Shen Moran pinched Zhou Zhan under the table and took the opportunity to support him.
"What's wrong with you, Your Highness? Does Your Highness feel uncomfortable?"
Zhou Zhan held back his tears, closed his eyes and lay back on the chair. Chang Ying and Jiu Er came around and helped him up as if facing a formidable enemy.
"Your Highness is unwell. My cousin will eat by herself first. I apologize for any inconvenience!"
The couple left angrily, Chang Jinchan stamped her feet, took a few mouthfuls of rice, and pointed at Hongying.
"Tell me, how is my cousin's health?"
Hongying said "Ah" and looked around. The princess had told her not to send messages outside casually. My cousin... was considered an outsider after all.
…
Bi Tao had already brought another meal to the room. Zhou Zhan didn't eat much just now. Shen Moran was only busy with Chang Jinchan and didn't eat enough either.
Zhou Zhan rubbed the painful soft flesh on his thigh and looked at Shen Moran aggrievedly.
"Your Highness, please eat first before talking."
Shen Moran blinked his eyes, smiled innocently and harmlessly, and Zhou Zhan raised his chopsticks.
"I think the timing of your cousin's arrival is too coincidental, but she seems to have no intentions, but I quite like her. It's very interesting..."
Zhou Zhan: "..."
"I have already written to my uncle, and I will not receive a reply until the New Year at the earliest. In the meantime, my cousin..."
Shen Moran peeled an orange.
"Don't worry, Your Highness, I will treat my cousin as my own sister and will not let her be wronged."
Zhou Zhan retracted his chopsticks and secretly picked up the oranges she had peeled. He didn't mean that...
The weather has been sunny for about ten days, and then became gloomy again before the New Year.
The people who come in and out of the house every day are either the stewards of Shen Moran's dowry village or the dowry shop. In addition, she also has to deal with various human relations, and is too busy to pay attention to the two of them.
Seeing that the New Year is about to come, I didn’t have time to go shopping in the streets promised to Chang Jinchan.
On the 21st, she finally found a free day.
"Has Miss Cousin done anything these days?"
I just remembered to ask this question.
Unexpectedly, Changying and Jiuer seemed to have been holding it in for a long time, and they began to accuse each other.
"Whenever my cousin has free time, she goes to His Highness's study and pesters His Highness all day long!"
"The kitchen made steamed fish, but my cousin thought it was tasteless. Next time, the kitchen changed to sweet and sour fish. My cousin said it was too sweet or salty to make my stomach uncomfortable."
"My cousin thinks that the clothes made in the sewing room are not useful, and she can't even dance a sword in them. The sewing room is still rushing to make new clothes for her."
"Miss Cousin disliked the decoration of the house from inside to out. Either she said it was too tacky or too bland, so she asked Uncle Fu to change it. Uncle Fu said that he would ask for your advice, so she ran to talk to His Highness aggrievedly. Complain..."
"Princess, cousin, you take yourself too seriously! You are always trying to take advantage of your status..."
Shen Moran rubbed her sore wrists and said with a smile: "It's okay. A child's character can't make big waves. Just follow her and see what she wants to do."
She didn't believe that the dignified Lord Protector would raise her daughter like this.
"What is my cousin doing now?"
Changying showed a speechless expression.
"In the study, I pestered His Highness to teach her the Book of Songs."
Shen Moran found it interesting, straightened up her appearance, stood up and said, "Let's go and have a look."
"The jianjia is green and the white dew is like frost. The so-called beauty is on the side of the water."
The girl was lying on the table with her chin in her hands, listening attentively to Zhou Zhan's poem reading.
Zhou Zhan looked at the sky outside and put down his book.
"Cousin, that's about it for today. If you really want to study, I'll hire a female teacher for you. What we are doing is against the rules."
"No!" The girl coquettishly stepped forward, hugged one of his arms and shook him, "Every time I listen to the lectures given by the teacher my father invited me, I fall asleep. It's rare that I can listen to my cousin's lectures, Daddy. It would be very gratifying to know that I am so motivated!”
