Though just rejected by her crush, at her grandmother"s request, Shen Jiuniang would have to make a match for her crush and her cousin; meanwhile, she would have to prevent another cousin from getting into the way. Such a mission was too cruel. But unable to tell the truth, Shen Jiuniang made up an excuse to deal with Old Madam Ming and accepted it with pain!

But Old Madam Ming had only told Shen Jiuniang about her consideration with no one else included.

So, on the day when they set off, seeing Shen Jiuniang in the troop, Sheng Weiqiao"s eyes dilated instantly, which made Shen Jiuniang stressed.

She hastened to pull her cousin aside and explained seriously, "Big Weiqiao, it"s not like what you think! I"m not here for Young Lord Xu in the slightest. It"s because grandmother asked me to come!"

For G.o.d"s sake, though her family status was far from an equal of Ningwei Marquis, she was brought up with indulgence and pampering. Would she be so degrading that she kept hara.s.sing him shamelessly after he had shown his slight for her so baldly?

"Rest a.s.sured, Little Jiuniang!" However, Sheng Weiqiao demonstrated trust for what she said but manifested the thought that "whatever you"re up to, I"m on your side" in her eyes. She said seriously, "Whatever you want to do, tell me and I"ll help you!"

Shen Jiuniang, "…!"

Couldn"t you just believe what I said?!

While she felt gloomy here, Xu Baomo on the other side, who had particularly dressed up, seeing the charming young girls beside the carriage, almost dropped his hand fan, "What"s going on?!"

"Brother Xu!" Because he once helped to intercede with regard to the thing about the ancestral hall, Sheng Weiwu held a good impression on him. As a girl of seven, still, she didn"t know how to observe people"s countenance. Without sensing Xu Baomo"s real mood at the moment, she came over happily to explain, "Grandfather thought that you would feel lonely to go for an outing with Eldest Brother only. So, he let Second Sister, Third Sister, also Fourth Brother to come along. I thought it would be boring to stay in the mansion because Second Sister wouldn"t be there, so I pleaded with grandfather for two days, and finally, he gave in and allowed me to come!"

Her smile was so bright, "We"ve never gone for an outing in such a big group. It looks so lively. Brother Xu, are you happy about it?"

"Of course I"m happy!" Xu Baomo clenched the hand fan with a forced smile and the swollen vein on the hand, "Alright, it"s about time. Sisters, please get on the carriage. We"re setting off!"

Turning back, he put on a gloomy face. How could he feel happy?!

His Big Weiqiao had three sisters in her company this time. Taking also the maids and nannies into account, let alone coax Sheng Weiqiao out to appreciate the nocturne, he had to be cautious of others" thoughtless sight in case they noticed it when he cast a flirtatious look at her, didn"t he?!

What was worse, the Seventh Miss who was talking with him just now would definitely attach herself to his Big Weiqiao closely!

What was the sense of having fun?!

He wasn"t here for sightseeing, anyway!

"Since it"s already like this, I can"t just say that I won"t go. Wait and see. Might there will be a turn?" Xu Baomo stayed vexed for a while and tried to console himself, "Besides, even if this journey went a waste, I can put it an opportunity to familiarize with the local condition. Then I can invite Big Weiqiao for an outing alone next time!"

Thinking that, finally he calmed down. Having neatened his clothes and rebuilt his image of a refined gentleman, he went over to his horse.

"I"ve said before that I didn"t want to come out!" Though Sheng Weiwu wasn"t sensitive, the rest of the group weren"t necessarily as ignorant and naive as this Seventh Miss.

As soon as Xu Baomo went away, Third Miss Sheng Weirao began to complain with a sullen face, "My mother forced me to come, but actually, our intrusion wasn"t welcome at all. If I"d foreseen the situation, I should have dragged my mother here and let her see the countenance of Young Lord Xu. Then she wouldn"t have told me to leave a good impression on Young Lord Xu!"

Shen Jiuniang happened to go over there after the conversation with Sheng Weiqiao. Hearing that, she glimpsed at her, feeling surprised but relieved, and thought that if this cousin didn"t have any intentions on Xu Baomo, her mission wouldn"t be a hard one.

However, seeing her, Sheng Weirao rolled her eyes at her and said in a weird tone, "Yo! Cousin, finally you"re here! I was thinking that even if we didn"t come, you would get through all the difficulties to be here!"

Sheng Jiuniang, having figured out her implication, changed her expression and rebuked at a low voice, "What do you mean?!"

"Third Sister, what are you talking about?" Sheng Weiqiao hurried to intervene, "Eldest Brother, Fourth Brother, and Young Lord Xu have all got on their horses. Waste no time and get on the carriage! Don"t keep them waiting!"

Sheng Weirao groaned, but still, she obeyed her. Without saying anything, she lifted her hem and mounted the shaft by the stool. Raising the curtain, she entered the carriage.

Because there were many girls in this group, in case they felt lonely on the way or too many carriages were uneasy to manage, Sheng Family had prepared for them the largest carriage so that the four girls could take it with their maids.

