Rebirth: Find a General as Your Backer

The two young ladies stepped into the warm pavilion together, and Li Siqian once again missed the opportunity to get to know Xue Heng.

Warm chambers were quite common in the residences of wealthy families in the capital.

Its interior is spacious, filled with various flowers. In the capital, the maintenance of flowers in the warm pavilion is a matter of great importance. If someone can cultivate their flowers in the warm pavilion to be beautiful and vibrant, they will attract many people to come and learn from them. It can be said that in the capital, everything has its own methods and techniques.

Some people, using the flowers as an excuse, took the initiative to visit and build relationships.

Xue Huai saw the two young ladies enter and quickly moved aside. In the Great Chu, there were strict rules regarding interactions between unmarried men and women. He understood his mother's intentions, but how could he, a grown man, act like a woman, secretly observing a girl from the shadows? However, since his mother had spoken, he knew that once she became stubborn, she would be just as obstinate as his elder brother.

Despite his deep reluctance, Xue Huai could only appease his mother for the time being. He hoped that after all the commotion, she would understand his true feelings. His affection for General Zhou was not a fleeting infatuation. Thinking this way, Xue Huai felt utterly helpless. On one hand, his family couldn't understand his thoughts; on the other hand, Miss Zhou seemed hesitant in matters of the heart.

However, once Xue Huai made up his mind, he would never back down easily. He was prepared for a protracted battle. Since Zhou Qi was interested in him, he would find a way to overcome the obstacles from his family.

Having followed Prince Rui for a long time, Xue Huai's temperament was completely different from that of the carefree playboy he once was in the capital. He instructed his men to take good care of the young ladies who had just entered the warm pavilion, and then shifted his attention elsewhere.

The two young ladies who entered the warm pavilion found it unusually quiet after the maid served them tea, which aroused their curiosity.

After all, the temperature in Beijing is still quite cold. Normally, people should be coming and going in the warm pavilion in such weather.

However, at this moment, Li Siqian was not most concerned about the number of people in the warm pavilion, but rather about Zhong Siya's recent condition.

Seeing that there was no one in the warm pavilion, Zhong Siya was still worried that someone might be overheard, so she lowered her voice and told Li Siqian everything that had just happened.

As Li Siqian listened, her anger grew stronger, and finally, she said in a fit of rage, "The Xue Rong Prince's Mansion must give an explanation for this matter!"

Seeing her shouting so loudly, Zhong Siya quickly reached out and covered her mouth, saying with a hint of displeasure, "What are you doing? Do you want to make this known to everyone?"

Li Siqian realized that she had been too emotional. Thinking about the danger her good friend had just gone through, she was filled with fear and blamed herself for running away in a huff instead of staying by Zhong Siya's side.

The two of them were too emotional, especially Li Siqian's appearance at the end.

Even if Xue Huai didn't want to hear it, he couldn't avoid it. After Prince Rui's grueling training, Xue Huai's martial arts skills had improved by leaps and bounds, and their hushed conversation clearly reached his ears.

The content of the conversation truly surprised Xue Huai. When he heard the name of the third-ranked scholar, Shangguan Yu, he sensed a conspiracy.

After all, Shangguan Yu was his master's enemy!

Xue Huai kept this matter in mind, intending to find an opportunity to inform the princess as soon as possible.

At the same time, Li Siqian also thought of the Princess Consort and said, "Anyway, it won't work. You don't want to make a big deal out of it, but you still have to tell Princess Consort Rui. She's so smart, she must have a better way. Why don't we listen to her ideas?"

In fact, Zhong Siya had the same idea and felt that it might be more appropriate to ask the Princess about such matters.

After all, she wasn't hurt. It's just a question of who wanted to harm her.

She still wanted to figure it out, and at the same time, she had to think of a way to thank the third-ranked scholar!

······

Su Lianyi stood there, her chest heaving with anger, her face alternating between pale and flushed, and she almost fainted. She never expected that her attempt to play the victim would backfire so spectacularly on Su Lianxue.

Su Lianxue was already beautiful, and now, with tears in her eyes, her frail and pitiful appearance evoked pity in everyone who saw her. All eyes were on Su Lianxue, leaving Su Lianyi standing to the side. She clenched her fists so tightly her nails dug into her palms, realizing she hadn't gained any advantage this time.

Fortunately, those who showed her kindness also offered some comfort, which eased her mood somewhat.

As time went on, Su Lianyi increasingly felt that she couldn't get anything good out of Su Lianxue. Su Lianxue acted very cleverly in some situations, which frightened her; but when she thought about Su Lianxue's muddle-headed handling of her dowry, she felt that Su Lianxue wasn't shrewd at all. Su Lianxue's behavior puzzled Su Lianyi greatly.

Anyway, this kind of thing can't be figured out in a short time. Su Lianyi thought of the Second Princess and Shangguan Yu's plan and was eager to know if it was progressing smoothly.

This story begins with Shangguan Yu, who has never married. They had previously reached an agreement to help Shangguan Yu pursue the daughter of Minister Zhong, which was Shangguan Yu's bargaining chip for cooperating with them.

This is a good thing for the Second Princess. She likes Xue Huai, so having one less competitor is something she'd be happy about.

Su Lianyi also had her own calculations. She often saw Miss Zhong and Su Lianxue getting very close. If Miss Zhong married Shangguan Yu, according to the custom of "a woman follows her husband after marriage," she would definitely keep her distance from Su Lianxue. This way, there would be one less person helping Su Lianxue.

Thus, for their own benefit, the Second Princess, Su Lianyi, and Shangguan Yu conspired together with ulterior motives and began their plan.

Today is the first step of the plan, so Su Lianyi is eager to know what the result will be.

Since she couldn't find anything to make her happy with Su Lianxue, Su Lianyi thought to herself that staying here would only cause her more trouble, so it would be best to leave as soon as possible.

Thinking this, she forced a stiff smile, gave Su Lianxue a perfunctory nod, and then turned and left with slightly hurried steps.

Those young ladies who had been trying so hard to curry favor with her today exchanged glances with a hint of nervousness and urgency, then quickly lifted their skirts and followed behind Su Lianyi.

They jogged along, whispering amongst themselves as they went, afraid of falling behind.

In the capital, the Third Prince Yao Wang has an excellent reputation. Even though some unfavorable rumors have recently circulated about him, everyone thinks that it is just a temporary setback and cannot shake the desire of many powerful and wealthy people to curry favor with him.

These young ladies following behind Su Lianyi each had their own agenda. On the surface, they flattered Su Lianyi, addressing her affectionately as "Miss Su," but in reality, they were all secretly plotting their own futures.