In her past life, she was plotted against, so she had not only given up everything she had, but she had also lost her life. Now that she had returned with bloodlust, how could she leave anything behind for them?
The light outside the window flickered as if it came from far away. It was dark now, and most of the lights in the mansion had been turned off, but the lights were still on in that area. It seemed to be a tall building, and that direction should point to the outer courtyard. How could there be someone in the outer courtyard at this time?
Shao Wanru squinted at it and didn’t care about it. Duke Xing’s Mansion was strange to her. It was so strange that even she had been in Duke Xing’s Mansion for a while, she still didn’t know the layout of Duke Xing’s Mansion.
“What’s that place? Why are there still lights?” Shao Wanru casually pointed at it and said.
Yujie came over and took a look. She also shook her head and said, “It seems to be the outer courtyard. I don’t know. It seems to be the Mansion of the Prime Minister. Is the light from there?”
Shao Wanru thought for a moment and gave a self-deprecating smile.
She was neither familiar with Duke Xing’s Mansion nor the Mansion of the Prime Minister in the last life. In the last life, although she married Wen Xichi well, she merely served him in Wen Xichi’s yard and seldom went out, so she knew nothing about some places in Prime Minister Wen’s Mansion.
However, that place looked like the Mansion of the Prime Minister. The lights in the distance could not be seen clearly, and they suddenly went out. The whole courtyard was dark.
“Tomorrow morning, find a way to send this to Nanny Gao, who serves grandma, and ask her to hand it to grandma!” Shao Wanru turned her head and gave an order after restraining her thoughts.
“Miss, will Nanny Gao come tomorrow?” Yujie looked at the ring wrapped in the paper on the desk and asked in surprise.
“Yes, she will come here tomorrow.” Shao Wanru nodded and said.
There were only a few people who knew about her bestowment of marriage today. Tomorrow, everyone would know about it. Her grandmother would come to see her and support her. That woman would not let anyone look down on her granddaughter.
Although others all believed that she was not valued by Duke Xing’s Mansion, her maternal grandmother also doted on her very much. Standing behind her at this time represented her maternal grandmother’s attitude.
Duke Xing’s Mansion had left the First Miss, who was said to be very likely to be the wife of the crown prince, in the palace a few days ago and turned her into a Secondary Consort. It seemed to be a favor from the royal family, but in fact, it was a clear slap in the face. As the eldest legitimate daughter of Duke Xing’s Mansion, she was supposed to be more than a Secondary Consort.
It was not only a slap in Shao Yanru’s face but also in the face of the people of the entire Duke Xing’s Mansion.
Duke Xing felt ashamed when he was in the imperial court. Many of his colleagues, who had been close to him, became much colder to him, and even some of them mentioned this matter with a faint smirk. No matter how calm Shao Jing was, he felt extremely uncomfortable. Fortunately, his face had always been seemingly smiling. Even if he didn’t smile much now, he inexplicably made people feel that he was gentle.
Many people secretly guessed that Duke Xing’s Mansion would decline and Shao Jing would probably suffer a lot. Even though Duke Xing was popular in the past, he had made a lot of political enemies in secret. Many people were secretly happy about his possible declination, and some people even said some harsh words in a smirking way.
Unexpectedly, in just a few days, the situation immediately changed. Early in the morning, everyone knew Empress Dowager’s decree was issued yesterday. According to it, the Fifth Miss of Duke Xing’s Mansion was promised to Prince Chen.
And who was this Prince Chen?
Prince Chen’s identity was the most special. He was the firstborn of the former emperor, which almost made him the crown prince of the former emperor. Later, the throne inexplicably fell on the current emperor. Although they were brothers, the current emperor was not biologically related to the late emperor. Moreover, it was not that the former emperor didn’t have a successor who was his blood and flesh.
In history, there were cases that a child got coronated on the throne while sitting on the Empress’s laps. Even if it was only a day after the birth, his right could not be ignored. However, the emperor took out the edict of the former emperor after his death, saying that his succession was the will of the former emperor since the former emperor did not want to see the country fall into the hands of a child who knew nothing, so he wanted to pass the throne to the current emperor.
At that time, the Emperor had already grown up. Even without this imperial edict, he could seize the throne. Now with this imperial edict, his succession became more legitimate. After killing a few officials who had insisted on opposing him, the Emperor took the throne and appointed the son of the previous emperor as Prince Chen. To show his favor, he asked Prince Chen to be ranked as the Third Prince among his sons.
The other princes, such as Prince Yue and Prince Zhou, were conferred the title of Prince after they grew up. Only he had been conferred the title of Prince early, given a mansion former Nan Palace to him.
Nan Palace was close to the imperial palace, which was located near the Eastern Palace. If it weren’t for the fact that his health condition became poor, everyone suspected that the emperor intended to pass the throne to him.
