Chapter 212: Concubine
Chen Tang did not dare to refuse the gift from the elder, so he accepted it and bowed to express his gratitude.
Princess Ning loved Shen Tang so much that she was overjoyed. She smiled and said, "You two can go and talk privately. You don't have to stay with me all the time."
No matter how kind-hearted she was, she was an elder after all, and younger people had to restrain themselves in front of her. Princess Roujia and Shen Tang bowed and took their leave, then went to the garden to enjoy the flowers.
In his previous life, Chen Tang often accompanied Princess Jingyang to visit Old Princess Ning, and was somewhat familiar with the Ning Palace. The garden was much more beautiful than in his previous life, with many more rare flowers. Chen Tang took a look and found that the flowers were newly transplanted. In his previous life, his eldest brother had never married, and Old Princess Ning was old and seldom went out of the yard where she lived. She probably only visited the garden a few times a year, so she didn't take good care of it. She only planted some hardy flowers, and it was okay as long as they were okay.
Things are different now. The wedding banquet of my eldest brother and Princess Roujia is scheduled a few days after her wedding. By then, all the civil and military officials and even the emperor will come to Prince Ning's Mansion to drink wedding wine. The garden cannot be deserted. Besides, Xiao Huan and Princess Roujia will live in Prince Ning's Mansion in the future, so there will be inevitable welcoming and seeing off.
The vitality of Prince Ning's Mansion is reflected in this garden.
Princess Roujia accompanied Chen Tang for a long time in the garden, but the weather was too hot, so she rested for a while in the pavilion by the water. Seeing that it was getting late, she said goodbye. Princess Roujia saw her out of the house and watched her leave reluctantly.
On the way back to the mansion, the carriage passed by Zuixian Tower and happened to meet Xiao Huan, Jiang Mingyuan, and the top scorer in the gold exam, Jiang Huaizhi.
On the busy street, people were coming and going, and the carriages did not stop, but just slowed down. Chen Tang greeted them and then went about their business.
Back at the Marquis' Mansion, Chen Tang went to Songhe Hall and saw the purple jade jewelry that Old Princess Ning gave to Chen Tang. Chen Luo was envious and exclaimed in amazement, "What beautiful jewelry."
The old lady guessed that Old Princess Ning would give Chen Tang some jewelry, but she didn't expect her to be so generous. There are probably only a few jewelry more exquisite than this set in Kyoto that can be counted on one hand. Old Princess Ning is really generous.
The Third Madam said, "The Emperor approved the adoption of Princess Roujia by Prince Ning's Mansion. Many ministers sent gifts to congratulate her. Prince Ning's Mansion said that they would not hold an adoption banquet, so they asked the people who sent the gifts to take them back and said that they would invite everyone to the mansion for a wedding banquet..."
After the adoption banquet was held in earnest, it would be difficult for Princess Roujia to marry out of Prince Duan's Mansion. Prince Ning's Mansion had no shortage of gifts and did not want to make things more complicated. All the civil and military officials in the court also knew what Prince Ning was thinking. But after all, the Emperor had graciously approved Prince Ning's Mansion to adopt Princess Roujia, and changes had to be made to the Royal Jade Butterfly, so it would be unreasonable not to send it.
Civil and military officials are not afraid of being nosy, as it is the servants who send the gifts anyway. Well, they cannot go in person. There are not many civil and military officials in the court who are qualified to be greeted by Prince Ning in person, and there is no one else in Prince Ning's mansion. When sending gifts, they have to consider whether there is anyone to greet them. It's impossible. As long as the intention is conveyed, it's fine.
The Marquis's Mansion had to hold a family reunion banquet, so the old lady discussed with Shen Sui and set the date for the banquet, which was five days later. The third and fourth wives would be busy in the next two days.
Originally, the old lady wanted to ask, but when she saw the exquisite jewelry, there was no need to ask. Chen Tang only stayed for a quarter of an hour before returning to Qingyi Garden.
As soon as Chen Tang returned to the house, Si'er came in and reported, "The second wife was frightened yesterday and had a high fever in the middle of the night. It is said that the fever has not subsided yet..."
If she doesn't suffer a little more, it would be unfair to her for making Chen Shan make a special trip.
There were tribute pears on the table, and one knew where they came from without asking. Chen Tang picked one up, took a bite, and found the flesh crisp and tender, sweet and delicious, very thirst-quenching.
Chen Tang gave Ginkgo, Qiutong and Si'er one each as rewards, and also asked Si'er to give one to Mother Zhou.
Several maids were so happy that they couldn't stop smiling. The girl treated them kindly and never beat or scolded them. When there were delicious food, such as tribute pears, ordinary girls could not eat them. They followed the girl and could eat them every now and then. They must have been very lucky in their previous life.
