Yes, I Do(n't)

Chapter 7: Same stranger

There is something about the ancient times, with the peaceful and quiet night accompanied by natural cool air, she was sleeping like a log once she laid down on the bed. Seems like this ancient life suits her very well indeed. Too bad that she is a chronic workaholic who needs to be on a constant move 24/7. She is missing the time where she gets to be drunk with alcohol too but as she is now the eldest miss, it is not appropriate for her to do so. She misses her modern lifestyle too much and it's affecting her mood for today. As she is used to waking up by 5 o'clock in the morning daily, she continues to do so in this new young body of hers. As soon as she woke up, she stretches her body with her usual morning yoga routines to warm up her body. This pampered body of the eldest miss needed to be whipped out to perfection before she can continue with her martial arts training. After she's done with yoga, she went outside to jogs around the manor which caused a ripple of shock reaction against the servants working in the manor. She even lifted a stone stool using her hand while doing a squat exercise in her courtyard, Moli only watches in silence.

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A beautiful body is a must especially when she is living the life of a pampered miss. Her original body is quite lean but curvaceous even though she is a 34-year old which is the result of daily extraneous training and exercises accompanied by healthy eating. This will be her routine from these days onwards. Too much pampering caused this body to be so weak and fragile, so it has to change.

One guard reported what the eldest miss has been doing to the general who is already awake and is sitting in the waiting hall together with his son. Both look at each other before walking to her courtyard to check on her.

Once they arrived, both saw that she is doing a stretching movement against the tree with one of her leg is spread against the tree while her hand is holding onto her feet, after a minute she puts her leg down and mumbles incoherently while she gently massages her leg.

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General Shen Jilie is a bit surprised by this sudden change of attitude of hers. Exercising will do good for her fragile body. And, with regular exercise, she will be stronger. He wanted that as he is afraid that he might lose her just like he lost her mother 17 years ago. His Shuiling has always been the soft, weak and fragile third miss of the Mu family. Even when he was engaged to her older sister, he founds that his eyes are always following her movements whenever he saw her. It might be that she was the exact opposite of him that he was so deeply intrigued by her gentle manner and a habit where she always let herself to be overshadowed by her older sister. If he is the fire, she was the water. Each time spent with her was a peaceful yet blissful one. She always listened to him when he spoke to her with a gentle smile on her lips. She touched his hand to calm him down whenever he was angry. She hugged him every time he left the manor. Above all, she treated everyone kindly and, during their early marriage, Concubine Li Xiyin has been quite a troublemaker who always tried to find fault in everything that she had done. She persevered with a smile on her face. When she found out that Concubine Li Xiyin is pregnant with his child when she was still without one, she accepted it graciously and personally made sure everything goes on smoothly for her. By then, Concubine Lin Xiyin truly realized why the general loved her so much. She was truly one without any malicious intentions in her heart. His son has the opportunity of being loved and pampered by her for 3 short years. When she was bedridden during her pregnancy, Concubine Li Xiyin stayed by her side with her young son to brighten up her mood. Though everyone in the manor knew that their first madame is slowly dying during her pregnancy, once the eldest miss has been borne, the first madame breathed her last breath without having the opportunity to look at her precious daughter. He was broken because of her death by Concubine Li Xiyin always reminded him that her daughter needed him. But that girl too inherited her late mother's weak constitution. Seeing his daughter sweating because of her training only make him smile as he knew that is a sign of her being a healthy young lady.

Realizing that her father and her brother are watching her, she runs towards them with a smile on her face.

"Father... Older brother... Good morning."

Captain Shen Yili smile at his sister and gently pat on her head, "You have just woken up... You should take it easy, Baiyu."

"Nonsense, older brother. I needed to train my body so that I can start training with you soon. I value flexibility the most."

General Shen Jilie then says, "Never did I thought that such a movement can be done... Looks painful."

"It is, father. But, doing muscle stretches are good for the body. No worries, I will really take good care of myself."

General Shen Jilie then asks, "Are you really fine with the annulment of your engagement? This will affect any future chance of you to get married to another."

"I am fine with it. After all, with the compensation I will be getting from his royal highness, I will be living a good life even if I would never have the chance to be married with another."

Captain Shen Yili laughs at her words, "Baiyu, you sound so happy even with the fact that might be a single miss for the rest of your life."

