Chapter 223 The Bitter Wind

Chapter 223 The Bitter Wind

Spring is here, flowers are blooming, and it's getting warmer every day.

Shanglin Garden, a royal garden, a spring banquet.

The invited young ladies, accompanied by their maids and carefully prepared food, were busy at work.

In the garden, early spring flowers are in full bloom, and tender green shoots are sprouting from the grass.

The fragrance of flowers mingled with the freshness of grass and trees, and the vibrant and beautiful young women made everything seem so lively and cheerful.

Shen Nanzi walked with her sister-in-law, looking at a group of girls who had just reached the age of marriage with envy in her eyes.

"Back then, we were the same way. We loved excitement, loved gathering with our peers, being invited by the ladies of various families, and secretly getting to know each other." Looking at them, Shen Nanzi suddenly felt old.

The girls who were once considered for marriage are now organizing their own matchmaking events.

Yang Wenhui also sighed, "Yes, the girl from back then is now a mother of a girl."

Shen Nanzi smiled slightly, "In a few years, you'll be asked to have a marriage proposal made by Jichuan."

"You're still trying to find a husband for your Cheng'er, who's the Emperor," Yang Wenhui teased. "The harem will be full of people in the future. You'll be ready to solve the case!"

Shen Nanzi said, "I only hope that Cheng'er can find a girl he loves and live a happy life together."

She knew it was unlikely, but as a woman, she couldn't help feeling sad for the girls who would follow Cheng'er in the future.

Considering that Cheng'er is still young, it's a bit too hasty for her to think about these things now. She'll think about the future later.

"I wonder if Lie Feng has taken a fancy to any girl?" She searched for Lie Feng's figure in the crowd.

He was right beside her just now. He saw the girls from each family when they came to pay their respects to her.

After walking for a while, Shen Nanzi finally saw his figure, but stopped in her tracks.

He said to his sister-in-law, "Let's not disturb them, let's listen to what they're saying."

Yang Wenhui nodded, and the two pretended to admire the flowers.

Beside the pavilion not far away, a girl of about sixteen or seventeen years old, wearing an apricot-yellow dress, was squatting, her hands protecting a kitten.

The cat was white and small, like it was less than a month old, and its cries were pitiful and weak.

Seeing the kitten's fear, the little girl picked it up and said to the maid, "Go and get some goat's milk, see if it will drink it?"

Her maid obeyed and immediately ran away.

The little girl turned to Lie Feng and snapped, "Why don't you watch where you're going? You almost stepped on it!"

Holding his sword, Lie Feng explained with a cold expression, unusually good-natured, "Miss, you misunderstand. It wasn't intentional; I simply didn't see it."

The little girl glared at him. "You're such a big guy, with such big eyes, and you can't even see such a big cat?"

Lie Feng stared at the tiny kitten in her hand, which was barely bigger than a mouse, glanced in Shen Nanzi's direction, and explained again, "I really didn't see it."

The little girl glared at him, then reluctantly said, "Come here and apologize to it."

Lie Feng raised an eyebrow, looked at the little kitten, hugged his sword, and took a step to leave.

That expression conveyed rejection, and he also felt the girl was being unreasonable.

The little girl got angry, picked up the kitten, stood up, and blocked his way. "How can you be so rude? The kitten was frightened just now, look, its eyes are full of tears."

Lie Feng's gaze swept past the little girl, then swept over Shen Nanzi, and he said coldly, "Get out of the way!!"

Seeing that he was unyielding, the girl kicked him in the knee. After kicking him, she noticed that Lie Feng was bursting with anger.

The little girl took two steps back, then mustered her courage and said fiercely, "If you dare to hit me, I will tell the Empress Dowager and General Liefeng that you bully the weak, are arrogant and domineering, and have no respect for anyone."

"Judging by your gear, you must be one of General Liefeng's men. Let me tell you, you just wait."

"I will definitely get justice for the kitten."

