5. If you crush it up and feed it to a dog, most dogs will probably refuse it.
◎You go and kowtow in front of the Dali Temple; perhaps I'm not worthy to do so.
The moment the words were spoken, the scene froze.
Aunt Xu was trembling with rage. If these words got out, she would be doomed. "This is outrageous! Is this how the Prime Minister's daughter is raised? How can she be worthy of being the Crown Prince's consort?"
"Is the imperial decree decreing whether we're worthy or not? Go kowtow in front of the Dali Temple and maybe I'm not worthy." Feng Ran ate the melon seeds that Xiu'er had prepared for her, having a great time. She suddenly realized that arguing with people wasn't so bad. It calmed her mind and helped her live a long and healthy life.
Seeing that Aunt Xu had been defeated, Duan Jingchuan's younger sister stepped in.
"Second sister-in-law has a silver tongue and is very clever. I am the only legitimate daughter of the Marquis's mansion. Second sister-in-law should have heard of my name." After saying that, she raised her chin high.
Feng Ran pouted; no matter how high she looked up, she was still a short person.
"Oh, I haven't heard of that. Your second brother is the only legitimate son."
"You! Okay, remember this clearly, I am Duan Jingyin."
"Remember to call her Princess Consort." Feng Ran was too lazy to argue with a child.
Duan Jingyin was furious at Feng Ran's dismissive attitude and immediately started picking a fight.
"Aunt Xu is an old member of the Marquis's family, and the eldest son of the Marquis is her son. Second sister-in-law, you should be more respectful."
Feng Ran glanced at the so-called legitimate daughter of the Marquis's mansion, feeling utterly bewildered.
Isn't this Duan Jingchuan's own sister? Why is she speaking so rudely? She's probably a fake sister.
Since that's the case, she won't stand on ceremony. But then she thought about it, and Duan Jingchuan was still sitting next to her. If she went too far, it might harm innocent people. It was better to take care of this little socially awkward person. If she scared him, it would be her fault. She should accumulate more good deeds.
Feng Ran ignored the legitimate daughter and said directly to Duan Jingchuan, "Husband, I want to read some books. Go back to the study and find some suitable for me. I'll come find you when we get back. You don't need to stay here."
Duan Jingchuan suddenly raised his head and stared at Feng Ran with unwavering determination. "I can." I can stay here with you, even if I can't do anything.
Feng Ran sighed inwardly, "This damn sense of responsibility." "Then you leave Xiong Qi here, and you go."
Duan Jingchuan remained fixed on Feng Ran with his dark eyes, staring intently.
Feng Ran had no choice but to reveal her weapon, "Think about that girl Chun Hui."
Duan Jingchuan, who had been trying to encourage himself, finally stumbled into some incredible memory. His eyes widened slightly as he secretly glanced at the aunts and brothers and sisters filling the room, feeling at most a tiny bit of sympathy.
He nodded to Feng Ran, "I'll wait for you."
Feng Ran gave Duan Jingchuan a big smile. This little socially awkward guy has improved today, saying so much. It must have been hard for him.
And so, Xiong Qi, shouldering a great responsibility, remained in the front hall, watching the women in the room gossip and chat.
After Duan Jingchuan left, Duan Jingyin could no longer suppress her mocking expression. "What, are you afraid I'll embarrass you in front of Second Brother? You have no shame."
Feng Ran's expression immediately fell. "You and your brother were born from the same mother. If I had a sister like you, I would want to crush you and feed you to the dogs. Even the dogs would probably dislike you."
"What did you say?" Duan Jingyin had never seen such a direct and insulting manner before, and she was a little dumbfounded.
"Are you deaf? Listen up, everyone here. Who do you think you are? You're just concubines, relying on your seniority to talk back to me. I am the Crown Prince's Consort. If you make me unhappy, your days are numbered."
Feng Ran couldn't understand where these self-righteous concubines got their courage.
The old Marquis was clearly not a muddle-headed man; he valued his eldest son highly. However, he was completely incompetent at managing the household. This whole family was so muddle-headed that it was obvious the matriarch was out of her mind.
Seeing that Duan Jingchuan had left, Aunt Xu perked up again, "You know that you are only the Crown Prince's wife now, and there is still the Marquis above you. What do you think of the Marquis by doing this?"
"Ha, you're so proud of having a son born out of wedlock, huh? If you're so capable, have your son snatch the heirship from me, then come and show off your power to me." "You shameless woman!"
Aunt Xu waved her hand to hit Feng Ran, but Feng Ran was too lazy to get up. She simply raised her long leg and kicked, instantly putting Aunt Xu more than two meters away from her, a very safe distance.
The whole house was filled with screams; even Xiong Qi hadn't expected things to develop this way.
Xiong Qi had only one thought in his mind: this Crown Princess was far too ruthless!
Feng Ran's ears hurt a little. The piercing screams of a group of girls were no less than the barking of a hundred thousand vicious dogs. With a snap, Feng Ran casually threw down the teacup in her hand, and the screams stopped abruptly.
Feng Ran was a little unhappy, but for the sake of a stable life in the future, she still had to give him a warning. She didn't have the habit of taking revenge on scumbags.
"My dear concubines, even if it's time for a power struggle within the household, you should all target the Lady of the Marquis. Why are you eyeing me, the Crown Prince's consort? If you're so capable, kill the Crown Prince first. And as for your so-called brothers and sisters, from now on, don't even look at each other. That way, we can all live in peace, understand?"
