Every time Shao Wanru walked into Old Madam’s room, she always felt depressed and ostracized.

When she visited Old Madam, she usually met two situations, one of which was that Old Madam sat in the seat of honor arrogantly with a straight face, and the other was that those in the room, who were talking and laughing in a good atmosphere, fell into weird silence after hearing the maid reported her arrival as it was now.

Then she heard Old Madam ask her to get in in a low voice.

She felt completely ostracized. Although they said nothing, she couldn’t fit in. When she thought that her mother had also experienced such a situation, her eyes became sharp and deep. In Duke Xing’s Mansion, Old Madam of Duke Xing’s Mansion had absolute power and could trample anyone under her feet.

At that time, Madam of Duke Xing must be adding inflammatory details beside Old Madam. If her mother had not been driven to the wall, her mother would not have left Duke Xing’s Mansion!

After bowing to Old Madam who was sitting on the middle couch, Shao Wanru sat aside as she was told. When she looked up, she found that not only Shao Yanru but also Shao Jie’er, Shao Caihuan and Shao Cailing were here. What a family reunion!

Seeing her look up, Shao Yanru gave a gentle and dignified smile as usual. Shao Jie’er looked at her with a little disdain. If it were not for Rui’an Great Elder Princess as Shao Wanru’s backing, Shao Wanru wouldn’t have been able to compare with her in the mansion, so she looked down on Shao Wanru.

Shao Caihuan and Shao Cailing were biological sisters of the third branch. Because the madam of the third branch got injured in the carriage crash three years ago and had been in poor health since then, they usually spent their time accompanying the Third Madam in the courtyard and seldom showed up in other places. They sort of lived in seclusion. Shao Caihuan, who looked more stable, became expressionless after meeting Shao Wanru’s eyes calmly.

Shao Cailing, who was a little curious, stared at Shao Wanru for a while.

Now that everyone was here, Old Madam coughed in a low voice and said to her five granddaughters, “Since you are all here now, let’s talk it over together! Wanru is the latest. Ru’er, tell her about it!”

After that, she picked up the cup of tea beside her and took a sip, giving the floor to Shao Yanru.

Hearing what Old Madam said, Shao Yanru, who was sitting next to Shao Wanru, turned her head and said, “Fifth Sister, do you know Honored Consort Shu in the imperial palace?”

Honored Consort Shu? Shao Wanru thought for a while and nodded.

She naturally knew Honored Consort Shu, who was one of the four Honored Consorts of the Emperor with no children. Even so, she retained her position, which showed that she had some extraordinary tactics.

“Honored Consort Shu and my mother are cousins and had a close relationship before they got married. Although Honored Consort Shu has married into the imperial palace, she often sends some gifts now. She did that again a few days ago. You can take the part of yours back later. Grandma wants us to enter the imperial palace to express our gratitude towards Honored Consort Shu!”

Shao Yanru said with a smile.

“I haven’t finished observing mourning for my parents. I’m afraid it’s inappropriate for me to do that!” Shao Wanru narrowed her eyes and said with a smile.

“It doesn’t matter. Honored Consort Shu knew it and that you saved Prince Chen. She is particularly curious about you, so she especially told grandma that she wanted to meet you!” Shao Yanru said with a smile.

“But I’m afraid that I will offend Honored Consort Shu by showing up in front of her in such plain clothes!” Shao Wanru said, lowered her head, and hid the coldness in her eyes. Honored Consort Shu turned out to be Madam of Duke Xing’s backing. Did she neglect something?

“Honored Consort Shu is a nice person. Since she wants to meet you, she won’t think so!” Shao Yanru advised with a smile.

“Well, Wanru, you don’t have to decline it. It’s a blessing to you that Honored Consort Shu wants to meet you. You are going to the imperial palace to meet Honored Consort Shu tomorrow. I have handed in the visiting card!” Old Madam’s voice came from above.

Since Honored Consort Shu wanted to meet her and Old Madam had handed in the visiting card, it had been decided. Therefore, Old Madam had Shao Wanru here to inform her about it rather than talk it over with her, and her tough approach indicated that Shao Wanru had to agree no matter she was willing or not.

Shao Wanru raised her head, looked up with a leisurely smile in her fluid eyes, and said gently, “Okay, I’ll go as you wish, grandma!”

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Seeing that she stopped declining, Old Madam said with her face looking better, “Since you are going to the imperial palace, you can’t wear such ordinary clothes. Now pick something you need.”

After Old Madam finished speaking, Nanny Yu brought several maids in. They lined up in a row and each held a tray on which the jewelry and brocade were obviously extraordinary.

Shao Wanru withdrew her gaze calmly. These must be the gifts given to her by the Empress Dowager. Now they were presented for her to pick, and the rest of them were certainly left for others!

During the period of observing mourning for her parents and cultivating in seclusion, how could she pick a good part of them, let alone any exquisite jewelry and brocade. Old Madam actually asked her to pick first as a mere formality so that she couldn’t say anything against it when mentioning it later!

