Chapter 70 Consort Su's Huge Debt
Jiang Fenghua left on her own initiative, and Su Tingwan felt even more at ease, trying her best to please Xie Shang, "Your Highness, please try this fish."
Xie Shang pointed to his throat, meaning that it hurt and he couldn't eat.
She picked out a bite and fed it to him, smiling, "Wanwan will feed you!"
Xie Shang was taken aback that he hadn't said he wanted to eat fish. Seeing her ingratiating look, he wanted to say, "Wanwan, don't be like this."
Su Tingwan put down her chopsticks and said with great emotion, "A Shang, how I wish I could go back to the past, back to the carefree days we spent together. I've found that I've changed, I've become melancholy. Seeing you and the Princess so loving makes me very sad. I often think that you love me, right? Yes, A Shang loves Wanwan."
She confessed her true feelings, her eyes filled with tears, "I love you, I can't live without you in this life. I'm yours in life and in death, Ah Shang, you said you would always love me."
Xie Shang felt his scalp tingle and his face flushed so badly he almost fell into the bowl. He had never said he didn't like her.
She added, "Could you share a little bit of the kindness you show to the princess with me? Even just spending time with me occasionally would make me very happy."
Xie Shang was stunned. Seeing that she was about to cry, he couldn't bear to leave. Every time he faced her, he felt that he was a bad person. He shouldn't have made her sad and upset. He had always neglected her.
He endured the pain in his throat and ate the fish in front of her, then put her favorite braised chicken in her bowl.
Tears welled up in Su Tingwan's eyes instantly. Holding back her tears, she cried tears of joy. She picked up some chicken and started eating. "Ah Shang, I knew you still cared about me."
Xie Shang began to feel fortunate that he had become mute, otherwise he really wouldn't know how to answer Su Tingwan.
He began to reflect on himself. He probably liked Su Tingwan, but she and Jiang Fenghua were already his women. Whether he liked her or not didn't seem to matter that much anymore. He felt happier when he was with Jiang Fenghua, so did he like Jiang Fenghua more?
After dinner, Su Tingwan said, "Both the Prince and Princess are ill. The imperial physician said that for your health, it is not advisable for you to meet. Why don't you go to the Sandalwood Courtyard to rest tonight, Your Highness? Wanwan can take care of you."
Xie Shang had already taken leave, and he was also ill, so he was unable to leave the residence to work. He suddenly couldn't find a reason to leave.
He hasn't stepped into the temple since he last left.
She was the woman he loved. He couldn't neglect Wanwan just because he fell in love with Jiang Fenghua. Otherwise, what would the past three years between them have meant? Would they have been a joke?
He refused to admit that he had completely changed his mind, and he told himself that at least while he liked Jiang Fenghua, he could also like Su Tingwan.
Xie Shang wanted to prove that he also liked Su Tingwan, so he accompanied her to the Sandalwood Courtyard.
Through the window, Jiang Fenghua watched them leave. She knew Xie Shang must know she was watching them. To say that Xie Shang loved Su Tingwan that much was not entirely true, otherwise he wouldn't have been so easily attracted to her, even disregarding Su Tingwan's feelings and being so affectionate with her.
Love is the cheapest thing in the world, and Su Tingwan foolishly thought she would be sad because of Xie Shang's departure.
Given Xie Shang's current physical condition, what good would it do even if he went to the Sandalwood Courtyard? Su Tingwan would probably be disappointed again.
She enjoyed seeing Su Tingwan's frustrated and angry expression when she couldn't get what she wanted.
Jiang Fenghua remained calm, took her medicine, and went to bed. She wouldn't ruin her voice for a man.
This is a bad deal, let it go, I need to rest and recuperate.
-
Xie Shang lay on the bed with his eyes tightly closed. No matter what Su Tingwan did, he couldn't muster any interest. This time, Su Tingwan naturally didn't dare to drug him again and obediently nestled beside him.
Her shoulders were partially exposed, and her clothes were thin. Suddenly, she wrapped her arms around his waist, preparing to take off his clothes. Her voice was ambiguous as she leaned close to his ear, "Wanwan knows that Your Highness's throat is uncomfortable, so you should not speak."
Xie Shang grabbed her wrist tightly, tightening his grip, and suddenly said, "I'm not feeling well, you should go to sleep!" His voice was hoarse; after taking medicine all day, his throat was indeed better, at least he could speak.
