Chapter 99 The Cautious Concubine Su
Su Tingwan did not leave with Old Madam Su, but instead followed Jiang Fenghua back to Lanyue Pavilion, ostensibly to learn etiquette from the young master's daughter.
In front of Xie Shang, Old Madam Su praised Jiang Fenghua highly, as if the concubine's lack of manners was entirely due to the Su family's poor upbringing, and she entrusted Su Tingwan to the well-mannered Jiang Fenghua.
Upon hearing this, the two maids stomped their feet in anger, but Jiang Fenghua remained calm and composed. The Su family really had a big face. Did Su Tingwan think that by running to Lanyue Pavilion and staying there, she could find an opportunity to get close to Xie Shang?
She sneered, "Then we'll see!"
Looking at the lush and magnificent Lanyue Pavilion, and then thinking of her own desolate and lonely Tanxiang Courtyard, Su Tingwan felt extremely bitter. This place originally belonged to her.
She followed cautiously, taking small, delicate steps.
Jiang Fenghua had someone bring her a stack of books and said gently, "Consort, study hard! These are the basic etiquette rules you need to learn."
Su Tingwan looked at the book in front of her and felt a headache coming on. She knew Jiang Fenghua was doing it on purpose. She finally couldn't hold back and said sternly, "Jiang Fenghua, stop pretending in front of me. Let's be frank. Before you even married the prince, you already planned to seduce him and take my place in his heart."
"Isn't it tiring for the concubine to pretend for so long? Isn't that wonderful?" she said calmly.
"So you're using these rules to punish me?" Su Tingwan said sharply.
"I, the Princess Consort, simply wanted the Consort to study more and correct her uncouth habits, but she can't stand it." Jiang Fenghua's voice was calm and unhurried. "The Prince and I were betrothed by the Emperor. We are husband and wife who have already gone through the wedding ceremony. We are a loving couple. Isn't it only natural for us to do some intimate things in our private quarters? If the Prince hears the Consort say that she is seducing him, he will probably say that she is ignorant of manners."
Su Tingwan was so angry she felt like vomiting blood. She bit her lip and swallowed her bitterness. She wanted to step forward and beat Jiang Fenghua, but the next second, she knelt down in front of Jiang Fenghua and said timidly, "That's not what I meant. I will definitely listen to Your Highness's careful teachings."
When Jiang Fenghua saw her kneel down, and then glanced at the figure in the distance, she thought, "She knelt down so quickly, does she want Xie Shang to think that I, the princess, am bullying her?"
She quickly bent down and helped Su Tingwan up, saying, "No need for thanks, Consort Su. This is what I, the Princess Consort, should do. I suppose Old Madam Su sent you to learn etiquette from me because she was thinking of you."
Just then, Xie Shang returned. Seeing Su Tingwan kneeling on the ground, a cold glint flashed in his eyes. "Why are you kneeling again?"
Su Tingwan was unwilling to get up now and spoke first, "The Princess Consort wants to set rules for me and has given me some books to study. I will definitely study them well."
Jiang Fenghua stared at Xie Shang with brimming eyes, her expression one of impending tears, her eyes filled with grievance. She said softly, "Granny Wang and Aunt Yunfang have been teaching Consort Xie manners for half a year, so she must have learned the basic etiquette. Old Madam Su said that Consort Xie had no opportunity to study while on the frontier, so I found some books for her to read. Consort Xie insisted on kowtowing to express her gratitude. I tried to help her up, but Consort Xie…"
After hearing this, Xie Shang went to look through the books. There were poems, songs, and classic works such as "The Analects," "The Doctrine of the Mean," and "Records of the Grand Historian." Jiang Fenghua had read all of these books and could even recite them from memory, but Wanwan had never been exposed to them. She should read more books and learn more about how to be a person.
He said in a deep voice, "You don't have much to do in the manor, so reading more books will do you good. The princess is doing this for your own good."