She slightly raised the corners of her lips. How could they be so greedy that they wanted to keep her gifts while making her take them on the chin?

Moreover, the most important thing was that Old Madam had not made it clear that these were the gifts given to her by the Empress Dowager until now. In addition, they had mentioned Honored Consort Shu and said that Honored Consort Shu sent some gifts here, which was easy to make Shao Wanru think that these gifts were sent by Honored Consort Shu. Even if she said that she did not know that these were the gifts given to her by the Empress Dowager later, others would think that she deliberately stirred up trouble by saying that.

It turned out that Old Madam intended to make her misunderstand it!

Old Madam made quite a good plot!

“No, thanks, grandma. Since I haven’t finished cultivating in seclusion, I don’t dare to accept the gifts!” Seeing that several maids stood in front of her in a row and presented the gifts, Shao Wanru stood up and refused with a smile.

“Don’t decline it. Although you haven’t finished cultivating in seclusion, you should at least pick a few of them. Don’t let grandma down!” Shao Yanru also stood up and said with a smile.

If Shao Wanru didn’t pick some gifts, none of them could pick any. Otherwise, when the Empress Dowager asked about it, she would blame Duke Xing’s Mansion. Her grandma had promised to give half of the gifts to her, and she did need some exquisite jewelry recently, so how could she not be tempted by the gifts?

“No, thank you, grandma!” Shao Wanru shook her head and said firmly.

With her face darkening, Old Madam failed to maintain her artificial smile, squinted at Shao Wanru coldly, and said, “I intended to let your elder sisters pick first, but considering that you are the youngest and short of jewelry, they suggest that you should pick first. If you decline it, you will not only let them down but also make me go back on my words. There might be some people gossiping about my partiality!”

Old Madam involuntarily thought of the various rumors. It had been three years, and she thought that people had forgotten about them gradually. Unexpectedly, they became quite rampant recently, and it was caused by Shao Wanru, the granddaughter coming from outside. Thinking of this, Old Madam became even more displeased with Shao Wanru.

“Grandma, you are so kind to me as my elder, so you don’t have to care about others’ comments and no one will take them seriously. You should let four elder sisters pick what they want. I don’t need any of the gifts!” Shao Wanru ignored Old Madam’s gloomy face, reached out to point at the hairpin on her head, and said, “The hairpin on my head is exquisite and given by the Empress Dowager. I think that I won’t offend Honored Consort Shu when meeting her in the imperial palace with it on my head!”

Shao Yanru looked towards the hairpin in Shao Wanru’s black bun and found it actually valuable on hearing Shao Wanru’s words. Although it looked plain, its great quality and crystal clear texture could even enable her to see through it. It was quite an extraordinary work of art.

“Fifth Sister, the hairpin on your head is good, but one is not enough. Pick another hairpin. Don’t let grandma down!” Shao Yanru said with a smile and reached out to point the gifts on the tray in front of Shao Wanru. As long as Shao Wanru went through the motions, she could pick what she wanted from the rest.

Old Madam had Shao Wanru here as a mere formality because she was sure that it was impossible for Shao Wanru to pick a lot.

“Fifth Sister, what do you think of this one?” Shao Yanru reached out and picked up a hairpin similar to the one on Shao Wanru’s head, handed it to Shao Wanru, and said with a smile, “They look like a pair of similar hairpins. If you like this kind of plain hairpins, why don’t you pick this one?”

Shao Wanru looked at the hairpin Shao Yanru picked for her for a while, and then seemed to have discovered something. She tilted her head slightly and said with her eyes full of curiosity, “Is this hairpin also from the imperial palace? It is so similar to the one on my head even with a similar mark. They seem to come from the same person. Could it be possible that it’s given to Honored Consort Shu by the Empress Dowager?”

Her words were so abrupt that no one expected that she would ask such a question at this time. However, she mentioned it naturally, because it was Shao Yanru who started this topic. This hairpin was indeed similar to the one on Shao Wanru’s head. They were both given by the Empress Dowager, so it was reasonable that they had the same mark.

With her face darkening, Old Madam stared at Shao Wanru gloomily. Shao Wanru’s words ruined the trap she set.

It fell silent in the room. The intermittent discussion seemed to be interrupted by a slap. It was so quiet that everyone in the room could almost hear their breathing!

Shao Jie’er held the handkerchief between her fingers and glared at Shao Wanru angrily. She had been waiting here for a long time so that she could pick some good stuff after Shao Wanru finished picking!

Shao Caihuan and Shao Cailing didn’t say a word, exchanged glances, and waited quietly for the development. Was Old Madam going to rebuke Shao Wanru in a shameful rage or pretend that she didn’t hear it and let it pass?

They could imagine that Old Madam would be displeased no matter what her decision was. Based on their mother’s repeated exhortations, both of them didn’t have a good impression of their grandma, so they didn’t say anything but just looked on coldly at this moment.