Su Tingwan refused to give in and climbed onto his body, wanting to kiss him.
He brushed her hand away, pushed her aside, and moved to the side. "Wanwan, Physician Mei said my illness is contagious. Let's sleep separately tonight! Stay away from me, or I'm afraid you'll catch the disease too."
Su Tingwan said urgently, "I'm not afraid, I can serve you."
She was about to touch him again, but Xie Shang's eyes flashed with anger, and he said in a deep voice, "If you continue like this, I will leave."
Hearing his words, she dared not move again, tears welling in her eyes. She never imagined that they would end up sleeping in the same bed but dreaming different dreams.
She closed her eyes, holding back her tears. Xie Shang suddenly felt a little agitated when he saw her crying. He took her hand, but his body told him that he didn't want to do anything and just wanted to sleep and have daylight come quickly.
The next day, Lin Feng and the others did not go in outside the Sandalwood Courtyard. Yin Xing called to him, but he ignored her, merely fulfilling his duty as a guard.
Xie Shang came out of the Sandalwood Courtyard early and saw him with a cold face. He asked him, "Who upset you so early in the morning? Did you eat gunpowder?"
"Oh dear, Your Highness's throat is better! It seems Consort Su took good care of you last night." Lin Feng said sarcastically.
Xie Shang coughed lightly, as if he wanted to explain something, but in the end he said nothing and went straight to the study.
He suddenly felt a little guilty and didn't dare to see Jiang Fenghua.
Steward Cheng has already sent the petitions he reviewed to the Jingzhao Prefecture, where officials will re-examine the cases according to Xie Shang's approval.
Butler Cheng brought another stack of account books to Xie Shang. "Your Highness, these are the accounts for the past two months. Please take a look."
Xie Shang said, "Such trivial matters have always been handled by Steward Cheng. You've done your job well. I still have cases to investigate."
Butler Cheng was a little anxious. "Besides the accounts in the manor, there are also account books sent by Mingyifang, as well as Cuiyuxuan, Hefeng Restaurant, Liu's Cloth Shop, Li's Dim Sum Shop... All the major famous shops in the capital have come to the manor."
Xie Shang asked in confusion, "What are they doing here? What does this have to do with the Prince Heng's residence?"
Butler Cheng laid out the bills on the table, only allowing him to look at them one by one.
Xie Shang took the book and flipped through a few pages. "Since the Princess Consort likes it, you can go and pay the bill."
Steward Cheng was sweating profusely with anxiety. "No, Your Highness, these are not the Princess's accounts. This old servant has checked, and it was Consort Su who took these things by impersonating the Princess."
Upon hearing this, Xie Shang's eyes turned serious. "What exactly happened? Why would Wanwan use the Princess's name to buy things?"
Steward Cheng explained in detail, “At first, this old servant also found it strange that the Prince’s Mansion suddenly had so many external debts. When people came to the manor, this old servant asked the Princess Consort, who said that she had not bought these things. Later, this servant went to check each shop one by one and found out that the people who went to these shops to buy things on credit were Consort Su and her servants. Every time they came out of the restaurant, they would put the Princess Consort on the bill. They were extremely extravagant, and even took jade ornaments worth thousands of taels and jewelry worth hundreds or thousands of taels. This old servant calculated that in the past two months, our Prince Heng’s Mansion has accumulated external debts of 48,979 taels.”
Su Tingwan's servant was naturally Yunfang.
Xie Shang was incredulous. "He owes so much." He had only looked at the signature and the end of the letter; it was Jiang Fenghua's name, but not her handwriting.
If the Prince Heng's Mansion doesn't repay this debt in time, it will cause a lot of trouble, and may even lead to impeachment by censors.
Butler Cheng thought: Consort Su is really good for nothing but ruining things. He has no way of explaining why there is such a large deficit in the accounts.
He felt that continuing to hold the power of stewardship in his hands was like a hot potato, and said, "This servant has something to say, but I don't know if I should say it."
"Speak!" Xie Shang was furious; he hadn't expected Su Tingwan to be this kind of person.
“Before the Prince married a Princess, he trusted me and entrusted me with the management of the household, which was perfectly acceptable. But now that the Prince is married, the management of the household should be handed over to the lady of the house.” Steward Cheng was afraid of Consort Su. If she caused another incident like this, where would he find the money to cover the expenses?
Xie Shang had never thought of it that way. "You mean you want the princess to manage the household?"
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