Chapter One Hundred: Sleeping Together

  The last day of May, extra update seeking pink tickets

  Shen Zhong's feet paused for a moment, his gaze falling on the not-too-distant windows with their lights shining brightly, faintly revealing a hint of coldness.

  His great-grandfather was a collateral branch of the Shen family, and in his youth, due to his straightforward and upright character, he could not bear the oppression of the legitimate sons, so he broke off relations early on and separated. It's only been three generations until him, and his descendants have always been sparse, where did all those relatives come from?

  The entire general's mansion is fully occupied!

  General... Seeing him stop, Rong Sheng bowed his head and followed his gaze towards the guest room, letting out a faint sigh in his heart.

  The general has been away on expeditions for many years and has always indulged his family, but now these people even disobey his orders.

  This backyard needs to be taken care of properly.

  Shen Zhongjie came back to himself and continued walking forward with his feet, going to pay respects to his mother.

  Madam went in and asked for peace, saying that the old lady was resting. Rong Sheng carefully observed Shen Zhongjie's expression.

  The faint light cast a dim glow on his face, making it impossible to discern any joy or sorrow, yet adding a few degrees of chill.

  "What about the aunts?" Shen Zhongke continued to ask.

  This question is ambiguous, and Rong Sheng doesn't understand what Shen Zhongjie wants to know.

  Is it the attitude of the madam towards the lady entering the mansion, or... He is not a tapeworm in the madam's belly, who knows what they are thinking? Rong Sheng pondered Shen Zhongjie's question back and forth, carefully replied, ... The five madams all stayed quietly in their own courtyard.

  That is to say they didn't go to pay their respects to the lady!

  Shen Zhong's body suddenly stood upright.

  No matter what kind of virtue Zhen Shining has, as long as he doesn't divorce her and they don't separate, she is his wife. Even if he abandoned her in the ancestral mansion, now that he's brought her back to General's Manor, as a sister-in-law, she should come over and pay her respects according to etiquette!

  Especially since she was new here, everyone had to show her respect and courtesy.

  Having a mother as a backing, he didn't find it convenient to emphasize her status in front of people. However, he specially let Rong Sheng use the welcoming ceremony for the mistress to greet her into the manor, using actions to tell his aunt about his intentions.

  But none of these people gave him any applause!

  Five years ago, the couple quarreled so fiercely that before she was abandoned in her ancestral home, he did not exempt any aunt from paying her morning and evening respects, nor did he indulge any aunt who disrespected her to her face.

  His mother disagreed with him about keeping Zhen Shiniang, and they had a falling out. He was already annoyed by the family affairs, but none of these people were on his side, and for a moment, standing in the cold night wind, Shen Zhongjie, who was once heroic and spirited, suddenly felt a sense of desolation in his heart.

  It wasn't until much later that Shen Zhongjie continued on his way.

  General... Unconsciously arrived at Haoran House, seeing him walking in. Rong Sheng subconsciously stopped him, today is Chu Niang's day.

  It's so late, Shen Zhongge will probably go straight to Bixi Garden to rest. All the way here, Zhen Shiniang broke into the main room and he didn't dare mention it, thinking that if he just ignored it, it would pass.

  Who would have thought that he actually came directly to Haoran's residence.

  Shen Zhong hesitated for a moment, then took big strides forward again.

  The lady is sleeping in the main room, you have no place to sleep!

  Looking at Shen Zhong's proud and upright back, Rong Sheng shouted in his heart. His lips moved again and again, but he didn't dare to release the sound, seeing Hong Lian had already brought out a little maid. Rong Sheng's body moved slightly, suddenly, he turned around abruptly, running away from Haoran House.

  He'd better find a place to hide quickly.

  Knowing Shen Zhongge would fly into a rage, it's stupid not to hurry up and hide.

  While running quickly, Rong Sheng made up his mind that tonight was the night Shen Zhongge would lift the lid off the house, and he was determined not to come out!

  "Has the lady gone to sleep?" Shen Zhongjie took off his fox fur coat and threw it to Honglian.

  Seems like she hasn't slept yet. Hong Lian's eyes gazed vaguely towards the main house at the end of the corridor.

  He didn't directly report back, but instead told Shen Zhong that Zhen Shi was already staying in the main house. Firstly, this would allow him to avoid Shen's initial outburst of anger when he found out, and secondly, it would provide an opportunity to frame Zhen Shi for falsely claiming that he had given her permission to move into the main house.

  She had already prepared her statement, with a whole courtyard of young maids as witnesses. Tonight, she would call out that Zhen Shi and shut the mouths of a hundred people. Seeing Shen Zhongge walking towards the main house with a gloomy face, Hong Lian and Hong Sang exchanged a glance, their eyebrows and eyes revealing a cold smile.

  Arriving at the main entrance, he saw a faint candlelight coming from inside the house. Shen Zhongjie's body paused for a moment, and then he suddenly turned around and walked towards the washing area.

  Hong Lian was waiting anxiously for Shen Zhongjie to make a move, but little did she know that in Shen Zhongjie's eyes, the main room was where he and Zhen Shiniang had their wedding chamber, and before Zhen Shiniang was expelled, she had always lived there. Now that she was back, it was only natural that she would still live there, and in his opinion, this was a matter of course that didn't require any further instruction to anyone.

  Most importantly, he didn't want people to see how much he valued bringing Zhen Shi back to the manor.

  But little did he know, his vague and ambiguous words had misled a group of foolish and restless people in the mansion, making him discover for the first time that everyone in the mansion was not on the same page as him. On the surface, they respected and feared him, but behind his back, each had their own agenda.

