Chapter 181 Returning Home
At the gate of the Marquis' Mansion, the Qi Wang's carriage slowly stopped.
Returning to the parents' home is a big day. Although it is not certain whether the Prince of Qi, the second prince, will accompany Shen Xi to her parents' home, the Marquis's Mansion must be prepared. Shen Sui and the second master are both outside. Knowing that they are coming, they go to the door to greet them.
Although the Prince of Qi is the son-in-law, there is a difference between the monarch and his subjects. Not to mention that one has to perform formalities when meeting the Prince of Qi, even Chen Xian has to perform formalities, after all, she is the Princess of Qi bestowed by the Emperor.
Shen Sui said, "Meet the Prince of Qi and the Princess of Qi."
"Father."
Chen Xi called out softly.
The King of Qi helped Chen Sui up and said, "My father-in-law, you are so polite. Please stand up quickly."
Shen Sui invited the King of Qi into the palace and led him to Songhe Hall.
The second and third wives were all here, the third and fourth masters were also here, as were the younger generations in the Marquisate, except for those who were still young and not sensible and were afraid of offending the King of Qi, all were present.
Led by the old lady, a large crowd of people in the room saluted the Second Prince and Shen Xi.
Chen Xian's eyes swept across Chen Tang's face, her brows revealing a look of pride that she couldn't hide. Regardless of whether the Second Prince liked her or not, she was extremely happy to be the Second Prince's Consort. From now on, Chen Tang would have to salute her whenever he saw her, otherwise it would be a great disrespect to the royal family.
Shen Sui helped the old lady to stand up, and then sat down to talk. Because the King of Qi was there, the atmosphere in the room was obviously much more restrained. After half a cup of tea, Shen Sui invited the Second Prince to the study to talk, and also called the Second Master.
Shen Sui has already determined in his heart that Shen Ying is not his daughter, so he naturally would not treat the Second Prince as his son-in-law. In addition, the Second Prince is vying for the throne, so Shen Sui is really afraid to be alone with the Second Prince and afraid to talk about the topic of competing for the throne. Maybe it is because he has no children, Shen Sui had no interest in following the emperor before, and he still has no interest in it now.
After the Second Prince and Shen Sui left, the Second Madam, who had been holding it in for a long time, finally stopped holding it in and asked Shen Xian, "Are you used to living in the Prince Qi's Mansion?"
Chen Xi nodded slightly with a shy look on her face, which showed that the King of Qi treated her well.
When she got married the day before yesterday, the King of Qi was soaked in the rain, but all the civil and military officials went to congratulate her. The King of Qi drank a lot of wine, and although he didn't like her, he still went to the bridal chamber with her.
The second wife asked, "Have you brought back all the damaged dowry?"
Chen Xian nodded, "I brought back half of it, and the calligraphy and painting were a little wet from the rain. I'll send it to the calligraphy and painting shop to see if it can be repaired."
Should it be sent for remediation or for falsification?
Chen Tang drank the tea without saying a word.
Chen Xian thought Shen Tang would object, but Shen Tang didn't say a word. Chen Xian guessed that it might be because the King of Qi was going to accompany her back home. It was worth it that she coaxed the King of Qi for a long time before he accompanied her back home.
Although today is the day when Shen Xian returns home, because of the wedding and the rain, the old lady did not dare to hope that the King of Qi would accompany Shen Xian back. Now that he has come back, the old lady is relieved. If the King of Qi does not accompany her on such an important day as the return home, it will not be conducive to Shen Xian gaining a foothold in the King of Qi's mansion. There is no need to worry this time.
The old lady was in a good mood and said, "Tell your fourth aunt to prepare a new dowry for the damaged one and send someone to deliver it to you."
Shen Xi nodded, "Thank you, Grandma."
Chen Xian sat next to the old lady, leaning against her intimately, as if she had returned to the past when the old lady loved her the most. The two of them had endless things to talk about. The second wife was all smiles, and the third and fourth wives would say a word from time to time, but Chen Tang was the only one who hadn't said a word since Chen Xian came in.
Not to mention that Shen Xi was not used to it, the old lady also felt something was wrong, "Why doesn't Tang'er speak?"
Chen Tang smiled and said, "I don't know what to say, so I won't say anything."
Chen Xi lowered her eyes and said, "Grandma, my second sister still hates me."
The old lady wanted to say something but didn't know how to start. The second wife said, "This is the second young lady's fault. Sisters are still connected even if their bones are broken. Let the past be the past. Why keep harping on it..."