After saying that, he ignored the colorful expressions on the faces of the people below and left on his own.
What bad luck! I originally planned to get to know the socially anxious kid better so I could figure out who was kind to him and who was malicious. But it turns out the whole house is full of wicked people.
Thinking back to her mother's attitude towards her son, who was socially awkward, even Feng Ran couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him. It seemed that in this huge Dingbei Marquis's mansion, only her father was a decent human being. She wondered how he had managed to survive.
Now that Feng Ran has figured out the source of her son's social anxiety, she feels even more disgusted with this family.
Xiong Qi floated on his feet as he went to report the situation of the Princess Consort to the Prince. It has to be said that the Princess Consort's kick just now clearly injured Aunt Xu quite badly. If the Marquis were to hold him accountable, the Prince would probably also face legal trouble.
When Xiong Qi arrived, the steward Lao Li and Chunyu Zhu, the prince's friend, were also present.
Seeing that Xiong Qi had something to report, Duan Jingchuan assumed that Feng Ran wanted to see him, so he didn't dismiss the others.
Unexpectedly, after Xiong Qi finished explaining his purpose, the three people had different expressions.
The most exaggerated reaction came from Chunyu Zhu, who, after a moment of stunned silence, burst into laughter. "I say, Jingchuan, your Crown Princess is quite something, wonderful!"
The scoundrels in this mansion take advantage of Duan Jingchuan's lack of eloquence and frequently verbally harass him. The old Marquis is also a thick-skinned man and won't get involved in this matter.
Lady Hou, on the other hand, disliked Duan Jingchuan for being a man yet lacking any social skills, so Duan Jingchuan had been verbally bullied for so many years. Unexpectedly, this princess consort, whom he married by chance, was not someone to be trifled with; her sharp tongue and decisive actions were truly exceptional. Chunyu Zhu couldn't help but slap his thigh and laugh, happy for his friend.
Butler Li, on the other hand, had an "I knew it" expression on his face. Recalling how he almost strangled the maidservant on their wedding night, Old Li said that even if Aunt Xu were to be kicked out and suffer some serious injury, it wouldn't be considered an accident, since there were precedents to follow.
Duan Jingchuan's usually indifferent expression cracked slightly, as if he hadn't expected his wife to be so violent in addition to her sharp tongue.
Xiong Qi was somewhat apprehensive. Could this be considered a failure of his supervision?
Fortunately, the butler, Old Li, rescued him. "It's alright, you can go now."
He then took his leave from Duan Jingchuan, since this matter involved the old Marquis's concubine, and he still needed to communicate with the old Marquis to prevent him from being misled by one side.
Things big and small in the mansion can usually not be kept from those who are interested. Now, Feng Ran's every move is being closely watched by Lord Duan and Lady Qin.
After hearing about Feng Ran's actions, Marquis Duan pondered for a moment before asking Old Li with a serious expression, "How does the Crown Princess treat the Crown Prince?" His face clearly showed whether the Crown Princess would abuse the Crown Prince.
Old Li's face twitched, but he still answered seriously, "The Crown Princess treats the Crown Prince very gently."
The old Marquis seemed to have thought of something, and said with a look of satisfaction, "I understand. Xu was the one who was unreasonable first, and that kick can be considered a punishment."
After understanding the old Marquis's attitude, Old Li happily withdrew.
To be honest, Old Li personally admires the Crown Princess's behavior. Their Crown Prince is just too gentle, which is why these people don't know their own status and act aggressively all day long.
Lady Qin, the wife of the Marquis, had a completely different attitude. She was so angry that she smashed a set of her beloved tea set. "Outrageous! This is not a daughter of a noble family. She is worse than a country bumpkin. She disobeyed her mother-in-law on her very first day after marrying into the family, and beat up the elders in the household on the second day. Outrageous!"
Madam Feng, standing nearby, comforted her young mistress, "Madam, please be patient. It's not too late to establish rules after the wedding ceremony tomorrow." Her implication was that now was not the best time to deal with Feng Ran. After all, if anything went wrong during the wedding ceremony tomorrow, it would be a disgrace to the Prime Minister's Mansion, and the Marquis's Mansion would not be able to afford to mistreat their daughter-in-law.
Qin Shi took a deep breath. "She's just a shameless substitute bride. Why would the Prime Minister's mansion care about her?"
Granny Feng shook her head. "Madam, why don't you think about it from a different perspective? How could the Second Miss of the Prime Minister's Mansion possibly handle such a major event as a marriage exchange by herself?"
Qin's rusty brain finally turned slightly, "You mean this was instructed by the Prime Minister?"
Granny Feng gestured for silence, saying, "Madam, you shouldn't speak so rashly. The mistake has already been made, so we can only continue down this path."
Qin Shi has not lived in vain all these years. If the Marquis's Mansion insists on pursuing the matter with the Prime Minister's Mansion, it will inevitably be the Marquis's Mansion that suffers.
The prime minister is a royalist, and their marquis's family holds military power; the emperor might very well be pleased with this.
Thinking of this, Qin felt a chill run down her spine and dared not bring up the matter of a substitute marriage again. "Granny, shouldn't we restrain the servants in the mansion?"
Granny Feng thought for a moment and shook her head. "It's alright. Someone will talk about this eventually, as long as it's not you, Madam."
Thinking about it, that makes sense, so the Qin family stopped interfering in these matters.
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