Chapter 81 The Noble Lady Also Tears Each Other Apart
“Then it must be that the Empress is unwilling.” Jiang Liangxu took a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from Zhao Xian’s forehead and opened a fan to cool her down: “The Empress is weak because she once saved the Empress Dowager, and she even lost a child because of it. The Empress Dowager feels guilty towards the Empress.”
Zhao Xian looked at Jiang Liangxu: "Since she knew that the Empress did not want her nephew to marry Lin Nianzang, why didn't she try to dissuade her? Instead, she let it go? Is she trying to make up for the regret that Princess Rongyang couldn't have you back then?"
Jiang Liangxu cried out that he was wronged: "What does this have to do with me?"
Zhao Xian crossed her arms. “This is very serious. Her Majesty the Empress said that this matter is very similar to the situation when Princess Rongyang pursued you back then, and both are related to the Jiang family. The only difference is that Han Mu is not yet married.”
Jiang Liangxu shook his head, "I don't agree with that. I've already explained what happened back then. There are too many versions of the rumors circulating outside, and they're not credible."
"Did they not take their medication?" The younger one won't take it, and neither will the older one. What does this have to do with her and Cui Tingyue? Why do she have to drag them into this?
ill.
Zhao Xian did not dwell on this matter. After seeing Princess Rongyang last year, she had triggered that memory.
"Speaking of which, the three families that the Empress Dowager chose for Lin Nianzang were all of good family background and character. The Empress was unwilling for her nephew to marry them. Lin Nianzang is a young girl, she doesn't understand. Wouldn't the Empress Dowager advise her?"
Jiang Liangxu only poured her tea and fanned her; as he was not the Empress Dowager, he was unaware of the details of the matter.
"Madam just said that the Lady of Dingyuan Marquis went to the palace to ask the Empress Dowager for a marriage decree?"
Zhao Xian nodded: "That's right. We're not familiar with the Marquis of Dingyuan's family. Last time they suddenly came to propose marriage, which was quite puzzling. This time they even went to the Empress Dowager to ask for a marriage decree."
As they were talking, Zhao Xian realized something was wrong.
Even though arranged marriages were common in ancient times, they were limited to the couple getting married, and in reality, both sets of parents knew each other.
However, it is against the rules for the Marquis of Dingyuan's mansion to send a matchmaker without any prior notice.
Zhao Xian stood up, looking ready to fight, and said, "I'll go and send an invitation to Lady Dingyuan, inviting her for tea."
Why did the Marquis of Dingyuan suddenly propose marriage to Cui Tingyue? She needs to find out, or who is behind it all.
Before Zhao Xian could arrange to meet the person, the day arrived for the Sixth Prince to marry his principal wife.
When a prince reaches marriageable age, he will leave the palace and move into the prince's residence.
Even if one establishes a residence outside the palace, the location of that residence will still be the closest to the imperial palace.
The wedding of a prince was different from that of an ordinary family. It was overseen by the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs and supervised by the Minister of the Palace. The procession was led by palace maids and eunuchs.
There were many unfamiliar faces.
A palace maid led Zhao Xian to the area where the women were gathered, where the play on the stage had already begun.
Looking closely at the ladies sitting below, they had arrived neither too early nor too late.
The backyard was divided into several areas. Those who liked to watch plays could sit on the stage, while those who didn't could drink tea and chat in the pavilion, or play leaf games. There were also some games suitable for young ladies, such as musical chairs, flying flower orders, and pitch-pot.
A familiar lady greeted her, "Madam Jiang has arrived, please have a seat here."
A young lady who knew Li Lianniang looked around and asked, "Madam, isn't Lianniang here today?"
Zhao Xian recognized the other woman. "Lianniang is pregnant, and the baby in her belly is quite fussy. I was afraid that going back and forth would make her more uncomfortable, so I let her stay at home."
"Pregnant? How many months along?"
"Three months."
Everyone offered their congratulations.
The wedding banquet was in the evening, and it wasn't completely dark yet. Plays were being performed on the stage.
Madam Lu was a fan of opera, but she didn't come. Zhao Xianzhi went to the Lu family to deliver an invitation and learned that the old lady of the Lu family was ill and Madam Lu had to take care of her urgently, so she was busy.
Zhao Xian listened to the idle chatter of others, and some even came to inquire about Cui Tingyue. She talked earnestly with each of them.
Before long, Madam Xu arrived with her daughter-in-law. Zhao Xian was quite satisfied with the young man, Xu Luohua, and stood up to greet him with a smile, "Madam Xu, you've arrived..."
