At 9:00 p.m. on the fourth day, Chen Afu went to Princess Rongzhao's mansion alone in a carriage.
Princess Rongzhao knew that Chen Afu and his mother would come today, so she and Lord Chu were sitting on the Luohan bed in the side room waiting for them.
Since Rong Zhao was pulled feces by a flock of birds last year, she has been in bad luck. Basically no one comes to visit her. She was also sent by the Queen Mother to copy scriptures in the temple and eat vegetarian food for three months. Especially at the end of last year, the north suffered a snowstorm. Many ministers blamed her for the snowstorm, and she was confined by the Queen Mother. She had nothing to do in the mansion. Every day, besides copying scriptures, she pestered Lord Chu. If Lord Chu was not around, she would find trouble with the servants.
Her daughter Xue Baoyi had been arranged to marry by the Empress Dowager. Because Concubine Ma Shu was afraid that her granddaughter would be displeased by her in-laws if she was tainted with bad luck, she had allowed Xue Baoyi to enter the palace and be raised by Concubine Shu herself since Rong Zhao was confined.
Rong Zhao never understood why she was hated by Bird Immortal, who often defecated on her. Sometimes, she wondered if she was really like what the ministers impeached, because she angered her first son-in-law to death, took someone else's husband away, caused someone else to become a monk, and harmed someone else's granddaughter, which made Bird Immortal hate her.
But most of the time, she thought it was not the case. All lands belong to the emperor. She is the emperor's daughter, so whoever she wants to be her husband will be her husband. Even if that person is already someone else's husband, as long as she wants him, he is hers. This is not snatching, but duty.
However, since she got into trouble, not only the emperor and the empress dowager became cold to her, but even the second prince was not as warm to her as before. Especially Chu Lang, whom she loved deeply, was more perfunctory than before. He would often go out for a walk while she was copying scriptures. He would stay out for most of the day, or one or two days, and the longest time was three days, which made her so angry that she felt suffocated.
Rong Zhao complained to him unhappily, but Lord Chu did not try to comfort her or sulk in another room like he did in the past. Instead, he said coldly, "You can't leave the house, so you can't let me leave the house, right? Or, you can let me stay in this house like you and get 'bad luck', then you will be happy?" Then, he went to the outer study room or went out for a "walk".
Rong Zhao was so angry that she cried, made a fuss, and smashed things. Once, she even grabbed Lord Chu and wouldn't let him leave.
Lord Chu looked at her coldly and said, "Princess, please let go."
Rong Zhao was panicking. How could Chu Lang, whom she had admired since she was ten years old, look at her in such a way? She burst into tears, "Chu Lang, those stinky censors attacked me because I liked you and married you as my consort."
Lord Chu said, "Princess, you are wrong. They attacked you because you provoked the Bird Immortal, which caused a snow disaster in the northern part of Dashun." After saying that, he left without looking back.
Rong Zhao was furious. She suspected that Chu Lang treated her like this because he had a mistress. She asked her servants to follow him, but he dumped her after a short while. However, she found some clues on the 20th day of the first lunar month. The servants came back and reported that the prince consort had moved into a mansion. He paid a neighbor to inquire about it, and the neighbor said that a young woman lived in the mansion, who seemed to be the mistress of a high-ranking official.
Rong Zhao was furious and ordered a capable maid to take a group of guards to catch the woman. But when they got there, the woman in the house had already disappeared.
That night, Lord Chu returned to the princess's mansion very late.
Rong Zhao asked with a gloomy face, "Where did you hide that woman?"
"What woman?" asked Lord Chu with a frown.
Rong Zhao screamed, "My people saw it and you still refuse to admit it." She grabbed a teapot on the table and threw it at Lord Chu.
Suddenly, blood gushed out from Lord Chu's forehead, flowing down along with the water and tea leaves.
Rong Zhao was terrified, and rushed forward to hug Lord Chu and said, "Chu Lang, I didn't mean it."
Lord Chu pushed Rong Zhao away, and shook off the two servants who came forward to try to bandage his wound, then walked away with a handkerchief covering his forehead.
In this mansion, the maids and eunuchs were definitely Rong Zhao's people, but the guards were not necessarily. Lord Chu left the princess's mansion unhindered and did not return for another two days and two nights.
After she cried, she took it out on the people around her. Her personal maids were always trembling with fear, fearing that they would be the ones to be vented by the princess the next moment.
One of the maids figured out Rong Zhao's thoughts and said, "The princess is a royal daughter, how can she bear this? We have to go to the palace to report to the Concubine Shu, and ask her to make a decision for the princess, have the consort found, apologize to the princess, and then beat the concubine to death."
Rong Zhao agreed, and they went to the palace to ask to see Concubine Ma Shufei.
After hearing this, Concubine Shu took them to the Emperor and cried and complained, saying that Rong Zhao was now in a state of disgrace, and even her husband dared to bully her and even had a concubine.
The emperor said to Concubine Ma Shu, "I don't believe that Prince Consort Chu will have a concubine."
Then he said coldly to the maids, "If you dare to help the tyrant again and make the prince consort angry to death, Rong Zhao will go to the nunnery to become a nun, and you will not die in peace either."
When the maids heard this, they were so frightened that they dared not say a word and hurried back to the princess's mansion.
Seeing the emperor's attitude, Concubine Ma Shu felt depressed. It turned out that no matter how much the censor made trouble, the emperor would protect Rong Zhao, but this time he even said that she should become a nun. Concubine Ma Shu did not dare to make trouble again. Rong Zhao was now in trouble both internally and externally, and everyone kept away from her. If she caused the emperor's annoyance again, she might be forced to become a nun. She opened her mouth but dared not say anything, and returned to her own palace. She also sent a nanny to Princess Rong Zhao's mansion to ask Rong Zhao to be honest and stop causing trouble.
Afterwards, the Queen Mother sent a nanny to reprimand Rong Zhao, telling her to be chaste and virtuous, to treat her husband-in-law with courtesy, to be kind to her in-laws, and to suppress the negative influence.
Rong Zhao just became more obedient.
Now, as long as the prince consort can stay in the princess's mansion obediently, even if he has a cold face and doesn't say anything, Rong Zhao will feel better.
Rong Zhao was not used to receiving Chen Afu's invitation yesterday. It has been nearly a year since anyone in this mansion took the initiative to send an invitation to visit. Those who came to visit were all invited by her. If she invited ten people, it would be good if one came, and those who came could not afford to offend her.
But when she thought of Chen Afu's twin sons, she touched her belly and felt a sharp pain in her heart again.
Chen Ahfu entered the room, knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "The daughter-in-law pays respects to Her Royal Highness the Princess and to my father-in-law."
When Rong Zhao saw that she didn't bring her children, his face darkened and he asked, "Where are the children? Why didn't you bring them to kowtow to me? I, as a grandmother, have even prepared a gift for them..."
Lord Chu interrupted and said, "My daughter-in-law, please get up and sit down to answer the question."
Rong Zhao opened his mouth but still didn't say "I can't get up".
Chen Afu said, "Thank you, Princess, and thank you, Father-in-law." Then he stood up and sat on the chair next to him.
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