Chapter 228 Hypocrite (Two chapters in one)

Every word spoken by the Princess of Qingchuan hit Princess Huixin's heart like a heavy hammer.

She was in pain, heartbroken!

The person surnamed Gao mentioned by the Qingchuan County Lady does exist.

After the Spring Banquet last year, the Queen Mother told her about this marriage and said that she would choose a day for her to meet the man, but later the matter was shelved. Later, Gao was replaced by Lin Sen.

When she heard this, she was only slightly surprised and didn't take it to heart.

No matter who it is, it was given by the emperor, and she, the person involved, had no power to choose. The so-called meeting was just a formality. Even if that person was a monster, she could only express satisfaction.

But she didn't know that Mr. Gao was already dead. Haha, he died in a brothel. The cause of death was jealousy. This man was clearly a lecher. Was this the prince consort chosen for her by the emperor?

If this person is not dead, then he is her husband.

absurd!

As for the fact that the Qingchuan County Lady said that Lin Sen had already married and had children, Princess Huixin had actually guessed it a long time ago.

Lin Sen came from a wealthy family, so there was no reason for him to be unengaged at the age of 25. Most likely, his wife's family background was not as good as the Lin family, so he had always wanted to marry a noble lady. The fact that he dared to marry her meant that he and his previous wife did not have a marriage certificate, which could withstand the investigation of the royal family.

These days it's common for men to take concubines before getting married, not to mention that the Lin family comes from a merchant family, so there aren't too many requirements.

When the time comes, give the woman some silver and send her away. As for the child, either keep him as a maid's child or adopt him to a relative of the Lin family.

If the status of the princesses is like that of Princess Jiayi or Princess Jiaan, who already has children, they will naturally be excluded from the candidates for the prince consort.

But she was not Princess Jiayi, nor was she any of the princesses of Emperor Yongjia. She was just an orphan with no one to rely on. Even if the clan office found out that Lin Sen had married and had children, as long as Lin Sen did not have a wife and son now, the matter could be muddled over if Lin Sen gave her some benefits.

Because no one would support her, and no one would stand up for her. Even if those people did not ridicule her to her face like the Qingchuan County Lady did, they would stand aside and wait to watch her make trouble, watch her be embarrassed, watch her make a fool of herself, and watch her become the laughing stock of the capital.

And the instigator of all this, her high and mighty uncle, might even think that she has brought shame to the royal family.

Just like her sister Huiming.

She believed her sister. She knew who her sister liked, but she didn't believe her, nor did she believe her sister. They only believed what they wanted to believe.

The Princess of Qingchuan County vented her anger fiercely. She was also going to get married, and she was going to marry far away.

Just yesterday, she was betrothed to An Shichong, the youngest son of Prince Nangui, the uneducated and unlearned homosexual!

Nangui is so far away from the capital, and she may never come back after this trip.

She doesn't want to get married. She has obviously tried her best. She has been a study partner to Princess Jiarou and a follower to the Third Prince's wife Feng Jiahe. She can marry well!

In the morning, she went to ask Feng Jiahe for help. As long as Feng Jiahe said a few good words for her in front of Concubine Qiao, she would definitely have hope of staying in the capital.

But Feng Jiahe told her that the imperial decree had been issued, and even Concubine Qiao could not make the emperor take back his order.

Only then did she come to find Princess Jiarou. On the way, she also figured it out that this marriage could not be changed. Then she could settle for the second best and let An Shi Chong come to Beijing. Zhao Tingxuan could go to Beijing as a hostage, so why couldn't An Shi Chong, the youngest son of a king of a different surname?

If An Shi Chong came to the capital, she could stay there. As long as she was in the capital, An Shi Chong would not dare to act rashly. Then she would still be the Princess of Qingchuan County who could get whatever she wanted, instead of the daughter-in-law of Prince Nan Gui.

But Princess Jiarou was not at home, and she suddenly thought of Princess Huixin.

Princess Huixin also lives here.

Princess Huixin was also betrothed.

An Shi Chong was the son of a prince after all, but Princess Huixin wanted to marry a scholar from a poor family.

But why can this shameless woman stay in the capital openly, while she has to marry far away in a barbaric land?

She felt unwilling.

She suddenly remembered what Feng Jiahe had said. In order to make her believe that she was not marrying the worst person and that there were worse ones than her, Feng Jiahe told her that Lin Sen had already married and had children. At that time, she just thought it was a joke, but now, seeing Princess Huixin's embarrassed appearance, she felt very happy!

