Yang Ruxin watched Shen Yilan enter and secretly rolled her eyes without a word. If she hadn’t known about her "glorious" deeds, maybe she wouldn’t feel so disgusted. Ever since she learned that Shen Yilan had conspired with the Shen Family’s young miss to drug the prince, and then the three of them had a threesome, just seeing her was like swallowing a fly, especially when she noticed that naive and innocent smile she thought she had—it was truly nauseating.
"Xinxin..." Shen Yilan spotted Yang Ruxin immediately and ran over with a face full of joy, "You’re really here, that’s wonderful... I was afraid I wouldn’t see you."
"Miss Shen, coming to patronize my humble store again?" Yang Ruxin’s face broke into a wide smile. "The shop is truly blessed." She then waved to a member of the Jiu Family, "Auntie Jiu, hurry, please prepare one of each item for Miss Shen right away. Put it on my tab today; it’s my treat for Miss Shen to have some fruit pancakes..."
Auntie Jiu quickly crisply agreed, "Okay, coming right up." She then hurried her husband along as well.
"Don’t worry, it’ll be ready in no time," Wang Laibao’s loud voice chimed in, "I’ll even add an extra egg..."
"Miss Shen, please wait a moment; it’ll be ready soon. We’re even adding an egg for you," Yang Ruxin said with a smile, then turned to walk out. She really didn’t want to have too much contact with her.
"Xinxin," Shen Yilan hurriedly gestured, "I didn’t come to buy pancakes today; I specifically came to see you..."
Yang Ruxin had to stop in her tracks, looking curiously at the other party, "What’s the matter?"
"I’ve come to deliver an invitation," Shen Yilan said as she handed over a gilded invitation card emitting a fragrant scent. "In a few days, my mother is hosting a plum blossom appreciation party, and I wanted to invite you to participate..."
"Appreciate plum blossoms?" Yang Ruxin glanced at the exquisite invite but did not take it, "Miss Shen, you flatter me too much. I’m just a village girl; what do I know about appreciating plum blossoms? Such refined pleasures are beyond me..."
"Xinxin, we are friends," Shen Yilan looked crestfallen, "is it wrong to invite you to my house to have fun?"
Yang Ruxin’s eyebrows twitched. Who wanted to be friends with her? Still, since the woman hadn’t done anything inappropriate, it wasn’t really right to fall out with her over this, but she was still put in a difficult position.
"Xinxin, I don’t have any other friends, please come and have fun," Shen Yilan pleaded with a desperate look, "consider it a favor..."
Yang Ruxin frowned.
"Let’s settle it then," Shen Yilan suddenly pushed the invitation into Yang Ruxin’s hand. "See you then." She then turned and ran off, as if she was afraid Yang Ruxin would return the invitation to her.
Yang Ruxin frowned and then couldn’t help but sneer. What sort of situation was this? Who was her friend? But it seemed that she was somehow being entangled by her.
"Young mistress, is everything okay?" Auntie Jiu came over.
Yang Ruxin shook her head, "Does she come here often?"
"Yes," Auntie Jiu nodded, "She comes almost every other day, always asking all sorts of questions, always probing about the young mistress’s affairs..."
Yang Ruxin nodded, "What did you tell her?"
"Whatever she asked, we always said we didn’t know," Auntie Jiu quickly shook her head, "She hasn’t come much these past few days, and I didn’t expect her to bump into you today... I don’t know what she’s up to..."
"No matter her purpose, you and your husband, as well as old Master Qian, must be extra careful and stay safe," Yang Ruxin smiled, then glanced at the invitation in her hand, "Maybe we’ll find out soon enough..."