High-class maid

As night fell, the Song residence was quiet, and the people who had been busy all day had long since fallen asleep. Song Wenyang looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar house, and for a moment, he couldn't fall asleep.

He lay in bed, looking at the luxurious ceiling, but it didn't give him the same sense of security as the bed in the alley of Shangqiao Street.

"Who?" A muffled sound came, and Song Wenyang asked in a low voice.

He was met with silence, but Song Wenyang could still hear a faint sound in the silence: someone was crawling on the ground.

Song Wenyang lit the candles and just then saw the Emperor get up from the ground.

"..."

The two remained silent. At that moment, Song Wenyang wished he hadn't lit the candle, hoping for a pair of unseen eyes to see him!

"Ahem, well, why is the window so high?" The Emperor awkwardly touched his nose, looking like a child who had done something wrong.

"The Emperor broke into someone else's house late at night, probably not to see how high the windows in my residence are."

Seeing that the visitor was the Emperor and not an assassin, Song Wenyang felt relieved and sat down to watch him.

"You silly child..." The Emperor chuckled, looking at him helplessly.

Song Wenyang did not respond, but waited quietly for the emperor's next move.

The Emperor, seeing that he didn't stand on ceremony, wasn't surprised. He lifted his robe, sat down directly on the stool, and said...

"You're leaving for Jinling tomorrow, aren't you?"

Song Wenyang nodded without saying a word.

"So much has happened this year. If you lack confidence, no one will laugh at you if you don't participate in this year's imperial examination."

"No need for you to worry about that." Song Wenyang looked down at the table, his deep gaze lost in thought.

"Hmph, young people are so arrogant!" The Emperor said with a slight curl of his lip.

Song Wenyang still didn't look at him.

Seeing that the young man before him did not refute him, the emperor felt bored and then said...

"Um...you're fifteen this year, right?"

"Sixteen."

"Oh, right, right, I know you're sixteen. I just said it wrong on purpose."

"..."

"According to the rules, you must observe three years of mourning for that old woman Yu. Do you have a woman you like? I will arrange a marriage for you first, and you can get married after the mourning period is over."

This was the Emperor's true purpose for this trip. His sons had all been betrothed and were to get married this year, but his only son, who was still living among the common people, didn't have a girl he liked yet, and he was anxious!

For some reason, Shen Xing'er appeared in Song Wenyang's mind. Her every smile, her every move, her voice were so deeply imprinted in his mind.

Looking at his son's expression, the emperor, being an experienced man, immediately knew that his son had someone he liked.

"Whose daughter is she? If you like her, no one can take her from you!" The Emperor's eyes sparkled. He himself could not spend his life with the woman he loved, so his son must not have any regrets!

"Can a man do it too?" As if possessed, Song Wenyang blurted out the question against his will; he was determined to stick to this persona!

"No...no! Are you poisoned? Why are you still mentioning men?" The Emperor was furious. He thought Song Wenyang was just trying to scare him last time, but he didn't expect that after so long, he still preferred men!

"Why should I like women? Do I want to marry a venomous woman in my family, only to have her plot against me and kill me?" Song Wenyang laughed self-deprecatingly, looking utterly pathetic.

The Emperor's last complaint about him vanished, and he unconsciously stepped forward to pat Song Wenyang on the shoulder, offering words of comfort.

"Don't worry, as long as you're willing, I'll definitely find you the best woman in the world!"

“We’ll talk about it later. Even if I have a woman I like, I don’t need you to arrange a marriage. I will make her marry me willingly,” Song Wenyang said.

"Alright! As long as it's not a man, I'll do as you say!" The Emperor looked at Song Wenyang and thought he had a strong personality; he was indeed his son!

Song Wenyang didn't want to say much. He would naturally propose to Xing'er after he passed the imperial examination.

"Don't bother me anymore. I just want to live an ordinary life," Song Wenyang said.

His life was already complicated enough. If Xing'er married him, he would be exhausted from dealing with everyone in the Song family. He really didn't want Xing'er to get involved with the royal family.

If he could, he would rather take Xing'er away and live as an ordinary couple.

The Emperor was taken aback; this was the first time he had been openly disliked. He said...

"I just want you to be with the person you love, and I don't want you to have regrets like your mother and I did."

"You are not worthy to mention her!" Song Wenyang suddenly burst out, turned around and walked out, leaving the emperor staring blankly out the window.

"Yue'er, if you were still alive, our son wouldn't be in such a pitiful state..."

Life gradually returned to normal. Shen Xing'er spent her days at home drawing patterns and occasionally helping Wang Shi cook, researching new dishes.

Shen Kun became friends with Mr. Ren in the alley, and they would take their birds for a walk every morning. After years of being busy, the family was still a little unaccustomed to this slow-paced life.

As the weather gradually warms up, Shen Xing'er decides to make tomato and minced meat noodles today.

First, she heated oil in a wok, scrambled the eggs, then removed them from the wok. Next, she stir-fried the tomatoes until they released their juices. While the tomatoes were heating in the wok, she peeled a few cloves of garlic. She then crushed the garlic, added the eggs and garlic to the wok, and then served a bowl of cooked noodles with a spoonful of sauce. The fragrant noodles were ready!

"Hmm, I didn't expect Xing'er's cooking skills to be so good. This is the first time I've ever had garlic with tomato and egg!" Shen Kun ate one bowl of noodles after another before he had time to praise her.

"My daughter is just being generous with the amount of oil she uses. If only we had sesame oil, it would taste even better." Shen Xing'er thought of sesame oil from her previous life, but unfortunately, it didn't exist in ancient times.

In ancient times, especially for ordinary people, most meals were steamed or boiled, and stir-fries were very rare. This was because oil was expensive and there wasn't much variety in the dishes.

"By the way, husband, you see Master Ren every day, do you know why he lives in this alley?"

After eating and drinking her fill, Wang asked about her husband, Master Ren. It's no wonder she was so gossipy; she had nothing to do at home all day and couldn't find any fun to pass the time except for gossiping about family matters.

"Hey, this old Ren is a filial son." Shen Kun wiped his mouth. These days he had become sworn brothers with Master Ren and started calling him Old Ren.

It turns out that the house in the capital was just an old residence for Master Ren. His real mansion was far away in Youzhou, which was extremely luxurious and had countless servants, befitting his nouveau riche lifestyle.

But Master Ren's mother didn't like living there, saying that the courtyard was too big and felt empty and she wasn't used to it.

Five years ago, Mr. Ren's mother fell seriously ill and longed to move back to the old house, saying that she wanted to return to her roots. However, Mr. Ren was in a hurry to go to sea, and the old house was under renovation.