Chapter 726 Going to Beg the Princess
"Smack!"
With a crisp sound, the teacup that Li Sanqi threw shattered into pieces.
The maids serving inside the room, as well as the maid who had just come in to report the news, all knelt on the ground, not daring to breathe.
Xiuwen, who was kneeling at Li Sanqi's feet, spoke first: "Princess, perhaps Madam Qiao meant well, which is why she called so many people to support you."
Li Sanqi glanced down at Xiuwen, "Kindness? If she were kind, would she bring so many people to laugh at me?"
Xiuwen thought to herself, "Princess, isn't your joke already widely known?"
But she dared not say it aloud, so she could only gently remind her, "Princess, everyone has arrived. The prince consort should be leading people out to greet them now."
"Look..."
Li Sanqi took a deep breath to calm himself down before asking, "Where are the Fu family elders and that woman now?"
Xiuwen quickly replied, "The prince consort has placed me in Jinxiang Courtyard."
Li Sanqi curled the corners of his mouth and said, "Arrange for someone to lure the person over here."
Xiuwen nodded quickly: "This servant will make the arrangements immediately."
***
In the Jinxiang Courtyard in the backyard of the Princess's residence, Old Madam Fu pointed at a maid beside her and scolded, "You jinx, you slut, it's all your fault for giving me this terrible idea! Making me take a concubine for my son!"
"Now look what's happened. My son is furious and says he's going to send us back to Wen'an County."
"It's all your fault! It's all your fault! You wicked, malicious hussy!"
As she cursed, Old Lady Fu reached out and poked the maid's forehead repeatedly until it turned completely red.
The maid was also wronged. Just an hour ago, she was the most caring, capable, and loyal maid by Old Madam Fu's side, but an hour later she became a lowly wretch.
The maid didn't argue. After Old Madam Fu had vented her anger, she knelt at Old Madam Fu's feet, hugged Old Madam Fu's legs, and cried, "Old Madam, Cui'er's loyalty to you, to the Fu family, and to... the Imperial Son-in-Law is as clear as day!"
When the words "imperial son-in-law" were mentioned, Cui'er unconsciously felt a little awkward.
This naturally caught the attention of Old Lady Fu as well.
Did she not see through it? This girl was encouraging her to take a concubine for her son, hoping that if things went well, she could offer herself as a concubine to her son in the future!
Because she could see through the maid's intentions, she believed that the maid was wholeheartedly for the good of the Fu family and her son.
Sure enough, Cui'er continued, "Madam, the princess and her husband have been married for a year, but there's no sign of pregnancy."
"Now he's been bedridden for a long time and hasn't seen anyone. To put it bluntly, we don't even know when the princess will be gone."
"According to the regulations of the imperial court, if a princess dies without having any children, this huge princess's mansion will be taken back by the imperial court!"
“I advise you to give your son-in-law a concubine and have a child registered under the princess’s name. This is just in case.”
"I'm saying all this for the sake of the future of the Prince Consort and the Fu family!"
"This enormous princess's residence, does the old lady really want to see it taken back by the imperial court?"
"Don't you want to move in openly and legitimately in the future, and rightfully become the old lady of the mansion?"
As expected, Old Lady Fu was persuaded. The expression on her face softened.
Seeing this, Cui'er continued to wipe away her tears and cried, "Madam, how could I have imagined that the Prince Consort would be so deeply in love with the Princess? He would rather have no children than not stay with the Princess."
"People often say that of the three unfilial acts, the greatest is having no offspring. Old Madam, you should use filial piety to force the prince consort to take a concubine!"
"How can you back down just because the prince consort said a few words?"
Old Lady Fu naturally knew that Cui'er was speaking from the heart and that Cui'er was only thinking of what was best for her son.
So even when she was angry after being reprimanded by her son, she only scolded him a few times and poked him a few times; she did not threaten to kill him.
But is it possible to use filial piety to pressure a son into taking a concubine?
Well, that requires my son's permission first!
Just as Old Lady Fu was in a dilemma, Old Man Fu stammered, "Filial piety? If filial piety were useful, Sixth Brother would have agreed before."
“If filial piety were effective, Lao Liu wouldn’t have said he wanted to send us back to our hometown.”
What Old Man Fu didn't say was that if filial piety were useful, his son would have listened to him long ago and stopped at the level of a scholar, got married, had children, and stayed in his hometown as a teacher.
Speaking of which, their son has been resourceful since he was a child.
While others were thinking about how to eat their fill and stay warm, he was thinking about how to study at the private school in the scholar's family.
Others are thinking about how to find a respectable job and marry a wife from a good family who is virtuous and capable.
He was thinking about how to pass the imperial examinations and how to make a name for himself.
Speaking of which, their sixth son was quite talented; he passed the imperial examination at the age of fifteen and became a scholar.
Unfortunately, after obtaining the title of Xiucai at the age of fifteen, he made no further progress in his studies.
He failed the imperial examination twice and ended up becoming a scholar. He also spent all of his family's money.
At that time, he forced him to give up his ambitions, settle down and run a private school, get married and have children.
And what happened? The kid absolutely refused, and even put laxatives in the whole family's food. They threatened that if anyone dared to force him again, the next time he wouldn't be putting laxatives in his food.
If he doesn't get his way, he'll send his entire family to hell with him.
From then on, no one in the family dared to pressure him anymore.
It was fortunate that his son became a student of a renowned scholar who had traveled extensively.
That old gentleman was truly capable. He taught his son for two years, and the son easily passed the imperial examination. The following year, he went to the capital to take the imperial examination and became the top scholar.
God knows, when they heard the news back in their hometown, they couldn't believe it was true!
It wasn't until the whole family was brought to the capital that they dared to believe that their stubborn son had truly achieved his wish and risen to prominence!
Well, we've gone off on a tangent.
Anyway, Old Man Fu was somewhat afraid of his son, and he wouldn't force his son to do anything.
So, I'd also like to remind my wife not to use filial piety as an excuse.
Sure enough, after Old Man Fu's reminder, Old Woman Fu also lost her spirit.
On the contrary, the beautiful woman who came with them sat quietly to the side, looking completely detached.
Just then, someone at the door waved to Cui'er.
Seeing this, Cui'er quickly wiped away her tears and whispered to her mother, "Grandma, someone is looking for me. I'm going out for a bit."
Old Lady Fu frowned, somewhat displeased, but she didn't stop her.
Cui'er got up and went out. She said something to someone, and when she came back, she had a happy look on her face and said joyfully, "Grandma, the opportunity has come."
Old Lady Fu looked at Cui'er with a puzzled expression, "What opportunity?"
As she spoke, she glanced outside and asked, "Who was that person just now? What did they want with you? They looked like a maid from the princess's residence, right? How do you know them?"
Cui'er twitched her lips and patiently explained, "Grandma, the one who came just now was Qingfeng, the prince consort's servant."
“I often delivered things to the prince consort on behalf of the old lady, and that’s how I got to know him.”
“He came to see me just now, secretly to tell me that the prince consort had gone out on business. He said he could lure the gatekeeper away and let us out.”
Old Lady Fu was still puzzled, "What can we do outside?"
If they want to go home, they'll be allowed to go back once her son returns. It's just a matter of time.
Now that she's secretly run away from her son, she might just make him even more unhappy!
It's not worth the risk.
Unexpectedly, Cui'er lowered her voice and said something surprising: "We can ask the princess while the prince consort is away!"
"Once the princess agrees, the prince consort has no choice but to agree to take a concubine!"
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