Sheng Mingshu and Sheng Mingli brought honor to the family, and the household was filled with joy.
Concubine Ruan and Concubine Shui were even more overjoyed, tears of happiness streaming down uncontrollably.
It must be said that in the capital city, the lives of the concubines in the Sheng family’s back courtyard were really quite good.
They didn’t have to suffer mistreatment from the main wife on a daily basis, and the main wife even allowed the concubines to bear children.
They could even keep their children by their side to raise, seeing them every day.
Food, clothing, and other necessities were a bit worse in the early years, but later on they became quite good.
If there was anything unpleasant, it was just the minor squabbles between Concubine Hong and Concubine Bai…
And Concubine Ruan had some conflicts with the main wife before, but the main wife only treated Concubine Ruan and her son coldly and didn’t deliberately make things difficult for them.
Now that Concubine Ruan’s and Concubine Shui’s sons had both passed the provincial examination, and Concubine Ruan’s son had even ranked first, it was truly a first in the capital.
Concubine Fu and Concubine Hong had envy and a faint bitterness in their eyes, but their congratulations were sincere.
Occasionally, a trace of unwillingness and jealousy flickered in Concubine Bai’s eyes.
But Concubine Bai hid it well. After so many years, she had come to understand that Concubine Ruan and Concubine Shui were kind by nature.
As long as she didn’t deliberately make enemies of them, they wouldn’t make things difficult for her when they rose in status in the future, so Concubine Bai was also extending goodwill.
The servants also sincerely congratulated the second young master and the fourth young master. Although the “Grand Competition” couldn’t compare to the metropolitan examination,
passing as the top scorer was still a great honor, and the servants thought the masters would surely give rewards!
Sure enough, Sheng Yong waved his hand and decided to give the servants an extra half month’s wages.
He also told Dongsheng to send someone to buy a pig and other poultry to add dishes for the servants, and the smiles on everyone’s faces grew even brighter.
Meanwhile, Sheng Mingjian lurked among the crowd, his eyes dark and gloomy.
Today, Sheng Mingjian felt a tremendous threat from Sheng Mingshu, and murderous intent churned in his heart.
Sheng Mingshu’s talent for studying was even more outstanding than he had imagined, even more outstanding than his own self in the dream.
At the thought that something had gone wrong with the examination questions in the previous imperial examination, if something went wrong this time too…
Sheng Mingjian was somewhat worried.
This worry, after truly witnessing Sheng Mingshu’s strength, turned into deep fear.
He made up his mind that he would never let Sheng Mingshu rise to prominence!
Or rather, before he himself rose to prominence, he would not allow any child in the Sheng family to be more outstanding than him.
Of course, he couldn’t directly destroy Sheng Mingshu either!
Sheng Mingjian still remembered how a few years ago he had wanted to destroy that little wretch from Haitang Court, and ended up being harmed instead…
This incident taught him a deep lesson, so Sheng Mingjian decided to target the people around Sheng Mingshu.
If something happened to the person Sheng Mingshu cared about most, Sheng Mingshu would surely be in unbearable pain, and then would underperform…
This method wasn’t brilliant, but it was very effective!
Sheng Mingjian’s gaze swept past Sheng Mingshu’s face, landed on Concubine Ruan, and finally landed on Sheng Mingli.
And Sheng Minmin noticed Sheng Mingjian’s gaze and kept it in mind…
After Sheng Yong finished celebrating, he busied himself with selecting gifts for the teachers. Sheng Minmin arranged the corresponding matters for the family banquet in the evening.
This year she had started managing the household again, and after arranging everything, she returned to the Peony Courtyard.
Before long, Huang Yaning arrived. Sheng Minmin hesitated for a moment before letting her in.
“With the fourth young master’s talent, he will definitely achieve good results in the metropolitan examination at the end of the year. By then, the princess…”
Huang Yaning began.
Previously, Sheng Minmin had heard Huang Yaning say that the princess had feelings for Sheng Mingshu. She had later observed carefully, and it was indeed true.
