In the early autumn, wild geese lined up and flew across the distant sky towards the warm southern country. The summer leaves in the courtyard began to wither, and the colorful fish in the pond looked colder than usual.
The girl’s long black hair was combed into a bun with an exquisite coral hairpin. She was dressed in a dark red dress that accentuated her slender figure.
Bai Lu gently draped the embroidered cloak over Shen Miao and said, “Miss, you’re not fully recovered yet. Be careful not to catch a cold.”
Shen Miao shook her head.
She was still young and was not as tall as Shen Yue and Shen Qing. Her face was round, and with her usual timid personality, she looked a few years younger than her actual age.
But today was different.
Shuang Jiang watched from the side, looking a little confused,
Today, there was no smile on Shen Miao’s face at all. Like a dignified statue, she stared at the sky nostalgically. It seemed as if she had completely changed overnight.
Shuang Jiang shook her head, as if this could get rid of the ridiculous thoughts in her mind. She smiled and looked at Shen Miao. “Miss, what are you looking at?”
‘After breakfast, Shen Miao stood in the courtyard and looked at the sky in a daze.
“I’m just wondering if these geese flew from the north to the south through the desert in the northwest,” Shen Miao said softly.
The Northwest Desert was where Shen Xin was stationed. Mrs. Shen and Young Master Shen were both there. According to the letter sent home last month, when the capital had just turned cold, the Northwest was already snowing.
“Miss, you must be missing Master and Madam.” Shuang Jiang smiled and said, “Master will be back at the end of the year. When he sees that you’ve grown taller, he will be very happy.”
Shen Miao smiled, looking somewhat sad.
The first thing the general, who could only return to the capital once a year, would hear upon returning this year was that Shen Miao, his daughter, would ask him to marry her to the duke of Ding. How happy could he be?
Moreover, the person Shen Miao wanted to marry was a villain who wanted to use the Shen family’s military power to snatch the throne. At first, the Shen family decided to abstain from the competition for the throne between the princes, but because of Shen Miao, they were involved and ended up being slaughtered.
Shen Miao closed her eyes.
However, in just half a year, too many things had happened. Ever since Shen Miao came of age, her marriage had become something that the east courtyard could use against her at any time. It seemed that from this year onwards, the east courtyard was like an evil beast that had shed its disguise, forcing her into a dead end step by step.
“Miss, Miss?” Bai Lu shouted, trying to wake up her miss who was in a daze.
When Shen Miao came back to her senses, she saw Gu Yu running over and saying, “Miss, the people from Rongjing Hall are rushing us.”
Rongjing Hall was where Old Madam Shen lived. Old Madam Shen sent her maid to see Shen Miao early in the morning. Seeing that Shen Miao was fine, she said that Shen Miao could go and pay her respects to Old Madam Shen after she recovered. In fact, everyone knew if she was asked to go to pay respect but to receive punishment.
Shen Miao smiled and tightened her cloak. “Let’s go.”
In the Shen mansion, the east and west courtyards were separated.
When Old General Shen was alive, he often did sword dance and practiced martial arts in an empty courtyard in the west courtyard. Later, when Old General Shen passed away, Shen Gui and Shen Wan both became civil servants. Only Shen Xin took over the old general’s mantle. That empty courtyard was given to Shen Xin along with the west courtyard. The east courtyard was spacious, and it was occupied by the third branch, second branch, and Old Madam Shen.