Mistakenly recognized as a cousin, thousands of pampered

In the blink of an eye, it was the engagement banquet three days later.

Since the wedding is next month, the two families decided to only invite close relatives from both families to the engagement banquet. This would not only demonstrate the closeness and solemnity of the family, but also avoid unnecessary formalities.

Today, Tao Jiuxi's family all dressed up to show their respect for this important occasion. Normally, Tao Jiuxi would only take one maid with him when he went out, but this time, he was followed by a large group of maids and servants from the Tao Mansion.

Shen Zhiyi came to pick him up early in the morning in high spirits.

Seeing Tao Jiuxi's slight nervousness, he gently said to her, "Jiuxi, don't worry today. Just do what you want. No matter what happens, I will take care of you in the end."

Shen Yuquan and his entire family were waiting in an orderly manner at the door.

Tao Hongyuan was delighted to see this. Compared to the Shen family, his family was only a small one. Although he knew Shen Yuquan was so attentive because he wanted to get closer to Shen Zhiyi, Tao Hongyuan was still happy to see such a thoughtful attitude.

"My dear relatives, I hope you can forgive me for not coming to greet you from afar." Shen Yuquan was the first to bow with a smile on his face.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, Lord Shen."

The men were greeting each other, and on the other side, Xie Ningqiu also came forward with enthusiasm, pulled Zhong Yunxi over very familiarly, and began to introduce the women in the family one by one.

Even though Xie Ningqiu deliberately omitted the Bai family's introduction, Tao Jiuxi could tell at a glance how favored the Bai family was in this mansion.

Bai's attire today was extremely gorgeous. Her elegant demeanor and exquisite attire made her look even more like the mistress of a household than Xie Ningqiu. However, as a concubine, her status limited her, so she could only stand respectfully behind Xie Ningqiu, her head bowed in silence.

Tao Jiuxi followed closely and got to know everyone one by one as they were introduced.

Seeing Xie Ningqiu and Zhong Yunxi talking enthusiastically, Bai's face showed obvious displeasure.

Thinking back to when Xie Ningqiu had been gone for a long time, Bai Shi thought that she would never come back, but she didn't expect that not only did she return home, but even her eccentric son Shen Zhiyi was going to get married.

It was just an ordinary matter for his own son to get married, but when Shen Zhiyi got married this time, the betrothal gifts were countless, more than a hundred boxes, and he even received generous rewards from the royal family and the eldest princess.

Bai secretly thought to herself that if Xie Ningqiu never returned, she was confident that she would be able to persuade Shen Yuquan to divorce Xie Ningqiu in time. In this way, she would naturally become the rightful mistress of the Shen family.

However, after Xie Ningqiu returned, Shen Yuquan actually handed over the power of managing the family that she had held for many years back to Xie Ningqiu.

For Bai, this was like a shattered dream. How could she not feel resentful and lost? With all this going on, how could she be happy?

The men went to the front hall, while the women gathered in the back hall.

Tao Jiuxi thought to himself that today was just a formality and he just needed to stay here all day long.

She thought that no matter who spoke to her, she would just respond politely. After all, there were so many people present, including her aunts and uncles, that it was difficult for her to recognize all of them.

After some greetings, Tao Jiuxi gradually felt tired.

At this time, Shen Muyao, who was only eight years old, took the initiative to walk up to her.

"Sister-in-law, this is a sandbag I made by myself. I'm giving it to you."

Tao Jiuxi took the sandbag with a smile and asked softly, "What's your name?"

It wasn't her fault. Shen Zhiyi's family was quite large, indeed quite large compared to Xie Jinghuan's. Fortunately, Tao Jiuxi wouldn't need to live in this mansion for long.

"My name is Muyao, Shen Muyao." Shen Muyao answered crisply.

"The sandbags you made are so beautiful. Since you gave me such beautiful sandbags, your sister-in-law will also give you a gift in return." After saying that, Tao Jiuxi took out an exquisite purse from her waist.

She had just put on this purse today, and she had already given Shen Muyao other gifts before, so it was polite to give her this purse at this moment.

"Thank you, sister-in-law. You are so beautiful." Shen Muyao said happily.

"Muyao, you are also very cute and beautiful." Tao Jiuxi responded with a smile.

After chatting pleasantly with Shen Muyao for a while, other people came to greet Tao Jiuxi.

Finally, it was time for dinner. Tao Jiuxi was only thinking about leaving after the meal. After half a day, she was exhausted and felt that her saliva was about to run dry.

While waiting for the meal, the hall was exceptionally quiet.

"Sister-in-law."

A sweet voice came from a distance.

Tao Jiuxi looked over when he heard the voice and saw that the person who spoke was Shen Muya, Bai's daughter.

"I met my sister-in-law today, and she is just as the rumors say, a beauty of the country, and I am really envious of her."

Tao Jiuxi felt a little strange when she heard Shen Muya's tone, but today was her engagement party, and she knew that she had to remain dignified and graceful at all times.

So, she just bowed slightly and said softly, "Thank you for the compliment."

Suddenly, Shen Muya seemed to suddenly remember something and said, "I was wondering why my sister-in-law looked so familiar. It turns out we met once before at the eldest princess's polo match."

When Tao Jiuxi heard the mention of the polo club, the embarrassing and disgraceful appearance he had that day immediately emerged in his mind.

If someone saw her at the polo club, it would probably be the scene where she cried and begged Shen Zhiyi. At that time, the news of her throwing herself into Shen Zhiyi's arms had spread widely among the ladies in the capital. Everyone knew that it was Tao Jiuxi who did it, but no one mentioned it in front of Tao Jiuxi.

Isn't it like bringing up something irrelevant to the topic when Shen Muya brings it up now?

Tao Jiuxi glanced at Shen Muya, but before he could speak, he heard Shen Muya say, "That night at the dinner, I saw my sister-in-law from a distance. At that time, I secretly wondered who this beautiful girl was. I never thought that she would become my sister-in-law. It seems that we are really destined to be together."

Hearing this, Tao Jiuxi secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It turned out that she was not going to talk about her throwing herself into Shen Zhiyi's arms.

"That day, there were so many people around that I didn't notice my sister. Now that we're family, it must be fate."

But just when Tao Jiuxi had let down his guard, he heard Shen Muya open her mouth again: "Hey, now that I think about it, it doesn't seem like this was our first meeting."

"Oh? Then where have we met before?"

"Before the Spring Examination, I also met my sister-in-law at the elegant gathering at Wangyue Tower. My second brother and my sister-in-law went to the gathering together at that time."

After hearing this, Tao Jiuxi knew in her heart that Shen Muya had come with ill intentions.

Tao Jiuxi felt that Shen Muya could not have been there at that time because Shen Zhiyi never mentioned it.

It seems that the person in front of me must have deliberately investigated me, and his soft words today are intended to embarrass me.

Thinking back to when he first met Shen Zhiyi, Tao Hongyuan had not yet arrived in the capital. In this case, if their "free love" was made public, although in this era, many people met their partners in this way, everyone openly followed the rules, parents' orders, and matchmaker's words. If they violated them, they would always be criticized.

Tao Jiuxi raised a faint smile at the corner of his mouth, looked at Shen Muya calmly, raised his chin slightly, and motioned her to continue.

As expected, Shen Muya saw Tao Jiuxi's seemingly disdainful look towards her, and then asked, "I wonder how sister-in-law and second brother met?"