Chapter 177 Demoted
The two girls denied it hastily with trembling voices.
It would be strange if this wasn't a problem.
Princess Anding's heart skipped a beat. "Why are you so surprised to see me in Pingyuan Marquis's mansion?"
The two girls looked at each other, seeming to want to say something but stopping themselves from saying it.
Anyone with eyes could see that something was wrong. Princess Anding became increasingly impatient, and her face sank. One of the two girls made up her mind, knowing that it was something that could not be concealed anyway, and said, "We just entered the Pingyuan Marquis's mansion and heard that Prince Shun had formed a clique for personal gain, and the evidence was solid. In a rage, the emperor demoted him to Prince Shunping..."
Princess Anding, no... When Prince Shun was demoted, Princess Anding's status would also be demoted. Now she can no longer be called Princess Anding, but can only be called Princess Anding County.
With such a thing happening in the mansion, it is impossible for Princess Anding to have the leisure time to come to Marquis Pingyuan's mansion to deliver additional dowry. She must not know about it yet.
Princess Anding could no longer sit still, so she stood up and left in a hurry.
She walked fast, so Chen Tang and Chen Luo did not chase her and asked a maid to escort Princess Anding out of the house.
After Princess Anding left, no one had to worry anymore. Everyone was discussing the demotion of Prince Shun. The lively lotus viewing banquet at Prince Shun's mansion seemed to be still before their eyes. They didn't expect that he would be demoted so soon after committing a crime. Forming a clique for personal gain, these four words meant that more than just Prince Shun would be demoted. It was not known which ministers would suffer the consequences.
Chen Xian's face looked a little unhappy. Ever since she helped Concubine Ye to plot against Chen Tang at Prince Shun's Mansion, she knew that Prince Shun supported the Second Prince. Prince Shun's demotion was not a good thing for the Second Prince. As the Second Prince's consort, Chen Xian was looking forward to becoming the Crown Princess in the near future, or even the mother of the country. Naturally, she hoped that the Second Prince would be well.
Chen Tang was in a good mood, welcoming and seeing off guests, and fortunately he would be fine after these busy days.
In a blink of an eye, it was the day for the wedding banquet at the Marquis's mansion. The Pingyuan Marquis's daughter was married off to the second prince, who also had a future son-in-law, the Prince of Jingyang. All the civil and military officials came to the mansion to attend the wedding. Although the Pingyuan Marquis had no children, as the old saying goes, a son-in-law is half a son, and the Pingyuan Marquis's two halves were not a little bit better.
The Second Master and Second Mistress's wounds had healed and they were helping to greet the guests with smiles on their faces. If you didn't know better, you would have thought they were marrying off their daughter.
But it was normal for them to be happy. Marquis Pingyuan had no son, not even a illegitimate son. His two daughters married into wealthy families, one more glorious than the other. As a result, Marquis Pingyuan's status in the court also rose. Without a son to inherit the title, the second wife was the one who benefited in the end. It was normal for the second wife to be happy. Who wouldn't be envious?
Chen Xian did not show up at the wedding banquet and stayed in her boudoir. Chen Tang, Chen Luo and the two girls from the He family helped to entertain the ladies who came to the wedding banquet. After today's busy day, Chen Xian will get on the bridal sedan tomorrow and the mansion will be quiet.
The wedding banquet lasted for more than an hour before it was over. Shen Sui sent his colleagues out of the mansion. The second, third, and fourth masters were all seeing them off. When the second master was sending Prince Zhao out of the mansion, Prince Zhao asked the second master, "There's news from Wangzhou that the mansion sent people to Wangzhou Baihua Tower to redeem a maid named Chunlan, and even moved out of Pingyuan Marquis's mansion to try to force Baihua Tower to release her. Did you send those people?"
The second master was stunned and shook his head, "It's not me."
King Zhao asked, "If it's not you, then who could it be?"
The second master also found it strange. How could someone in the mansion go to such a faraway place as Wangzhou under the guise of Pingyuan Marquis Mansion to redeem a maid? Could it be the eldest brother?
But why would big brother want to redeem a maid? Why would he be willing to spend four thousand taels to redeem her?
The Second Master thought this was unusual. After seeing off the guests, he returned to the South Courtyard and asked the Second Wife, "Is there a maid named Chunlan in the mansion?"
The second wife asked curiously, "Why is the master asking about a maid?"
The second master told the second wife what the prince of Zhao had told him. The second wife also felt strange, "The name Chunlan seems familiar, as if I have heard it somewhere..."
Mother Sun walked in and heard this. She choked up and asked, "Chunlan is still alive?"
Her voice was anxious and trembling, which scared the second wife, and she asked, "Do you know Chunlan?"
Mother Sun choked up, "Madam, you forgot that Chunlan and my daughter Qiaohui disappeared one day..."
Her daughter was found in a dilapidated temple a few days after she disappeared. She had been tortured to death. There was no news of Chunlan. She had always thought that Chunlan had died a long time ago, but she didn't expect that Chunlan was still alive.
After Mother Sun reminded her, the Second Madam immediately remembered that Chunlan was the Fourth Madam's maid.
But how could anyone in the Marquis' Mansion spend four thousand taels to redeem the Fourth Madam's maid? And they even put pressure on Baihualou to release her by using the name of Pingyuan Marquis' Mansion?
Even if she had the courage of the Fourth Master and the Fourth Mistress, she would not dare to do such a thing.
When Jiang was alive, she sent people to look for Qiaohui and Chunlan everywhere. Later, the Marquis's Mansion gave up, but the Fourth Madam was still looking. Four thousand taels of silver were enough to buy more than a hundred skillful maids. The Second Madam didn't believe that the Fourth Madam valued her maids so much, so she was determined to rescue them even if they had been missing for more than ten years and were trapped in a brothel.
The Second Madam was thinking about this, and the maidservant in the room said, "This servant remembered something. Before the Fourth Madam went to her parents' home to celebrate her birthday and had not yet returned, someone came to the mansion to look for her. It seemed that the person came from Wangzhou..."
If the maid hadn't said anything, the Second Madam wouldn't have known about this. "Where's that person? Did the Fourth Madam see him?"
The maid shook her head, "I don't know..."
She knew about this matter because she happened to be out of the house on business and came back to meet him at the side door. She asked casually, but did not take it seriously. The fourth room was not conspicuous in the mansion, and the servants in the mansion did not care much about the affairs of the fourth room. Only now that she remembered it did she report it to the second wife.
"Go and find out."
The maid went to the side door to ask the old woman who was guarding the door at that time.
Soon the maid came back and said, "The man from Wangzhou came to ask the Fourth Madam for help on behalf of Chunlan, but he was in a hurry to leave Beijing and insisted on seeing the Fourth Madam. The angry maid wanted to chase him away. At that time, the second lady's maid happened to see him and called the man aside to talk. After that, the man never appeared again."
It’s the second girl again!
The second wife's face was as long as a horse's.
In the past few months, the Second Miss has brought a lot of bad luck to her and Xian'er. Whenever anything happens to be related to the Second Miss, nothing good will happen.
Could it be that the people sent to redeem Chunlan were the second lady’s men?
The fourth wife doesn't have the courage to do things under the banner of the Marquis' Mansion, but the second lady does.
Considering that Chunlan and Qiaohui disappeared on the same day and left the house at the same time, it is possible that Chunlan knew something.
Chen Tang even knew that Chen Ran was the daughter of Princess Jinde and her husband. The Second Wife didn't dare to underestimate Chen Tang anymore. It's better to be safe than sorry.
The Second Wife looked at the Second Master and said, "We must not let Chunlan return to Beijing alive!"
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