Shen Qingyao and Lu Zhao’s new home was a spacious mansion with an elegant three-in, three-out layout. When she walked in, Shen Qingyao could tell immediately that meticulous care had gone into preparing the courtyard. Every plant and tree seemed casually placed, yet upon closer inspection, they exuded a unique charm.
It was unclear when Lu Zhao had started preparing everything.
Shen Qingyao smirked. Despite her typically carefree demeanor, she had a particular fondness for this serene home. Of course, it might also be due to her appreciation for the person who arranged the courtyard so elegantly.
“How do you feel?” Lu Zhao led her around and noticed the smile tugging at her lips, raising an eyebrow as he asked.
“Hmm…” Shen Qingyao pretended to ponder deeply for a moment, glanced around with feigned seriousness, suppressed her excitement, and shrugged. “It’s… alright, I guess.”
[Tsk! Host, you clearly like it a lot! Stop pretending!] The system scorned her.
Shen Qingyao snorted. Could it be called pretending between a couple? It was clearly having fun!
Sure enough, Lu Zhao only seemed momentarily surprised before chuckling softly. “Just alright? Looks like it’s not good enough then. Shall we consider another place? I heard Secretary Huang’s estate isn’t bad?”
Suddenly, the air of elegance was tainted by the thought of Secretary Huang’s oily, wily appearance. Shen Qingyao shivered in disgust.
This wasn’t about fun anymore; it was distasteful!
Shen Qingyao stifled her laughter, gave Lu Zhao a deadpan look, and silently cursed him for usually seeming so emotionally intelligent, yet failing to pick up on the mood now! Why mention Secretary Huang at such a moment!
“I suddenly feel like this place is indeed quite nice. No need to change, Elder Brother Lu Zhao,” she said.
Lu Zhao laughed heartily, and now Shen Qingyao understood everything. Amidst their playful banter, she was the only one being teased…
Ah, how dull.
Some time later, a guard hurried in and whispered something to Lu Zhao. He glanced at Shen Qingyao, who was eagerly rummaging through boxes in excitement, then smiled gently.
After a few instructions to Cui Qiao, Lu Zhao followed the guard out.
When Shen Qingyao returned with two ornaments in hand, she realized Lu Zhao was no longer there. She paused, suddenly remembering that in Lingnan, Lu Zhao would inevitably become busy and couldn’t accompany her as he did on the ship.
Taking a deep breath, Shen Qingyao shook her head, scolding herself for already missing him after just a few minutes. This wouldn’t do!
She puffed her cheeks, shrugged off her melodramatic mood, and quickly immersed herself again in the joy of organizing and decorating the room.
When Lu Zhao returned later, the room had completely transformed.
As he stepped in, he looked around at the room filled to the brim with various trinkets and almost mistook it for a warehouse. After hesitating and verifying that he was indeed in the right place, he couldn’t help but think that only a certain restless little girl could turn a room into this.
He stepped further in, half amused and half bewildered as he watched Shen Qingyao still absorbed in her tasks. Walking towards her, he chuckled, “Yaoyao, are you turning this room into a storage room?”
Reaching out, he adjusted a small red-glazed ornament beside a blue-and-white porcelain vase. Though the clash of colors seemed odd, it felt special because it was placed there by the little girl herself… He pushed the porcelain vase a bit and reconsidered… it was not bad after all.
Truly, love can blind people. Lu Zhao, who had meticulously crafted a prestigious and discerning aesthetic over many years in the capital, found himself disconnected from the world in an instant.
When Shen Qingyao heard his voice, she turned around in pleasant surprise, setting down what she was holding. She happily rushed over and called out sweetly, “Elder Brother Lu Zhao, you’re back!”
Lu Zhao nodded. “And what is this, Yaoyao?”
“I originally felt that although this house is beautiful, it lacks a bit of vitality, showing no signs of life. So, I wanted to bring some things we brought from the capital to place here. But…”
Shen Qingyao held onto him, her eyes scanning the crowded room, somewhat troubled as she said, “But these things are specially given by my Mother, they must be displayed! And those over there are prepared by Mother-in-law, they can’t be left out, right? And then these, these were given by my Eldest Sister, those were brought by my Eldest Brother, and these! These!”
She roughly gestured towards the items, her expression becoming even more conflicted. After a long sigh, she lamented, “It’s so hard to please everyone!”
And so it ended up like this. Shen Qingyao shrugged helplessly, looking very resigned. It was quite distressing to be liked by so many people.
Seeing her like this, Lu Zhao’s smile deepened. Why was this little girl so interesting? Talking about pleasing everyone?
But he understood that this was her way of expressing the treasures in her heart. As long as she was happy, he would indulge her.
“So, Your Majesty who is contemplating how to please everyone, how about me?” Lu Zhao suddenly leaned against a nearby shelf, his smile playful.
Shen Qingyao was initially taken aback by being called Your Majesty, but when she saw his charming expression, her face inexplicably blushed. She thought to herself, This Queen wanted you to be the Queen Consort, but with that look, you’re more suited to be a seductive concubine!
Clearing her throat, Shen Qingyao walked over with what she thought was a composed demeanor, reaching out to lift Lu Zhao’s chin and sizing him up.
Lu Zhao raised an eyebrow slightly but didn’t say anything. Even when she withdrew her hand, he remained interested and asked, “Are you satisfied, Your Majesty?”
“Um, it’s quite good.” Shen Qingyao was so embarrassed she could explode, curling her toes and trying to sound aloof, “Quite handsome, so I’ll appoint you as my favorite concubine!”
