"It was given to me by my second sister. She had been playing with it before. I saw it and liked it very much, so she carefully selected a gourd and painted flowers and birds on it and gave it to me. By the way, she also said that after my third brother knew about this, he got such a big gourd from somewhere and secretly painted a picture of a beauty on it, probably for you." Su Nuannuan said as she gestured. Judging from the size of the gourd she gestured, the gourd was indeed very big.
Duan Tingxuan looked at his wife in dismay: "Are you sure he wants to give me the gourd? And not to kill me? Why is he painting a picture of a beautiful woman? Isn't this trying to sow discord between you and me? Humph! I knew he had bad intentions. He knew that I was not in a good position in your eyes, but he still wanted to add fuel to the fire."
"Don't say that. He meant well. Painting a beauty is more difficult than painting flowers and birds. All my efforts have been wasted because of what you said." Su Nuannuan laughed happily, but then added, "Although my heart is good, I didn't think carefully enough. What can I do with such a big gourd? You can't fill it with wine and carry it to court, right? You're not Li Tieguai."
The couple chatted and collected dew all the way. Before they knew it, the moon had set. They returned to their room contentedly. Sure enough, it was dawn soon, and the originally quiet mountain temple was filled with voices. Duan Tingxuan and Duan Tingye arranged for the imperial guards and the housekeepers to escort the criminals away, while Su Nuannuan and Aunt Jing gathered the maids and servants and prepared to go down the mountain.
After gathering in the yard, everyone was about to set off when they saw Duan Tingxuan walking in from the gate. Everyone knew that the Young Master had something to say, so they all stopped and stared at Duan Tingxuan, secretly guessing the purpose of the Young Master's visit.
Duan Tingxuan glanced around and saw the wives who were detained yesterday standing at the back of the crowd. He pointed and said in a deep voice, "You guys come out."
The wives looked at each other, still a little timid in their hearts, but after a moment's hesitation, they still lowered their heads and walked out, kneeling on the ground and saying in unison: "This servant greets the prince."
"Grandma pleaded for you last night, so I decided to spare your lives." Duan Tingxuan naturally would not beat around the bush with a few servants. He got straight to the point. With a blank expression, he said, "You can escape the death penalty, but you can't escape the living punishment. You probably know what will happen to you when you go back. Your grandma is kind-hearted. She can't bear to let you suffer. As the saying goes, save people to the end, so I give you a choice: if you are afraid to go back, you can leave now. From now on, you will have nothing to do with Anping Marquis's Mansion and can live freely. I will not pursue her as a fugitive slave."
This was beyond the expectations of the wives. They raised their heads and stared at Duan Tingxuan, but soon lowered their heads and looked at each other. Two of them showed hesitation. The wife of the He family who knelt down and promised first last night said in a deep voice: "Thank you for saving my life, but I don't plan to leave. Please allow me to return home. Do you want to be beaten or punished? I am willing to accept it."
Before he finished speaking, two more wives said in unison: "Thank you, my Lord, for saving my life. I am willing to go back to the mansion to accept the punishment. Please don't chase me away."
So the two hesitant daughters-in-law sighed, their eyes gradually became firm, and they expressed their unwillingness to leave.
"At least you guys are responsible and haven't forgotten what your grandmother said last night. In that case, after you return home, each of you will be fined one year's salary for failing to protect the master..." Duan Tingxuan paused here, and his eyes swept majestically over the others, and said in a deep voice: "I have already punished these people, and the matter of last night is over. If I hear rumors about them in the mansion in the future, I will track down whoever is biting the root of the rumor, and I will cut off her tongue. If you don't believe in the ability of me and your grandmother, you can try it."
After he finished speaking, he ignored the shocked maids and went straight to Su Nuannuan, saying with a smile, "With my instructions, even if we can't completely conceal this matter, it won't cause a big uproar. Are you satisfied with my arrangement, Madam?"
"Satisfied, very satisfied. You are worthy of being the young marquis. You are really amazing. With your shocking influence, there will probably be fewer people who dare to gossip about me. This is the best result." Su Nuannuan gave a thumbs up generously, but she heard her husband cough and whispered, "I didn't go through all this trouble just to hear your praise. That stone cake... do you think you should let me have a taste when we go back?"
"So it's for food?" Su Nuannuan's endless admiration disappeared in an instant. Perhaps the disdain in her tone was too obvious, which made Duan Tingxuan feel embarrassed. The young marquis quickly defended himself righteously: "What do you know? Do you think I'm just greedy? You look down on me too much. I just heard you say that this stone cake is simple and convenient to make. If we need to go out to fight in the future, we can have this during the forced march. We can not only eat enough but also eat well, which can maximize the combat effectiveness of the army."
