Chapter 79
◎I'm desperate for a reward.◎
Those outside didn't know what had happened at the Marquis of Dingbei's residence that day. They only heard a great commotion in the afternoon, as if someone had committed a serious offense and was being punished. Perhaps there were too many servants being punished, so in order to cover up the somber atmosphere and maintain the harmony of the New Year, they even invited someone skilled in music to play music to mask the screams.
It was probably because the pleas for mercy were too piercing that the howling and wailing caused the music to go astray for half a day.
These were not unfounded speculations. As evening fell, the Marquis of Dingbei's residence invited three doctors to enter the mansion at the same time, and the servants kept their mouths shut, their faces turning a deep purplish-red. This made the suspicions even more plausible.
Since entering the Eastern Palace, Wu Fengqing has not even seen the Crown Prince once, and has to endure the Crown Princess's bullying, making her increasingly gloomy. Her position in the Eastern Palace is still shallow, and she cannot make any big moves. She can only hope that her health will improve quickly. As long as she can regain her former beauty, she will have no trouble winning the Crown Prince's favor.
The only difficulty is that the Crown Princess is the daughter of the Grand Tutor. As long as she doesn't commit any major mistakes, His Highness the Crown Prince will always respect her. Wu Fengqing secretly resented this. If she hadn't been schemed against before, how could she have ended up as a lowly concubine? At the very least, she could have married into the Dingbei Marquis's household as the Heir Apparent's wife and received unparalleled favor. What did Wu Fengran do to deserve this? She just stole her marriage.
During this period, she faced difficulties in the Eastern Palace. Her father had also ordered her mother not to visit her at the residence. She wanted to invite Wu Fengran to visit, as a way to give her a chance to make amends, but she was turned away by the Dingbei Marquis's residence and couldn't even send a message. His Highness the Crown Prince, contrary to his usual indifference, sent someone to warn her not to have any designs on the Dingbei Marquis's residence.
"You vixen! I was only thinking of His Highness's best interests. He must have been bewitched by those vixens!" Wu Fengqing angrily swept the cups and saucers off the table. The crisp sound did not diminish her anger; instead, she roared at the maid, "What are you looking at? You clumsy thing! If you break another cup or saucer, I'll skin you alive!"
On the surface, Xiao Tao appeared trembling with fear, but in reality, she was extremely disdainful. It was hard to say whether a concubine without favor could turn the tide, and with her personality, even if she did, she probably wouldn't live for more than a few days.
Seeing Xiao Tao's sluggish manner only fueled Wu Fengqing's anger. "What are you dawdling for? Your indenture is in my hands!"
Xiao Tao, with tears welling up in her eyes, said, "Please forgive me, Consort. I know I was wrong. I'll go and clean up now."
Seeing Xiao Tao show weakness, Wu Fengqing felt a strange sense of pleasure. She pinched the maid's fleshy parts hard twice, and felt particularly relieved to see the maid grit her teeth and dare not speak. Then she waved her hand and let her go.
After leaving the house, Xiao Tao kept her eyes down, and it was impossible to tell what she was thinking. As usual, she went out of the mansion to help Wu Fengqing gather information.
When Granny Wang saw that no one was in her young mistress's room, she came in. "Young mistress, you shouldn't treat your personal maid so poorly."
She was Wu Fengqing's wet nurse, and had watched Wu Fengqing grow up since she was a child. She knew her mistress's temperament better than the master and mistress did. Don't be fooled by her gentle and compliant appearance; in reality, she was a violent and jealous person. The maids around her never stayed long. The one who had stayed for several years before was thrown into a well after the secret rendezvous incident. If the mistress didn't get married, who knows if the well in the backyard would ever be full.
Wu Fengqing still respected her wet nurse, whom she had relied on since childhood. She pouted and complained about her grievances, "Nanny, look at her, she doesn't act like a maid at all. She's just being arrogant because of her looks and kind heart. If I don't suppress her, this slut will climb all over me and act like a tyrant."
Granny Wang was not swayed by Wu Fengqing's two nonsensical words. Her expression remained unchanged as she said bluntly, "If His Highness the Crown Prince wants to favor someone, no one can stop him. If Xiao Tao ever gets a chance to turn things around, the young lady will probably be tainted with scandal."