Before she could finish greeting Zhao Xian, Madam Xu walked right past her without even glancing at her, as if she didn't know her well.
He then walked over to another lady with a big smile, and the two of them sat down hand in hand, looking very familiar with each other.
Zhao Xian stood there, still bewildered, with her words unfinished.
Cui Tingyue reached out and took Zhao Xian's arm. "Mother, why does Madam Xu seem like a completely different person?"
Recalling what had happened before, Zhao Xian looked at Cui Tingyue and asked, "We didn't have a falling out last time, did we?"
Cui Tingyue shook her head.
Zhao Xian looked at Madam Xu, who was still sitting far away from her. Why did she suddenly turn her back on her?
He wondered to himself, "Civil officials and military generals are divided into factions, and even the ladies in the inner quarters have clearly defined groups. Is it because they are from different factions and need to avoid suspicion?"
But that's not right, there are also ladies who don't do that.
Zhao Xian looked over several times and realized that Madam Xu had seen her, but she pretended not to see her. This did not seem like she was trying to distance herself from the situation; rather, it gave the impression that she had offended someone.
But they clearly had a very pleasant conversation last time.
Zhao Xian was unwilling to suffer in silence, so she simply walked over and sat down in front of the two ladies, looking directly at them. "Madam Xu, have you already forgotten about me?"
The two ladies were caught off guard by Zhao Xian's sudden arrival.
Madam Xu's smile faded, replaced by a dismissive tone, and her voice lost some of its warmth, "Madam Jiang is joking. You are a very busy person, and we are of humble status and cannot possibly be worthy of your presence."
How sarcastic!
“Madam Xu, what you say is unreasonable. You like watching polo, and I invited you because of your preferences. When have I ever looked down on your status? I don’t remember offending you in any way last time.”
The lady who was chatting with Madam Xu felt something was off about their conversation and couldn't help but look curious.
Speaking of this, Madam Xu got angry. "Madam Jiang, let's not beat around the bush. Since your adopted daughter is already betrothed, why is she going out to meet other people? She's already talking to other people... what's the point of her chatting with us? My daughter has no interest in becoming someone else's father."
As she spoke, she glanced at Cui Tingyue's stomach.
Cui Tingyue instinctively moved away.
Zhao Xian's face immediately darkened. "Who did you promise? How come I didn't know about this?"
Madam Xu was startled by her sudden cold expression. "They...they all discussed it before coming in, didn't you know?"
Zhao Xian forced a smile and patiently asked, "Where did Madam Xu hear these words? Or, who said them to you?"
Seeing her serious expression, Madam Xu felt uneasy. Just then, she saw a palace maid leading people over and pointed, saying, "The Lady of Dingyuan Marquis is here. She said that your two families have exchanged tokens, and Miss Cui is already her son's fiancée. She also said that she should hurry back to welcome her before her pregnancy becomes too obvious. Sister Li heard this the other day."
At the time, the Lady of Dingyuan was talking to others, and she was still picking out jewelry to give to her future daughter-in-law.
Mrs. Li, who was called out, gave an awkward smile.
After Zhao Xian sat down, she spoke in a teasing yet resentful tone. She had thought the two of them had that kind of relationship, and Madam Jiang was too straightforward and bold... She never expected that they were talking about their children's marriage.
"Ah, yes."
Zhao Xian asked a few more questions and learned the reason for Madam Xu's change of attitude this time.
So she sent an invitation to Lady Dingyuan for tea, but Lady Dingyuan was too busy to accept the invitation. Instead, she had time to go outside and spread rumors that would ruin someone's reputation.
"We heard about it too," Madam Xu said, noticing the somewhat frightening look in Zhao Xian's eyes.
As soon as Lady Dingyuan arrived, she looked around and saw Zhao Xian and Cui Tingyue. She exclaimed, "Lady Jiang, Tingyue, so you're here!"
"Thank you." Zhao Xian smiled and got up to walk towards Lady Dingyuan.
"You've really made me look for you!" Lady Dingyuan stepped forward familiarly, her tone as if they were old friends.
Cui Tingyue looked at Zhao Xian nervously, feeling resentment towards the Lady of Dingyuan. After leaving the palace, her adoptive mother's attitude towards the Lady of Dingyuan made her suspicious, so she sent someone to inquire about it.
I didn't know until I asked around, that the heir of the Marquis of Dingyuan was simply a scoundrel who did all sorts of evil.
Zhao Xian's fake smile was perfectly put on again.
When Lady Dingyuan arrived, she noticed Lady Xu was also there. Her expression flickered slightly, and she reached out to pull Zhao Xian, "Lady Jiang, I have something to tell you... Ah—"
Seeing how familiar the two were, Madam Xu felt that she had been tricked again.