Of course, everyone also thought that this was only what was shown on the surface. It sounded impossible. After that, everyone was wondering when Prince Chen would be murdered.
Prince Chen’s existence was an eyesore to the current emperor. No emperor would keep the lawful son of the late emperor by his side to remind him that he was a usurper.
However, to everyone’s surprise, the emperor treated Prince Chen very well and even favored him more than the other princes. Not only the emperor seemed to be nice to Prince Chen, but also Empress Dowager doted on Prince Chen wholeheartedly. So, although Prince Chen was in poor health, he was still alive and now seemed to be much better.
When he attended the imperial court back then, he would not leave until it was over. Although he was still sitting in a chair, he felt much better.
Of course, that was the best he could get. He still seemed so fragile that something could happen to him at any time. It was basically impossible for him to get married and have children. Although it was said that the Pageant was also for Prince Chen, everyone felt that it was not very likely. Prince Chen was in poor health. If he got married again, it was hard to say how long he could hold on to his life. They all believed that no woman would have a good end if she got married to this man.
But at least that woman was the concubine of Prince Chen. She would be of high status and might even be favored by the Emperor and the Empress Dowager. If she could give birth to a son or a daughter, she would live a happy life.
Of course, this was just a guess. It was even hard for Prince Chen to attend the imperial court meeting now. The so-called giving birth to children was just a thought and could not be taken seriously.
Everyone knew that Prince Chen was in poor health for a long time, but they could not deny the Emperor’s concern for Prince Chen. Giving the Fifth Miss of Duke Xing’s Mansion to Prince Chen showed that he attached great importance to Duke Xing’s Mansion, so Duke Xing’s colleagues around Shao Jing became enthusiastic towards him again.
When they left court, they asked him about it and congratulated him again and again, and they looked very happy.
Shao Jing smiled and talked to his colleagues politely. However, Prince Yue walked past them with a cold expression on his face.
Several ministers had to aside. They looked at each other and did not understand who had offended Prince Yue. After thinking about it carefully, they found nothing serious. Only Commandery Prince Qing said that he had found some affairs that day. They wondered if it was related to Prince Yue?
Prince Yue was followed by Prince Zhou. Although these two princes seemed to be harmonious on the surface, they were not. In the past, Prince Zhou often followed behind Prince Yue after the meeting, and everyone was used to it.
The last person who came out was Prince Chen. Because of his poor health, he walked very slowly. Everyone could understand him. Sometimes, Prince Chen seemed very cold, even a little gloomy, but most of the time, he looked very gentle and elegant. In addition, he was the legitimate son of the former emperor. Some of the ministers in the court still secretly supported him.
Seeing him come out, many of them stepped aside.
Chu Liuchen seemed to be in a good mood, with a gentle smile in his handsome eyes. He nodded to the ministers who gave way to him and then went out with Xiao Xuanzi, who was guarding outside the hall.
They all thought Prince Chen should like this marriage!
Everyone thought so. For Prince Chen, it had long been said that the Empress Dowager wanted to marry him a wife, either to carry on the family line or to improve the strength of Prince Chen’s Mansion, but Prince Chen didn’t agree to it until now, and it was natural for the sake of Fifth Miss Shao.
From this point of view, the Emperor was not completely disappointed with Duke Xing’s Mansion. For the sake of Prince Chen, the Emperor would not do anything to Duke Xing’s Mansion.
Thinking of this, everyone became more enthusiastic about Duke Xing, and even several ministers, who seldom talked to him, came to join in the fun and congratulated him.
The officials all laughed and chatted as they walked out of the palace.
In Duke Xing’s Mansion, Rui’an Great Elder Princess came early in the morning. When she arrived at Duke Xing’s Mansion, she first visited Old Madam.
Old Madam met Rui’an Great Elder Princess with a smile. This time, the tension between them seemed eased. They looked like two nice old ladies.
Since their grandchildren got married, they had been hostile to each other and seldom sat down calmly. Seeing such a peaceful Rui’an Great Elder Princess, Old Madam felt inexplicably worried. Rui’an Great Elder Princess was so kind today that she could not stop keeping her eyelids from twitching. She had a feeling that something bad would happen and became more cautious when dealing with the woman beside her.
Rui’an Great Elder Princess took a sip of tea, put down the teacup in her hand, glanced around, and asked with a smile, “I heard that the Third Madam is in charge of the mansion now. Why can’t I see her?”
“Third Madam is in poor health, so I asked her to work in her courtyard!” Old Madam put down the teacup in her hand and answered with a smile.
“Zhuozhuo has been engaged to Prince Chen. We don’t have much time. You only need to sort out the dowry of Qinghua at that time, give half of it to Zhuozhuo, and leave the other half to Hao’er. I’ll make up the rest!” Rui’an Great Elder Princess stopped asking about the third Madam and looked at Old Madam with her gleaming eyes.
Her words made Old Madam feel uncomfortable.