Chapter 87 Princess Heng Officially Takes Charge of the Royal Household's Finances
Xie Shang then instructed a palace maid to bring Su Tingwan to him. He then said to Jiang Fenghua, "Although Su Tingwan has done something wrong, she must still return to my residence with me."
After all, she was a concubine of Prince Heng. If the Empress wanted to punish her, that was the Empress's business. Empress Cheng was annoyed just seeing her and didn't want to keep her around as an eyesore. In the end, Su Tingwan still had to return to Prince Heng's residence.
Jiang Fenghua had no reason to stop it.
When Jiang Fenghua met Su Tingwan, she was covered in injuries and looked pitiful, which opened Jiang Fenghua's eyes. After meeting Consort Su once, Jiang Fenghua suddenly had a breakthrough in her thinking.
She then knelt respectfully before Xie Shang and Jiang Fenghua, saying, "This concubine greets Your Highness and Your Highness."
Xie Shang's body stiffened, a hint of pity flashing in his eyes. Then, thinking of the mistakes she had made, he decided to give her a cold shoulder. "Get up! Come back to the manor with me. Be careful with your words and actions after we return."
"I understand. I will listen to Your Highness from now on and put Your Highness first in everything." Su Tingwan said softly. She hated the Empress ever since the Empress had her forced to drink contraceptive soup. One day she would make the Empress wish she were dead.
She could have conceived a child if Xie Shang had been willing to share a room with her, but...
"Get in the car, there's no need to kneel," Xie Shang said.
Just then, Granny Xi caught up and said, "This servant greets Your Highness and Your Highness."
She then added, "These silks and brocades and jewelry were given to the Princess by Her Majesty the Empress. They are all the latest fashion items that cannot be bought outside the palace even with money. Her Majesty said that the Princess should dress up in a colorful way to look beautiful at her youthful age."
"Thank you for the reward, Your Majesty." Jiang Fenghua quickly bowed respectfully. "Granny Xi has also worked hard."
"Your Highness is too kind. These are all things that we servants should do. The Empress is in a good mood, all thanks to Your Highness." Granny Xi kept praising Jiang Fenghua in front of Xie Shang.
Xie Shang naturally knew how good the princess was; if it weren't for her, his mother wouldn't have been so proud and elated.
He took Jiang Fenghua's hand and helped her into the carriage first.
Seeing Xie Shang's meticulous care, Su Tingwan felt as if her heart was bleeding, but from now on, she would be patient and would eventually have a chance to defeat Jiang Fenghua.
She obediently boarded the carriage, and Xie Shang even reached out to help her. Afterwards, she quickly pulled her hand back, saying, "Thank you, Your Highness."
Xie Shang was startled; he sensed a faint distance between them.
On the way back to the Prince's Mansion, Su Tingwan refrained from looking at Xie Shang. Her aunt had told her that this was her only chance, and only told her to pitifully play hard to get. Wasn't that how Jiang Fenghua had attracted Xie Shang's attention?
What Su Tingwan didn't know was that Jiang Fenghua was using a honey trap, a tactic that will never go out of style, provided that she is a beauty.
Looking out through the carriage curtain, Jiang Fenghua felt that the palace was truly magnificent and imposing. No wonder everyone was willing to risk their lives to get inside.
She thought: Xie Shang must have felt protective of Su Tingwan again when he saw her so helpless and pitiful!
Men! They're so despicable!
She scoffed.
However, Su Tingwan will never have that chance in her life; she pulled a fatal blow to her.
Upon returning to the Prince Heng's residence, Xie Shang immediately summoned the steward and instructed him to hand over the management of the residence to Jiang Fenghua.
The steward then summoned all the stewards in charge of the Prince's residence.
This was the first time in their lives that the prince and princess had summoned them at the same time, so naturally, neither of them dared to be negligent.