Although An Shi Chong is not a good person, it depends on who he is compared with. If compared with Lin Sen, one is the snow in the sky and the other is the mud on the ground. There is no comparison at all.

The evil anger that had been pent up in the heart of Princess Qingchuan finally dissipated. She felt refreshed, gave Princess Huixin a disdainful look, and walked away with a proud and confident look.

She still has time. She wants to ask her mother to ask Concubine Meng. The emperor respects Concubine Meng very much. Besides, it’s not that she doesn’t want to get married. She just wants to stay in the capital.

The Princess of Qingchuan left, but Princess Huixin could not calm down for a long time.

She stood there in a daze, her eyes dull. There was Gao in front of her and Lin Sen behind her. Did the emperor and empress think she was not miserable enough?

She walked towards the door, and a new maid ran up to catch up and stopped her.

"Princess, didn't you just come back from outside? Why are you going out again? If the maids find out, they will definitely tell on you."

Princess Huixin ignored her and pushed her away. These maids and old women all looked down on her and knew that she was not valued, so they did not take her seriously at all.

The maidservant became anxious and turned around and ran back. She wanted to tell the maids that the princess was too willful and lawless.

Princess Huixin walked to the door and saw two little maids following her. These were the two who followed her to the shop today. She had picked them out with great difficulty from the new batch of maids. They were honest, obedient and simple-minded.

The two little maids were trembling with fear. The elder sister had already gone to report the news, and they failed to stop the princess. They would not be able to escape after being beaten when they came back.

"I left my handkerchief in the shop, and I must go back and get it."

After Princess Huixin finished speaking, she walked out of the gate with her head held high, and her two little maids hurriedly followed her.

That candy shop was Empress Xiaokang's dowry. Before the Meng family left Beijing, they gave several shops, including this one, to her and Huiming as dowries.

Although this shop had been open for many years, its business was not good. Later, she asked Princess Jiarou to get some candy recipes from the palace. She was also fortunate to invite an old eunuch from the palace who was good at making candy. During this period, Huiming got into trouble and was confined to her house. The old eunuch was so scared that he dared not use the palace recipes. It was only after she was released from confinement that the business of the shop gradually improved.

Ever since Huiming left, she only feels better when she is in this shop.

Sweets make people happy.

Half an hour later, Princess Huixin sat in front of the second-floor window of the candy shop again.

A few days ago, she was sitting here and saw that familiar figure.

She thought of Lin Sen and said to one of the maids, "Go and call Manager Li."

Manager Li arrived soon. He was also a member of the Meng family who stayed in the capital. Although he was not very good at business, he was absolutely loyal to the Meng family.

Although Princess Huixin was not the daughter of Queen Meng, she regarded Queen Meng as her biological mother. To Shopkeeper Li, Princess Huixin was half his master.

"Princess, what do you want me to do?"

"Shopkeeper Li, you've been in the capital for decades, so you must have quite a few connections. Can you help me check on someone? It's Lin Sen, last year's Jinshi. Also, there was a customer who bought a lot of things that day. Do you remember him?"

Shopkeeper Li had of course also heard that Princess Huixin was going to marry Lin Sen. It was not difficult for him to find out who would be the princess's husband.

However, he couldn't quite remember the guest the princess mentioned.

Since the new candy was launched, the shop's business has been getting better and better, with many customers every day. How could he not remember it?

Princess Huixin said, "That customer bought every kind of candy in the shop."

Shopkeeper Li slapped his head and remembered that there was indeed such a person, and the princess had also asked about this guest that day.

"I remember, that guest was a scholar with a handsome face."

Princess Huixin smiled and said, "That's him. Let's investigate him as well. It would be best if we can find out where he lives."

Two days later, Lin Sen's affair was discovered.

Of course, what she could find out was what Lin Sen wanted people to find out.

Lin Sen was devoted to the imperial examinations and devoted all his attention to studying. His mother took him in a concubine, who was his distant cousin. This concubine gave birth to a pair of children for the Lin family.

Before granting the marriage, Lin Sen had already reported the fact that he had two illegitimate children to the clan office, and wrote a letter to release the concubine. The concubine's family was poor, so Lin Sen gave the concubine a decent dowry and let her go home to find another good husband.

As for the illegitimate children, they were sent to the Lin clan to be raised by the clan elders.

After hearing this, Princess Huixin couldn't help laughing out loud.

