Duke Jing's younger sister

Shen Li looked back and saw a girl in a lavender Liuxian dress approaching slowly.

This woman was fairly good-looking, but there was something mean in her eyes and eyebrows, which made her face look a bit bitter.

After seeing who the person was, Shen Zhiyan frowned slightly, "Cousin, how dare you say that about your third cousin? Be careful if your brother hears you, he'll spank you again!"

"Cousin... where is my cousin!?" The girl pretended to be scared, then sneered and said disdainfully, "Why didn't I see him?"

The girl who was speaking was the granddaughter of Taifu Yang and the daughter of the Yang brothers—Yang Lijun.

Because she is the youngest in the family, she is the apple of the eye of the whole family. From her grandfather to her parents and brothers, everyone dotes on her, which also makes her domineering.

Ever since Shen Li entered the Shen Mansion, Yang Lijun disliked her.

Firstly, she hated Shen Li's calm and noble appearance, as if nothing could annoy her. The more this was the case, the more she seemed like a brainless firecracker that would explode at the slightest spark.

Secondly, she had a noble status since she was a child. How could a beggar who was picked up from nowhere dream of being called cousin by her and being asked to salute Shen Li? It was simply a dream!

Speaking of which, Shen Li hadn't seen Yang Lijun for a long time. Ever since Shen Beiqi personally punished her with ten slaps on the hand two years ago, she had never stepped into the Shen family's gate again.

Yang Lijun smiled contemptuously, looked Shen Li up and down, and said sarcastically,

"You are dressed up nicely today, but it's a pity that no matter how you dress up, you still look poor. You have nothing to do with gold, wood, water, or fire. You are only earth, which suits you best!"

The two noble ladies standing behind Yang Lijun heard the words, although they did not dare to respond, they still could not help laughing, and glanced at Shen Li lightly.

Shen Li glanced at her. This was in the palace, and she didn't want to argue with her. She immediately took Shen Zhiyan's hand and prepared to leave. Unexpectedly, she was stopped by Yang Lijun.

Yang Lijun hasn't said enough, how can she let Shen Li go?

If it weren't for this bitch, she wouldn't have been punished by her cousin to kneel down, and she would have been slapped ten times in public, losing face.

She had never suffered such injustice since she was a child. Whenever she thought of it, her heart was burning with anger. She wished she could tear Shen Li's flesh and blood apart.

"To be honest, this pheasant is just a pheasant. Even if its fur is brightly colored and it has flown to the tree by luck, it is not a real phoenix. You can't draw a tiger but end up drawing a dog. Is that right or wrong, Miss Shen?"

Shen Li smiled faintly, already unable to bear it any longer, "Cousin, have you ever heard the saying 'a fallen phoenix is ​​worse than a chicken'? If I were your sister, I would do more good deeds to avoid falling off the tree one day and being worse than a pheasant. Wouldn't that be a pity?"

Yang Lijun's face turned pale, and the finger pointing at Shen Li trembled. "You - you bitch, how dare you curse my Yang family? I will tear your mouth apart!"

As she said that, she raised her hand and was about to swing at Shen Li!

"Lijun, stop being so presumptuous!"

Yang and a woman wearing a dark purple dress with round embroidery patterns were walking slowly towards them, one on each side, supporting a beautiful woman with a big belly.

A large group of people in the courtyard knelt down and shouted in unison, "Greetings to Her Majesty the Imperial Concubine Zhao!"

"Be flat."

"Thank you, Your Majesty the Concubine!"

Shen Li stood up with everyone else. Madam Yang had a sullen face. She first scolded Yang Lijun a few times, and then gently comforted Shen Li.

Madam Yang naturally knew that her daughter had always been targeting Shen Li. It would have been fine if she had just scolded her at home, but she actually dared to be so presumptuous in the palace.

Shen Li lowered her eyes obediently and secretly glanced at Concubine Zhao who was also looking at her out of the corner of her eye.

Concubine Zhao was three or four years younger than Yang, and should be thirty-five or thirty-six now, but she was well maintained, with no trace of the ravages of time on her snow-white cheeks, and her face, like a jade sculpture, exuded a cold aura.

Her lips curled up slightly, revealing an imperceptible smile, exuding a kind of coolness and confidence.

Concubine Zhao sat in her seat and advised, "Sister-in-law, don't be angry with Lijun. It's just a quarrel between children. How can you scold her in front of so many people?"

Madam Yang bowed slightly, "Your Majesty is absolutely right." Then she waved at her disappointing daughter, "Why don't you hurry down?"

Yang Lijun pouted and left reluctantly.

Dusk had arrived, the golden glow hanging in the sky gradually faded away with the twilight, and more and more people were coming and going in the Imperial Garden.

As soon as Xiao Wenyuan arrived, Shen Zhiyan went with him to appreciate the flowers. Shen Li naturally didn't want to go with them, so as not to disturb the sweet atmosphere between them.

When Luo Cheng arrived, he saw her standing alone in front of the flowers, staring at a peony flower as big as her palm.

The evening glow covered the entire courtyard, and her moon-white dress was covered with a faint glow. In this jade-like and magnificent palace, she looked tranquil and peaceful, like a fairy who was not of this world.

It is more like a bunch of fragrant pure white jasmine flowers, quietly blooming among thousands of flowers. Even if it is surrounded by large areas of bright red peonies, it is not inferior at all.

He approached quietly and whispered, "Is this flower... so beautiful? It allows you to look at it for so long."

Shen Li smiled, and her white fingertips gently stroked the soft layers of peony petals, "Of course it's beautiful."

Luo Cheng looked around and said, "It doesn't look like it's the biggest, nor the most outstanding one. There are so many like it in the whole garden, nothing special."

“Maybe it’s just the right time.”

"just?"

Shen Li nodded, "I just happened to walk here and stop here, and I just happened to see it. It caught my eye and touched my heart, and I felt that other flowers were not as beautiful as it."

Luo Cheng seemed to understand, "Since you like it so much, why don't I pick it for you and take it home." As he said this, he was about to pick it, but was stopped by Shen Li.

"What's wrong?" Luo Yan was very confused, "Don't you like it very much?"

"Can you just pick the flowers that the Queen raises?"

Shen Li took a deep glance at the bright red peony. The breeze blew and the petals swayed gently. Her eyes seemed to contain thousands of emotions, but she did not dare to show them easily.

"Besides, it's best for it to stay here. This is where it should be. And I... am just a passer-by in its life. It's enough for me to be able to spend a short moment with it by chance."

No matter how slow Luo Cheng was, he could hear the hidden meaning in her words. It seemed that she had a person in her heart whom she loved but could not have?

He frowned slightly and asked doubtfully, "It's early summer now, right?"

"Ah."

Shen Li nodded. Why asked such a nonsensical question? If it wasn’t early summer, could it be the middle of winter?

"It's already early summer..." Luo Cheng said with a wicked smile, "Why are you still thinking about love?"