Rebirth of the High Family's Beloved

Yan Ci leaned against Jiang Qingqing and answered straightforwardly, "In that case, please go back and tell Aunt Zhao that I have accepted it. Let Yan Ru go back to the palace first, and I will come to visit you in a few days."

Jiang Qingqing was relieved to see her daughter agreed, but she couldn't help asking, "Will this cause you trouble?"

"No, don't worry, Mom."

Her confrontation with Shen Zhaoyan required a legitimate reason, and Yan Ru's was just the right one.

Going to Prince Xiang's mansion to make some noise sounds like a good idea.

After seeing Jiang Qingqing off, Yan Ci simply washed up and went to bed to rest. She had been to the palace today, so she might not be tired physically, but she was tired mentally. So many things happened at once, so she needed to have a good rest before thinking things over carefully.

As for Yan Ru’s matter, let’s wait until her hand injury heals in a few days. After all, it’s not convenient for her to fight when she is injured.

After Jiang Qingqing returned to Zhilan Courtyard, she instructed Chuntao to go to Yingfeng Courtyard to inform Aunt Zhao of Yan Ci's intention.

When Chuntao arrived at Yingfeng Courtyard, Aunt Zhao was trying hard to persuade Yanru to return to the palace.

But Yan Ru, who had already spent five days relaxing at her parents' home, was unwilling to go back.

In the Yan family, she was the daughter that her mother loved and cherished, but when she arrived at Prince Xiang's mansion, she was the unwelcome concubine of Prince Xiang.

She was called a concubine, but in fact, she was not even as good as a maid. Not only did she have to get up early every day to pay respects to Xiao Yizhen, the princess, but she was not even allowed to sit down when the prince and princess were having dinner, and could only stand by.

In addition, ever since Shen Zhaoyan stayed overnight in her courtyard that day, Xiao Yizhen, who had originally ignored her, began to ask her to go to Xiyu Courtyard to observe the rules every day. At first, she only asked her to do some work such as serving tea and pouring water, but later she also asked her to do things such as making the bed, folding the quilt, changing clothes and dressing.

It was the first time in the entire Dongdu that a concubine in a royal palace had ended up like this, and all of this was ultimately due to Shen Zhaoyan's indulgence.

It's not that Shen Zhaoyan didn't see that Xiao Yizhen was deliberately targeting Yan Ru. In other words, Shen Zhaoyan did this on purpose to make Xiao Yizhen calm down.

He had to marry Yan Ru because he really cared about Xiao Yizhen and the Prime Minister's Mansion she represented. Xiao Yizhen was dissatisfied with him because of Yan Ru. In order to make the Prime Minister's Mansion behind Xiao Yizhen always stand on his side, he had to please Xiao Yizhen, so Yan Ru became the punching bag.

Xiao Yizhen did not disappoint Shen Zhaoyan at all, and vented all her resentment and jealousy on Yan Ru.

She did not beat or scold Yan Ru or treat him harshly. Instead, she asked Yan Ru, who was used to being served since childhood, to serve her like a maid.

Even if this practice were to be spread, no one would be able to blame Xiao Yizhen. After all, every concubine in a family would serve the mistress of the household.

Her approach was so legitimate that there was nothing wrong with it. Even if Yan Ru wanted to find a reason to refuse, he couldn't find one.

Yan Ru, who was almost driven crazy by the torture, had no choice but to return to the Yan Mansion to stay for a few days with a feeling of grievance.

At first, Yan Ru could still cry a few times out of resentment in his heart, and vent his grievances to Aunt Zhao, which made him feel much better.

But after a few days, seeing that the people in the palace had no intention of sending anyone to invite her back, as if they had already forgotten about her, Yan Ru began to panic.

Although she didn't like the palace, she was already married. As long as she was not divorced, she belonged to the palace and would eventually return to it.

She paced in circles in the room, looking at Zhao Shihuan who was reclining on the couch reading a picture book, and her heart became more and more irritated.

He walked over and snatched the sketchbook from Aunt Zhao's hand.

"Mom, will your method work? Go find Jiang Qingqing and ask her to find Yan Ci. What can Yan Ci do? Even if she has a way, will she help me?"

Zhao Shihuan moved his body, looked at Yan Ru who was not able to keep steady at all, raised his hand to take back the sketchbook, put it in front of him again, and said without moving his eyes away from the book: "Why are you in such a hurry? You have been living at home for so many days, and these few days won't make a difference. Besides, Yan Ci hasn't come back yet, so don't jump to conclusions."

"mother!"

Seeing that Zhao Shihuan's eyes never left the sketchbook, Yan Ru suspected that her mother didn't really care about her at all.

Hearing Yan Ru's dissatisfied cry, Zhao Shihuan put the sketchbook away, fearing that it would be snatched away by his daughter again, and took a moment to look at Yan Ru.

"Alright, alright, listen to me. Even if you and Yan Ci don't have a good relationship, you two are sisters. I've noticed over the past two years that girl protects you. You are both members of the Yan family, sharing honor and disgrace. Even if it's not for you, she will help you for the Yan family's reputation. If it doesn't work, we can just give her some more benefits, right?"

Yan Ru sat beside Zhao Shihuan angrily, "You said it lightly, she protects her shortcomings, but are we within her scope of protection?"

Zhao Shihuan turned a page of the picture book, "Whether he is here or not is not up to us to decide. Isn't that why I asked Jiang Qingqing for this? Can she refuse her own mother?"

Yan Ru thought that what he said made some sense.

Seeing that his daughter had finally calmed down, Zhao Shihuan moved closer to the couch and pulled Yan Ru with him. "Don't think about it. Just wait patiently. Come on, look at the picture book with me. It's really nice."

Yan Ru took a look at the character with a big head and a small body that looked like a tumbler in the sketchbook and said with disdain, "What kind of sketchbook is this? What kind of things are in the picture?"

"This is a new work by a soul painter. It's worth a fortune!"

……

When Nanny Gui brought Chuntao in, she looked at the two people reading picture books on the couch and coughed twice as a reminder.

As soon as Chuntao entered the room, she told Jiang Qingqing and her daughter exactly what Jiang Qingqing asked her to convey without showing any emotion.

Hearing Chuntao's words, Yan Ru's face was filled with shock beyond words.

"Yan Ci really agreed to help me?"

Chun Tao nodded with a smile, "My wife said so herself."

Yan Ru still couldn't believe it, "Are there any conditions?"

Chun Tao shook her head. "Madam didn't say anything. She just said that you should go back to the palace first, and the Thirteenth Miss will come to visit in person in a few days."

When she heard Yan Ci tell her to go back to the palace on her own, she couldn't help but suspect that Yan Ci was lying to her. Just when she was about to ask a few more questions, Zhao Shihuan pulled her behind him and said to Chuntao with a smile, "Madam and Miss Thirteen, please rest assured. Ru'er will go back to the palace tomorrow."

After saying what she needed to say, Chuntao bowed and left Yingfengyuan.

After Chuntao left, Yan Ru immediately shook off Zhao Shihuan's hand, "Mother, why did you stop me from speaking? Yan Ci was clearly lying to me, asking me to go back to the palace, saying that she would come to visit in the future. I'm afraid she won't go at all."

Zhao Shihuan glanced at Yan Ru and asked, "How do you know she won't go?"

"If she is going, why doesn't she go to the palace with me? What's the point of letting me go back by myself first?"

"I let you go back first so that I can better understand the weaknesses of the palace."