Chapter 145 Grandmother Knows Their Secret
Madam Liu wiped the sweat from her forehead with a handkerchief and looked at the old concubine for help. "Does the concubine think so too?"
The old concubine looked at Xie Guanlan deeply before looking away and smiling slowly, "At my age, I only hope that my grandchildren can find good husbands. Ningning is weak in nature, so I have to find her someone I can entrust her life to while I'm still strong. As for her academic performance, it's not that important."
Madam Liu's face lit up with laughter. "That's what I told you! Men should get married when they're old enough, and women should get married when they're old enough. It's been like this for thousands of years!"
Xie Yanchen looked at her seriously, and a black-haired spider quietly crawled out from his snow-white cuffs.
Madam Liu spoke eloquently, "Our Yin'er is an honest child, not cunning, with great brute force, and he respects women very much. He will definitely be able to protect Ningning—"
As she was talking, she suddenly felt an itch on the back of her hand.
She scratched it, but felt something furry.
She looked down and her face turned pale.
A black-haired spider the size of a palm had crawled onto the back of her hand at some point!
She jumped up from the rose chair in an instant, screaming and shaking her hands desperately!
Nanny Chen and others were also startled and hurried over to help.
Finally, the big spider was taken out. Mrs. Liu fell exhaustedly onto the rose chair, her well-maintained face covered in cold sweat.
She patted her chest in shock, her smile very forced, "I'm sorry...I'm sorry to make Her Majesty laugh..."
After being disrupted like this, the conversation about marriage proposal could not continue.
The old concubine ordered: "Ningning, you and Yanchen escort Aunt Liu out of the house."
After they left, Xie Guanlan was about to return to Canglang Pavilion when the old concubine suddenly called him, "Ziheng."
"Grandma, I have to go back and take care of government affairs."
"We can handle those government affairs later. They're not important." The old concubine said solemnly, "Kneel down."
Nanny Chen observed the situation carefully and quietly led the maids present to retreat.
Only the grandparents and grandchildren were left in the room.
Xie Guanlan was silent for a moment, then lifted his robe and knelt on the ground.
The old concubine suddenly knocked on the dragon head cane, "Are you thinking I'm blind?!"
"Grandson doesn't know what grandma means."
"Let me ask you, why don't you allow Ningning to get married?!"
Xie Guanlan lowered his brows.
At the beginning, he didn't want Wen Xingluo to use the power of the palace to climb up the social ladder.
Later, he was unwilling to let the girl leave the palace through marriage.
Until now...
Now, why?
After a long silence, Xie Guanlan's eyes narrowed and he said, "I don't want her to share the family property."
"What?"
"If she gets married, the palace will definitely have to pay a large dowry. My grandson doesn't want to pay the dowry, so I don't want her to find a husband."
The old concubine laughed angrily, "Xie Ziheng, you can lie to me now! Listen to it yourself, do you believe this reason?!"
Xie Guanlan pursed his thin lips into a straight line, and his eyes were filled with darkness.
The old concubine took a few deep breaths, picked up the teacup and took a sip of tea.
The tea tastes bitter, but it can't dispel the worry in my chest.
She glanced up at Xie Guanlan, her tone solemn, "The royal family has a century-old reputation. As the Crown Prince, you should consider the family's interests. You've been a steady child since childhood. Whether it's studying or martial arts, nothing has ever caused your elders any worry. You have your own standards for what you should and shouldn't do. If you do something against human ethics in private, I'm afraid that not only you, but also that little girl will bear the brunt of the infamy."
Xie Guanlan remained silent, his finger bones tightening and turning white.
"Your mother passed away early, and your father was a widower for over ten years. It was rare for him to find a woman he loved, so he married her as his second wife. Your father wanted to spend his life with Wei Si. As long as she is the prince's second wife, you can't be close. Xie Ziheng, you should think about your father, the prince's palace, and... that little girl's reputation."
