kvmb Chapter 238 Not biological
Chapter 238 Not biological
Duke Sheng paid for his sister, Madam Sheng, to help Madam Li with Sheng Yunzhu's coming-of-age ceremony. However, due to the short notice, many things could not be prepared in advance, so on the day of the ceremony, many things were still in a mess. Only close relatives were invited as guests. Surprisingly, not a single person from the Lan family, who were related by marriage, came.
Inside Sheng Yunzhu's boudoir, Dianmo stood carefully behind her, combing her hair and glancing at her reflection in the mirror from time to time.
Unexpectedly, Sheng Yunzhu's face remained calm, but her eyes held an emotion that Dianmo could not fathom.
She felt a pang of pity and whispered, "Miss, the Duke values you the most. He just sent over a lot of things, all for you."
Sheng Yunzhu didn't speak for a while, then suddenly asked, "What time is it?"
"Reporting to Miss, it's almost 9 AM."
"Has the Lan family not arrived yet?"
Dianmo choked, glanced at Dianshu who was guarding the door, and Dianshu didn't dare to speak, only gently shaking his head.
"Perhaps something has delayed you," Dianmo said cautiously.
Sheng Yunzhu waved her hand and threw everything off the table, then turned around and slapped Dianmo across the face.
Dianmo was so frightened that he immediately knelt down.
Sheng Yunzhu laughed a few times, her voice maniacal: "Everyone's bullying me, everyone's bullying me, isn't that right? I've waited for this day, waited so long, all I wanted was to get through today peacefully, why, why does everyone have to bully me, why do they all treat me like this?"
Dianmo crawled forward a few steps, trembling, and hugged her leg: "Girl, girl, calm down. Your good days are yet to come. Those who don't cherish you will definitely regret it."
"Regret?" Sheng Yunzhu sneered. After a moment, she finally calmed down completely, her eyes filled with coldness: "You're right. After today, they will all regret it. I will make them all regret it!"
"Alright, it's getting late, let's go." Sheng Yunzhu reached out and pulled Dianmo up. Dianmo stood carefully to the side, helping her adjust her dress.
On the table next to her was a formal dress that she would wear for her coming-of-age ceremony later. It had been made at great expense by the best embroidery workshop in the capital.
It was very glamorous, but in Sheng Yunzhu's eyes, it was extremely irritating.
I heard that Lan Shi started preparing Lu Yangyang's dress several months in advance, finding the best embroiderers in Jiangnan, with more than a dozen people working together to embroider a complete pattern. When the dress is made and worn, it will be dazzling and exquisite.
Her outfit, though seemingly luxurious, was actually a patchwork of embroidered pieces. From the fabric to the value and the care put into it, it paled in comparison to even a fraction of Lu Yangyang's.
It's ridiculous.
She had gone to great lengths to please them for over a decade, and now they wouldn't even give her that much face.
Sheng Yunzhu walked up to the dress, picked up the scissors, grabbed the dress, and in just a few strokes, cut it to shreds. Dian Mo couldn't stop her in time.
"Miss, this, this..." Dianmo's lips trembled as she stared in horror and anxiety at the ruined dress, asking in a trembling voice, "Miss, what should we do..."
"Miss, Miss, the Old Madam of the Xiao family and the Sixth Princess have arrived!" Dian Shu ran in from the doorway, calling out with delight.
The next second, seeing the tattered dress, she stared in horror, frozen in place, not daring to breathe.
Sheng Yunzhu grabbed the tattered dress and ran out the door.
Dianmo and Dianshu exchanged a glance and hurriedly followed.
Sheng Yunzhu ran all the way to the banquet hall. At this moment, the old lady of the Xiao family and the sixth princess also entered the door. The old lady of Li and Sheng hurriedly went to greet them.
The flower hall was now filled with guests who had come to attend the banquet. They were probably surprised that the old lady of the Xiao family and the sixth princess would come, so they all stood up to greet them.
The matriarch of the Xiao family is the biological mother of the current Consort Xiao, and her status is extremely noble. Her attendance at Sheng Yunzhu's coming-of-age ceremony is not simply because she values Sheng Yunzhu, but more like she is sending a signal. Everyone couldn't help but recall the gossip from a few days ago about the Third Prince and Sheng Yunzhu's upcoming marriage, and they couldn't help but start to envy Sheng Yunzhu.
Now that His Highness the Crown Prince has become disabled, the Third Prince is the most valued person in the court. If Sheng Yunzhu can marry the Third Prince, she will probably not only be the Third Prince's wife, but may very well become the Empress.
Even Madam Li was surprised that Madam Xiao and the Sixth Princess would come. Originally, they had some opinions about Sheng Yunzhu because of what had happened before, but now all of them had vanished. They only regretted that the coming-of-age ceremony was not grand enough and wished they could marry Sheng Yunzhu to the Third Prince on the spot.
She greeted the old lady of the Xiao family and the sixth princess with great courtesy, and invited them to sit in the main seats.
After sitting down, the matriarch of the Xiao family looked around and asked with great curiosity, "Where is Madam Lan?"
As the mistress of the Shengguo Duke's Mansion and the biological mother of Sheng Yunzhu, why is Lady Lan nowhere to be seen on such an important day as Sheng Yunzhu's coming-of-age ceremony?
This question was not only of interest to the Xiao family matriarch, but also to many others present, and all eyes immediately fell on the Li matriarch.
Madam Li was at her wit's end. She cursed Lan Shi hundreds of times in her heart, but on the surface she had to force a smile and explain for Lan Shi: "Lan Shi is not feeling well and really can't get out of bed. I'm worried about passing on her illness to everyone, so please forgive her."
Upon hearing this, the matriarch of the Xiao family didn't know whether to believe it or not, but simply smiled and nodded: "Health is the most important thing."
The crowd below began to whisper among themselves.
"Just the day before yesterday, someone saw Madam Lan go to Yun Cui Xuan. How come she's so sick that she can't get out of bed after only two days?"
"What do you know? Didn't you see that no one from the Lan family came? They're practically your maternal grandparents' family, and not a single person came. Don't you think there's a problem?"
"That's right. It's one thing if other families don't come, but it's really strange that the Lan family isn't sending anyone."
"Not only that, but the wife of the head of the Sheng family didn't come either. Isn't that strange? For such a big event as the coming-of-age ceremony of the eldest daughter of the Duke's family, even if there was something wrong, they would send someone close to her. But we haven't seen many members of the Sheng family."
"Oh my, isn't that right? That's really strange. But I did hear a rumor, I don't know if it's true or not."
"Tell me quickly, what rumor is it?"
"It is said that this Third Miss Sheng is not actually the Sheng family's biological daughter. She was switched at birth, she is fake, and she is not of the Sheng State Duke's bloodline."
"No way? A fake heiress? Isn't that what they were singing about in that play at Xianyin Pavilion lately? How could it be real? Especially not from a family like the Duke of Sheng's mansion? Impossible!"
"I think it's very likely. Otherwise, why is it that not a single member of the Lan family came? Why didn't the Lan family show up? To put it bluntly, they're not even related by blood, so why bother with this formality?"
"That makes sense..."
Amidst the lively discussion, suddenly, Sheng Yunzhu stumbled into the living room carrying a formal dress and knelt down with a thud.
He landed on the ground, clutching the dress, causing everyone present to gasp in shock.