The Mu’en Hall, which had been smashed up twice, was restored to a fresh new look.
Shen Yu looked at the fine new bricks and tiles, and the dazzling array of various medicinal materials on the shelves, and couldn’t help thinking, ‘If it got smashed a few more times, could this Mu’en Hall even be called Mu’en Hall?’
Shen Yu warmly welcomed Yun Xiang into the house.
The rain outside was not letting up but rather increasing, yet inside Mu’en Hall it was neither cold nor had the slightest damp feeling.
After all, it was built to the specifications of an Imperial Palace hall.
From design to construction, the workers carried the weight of their nine clans.
Although it had been neglected for a long time before Shen Yu moved in, the foundation was still there.
“It’s going to get cold in a few days. I’ve found some masons to help you repair the house again, and I’ll have the stove installed in advance. The Capital isn’t like the south—winter can freeze people to death.”
As she spoke, Yun Xiang ordered her people to bring in the things she had prepared for Shen Yu, one by one.
Shen Yu repeatedly declined, but Yun Xiang insisted.
However, when she saw the dazzling array of meat, eggs, vegetables, and other things stored in the kitchen, she was stunned.
“How can there be so many things? There’s even half a pig tied with red silk, just like the half pig I bought.”
No wonder the butcher at the city gate kept saying that although it wasn’t New Year’s, he had sold several pigs in just a few days…
So it all ended up being sent here to Shen Yu’s place?
“If you can’t finish the food, it’ll go bad easily. I’ll have someone dig an ice cellar for you.”
Yun Xiang left behind the things she brought.
The two then talked about Shen La, with the entire conversation filled with worry for her.
“Marquis Dingyuan Cao Zhen’s daughter, Cao Xiangning, is safe and sound. She has already been taken back to the Marquis Mansion. Rest assured. She’s been clamoring to come to Mu’en Hall to find you, but the plague around the Capital is severe, and Mu’en Hall really isn’t very safe, so Marquis Dingyuan stopped her.”
Yun Xiang told Shen Yu about what had happened since Shen La was taken into the Imperial Palace.
There wasn’t anything major.
After learning that Cao Xiangning was safe, Shen Yu was completely relieved.
Yin Qiu brought them a plate of cut Imperial melon.
It was top-grade tribute from the Western Fan.
Shen Yu had never seen a melon of this quality even in her previous life.
Even if it existed, it would sell for a sky-high price.
The gold standard of imperial exclusive supply was indeed not bad.
“Sister Yunxiang, have some Imperial melon.”
“…”
Yun Xiang looked at the melon on the plate and couldn’t help raising her eyebrows.
“Did His Majesty reward this to you?”
“No, His Majesty rewarded it to Yun Wei, and Yun Wei brought it over. Luckily I had Yin Qiu hide it in the well. Otherwise, such good melons would certainly not have survived when Mu’en Hall was smashed up before.”
“My little sister loves Imperial melon the most. This is a tribute from the Western Fan, exclusively for the imperial family. You can only eat it when His Majesty bestows it. Every time the Marquis Mansion gets Imperial melon, over ninety percent goes into her stomach.”
“…”
Yun Xiang shook her head meaningfully.
She picked up a slice of the Imperial melon and took a bite.
The melon, which should have been sweet and refreshing, tasted somewhat bitter in her mouth.
She subconsciously looked up at Shen Yu sitting across from her.
“This time she didn’t keep it for herself. It seems my little sister really likes you, Shen Yu.”
“Yun Wei and I get along well. After all, we’re good friends.”
Shen Yu naturally didn’t catch the implication in Yun Xiang’s words and assumed the “like” she mentioned was about friendship.
Yun Xiang was a bit surprised by Shen Yu’s response.
As if realizing something, she subconsciously lowered her voice and quietly asked Shen Yu, “Shen Yu, do you have a suitable match in mind?”
“No. Why do you ask?”
Shen Yu bit into the Imperial melon and answered with a puzzled look.
This topic jumped way too fast.
Before Shen Yu could even react, they had already jumped to the gossipy topic of romance between girls?
“Do you have any criteria for a suitable match?”
“I have no criteria. I don’t want to get married. I’m not interested in that kind of thing.”
Shen Yu shook her head.
Back in Qingfeng Village, even her father knew she liked pretty girls.
When her father took her to the brothel to listen to songs, he always got her the most graceful and beautiful courtesans to keep her company.
How could someone like Shen Yu possibly have a normal marriage?
It would be more like her getting a few beautiful women to keep as concubines at home.
On this matter, Shen Yu’s father Shen Bashan and Grandpa Shen Kuaitian were quite open-minded.