After saying that, the girl glared at Lie Feng twice, with a sly look in her eyes that said "I'd rather not suffer a loss now," and then walked away with the kitten in her arms.

Lie Feng stood still, seemingly quite shameless.

Shen Nanzi took out a handkerchief from her sleeve, looked away, pretended to cover her mouth, tilted her head and asked, "Sister-in-law, whose daughter is this? She's so interesting."

"The youngest daughter of Cheng Guanglu Xun's family."

“Oh,” Shen Nanzi nodded, “Has she never seen a biting wind before?”

"This girl came to pay her respects, but I guess she only glanced at him and forgot about him immediately," Yang Wenhui said with a smile. "She probably didn't take a liking to Lie Feng. If she liked someone, she would have noticed him at first sight."

“That’s true.” As Shen Nanzi nodded, she saw Lie Feng coming towards her.

Shen Nanzi looked at him, and as he approached, she said with exasperation, "Look at you, with your cold face and sword in hand, like someone owes you money. What girl would like you?"

Shen Nanzi gestured, "When you see a young girl, remember to be gentle, smile, and speak softly!"

Lie Feng looked at her, his gaze gradually softening, and his guarded demeanor, which had previously made him seem unapproachable, dissipated.

Seeing his reaction, Shen Nanzi suppressed her anger, knowing he was just like that by nature, and could only ask gently, "Among these girls, is there one you like?"

Lie Feng sighed, then shook his head, as if complaining, "A bunch of chattering birds, they're so noisy."

Yang Wenhui smiled and said, "What did you think of that girl just now? She stood up for the kitten; she seems like a kind-hearted young lady."

Lie Feng shook his head, "Too small, no way."

"Oh! So you were really looking at her carefully just now?" Yang Wenhui teased. "You know you're not getting any younger, you don't have any older girls around your age to choose from."

"The unmarried girls who have grown up now are all sixteen or seventeen years old. There are no older ones. People don't mind if you are too old, but you still complain that they are too young. You are going against the natural order."

Lie Feng looked at Shen Nanzi with an expression that resembled that of someone who had completed a mission.

"You choose, and once you've chosen, I will marry you."

Shen Nanzi: "That won't do. Marriage is a lifelong commitment. You have to be responsible for the person. What if you marry someone casually and then become a resentful couple?"

"You choose for yourself."

“If he chooses for himself, he probably won’t be able to marry anyone. Look at his expression.” Yang Wenhui bluntly pointed out, “It’s obvious he doesn’t care; he’ll marry anyone.”

Shen Nanzi pursed her lips, guessing that Lie Feng had agreed to the Spring Festival banquet to show her that he would keep his promise and correct his attitude.

If you marry her and then don't like her, wouldn't that be harming someone else's daughter?

Shen Nanzi is caught in a dilemma.

My aunt came over at some point and said, "There's no such thing as love and affection. It's not about living together."

"Even if there is love, there will be times when the love fades. Eight or nine out of ten marriages are arranged by parents and matchmakers, and blind marriage is the fate of most people."

"Back then, I was young and ignorant, thinking I had met the love of my life, only to end up being beaten and humiliated."

"If it weren't for Your Highness and Madam's rescue, I would probably be dead long ago, my bones turned to ashes."

Everyone remained silent.

Shen Nanzi knew that her great-aunt had a tragic life; in her twenties, she was beaten by her husband, causing her unborn child to die in the womb.

She and her mother passed by and saw her lying in a pool of blood, so they took her to find a doctor.

The fetus was removed, but she was left unable to have children for life.

After she recovered, she kowtowed several times to her mother and then went back and beat her damned husband to death with a rake.

The authorities wanted to arrest her, but her mother gave her money and the stillborn fetus, which was already full-term, in exchange for her life.

From then on, her great-aunt considered herself a widow and only wanted to repay their kindness, raising Shen Nanzi as she grew up.

Auntie said, "Liefeng has no mother, and I have no son, so he has recognized me as his godmother."

“That day, Liefeng told me that he asked me, as his mother, to ask you to arrange a marriage for him.”