Chapter 60: Falling out
"Mother Yue!"
He saw Princess Cheng follow Tang Ning out without even looking back, and she didn't even glance at him from beginning to end.
Prince Cheng quickly walked around the table and grabbed her: "What are you doing? Do you really want to follow Gu Helian? Do you know who he is? He..."
"No matter who he is, he has never lied to me."
"Yuen Niang!" Prince Cheng was both annoyed and angry.
Princess Cheng waved his hand away forcefully. What right did he have to be angry?
"Xie Tianyu, you should have known the consequences when you lied to me."
"How many times do you have to tell me I didn't mean to lie to you?!"
Prince Cheng could feel everyone's eyes on him as he stood there, his face looking extremely embarrassed.
"I've already explained to you that it was the Song family who deceived me. I was just afraid that you would be implicated if Tang Ning had a falling out with the Song family. I was just momentarily deceived by the Song family. The jade pendant was given to me by the Song family, and I was thinking about Tang Ning."
Seeing that Princess Cheng seemed not to hear him and turned around to continue walking out, he angrily grabbed her wrist and said, "Rong Yue, did you hear me?!"
"We've been married for so many years, don't you know how I've treated you? I just made a mistake for a moment, why do you have to make such a fuss about it?"
He said with a look of grievance: "Yes, I did lie to you, but I still have the Prince Cheng's Mansion and the entire royal family behind me. You can act recklessly for your sister's daughter, but I can't. I have to take care of everything to protect you. Besides, I was just confused and deceived. I didn't sincerely want to hurt Tang Ning. Do you really want to disregard our years of relationship for such a small matter..."
“Bang!”
Princess Cheng endured it again and again, until her eyes turned red, her heart ached, and she endured it until every breath seemed to cause a nausea that made her want to vomit. In the end, she slapped Prince Cheng in the face, knocking him unconscious.
"Xie Tianyu, do you really think I'm a fool?"
"You said you were deceived, that you were confused and deceived by the Song family. Then let me ask you, who took Song Shulan's books from Jingzhao Prefecture?"
The expression on Prince Cheng's face froze, and his eyes showed helplessness and panic.
Princess Cheng looked at him and found him ridiculous. "I don't want to embarrass you, nor do I want to expose your actions and let others know how absurd and shameless you are. But you choose to shift your faults onto others, and even accuse me of being ruthless after being the first to accuse me."
"I've given you countless chances. I even asked you before the Spring Banquet if you had anything to tell me. But what did you say?"
"Mother Yue..."
"Don't call me!"
Princess Cheng's eyes were red. "We have been married for over ten years, and I have never lied to you. Yet, you treat me like a fool, using those ridiculous excuses to deceive your wife who shares your bed."
"You said I was petty, and even if I was petty today, what can you do about it?"
"I hate your hypocrisy, I hate your deception, and I'm even more disgusted that you can fabricate lies to help the Song family hide their true identity, while at the same time talking and laughing with me as if nothing happened. Xie Tianyu, I really wonder if the you I've known all these years is really you."
Princess Cheng suppressed her sobs and her hands trembled with pain, but her face showed no trace of her usual shyness and tenderness. Instead, it was full of disgust and aversion.
She fiercely shook off King Cheng's hand and said hoarsely to Tang Ning, "Let's go."
She couldn't stay in Prince Cheng's mansion for even a moment.
The guests at the banquet became quieter as they looked at the huge slap mark on Prince Cheng's face. On the other side, Gu Helian saw the pale face of Princess Cheng and a hint of anger flashed across his face.
He put aside his previous joking look, slowed down his pace and waited for Princess Cheng and the others to arrive. Then he led Mu Feng to follow behind them, with a subtle protective attitude.
Seeing that several people were about to leave, the old concubine of Prince Cheng's Mansion reacted and stood up.
"Stop them, stop them!"
