outside the lantern market at the street entrance.

When Shen Wen got off the carriage, she saw that the streets were full of lanterns: the doorways on both sides of the street were hung with coloured lanterns, there were also long bamboo poles or ropes along the street with lanterns hanging from them. The lanterns of all kinds were competing with each other, and she could not help but say with joy: "It's so beautiful! It's much better looking than the one at the Marquis of Changle's residence! Third Brother, don't you think so? Do you like the ones in that palace? Or the ones on the street?"

Shen Zhuo naturally said, "I was just playing chess with someone and didn't really look at the lanterns in the courtyard."

    Shen Wen asked with wide eyes, "Did you win, Third Brother?"

Shen Zhuo said with a touch of pride, " Well, I guess I won and lost." Then he added, "He's four or five years older than me."

Shen Wen clapped her hands and said, "Wow, Third Brother is amazing, he can beat everybody in the future!"

Shen Zhuo immediately said with a straight face, "You can't say that, I just read a few books and can barely cope, where can I beat everybody? How can I beat ......" he swallowed Zhang Yunming's name.

Shen Wen acted like she hadn't noticed that he had only said half a sentence and continued to say excitedly, "Third Brother is so good after only reading a few books, so just read a few more, we have so many books in the mansion!"

  Shen Zhuo smiled and said, "It has to be a book on gaming, and we don't have many of them in the house."

  Shen Wen stared and said, "Then let's go and buy some! Sister Wanniang, where should we go to buy books for playing chess?"

Su Wanniang smiled and said, according to the words the two had set out long ago, "Look, young lady, the Guangyi Pavilion over there is a place to play chess, and perhaps there are books for chess for sale inside."

 Shen Wen shook her hand and said, "Then go and have a look, and if there are any we'll all go over and pick them out for Third Brother. For now, we have to look for Zhang sister here first."

Su Wanniang bowed her head in response and said to Shen Xiang, "Eldest Miss, I'll be back in a minute."

 Shen Xiang said, "Take someone with you to follow you, we're just around here."

    Su Wanniang said, "No need, it's just a few steps, I'll just go and have a look. There aren't many guards, so it's better to stay with Miss."

Shen Zhuo also wanted to go and have a look, but when he heard Shen Wen say that she was looking for Zhang Yunjin here, he was afraid that he would miss out, so he said to Su Wanniang, "Just give a shout if anything happens."

    Su Wanniang nodded her head and walked quickly towards Guangyi Pavilion.

 When she reached the front of Guangyi Pavilion, she saw that it was brightly lit inside. Su Wanniang walked in, bowed to a young fellow and asked with a smile, "May I see your proprietor or steward?"

She was clear looking, polite in speech and behaviour, making people like her. The fellow immediately said, "Please come this way, miss." He took her to a small side room. Su Wanniang waited for a moment, and when the curtain was lifted, a fat middle-aged man came in and asked with a smile, "What is it that you want from me, young lady?"

Su Wanniang bowed and asked, "Is this the Master Pao?"

Master Pao smiled and nodded, Su Wanniang took out the small bag from her sleeve and opened it, unfolding the game on the white silk and handing it to Master Pao. After a long time, he said in awe, "Is this the game played by Ji Wenzhao? I can't even make ten ...... eight moves! Ji Wenzhao, a national player!"

  Su Wanniang was busy saying, "My master asks a favour of Master Pao."

  Without raising his eyes, Master Pao asked, "What is it?"

  Su Wanniang said, " Master, please hang this game on the wall for all to see and explore."

    Master Pao nodded repeatedly and said, "Of course! This game must be so subtle that it cannot be solved by one person."

 Su Wanniang smiled again and handed over a fan and a letter, saying, "If one day Mr. Ji Wenzhao comes in person and asks about this game, please pass these two things to him, sir."

    Master Pao finally looked up and said with even more surprise, "Ji Wenzhao is actually coming? That's a national player! What virtue is there in my little game viewing pavilion ......" but immediately took the things and carefully put them in his arms.

Su Wanniang interrupted with a smile, handed over five taels of silver and said, " I would like to ask you to keep this a secret, my master does not want everyone to know, please give Ji Wenzhao the things in private after you have confirmed his identity. The small amount of silver is only to reward the master for his trouble." At the beginning, Shen Wen said that the silver should not be given more than that, rather it would attract suspicion. Five taels was just right, it was considered a handling fee.

 Master Bao excused himself, "Why do you need silver? Once such a game is shown, my teahouse is bound to be crowded with visitors! The profit of which is already a reward, there is no need for your Gongzi to spend his money!" He looked down at the game of chess again.

He automatically thought of the master in Su Wanniang's mouth as a Gongzi. Su Wanniang did not correct him and put the silver on the table and bowed, "I dare not disobey the master's order. I would like to thank the gentleman for his help."

As if he hadn't heard, Master Pao said, "Where where ......" his eyes looked at the game and muttered, "If black moves like this ...... it has to be laid out on the board to work ......"

 Su Wanniang smiled and left. Before she left, she saw that there were no shelves selling books in the teahouse, but there was a book stall at the entrance of the teahouse with books like "The Theory of the Game" and "Talking about the Game", which seemed to be specifically for chess players who came to the teahouse to play chess. Su Wanniang hurriedly left and returned to where Shen Wen and the girls were watching the lanterns. From a distance, she saw Zhang Yunjin and Shen Xiang talking: "...... Not long after you left, my big brother arrived and came out just in time."

Shen Xiang said, "Let's watch the lanterns together."

Shen Wen said to Su Wanniang, "Great, you're back, just in time to go together."

There was a smile on Shen Zhuo's face, although Zhang Yunming was standing between him and Zhang Yunjin. When Shen Zhuo saw Su Wanniang, he had a slightly nervous expression on his face. Su Wanniang knew that he did not want Zhang Yunming to know that he was looking for the book on gaming, so she bowed her head with a smile and followed Shen Wen with Shen Xiang and Zhang Yunjin in front of her.

The streets are full of people, many of them well-dressed men and women. Their group did not attract much attention as they walked along the street. In the warm brightness, Shen Wen was in a good mood and took Su Wanniang's hand and said, "Sister Wanniang, I'm so happy!"

Su Wanniang has been with Shen Wen for several months and has probably figured out Shen Wen's real and fake smiles. Now, seeing the smile on Shen Wen's crying face, she knows that she is really happy and her heart is a little sour: I haven't seen this seven-year-old girl so happy so many times. She has gone to such great lengths to plan every day and often goes out at night. What could she not tell her parents and brother to do? Although she obeyed Shen Wen, she still had questions in her mind. She really can't wait to see Ji Wenzhao to find out how her father died and see if it was because of a frame-up, as Shen Wen said.

As they were walking, they were greeted by several people. The young man in the middle was dressed in extraordinarily luxurious clothes, silver thread embroidered with auspicious clouds inlaid on the edges of his dark blue brocade dress, which glowed faintly in the light. His features are extremely handsome with clear brows and bright eyes, but he looks sombre, his brow slightly furrowed and his mouth tightly pursed as if he is angry.

He swept over with a glance, and Shen Xiang and Zhang Yunjin, who were chatting enthusiastically in front of him, did not notice, but Shen Wen felt that the eyes were bright and shining, as bright as a knife blade, and she was surprised that a teenager could have such a clear and stern look in his eyes, but she also felt that he looked familiar, and could not help but stare at the teenager as he brushed past her.