The cousin is beautiful but ruthless.

Upon seeing Sun Qinghe, Liang Ruoyan stepped forward and curtsied.

"Aunt Sun."

Sun Qinghe exclaimed, "Yan'er is so beautiful! You really know how to raise children. Look at them, they're all outstanding."

Xu Ying glanced at her and said irritably, "What nonsense are you talking about? You're trying to harm me and make me a thorn in their side."

Sun Qinghe smiled and lowered her voice to tell her, "They're here, let's go take a look."

Xu Ying rolled her eyes around, then turned to Liang Ruochu and the others and instructed them, "You guys can play here for a while. Yan'er, you stay with Aunt Sun."

Liang Ruoxue narrowed her eyes. Xu Ying had brought Liang Ruoxue along specifically, so she must be taking her to meet someone. Everyone knew that this flower-viewing banquet was organized by Sun Qinghe.

Knowing this, Liang Ruoxue outwardly agreed to Xu Ying's instructions, but still planned to go and check it out later.

Shen Hanyu glanced in that direction; Xu Ying must be taking Liang Ruoyan to see the Third Prince and Pei Du.

She felt a gaze fall upon her, and out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of the Earl of Guangning in the distance.

The Earl of Guangning stood on the high platform, holding a wine cup in one hand, his gaze drifting down, noticing the young ladies from the Marquis of Anping's residence.

"Bo Yi, what are you looking at?"

The man next to him followed his gaze downwards and exclaimed in surprise.

"The Marquis of Anping's residence has a new, thin and pale young girl. She must be the one who came from Suzhou to visit relatives."

Zhou Yurong put down his wine cup. "Suzhou?"

The man nodded: "Haven't you heard? The youngest daughter of the old lady of the Anping Marquis's mansion in Suzhou married into the Shen family. The one I haven't met before must be Shen Hanyu."

Zhou Yurong stroked her chin. "So, what's the background of the Shen family?"

"Alas, Shen Yanzhi was just a local official. Now that he's dead, it's a pity for this mother and daughter."

That means he doesn't have any significant status.

Zhou Yurong began to have some calculations.

The man also asked him, "By the way, what brings you to the flower viewing party today? Aren't you afraid your tigress will get angry?"

Zhou Yurong's wife was notorious for her ferocity; there were few in the entire city of Chang'an who did not know about it.

Hearing his friend's teasing words, Zhou Yurong didn't offer any explanation. He had his own purpose in coming today.

The moment Shen Hanyu saw Zhou Yurong, the hatred in her eyes almost materialized. Liang Ruochu turned her head and saw that Shen Hanyu's expression wasn't too good, so she quickly asked, "Cousin, are you feeling unwell?"

Shen Hanyu snapped out of her daze and shook her head: "I'm fine."

Upon suddenly seeing Zhou Yurong, she couldn't control her emotions. However, when their eyes met, she still felt something was off. Shen Hanyu touched her face, thinking that Zhou Yurong couldn't possibly have noticed her again.

But she also had to consider the worst-case scenario.

"Second Miss Liang".

A clear and pleasant young voice came from ahead. When Liang Ruoxue saw the person, she showed a rare shy expression.

"Young Master Chen is here. What a coincidence."

Liang Ruoxue brushed a stray hair behind her ear, looking every bit the young girl.

Chen Rui smiled and nodded, glancing at Liang Ruochu and Shen Hanyu standing together.

"Greetings, Miss Liang. And who is this?"

Liang Ruoxue didn't want Chen Rui to notice Shen Hanyu, so she stepped forward to block Chen Rui's probing gaze.

“This is my cousin from Suzhou. My aunt said she wanted to bring her here to broaden her horizons. Young Master Chen, the peach blossoms over there are in full bloom. Let’s go take a look together.”

Liang Ruoxue gestured for Chen Rui to come with her, but Chen Rui turned to look at Shen Hanyu, who had already turned away.

"What's so interesting about this?" Liang Ruoxue muttered under her breath, urging Chen Rui to come with her to admire the flowers.

Chen Rui said helplessly, "Can you leave your cousin and sister there? I don't think Aunt Xu is here either."

Liang Ruoxue pursed her lips, a surge of anger rising within her. Just one meeting with Shen Hanyu and she was already like this; Chen Rui had never paid this much attention to Liang Ruochu before.

Chen Rui was puzzled when he saw Liang Ruoxue stop walking. Then Liang Ruoxue turned around and left, looking a little angry.

One by one they left, and Chen Rui scratched his head, wondering what had happened.

"Liang Ruochu?"

Liang Ruochu was walking with Shen Hanyu when she heard the voice and couldn't help but shiver, grabbing Shen Hanyu's sleeve tightly.

Shen Hanyu lowered her eyes. She did remember these people; they always liked to bully the timid Liang Ruochu, and dragged her along with them.

The three stood together. Liang Ruochu didn't dare to turn around. They walked directly in front of Liang Ruochu and also noticed Shen Hanyu.

Lin Rushuang, who was in the lead, looked her over and said, "So this is your cousin from the countryside. She really does have a poor and shabby air about her."

As she spoke, Lin Rushuang fanned the air in front of her with her hand, looking disgusted.

Liang Ruochu lowered her head like a quail. Shen Hanyu said calmly, "Miss Lin, you've revealed your shortcomings as soon as you open your mouth. You keep saying that Suzhou is the countryside. You're really erudite."

The more submissive you are to these people, the more they bully you, so Shen Hanyu naturally doesn't tolerate it.

Lin Rushuang was indeed furious. She pointed at Shen Hanyu's nose and said, "Since you know who I am, how dare you mock me like this?"

Shen Hanyu is related to the Marquis of Anping's family, so even if Lin Rushuang wanted to take action, she would have to think twice.

But judging from her current angry and stomping state, it's hard to know what she might do next.

The two girls behind Lin Rushuang were also united in their hatred of the enemy, and Liang Ruochu was even more frightened.

"Cousin, just apologize and we'll leave."

Liang Ruochu was used to being submissive, and Shen Hanyu had no intention of trying to change her mind.

There would be many more banquets like this in the future, and Shen Hanyu felt that she couldn't let herself be bullied every time.

"Today's flower viewing banquet is hosted by Madam Sun. Madam Sun and my aunt are close friends. If Miss Lin continues to cause trouble and disturbs the enjoyment of everyone at the flower viewing banquet, I cannot guarantee what might happen."

Shen Hanyu brought up Sun Qinghe and Xu Ying. She knew that she was of low status and that even if she used the Anping Marquis's mansion, she might not be able to control Lin Rushuang, but these two were different.

Lin Rushuang was speechless. After catching her breath, she whispered, "Are you threatening me?"

Before Shen Hanyu could continue speaking, someone said, "Does Miss Lin want everyone at the flower-viewing banquet to know how poorly the Lin family's upbringing is?"

Shen Hanyu was stunned when she saw who it was.

Lin Rushuang was about to ask who had the audacity when she turned her head and saw Pei Du walking over. She was startled, her face changing rapidly, and she quickly left with her people.

A man chased after Pei Du; it was his friend Xu Zhun.

Xu Zhun looked puzzled. Pei Du wasn't usually this fond of standing up for the weak, so why did he seem like a different person today?

Immediately afterwards, he heard Pei Du say, "Miss Shen, would you like to move over for a chat?"

Shen Hanyu pursed her lips. Seeing Pei Du's expression, she knew that Pei Du remembered her. Several thoughts flashed through her mind. Shen Hanyu nodded and followed behind Pei Du.