The investiture ceremony for Consort Wan proceeded smoothly. The Crown Prince did not come to the palace to offer his congratulations.
As the crown prince, he didn't need to go; the crown princess simply sent a congratulatory gift as a courtesy.
Even so, Consort Wan was flattered and overwhelmed. At least, that's how she appeared to be.
The next day, they sent someone to express their gratitude.
The Crown Princess smiled as she saw the visitor off, saying, "This Consort Wan is quite different from the other consorts in the palace."
At least, Fang Wanyi wasn't this sensible before.
“Those who are sensible will go far. Although this one is a princess, how much can the small kingdom of Baiye protect her? Besides, you are the next empress, so everyone should be sensible,” Su Jin said with a smile.
The Crown Princess naturally enjoyed hearing this, so she smiled.
"How's it going over there?"
"Your Majesty, please rest assured, Lady Liu is much better." Su Jin understood.
It's definitely much better now.
Although she couldn't see the family doctor, she did receive some medicine pills.
After eating it, I felt much better.
The Crown Princess smiled and asked, "Where is Wenyue Pavilion?"
"Ye Liangdi is fine, just anxious. But she has suffered quite a bit. She won't recover so easily."
"Hmm. Now there's still one county princess to be chosen, but I wonder who will win her heart." The Crown Princess smiled.
"Does Your Highness mean that it's possible for her to come to our residence?" Su Jin hesitated.
"It's hard to say. But maybe."
As it turns out, it was impossible.
On the morning of the fourth day of the ninth month, when everyone was paying their respects in the front courtyard, a maid came in and said, "Your Highness, the Crown Princess, the Third Prince's wife has suddenly passed away."
"What?!" The Crown Princess suddenly stood up. "Li Shi is dead?"
"Yes, they said it was a sudden illness, and by the time the imperial physician arrived, it was already too late. They said it was something like angina," Fei Yue said.
The crowd looked at each other, some not understanding, but those who did understand felt a chill run down their spines.
"Understood, follow the rules." Although she was a sister-in-law, she was only a prince's wife, and the crown princess did not need to do anything for her.
Just send people to offer condolences and help out.
"My sisters, you should go back first," the Crown Princess waved her hand.
Everyone took their leave and went out.
Back at Jiyue Pavilion, Yan Nangui suddenly laughed: "The Shu family is even more ruthless than I thought."
Ruthless to the core, even vicious.
"Your Highness, you...you mean the Third Prince's Consort..." Jiangxiang's hands began to tremble.
“I’m not sure, we’ll see. If the Third Prince’s new consort is this Princess Yunhua, then my guess will be correct,” Yan Nangui said.
Jiang Xiang nodded: "If that's true, then the Third Prince isn't as humble as he seems."
"Humility? A prince with such a quality would die." Those who are truly humble are all dead.
“It’s not like there’s no higher ground. In the past, the Second Prince openly sought to compete with His Highness the Crown Prince. As for the Third Prince, it wasn’t so obvious yet. If it becomes completely obvious now, it would be a good thing,” Yan Nangui said.
Jiangxiang nodded, thinking to herself that her master was even more hard-hearted than she had imagined.
That's good, though. Being a royal wife is tough; those with soft hearts are easily hurt.
White has already begun to be hung at the Third Prince's residence.
In the backyard, Madam Wen was trembling and crying in Madam Qu's room.
"Stop crying, what's the use of crying?" Madam Qu said irritably.
“Sister, sister, but the Empress… she…” Lady Wen couldn’t finish her sentence.
"Stop talking! Don't I know her death was suspicious? You're just a concubine, do you have a death wish? If you weren't my cousin, why would I care about you? Shut your mouth! Know what you should know, and forget what you shouldn't!"
"But... I delivered the snacks yesterday, sister... what... what am I going to do?" Madam Wen completely broke down.
Madam Qu's heart was also clenched with worry: "It's alright, nothing will happen. I'll help you. You just need to pretend you don't know anything."
After a long pause, Madam Wen nodded: "Sister, if I... can't escape, my daughter begs you... sob sob sob, please beg you, sister..."
"Alright! Stop crying! If people find out now, you're dead. Don't worry, don't worry. You were the first to give birth to a daughter for the Third Prince; he's just using you. Nothing will happen. Look at me." Madam Qu gripped her shoulders tightly. "Remember, you must not know anything. You absolutely must not know, or you're dead. Do you understand?"
Wen then slowly composed herself and nodded: "Yes."
"Don't worry, don't be afraid," Madam Qu said, hugging her.
The cousins had played together since childhood. They both ended up marrying the same person. Their affection was genuine. Even though Mrs. Qu hadn't had any children all these years, she still treated this cousin very well.
She was terrified when the principal wife suddenly died, but what could she do?
Maybe it will just pass like this, but if it causes a scene... that would be a disaster.
The imperial physicians couldn't diagnose anything; the Third Prince's wife had died of a heart ailment.
The Third Prince was in immense pain. Lady Li had given birth to the eldest son of the legitimate wife. With her passing, the children were the most pitiful.
In the inner palace, Consort Xu was also crying uncontrollably. The Fifth Princess also went to the palace to comfort her.
However, since the Empress Dowager's birthday is next month, it's not appropriate to make a big fuss about it, so we can only send it out in a simple manner.
It is unfilial for someone to die young from illness, and it is even more inappropriate to hold a grand funeral for them.
Therefore, the funeral arrangements for the Third Prince's wife are unlikely to be pleasant.
The Li family were only fourth-rank officials, nothing more to say about them.
While the Third Prince was heartbroken, he said that Li's half-sister should come into the manor to take care of the children in the future.
That one sentence left the Li family speechless.
A woman born out of wedlock can only become a concubine if she enters the household, but as long as her marriage to the Third Prince is still possible, that's fine.
It's just a pity for Lady Li, who lost her life innocently because of men's ambition.
At the Crown Prince's residence, the Crown Princess instructed, "Have someone take good care of Lady Liu. The New Year is approaching."
Su Jin understood.
That means she was allowed to get through the New Year.
Indeed, too many things have happened this year, and who knows what else might happen? It's really not good for anything else to go wrong. Even if a concubine dies of illness, it wouldn't look good.
Luo Liangyuan has completed her postpartum confinement period of one month and has already appeared.
The eldest daughter has not yet been granted the title of princess, mainly because she is not born of the principal wife.
But it was only a matter of time.
Nowadays, the princess is also referred to as the eldest princess in the mansion.
After all, she is the Crown Prince's daughter.
The crown prince also visited once after the full moon.
Luo Liangyuan has gained some weight, but she was in a good mood when she paid her respects this morning.
Although she wasn't the one who served the emperor yesterday, she received quite a few things from the harem when the crown prince bestowed gifts upon them.
“Sister Luo looks quite well these days. I haven’t seen the Grand Princess yet, it’s a pity it’s getting cold. When will I be able to meet her?” Consort Su asked with a smile.
“If you want to see her, I’ll take her to you. She’s just sleeping all the time now, but she’ll be fine when she’s a little older,” Luo Liangyuan said with a smile.
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