"Yes," Su Tingwan said softly.
"Get up, stop kneeling," Xie Shang said in a deep voice.
"Yes," she said gently.
After saying that, he went into Jiang Fenghua's master bedroom. Jiang Fenghua glanced at her and their eyes met, as if in a provocation, which made Su Tingwan so angry that she pinched her thigh hard.
Jiang Fenghua didn't say much, and walked straight back to the main house.
Lianye and Hongxiu stood guard at the door, clutching their stomachs and trying not to laugh. They were both thrilled by the expression on Consort Su's face when she saw the stack of books.
The Princess Consort is truly remarkable. Old Madam Su allowed her to stay by the Princess Consort's side. If she knew that the Princess Consort was going to teach Consort Su to read, she would probably regret it to the core.
From now on, Consort Su will focus on her studies. What chance does she have of seducing the prince?
All that classical Chinese is giving me a headache just thinking about it. I really don't know how the princess learned it.
Jiang Fenghua had just returned to the inner room when she saw Xie Shang changing out of his official robes and preparing to find other clothes to change into. She quickly went up to help him, "Is Your Highness going out today?"
"Um."
"Are you coming back tonight?" Jiang Fenghua asked.
"I'm just going to see a friend, I'll be back later," Xie Shang said.
Jiang Fenghua said calmly, "Then Your Highness will not be having dinner at the manor tonight."
Xie Shang glanced at her and said, "I also invited your elder brother along; we have some official business to discuss."
“Princess Pianpian will surely go too!” she said. “How are she and my elder brother doing?”
"If you don't know, how would I know?" He playfully pinched her nose. "Don't worry about their business. I heard the Zhang family has arranged another marriage for Zhang Yumo, with the eldest son of the Minister of War."
Jiang Fenghua was stunned. The Zhang family must have heard about Yu Pianpian living in the Jiang residence.
If her older brother really didn't like Zhang Yumo, and Zhang Yumo could have married a suitable husband, wouldn't her tragedy have been avoided?
But the way she looked at Zhang Yumo that day made it seem like she wouldn't marry anyone but her older brother. Would she willingly marry someone else?
"Your Majesty, I wish to return to the Jiang family," Jiang Fenghua said. She wanted to ask her mother about the Zhang family's marriage proposal and her elder brother's opinion.
She was afraid that something would happen to Zhang Yumo, and then the Zhang family would blame it on her eldest brother. Although her eldest brother was not the murderer, he would still be affected by this incident.
In this life, she doesn't want the Jiang family to suffer any harm.
Xie Shang asked her, "Since the Zhang family has already arranged a marriage for Zhang Yumo again, and your elder brother has no interest in this matter, why do you need to interfere? Perhaps the person he likes is Sang Yupianpian."
"It's not because of my elder brother, it's because of Zhang Yumo." Jiang Fenghua hesitated, unable to speak of her past life or the possibility that the Zhang family's re-arranging a marriage for Zhang Yumo would change the outcome.
"You still want her to marry your elder brother," Xie Shang said directly. Was it because she wanted to win over the Duke of Zhang's family?
“No, I don’t want her to marry my elder brother. No matter who she marries, I want her to be happy and safe.” Jiang Fenghua’s eyes were clear and sincere, and she seemed to have no guile. She then said, “Your Highness, there is something I want to tell you.”
She said, "Miss Zhang is a good person. She helped me, and I am very grateful to her, so I hope she is doing well."
Xie Shang waited for her to continue.
“Zhang Yumo told me about what happened in the palace last time. She said that my elder brother told her to come with me and that I shouldn’t go with Consort Su alone. Then the incident in Consort Su’s palace happened. I can’t believe it… Do they really want to harm me?”
Jiang Fenghua knew that Xie Shang had known the truth for a long time. Even though he knew that Su Tingwan wanted to harm her, Xie Shang only confined her for three months and did not impose any real punishment.
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