Chen Tang's eyes swept across the second wife's face, still saying nothing, but the second wife suddenly felt a chill down her spine, a chill that came from her bones, something she had never felt before.
She suddenly felt anxious for no reason, and even her eyelids were twitching, as if something big was about to happen.
The Second Madam tried her best to suppress her uneasiness. At this moment, a little maid ran in and said, "Fourth Madam, your maid Chunlan, who has been missing for more than ten years, has been brought back..."
The fourth wife, "……!!!"
Just a few simple words.
The fourth wife was almost frightened to the point of having a cardiac arrest.
She did send someone to Wangzhou to pick up Chunlan, but she specifically instructed that Chunlan be brought back to Beijing and settled on the farm first and not brought back to the mansion. So why did they send her directly to the marquis's mansion?
The Fourth Madam's face turned pale, and the Second Madam's eyes suddenly swept towards the Fourth Madam.
It turned out that it was the Fourth Madam who sent someone to pick up Chunlan.
For the sake of a maid, she spent a huge sum of money to redeem her, and even did it under the guise of the Marquis' Mansion. How courageous the Fourth Madam was!
Also, didn’t the master send people to ambush Chunlan on her way back to Beijing? Why didn’t he stop them?
The fourth wife stood up and said, "I, I'll go take a look..."
Chen Tang stopped her, "Aunt Fourth, please sit down. I was the one who sent Chunlan back home. The person you sent is still locked up in Baihua Tower. I'm afraid that my father will have to send someone to put pressure on Baihua Tower before they will let him go."
The fourth wife was shocked and couldn't believe it, "The one who brought Chunlan back home was yours?"
She knew that Chen Tang had opened the letter Chunlan sent to her, but how could the Second Miss guess the content of the letter? The people she sent under the guise of the Marquis' Mansion did not bring Chunlan back, and were even locked up in Baihua Tower. How could the Second Miss's people bring her back to Beijing?
The fourth wife had too many doubts in her heart. The second wife was on pins and needles, her heart trembling like a sieve. The old lady asked, "Chunlan is still alive?"
Chen Tang sent someone to bring the person back, so the Fourth Madam had no say in the matter. She didn't have to go to the front yard anymore. She sat down with weak legs. The old lady looked over and didn't dare not answer, "I didn't expect Chunlan to be alive. She has been trapped in Wangzhou Baihua Tower for many years. When she asked someone to send me a letter, I was on the way back from my parents' home. Fortunately, the Second Miss met the person who sent the letter, and we, the master and servant, will meet again..."
The fourth wife did not dare to hide anything and could only tell the truth.
The old lady's brows were twisted into knots. A maid had been missing for more than ten years and was trapped in a brothel. It was unexpected that the fourth wife sent someone to pick her up. Tang'er also sent someone to pick her up and brought her directly into the mansion. In the past few months, Chen Tang did a lot of things that surprised the old lady. Her intuition told her that Chen Tang was not arranged casually, especially today when Prince Qi accompanied Chen Xi back home.
The Second Lady said, "Today is the day when the Prince of Qi is accompanying Xian'er back home. A maid redeemed from a brothel is brought into the mansion with such a big fuss. Does the Second Lady have such a lack of sense of propriety?!"
Chen Tang laughed, "May I ask Second Aunt, when have I ever done anything inappropriate? Before you blame me, shouldn't you ask me why I brought Chunlan into the mansion?"
Two consecutive rhetorical questions made the second wife speechless and she felt even more uncomfortable.
Chen Tang waited patiently for Chunlan to come. After waiting for a long time, there was a noise outside the door. Two servants carried Chunlan in, followed by two dark guards in black clothes.
This scene stunned everyone in the room, including the Fourth Wife.
The Fourth Madam didn't know that Chunlan's leg was broken, and the maids and servants looked at each other in bewilderment, not understanding why Chen Tang insisted on bringing the Fourth Madam's maid who had been missing for more than ten years to the old lady. It wouldn't be too late to see her again after her leg healed.
This happened more than ten years ago, and not many people in the mansion know about it anymore, but Mother Wang still remembers that the day Fourth Madam's maid Chunlan disappeared was the day Jiang gave birth. At that time, Jiang suspected that the disappearance of Chunlan and Qiaohui was related to the fact that her child was stolen.
The second girl brought Chunlan back now, maybe it was also for this matter...
I hope she guessed wrong, otherwise there would be a bloody storm in the Marquis' Mansion today.
Knowing that Chunlan was brought back, Yinxing went to the front yard. Yinxing followed back and walked behind Chen Tang, whispering, "Just now, the second master wanted to kill Chunlan to silence her, but was saved by the secret guards..."
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