Chapter 139: One Family, Two Concubines
Xiao family.
Xiao Fushu and the maids and servants in the marquis' mansion knelt on the ground.
The eunuch who delivered the decree read it aloud.
"By the grace of Heaven, Cheng Yun, the Emperor decrees that Xiao Fushu, a daughter of the Xiao family, is gentle, virtuous, and exceptionally talented. She is hereby granted marriage to the Fifth Prince, Xuanyuan Su, and is named the Fifth Prince's Consort. A date will be chosen for the wedding. I decree this!"
It’s done. A smile flashed in Xiao Fushu’s eyes, and then he stretched out his hands and took the imperial edict with a smile on his face.
"Xiao Fushu accepts the order, long live the emperor."
The eunuch who delivered the imperial edict handed the imperial edict to Xiao Fushu with a smile and congratulated him.
"Congratulations to the Fifth Prince's wife. This is a great joyous occasion! Please stand up, Fifth Prince's wife."
Xiao Fushu took the imperial edict with both hands.
"Thank you for the hard work, father-in-law."
Then he gave Amber a look.
Amber stepped forward and stuffed a purse into her father-in-law's hand.
"Father-in-law, this is tea that our young lady invited you to."
The father-in-law weighed the heavy purse in his hand and spoke with a smile.
"Thank you very much, Miss Third."
Then he spoke to Xiao Fushu again.
"Miss Third, the Emperor has asked the Ministry of Rites to prepare the betrothal gifts according to the standards for a prince's consort. Miss Third, just wait for good news."
Xiao Fushu bowed when he heard this.
"Thank you for the reminder, sir."
The father-in-law spoke politely.
"Then I will go back and report to the Emperor."
As soon as her father-in-law left, Amber hurriedly took her maid to congratulate Xiao Fushu.
"Congratulations, Miss. Congratulations, Miss."
Xiao Fushu looked at the imperial edict in his hand, a smile appearing at the corner of his eyes.
Sister, this time I can stand by your side.
"Let's go to the ancestral hall."
When he arrived at the ancestral hall, Xiao Fushu respectfully placed the imperial edict on the table.
Looking at the tablets in the ancestral hall, my eyes couldn't help but turn red. My father, brother, and mother are all here.
"Father, mother, brother, my marriage is settled."
"It is decided that it is the fifth prince of the dynasty, Xuanyuan Su."
"The Emperor grants the marriage, and the Ministry of Rites is in charge."
"My sister is now the respected Regent Princess. Even though the Xiao family is small, this wedding will be a grand one."
"Mother, my sister has protected me very well all along the way, and I will also protect my sister in the future. Mother, if you are in heaven, you must bless my sister and me so that we can successfully bring down Prince Rong and Concubine Yao."
Amber couldn't help but raise her hand to wipe the tears from the corners of her eyes. She looked at Xiao Fushu with heartache. The gentle second lady and the lively and lovely third lady were finally forced into this state by hatred.
He went forward and lit incense.
"Miss San, please light a stick of incense for Madam."
Xiao Fushu took the incense and inserted it into the incense burner.
After taking a look at the tablet, he walked out of the ancestral hall.
The words the Fifth Prince had said on New Year's Eve flashed through her mind. He said he had someone special in his heart, but what did it matter? What she wanted was the position of the Fifth Prince's consort, and what she wanted was for his future heir to be born from her belly.
Sister, Fushu will not let you walk the road of revenge alone.
"Prepare the carriage and go to the Regent's Palace. I want to see my sister."
What she didn't know was that after she left the yard.
There were two figures standing at the corner.
"Your Highness, it seems that the Xiao family has a grudge against Concubine Yao and Prince Rong, and it's quite a grudge."
Xuanyuan Su glanced at the ancestral hall through the window.
Raise your hand and close the window.
"Walk."
Originally, I wanted to see how she would react after receiving the imperial decree granting marriage.
I didn't expect the reaction to be so unexpected. It seems that Madam Xiao's death was caused by Prince Rong and his mother. No wonder the two sisters were plotting to kill Prince Rong.
Regent's Palace.
Liu Yue bowed to Xiao Fuguang who was reading a book.
"Miss."
Xiao Fuguang looked up at her.
"Why are you back?"
"New Year, new atmosphere. Shouldn't all the shops be busy?"
Liu Yue spoke with a smile.
"It's indeed very busy, but the shopkeepers are there to take care of it. I just keep an eye on it privately. Today, I met with Mrs. Han, and she said she had something she wanted to ask of the young lady. I thought it might not be convenient for the young lady to see her at any time, so I asked what it was."