Knowing that Chen Tang hated the Second House, she was happy to see the Second House suffer misfortune, so any misfortune that happened to the Second House would be reported to Qingyi Garden.
Of course, some of them were inquired by the servants in the mansion, and some were deliberately sent by the second wife, in the hope of making the old lady feel distressed and let the second wife come back.
The second wife was seriously frightened this time. She said that whenever she fell asleep, she would dream of being bitten by a snake. She was awakened by nightmares several times at night. She had a high fever and it took two whole days for the fever to subside.
In the past two days, the Second Master only visited once and did not even stay overnight in the house. Originally, Chen Tang wanted to find an opportunity to let Chen Shan tell the Second Madam about the Second Master's mistress and illegitimate child, but Chen Shan did not even have to make such an effort, as the Second Madam found out on her own.
Over the years, unless the Second Master was not in Kyoto, he never stayed overnight outside. There were even few concubines in the inner house, and the only two were brought up by the Second Mistress, who never dared to act like a spoiled child in front of her. The Second Mistress always boasted that she had won the Second Master's heart, but with Chunlan being found and the Second House's deeds being exposed, the Second Master no longer had the patience he used to have for the Second Mistress.
After being driven out of the marquis's mansion, he treated her with disdain. These days, the second master never slept in the second wife's room, but always stayed in the concubine's room.
The Second Mistress was very jealous. After enduring for three days, she could no longer bear it and took out her anger towards the Second Master on the concubines. One of them cut her hand, and the other knelt in the sun for two hours, until her knees were sore.
The Second Wife was obviously forcing the Second Master to enter her room, thinking that she could just get rid of the concubine. However, the Second Master ended up bringing in a maid, which made the Second Wife so angry that she died.
The concubine was carried away, but she did not return home so late at night. The Second Mistress thought that the Second Master had gone to a brothel. The family rules of Pingyuan Marquis's Mansion did not allow descendants to enter such a dirty place. Although the Second House was kicked out, the family rules of the Marquis's Mansion could not restrain the Second House, but they could always persuade them. However, in this matter, the Second Master had to be caught in the act first.
The second wife sent someone to follow the second master, and it turned out that the second master had a mistress and an illegitimate child who was five years old.
Upon hearing the news, the Second Wife was so angry that she wanted to skin the Second Master alive.
She did all kinds of bad things to seek the title for the Second Master, but the Second Master was just being affectionate with her in public, but secretly keeping a mistress and even having an illegitimate child. Now that the Second Wife was kicked out, he doesn't even want to pretend.
The Second Wife was a cruel and ruthless person, and she was very ruthless in her actions. Even though she was so angry that she wanted to stab the Second Master with a knife, she swallowed her anger and did not act out.
But that night, the courtyard where the concubine lived caught fire and burst into flames. However, the concubine and her illegitimate son were lucky enough to be rescued.
Early the next morning, the mistress and her illegitimate son, covered in smoke and dirt, appeared outside the door of the second house.
The second master didn't know that the fire broke out last night in the courtyard where his concubine lived. He went to the government office as usual. As soon as he left the house, his illegitimate son ran out and hugged him and cried, "Dad, someone set fire to our courtyard last night. I almost couldn't see you anymore..."
The illegitimate son's face was covered in dust and his eyes were full of tears from crying. The second master was so heartbroken that he didn't even think of denying it. By the time he reacted, a lot of people had gathered around to watch the fun.
Well, not only were the concubine and the illegitimate child rescued, the arsonist was also kidnapped and sent to the Dali Temple. After interrogation at the Dali Temple, they found out that the arsonist was sent by the second wife.
The second master rushed back into the house in anger, pulled the frail second wife off the bed, and slapped her hard several times. It is said that two of her teeth were knocked out.
This is not the end yet. Keeping a mistress is not a good reputation, especially since the Second Master is now the father-in-law of the King of Qi. Even though the First Prince is pressuring the King of Qi to make Shen Xi the principal wife and not to demote her to a concubine, he is not at all lenient towards the Second Master.
The next day, memorials impeaching the Second Master flew to the Emperor’s desk like snowflakes.
The filthiness of the Second House was beyond the imagination of all the civil and military officials.
In order to obtain the title, the second wife did not hesitate to harm her own nephew. The second master had a mistress, and the second wife set fire to burn the mistress and the illegitimate child to death. Even if they didn't die, the evidence of her ordering the arson was solid.
The Dali Temple arrested the second wife for arson, but because the mistress knelt down and begged for mercy and tried hard to drop the case, the Dali Temple had to give a lighter punishment and beat the second wife with forty strokes of the cane.
The emperor wanted to dismiss the second master from his post, but he was able to keep his official position with the help of Prince Qi's party. However, the emperor demoted him two levels, from the fifth rank to the sixth rank.
In half a month, I was demoted twice, a total of four levels. This is unprecedented.
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