Chapter 208 Allowing Serious Criminals to Live in the Prince's Mansion
Xiao Qingxi turned her face away: "Anyway, I just can't stand those women who become concubines, and I especially can't stand the children born to concubines. Shen Wantang must be just like her concubine, eloquent, persuasive, and hypocritical, which is why she managed to win you over."
"Do you think I've wasted all these years? Do you think I can't even tell whether she's truly filial or not?"
Princess Ning earnestly advised her, "Don't worry, Shen Wantang is a very good person. You should know that there aren't many people who can tolerate your brother, but she can manage him and run the entire palace in an orderly manner. That's enough."
“I don’t care. With her background, she’s not good enough for my brother. I will never acknowledge her as my sister-in-law.”
Princess Ning had no choice but to put the matter aside for the time being, because she had more important things to ask her daughter: "You don't need to worry about your brother and sister-in-law's affairs for now. What exactly is going on between you and Yunzhou? You were the one who cried and begged to marry him back then, so why do you want a divorce now?"
When the topic came up, Xiao Qingxi was filled with grievances: "When we got married, Yunzhou swore that he would only have me in his life and would not take concubines or maids. But it's only been two years and he's already taking concubines. He's a treacherous and wicked man. I'm not going to live with him anymore."
“Isn’t it normal for men to take concubines? Your father had several concubines, and I didn’t leave him.”
“That’s different. Father’s concubines were all chosen by you, and Father doesn’t care about them. It makes no difference whether they are there or not. But Huo Yunzhou insisted on taking one himself, and he even knelt down to me to take a concubine.”
As Xiao Qingxi spoke, she couldn't help but burst into tears: "He knelt down before me for another woman. Isn't this like stabbing a knife into my heart?"
He said that the woman was pitiful and that I should be kind and generous. He wanted to give her a home and protect and take care of her in the future.
"Mother, does it mean I'm unkind for not allowing him to take a concubine? I just don't want to share my husband with other women, what's wrong with that?"
Princess Ning hugged her daughter tightly, heartbroken: "My Xi'er is not wrong, it's Huo Yunzhou who is wrong! You've only been married for two years, and you went with him to the northwest to guard the frontier. Instead of treating you well, he even wants to take a concubine. You wait, when he comes back, I'll call him here and give him a good scolding to vent your anger!"
Xiao Qingxi cried so hard she could barely breathe: "Mother, scolding him probably won't do any good. He's determined to take a concubine, and my heart is broken."
"I've been away from home for the past two years, and I miss you all the time. If you were here with me, I would have someone to cry to when I'm wronged."
"I'm all alone in the Northwest. Huo Yunzhou is away with his troops for a month or two at a time. I only have my maid to talk to on weekdays."
“The sandstorms there are terrible, and the food, drink, clothing and other necessities are not as good as in the capital. I was able to survive there for two years entirely because of Huo Yunzhou.”
"But after the last campaign, he brought back some friend's sister and knelt down to beg me to allow him to take her as a concubine."
“Mother, I felt like the sky had fallen. I fell ill immediately and didn’t even want to take medicine. I just wanted to die.”
Princess Ning felt increasingly heartbroken as she listened, and she burst into tears: "My poor daughter, how much suffering have you endured! You must not take your own life. If you do, how can I live? You and your brother are my two most precious children, and I cannot bear to lose either of them!"
When Xiao Qingyuan came in, he saw his mother and sister hugging each other and crying.
A wave of sorrow washed over him. He remembered the dream he had had yesterday, in which he jumped into the river and committed suicide for Chu Yanluo.
In his dream, his mother learned that his body had been destroyed and vomited blood profusely. She cried until she fainted and aged ten years in an instant.
At that moment, listening to his mother's plaintive sobs, he felt that if he really died, his mother would probably be just like the one in his dreams.
Fortunately, it was just a dream, and he wouldn't commit suicide.
He stepped forward and whispered, "Mother, Qingxi, please don't cry."
Xiao Qingxi turned her head and looked at her tall, handsome brother, and cried even harder: "Brother, I want a divorce from Huo Yunzhou! He doesn't love me anymore, he loves another woman now!"
Xiao Qingyuan clenched his fists: "I heard it outside just now. Huo Yunzhou is going to take a concubine, right? When he married you, he promised me that he would protect you for the rest of his life and that he would never have another woman! He broke his promise, so you should definitely get a divorce!"
"Brother, do you approve of me divorcing him?"
"I agree, why wouldn't I agree? I not only agree with your divorce, I'm also going to go and beat him up!"
Xiao Qingxi was deeply moved: "Brother, you're the best to me!"
Princess Ning felt very gratified to see that although she hadn't seen her son and daughter for a long time, they were still as close as before, and her son was still protecting his younger sister just like when he was a child.
Aside from his poor taste in women, my son is excellent in every other way.
As she was thinking, she suddenly heard her son speak up: "Mother, today I took Ye Lingyun to the prison to see Magistrate Ye. I gave Zhuo Shixin eight hundred taels of silver, and he has helped me get Magistrate Ye released. I want Magistrate Ye to stay in our Prince's Mansion temporarily. What do you think, where should he stay? Or should I go to Shen Wantang to arrange these things?"
Princess Ning felt as if she had been doused with a bucket of cold water in the dead of winter; her vision went black and she almost collapsed.
Zhuo Shixin was the illegitimate son of Zhuo Mingbai, the Minister of Justice. He had always been somewhat idle, but even if he was a scoundrel, he wouldn't be stupid enough to take a bribe of eight hundred taels of silver and dare to release the serious criminal Ye Zhongli on his own!
Moreover, Prince Ning had already told her that Ye Zhongli's case was being watched not only by the Ministry of Justice, but also by the Court of Judicial Review and the Embroidered Uniform Guard, because the Emperor had ordered that the one million taels of silver he had embezzled must be recovered.
With so many people watching, even if Zhuo Mingbo himself took action, let alone Zhuo Shixin, it would be impossible to bring the person out so easily!
It's obvious that Ye Zhongli was released on purpose, and Xiao Qingyuan was just a pawn!
Now Princess Ning couldn't care less about her daughter's divorce. Divorce was just a family matter, but releasing the heavily convicted corrupt official and bringing him home was a matter of state!
Her voice even changed tone: "You, you, you, are you crazy? How dare you bring someone back to the palace?! Go find your father and hand Ye Chongli over to him!"
Xiao Qingyuan himself felt it was inappropriate. Taking in Ye Lingyun was one thing, but taking in Ye Zhongli as well was really a bit unreasonable. The Ning Prince's Mansion was not some kind of restaurant or inn.
But Ye Lingyun kept kneeling and begging him, and his heart softened, and he somehow agreed.
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