Shen Zhonglei and Xu were stunned at the same time. The two of them had been having troubles recently, and they even forgot to say something to each other in advance.
Fortunately, they have been married for many years and their tacit understanding is still there.
Shen Zhonglei winked at Mrs. Xu, indicating that she would have to tell her and she would just cooperate.
Mrs. Xu quickly made up an excuse and said: "During the Chinese New Year, I received a letter from my hometown saying that the old lady missed her granddaughter. Later, I discussed it with your father and sent someone to send your second sister back to my hometown to accompany her. Be by the old lady's side and support us in our joy."
Shen Yuanlin pursed his lips when he heard this, and glanced at Shen Tianshu from the corner of his eye: "Then why do you have to send the second sister back? It's better to send the eldest sister back, so that we are the only family left at home."
Shen Tianshu was stunned. He didn't expect that even sitting quietly aside as a decoration would be affected.
But Shen Zhonglei already had a serious face and asked: "Yuan Lin, who taught you this!"
Shen Yuanlin immediately looked at Mrs. Xu for help.
Xu was in a dilemma between her husband and her son.
She wanted to help her son, but she was unwilling to destroy the opportunity that she had finally had with Shen Zhonglei to relax.
In the end, she had no choice but to grit her teeth and said: "Yuan Lin, your father sent you to study in the academy. He not only hopes that you will gain fame and honor your ancestors, but also hope that you can study and be sensible. Tianshu is your eldest sister, and we are of course one family. How can you If you can talk like that, why don't you apologize to your eldest sister?"
Shen Tianshu didn't want to be a nuisance, so he waved his hands and said: "Mom, Yuan Lin is still a child, and his childish words are unbridled. How could I take his words to heart? Besides, it's not easy for him to go home after all. There’s no need to be too harsh.”
When Mrs. Xu saw that Shen Tianshu was so talkative, she couldn't help but glance at her and thought to herself that she has been really talkative recently.
Is it true that as Hanqiao said, Shen Tianshu and Shen Yunyao are similar in age, but they were not born from the same mother's womb, so they would inevitably compete with each other when put together.
Now that Shen Yunyao has returned to his hometown, Shen Tianshu has become more docile than before.
Shen Tianshu thoughtfully gave me the steps, but Shen Zhonglei was not Xu and was not going to let go of this principled issue.
"Yuan Lin, you are no longer a child. Tell yourself, is it appropriate to speak like this?"
Shen Yuanlin's eyes were red with grievance, and he did not contradict Shen Zhonglei, but it was obvious that he was still unconvinced in his heart.
Mrs. Xu secretly poked her son, signaling him to quickly admit his mistake.
"Dad, I was wrong." Shen Yuanlin was still afraid that Shen Zhonglei would be angry, so he remained in a stalemate for a long time, and finally bowed his head and admitted his mistake.
Shen Zhonglei, however, was not satisfied and said: "Who do you want to tell this novel with your voice? Besides, what's the use of admitting your mistake to me? You have to admit your mistake to Tianshu."
Shen Tianshu soon received a resentful look from Shen Yuanlin and an apology that was obviously full of resentment.
After Shen Yuanlin apologized, he turned around and said coquettishly to Ms. Xu, "Mom, I'm very tired from sitting in the car."
"Then go back to the house and rest. Mom will call you when you have dinner. Mom will have your favorite dish cooked."
"Mom is the best and loves me the most!" Shen Yuanlin thrust his whole body into Mrs. Xu's arms, acting coquettishly while silently showing off to Shen Tianshu from an angle that Shen Zhonglei couldn't see.
Of course Shen Tianshu would not take this kind of childish behavior seriously, but he couldn't help but feel bored in his heart.
It's really annoying to pretend to be someone else and live such a pretentious life in a home that doesn't belong to you at all.
Just when Shen Tianshu was about to find an excuse to stand up and leave, Mo Ze's slightly anxious voice suddenly came from outside the door.
"Sir, the carriage of the Crown Prince of Prince Rui has almost arrived at the gate of the city. The advance officer has come to inform us that we should prepare to welcome him quickly."
Several people in the room were stunned when they heard this.
Shen Tianshu thought of what Minghui had come back to convey that day, and thought to himself, I wonder what kind of tricks Li Zian was playing.
Shen Zhonglei was a little confused for a moment. Wasn't the prince recuperating in the city? Why did he come from outside the city again?
Mrs. Xu looked at Shen Tianshu with suspicion, wondering if the prince was here for her?
In the end, Shen Tianshu got up first and said, "Father, since someone has already arrived, you'd better change your clothes quickly and go to greet me."
"That's right." Shen Zhonglei also came to his senses, "Come, prepare your official uniform, send someone to inform other adults, and prepare to welcome the Crown Prince as soon as possible."
Immediately afterwards, he turned to the others and said: "You must not relax and change your clothes quickly to avoid losing etiquette if you need to meet in person."
Shen Tianshu took the opportunity to stand up and said, "Then my daughter will go back to her room to prepare."
In the blink of an eye, Shen Zhonglei and Shen Tianshu were gone, leaving only Xu and Shen Yuanlin, mother and son, in the room.
Mrs. Xu felt regretful, stroking her son's hair and thinking, it would be great if Shen Yunyao was still at home, maybe she could take the opportunity to meet the prince.
I missed it on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month because of the lockdown, but I missed it this time.
She was thinking about all kinds of things, but Hanqiao and her maids were already busy, rummaging through boxes and cabinets, and soon brought out all the new spring clothes for this year's change of seasons for Xu and Shen Yuanlin to choose from.
Xu didn't care much about how she dressed up, so she first asked someone to try on Shen Yuanlin's clothes.
"They were all made according to your size after the Chinese New Year. Now that you've grown taller, I don't know if it still fits."
Fortunately, tailors are experienced and knew that Shen Yuanlin was growing taller, so his clothes had a little room to spare, and now they fit him perfectly.
Shen Zhonglei changed into his official uniform and hurried to the government office to join other officials, preparing to go to the city gate to greet Li Zian.
Although Yongzhou Prefecture is under the jurisdiction of Huguang, it is not close to Wuchang Prefecture, and people rarely interact with Prince Rui's Mansion.
This time when they heard that Prince Wang was coming, some people were confused, but others were secretly happy.
When everyone saw Shen Zhonglei coming, they immediately turned their attention to him, with doubts and scrutiny in their hearts. Some people were secretly considering whether Shen Zhonglei had embraced the golden thigh of Prince Rui's palace without anyone knowing?
Shen Zhonglei had a panoramic view of everyone's expressions and said in a deep voice: "I didn't get any news about Crown Prince's sudden visit, but etiquette cannot be ignored, so I called everyone together at the last minute and we went to the city gate to greet Crown Prince."
The following people immediately started to agree with each other.
"Master Shen, this is what we should do."
"Yes, it is rare for the Crown Prince to visit, so we should receive him well."
"But it was indeed quite sudden, and I was not prepared at all."
Regardless of whether the people below believed it or not, Shen Zhonglei led everyone to rush to the city gate.
Outside the city gate, Li Zian sat in the car and asked people to display the full set of ceremonial guards for Prince Wang.