Moreover, she felt that the Grand Princess should have also noticed the princess’s feelings.
However, the Grand Princess did not agree, or rather, she was testing how deep the princess’s feelings for Sheng Mingshu were, and at the same time observing whether Sheng Mingshu was worthy of her precious daughter.
Deep in her heart, Sheng Minmin felt that Sheng Mingshu’s appearance, talent, and character were all impeccable.
Although his background was a bit lacking, Sheng Mingshu treated people sincerely.
Sincerity for sincerity.
She felt that if Sheng Mingshu also loved the princess, the two marrying would be an excellent match.
Speaking of which, some time ago Sheng Yong had even prepared to have Huang Yaning seduce the young prince of the Grand Princess’s household.
If Sheng Yong knew that the princess of the Grand Princess’s household had taken a fancy to his son, he would probably be grinning from ear to ear.
Unfortunately, even if Sheng Mingshu could truly marry the princess, it would be at the earliest next year.
Qingdai said that Sheng Yong’s body would reach its limit next year.
By then, Sheng Yong would only be able to lie weakly in bed, allowing her to mold him like clay.
“What do you want to say?” Sheng Minmin asked indifferently.
“You… how are you planning to deal with Sheng Yong…”
Hearing this, Sheng Minmin immediately looked at Huang Yaning. Seeing Huang Yaning’s uneasy expression, she raised an eyebrow and said sarcastically,
“What, do you still have fantasies about him?”
“No—” Huang Yaning quickly shook her head.
“I’m worried that if the fourth young master marries the princess, Sheng Yong will rise along with him. He will definitely try every means to climb higher and strengthen his power, and by then it will be difficult for you to deal with him…
“I’m just worried about you. I have no objection even if you want to kill him—”
Huang Yaning said cautiously, her eyes showing concern, worry, and faint fear…
Like a “mother” who was afraid of displeasing her “daughter,” acting according to her “daughter’s” mood.
But Huang Yaning’s appearance and the words she spoke drowned Sheng Minmin in a surging tide of anger.
So in this life, Sheng Yong’s life was so worthless!
She wanted to kill Sheng Yong, and Huang Yaning thought she could just kill him however she wanted! No objection at all!
Then in her previous life, why didn’t Huang Yaning try to resist Sheng Yong for her sake?
Why didn’t she speak up for her?
When she was falsely accused of adultery with Steward Qi, Huang Yaning didn’t even dare to fight for a chance to explain in front of Sheng Yong…
Was it that Huang Yaning no longer loved Sheng Yong, or was her “concern” for her greater than her love for Sheng Yong?
Was it because Huang Yaning herself hated Sheng Yong and didn’t take Sheng Yong’s life seriously, or was it for her sake?
To put it another way, even if Huang Yaning had changed her attitude toward Sheng Yong for her sake, why should she?
Why was it that in her previous life she was so humble, trampled into the dust, and Huang Yaning was unwilling to give her even a bit of love?
Why was it that in this life Huang Yaning wanted to care for her, wanted to compensate her, and she had to accept it?
The anger burned so fiercely that Sheng Minmin’s hands trembled inside her sleeves.
She also felt an extremely absurd sense of fate playing tricks on people.
The things she had sacrificed everything to please others for and still couldn’t obtain in her previous life, in this life she didn’t want them, yet they came…
Many words wanted to surge out, but at the final moment, Sheng Minmin couldn’t say a single one of the words she wanted to say.
Huang Yaning also noticed that the person opposite her had tightly drawn facial muscles and tightly pressed lips.
The emotions in her eyes seemed like disgust, like revulsion, and also deep anger, as well as some things she couldn’t understand.
Her heart was filled with bitterness.
She really was just concerned about Minmin.
Having lived another life, she had seen through Sheng Yong’s selfishness and coldness.
Minmin’s tragedy in the previous life, and her own death, were inseparable from Sheng Yong.
Huang Yaning had long had no love for Sheng Yong. She even hated Sheng Yong. If Sheng Yong really died, she would only be happy.
