Rebirth: So what if my husband is a little crazy? He loves me.

Chapter 11 This is too much!

Zhou House.

Before Shen Li arrived, she sent a visiting card. A maid was already waiting at the door, and she greeted her warmly, saying, "Madam Gu, please come in quickly."

"Please lead the way," Shen Li said.

"Thank you for coming in person, Madam Gu. My young lady is waiting for you in the study." The head maid stood still, looking at Shen Li with a smile.

Shen Li raised her hand, and Lian Qiao presented the painting.

"Thank you." The maid took the painting and handed it to the person behind her, who then headed towards the inner courtyard with the painting.

When Peony saw this, her eyebrows almost stood up. Her young lady had come in person to deliver the painting, but the Zhou family had only sent a servant to receive it. This was too arrogant!

"Madam Gu, please." The maid was very polite and led Shen Li and the other two to the pavilion in the back garden.

"Please wait here, Madam Gu. My second young lady will be here soon." The maid bowed and withdrew, while other maids served tea and refreshments.

The Zhou family garden is very large, but there are not many beautiful sights in autumn. Only the potted plants, dwarf pines and chrysanthemums, are placed next to the rockery on the right.

Shen Li sat on the cold stone bench for the time it takes to drink two cups of tea, and before she knew it, the third cup of hot tea had been served.

"What kind of hospitality does the Zhou family have? It's one thing if they don't greet us personally, but why are they leaving us standing here in the cold wind?" Peony's voice was as low as possible, full of anger.

Even Lianqiao couldn't stay calm now, and said, "Miss, you've just caught a chill, shouldn't we go back?"

“Alright, Peony, go to the Ye family and present my visiting card.” Shen Li got up as advised: “I’ll leave after I’ve looked at the chrysanthemums; there seem to be a few rare varieties there.”

"Yes." Peony took the name card and left.

Shen Li walked around the heavy artificial mountain built of huge rocks and saw a potted plant display. She said to Lian Qiao, "Isn't my eye good? These few black chrysanthemums are very rare. They would be extremely beautiful in a painting."

Lian Qiao couldn't stand Mo Ju. Even though her mistress usually praised her for her calm and composed nature, she was now annoyed. This week, Miss Zhou was really disrespectful. Only her mistress could tolerate it.

Shen Li observed very carefully, with great interest.

"Sister Zhou, let's hurry up. It would be impolite to keep Sister Shen waiting for too long." A woman's voice came from not far away.

"So what if she was rude? We used to respect her because of her noble family background. Now that she's married to a mere third-rank official, does she think she can be on equal footing with us?"

"Sister Zhou, please keep your voice down. Although Lord Gu's official rank is not high, he is highly regarded by His Majesty. We must not offend him." The voice was lowered even further.

"Others may be afraid of me, but I'm not. No matter how powerful Gu Chang'an is, he's just a cruel official, a lackey to put it nicely, and a dog kept by His Majesty to put it bluntly..."

"Little sister... we can't say any more. The pavilion is just past the rockery."

"So what if she hears us? My Zhou family is backed by His Highness the Crown Prince. The future of the country belongs to His Highness. Do you think I'm afraid of a dog?"

"..."

Lianqiao was right behind the artificial hill, and this conversation was clearly heard by her and several of the Zhou family maids present. She believed that her young mistress had also heard it.

Her eyes reddened with anger. Who did Zhou Rong think she was, taking her young lady's hard-earned painting and then so rudely slandering it with such vile words?

This is absolutely outrageous!

Even the two maids who served Shen Li in the Zhou family looked at each other, feeling embarrassed for the second young lady.

"These black chrysanthemums are delicious, but they don't taste good. It's pointless to keep admiring them. Forget it." Shen Li straightened up, her interest gone.

At this moment, Zhou Rong and another daughter of a vice minister had just walked out from another side of the artificial hill and saw Shen Li admiring chrysanthemums. Both of them were stunned.

