Since the master had spoken, Mo Lan felt it was inappropriate to conceal anything, as Xue Ning would eventually find out anyway.

“It seems that Madam Shen values her relationship with Liang Jue very much. This incident hasn’t had much impact on her. In fact, her relationship with Young Master Liang seems to have improved. At least, that’s what the messages coming from the Shen family indicate.”

Mo Lan also referred to Liang Jue as Young Master Liang, not because he thought Xue Ning liked him, but simply because Liang Jue was Shen Meng’s husband. There was no need to remind Xue Ning that Liang Jue was already married to Shen Meng.

The corner of Xue Ning’s lips curved slightly, a mocking expression on his handsome face, but it didn’t seem out of place at all. “Is this information confirmed to be true?”

Mo Lan respectfully replied, “A few days ago, the Shen family hired a few servants. Mo Ju and Mo Zhu entered the Shen family’s courtyard, one to serve Madam Shen and the other to work in the account room for Minister Shen.”

Although Shen Meng didn’t live separately, her East Courtyard accounts were separate from the Shen family’s, as a large portion of her assets came from her dowry, inherited from her father. Without deliberately inquiring, it was possible to gather information about Shen Meng’s affairs by placing two clever people in Shen Li’s courtyard.

“She still seems to trust anyone just as much as before.” Xue Ning’s palm broke into a cold sweat, fearing he might slip. He subconsciously tightened his grip on the jade pendant in his hand and lowered his voice a bit more, “I want detailed information.”

Mo Lan took out a stack of letters from his sleeve and handed them to Xue Ning with both hands. “The things I’ve found, as well as the specific information you want to know, are not convenient to describe. Everything you need is here, Master, please take your time to read.”

Xue Ning didn’t take the letters but carefully placed the jade pendant on the table beside him. He then took a soft silk handkerchief and wiped away the cold sweat on his hands before taking the letters and carefully reading through the contents.

As he read further, his expression grew even more ominous, but thankfully, his young and beautiful face didn’t appear sinister and scary. Instead, it added a touch of melancholic beauty.

Mo Lan was accustomed to this expression of his. In fact, he feared Xue Ning’s laughter the most because the happier he laughed, the more unlucky someone was going to be.

Once Xue Ning finished reading the letters, he reached out to take them and naturally wiped his hands with a damp cloth scented with tangerine oil, which Mo Lan had prepared.

Only then did he speak softly, “It’s easy to see who Liang Jue’s affections lie with. This rumor won’t hinder him in any way.”

He paused, “This rumor was originally aimed at you. Spreading it further won’t benefit you. If Madam Shen were to take it seriously, it would be even worse.”

“They’re just a bunch of insignificant people spreading rumors. I’ll leave it to you to handle the gossip.”

Xue Ning unconsciously tapped the armrest of the chair with his fingers and said, “Earlier, a servant asked me if we should send another invitation to Liang Jue to visit our residence. I refused.”

Mo Lan softly “Hmm?” to indicate he was attentively listening to Xue Ning’s words.

Xue Ning brushed away the gloom from his face, swaying his legs back and forth childishly, adding a touch of innocence to his demeanor, “Even if I did invite him, he would just make excuses not to come.”

Mo Lan agreed, “Indeed, that’s how it usually goes. However, you can invite him a few more times; eventually, he’ll come.”

Xue Ning shook his head, “There’s no need. I don’t really like him anyway. How about this, you send another invitation, and I’ll visit their residence directly. If Liang Jue refuses, I’ll give it to Shen Li.”

As a man, it wouldn’t be appropriate for him to visit a woman’s residence. However, there would be no problem with Shen Li and Shen Xiang. Since they were eager to establish a relationship with him, they would naturally not refuse his olive branch.

After giving his orders, Mo Lan retreated, leaving Xue Ning alone in the room. He took out a somewhat shabby tassel from the box and placed another one beside it. The exquisite one, used to tie the jade pendant brought by Liang Jue, made the unfinished one look dusty and neglected. The shabby one had been woven by Xue Ning himself.

After examining the style of the tassels, Xue Ning threw the old one into the nearby wastebasket. Since it was no longer useful, there was no need to keep it.

Xue Ning hadn’t been back in the capital for long, and he didn’t enjoy socializing. He had plenty of time to contend with these things.

Xue Ning had always been praised by the Empress and his master for his intelligence, whether it was military strategy or arts and culture. However, he lacked talent in matters of romance. After struggling for a few hours, his fingers were marked with red welts from weaving the ropes into tassels.

By late night, Xue Ning had finally finished weaving satisfactory knots. He carefully hung the jade pendant and, satisfied, closed his eyes to sleep.

Due to exhaustion, he quickly fell into a deep slumber, and he had the same dream again.

Most of the environment in the dream was blurry, but he could sense himself on a bustling street. His memory told him that it wasn’t in the capital to the north but on the Tong Street in the water town of Yuncheng City in the south.

He seemed to be floating in the air, viewing everything in the world from above.

It seemed to be summer in the dream, and it was very hot. His gaze seemed to be focused on a dirty little boy. According to his status, he shouldn’t be concerned with such a beggar boy.

But for some reason, in the dream, his gaze involuntarily fell on that boy. The boy looked thirsty and hungry, his face dirty, making it hard to tell if he was handsome, but his eyes were bright, gleaming with a strong desire to eat.

