Chapter 28: Unable to Endure the Slightest Wrong

Not long after, Shen Ruojin arrived at the Princess’s residence.

She stepped forward to pay her respects, but just as she was about to bow, the Princess supported her upright. The Princess said, "We are in our own household; there is no need for such formalities."

Shen Ruojin straightened her posture and replied, "I shall heed your words, Mother."

The Princess invited her to sit and have tea. "Has Mother He told you that the Second Young Master went to the palace with the Prince to see the Emperor?"

"She has," Shen Ruojin replied solemnly. "And I must thank you for not blaming me for taking action against those at Li Garden, which has brought a powerful enemy upon the Prince of Zhenbei’s estate."

The Princess did not like hearing this and immediately retorted, "What are you saying? Setting aside the fact that this trouble was caused by the Second Young Master, that second son of the Prime Minister’s residence is a scoundrel who does nothing but commit evil deeds all day long; he deserved a beating, even if it had killed him."

With the Prince of Zhenbei absent, the Princess spoke with increasing ease to her daughter-in-law.

"It is just that since the Second Young Master went to the palace with the Prince, he will not be back for some time. I fear he will not make it in time to accompany you on your homecoming visit today. If a new bride fails to return home on the expected day, there will surely be endless gossip outside. Yet, if you return alone, you will inevitably be looked down upon by those in the Marquis’s residence."

The Princess pondered this, feeling quite troubled. Shen Ruojin was about to say, "It does not matter; those people at the Marquis’s residence cannot do anything to me anyway," but before she could speak, she heard the Princess say, "How about... I accompany you on your homecoming?"

"I appreciate your kindness, Mother. But there is truly no precedent in this world for a mother-in-law to accompany a new bride on her homecoming. I shall simply go, have a meal, and return. I will not stay long, so please do not worry."

Seeing that the Princess had actually considered accompanying her, Shen Ruojin felt a mix of amusement and deep emotion. Perhaps in this capital city, those who truly treated her with kindness were far too few. Having been a daughter-in-law to this Princess for only three days, she knew the Princess valued her largely because she hoped she could manage Qin Lang. Even so, this bit of genuine concern felt incredibly precious. After all, her marriage to Qin Lang was a choice weighed by pros and cons; she was the one with ulterior motives first. How could she dare to hope for someone to treat her with sincere kindness?

Hearing this, the Princess abandoned the idea of accompanying her but added, "Then take more people with you, and bring Mother He along. I cherish our little Princess of the Zhenbei estate too much to let her suffer even the slightest grievance elsewhere."

"Very well, this old servant shall be shameless and tag along with the Second Young Mistress to the Marquis’s residence for a meal," Mother He said as she stepped forward to bow to Shen Ruojin. As the Princess’s personal attendant, she held a position of great prestige in the household. Since the Princess could not go herself, Mother He would stand in for her, providing enough authority to hold ground before the people at the Marquis’s residence.

***

Naturally, Shen Ruojin could not repeatedly refuse the Princess’s kindness.

The Princess said, "I have instructed Steward He to prepare two sets of gifts. You shall take one to the Marquis of Lin-yang’s residence, and I will send the other to your grandfather, the old General Shen, at the border. Since you bear the name Shen and were raised in the Shen family, your homecoming should have been..."

On the day Shen Ruojin was married, no one from the Shen family came to see her off, and she did not cry; when the groom was changed at the last minute, she did not cry either. But hearing the Princess’s words now, her eyes suddenly reddened. She had been the apple of the Shen family’s eye; she should have been married from the Shen residence, surrounded by her loving aunts and uncles, with her brothers vying to see her off... But who could have predicted that the tenth daughter of the Shen family would lose her entire family to the battlefield overnight before she ever found a lover? After that, she was ordered back to the capital; whom she married or what kind of life she lived no longer mattered. In any case, nothing would ever be the same again.

Seeing her eyes turn red, the Princess immediately realized she had said the wrong thing and quickly stopped. "Look at me, why would I bring this up on the day of your homecoming? Ruojin, the departed are gone, and the living must live well. Do not be too sorrowful. From now on, the Prince of Zhenbei’s estate is your home. No matter what happens, this is your home."

"Mother..."

Shen Ruojin’s call this time was far more genuine than before. Having lost her mother at a young age, she had always felt the absence of a maternal figure, even though her grandfather and aunt and uncle were kind. When the Princess said, "From now on, the Prince of Zhenbei’s estate is your home," her expression was so gentle that Shen Ruojin felt despicable for the calculations she had made when deciding to marry into the household.

