Because Lady Handan regained her freedom, the palace maids of Rongguo Mansion began to resign in groups of three or two in various ways.
In the past, only the old Duke of Rongguo Mansion and his wife, Madam He, knew the truth. Although Rongguo Mansion had a housekeeper named Jiang He, in addition to the monthly wages of the masters of each room, the monthly wages of all servants were paid by the palace. In order to keep it secret, Madam He always told her daughter-in-law that the old Duke and she would bear the cost.
Every day that Lady Handan stayed in the Rongguo Mansion, all the servants and maids received money from the palace.
Once these servants left Rongguo Mansion like the ebbing tide, no one took care of the flowers and plants in the courtyard, the boats in the waterways, and the lotus flowers in the corridors. The entire Rongguo Mansion quickly showed signs of decline and decay in less than a month.
Just as Duke Rong had originally thought, if the Duke's Mansion ever showed such an attitude, each family would find a way out on their own.
The former Duke Rong would probably be happy with such a situation, as he thought that there is no construction without destruction, and he could throw all the scum from each family out of the Rongguo Mansion. But now the Duke Rong, who has no money and no one, feels sad when he sees each family fleeing the Rongguo Mansion.
My younger brother and Jiang He also planned to leave Rongguo Mansion. Jiang He still had some dowry and private property. Even if my younger brother was incompetent, the old Duke and his wife would have to give them some of their belongings when they saw that they were leaving.
Although Duke Rong wanted to say that his younger brother and his wife might be the richest people in the Rongguo Mansion, he couldn't say it and let his father and mother take some more things out of the empty Rongguo Mansion.
The Rongguo Mansion is now destitute, with only a few servants, the old Duke and his wife, and Duke Rong with his young son left.
Not long after, the old Duke and Madam He both passed away. It was not until he took care of his own parents' funeral that Duke Rong was surprised to learn that his mother had been the legitimate wife of Duke Rong since the first day she entered the mansion.
He also learned the truth that Madam Handan had lived in the Duke's Mansion all her life, and he sat there in a daze.
He thought that he and Dong Rouer were truly in love, and that they were following in the footsteps of his parents, disregarding worldly matters. However, he was surprised that what he thought was exactly the same was far from the truth. His parents were a legitimate couple, and he had truly divorced his wife and taken in a concubine.
His younger brother and Jiang He also returned to help with the funeral arrangements for their parents. After this, he was left alone in the Rongguo Mansion with a small child. He used to be so proud to send his child to Qingyin Academy, but now it has become a hardship, because he can always see Shen Yu happily sending his grandson to school.
Duke Rong thought about it over and over again and couldn't sleep at night. Finally, he ran to the courtyard where Chen Yu lived, hoping to bring his wife, son, daughter-in-law, and grandson back to Rongguo Mansion so that the family could live happily together again.
Lihua became very nervous when she saw the Duke tearfully begging his daughter to go back.
But she saw her young lady shaking her head and saying to Duke Rong, who was tugging at her sleeve and crying, "You may not remember what you did or said to me, but those cruel words and deeds once pushed me to the brink of despair.
Later you did the same thing to Heng'er. All of this has been deeply engraved in our hearts. From now on, we will go our separate ways.
At first you only wished for us to be happy, but in fact it was just your joy and our sorrow, and now you hope to change.
There is nothing so good in this world that will always allow you to do what you want and hurt others."
Duke Rong said to Chen Yu, "Hasn't Heng'er always wanted the title of Crown Prince? If you are willing to come back, I will immediately ask for the title for Heng'er.
Although this child has returned to his ancestral home, he is just another child. He cannot shake Heng'er's position."
Heng'er and his wife, who had just returned from Dongtian Academy on vacation, overheard their parents' conversation. Heng'er said to Duke Rong, "Father, I no longer want the throne of Crown Prince. Please keep it."
Duke Rong said, "You've wanted this for so long, how can you just say you don't want it anymore? You're angry with father, but father really wants to pass the throne to you.
This is not your father's fault. You used to be a flower and bird master. If you had worked so hard earlier, your father would have given it to you."
Heng'er said, "Father, if the Rongguo Mansion had not completely collapsed, if Dong Rou'er had not been imprisoned, and all the money under his name had not been returned to mother and the Yongding Marquis Mansion, according to your plans for the future, where would there be a place for your son and mother?
It turns out that my father also knew that the position of the crown prince was something I had longed for, but he used it to trick me into giving him money while mocking my wishful thinking. He even gleefully cleared out this mess of me.
Just like my father said, I wasn't very motivated in the past. I don't blame him for not passing the throne to me, but I will never forget how he used me.
He paused for a moment and then said to Duke Rong, "After you signed the letter of severance, in order to dispel your worries, you were worried that I would one day return to the Rongguo Mansion and cry, make a fuss, and beg, causing trouble for you and your brother, so I changed my surname to my mother's. Now my name is Chen Heng. So father, you can rest assured that I really have no intention of returning to the Rongguo Mansion, nor do I want the position of Crown Prince."
After hearing this, Duke Rong was dejected and finally returned empty-handed. He had to return alone to the empty Rongguo Mansion.
After spending a short but happy half month of free life in Kyoto, Lady Handan converted all the things given to her by the late emperor into silver notes and hired a carriage to go to Pyeongchang County.
Madam Handan found Sun Yanan in Pingchang County. Sun Yanan was also very surprised. She had been worried about her daughter's news, but now she was in Pingchang County. She wanted to wait until the matter here was settled and she returned to Kyoto before visiting Madam Handan again.
Madam Handan held the hairpin and said to Sun Yannan, "Your daughter is in the demon clan. This hairpin has also been in the demon realm, right?"
Sun Yannan, realizing he couldn't hide the truth from Madam Handan, nodded and said, "My daughter Canglan has been abducted for five and a half years."
Madam Handan said, "Since this hairpin was able to come out, it must have been brought out by someone from the demon clan. I would like to meet this person and ask him questions. Is that okay?"
So Sun Yannan called the little girl Yunqi out to meet him. The little girl Yunqi now used the new name given to her by the abbess of Yunlan Temple, Fan Chuer.
After Fan Chuer returned home, her parents soon discovered that she was now skilled in martial arts and thought it would be a pity if their daughter followed them.
After asking his daughter, he sent her back to work for Sun Yannan.
Madam Handan didn't expect it to be such a girl, about fourteen or fifteen years old. After hesitating for a while, she finally said to the little girl, "Do you remember where you came out of the Demon Realm or where you entered the Demon Realm?
I want to go into the Demon Realm to find someone."
Fan Chuer asked curiously: "Grandma, the Demon Realm is not good at all. Why did you go in? We were always bullied when we were there.
The demons are much stronger than us. We can’t defeat them and can only be bullied. Grandma, please don’t go in.”
Madam Handan smiled and said, "I have been thinking about someone for my whole life. He is good at music and is elegant and graceful."
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