At present, after Sheng Weirao, other people also entered the carriage one after another. Because of what Sheng Weirao said just now, the atmosphere inside the carriage was a bit stiff. n.o.body uttered until the carriage left Sheng Family"s mansion.

After a while, when Sheng Weiqiao thought about breaking the silence, but it was Shen Jiuniang who failed to contain her emotion and uttered first, "Third Cousin, let"s put it all on the table. What did you mean by the words before?!"

Shen Jiuniang was searching for the root, not for her hatred against Sheng Weirao but for her worry. She was worried that the fact that she admired Xu Baomo but was rejected by him leaked out!

Though the social culture was open and tolerant at the time, such an experience was a shame for a girl, anyway!

Of course, she was anxious inside!

However, Sheng Weirao seemed determined to go against her. Hearing that, she smirked coldly, looked at her up and down, and then she said slowly, "Cousin! See. What you wear, what you eat these days were all from Sheng Family, right? It"s reasonable to say that our Sheng Family treated you well! So, shouldn"t you do us a favor and spare us?"

Those words astounded everyone in the carriage. Shen Jiuniang was trembling in anger. She shook off Sheng Weiqiao"s arm on her, leaned forward and snapped, "Do you mean that I"ll do you harm? Make it clear, how did I harm you?! If it was true, I"ll kneel down immediately and apologize by kowtowing to you one by one! But if you made it up, I would surely report to grandmother and Second Aunt and ask for justice!"

Sheng Weiqiao also felt confused, "Third Sister, were you deceived by someone so that you misunderstood Little Jiuniang? Little Jiuniang is our cousin, so how could she set us up?"

"Second Sister!" However, hearing her words, Sheng Weirao just stared at her with dissatisfaction and said, "For Seventh Sister, it"s alright since she"s still young. But you"re older than me! Why did you fail to find such an important thing?"

Saying that, she pointed at Shen Jiuniang and smirked, "Several days ago, I saw it with my own eyes Seventh Sister chasing her by where I was disciplining the little b*tch. I was wondering what had happened! So, I left her behind and caught up with her to ask. Seventh Sister told me about the whole incident. About what actually took place, for her reputation I won"t clarify it further!"

"If she had put an end to it that day, I wouldn"t spread any gossip about the siblings in our own family!"

"But she came along with us again today!"

"What do you mean?!"

"You have the nerve to ask what I mean. I mean that though your surname isn"t Sheng, you are in Sheng Family"s carriage and your bear the t.i.tle of Sheng Family"s cousin. During this outing, if something shameful happened, how could the daughters of Sheng Family not be involved?!"

"In your view, do you want me to beg you? Could you please do all the disgraced stuff alone and don"t implicate us?!"

Shen Jiuniang put her hand on the bosom and was about to explode—She suppressed great pain and sorrow and joined this outing, but besides Sheng Weiqiao who thought that she hadn"t been over Xu Baomo, Sheng Weirao who happened to know about her feelings for Xu Baomo also figured that she was intended to keep hara.s.sing Xu Baomo shamelessly?!

But in fact, Madam Bai and Sheng Weirao were to blame!!!

Snap!

After a while, Shen Jiuniang, who finally regained consciousness during the consolation of Sheng Weiqiao, inclined forward without thinking and slapped Sheng Weirao!

"Weren"t you doubting my intention to come with you today?!" After the slap, ignoring the murmur inside the carriage, Shen Jiuniang hurled herself forward and held down Sheng Weirao who was to strike back, and then said in hatred, "I"ll tell you then. Listen carefully! I didn"t want to get myself into such a mess, but it was my grandmother, also your grandmother, who had learned that your mother was preparing new clothes for you eagerly in the past few days, feared that you might lose the face of Sheng Family and commanded me to come and keep an eye on you, you got it?!"

"Nonsense!" Sheng Weirao, who was three years younger than Shen Jiuniang, struggled in vain under Shen Jiuniang"s body and snapped, "I have no feelings for Young Lord Xu! If it weren"t for my mother who insisted that I should come, I was to decline grandfather"s invitation! Do you think I"m like you, who went mad when seeing a handsome boy?! You were dashing baldly with tears through the garden, and Seventh Sister couldn"t even catch up with you! If our grandfather"s birthday hadn"t pa.s.sed, there were still many outsiders in our mansion and if such news spread, people would think that all girls in Sheng Family were as disgraceful as you are. Wouldn"t our reputation be tainted?!"

Shen Jiuniang, with extreme indignation, said coldly, "What a decent person you are! You had the nerve to call the cousin who came back not long ago "little b*tch". Don"t forget that at the time, your mother entered Sheng Family, being pregnant. If Ao Family didn"t proposed divorce, you would also be a daughter from the outside. Would you be n.o.bler than Sheng Lianlian?! It"s said that like mother, like daughter. Do you deserve the word "reputation"?! Don"t even soil the word!"