The cousin is beautiful but ruthless.

Pei Du glanced at him, but Xu Zhun was not afraid at all, looking as if he wanted to find out the truth.

"It's nothing serious."

"I do not believe."

"..."

Pei Du got up and left, and Xu Zhun chased after him, but no matter what, if Pei Du didn't want to talk, there was no way to get him to open his mouth.

A few exclamations in the distance broke the silent and awkward atmosphere. Shen Hanyu turned her head and saw that it was the Third Prince, Li Jun.

Surprisingly, Liang Ruoyan followed closely behind Li Jun, and the two seemed to be having a good conversation, with Li Jun wearing a smile the whole time.

When the two appeared together, many people below began to whisper among themselves, predicting that rumors would be flying all over Chang'an tomorrow.

Liang Ruoyan was somewhat smug, but she hid it very well when she was next to Li Jun.

After playing a tune on the zither, Li Jun treated her even more warmly. This was the first time she had ever experienced being the center of attention.

Xu Ying and Sun Qinghe exchanged a glance and both smiled. No matter what, things looked good now.

Liang Ruoyan ran to Xu Ying's side, and Xu Ying happily took her hand.

"As expected of my daughter, what did you and the Third Prince talk about?"

Liang Ruoyan replied shyly, "His Highness asked me what I usually like to do, and I said I play the zither. Then His Highness asked me to play 'Phoenix Seeking Its Mate,' but I was too embarrassed and changed to something else. However, His Highness seemed quite happy about it and wasn't angry about it. Mother, what do you say..."

Xu Ying thought about it for a moment and felt that Liang Ruoyan hadn't done anything wrong.

“You performed well in front of His Highness. Don’t rush. Let me find out what’s going on. If we are truly destined to meet, then we have nothing to fear.”

If she was too hasty, she might leave a bad impression on Li Jun, and Liang Ruoyan certainly understood this.

Sun Qinghe was happy to see that things were going well, after all, she was the one who had brought this matter together.

"Alright, let's go to the banquet first. I've spent a lot of money today, but thankfully Yan'er did well."

Sun Qinghe led the two over, and Liang Ruoyan suddenly thought of something: "Mother, do you know how Shen Hanyu met Young Master Pei?"

"Shen Hanyu and Pei Du?"

Xu Ying stopped in her tracks, and Sun Qinghe also pricked up her ears to listen. These two people were completely unrelated.

Liang Ruoyan nodded: "I saw them standing together talking with my own eyes, and Liang Ruochu saw it too. Mother, do you know what happened?"

How could Xu Ying possibly know? She had also investigated Liang Fangrong and her daughter, but found no connection between them and Pei Du.

“I’ll figure out how to get to the bottom of this. You two don’t need to worry. We already have the Third Prince as our backer, don’t we?”

Sun Qinghe took the initiative to take on this task. She knew that Xu Ying and her daughter disliked the two people from Suzhou, and Sun Qinghe also looked down on them.

Feeling somewhat relieved, Xu Ying led Liang Ruoyan to the banquet first.

When Shen Hanyu appeared with Liang Siyu and the others, Xu Ying's expression immediately turned sour. Despite all her precautions, she never expected that Shen Hanyu would have contact with her son again.

Xu Ying sat here. "Yu'er, come here."

When Liang Siyu saw that it was Xu Ying calling him, he went over.

Shen Hanyu tactfully sat down on the other side, with Liang Ruochu still beside her. Neither of them held a high position, so they were at the end.

Liang Ruochu looked guilty.

"Cousin, I'm sorry."

Shen Hanyu didn't say anything. She didn't care whether Liang Ruochu would testify for her or not, because she had achieved her goal.

"It's alright, nothing serious happened anyway, you don't need to feel too guilty."

Liang Ruochu felt that Shen Hanyu definitely hadn't forgiven her, but she didn't know what to do and could only grieve in silence.

