Chapter 123 Wei Ningyan's Countermeasures
But she still voiced her doubts:
"Father, the eldest prince has only been married for a short time, why are you arranging for me to enter the manor?"
Wouldn't this directly offend the Crown Prince's wife?
At this point, Madam Shen spoke kindly:
“Pingting, I originally agreed to let you marry an outsider and become his legal wife.”
Your father knew about this before.
"But this wasn't Consort Shu who specifically requested you, so please don't blame your father and me; we were caught off guard too."
He glanced at Shen Pingting ingratiatingly, as if afraid she would disagree.
Then she continued, "As for the question you asked, you know that the Crown Princess liked the Prince of Shou'an before she got married, right?"
Upon hearing this, Shen Pingting frowned deeply.
Could it be that Wei Ningyan and the Prince of Shou'an are having an affair?
Then Madam Shen continued, "As for the eldest prince, he was also sent to his fiefdom by His Majesty because of the ninth daughter of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion."
So although the couple was married, they were not truly together.
"Consort Shu wants you to go and take care of the First Prince. After all, you're from the Shen family, and the First Prince needs someone he can talk to."
Shen Pingting immediately understood what was going on.
It turns out that Wei Ningyan's mind was not on the First Prince's residence, and Consort Shu wanted to put her in charge of the backyard of the First Prince's residence in order to guard against her.
That's a pretty good job.
Even after marriage, one still has to contend with concubines, just like in the Shen family mansion.
Going to the First Prince's residence is just another way to have a fight with Wei Ningyan.
It's all about fighting; where she fights and who she fights with makes no difference to her.
Moreover, given Consort Shu's status in the family, her word sometimes carried more weight than an imperial edict.
Fate is always like this, unpredictable and beyond our control.
Going to the First Prince's side wouldn't be a bad idea either; at least her aunt would receive better care and have access to better doctors.
She resembled Consort Shu in appearance, so even if she didn't win the Crown Prince's favor, he would be more forgiving of her because of her face.
After thinking for a long time, Shen Pingting agreed.
The next morning, he entered the palace as arranged by the Shen family to pay his respects to Consort Shu.
When Consort Shu last saw Shen Pingting, she was only ten years old.
Now, at fifteen or sixteen years old, he really does look somewhat like me.
So he said a few words to her and asked if she would be willing to serve the Crown Prince.
Seeing that Shen Pingting agreed, she said, "You should serve the Crown Prince well, and I will not mistreat you and your mother."
Shen Pingting thanked her.
She was pulled away by the nanny next to her and carefully explained the rules and preferences of the First Prince's residence.
When leaving the palace, in order to appease Shen Pinting, Consort Shu sent an imperial physician to accompany her to Shen's residence to treat Aunt Qiu.
Another nanny came to the mansion to train Shen Pingting in palace etiquette and explain various matters concerning the Crown Prince's residence.
Shen Pingting studied very hard and very seriously.
Soon, Wei Ningyan also received the message.
She felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from her heart; she was overjoyed that someone was taking care of the Crown Prince in her place.
However, her joy was short-lived, as Consort Shu summoned her to the palace.
For the next ten days, he summoned her to the palace every day.
Reason: My son is not around, and I feel lonely. I want to talk to my daughter-in-law.
Consort Shu did not continue to make things difficult for her, and allowed her to play chess, arrange flowers, take walks, and pass the time every day.
On the eleventh day, Consort Shu, having calculated that Shen Pinting had already arrived at the Crown Prince's fiefdom, finally revealed her intentions.
Upon hearing this, Wei Ningyan was filled with shock and disbelief.
She didn't want to see the eldest prince at all; she didn't want to see his face at all.
She feared that if they met again, she wouldn't be able to control herself and would kill him.
However, he did not show it on his face, and instead bowed his head respectfully in response.
As Wei Ningyan left Shou'an Palace, the smile on her face gradually disappeared. After leaving the palace, she got into the carriage.
Wei Ningyan then instructed Chunqing, "Go back to the manor and call Granny Chen here."
Granny Chen was from the Wei family; she was an old woman responsible for training the maids in the household in proper etiquette and manners.
