Chapter 387 Jealousy

When Liu Zijun saw Jiang Zhihai's expression, she flinched in fright. In the past, whenever Jiang Zhihai showed this expression, it meant he was about to hit her.

Consort Jing, being an experienced woman, immediately understood upon seeing the two of them like this. Putting aside everything else, Liu Zijun must have been having a hard time these days, as Jiang Zhihai had definitely bullied her quite a bit.

Although Liu Zijun did bring this upon herself, she is, after all, Consort Jing's niece, and it is also closely related to her own reputation. This matter must be handled properly. Since things have come to this point, at least she should save face.

If Liu Zijun's life becomes really bad, she can divorce Jiang Zhihai later, but not now.

"Whether it's good or not, you know in your heart. There's no need to ask others. If you ask yourself if you feel no guilt, that's enough. Also, don't forget your current identity. Although you are Ziju's husband, you are also yourself. Don't make a fool of yourself here."

Jiang Zhihai wanted to say something more, but Consort Jing's aura was too powerful, and he was still somewhat afraid. Besides, this was the palace, and it was indeed difficult to say anything, and he couldn't afford to offend the people in the palace.

"Yes, nephew-in-law understands," Jiang Zhihai replied with a smile, then reluctantly sat back down.

Seeing Jiang Zhihai leave, Liu Zijun finally breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing her like this, Consort Jing snorted coldly: "Now you know fear and regret? You didn't listen to a word of my warning back then. Everything you have now is the result of your own actions."

Liu Zijun's eyes immediately reddened: "Auntie, I regret it. Please help me. I don't want to be with Jiang Zhihai anymore. He's a scoundrel, a devil. I'm so scared. I don't want to stay in the Jiang family anymore. I want to go home."

Consort Jing gave Jiang Zhihai a cold look: "As expected, it was him who wouldn't let you go back to your parents' home. Why is he so bold as to treat you like this? Aren't the Jiang family members afraid of the Prime Minister's residence? Have they eaten the gall of a bear and the heart of a leopard?"

Liu Zijun shook her head: "I don't know either. Their whole family is terrifying, they're like devils. I don't want to live with them anymore. Aunt, you have to help me."

Consort Jing sighed: "I want to help you, but you have to be strong yourself. Look at how much of a scandal you've caused. You used to be the daughter of a high-ranking prime minister, but now look at yourself. This is all your own doing. I can let you go home first, but you can't stay at your parents' house forever. What will people think of you? What will they say about you? Won't you just become a laughing stock?"

Liu Zijun wiped away her tears: "But I really can't live like this anymore. The Jiang family beat me, they beat me! I am the daughter of the prime minister, how dare they treat me like this?"

Liu Zijun lifted her clothes, revealing the bruises underneath. Consort Jing was shocked: "What? He actually dared to treat you like this? Very well, I'm not finished with them over this matter. When you return today, I will send you back to the Liu family. You don't need to worry about anything else. Alright, hurry up and fix your clothes so no one can see you."

She was also afraid that if others saw it, it would be bad for the Liu family and Liu Zijun if it got out.

Liu Zijun nodded, not daring to cry. She didn't want to show that she was having a bad time here, otherwise others would gloat.

On her way back to her seat, Liu Zijun ran into Zhao Zhilan, who said with a smile, "I haven't seen you since you got married, sister. It's been so long, I've even missed you."

Liu Zijun looked at Zhao Zhilan warily. She didn't want to deal with anyone right now: "What do you want to do? You know exactly what's going on between us. You don't need to pretend in front of me."

Liu Zijun tried to walk past her, but Zhao Zhilan stopped her again: "Why are you in such a hurry to leave? We haven't seen each other for a long time, we should catch up properly. Sister Liu, I think your husband is doing very well. You haven't even gone back to your parents' home since you got married, so you must be doing very well in your husband's family."

The more Zhao Zhilan talked, the more Liu Zijun felt that she was doing it on purpose. Regardless of whether others knew how she was doing, everyone knew that she was unwilling to marry Jiang Zhihai. The person Liu Zijun had always wanted to marry was Huo Ran. Now that she had married Jiang Zhihai, she was naturally not doing well. Zhao Zhilan was deliberately trying to hurt her.

"Yes, I'm doing very well, and your sister-in-law is doing very well too. You and I are good sisters, and I feel that we should share happiness. When I get back, I'll talk to my husband about bringing you into the family and making you my sister. What do you think?"

Zhao Zhilan laughed: "Oh, sister, you're too kind. You should keep such a good brother-in-law for yourself. I wouldn't dare to compete with you for him. I'm not worthy of such a blessing."

After saying that, Zhao Zhilan left triumphantly. She was already very happy to see Liu Zijun living like this.