Nothing much happened at the banquet; everyone was drawn to Liang Ruoyan and Li Jun. The fact that the two of them came out together had led many to speculate whether Liang Ruoyan would be the Third Prince's consort.

Shen Hanyu picked up some food. In her previous life, Liang Ruoyan had indeed become the Third Prince's wife, but Shen Hanyu would never let her be so lucky again.

The fact that things are still undecided means there's still a chance for things to turn around.

When the maid who had gone out to investigate returned, she whispered a few words in Sun Qinghe's ear that Shen Hanyu had indeed gone out alone with Pei Du for a while, but not for long.

Sun Qinghe frowned. Could it be that Shen Hanyu had really gotten close to Pei Du?

Just then, Pei Du sat down and saw Shen Hanyu. His face remained expressionless, which puzzled Sun Qinghe.

This matter needs to be thoroughly investigated, otherwise it would be a mistake. She still can't afford to offend the Founding Duke's Mansion.

"Big brother."

Someone called out from behind, and Xu Zhun looked over to see that person sitting down next to Pei Du.

"Brother, why aren't you with me and Mother today?"

Hearing him call Pei Du "elder brother," this person must be Pei Xingzhi, the son of the Duke's second wife, who is only one year younger than Pei Du.

Seeing the resemblance between Pei Xingzhi and the Duke, everyone remained silent.

The Duke's Mansion of the Founding Dynasty claimed that this person was the son of the Duke's wife and had no relation to the Duke, but now it seems that this is not the case.

Pei Du lifted his eyelids and finally gave Pei Xingzhi, who was jumping up and down, a look.

"roll."

Pei Du's tone was as calm as if he were saying how nice the weather was today, and Xu Zhun burst out laughing.

"You should at least give your brother some face."

Pei Du sneered and did not respond to Xu Zhun's words.

Pei Xingzhi looked embarrassed. Han Yueru, the Duchess of the County, who was sitting in front of him, was already used to Pei Du's attitude. Ever since she entered the Duchess's mansion, she had never received a kind look from Pei Du.

Han Yueru put down her teacup and said with a smile, "Xingzhi, don't upset your brother. Come over here."

Pei Xingzhi obediently went over.

Han Yueru turned her head and met Xu Ying's gaze, causing Xu Ying's heart to skip a beat.

"Madam Xu, I heard that a young lady has come to your house from Suzhou. May I ask who she is? Could you please introduce us? I just heard that Du'er and that young lady got along very well."

Shen Hanyu, who was at the end, was suddenly called out. She was still trying to recall whether Pei Xingzhi had attended the flower viewing banquet in her previous life when she was suddenly brought in front of everyone.

Shen Hanyu stood up and bowed. This matter between her and Pei Du was like a boulder falling into the water, causing a splash. This Madam Han was after Pei Du and had borrowed her as a raft.

Li Jun looked over with great interest. Everyone knew what kind of personality Pei Du had, which was why she was curious.

"This humble woman, Shen Hanyu, greets Madam Han."

Shen Hanyu was poised and graceful, and made no mistakes in etiquette.

Han Yueru smiled kindly.

"What a good boy, and he looks nice too. No wonder even someone as aloof as Du'er is willing to talk to you."

Han Yueru's words made the relationship between the two seem ambiguous. The eldest son of the founding duke's mansion, who was once the most favored, and his cousin who came from Suzhou to live with her mother's family. If this were to get out, Pei Du would at worst have a romantic past, but Shen Hanyu's reputation would be damaged.

Xu Ying also understood that even though she disliked Shen Hanyu, Shen Hanyu was now a member of the Marquis's mansion, and her words and actions represented the mansion. If she were to be involved in any scandalous affairs, it would affect the women of the Marquis's mansion. Therefore, she also felt somewhat disgusted with Han Yueru.

Pei Du opened his mouth, about to say that he had no connection with Shen Hanyu, but Shen Hanyu spoke first.