After Granny Chen arrived, Wei Ningyan instructed Granny Chen:
"Go find a few beautiful women who are of good character and preferably well-versed in poetry, literature, and etiquette."
Soon, Granny Chen arrived with seven or eight beautiful and talented courtesans.
Wei Ningyan looked around and kept two, then said to Granny Chen:
"Based on this height and body type, find a few more, regardless of their plumpness or slenderness, their reserved charm or their alluring beauty, find two of each type."
After Granny Chen left, Chunqing asked, "Miss, is this prepared for the First Prince?"
Wei Ningyan nodded.
"But...but...but the eldest prince prefers someone as valiant as Lady Xue Jiu..."
Wei Ningyan sneered: "That's easy, just find a few more valiant men, or just find a few men altogether."
"A man?" Chunqing exclaimed in surprise, "I've never heard that the Crown Prince likes men..."
“Hobbies can be cultivated,” Wei Ningyan said calmly.
"What would happen if Consort Shu found out about this?"
Wei Ningyan sneered: "The Consort Shu wouldn't know. Because a good hunter often appears as the prey."
I need to come up with a foolproof plan and set up a perfect scheme.
In the end, we'll make sure no one can trace it back to us.
After saying that, he waved his hand at Chunqing and said, "You can go out first. Let me think about it myself."
Chunqing glanced at her worriedly, then turned and walked outside.
Wei Ningyan sat there all night, and went out at dawn with a normal expression.
He instructed his men to begin packing, preparing to travel to their fiefdom to reunite with the eldest prince.
With the examples in hand, Granny Chen quickly found five or six more, including shy and timid ones, bold and straightforward ones, charming ones, and those naturally alluring ones.
Chunqing watched from the side, clicking her tongue in amazement. Let alone men, even she, a woman, was tempted.
As expected, Wei Ningyan was very satisfied.
She sent Granny Chen to take him away and discipline him.
After receiving the news, Consort Shu smiled:
"My conscience kicked in, and I did something worthwhile."
Half a month later, Wei Ningyan set off with everyone in her household.
Meanwhile, at the Crown Prince's residence, Shen Pingting had already arrived.
Since being demoted to his fiefdom, the eldest prince has not become despondent; on the contrary, he has become even busier.
Every day they would say they were going out hunting, always heading to deep mountains and forests, and when they returned home they would complain of being tired and fall asleep immediately.
The eldest prince had already received Consort Shu's letter and knew the purpose of her sending Shen Pingting, but he said nothing.
A place was arranged for her to stay.
Four or five days after entering the manor, Shen Pingting had not seen the eldest prince, but she was not in a hurry and lived her life peacefully.
On this day, the eldest prince received news that Wei Ningyan had led her people from the capital to her fiefdom.
He had just made an unprecedented visit to see Shen Pingting.
After meeting, the eldest prince looked him up and down with a wicked grin and then asked:
Do you know why my mother sent you here?
"I am here to serve the Crown Prince, and I know that."
The eldest prince looked at the meek woman before him and stepped forward to lift her face.
His hand gripped Shen Pingting's chin tightly, as if he wanted to crush her bones.
But when Shen Pingting looked up at him, there was no fear or timidity in her eyes; her gaze remained calm.
The eldest prince looked down at her for a long time.
Finally, she let go and said, "That's interesting. It seems my mother has chosen a good person."
"Please sit down," the eldest prince said.
"Thank you, Your Highness."
Shen Pingting answered respectfully, then sat properly to the left of the eldest prince.
"I already know that Wei Ningyan took action against the third daughter of the Xie family."
When we got married, we agreed beforehand that we would only be husband and wife in name, but not in reality.
But I forced myself on her after I got drunk.
Given her personality, it was inevitable that she would hold a grudge against me; I had expected that.
I just didn't expect that even after all this, she would still be eyeing my cousin...
The eldest prince then let out a cold laugh.
"My mother is afraid that she will harm me, so she sent you to help me..."
"Yes, Your Highness."
"No need. I wanted to kill her from the beginning, but I just couldn't find an opportunity. If she dares to lay a hand on me, I'll just find an excuse to kill her."
The eldest prince said nonchalantly.
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