Jiaojiao is getting married, and the male leads fall for her and fight over her.

Chapter 142 All the city's dignitaries come to the banquet

That night, Shen Shuyi felt inexplicably excited, as if she were really going to get married.

Her excitement stemmed from the uncertainty of what uncontrollable events might occur tomorrow. If this matter escalated to the Pingyang Marquis's residence, Zhang Shi might very well kill her, dismembering her to vent her anger.

"Girl, go to sleep early, the engagement is tomorrow." A-Jian couldn't help but yawn.

It's almost midnight, and the young lady is still not asleep. What will happen if she can't get up tomorrow?
Shen Shuyi knew it was getting late, so she said to Ajian, "I'm going to sleep. You should go and rest too. Remember to wake me up tomorrow."

A-Jian quickly agreed, turned off the light, and then left.

That night, Shen Shuyi had a series of bizarre dreams. Strangely, she dreamt of Prince Pei, who opened his blood-red mouth and swallowed her whole. She was so frightened that she jumped out of bed.

Hearing the commotion, A-Jian went inside: "Did you have a nightmare, young lady?"

Shen Shuyi looked at the sky; it was already bright.

She wiped the sweat from her forehead and said with a wry smile, "I had a strange dream. But I should worry about my fiancé; who knows what might happen? I'd better get up."

Ah Jian hurriedly presented her with a red dress.

"Why are you wearing such red? It's not a wedding, and it's just a pretense. Just wear something ordinary. Don't dress like a bride." Shen Shuyi said as she went to the wardrobe to pick out clothes.

To avoid suspicion, she never wore clothes of her own design, and her wardrobe contained no styles from Ni Chang Ge.

However, since we're assuming it's a wedding today, we can't dress too shabbily.

She wore a light-colored, wide-sleeved jacket with small floral patterns, and a red floral-patterned waist skirt. Her hair was styled in a low bun, and to avoid looking too plain, she added hair accessories as embellishments.

She rarely wears makeup, but for an occasion like today, she wanted to look radiant, so she put on light makeup and applied lip rouge.

In addition, her black hair and fair skin, set against her red lips, made her appear even more radiant and flamboyant.

"With just a little effort, this young lady is stunningly beautiful. She's truly gorgeous." A-Jian looked at her young lady with amazement in her eyes.

"Your mouth is as sweet as honey. If you can talk, then talk more." Shen Shuyi looked at herself in the mirror and was in a good mood.

After having breakfast, the two masters and servants went to the stables.

A carriage had already been prepared there, at Pei Dongzhou's behest.

Coincidentally, Xia Nianchu was also leaving the Marquis's residence when she saw Shen Shuyi about to get into the carriage. She quickly tried to intercept her, saying, "This is my carriage. Cousin Shen, you shouldn't be competing with me for it, right?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Shuyi looked at Xia Nianchu and suddenly realized that the system hadn't mentioned the female lead's halo to her anymore. Recently, she had been busy dealing with Li Yi, her biggest threat, and had almost forgotten about the female lead.

Seeing Shen Shuyi looking at her, Xia Nianchu said in a teasing tone, "Cousin Shen, are you trying to take the carriage from me? I reserved this carriage, so please don't try to take it from me, okay?"

Shen Shuyi thought to herself that these words made it sound like she was always competing with the female lead for things.

Before she could speak, Qingfeng, who had been facing away from Xia Nianchu, turned around and said to Xia Nianchu, "Miss Xia, this is a carriage that the young master specially prepared for Miss Shen."

Xia Nianchu never expected that the coachman was Qingfeng. Her expression changed repeatedly, making for a truly fascinating scene.

If she had known that Qingfeng was driving the carriage, she wouldn't have said those things. "Oh, is that so? I misread it," Xia Nianchu stammered.

Shen Shuyi asked calmly, "Cousin, could you please move aside?"

Xia Nianchu then realized that she was still blocking the carriage. She hurriedly stepped back and watched helplessly as Shen Shuyi got into the carriage, clenching her fists.

Why does the Crown Prince treat Shen Shuyi so specially?
She is clearly the woman of destiny, so why can't her cousin, the Crown Prince, see her?

Wait, why did the Crown Prince's cousin specifically send Qingfeng to escort Shen Shuyi? Could something have happened?
The more she thought about it, the more uneasy she felt. So she found an old woman, spent some money, and had her follow the carriage to see where it was going.

She then went to Pei Xuexuan and told her about it.

Pei Xuexuan has always looked down on Shen Shuyi and is more composed than Pei Yuexuan in her actions, so it would be best to ask Pei Xuexuan for help with this matter.

As expected, Pei Xuexuan's expression changed upon hearing this: "Really?!"

“How could I joke about something like this? Qingfeng is a servant of the young master, yet he's at the beck and call of Cousin Shen. I just can't believe it. I'm worried that Cousin Shen might have seduced the young master without our knowledge. This is a serious matter, which is why I felt I should tell you. I asked Granny Wang to follow her. She's fast on her feet and might be able to find out where Cousin Shen went. Now we can only wait.”

About half an hour later, Granny Wang returned to the Marquis's residence and told Xia Nianchu that the carriage had stopped outside Taifeng Restaurant.

Xia Nianchu and Pei Xuexuan exchanged a glance, both having the same thought: to go and see what Shen Shuyi was doing at Taifeng Restaurant.

The two hit it off immediately and left the Marquis's residence together, heading towards Taifeng Restaurant.

Shen Shuyi, the person involved, only realized how many people had arrived when she entered Taifeng Restaurant, and that Prince Pei had already been there for some time. Upon her arrival, Prince Pei personally came to greet her.

Some of the people Pei Dongzhou invited to dinner today were his friends, and some were his colleagues. No one knew why Pei Dongzhou had suddenly invited them to dinner until Pei Dongzhou personally brought in a radiant beauty.

Shen Shuyi was startled when she saw so many people eating at the banquet.

Taifenglou is the largest restaurant in the capital. The second floor was already full of people, who all looked to be rich and noble. There were more than a dozen seats in total.

Is Prince Pei really going to play this big? Has he perhaps invited all the officials in the city?

Brother, this engagement is fake? So many people have come to the banquet, how are we going to handle this?

Seeing everyone looking at her and Prince Pei, she whispered to Prince Pei, "Cousin Prince, may I speak to you in private?"

As instructed, Prince Pei followed Shen Shuyi and walked away under the watchful eyes of the crowd.

Everyone was as if they had discovered a new continent when they saw this scene. This was Prince Pei, who appeared kind and approachable on the surface but was actually the most aloof and unapproachable person. Who could easily order him around?
But one sentence from that beautiful girl made Prince Pei obediently follow behind her. Was this still the Prince Pei they knew?

Pei Dongzhou, however, didn't find this strange at all. He followed his cousin Shen to a less crowded place, where his cousin Shen exclaimed in surprise, "Cousin, how about we call off the pretense of marriage today? The fuss is too big now, and we won't be able to handle it later."

If everyone present were told that today was her engagement banquet with Prince Pei, the entire capital would know. In other words, everyone in the Pingyang Marquis's residence would know.

This won't do.

The thought of being surrounded and attacked by everyone from the Marquis of Pingyang's mansion made her feel suffocated.

　I was just getting busy with work when I suddenly remembered I haven't updated yet.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)