Wu Fengqing was already in a bad mood, and then she was scolded by her trusted wet nurse. When she thought of how decisive and resolute the Prime Minister's mansion had sent her over in a small sedan chair, she was overcome with grief and tears welled up in her eyes. She dared not let a single tear fall because the doctor had said that the rash on her face should not get wet, otherwise it might leave scars.
Seeing Wu Fengqing's aggrieved look, Granny Wang felt bad too. But this was not the Prime Minister's mansion, where the mistress of the house would be there to back her up. Everyone here was someone else's spy, so she had to be careful. In the end, she couldn't bear to see the girl she had raised since childhood suffer, so she softened her tone considerably.
"Please don't be sad, young lady. This temporary hardship is nothing. Once you've recovered, we can discuss everything further."
"Granny, do you think it might be that lowly Wu Fengran plotting against me?" Her illness came on strangely. She had thoroughly investigated everyone in the mansion, but there was nothing wrong with it. Yet, she had a hunch that it must be someone's doing.
Granny Wang narrowed her eyes. She and her mistress had both guessed and investigated, but they hadn't found anything. That made it even stranger. The young lady had never had an allergy or suffered from unexplained diarrhea in all these years. How could she have become ill at this critical juncture? It seemed too much like someone was taking revenge.
But when her own daughter was outside, she always acted like a talented young lady from the capital and never argued with anyone. At first, she thought it was the work of those obscure concubine daughters in the mansion. After some consideration, she realized that these dozen or so girls had long been spoiled and none of them were capable of anything. Even if they had any dirty thoughts, they wouldn't dare to put them into action. Wu Fengran was the most suspicious one.
However, Wu Fengran was the heir apparent's wife of the Marquis of Dingbei, and she was very much loved. Without evidence, none of them dared to voice their suspicions. That's why she didn't stop the young lady from sending an invitation to Wu Fengran to come over, as a test.
Unfortunately, the doorman stopped the post, saying it was the young master's wish and that the young master's wife had been overworked recently and needed to rest, so she could not leave the mansion to receive guests.
It would be considered impolite for the Crown Prince's wife to refuse an invitation from the Crown Prince's concubine, especially since they were her own sisters. However, if this happened to the Marquis of Dingbei's household, it would be quite normal. As everyone knows, the Marquis of Dingbei's household rarely hosts banquets, and the Marquis of Dingbei's heir has been virtually unknown since the recent "collecting junk in the capital" incident.
The fact that he collected scraps further proved that Marquis Dingbei was an absolute protector of his own. He carried out such a rogue act openly and honestly, clearly showing that no matter what the younger generation did, he would support them. If anyone gave him a hard time, he would submit a memorial, advising that the sons of civil officials be sent to the military camp for training and the sons of military officials be sent to the Ministry of Rites to learn etiquette. Listen to this, is this something a human being would do?
But the emperor listened to them all, clearly condoning their actions. What could the officials say? They could only try their best not to provoke the toughest nut to crack in the capital.
Later, rumors circulated that the matter of collecting scraps was a whim of the Crown Princess, and that the Crown Prince, in order to win a smile from his beauty, disregarded his reputation and went to great lengths, which led the Marquis of Dingbei to intervene.
Regardless of whether it's true or not, Wu Fengran's favor with the emperor is undeniable. To put it bluntly, even if Wu Fengran was the one who did it, His Highness the Crown Prince would order Wu Fengqing to swallow his anger. He wouldn't let this matter cause animosity towards the Dingbei Marquis's Mansion, which remains neutral.
With a thousand thoughts swirling in her mind, Granny Wang let out a helpless sigh. How could she not understand these things about her young lady? It was just that the recent series of adversities had thrown the once-smooth-sailing girl into a panic, and she wanted to do something to relieve her inner turmoil.
"Young lady, do not mention this to anyone else. The most important thing now is to take good care of your health."
Wu Fengqing also knew that as long as her health was not good, she would not have the capital to win the Crown Prince's pity. Although she put the matter aside, she hated Wu Fengran to the core and wished she could peel off her hypocritical skin on the spot.