"Because of the sales of cashmere coats, she is now a famous Han Dongjia in the imperial city. Her ex-husband has come to her house, and she wants the young lady to help continue to take care of Xixi."
This child is indeed the mother's biggest weakness, Xiao Fuguang said slowly.
"Why is that so difficult?"
"Send Xixi to the Imperial Master's Mansion. Also, send someone to protect Han Dongjia. She is our cash cow now."
At this time, a voice came.
"elder sister………"
Xiao Fushu came walking quickly with a happy look on his face.
Xiao Fuguang put down the book in his hand and stood up with a smile on his face.
"Fushu, why are you here?"
"You look so smiling, but do you have something happy to share with your sister?"
Xiao Fushu held Xiao Fuguang's hand.
"Sister, the imperial decree granting marriage has arrived at the Xiao family today. I will be the Fifth Prince's consort from now on."
The fifth prince finally finalized the matter, and Xiao Fuguang felt relieved.
"The day has finally arrived. I need to prepare your dowry as soon as possible. It just so happens that I'm hosting a banquet for the ladies I'm close to these past two days. I'd like them to give me some advice on what kind of dowry I should prepare for you. It's also a great opportunity for you to get to know everyone. You'll be the Fifth Prince's consort in the future, so you'll inevitably have to interact with all of them."
This is my sister paving the way for me, Xiao Fushu said with a well-behaved look on his face.
"I follow my sister's arrangements."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Fuguang smiled and gave orders.
"Xingyue, prepare invitations for the ladies. Tell them that I, the princess, invite them to a gathering at Yunkedu and ask them to help propose a dowry for the third young lady of the Xiao family."
In the palace.
Concubine Shu looked at the food on the table with an angry look on her face.
"This food is cold and even looks like leftovers!"
Then he raised his hand and threw the food to the ground.
With a "pop", the porcelain plate shattered and the soup splashed everywhere.
The palace maids were so frightened that they immediately knelt down, trembling and not daring to speak.
"Your Majesty, calm down."
"I am the imperial concubine appointed by the emperor himself, yet they make me eat such leftovers! The imperial kitchen is so bold." Imperial Concubine Yao's eyes were wide open and her voice was sharp. Her angry shouts echoed throughout the palace.
Lian Xin hurried forward to comfort her.
"Your Highness, please don't get angry yet. It's not worth it to get yourself hurt. His Highness has already taken action in the past two days. As long as His Highness becomes the crown prince, Your Highness will be the queen. Then all these slaves who flatter the powerful and bully the weak will be dragged down and beaten to death."
Concubine Yao sat down angrily.
Cuizhu brought hot tea to her.
"Your Majesty, I asked the palace servant who served the meals, and they said...they said...the Concubine Shu said that since the New Year had just passed, they were going to save money at the palace and not waste any supplies from the palaces. The money saved was used to buy rice porridge for the beggars. The Emperor even praised Concubine Shu for this."
Upon hearing this, Concubine Yao tightly gripped the teacup in her hand.
"Shufei, this bitch."
"You keep going against me again and again."
Cuizhu continued to analyze calmly.
"Your Majesty, Concubine Shu seems to have a very good relationship with the Queen. It seems that she has already believed what the Queen said. I'm afraid that the child she lost has been blamed on you, Your Majesty. Your Majesty, we need to be careful of Concubine Shu."
Concubine Yao looked at the teacup, the anger in her eyes growing wildly.
"This idiot."
"She believed everything someone else said. If she wasn't from the Cui family, she wouldn't have survived a year in this palace."
He took a sip of tea and continued complaining.
"Your Majesty is truly a fool. He actually confined me to my room for such a thing. The Crown Prince is so sick that he was even listless at the New Year's Eve dinner. Doesn't this mean that I will have to rely on him for the future of my country..."
Cuizhu hurriedly spoke up to remind him.
"My lady, be careful, there are ears on the other side of the wall."
Upon hearing this, Concubine Yao spoke in a cold voice.
"This is the Yikun Palace. If what I say here gets out, you can all be dragged down and beaten to death."
As soon as Concubine Shu came to power, she openly targeted the Imperial Concubine. How could the Imperial Concubine not be angry? Cuizhu had no choice but to patiently comfort her.
"Your Highness, once your Highness takes that position, whether she's the Empress or the Consort, won't she be at Your Highness' disposal?"
After hearing this, Concubine Shu pondered for a moment.
"Send a message to father, and have those ministers who usually curry favor with the Yao family speak up. I don't want to live another day like this."
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