"Since you have called me mother, you are my child," the Princess said, taking her hand gently. "I will not hide it from you—when I was first pregnant, the doctor said it would be a daughter. Others said one must have a son first to secure one’s standing in the husband’s family, but I was overjoyed. I wanted a daughter; daughters are so thoughtful..."

As the Princess spoke, she seemed lost in thought, her eyes glistening. She smiled and added, "Who would have known that the one I ended up raising was that little scoundrel, the Second Young Master? Fortunately, he has good luck to have married such a wonderful wife as you. I simply choose to believe that the daughter I longed for all those years has finally come to me."

These words were deeply heartfelt. Looking into the Princess’s eyes, Shen Ruojin knew she was not just saying these things to comfort her because of the incident at Li Garden. She clearly perceived that the Princess truly, genuinely regarded her as family. Yet, the more this was true, the guiltier she felt.

"To receive such kindness from you, Mother, is my great fortune," Shen Ruojin said, her voice slightly hoarse.

The Princess chuckled, "It is the Second Young Master’s fortune. He has a mother who is willing to spend money on him and has married such a wonderful bride as you."

Shen Ruojin smiled, though the emotions in her eyes were complex.

The Princess adjusted the jade pin in her hair. "It is getting late. We can talk more later; you should head to your homecoming now. I have long heard of the behavior of that old mistress at the Marquis of Lin-yang’s residence... it is best not to mention it."

Old Mistress Mu had originally been a concubine. She had borne two sons for the old Marquis, and because the original legitimate wife was in poor health and unable to conceive for many years, the Marquis of Lin-yang had no legitimate heir, allowing the concubine-born Mu Gaoyuan to inherit the title. After the old Marquis and the legitimate mistress passed away, Mu Gaoyuan elevated Old Mistress Mu’s status. However, being a concubine by origin, her conduct was truly unrefined, causing the current Marquis’s residence to be a place where the lines between legitimate and concubine-born were blurred and filled with discord.

"Very well, I shall depart now," Shen Ruojin bowed to the Princess. Amidst the Princess’s playful scolding of "You child, you are far too formal," she set off for the Marquis of Lin-yang’s residence, accompanied by Mother He, the maid Shijian, and two carriages filled with gifts.

It was nearly noon. Dark clouds obscured the sun, and the day was dim, as if a storm were brewing. The news of the two Mu daughters swapping husbands on their wedding day had spread throughout the capital. On this third day of their homecoming, many were waiting to watch the spectacle.

The luxurious carriages, drawn by two horses each, cut through the crowd and stopped in front of the main gate of the Marquis of Lin-yang’s residence. A group of the Prince’s guards cleared the way, and the maids on either side lifted the carriage curtains. Mother He respectfully helped the Young Mistress alight. Shijian, having had her job taken by the others, straightened her back and followed behind her mistress.

As Shen Ruojin stepped down, she noticed a plain blue-cloth carriage parked to the side, from which Pei Jing was helping Mu Yunwei alight. Mu Yunwei was already wearing a married woman’s hairstyle, and the two of them were acting so affectionately in public, as if they were truly married. Shen Ruojin’s gaze did not linger; she walked straight ahead.

"Second Sister!" Mu Yunwei suddenly called out, pulling Pei Jing to catch up with her. Clearly, she and Pei Jing had arrived first, yet the moment Shen Ruojin’s carriage appeared, all eyes were drawn to her. How glorious the little Princess of the Zhenbei estate looked, with her retinue of servants and carriages filled with homecoming gifts. Yet, for all that pomp, she had returned alone.

Mu Yunwei, having Pei Jing by her side, felt she was not losing to Shen Ruojin and asked with feigned concern, "Why did the Second Brother-in-law not accompany you on your homecoming?"

Shen Ruojin could not be bothered to reply. Mu Yunwei did not wait for an answer, continuing on her own, "Oh, right, I heard that you got into a fight with the Prime Minister’s second son at Li Garden yesterday. Could it be that the young Prince Qin is angry with you because of that, which is why he did not accompany you on this day of all days?"

Shen Ruojin glanced at her, but before she could speak, Mother He at her side stepped forward and scolded in a loud voice, "Where did this little harlot come from? What are you barking about?"