We're so close, didn't Shen Li hear what we just said?!

Zhou Rong's eyes darted around. Although she looked down on Shen Li, her elder sister had told her that Shen Li was useful and needed to be won over, and that she should not be offended easily.

"Miss Zhou, what do you think of that crabapple blossom painting?" Shen Li spoke first, her expression kind and gentle, showing no sign of displeasure.

"Sister Shen's calligraphy is unmatched in this world." Zhou Rong's heart finally settled down. How could she forget that Shen Li had become a bookworm and was very kind-hearted?

Moreover, since she had just been cursing Gu Chang'an, Shen Li probably didn't care.

“Sister Shen, I’m not used to calling you Madam Gu.” Wei Ruolan, who was traveling with Zhou Rong, nodded to Shen Li.

Wei Ruolan and Shen Li did not have much interaction. Her father was the Vice Minister of Rites, and Shen Li's father was the Minister of Rites. Their fathers were colleagues.

"Sister Wei, you can call me whatever you want." Shen Li nodded in return.

She looked down and noticed her waist. She looked at it, touched it with her hand, and looked up at Lian Qiao and said, "My jade pendant is missing. Go and look for it. Did you drop it on the way here?"

"Oh dear, I brought it with me when I came. I'll go find it right away." Lian Qiao, seeing that her young mistress's waist was empty, forgot about being angry, bowed, and went around the artificial hill towards the pavilion to look for it.

"Did Sister Shen lose something?" Zhou Rong asked.

“It’s a jade pendant that my mother gave me as part of my dowry. It was bestowed by the late emperor. What would we do if it were lost?” Shen Li frowned slightly, her expression unusually tense.

Upon hearing that it was a gift from the Emperor, Zhou Rong and Wei Ruolan knew that this was a matter of great importance.

"What are you all standing there for? Go find it together!" Zhou Rong instructed all the maids.

Wei Ruolan also sent her maid with her.

"Thank you." Shen Li thanked her and kept looking back at the path she had come from. The path from the artificial hill to the pavilion was not short, and a section of it went through the artificial hill, so she couldn't see clearly where she had fallen for a moment.

“This is a gift from the Emperor and cannot be lost. I will go and help look for it,” Wei Ruolan said.

"Alright then." Shen Li said, then looked at the potted plants again with some concern: "I lingered here for a while too."

Hearing this, Zhou Rong couldn't remain silent, so she went along with it: "Then you guys go ahead, I'll help you look for it here."

"Then thank you very much, Miss Zhou." Shen Li nodded slowly to her.

Zhou Rong felt puzzled. She felt that Shen Li's gaze was not quite right, but she couldn't figure out what it was.

Turning past the artificial hill, Wei Ruolan comforted her, "Don't worry, little sister, we'll definitely find it. We have so many of us... ah..."

"Boom!"

A loud roar interrupted Wei Ruolan's words. She felt a huge noise behind her and a violent tremor under her feet. She screamed in fright and squatted down on the ground.

She looked around in panic and saw that the artificial mountain behind her, made of huge rocks, had collapsed and fallen towards the side of the bonsai. At this moment, the bonsai and the people next to it could no longer be seen; all that could be seen was a pile of rubble.

"It...it fell down..." Wei Ruolan could barely speak.

At this moment, the maids also heard the noise and ran back, all looking at the scene before them in shock.

How could the artificial hill have collapsed? Could someone have been trapped inside?

"What are you all standing there for? Your young lady is under the rock. Quickly go and call the servants to move the rock away." It was Shen Li who gave the order at this crucial moment.

“Sister Wei, the maid may have spoken rashly and inappropriately. You should convey this to the old lady.” Shen Li added, “I will stay here and keep an eye on things.”

"Yes...yes..." Wei Ruolan perked up and, supported by her maid, went to the backyard.

The other maids scattered to find help, leaving Shen Li alone beside the ruins. She slowly took out a jade pendant from her sleeve and casually tossed it by the roadside.