Chapter 198 Completely Unconcerned
"I allow you to break the rules, but I did not allow you to break them."
"For so many years, I have always cherished you, but I never imagined that you would become more and more confused."
The emperor felt it was necessary to have a proper talk with her about the rules of the palace.
Over the years, they have been spoiled rotten.
Seeing this, the Imperial Concubine felt even more desperate: "Your Majesty, it's fine if you don't give it to the Sixth Prince, but could you please not give it to the Fifth Prince either? The Fifth Prince is only trying to oppose me; how could he possibly really like Xie Hanyue? Wouldn't this be harming Xie Hanyue?"
The emperor thought he had made himself clear enough, but he never expected that the imperial concubine would be so ill-mannered and keep crying.
"Get down!"
"Abao, drag him away!"
The emperor finally turned cold, reverting to his imperial dignity, his eyebrows furrowed tightly, and he roared angrily.
Since entering the palace, the imperial concubine had always been pampered by the emperor and had never suffered such humiliation. She was forcibly dragged out, looking utterly disheveled.
The news quickly reached the Queen's palace, and she knew the time had come.
"Prepare the banquet immediately. I need to finalize this marriage as soon as possible."
"yes!"
The Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion.
Xie Qingran looked at the account book and smiled slightly after receiving the engagement news.
Things have developed to this point, she doesn't need to do anything, she just needs to wait quietly to see Xie Hanyue fall from heaven to hell.
"Princess Consort, our mistress has arrived and says she wants to see you."
Baozhu walked over and looked at Xie Qingran with some concern.
The main reason is that in the past, every time Wang took the initiative to come to Xie Qingran, she was basically looking for trouble, so Baozhu was really worried that Xie Qingran would be bullied.
Upon hearing this, Xie Qingran glanced at Baozhu and said calmly, "Let Mother come to my room."
"Yes." Baozhu was still a little confused, but she nodded and hurriedly led Wang Shi into the door.
When Wang saw Xie Qingran sitting at the table doing accounts, she felt a pang of heartache: "Why do you have to come and look at the accounts yourself?"
"Yes, it's an old notebook from the manor. I was just looking at it for fun."
"My mother came to see me, is there something you need?"
Xie Qingran stood up and bowed to Madam Wang, her expression and movements both distant and indifferent.
Seeing Xie Qingran like this, Madam Wang felt a little disappointed, but she still sat to the side and said, "His Majesty has already bestowed marriage upon Xie Hanyue and the Fifth Prince, and also upon the Sixth Prince."
Xie Qingran already knew about this news, but she didn't understand why Wang Shi had come to talk to her about it. She didn't say anything, just sat in her chair and quietly looked at Wang Shi.
When Wang didn't receive a response from Xie Qingran, she glanced at her subconsciously, then blushed slightly and whispered, "They are siblings, so they can't get married. I wanted to ask you about this. What do you think we should do?"
"Xie Hanyue is not your daughter. Whether she can marry the Fifth Prince is none of your concern. You just need to take care of it."
"The Xie family is merely a lowly subject; they cannot possibly disobey an imperial decree, can they?"
Xie Qingran then realized that Madam Wang had come to test her attitude.
Her attitude was definitely to make Consort Xie Hanyue and the Sixth Prince wish they were dead!
Upon hearing this, Madam Wang understood Xie Qingran's meaning. Looking at Xie Qingran's cold and stubborn appearance, she suddenly smiled and said, "I always thought you were aloof before, but now it seems that you are exactly the same as I was when I was young."
Xie Qingran didn't want to hear any of this, and simply said, "Mother, have you considered whether Father knows about this? If he does, it's a crime of deceiving the emperor. So, Mother, have you thought about how to extricate yourself from this?"
The key issue now is not what's happening with the Imperial Concubine; the Xie family itself is in dire straits!
After hearing this, Madam Wang belatedly realized what was going on, but she quickly recovered and sneered disdainfully: "You should know what kind of person your father is. Although he has always been obsessed with the Consort, he is selfish and self-serving at heart. I suppose he had already planned his escape route when he brought the child back, right?"
In the past, when Wang mentioned Xie Yankang, her tone was always gentle, but now it was only cold and disgusted.
"Mother should understand that even if he can protect himself, he may not be able to protect the entire Xie family."
"A mother should also think about herself."
Xie Qingran said all she had to say. As for what Wang would choose to do in the future, that was her own business.
Seeing Xie Qingran like this, Madam Wang was not as angry as before. Instead, she felt that Xie Qingran still cared about her as her mother. She smiled slightly and said softly, "Don't worry, I will naturally protect myself. Protecting myself is also protecting you and your brother."
Xie Qingran didn't care about any of this. Anyway, she was already a married woman, so even if something happened to her family, it wouldn't really affect her. Besides, she was married into the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, so even if His Majesty did it for Xiao Jue's sake, he wouldn't really do anything to her.
"Qingran, these are clothes and jewelry that your mother picked out for you when she went shopping. Take a look, do you like them?" Madam Wang took out a box and placed it on the table like a treasure, staring at Xie Qingran with a smile.
Xie Qingran could tell that these items were quite valuable, and must have been made with care. She smiled and said softly, "Thank you, Mother. I like them very much."
Even though she said she liked it, Wang could still tell that she didn't really like it that much.
She suddenly felt a pang of guilt, sighed, and felt extremely bitter. If it weren't for her, her precious daughter wouldn't have suffered so much. In the end, it was all because she had been too foolish. Now, it was probably too late to make amends.
Thinking of this, Madam Wang stood up, walked to Xie Qingran's side, reached out and gently touched her cheek: "Qingran, you hate me, don't you?"
"No." Xie Qingran raised her eyes, looked at Wang Shi in front of her quietly, and said coldly, "I stopped caring a long time ago."
In the past, Xie Qingran would harbor resentment because she had placed her hopes on them, but now she doesn't care at all, because she doesn't care about them at all!
Seeing her like this, Wang felt even more distressed and tentatively reached out to hug her daughter.
But after Xie Qingran sensed her movement, she instinctively dodged away, as if afraid of being touched.
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