The Shen Family prepared so many things, everything else was fine, but the wedding cakes weighed fifty pounds, and they couldn’t be stored for long, which would certainly lead to a lot of waste.

There were also some tea leaves and liquor, which fortunately could be stored for a while.

Guihua put down the silver and hurriedly got up to leave.

Shen Quan caught up and stuffed the silver into Guihua’s hand, "Aunt, if the marriage doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen, there’s no need for you to take the silver."

Guihua struggled with Shen Quan for a while, but she couldn’t outmatch a young man and didn’t want to stay in the Shen Family’s rice store for long, so she had to leave with the silver.

Returning home, Guihua carried the cooked porridge upstairs.

Slowly she fed Yingzi, who was lying down, the porridge spoon by spoon.

She nagged as she fed, "Your mother has come to terms with it, no matter how much I think it’s for your own good, there’s no help if you don’t appreciate it."

"If someone comes to propose, it’s up to you to say yes or no."

"If you can’t find someone suitable, your mother and stepfather will just take care of you for life."

While drinking the porridge, Yingzi’s tears fell continuously.

Actually, she didn’t really want to die at the time, she just wanted to scare them.

She seemed to have heard her brother stomping up the wooden stairs, making them thud, which made her kick the stool away.

She just didn’t expect that she almost died for real; luckily, the marriage proposal was ruined, and her mother wouldn’t force her again.

Guihua reached out and wiped her tears away, continuing to feed her porridge.

The next day, Yingzi felt much better, though her throat still hurt.

Yun Jiao came upstairs to check on her, saying it wasn’t serious, and taking medicine for a few more days should be fine.

The morning after, Yun Jiao didn’t go to Renxin Hall; it wasn’t until the mid-morning hour that she leisurely boarded a carriage to the Princess Huaiqing Mansion.

Princess Huaiqing had been back for some time, and the Emperor had planned to choose a Prince Consort for her, but Princess Huaiqing refused.

She’s already in her thirties, what good could she choose?

Nothing more than being someone’s second wife and raising their children—she’d have to be crazy to do that.

The Emperor granted her a mansion and allocated plenty of funds from the private treasury to her, so her life is free and easy now.

Recently, a qin master with extraordinary skill in Xiang City had arrived.

Princess Huaiqing had gone through great effort to get him to come to her mansion.

After hearing him play, she greatly admired him, hence decided to host a flower admiring and qin listening event, intending to make the qin master famous in Xiang City.

It wasn’t October yet, and the weather wasn’t cold nor hot.

Princess Huaiqing arranged the qin listening event in the garden, by the shore not far from the Waterside Pavilion.

Pots of chrysanthemums were placed all around the shore.

Plus, the weather is nice today, no sun, with a breeze, very comfortable.

When Yun Jiao arrived, a maid invited her to the back garden, Princess Huaiqing saw her coming and stood up smiling, Yun Jiao just about to pay respects, Princess Huaiqing hurriedly pulled her, chiding, "I already said, no need for formalities today, just sit," pressing Yun Jiao onto the chair beside her.

Yun Jiao sat down with a smile, then looked around.

She arrived not too early nor too late, and there were already quite a number of people in the garden.

Since returning to Xiang City, Yun Jiao rarely attended banquets, pushing away those she could. As she glanced around, she saw that most people were strangers to her.

Scanning the area, Yun Jiao suddenly spotted a familiar face.

She slightly squinted her eyes and turned to beckon the maid by the Princess’s side.

The maid came over with a smile, and asked softly, "Does the National Lady need anything?"

Yun Jiao looked at the familiar face not far away, "Whose family is that person from?"