Chapter 63 The Study Key

The more Princess Ning spoke, the more Xiao Qingyuan felt he had gone too far. After all, the world was extremely harsh on women these days, and his suggestion to divorce Shen Wantang had indeed caused her great harm.

He felt extremely guilty: "Mother, how do you think I should make it up to Shen Wantang? Giving her gold and silver would be too vulgar, but I don't know what else she likes. Do you know what she likes?"

"Gold and silver will never be tacky. Even Buddha himself liked a statue made of pure gold, so the general public would naturally like it even more. However, besides gold and silver, I don't know what Tang'er likes. You should go and ask her yourself!"

"Well... okay!"

Princess Ning, seeing that he was willing to ask, waved him away, saying, "Go ahead!"

However, Xiao Qingyuan hesitated for a moment, then lifted his robe and knelt down straight.

Princess Ning was startled by his sudden action: "Yuan'er, what are you doing?"

“Mother, I also owe you an apology. I made you angry the other day. I was an unfilial son.”

The princess was overjoyed. Her son had suddenly become so sensible, and she was so moved that she almost burst into tears: "Alright, it's enough that you know you were wrong. Why are you kneeling? Get up now!"

Knowing that the princess was distressed for her son, Granny Quan immediately stepped forward and helped Xiao Qingyuan up.

After chatting for a few more minutes, Xiao Qingyuan left.

After he left, the princess's face relaxed: "Look, this is the first time in nearly two years that my son and I have had such a warm time together. He is usually so rude and argumentative, and we can't even exchange two words without getting into a fight."

Granny Quan smiled and said, "After experiencing setbacks, the young master has become more sensible. He understands your good intentions and can appreciate your hardships."

The princess said, "I don't think it's entirely due to setbacks. It's more thanks to Tang'er. Ever since Tang'er, the crown prince's wife, entered the family, Yuan'er has changed every day. I never expected him to change so quickly and so much."

Granny Quan wholeheartedly agreed: "Everyone says that a good wife is worth a fortune! A virtuous wife is worth more than a thousand pieces of gold! Someone like the Crown Princess is worth more than a hundred thousand pieces of gold. The Princess Consort has truly excellent taste; she has chosen the best one for the Crown Prince right away. You won't find another like her in the entire capital!"

Princess Ning herself was very satisfied with the daughter-in-law she had chosen: "Tang'er was wronged last night and was woken up in the middle of the night to serve that scoundrel. She really had a hard time. Go to my private treasury and pick out a few valuable items to send to her."

"Yes, Your Highness."

"By the way, didn't the palace send over a batch of new fabrics yesterday? Let's send some to the Princess Consort as well. If she likes them, she can wear them; if she doesn't, she can give them to the servants. That will surely make those maids and old women dare not look down on her!"

"yes."

"Also, didn't you say that the Crown Princess likes to read? Tell her that she can read any of the books in the Prince's study from now on."

As Princess Ning spoke, she took out a key and handed it to Granny Quan.

This shocked all the nannies. The study in the Prince's mansion was a very important place. Normally, no one except the Prince, Princess and the Crown Prince were allowed to enter, because it contained not only many rare ancient books, but also many confidential letters and so on.

The princess actually gave the key to the crown princess just like that!

What trust, what care!

Granny Quan took the keys and led the people to deliver the items to Wutong Garden.

She made a big show of her journey so that everyone in the manor would know that the Princess Consort was sending something to the Crown Prince's wife.

When Shen Wantang saw Granny Quan enter with a large group of maids, she immediately understood what the princess meant—her mother-in-law was deliberately backing her up!

She felt a little touched. Her mother-in-law must have found out that Xiao Qingyuan had said he wanted to divorce her last night, so she came to make it up to her.

Each maid carried something, including gold and silver jewelry as well as fashionable fabrics, and soon a small mountain of them piled up in the room.

Shen Wantang smiled sincerely, much happier than when she was with Xiao Qingyuan: "Thank you, Mother. You really love me. I still have a lot of the fabric you gave me last time that I haven't worn yet. Now you've given me so much more. I won't lack clothes for the next three to five years!"

Granny Quan smiled and said, "The Princess Consort specifically instructed that if the Heir Apparent likes any of these fabrics, she can have them made into clothes; if not, they should be given to the servants. As for you, just wear the most fashionable fabrics. The Princess Consort will continue to send you more in the future!"

It turned out that even the portion meant for the servants had been prepared for her. Shen Wantang once again felt the princess's thoughtfulness.

She thanked her repeatedly, then handed Granny Quan a handful of gold leaves: "Granny, you've worked hard. Use these to buy tea."

Granny Quan smiled and accepted the heavy gold leaves, secretly nodding in her heart. The Princess Consort was becoming more and more generous. Before, she used silver coins to reward the servants, but she had switched to gold leaves so quickly. It was clear that she had become much more financially well-off.

She took out the key given to her by the princess and placed it in Shen Wantang's hand with a rather solemn expression: "Princess Consort, this is the key to your study that the princess specially instructed me to give you. The princess knows that you love to read, so she asked me to tell you that you can read any of the books in the study from now on."

Shen Wantang was taken aback, and the key in her palm suddenly felt heavy: "Thank you, Mother. This gift is far too generous!"

She was reborn, so she knew how important the study in the Prince's mansion was. In her previous life, Shen Mingxuan had secretly entered the study and even read some confidential letters inside, sending confidential messages home. This directly angered the usually very easygoing Prince Ning, who then used family discipline to beat Shen Mingxuan so badly that she couldn't get out of bed for half a month.

Shen Wantang never expected that the princess would hand her the key to the study so directly!

Her mother-in-law trusts her too much!

Even after Granny Quan and her entourage left, Shen Wantang was still holding the key, slightly lost in thought.

Granny Chai and Qin Xin walked to her side, their eyes shining as they looked at the key in her palm. They had both been in the Prince's mansion for many years and understood the significance of this key better than Shen Wantang.

Granny Chai sighed, “Princess Consort, you are now truly one of the Princess Consort’s own people. In the past, only the Prince, Princess Consort and the Prince could enter the Prince’s study. Now that you are also in the room, no one will dare to look down on you anymore. If people outside knew that you even had the key to the Prince’s study, they would not dare to gossip and make fun of you.”

Qin Xin was very excited: "That's wonderful, Princess Consort! You can now freely enter and leave the study! This is a great honor! Moreover, I heard from Mo Ji that there are many books in there, and they are all kinds of books. You will never have to worry about not finding suitable books to read again!"