"Are you really that righteous? Are you sure you're not looking for a high-sounding excuse for your greed?" Su Nuannuan looked at Duan Tingxuan suspiciously, but saw her husband's face darken, and he said with a wave of his sleeves: "You are judging others by your own standards, humph! Anyway, let's go back and make a meal to taste. I want to investigate the feasibility of using these stone cakes as military rations."
"Okay, okay, I'll make it for you when we get back. Should we leave now? The old lady and second sister must be waiting anxiously for the moment." Su Nuannuan laughed to herself, but Duan Tingxuan's performance last night was really good, so she didn't mind letting her husband use his power for personal gain.
After staying in the mountain temple for a night and experiencing a thrilling battle, the servants of Anping Marquis's mansion were finally able to return home safely. When the carriage passed the two closed red gates and was about to go to the west corner gate, Duan Tingxuan suddenly ordered to stop the carriage. The coachman didn't know why, so he hurriedly stopped. Then he saw the prince dismounted and came to the red gate to order the two gatekeepers to "open the middle gate and welcome the prince's wife back home."
The two gatekeepers were confused, not knowing what their master was up to. A family like the Anping Marquis's Mansion would not easily open the middle door except for the imperial edict or the official visit of the prince. Even if they were as noble as the Marquis's wife or the Crown Prince's wife, they would only have one chance to enter through the middle door in their lifetime, and that was at the wedding ceremony of the Marquis and the Crown Prince, when they were carried in by a sedan chair with eight bearers.
"What are you still standing there for? Your wife has captured the bandits on the mountain this time and has made great contributions to the court. She is qualified to enter the palace through the middle gate."
Seeing that the two servants were as stupid as geese, Duan Tingxuan explained in a deep voice. Then, the servants finally came to their senses. Although they still felt that something was wrong, this was an order from the prince. Even if the masters punished them afterwards, they were just following orders and would not be punished. What's more, this master was not someone who was easy to mess with. It was said that the eldest lady was even harder to mess with. There was no need for them to go against two such powerful masters.
The vermilion door slowly opened, and even Su Nuannuan was startled. She quickly stuck her head out and said to Duan Tingxuan, "What are you crazy about? So many people captured the criminals last night. Are they all going to enter through the middle gate? Do you want the Marquis' Mansion to become a laughing stock in the capital?"
"Of course only you can enter, because you are the prince's wife." Duan Tingxuan was unmoved. He pulled Su Nuannuan out of the carriage with a smile, and then helped her get off the carriage. This scene fell into the eyes of the people in the capital who rushed over after hearing the news, and immediately caused a burst of exclamations.
"Don't be surprised. I just want you to accompany me through the main gate again in style." Duan Tingxuan held Su Nuannuan's hand and walked up the stairs with her, explaining softly. In fact, this was only one of the reasons. There was another reason that he could never say. He knew that his wife was no longer the same Su Nuannuan as before. He loved and respected her, but the woman who held the wedding ceremony and worshipped heaven and earth with him was not her. He owed her a grand wedding, but it was impossible to make up for it. Today, the two of them walked hand in hand through the main gate, just a little compensation for this regret.
Su Nuannuan could more or less guess what Duan Tingxuan was thinking, but this made her even more moved and helpless. She wanted to tell the young marquis that for a foodie, such glory was really not important, but she felt that saying so would be a betrayal of Duan Tingxuan's kindness: forget it, they could only be husband and wife in name only in this life anyway, if Duan Tingxuan felt that doing so would make him feel better, then just do it.
According to Su Nuannuan's thoughts, she wanted to take Aunt Jing with her, but Duan Tingxuan would certainly not agree. Aunt Jing also knew the situation. When she saw Su Nuannuan looking back, she knew that she was in danger of being caught in the crossfire, so she quickly shrank into the carriage and refused to come out. In this way, she escaped the disaster and was able to "smoothly" enter the mansion from the west corner gate.
The news that the Crown Prince and his wife entered through the middle door spread throughout the mansion immediately. At that time, the female members of the family and the old marquis Duan Ni were all waiting for the news in the north courtyard of Old Madam Fang. They were very surprised to hear that Su Nuannuan and the others had returned safely. Old Madam Fang even wanted to lead her sons, daughters-in-law and others to go out of the house to greet them in person, but was persuaded by the old marquis and Madam Yang. After all, it didn't make sense for such an old person to go to greet the younger generation.
But then they said that the prince openly asked for the door to be opened and walked in hand in hand with the grandmother. This made everyone in the hall stunned. The old marquis Duan Ni's face immediately darkened, and he slammed the table and shouted angrily: "This is simply nonsense."
Madam Yang's heart tightened. She wanted to defend her son, but she didn't know what to say. Liu Min was secretly delighted. She was worried that she and Shi Yurou would abandon Su Nuannuan this time, which might make Duan Ni unhappy. Unexpectedly, Duan Tingxuan made such a stupid move in a blink of an eye: The middle gate is the face of the noble mansion, how can it be opened for a mere woman? Even when she married in as a co-wife, she was not treated like this.
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