Currently, the Heng Prince's Mansion only has two mistresses, the Princess and the Concubine. Everyone is playing favorites, and everyone says that the Concubine is favored by the Prince. However, today the Prince personally ordered the Concubine to be confined to the mansion for three months and not to leave, while the Princess has gained the power to manage the household. It is obvious which one the Prince favors.
After Xie Shang left, Jiang Fenghua checked the Prince Heng's mansion's account books. She spent an entire day reading them but still couldn't finish. She was astonished to learn how much private property the Prince Heng's mansion possessed. Even though she had planned for ten years and earned a considerable amount of wealth for the Jiang family, making them very rich, it was still less than one ten-thousandth of the Prince Heng's mansion's wealth.
The Jiang family's current assets are the result of their hard work and dedication, while Xie Shang's assets were easily obtained through royal allocation.
Some people are born with a silver spoon in their mouth, while she, even if she lived for decades longer, could only be described as wealthy.
So being born is very important.
She then looked through the old account books of the Prince's Mansion and found that Xie Shang had indeed spent a lot of money on Su Tingwan.
She murmured to herself, "Does Su Tingwan truly love Xie Shang? If he hadn't spent so much money on her, or if he were just a poor scholar, would Su Tingwan still love him? Would Consort Su still have schemed so meticulously for her? Isn't it Xie Shang's status and position that the Su family values?"
People are selfish. If Xie Shang doesn't become emperor in the future, she won't have any further involvement with him. It's all about self-interest.
She firmly believes: If a person doesn't look out for themselves, they'll be doomed.
With this in mind, Jiang Fenghua felt no guilt.
In her previous life, she was a layabout for thirty-five years. In this life, she lived a life of ease and comfort in the Jiang family for ten years. She had never learned how to manage a household, but it turned out to be quite difficult.
That evening, Xie Shang returned from the yamen and went straight to Lan Yue Pavilion.
Seeing Jiang Fenghua engrossed in her studies at her desk, he didn't disturb her and went straight to the side hall to change out of his travel-worn clothes.
Jiang Fenghua knew he had returned, so she put down her pen, instructed Hongxiu to prepare a meal, and then went to the wardrobe to find him a casual outfit before going to the side hall.
She lifted the curtain and saw Xie Shang with his upper body bare, revealing his muscular chest. The next second, she was so frightened that her pupils widened as she saw a blood-red knife wound on his back.
"Your Highness, carry me on your back..."
Xie Shang quickly gestured for her to be quiet, and whispered, "Don't make a sound."
Jiang Fenghua lowered the curtain, placed the clothes in her hands on the clothes rack, and turned to leave the side hall.
There was no medicine to treat knife wounds at Lan Yue Pavilion, so she secretly asked Lian Ye to find some, and then had Hong Xiu set out dinner in the bedroom before leaving.
She closed the door and heard the sound of water coming from the side hall. Jiang Fenghua quickly went in, saying, "The wound must not get wet."
Xie Shang didn't care at all, "I know what I'm doing."
Jiang Fenghua took the handkerchief from her hand and saw that half of his body was in the water, and his private parts were exposed underwater. She quickly looked away and stared at the wound on his back. The cut had stopped bleeding, but there were bloodstains on his back. She took a clean handkerchief and gently wiped away the bloodstains around him.
"How did Your Highness get like this? He was perfectly fine when he left at noon." Her voice choked with emotion, as if she were heartbroken.
"I was ambushed by a criminal while I was arresting him." Xie Shang sensed her concern and didn't hide it, explaining, "This must not reach Mother's ears, otherwise she will overreact."
"The entire household is filled with the Empress Dowager's eyes and ears. The Empress Dowager truly loves the Prince, which is why she cares about everything." In fact, Empress Cheng was also overly concerned, but she knew that this was the heart of every mother, and she could understand.
"Ruan Ruan, thanks to you." Xie Shang suddenly blurted out something nonsensical.
"Ah!" Jiang Fenghua was confused.
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