"Hahahaha! It is enough for me to keep on bothering both father and mother then. And, when I am older, I will be bothering you and sister-in-law. Once I am an old white-haired woman, I will be bothering my nieces or nephews."

Upon hearing what she had just said, General Shen Jilie and Captain Shen Yilie do not know whether to laugh or cry at it.

"You should be taking your bath now. You will be going out with Lianhua soon. Moli will be accompanying the two of us."

"Okay, father. I will be joining the breakfast for today."

She then hugs her father then her older brother before running back towards Moli who is waiting for her. Both men looking somewhat pleasantly surprised by this.

"Baiyu seems to be more lively and warmer lately."

"Indeed. Your younger sister seems to be quite exciting with her life lately. Maybe the annulment of her engagement will do her good. We must make sure that the royal family agrees to it. Her Majesty seems to be against it and insisted for the crown prince to take her as his main wife."

"I will definitely not let him do that. He is obviously not the right man for her."

***

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Shen Baiyu acts somewhat like excited as she waits for her younger sister to arrive. As she stands in front of the manor with Moli, several people are looking at her with surprise expression on their face. Just by looking at her veil hat, they knew that she is the eldest miss of the Shen family. The one whom will be dumped by the crown prince. Some look at her with pity. Some look at her with a smirk on their faces. But she ignores all of it and stands there with both of her hands behind her back. As she is standing with her back facing the moving crowd, she did not cover her face as she looks inside the manor as she stood in the middle of the door gate of the manor.

The guards standing on each of the sides of the door gate already managed to look at her face earlier and they sucked their breaths when they saw her face, she even smiled at them too. Who says that their eldest miss is ugly? She is a beauty that can destroy a city. That crown prince is a fool for snubbing their eldest miss. They even glare at the crowd passing by the manor and make sure that not one of them is able to take a glimpse on their eldest miss. Moli can only smile looking at the protective door guards of the manor. Only by looking the eldest miss momentarily, they are being so protective towards her.

"What do we have here... Isn't this the eldest miss of the Shen family?”

As she heard to the somewhat familiar voice, she calmly covers her face with her veil before she turns her to face the familiar stranger.

"It is I, the eldest miss of the Shen family. Who might this gentleman be? I do believe that we have never even met..."

"True... This is indeed our very 'first' meeting with each other. Looks like you are going out for a walk... As I have just arrived in the city, I do need someone to show me around."

"That would be inappropriate, sir."

"Do not worry. Look who I have brought along with me..."

Her younger sister who has just arrived suddenly runs towards the man brought along by this familiar stranger standing in front of her.

"Zhishi, what a pleasant surprise... What are you doing here?"

Bai Zhishi awkwardly laughs and answer his fiancée, "This gentleman forced me to come along with him. I did not even realize that his destination is the Shen’s manor. It has been a while, Lianhua. Good morning, eldest miss. Good morning, Moli."

"I see... Seems like this gentleman that I do not know comes duly prepared. Great. I am amazed by your brilliant mind."

Crown Prince Beitang Moran laughs at the rather cynical words, "Thank you for your compliment, eldest miss. This gentleman is called Moran. Just call me Moran."

"This eldest miss would not dare to do so, kind sir. After all, you are still a complete stranger for this eldest miss."

"Stranger now, soulmate tomorrow..."

Shen Baiyu looks at him incredulously. What on earth is this young man talking about? He blatantly makes a move on the crown prince's fiancé without any fear whatsoever. Bai Zhishi and Shen Lianhua are dumbfounded too especially Bai Zhishi who knew the real identity of the shameless man.

Moli and the guards are on the verge to teach a lesson to this shameless man but when they wanted to make a move on him, Shen Baiyu stops them.

"Wait... Let it be. Well, for that confidence of yours... This eldest miss is wishing you all the luck in the world. I am still engaged to the crown prince you know."

"It will be annulled soon. I will make sure of that. Shall we go?"

He slightly bowed at her with a smile on his face. Shen Baiyu wanted to be angry at him but, honestly, she is highly impressed by his boldness. So, his name is Moran... She smiles as she stared at him.

"Let us go then."

She then walks next to him with Bai Zhishi and Shen Lianhua right behind them. Moli walks behind the couples and she noticed that both the eldest miss and that man walks harmoniously with similar steps, from time and time again, that man turn his head to look at the eldest miss even though she is wearing a veiled hat, he never stops smiling ever since they started their walk. Maybe, this man is much better than the wretched prince after all.