Upon hearing the news Xiao Tao brought back, Wu Fengqing felt incredibly happy and wanted nothing more than to play the zither and sing a song.
"You mean that the other day that bitch might have miscarried, and they called three doctors in a row, and the servants in the Marquis's mansion all had long faces the next day?" Wu Fengqing was really happy this time. Sure enough, even the heavens couldn't stand the wicked person. Now she's getting her comeuppance. She cursed her so that she would never have her own child in this life, and let her taste the feeling of having a husband and a bunch of wives and concubines.
Xiao Tao smiled obediently, not agreeing with what Wu Fengqing said. She simply stated the facts she had heard, and no matter how it was interpreted, it was her master's intention. She only asked that her master not punish her for no reason.
Wu Fengqing was lost in her own fantasies. If it weren't for the fact that she couldn't leave the outhouse, she would have wanted to visit her in person.
The Crown Prince also received the news. To be honest, he had no intention of winning over that stinking rock from the Dingbei Marquis's mansion. The Dingbei Marquis's mansion's neutrality was the greatest protection for him. But he never expected that he might have unintentionally made an enemy of the Dingbei Marquis's mansion.
For the first time, he doubted his judgment of women. The eldest daughter of the Prime Minister's mansion, who had always been meticulous in everything, turned out to be a fake eldest daughter. That was fine, he had never made a mistake in official matters, and it didn't matter if he was a little weak in matters of women. His father wouldn't be too wary of him. But Wu Fengqing fell ill just before she was to marry into the family, which made him wonder if the woman who married into the Dingbei Marquis's mansion was dissatisfied.
It seems he will have to carefully consider the extent of his affection for this concubine in the future. He must not disappoint the Prime Minister's family, but he must also keep an eye on her and prevent her from causing trouble for the Marquis of Dingbei's family. He believes that the Marquis of Dingbei's family will not allow the Crown Princess to extend her reach into the Crown Prince's residence for her own selfish reasons.
Feng Ran never expected that both the Crown Prince's residence and the Prime Minister's residence would label her as someone with ulterior motives. If she knew this, she would definitely cry foul. She would openly commit bad deeds, and she would also make sure everyone knew about her good deeds.
If she did well, she would definitely hear praise on the spot; if she made a mistake, she would learn a lesson on the spot. But now, was she right or wrong? Feng Ran couldn't tell.
The farce in the courtyard ended with several girls clutching their stomachs and several young men helping their sisters away with dark faces. Oh, as for the uninvited old Marquis Duan, he swaggered out over the wall as if no one else was there.
Perhaps due to old age and slowed reflexes, he only realized after standing on the wall that dozens of eyes were watching his dashing leap. He then dove down in a show of style. As for whether he landed on his feet or his buttocks, Feng Ran cut off the thought process to show respect.
Then Duan Jingchuan, with a face contorted in a mix of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and purple, dragged her back into the room. She didn't even have a chance to applaud the performers. Perhaps sensing her disappointment, Duan Jingchuan's icy gaze swept over the crowd, as if trying to memorize their expressions.
Xiuer was so frightened that her legs went weak, but Feng Ran, who had been captured by Duan Jingchuan, was in no condition to protect herself. The only consolation was to give her a "good luck" smile.
Xiong Qi belatedly sensed the danger, his wandering spirit was frightened back, and he stood upright with his head bowed, looking as if he had done something wrong.
The servants in the courtyard were terrified. They looked at each other and, recalling their actions as if possessed, their legs went weak and they knelt down, crying out in their hearts: "Father, Mother, your child can no longer be filial to you. Take care, and don't follow my example of being foolish!"
The ground was filled with crawling backs and bowed heads, like dumplings being dropped into a pot. Duan Jingchuan's expression darkened further.
"We haven't even given you the reward money yet, why are you kneeling to express your gratitude in advance?" Asking questions when you don't understand has always been Feng Ran's fine tradition.
Everyone in the courtyard felt like crying, silently praying: "Princess Consort, please don't say anything yet."
"A reward?" Duan Jingchuan's cold voice was like a thousand arrows piercing the hearts of everyone in the courtyard.
A note from the author:
Tomorrow is Lunar New Year's Eve. Time flies. May we have a peaceful year ahead.
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