She thought she handled it well, but didn’t expect Lu Zhao’s eyes to narrow dangerously at her words. In an instant, he grabbed the escaping girl into his arms, saying, “Just favorite concubine?”
Shen Qingyao was tickled by his breath on her neck, shrinking back, her resistance weakened by his firm grip. Knowing she couldn’t resist, she softened her voice and pleaded, “Queen Consort! I’ll appoint you as the legitimate Queen Consort! Is that good enough?”
A grown man vying for the position of Queen Consort in the harem! This was the ambition of the Top Scholar of Great Liang! Shen Qingyao chuckled, doubting anyone would believe her if she told them.
Lu Zhao was finally satisfied and temporarily let her go. After releasing her, he took out a letter from his sleeve and handed it to her.
As he handed it over, he couldn’t help adding, “Here, my Queen, do you want to read your petition?”
Shen Qingyao’s hand froze halfway, suddenly understanding what it meant to put one’s foot in one’s mouth.
She looked at Lu Zhao awkwardly, silently begging him to spare her from this embarrassing title and situation.
Lu Zhao was in a good mood, and after that remark, he finally relented. Rubbing her head, he sat down on a nearby soft couch.
Shen Qingyao followed and settled beside him on the other side, finally calming down to read the petition in her hand. Oh, no, the letter.
On the envelope, it was written ‘For my sister Yaoyao’s eyes only.’ Shen Qingyao’s eyes lit up—it was a letter from her Eldest Sister! She glanced at Lu Zhao, who nodded affirmatively. Only then did she slowly tear open the envelope.
As soon as the letter paper was unfolded, Shen Qingli’s elegant handwriting was revealed. Shen Qingyao pursed her lips and smiled, as happy as if she had met her Eldest Sister.
As she was joyfully reading the letter, Lu Zhao sat nearby on a soft couch, casually surveying his surroundings. It wasn’t until now that he noticed the two jade foxes that the little girl had been playing with all along were neatly placed on the bedside shelf, so they would be visible as soon as he woke up.
Lu Zhao squinted his eyes and smiled broadly. Without doing anything in particular, he felt his heart full because of the person before him and because of the cozy home she had meticulously arranged.
On the other end, Shen Qingyao appeared calm while reading the letter, but her mind was actually busy conversing with the system.
[What did your Eldest Sister say?] The system was also very concerned about the female lead, Shen Qingli’s movements.
Shen Qingyao didn’t elaborate much. She simply unfolded the letter more openly. Since they shared senses, what she could see, the system could see for itself.
Shen Qingli’s letter first overflowed with pages of longing and advice for her, listing a bunch of precautions as if afraid Lu Zhao wouldn’t take good care of her.
Patiently, Shen Qingyao read through each point, after which Shen Qingli began to mention her recent situation.
Shen Qingli and Xiao Mu’s grand wedding had successfully concluded without any hitches. After the wedding, Xiao Mu was assigned several minor yet complicated tasks by the emperor, which he and Shen Qingli handled together splendidly. The reputation of the Fifth Prince in the court soared, but the Wmperor couldn’t stand it. Three imperial edicts were issued in succession: Xiao Mu was promoted to a King and bestowed the title of Ning, while Shen Qingli was granted the title of a County Princess. The final edict hurried them to return to the Northern Frontier.
Seeing this, Shen Qingyao couldn’t help but sneer. The Emperor was a good Emperor, but he was getting old and his mind was not very clear. He neglected such a good son and indulged those foolish troublemakers in the city. Oh, and he pampered Xiao Jing, who would eventually commit patricide and regicide.
She couldn’t help but feel pity to the main couple. This operation of raising their status on the surface but actually secretly lowering their status was truly disgusting.
Fortunately, Shen Qingli didn’t care about these things. As long as she could be with Xiao Mu, she didn’t mind where they went. She also informed Shen Qingyao that Gu Ziyuan had already arrived in the Northern Frontier ahead of them. He was capable and had taken on the important task of connecting the Northern Frontier with Ning City.
Shen Qingyao became happy. The foundation of the male and female leads was steadily solidifying step by step. As long as the current situation could be maintained on Lu Zhao’s side, she shouldn’t have any major problems reaching the happy ending.
With these thoughts in mind, her mind drifted off. She couldn’t help but wonder, since Lu Zhao had a friendship with the original owner since childhood, and it seemed that his relationship with Xiao Jing was not good, what exactly did Xiao Jing do in the original book to turn Lu Zhao against the main leads? What was the trigger for his turning into evil? Even now, she still couldn’t figure it out.
[Host! Turn the page!] The system had long finished reading the current page and couldn’t help but urge her after waiting for a while without seeing Shen Qingyao’s movements.
Shen Qingyao snapped out of her thoughts, set aside these unresolved matters, and turned the page of the letter.
Shen Qingli finished recounting her recent situation and unexpectedly mentioned someone Shen Qingyao hadn’t anticipated.
In the letter, it said that Shen Qingyao’s Second Sister, Shen Qinglin, had sent a message to Shen Qingly a few days ago, saying that she was currently in the Southern Borders.
Shen Qingli advised Shen Qingyao that if there were any issues, she could try to seek help from Shen Qinglin.
Second Sister… Shen Qingyao was stunned for a moment. Since transmigrating over, she hadn’t seen this Second Sister.
It was said that she had run away from home several years ago, and the Shen family rarely mentioned her. Over time, Shen Qingyao had almost forgotten that she actually had two elder sisters…
“System, how much do you know about my Second Sister?”