  After washing and dressing, Shen Zhongge pushed open the door and entered the bedroom.

  Qiu Ju had been busy running around all day and fell asleep as soon as she got into bed. Zhen Shi Niang, on the other hand, had taken a nap in the carriage during the day and wasn't sleepy at all. She was holding a book on military strategy that Shen Zhongjie had placed on her bedside table.

  It's not that she likes the military so much, it's just that ancient entertainment is too scarce, no TV, no internet, especially in the long winter nights, it's really unbearable, having this book to pass the time is already a blessing, and she doesn't have any room for pickiness, otherwise how could she recite a dry human anatomy diagram like a flowing poem?

  If she had put in this effort in her past life, she would have been able to perform surgery with her eyes closed!

  It wasn't what she was interested in, and she was getting drowsy from reading it. When she heard the door sound, she lifted her head up, General... She suddenly sat up straight, staring with wide eyes in shock.

  Is the journey still smooth? Shen Zhongge's voice was warm, and he took a few steps to the bedside, just about to sit down when he discovered that Qiuju, who had been sleeping soundly, suddenly stood up stiffly, with a hint of hesitation in her eyes.

  Zhen Shining's head buzzed loudly.

  He came in wearing a set of pajamas, obviously intending to sleep here. Seeing himself on the bed didn't even make him retreat, he was thinking...

  They didn't divorce, she is still his nominal wife, in the eyes of the law, this is a protected relationship, he has absolute right to demand her fulfill that obligation!

  During the day she forced her way in, thinking that he wouldn't fight with her for a bed to sleep in, but what she didn't expect was that he wasn't going to fight with her, he could sleep with her on one bed!

  For the first time, Zhen Shiniang lost her composure.

  Her voice trembled a little... Autumn Chrysanthemum... wanted to say that Autumn Chrysanthemum had nowhere to sleep, but thinking that he hadn't explicitly said he would stay here, her words got stuck in her throat. Her mind went blank, and her usual cleverness was nowhere to be found. She couldn't come up with a single coherent sentence, no matter how hard she tried. A hint of panic flickered in her eyes.

  Is he that scary?

  Since they met again, Zhen Shining had been quiet all along. He was seeing her so flustered for the first time, and his gentle feelings were swept away in an instant. His face suddenly turned gloomy, and he hastily turned around to shout, "Hong Lian!" There was a hint of anger in his voice.

  Knowing that Qiu Ju was powerful, Hong Lian had already prepared four women. When she heard Shen Zhong Shuai calling her, she quickly gathered them and came to the door of the main house. Hong Lian took a deep breath, covering up the excitement on her face, before pushing open the door of the main house, General...

  Yu Guang saw Zhen Shining and her maid huddled together in fear, completely losing the calm and majestic demeanor they had during the day. A cold smile flashed through Hong Xiu's heart.

  You and Hong Sang both move to the back house, Nuan Ge comes out to move Qiu Ju's things over. Shen Zhong Xiao orders coldly.

  Move... move...

  The red azalea almost fell off his chin.

  She thought she had misheard, and stared blankly at Shen Zhongge until his piercing gaze swept over her, then she shivered and came back to herself. "This servant will move now. Looking up at Qiuju, 'Miss Qiuju, please follow this servant.'"

  Startled awake by a loud shout, Qiu Ju sprang up without thinking and rushed to Zhen Shi Niang's side, using her body to shield her. Her eyes still held a dazed look of being suddenly awakened from a deep sleep, and she stared at Shen Zhong Ge with a fearless expression as if ready to die for her mistress.

  To get to her family's young lady, first step over her corpse!

  It wasn't until Shen Zhong's words made her move out that she completely woke up, and then she remembered that Ji Kuai's aunt often repeated to her: ...if Miss could reunite with the general someday.

  As soon as the thought flashed, Qiu Ju let go of Zhen Shi Niang and jumped lightly off the bed. The slave had already left. She picked up her clothes and walked away, not daring to look back at Zhen Shi Niang's eyes.

  Zhen Shining was thinking, if Qiu Ju died and didn't go out, stubbornly staying in this house... with his arrogance... and in front of the maid's face... would he turn around and leave? Just a moment of distraction, Qiu Ju had already disappeared.

  The red apricot tree quietly closed the door with its branches.

  How heartless! Zhen Shiniang lamented in her heart, if I had known it would be like this, I would have spent the night with that maid instead of arguing with her during the day.

  This is great, she herself foolishly delivered herself to bed!

  Until Shen Zhongge lay down beside her, a strong and thick masculine aura clearly came over, Zhen Shiniang finally came to herself... That is, I still have to get up early tomorrow to enter the palace. For Wen Ge and Wu Ge, she was willing to yield and compromise, but retreating also had a bottom line, everything else could be done, just this one thing she absolutely couldn't do, at least not now!

  I'll go with you tomorrow. Shen Zhong's voice was laced with a hint of impatience.

  This stupid woman!

  He didn't lack women fawning over him, and the ones who wanted to climb into his bed came in droves. She wasn't willing, and he wouldn't force her, but as soon as she entered the manor, her mother-in-law and the other madams had given her a warning: if he didn't stay here tonight, she would find it difficult to take another step in the future.

  He turned over, his back to Zhen Shiniang, and fell asleep quickly. He raised his hand and extinguished the candle flame.

  The house was suddenly plunged into darkness.

  Zhen Shining sat stiffly, not relaxing until Shen Zhongge's even breathing sounds came from the bed, then she slowly got under the covers.

  Who can still sleep?

  Thinking of entering the palace tomorrow, Zhen Shiniang forced herself to close her eyes and count sheep.