She looked at King Cheng's beaten face and the strange expressions of the people around her, and was extremely angry:
"Evil creatures, all of you evil creatures. What do you think my Prince Cheng's Mansion is? You can come and go as you please. Rong Yue, you bitch, how dare you hurt your husband? This is simply outrageous."
"Someone, stop them and take the princess back to the backyard!!"
When the old concubine called out, people outside immediately gathered around. Princess Cheng saw those people blocking her way and shouted at them to make way, but those people only looked at Prince Cheng.
Princess Cheng turned her head and fixed her gaze on him: "Xie Tianyu, are you going to stop us?"
Prince Cheng avoided her gaze and said, "Niang Yue, you are angry now. I won't argue with you. However, the matter of Duke Song's Mansion is not that simple. If you go there like this, you will get into trouble. You should stay in the mansion and cool down. I will explain to you later..."
"Xie Tianyu!" Princess Cheng ignored his excuses and angrily shouted, "You want to break up with me?!"
King Cheng's face looked extremely bad, and he felt that the situation was extremely difficult as he looked at the extremely angry Rong Yue.
He also didn't want to fall out with Rong Yue. His love for her over the years of marriage was not entirely fake, but he couldn't let Song Tangning and the others leave, at least not now.
The affairs of Duke Song's Mansion cannot be concealed from anyone after today, but he must at least be given time to deal with Song Hong. Otherwise, if they are allowed to go out and quarrel with the Song family at will, he will be entangled in the affairs of the Song family and the rebellion of Prince Li.
Prince Cheng avoided Princess Cheng's eyes and said to the hall, "I'm sorry for my poor hospitality today. I've made a fool of myself. I have something else to do at home right now so I can't keep you here any longer. If there's an opportunity in the future, I'll host a banquet for you all."
Most of those who could come to the banquet were wives of officials, so naturally none of them were stupid.
Today's incident had caused such a big uproar, and King Cheng had already ordered them to leave, so they naturally would not stay and all stood up and left tactfully.
"Since the prince has family matters, we will leave first."
"I'll take my leave first."
"We are the same. Your Majesty, please do as you please."
Prince Cheng breathed a sigh of relief and maintained his composure: "Come here, escort these distinguished guests out of the palace."
During the banquet, everyone exchanged a few polite words and then left one after another, led by the servants of Prince Cheng's Mansion. However, when everyone else had left, there were still a few people left in the flower hall.
Old Madam Lu and Lu Zhinian did not move, and the mother and son of the Song family also stayed where they were. In addition to them, the mother and daughter of the Qian family also stood with the wife of Marquis Wenxin without moving. There was also an elderly woman not far away.
Prince Cheng frowned and said in a deep voice, "Madam Zhou, Madam Qian, and Madam Fu, I need to take care of my family affairs. I hope you can help me."
Several people understood that King Cheng wanted to chase people away, but they stood still and had no intention of leaving.
The wife of Marquis Wenxin said calmly, "Rong Yue and I are close friends. Your Highness should know this."
Madam Qian angrily twisted her sleeve at her little daughter, who was holding her back and refusing to leave. After glaring at her, she raised her head and said seriously, "I had some friendship with the late Madam Song."
As for the old lady of the Fu family, compared with the two previous ones who were more tactful, she spoke very directly.
"I have no friendship with anyone, but I know right from wrong. The fault for today's incident is not with Princess Cheng and Miss Song. The prince forged the token and altered the family register, which was already wrong. Now he is trying to force them to stay. If this matter gets out, it will only cause criticism and make people think that the prince is guilty about the Song family's affairs."
"I am not a man of great talent, nor a noble person, but I pity Miss Song for the injustice she has suffered. I beg Prince Cheng to release her. Otherwise, my eldest brother will report you to the court tomorrow morning, saying that you abuse your power to oppress local officials, and are partial to your enemies, and are unfit to hold the throne of the royal family."
I forgot to mention that Mrs. Fu’s maiden name is Cao.
The Cao in Imperial Censor Cao Dejiang.
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