Sure enough, just as she guessed, the fact that this matter reached the ears of the Qingchuan County Princess meant that it was no longer a secret.

Lin Sen's actions were neither clever nor secretive.

That cousin was not a concubine at all, but his first wife. However, the Lin family had made two preparations from the beginning. If he passed the imperial examination, he could marry another noblewoman. If he failed, he could still leave a good reputation for being loyal to his first wife.

It's because my cousin's family is poor. If they weren't poor, she wouldn't have become a concubine to her cousin who has a wealthy family.

A daughter from a poor family cannot get a marriage certificate even if she gives birth to the eldest son.

Princess Huixin laughed until tears started to flow.

If that Mr. Gao is a lecher, then Lin Sen is a beast in human clothing and a hypocrite!

He wanted to marry a noble lady. Even if being a consort was just an idle position and would not achieve anything in his official career, it could still change the Lin family's fortune.

The Lin family is rich, but not extremely wealthy; their family background is clean, but not noble. It took the combined efforts of three generations to raise Lin Sen, just to cross the class barrier.

The Lin family has a prince consort, which means he is a royal relative. Even if she dies, Lin Sen's descendants will be the princess's descendants. They don't have to marry those poor relatives. Their marriage partners are royal family members, nobles, and officials. If one of their descendants can pass the imperial examination and become a Jinshi, then in three generations, the Lin family will be able to become a noble family. At worst, it will be a second- or third-rate small family.

Seeing the princess crying, Shopkeeper Li was shocked and didn't know whether he could continue to say the next words.

Fortunately, Princess Huixin quickly controlled her emotions and asked, "What about that guest? Do you have any clues?"

Shopkeeper Li nodded, "Yes, yes! That customer bought so many things in our shop that one sedan chair couldn't hold them all, so he hired another sedan chair specifically to carry the candies.

I found the two sedan bearers. They are brothers and have been waiting for work nearby all year round. However, there was a wedding at a relative's house two days ago, so they went to help and didn't come back until today. I asked around and found out that they were here.

They also remember the guest. After all, not many people hire a sedan chair to carry things, don’t you think?

According to the two brothers, the guest went to Tianjing Hutong, which is full of big houses. The alley is very wide, so not only sedan chairs but also horse carriages can enter.

But the guest did not let them carry the sedan chair in, but got it off at the entrance of the alley.

As soon as they got out of the sedan chair, two large men appeared out of nowhere, took out the things in the sedan chair, and sent them away. So they only knew that the guests were going to Tianjing Hutong, but they didn't know which house they were going to.

Tianjing Hutong?

Princess Huixin's eyes lit up. She didn't know where Tianjing Hutong was, nor had she heard of it, but what did it matter? Since it was in the capital, there must be many people who knew about it.

"Shopkeeper Li, do you know where Tianjing Alley is?"

Shopkeeper Li said, "I've only heard of it, but I've never been there. However, I'm sure all the sedan chair pullers know it. Do you think I should go over and ask around?"

Princess Huixin nodded quickly: "Then I'll have to trouble Shopkeeper Li."

Shopkeeper Li said hurriedly, "It is my great honor to be able to serve the princess."

The Meng family has been in the capital for decades. Even though they returned to their hometown more than ten years ago, they still have their own connections in the capital.

Since Manager Li is a member of the Meng family, it would be most reassuring to let him do the job.

Shopkeeper Li went as soon as he said he would, and left after saying goodbye to Princess Huixin.

Looking at the receding figure of Shopkeeper Li, Princess Huixin curled her lips.

If the Crown Princess knew that her chambermaid was doing things for her, she would probably be so angry that she would die again.

But so what?

The Crown Princess could be posthumously named Queen even after her death. Even though the Meng family left the capital, they were still a prominent family.

The Crown Princess loves Zhao Yuan so much, but she treats her and Huiming like grass. Haha, but so what?

Zhao Yuan died a long time ago, and I'm afraid even his bones have rotted away.

But the sisters are still alive, and not only are they alive, they can also inherit the Crown Princess's dowry.

The Meng family is really stingy. The Crown Princess had a ten-mile-long red wedding dress, more than a hundred pallets of dowry, a thousand acres of fertile land, and more than twenty shops.

But he only left a little for the sisters.

Although she and Huiming were born out of wedlock, they were also daughters of Emperor Xiaokang and were princesses conferred by the emperor. The Crown Princess had no children, and Zhao Yuan was also dead. Shouldn't her dowry be left entirely to her sisters?