The hanging flower hall fell into silence.
All that could be heard was the young man's suppressed breathing.
The spine, which had always been as straight as a pillar, bent slightly at this moment.
The corners of Feng Han's eyes gradually turned red like the Polygonum flowers, and his handsome, noble and solemn face was completely covered by the shadow. His Adam's apple rolled, his thin lips slightly parted, but he could not utter a word.
After an unknown amount of time, he finally suppressed his surging emotions and said in a hoarse voice, "From childhood to adulthood, my grandson has never asked for anything."
The old concubine couldn't bear to look at him, and slowly turned her face away. "Grandmother is being unkind. Go to the ancestral hall and copy the family rules, think carefully, and calm down."
Xie Guanlan lowered his head deeply.
…
After Wen Xingluo sent Madam Liu off, he heard that Xie Guanlan was punished by the old empress dowager to kneel in the ancestral hall.
Cuicui was shocked. "What a shame! I'm a servant girl born in the mansion. I've been raised in the palace since I was little, and I've never heard of the prince being punished! He must have committed an unforgivable mistake, so the Concubine Dowager punished him!"
"A big mistake?" Xie Yanchen raised an eyebrow. "My brother is a very law-abiding person. He is usually more self-disciplined and polite than our father. What big mistake could he make?"
Cuicui scratched her head. "Yes, the prince's civil and military skills are impeccable, and he doesn't enjoy the pleasures of prostitution. He doesn't go out for cockfighting, dog racing, or drinking after his shift. What could he possibly do wrong?"
The sky of Chengdu gradually darkened as the piled red clouds in the sky were approaching. The north wind that swept through the palace was freezing cold. As early winter approached, the withered lotus leaves and fallen leaves looked desolate and bleak.
Wen Xingluo lowered his eyes.
The girl was silent, her face paler than lead clouds.
That night.
Wen Xingluo carried a savings box and avoided the palace guards as he entered the ancestral hall.
The ancestral hall was cold and dimly lit by two remaining lamps. Hundreds of tablets could be vaguely seen here, and the smell of incense ash filled the air, as heavy and profound as the history of the Xie family and their journey home.
Xie Guanlan, with his hair tied up with a gold hairpin and a green robe and jade belt, knelt quietly on the floor tiles, copying the family rules stroke by stroke.
Wen Xingluo knelt down opposite him and silently took out the pastries from the box.
She didn't ask why he was punished, but just presented the plate of cakes to him.
It is a plate of assorted pastries with all kinds of snacks.
Xie Guanlan looked at it for a moment and picked up a piece of dragon beard candy.
Wen Xingluo was a little surprised.
She knew that dragon beard candy had special meaning to Xie Guanlan.
"When I was little, I loved the dragon beard candies made by the old woman at the end of Jinli Street." Xie Guanlan looked at the candy in his hand. "In the winter when I was eight years old, my mother took me out of the house to visit friends. On the way back, I suddenly wanted to eat candy, so I begged my mother to take a detour to Jinli. My mother bought me a big box, and for some reason, I fed the first piece of candy to her."
The north wind was howling outside the ancestral hall.
The first snow of this winter fell tonight without any warning.
"What I didn't expect was that the dragon beard candy was poisoned. They were coming for me, but because of my actions, the person poisoned became my mother... It was the most potent poison in the world. My mother died before she could even last half a cup of tea."
Xie Guanlan's face was expressionless. "The mastermind behind this was the man in the capital. From that day on, I vowed to march to the capital, rip his head from his neck, and place it before my mother's tombstone. Over the years, I have worked tirelessly day and night, not daring to slack off for even a moment, let alone make a single mistake."
The candlelight is quiet.
His green robe draped over the floor tiles in layers, forming a sharp contrast with the girl's bright red pomegranate skirt.
He raised his eyes and stared at the girl in front of him, "Xie Guanlan can make mistakes, but the prince of Zhenbei Palace cannot."
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