In dreams, one doesn’t feel pain, but Xue Ning felt that the boy must be in a lot of pain because there were many wounds on his hands and legs.

His childhood was not like this. In the palace, the attendants were always afraid he’d get hurt. Even if he accidentally scratched himself while picking flowers, his father would be deeply distressed.

If he accidentally fell, the attendants would be punished. Unlike this boy, who had so many wounds on his body and no one to take care of him.

But the intense hunger clearly overpowered the pain. The boy didn’t cry out in pain and paid no attention to his wounds, just staring at the bun seller with a strong desire to eat.

Perhaps because he found the boy too bothersome, or perhaps out of sympathy, the shopkeeper of the bun shop gave him two torn vegetable buns, with a bad attitude, urging him to leave: “Alright, alright, take the buns and go eat in the alley.”

The shopkeeper was fat and rude. If anyone dared to treat him like this, they would have been dragged out and beaten by dozens of bosses a long time ago, which would be considered a challenge to imperial authority and result in severe punishment.

However, the beggar boy clearly didn’t care about these things. Although the shopkeeper’s attitude was bad, it was already good enough that he gave him buns instead of driving him away with a stick.

Of course, this was also because he was lucky. There were more male customers among the guests. It wasn’t auspicious to do unpleasant things on such an auspicious day shortly after the shop opened.

With the buns in hand, the beggar boy happily ran to the alley on the side, and Xue Ning’s gaze followed his movements from the bright main street to the somewhat dim alley.

Although the buns were torn, they looked snowy white, forming a sharp contrast with the boy’s dark and thin hands. Xue Ning remembered that when he was a child, he had to wash his hands three times before meals, with fragrant flower petal water.

But this beggar boy didn’t care about dirty things that might make him sick from eating them. He took a hearty bite of the steaming bun, and his beautiful eyes narrowed with happiness as he tasted the delicious food.

But as the beggar boy wolfed down the first bun, a small stone hit him. He was so focused on eating that he didn’t mind the pain, taking two steps back and then biting into the second bun.

But he wasn’t so lucky afterwards. The girl who threw the stone rushed up, snatched his bun, and threw it on the ground, laughing loudly: “Eat, eat, you stole this bun, didn’t you? All you know is how to eat. You dare to ignore me, you shameless thief.”

The girl looked about ten years old, but she was tall and sturdy, and she seemed to have a lot of strength. Seeing trouble brewing, Xue Ning couldn’t help but worry for the beggar boy.

The bun was stepped on like that, and eating it would definitely cause stomach upset. The beggar had no money to buy medicine, and he wouldn’t pick up things from the ground to eat again. The beggar didn’t cry, just glaring fiercely at the girl.

The latter was unnerved by his straight gaze and suddenly felt embarrassed to be scared by such a young beggar boy. She raised her hand to punch him in the eye.

But her fist didn’t land. Instead, it was fiercely bitten. Despite being a dirty beggar boy, his teeth were surprisingly white and beautiful.

Feeling the pain, the girl fiercely pushed him away. The beggar, who was already not full, naturally had no resistance. He was kicked twice by the girl.

Being a beggar was not easy, especially when always encountering bullies like this. Most of the wounds on him were caused by this kind of bullying.

Xue Ning’s heart had long been cold as iron over the years, but seeing this scene, he felt a sharp pain in his heart for some reason.

They say children can be the most cruel demons. The boy curled up in pain, while the girl, the little tyrant, was not satisfied. She picked up a stick thrown in the alley and started hitting him.

The beggar boy was so thin and had many wounds on his body, he naturally couldn’t withstand such a brutal beating. Even if passersby passed by, no one would care.

One strike, two strikes… seven strikes. By the eighth strike, a stone flew out and hit the stick in the girl’s hand. At this point, the beggar boy was barely breathing.

Having been interrupted, the little tyrant was still dissatisfied. Looking up, she realized it was an acquaintance, calling out, “Auntie.”

The girl, standing between light and shadow, spoke coldly: “You haven’t learned anything else, but you’ve learned this well. Did your father teach you that?”

Although this aunt was only two years older, her status at home was completely different. She was someone even her father had to remind to please, and the little tyrant, sweaty and scared, didn’t know what to say and just ran away, leaving the stick behind.

Xue Ning breathed a sigh of relief for the beggar boy, and seeing the girl who had helped him walk away directly, it was obvious that she was just looking for someone and planned to go back.

Every day on this street, beggars froze to death, poor families couldn’t afford to eat, and many died because they couldn’t afford medicine. Where was there room to care about the beggar boys on the street?

Even if there were kind-hearted young men passing by, they would worry about the cost of medicine and sigh and leave. This girl looked well-off, but it didn’t mean she had such a kind heart to mind street beggars.

But she hadn’t gone far before her pants were grabbed by someone. The beggar boy looked up at her and said, “Save me.”

Perhaps dignity was ingrained in him, even at this moment, the little boy didn’t use the word ‘please’.

Xue Ning thought, the boy’s attitude of asking for help was so bad, his dirty hands even dirtied the girl’s clothes, maybe she would shake him off and give him another kick.

The girl’s face had been blurry all along, but when the beggar boy looked up, Xue Ning could see the girl’s face clearly through his eyes.

She was an eleven or twelve-year-old girl, with a handsome face, but she exuded a gloomy atmosphere, not looking like a kind-hearted person.

That face hadn’t changed until now. At least Xue Ning could tell at a glance that this was Shen Meng’s appearance when she was young.