Just as she was feeling annoyed.
The sudden sound of a slap echoed throughout the area where the women were drinking tea and snacks.
The slap was so loud that the murmurs of the crowd instantly ceased, and everyone turned to look at the source of the sound.
Lady Dingyuan was completely stunned. When she came to her senses, she immediately blurted out, "You dare hit me..."
"Smack—"
Another slap landed on her face. Zhao Xian shook her slightly numb hand. "I hit the wrong person. I should have used a ruler to slap your mouth. You gossipy woman, talking nonsense and spreading rumors will land you in the hell of tongue-pulling."
A lady intervened to mediate, saying, "What's going on? Madam Jiang, how could you lay a hand on me? Can't we talk this out?"
"I can't say. I only just found out that the Lady of Dingyuan Marquis has been ruining my daughter's reputation. A woman's reputation is the most important thing. She casually said that my daughter and her son are engaged? How come I didn't know about this? When did this happen? Have the six rites been completed? Are there any witnesses or physical evidence?"
With each question Zhao Xian asked, she took a step closer to Lady Dingyuan, her powerful aura forcing Lady Dingyuan to retreat step by step.
"Why isn't Lady Dingyuan speaking? Weren't you very talkative when you were spreading rumors outside? Don't you know your own son's worth? He has a bunch of women in his harem who aren't enough for him to tease, and you're even helping him ruin the reputation of good girls? After doing so many wicked things, do you dare to close your eyes at night?"
Lady Dingyuan was so scolded that she couldn't get a word in edgewise, "You..."
"I think you should stop gossiping about other people's daughters. With all the despicable things your family has done over the years, your son hasn't produced any grandchildren for you. Why don't you take advantage of his youth and good looks to bring some more benefits to your Dingyuan Marquis's mansion?"
As soon as he finished speaking, one of the knowledgeable ladies couldn't help but burst out laughing.
The lady next to her tugged at her, and the lady quickly turned her face away, hiding her smile.
It wasn't a secret that the Marquis of Dingyuan's family sent his younger brother-in-law to the Princess's residence to be a male escort; it was just an open secret that no one would deliberately say that the Marquis of Dingyuan's family relied on selling male sexuality.
"You vile woman, how dare you speak ill of my son! I'll fight you to the death! Ahhh..." Hearing Zhao Xian mention her son, Lady Dingyuan's chest heaved with anger. She raised her hand to strike, but Zhao Xian blocked it and slapped her across the face.
As Lady Dingyuan rushed over, Zhao Xian grabbed her hair and pulled her head down.
Lady Dingyuan was unconvinced. She tried to pry Zhao Xian's hand off her hair bun with one hand, and then grabbed at Zhao Xian's hair with the other.
Seizing the opportunity, Cui Tingyue grabbed Zhao Xian's wildly waving hand to prevent her from hurting her, and kicked her a few times in the chaos.
The maidservant of the Marquis of Dingyuan wanted to help, but was blocked by Zhao Xian's people and could not come to help.
This turn of events was so dramatic that the other ladies, instead of coming forward to dissuade them, instinctively stepped back.
After all, they hold certain positions; they can simply give orders and have never actually fought with anyone.
Only servants and old women would act so recklessly, fighting like this.
They were truly amazed to witness two noble ladies fighting.
Zhao Xian grabbed Lady Dingyuan's hair and pulled her in front of her, whispering a warning in her ear: "If you dare to spread a single rumor about my daughter outside again, see if your Dingyuan Marquis's Mansion can still hide the dirty things you've done over the years."
When Lady Dingyuan saw the ruthlessness in Zhao Xian's eyes, she realized that Zhao Xian was not joking, and the murderous intent in her eyes could not be contained.
The female official of the Imperial Clan Court was informed by her servants that there was a commotion among the women, so she hurriedly came over with her maids.
Today is the prince's wedding day. If anything goes wrong, she'll be punished.
They noticed someone was coming.
Zhao Xian pushed away the Lady of Dingyuan, straightened her hair to make sure it wasn't messy, and then smoothed out the wrinkle-free hem of her skirt.
When the lady-in-waiting approached, she smiled politely and said, "Lady Wang, you've come at the right time. Lady Dingyuan's hair is askew. Please take her downstairs to wash it up."
Looking at the obvious handprint on Lady Dingyuan's face and her disheveled hair, Wang Shanggong asked, "What happened?"
-----------------------
Author's Note: The next chapter will be at midnight; there's still some writing left.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com