The cousin is beautiful but ruthless.

Chapter 121 Agree to cooperate

"You need to find out about your father's affairs, and I also have something I want to do. How about we cooperate?"

This was the first time Li Huaijiang had formally extended an invitation to Shen Hanyu.

Shen Hanyu lowered her eyes and pondered for a while before agreeing.

Compared to the Crown Prince who wanted to kill her, Shen Hanyu naturally chose Li Huaijiang, and she also had her own selfish motives.

"I'm quite happy that you agreed."

Li Huaijiang's expression was unusually relaxed.

She waved her hand, and a palace maid brought some things to Shen Hanyu.

"Since you've joined my side, I can't just leave you with nothing. Take these medicinal herbs back with you; having some life-saving medicine at home will always be useful."

Shen Hanyu thanked her and accepted the gift.

"You don't need to worry about your father's affairs. I will look into it for you. You can focus on preparing for the exam now. I will inform you as soon as there is any news. This is my way of showing my sincerity."

With Li Huaijiang's words, Shen Hanyu was satisfied; this was the only thing she cared about now.

As Shen Hanyu left the princess's residence, she looked up at the setting sun.

"Girl, do you really believe that?"

Shen Hanyu smiled and said, "I have no power right now and need to seek protection. After the scientific expedition, everything will be different."

Miao Cui nodded: "So, are we going back to the Marquis's residence or somewhere else now?"

"Return to the Marquis' Mansion."

Even when you're officially leaving, you should still say goodbye to them, otherwise they'll keep bothering you, which is really annoying.

As the carriage moved along, the curtain was lifted, and Shen Hanyu saw Liang Ruoxue, who had been traveling with her all the way back.

Liang Ruoxue looked over arrogantly: "Judging from your route, are you heading back to the Marquis's residence?"

"Yes." Shen Hanyu did not deny it.

Liang Ruoxue pouted. She thought Shen Hanyu would be more assertive and wouldn't come back after leaving the Marquis's mansion. She didn't expect that she would be persuaded by Liang Fangrong and come shamelessly.

Now she is the most popular woman in the mansion, and has even overshadowed Liang Ruoyan. Liang Ruoyan has not yet found a good marriage, while Shen Hanyu is the most popular.

Whenever Liang Ruoxue saw Shen Hanyu, she would think of the imperial decree between her and Pei Du, as well as the incident of Li Jun and Zhao Jing'er fooling around at the Dragon Boat Festival banquet.

Liang Ruoxue lowered the carriage curtain and urged the driver to hurry back.

The carriage was going too fast. The mother and daughter, who were walking peacefully on the road, had no time to avoid it when they saw the speeding carriage, and the carriage crashed straight into them.

A commotion broke out in the street, and Liang Ruoxue poked her head out angrily: "What's going on now?"

The driver said sullenly, "I accidentally bumped into someone."

The child lay unconscious on the ground, and the woman wept bitterly, begging those around her to save them.

Shen Hanyu asked Miaocui to go down and take a look.

Liang Ruoxue noticed Shen Hanyu's actions and felt another wave of disgust. She glanced at the mother and daughter's tattered clothes.

"So what if I'm dead? I was just a beggar anyway. Let's hurry back to the manor; I have things to do."

The driver dared not disobey Liang Ruoxue's words and turned the carriage around to go back.

Miao Cui gave the silver to the woman and sent them to the clinic.

After doing all this, Miao Cui returned to the Marquis's residence.

“That child still died, but I gave them some money for their funeral; it was for the poor.”

Miao Cui felt sorry for her, but the second young lady acted as if nothing had happened and had already put the matter out of her mind.

"Liang Ruoxue is always like this, let's leave her alone for now. My grandmother wants me to go over there."

Shen Hanyu originally wanted to come back and ask Liang Fangrong if she knew anything about Qi Liansheng.

Eleven years ago, she was only seven years old and really didn't know the specific relationship between Qi Liansheng and Shen Yanzhi, so she could only ask Liang Fangrong to see if she could find a breakthrough from Liang Fangrong.

Now that the old lady is looking for her, she has no choice but to go.

When they arrived at Fu'an Hall, Liang Ruoxue and Lin Lihua were also there. Xu Ying sat to the side with an unhappy expression. The most interesting thing was that Lin Lihua was now sitting in the seat that Xu Ying used to sit in.

The old lady saw it, but didn't say anything, and just let Lin Lihua sit there.

"Is Hanyu feeling any better?"

The old lady looked over kindly.

Shen Hanyu sat down and nodded: "Much better."

Lin Lihua sighed, "What illness requires you to go outside to recuperate? Hanyu, I'm not trying to criticize you, but even though you're engaged now, you should still consider your reputation. Otherwise, what if it affects the Marquis's mansion? Your cousin isn't even engaged yet."

Xu Ying's face immediately turned cold. This Lin Lihua was becoming increasingly unrestrained with her words, constantly stabbing her in the heart.

It was indeed a sore point for Xu Ying that Liang Ruoyan hadn't been able to find a good marriage, but Lin Lihua's actions were undoubtedly courting disaster.

Shen Hanyu saw things clearly and didn't want to get involved in the dispute between the two.

The old lady glared at Lin Lihua, telling her to stop talking nonsense.

“I’ve already reprimanded your uncle and aunt for what happened before. They were just worried about you and afraid you’d be scammed, so they did that. Don’t take it to heart.”

Listening to the old lady's high-sounding words, Shen Hanyu remained silent. Given the circumstances, no matter how the old lady explained, Shen Hanyu could not change her mind.

It's too late to make amends now.

Looking at Shen Hanyu's expression, the old lady was also very annoyed. Xu Ying had handled this matter very poorly.

Now that Shen Hanyu is so lucky, having been engaged to Pei Du and passed the county examination, the old lady naturally doesn't want to let her leave.

“Grandmother, there’s no need to say these things to me. I won’t believe them anyway, and I will stay in the Marquis’s mansion.”

Getting rid of the Marquis's mansion is not something that can be done overnight; it requires a gradual approach.

Last time it was to go to Suzhou. Now that things have been sorted out, it's time to deal with the Hou family's affairs and Liang Sihan.

Liang Sihan had schemed against her so many times, so she had to prepare a big gift for her.

Seeing that Shen Hanyu agreed to stay in the Marquis's mansion, the old lady smiled.

"That's good. We should stay together as a family. Xue'er, has the Imperial Observatory set the wedding date yet?"

Liang Ruoxue smiled shyly: "Yes, it's set for February next year."

February next year, that'll be soon.

With these joyous events suddenly occurring in the manor, the old lady couldn't stop smiling. After all, the daughters who were married off were still daughters of their Marquis's manor.

"Xue'er's wedding date has been set, Hanyu, why hasn't your wedding date been set yet?"

When the imperial edict arrived, it stated that the wedding date would be decided by Shen Hanyu. Shen Hanyu was not in a hurry to get married; she only needed this marriage to keep Zhou Yurong at bay.

"I am not in a hurry."

The old lady disagreed somewhat: "It's better to settle down as soon as possible, but not before your cousin. Your cousin is getting married this September, so it would be better for you to wait a few months."

Judging from the old lady's expression, she wished she could personally arrange the marriage for Shen Hanyu, so she decided to go with her own wishes.

Shen Hanyu shook her head: "I'm not in a hurry."

Pei Du wasn't in a hurry. This was all something they had discussed. Shen Hanyu still had to take the imperial examination, so the marriage could only be postponed.

This time, we really owe it all to Pei Du.

Thinking of Pei Du, Shen Hanyu was initially worried that Pei Du would hold a grudge against her because of this, but now she realized that there was something else going on.