Liu Zijun was trembling with anger. She glared at Zhao Zhilan fiercely, determined to get rid of her sooner or later. Then she saw Jiang Mi and Huo Ran gazing lovingly at each other in their seats. Her heart felt like it was being torn apart. That seat should have been hers, but now that she was unhappy, no one else could have it either.

At this moment, the Empress Dowager and the Empress also arrived. Everyone stood up and knelt down to pay their respects. The Empress Dowager, who was always kind, said gently, "Alright, all of you, get up. Consort Jing called you here to have some fun. The palace is always the same, so it's good to have more people to liven things up. I've come along to join in the fun too."

The Empress, supporting the Empress Dowager, said with a smile, "Yes, I've come to join in the fun too. Consort Jing's arrangements are truly wonderful; it seems she put a lot of thought into them."

Consort Jing ignored the Empress and looked only at the Empress Dowager, saying, "It is my honor that Your Majesty the Empress Dowager has come. The Emperor is still reviewing memorials and will arrive later."

The Empress Dowager nodded, glanced at Jiang Mi, and smiled, "The shampoo and shower gel you've been selling lately are very good. I like them very much, and I almost never put them down now."

Consort Jing asked in surprise, "What shampoo? I've never heard of it before."

People around had heard about it, but they were all surprised. They didn't know why the Empress Dowager said that the shampoo and shower gel were sold by Jiang Mi. Did Jiang Mi buy them to curry favor with the Empress Dowager?

The Empress Dowager also showed a surprised expression: "Don't you all know? The owner of that 'Moonlight' soap is Honey! Oh my, this girl is really amazing. She's so skillful. She can make soaps of all kinds of scents. I like her very much, and the effect is very good."

"What? The Moonlit Branch is actually made with ginger honey? That can't be right!"

"Yes, how could that be? The soap and shampoo are made with ginger and honey?"

Princess Jinning then revealed a proud expression and said smugly, "Yes, all of this was done by Jiang Mi. You didn't expect that, did you? Jiang Mi is very capable, intelligent and talented. She is not an ordinary woman."

When everyone saw that Princess Jinning actually knew about this, they asked in surprise, "Princess Jinning, you already knew? So the Crown Prince's wife is so amazing! No wonder the Crown Prince likes her so much. She has both beauty and talent."

Princess Jinning nodded: "Yes, everyone talks about marrying someone of equal social standing, but Honey's status is not low either. Her whole family are talented people. Anyway, I'm envious."

Everyone looked at Jiang Mi with even more envy and admiration. Liu Zijun was so surprised after hearing this that she didn't come back to her senses for a long time. Suddenly, she remembered something. Wasn't that shop at the top of the moon her own?

What a coincidence! Jiang Mi actually rented her shop. Well then, don't blame her for taking the opportunity to make things difficult for her. What's with all this talk about "Moonlight" and "scented soap and shampoo"? Liu Zijun will absolutely not let Jiang Mi continue to act so arrogantly here.

At this moment, the Emperor also arrived and specially served everyone peach blossom wine: "Everyone should have tried this wine recently. This wine is a masterpiece of the world, and I like it very much."

Everyone praised it highly, not because the emperor had complimented it, but because the wine was indeed excellent.

The Emperor looked at Jiang Mi and exclaimed, "Only such a beauty could brew such fine wine! Huo Ran, you've struck gold!"

The Emperor's words shocked everyone present. They had no idea what the Emperor was trying to do. Perhaps he wanted to deliberately raise Jiang Mi's status so that no one would oppose her.

"It is indeed my good fortune." Huo Ran truly believed this.

Liu Zijun across from her was about to tear the handkerchief to shreds; jealousy was driving her almost insane.

Jiang Zhihai had always coveted Jiang Mi's beauty, but since she had married the young master, he had no chance. Seeing Liu Zijun's jealous look beside him, he suddenly laughed.

"Jealous of her? Tsk tsk tsk, this woman is truly exceptional. She is so stunningly beautiful and so capable that ordinary people cannot compare to her. Indeed, some things cannot be judged by family background. As the daughter of the Prime Minister's family, she is nothing special."

Jiang Zhihai's words thoroughly enraged Liu Zijun, but she dared not do anything to Jiang Zhihai, though she could deal with Jiang Mi.

After praising Jiang Mi, everyone started flattering the Emperor and Consort Jing. The Empress seemed to be invisible, with little presence, and even the Emperor didn't speak to her.

However, Jiang Mi, who had been observing them closely, noticed that the Emperor was not completely indifferent to the Empress. Whenever the Empress picked up food or made any other movements, the Emperor would glance at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Honey, what are you looking at?" Huo Ran wasn't interested in anyone or anything else, but he paid special attention to Jiang Mi.

"Huo Ran, can you tell me the story of the Emperor and Empress?"

Huo Ran said with displeasure, "Is this how you address your husband?"

Jiang Mi smiled helplessly, "Husband, my good husband, my good son-in-law, young master, is this alright?"