Shen Yu could do whatever she wanted, and if anyone dared to disagree, Shen Bashan would take people to help Shen Yu kidnap them for her.
They believed Shen Yu should have that domineering spirit.
Keeping a kept man at home was nothing—bullying men and dominating women was what a true tyrant did.
But Shen Yu didn’t think that way.
What domineering spirit?
She was an educated youth.
How could she do whatever she wanted?
At the very least, she’d have to start by getting to know each other’s family background first, right?
“Then do you also not know what it looks like when someone likes you?”
“Someone likes me?”
Asked by Yun Xiang, Shen Yu thought about it.
She really didn’t know what it looked like when someone liked her.
Her father liked her, but that was paternal love.
Her grandfather and maternal grandfather liked her too, that was generational affection.
Her mother liked her immensely—as someone from a feudal era, she would hold Shen Yu’s face every day and kiss her while calling her “baby.”
The people of Qingfeng Village also liked her, but that was out of respect for her medical skills and kindness.
The three courtesans at the village brothel also liked her, but that was probably because Shen Yu was their patron, right?
Shen Yu really didn’t know what romantic love looked like.
Looking at the Capital side, Xiao Biao liked her because Shen Yu saved her—that was the affection for a benefactor.
Yin Qiu liked her because Shen Yu treated her like a little sister—that was a sister’s affection for an older sister.
Yun Wei might also like her, but that was probably because Shen Yu cured her dysmenorrhea and saved her father.
Her affection was likely the same as Xiao Biao’s—affection for a benefactor.
They were all affections of friendship and family.
Shen Yu didn’t understand love, but she deeply felt that wasn’t love.
As for Sister Yunxiang, that was even less likely.
She was already married—though there was no marital intimacy—but she was indeed a married woman.
How could a married woman fall in love with someone else?
And what’s more, Shen Yu was a girl.
As for the Empress… the Dog Emperor was even less likely to like her.
Even giving her some silver was a hassle.
With a stingy personality like that, if she weren’t the Emperor, even a matchmaker would reject her.
She was the least likely among all of them to have romantic feelings for Shen Yu.
From the analysis of these relationships, no one had romantic feelings for Shen Yu.
So what did it feel like to be liked by someone as a life partner?
In her previous life, Shen Yu was a top pediatric specialist, a chief among chiefs, always busy improving herself.
She had no experience in love.
Now she was the eldest young lady of Qingfeng Village, a girl with a steel-like straight male personality, making her even more inexperienced in love.
“Sister, now that you mention it, I really don’t know what it feels like to be liked.”
Hearing Shen Yu’s answer, Yun Xiang understood.
Wasn’t Shen Yu just a solid block of wood?
Couldn’t she see it?
Not to mention others, just her own little sister came running to Shen Yu’s place every other day.
Even her favorite drill ground visits had decreased.
At home, she would sometimes wander around muttering Shen Yu’s name and giggling foolishly.
She would even hole up in her room for days and then sneak out to wash her underwear.
If that wasn’t love, what was?
Yun Xiang felt that Yun Wei was so over the moon it was almost ridiculous.
Her little sister, the pearl of their family, was already tamed like a puppy by Shen Yu.
How did Yun Xiang know all this?
She caught her when she was secretly washing her underwear.
“Sister, do you know what it feels like to like someone? Haven’t you been married?”
“I… I don’t know. My husband passed away long ago. I’ve forgotten what he looked like.”
Yun Xiang quickly shook her head.
She had indeed no feelings for her deceased husband; it was arranged by their parents through a matchmaker.
But now, facing Shen Yu, she knew clearly what it meant to like someone, and she understood how painful unrequited love was.
“I see. So we’re both not very knowledgeable about these things.”
Shen Yu ate another piece of Imperial melon, propped her chin on her hand, and looked at the drizzling autumn rain outside.
Her mind automatically skipped over this topic.
‘Don’t bother thinking about things you don’t understand. Not overthinking is Shen Yu’s life motto.’
But Yun Xiang couldn’t sit still at all.
She was well aware that Shen Yu was utterly naive in matters of the heart.
She knew you were being good to her, but due to their same gender, she would automatically categorize your affection into other types…
It could be familial love, friendship, but definitely not romantic love, because that was her blind spot of emotional understanding.
This destined her to be as dull as wood toward others’ affection.
This was a bad thing, but of course, after understanding this law, there were also parts that could be used.
Thinking of this, Yun Xiang couldn’t help but get excited.
She adjusted her posture and sat up straight.
Her plump thighs hidden under her skirt slightly clenched, quietly scheming in her heart.