She originally thought that even if Shi Fengju wouldn’t rest in the peony garden tonight, he would certainly join Gu Fangzi for dinner, then retire to his study. However, to her surprise, close to dinner ti, Shi Fengju sent soone to tell Sang Wan to wait for him to have dinner, which left Sang Wan with widened eyes in astonishnt, thinking she must have heard wrong.
Xingzhi, Liu Ya, and Hong Ye, however, were delighted, and Mrs. Li was grinning from ear to ear with excitent, saying, "Madam, this old servant will go instruct the kitchen to prepare! We’ll make so fine dishes for you and the young master!"
Sang Wan didn’t know what to say in response, and was unable to refuse, so she simply nodded slightly with a smile.
"Madam, this shows that the young master holds no one in his heart above you! Now, it’s good, it shows those slaves below their place! Look who dares to harbor the thought of climbing onto the high branch! Don’t mind my blabbering, Madam, but tonight you should take the initiative..."
Mrs. Li couldn’t help but step forward, lowering her voice as she spoke.
"I... understand! Mrs. Li!" Sang Wan said with a smile. Yet in her heart, she thought, No one surpasses in his heart? If I were truly that important to him, Gu Fangzi would not have been admitted into our household now!
What Mrs. Li did not know was that her advice to Sang Wan had sowhat revealed Shi Fengju’s intentions. The entrance of Gu Fangzi stirred up the thoughts of those scheming slaves, making them look down upon Sang Wan behind her back, gossip, and set traps. Therefore, he wanted to use this opportunity to express his attitude! Before anyone dared to belittle Madam, they should think twice!
He did it for the peace within the household, to prevent the family from descending into chaos. Shi Fengju convinced himself with this reason, but as for whether he truly felt this way deep down, he was reluctant to touch upon or delve into those thoughts.
After having dinner together, they sat down in the warm pavilion to drink tea.
Noticing that Shi Fengju was making disjointed small talk without any intention of leaving, Sang Wan felt sowhat puzzled. When the maids were not around, she couldn’t help but finally ask, "Don’t you need to go check on your sister?"
"Sister?" Shi Fengju was montarily taken aback, only realizing who she was referring to after a brief lapse.
His brows furrowed unconsciously, "I visited her before the al, she is tired today, and I suppose she has already retired, so I won’t go over!"
"Oh!" Sang Wan replied indifferently. So that’s how it is! How considerate and caring you are.
Shi Fengju couldn’t help feeling dejected; he certainly did not intend to say that, but sohow when the words reached his lips, they ca out this way. Seeing that Sang Wan’s expression did not change but her tone cooled by a degree, Shi Fengju instinctively felt anxious and wanted to explain himself, but he didn’t know where to begin.
"Why did you start calling her ’sister’?" Shi Fengju asked.
"What?" Sang Wan was taken aback, then said mockingly, "Before you returned, Mother ordered it so. Now that you are back, it has been confird!"
Shi Fengju was at a loss for words, facing Sang Wan’s aningful glance, he felt a profound sense of guilt. He understood what she ant. She had no choice but to follow Mother’s orders, but at that ti, she held onto a sliver of hope, and that hope was him. She thought that he would honor their agreent, she thought he would change everything upon his return!
Indeed, on his way back, he hurried with all haste, and he really thought that way. He wanted to co back to stop this matter from happening. As a businessman, integrity is paramount, and deep in his bones, he has beco accustod to keeping his word.
But, no one expected that his cousin’s father would pass away, and faced with her tearful outcry and accusations, he simply could not refuse, thus the matter turned out this way.
Shi Fengju’s lips quivered, he wanted to say he was sorry, but he had already said that several tis and Sang Wan did not accept it, so even if he said it again, it would be useless.
He then feigned ignorance, cleared his throat with a cough, and with a smile said, "How about the travelogue I brought back? Do you still like it?"
Oh, changing the topic now? I couldn’t care less about your cousin!
"Hmm, quite good! Thank you for the thought." Sang Wan nodded.
"Glad you like it," Shi Fengju’s eyes brightened, "That’s the most popular travelogue in the capital right now, as soon as it was published it sold out instantly, I had to ask soone to pull so strings to get this set."
"It must be very valuable then? You’ve really gone to a lot of expense!" Sang Wan looked up and said with a smile.
Shi Fengju felt slightly forlorn seeing how polite and distant she was with him, soon recovering his spirits, he said, "It’s alright, you don’t need to worry. I brought back a lot of things this ti, I haven’t had a chance in the past few days, and they are all still in the study. I will have them moved over tomorrow, you can sort them out and distribute them to the various rooms and courtyards!"
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