Zhou Zhan was so pestered that he couldn't do anything. His uncle was kind to him and moved him out, and he lost his temper.
Seeing this scene through the crack in the door, Shen Moran spoke quietly to interrupt the intimacy between the brother and sister.
"I wonder if it's the right time for me to come..."
Zhou Zhan raised his head and looked over. Yin Yue, who was supposed to be guarding the door and not letting anyone in, lowered her head and didn't look at him.
"The princess is here." Zhou Zhan coughed lightly and pulled his arm out of Chang Jinchan's arms, "My cousin is bored, I'm teaching her how to read."
Shen Moran gave a meaningful oh and said with a smile: "It's okay. I'm free today. I promised to take my cousin shopping a few days ago. It's better to choose a different day. Why not just do it today."
There was no look of anger on her face, and Zhou Zhan couldn't explain the explanation she had prepared.
"Really? Cousin, are you going?" Chang Jinchan turned around and pulled Zhou Zhan's sleeves, "Cousin, just go with us!"
Zhou Zhan looked at his princess and saw that she had no intention of helping him out, so he could only stroke his forehead and said, "I have a headache. Princess, please go with you."
Chang Jinchan pursed her lips to express her unwillingness, but after pestering him for half a morning, she could see that he was really low on energy.
"Then I'll go to the street with my cousin. Let's agree first that I don't have any money. If I like something, my cousin will buy it for me!"
Shen Moran smiled slightly and said: "Don't worry, cousin, I am a guest from afar. If my cousin likes something, my cousin will buy it for you."
The two women were so harmonious that Zhou Zhan said uneasily, "Let Yinyue follow and drive the car for you."
Shen Moran said happily: "Then I will thank Your Highness first."
The streets in the capital are very flat, except that there are too many people on the streets and the carriage is not much faster than walking.
When he gets bored, Shen Moran likes to open the curtains and look at the people outside the car. There are all kinds of things in life. Everyone's appearance, identity, background, past experiences, and faces are all different.
Looking at different people and guessing the stories that might happen to them, Shen Moran liked this ordinary and quiet pastime.
Every time she sees ordinary people on the street struggling to make a living, she will have a special emotional resonance. The softest place in her heart that even the vigorous love and hatred in the play cannot touch, these ordinary people can easily touch.
The beggar wolfing down the steamed buns, the mother wiping away the tears of her child, the father shouldering the burden of the entire family, the businessman having to leave his hometown during the Chinese New Year, everyone is working hard to survive...
Chang Jinchan had been sizing her up. Sensing her sizing gaze, Shen Moran withdrew his gaze and asked, "I have never left the capital in my life. Can my cousin tell me what the border is like?"
"What does the place where my cousin lives look like?"
Chang Jinchan thought she was going to accuse him of his little thoughts just now, so after a pause, he followed her example and opened the car curtain to look outside.
"What can the border look like... It's desolate, with mostly brothels, brothels and restaurants, nothing else. There's nothing to say. Except in the military camp, I have never seen so many people..."
She was silent for a rare moment. Shen Moran smiled slightly and continued to look outside.
Suddenly I heard her add: "If my cousin wants to take this opportunity to feel superior, your calculation is wrong. Even if there is nothing on the border, my father loves me very much. I have all the silk and satin treasures from the capital." Yes. There are also gems from the Western Regions, which I use as marbles to play with! You people in the capital are the only ones who regard those things as treasures!"
This girl is really thoughtful...
Shen Moran didn't know whether to laugh or cry. God knows, she has never had such thoughts!
"Candied Haw Lu——"
Shouting came through the curtain. Outside the carriage, the vendor carrying candied haws on his back was surrounded by children. Shen Moran thought about it and told the carriage to stop.
Yinyue stepped forward and bought two bunches and handed them over.
Chapter completed!