Chapter Seven
The two looked in the direction of the sound and saw a plump woman standing to their right, looking down on them with an air of superiority.
It's Zhou Xiru again.
Zhou Yanqing had no intention of arguing with her at the moment; she simply took the candied fruit from Si Yanmo's hand and put it in her mouth.
Si Yanmo had no intention of letting this woman off the hook. Last time, she almost threw herself into the water, and this time she was determined to get her revenge.
She looked at Zhou Xiru and grinned, "Fat pig! What a big fat pig!"
"Brother, I want to eat meat!" she said, shaking Zhou Yanqing's arm like a child, "Brother, will you kill a pig for me to eat?"
"You! What did you say?" Zhou Xiru's face flushed red with anger, her finger trembling as she pointed at her. "You dare call this princess a fat pig! I think you don't want to live anymore!"
The woman's shrill voice was so piercing that it drew the attention of everyone around her.
Zhou Yanqing calmly defended his wife in front of everyone, saying, "My wife is mentally challenged and offended the Fifth Princess, but I think... you wouldn't hold a grudge against a fool, would you?"
They even deliberately emphasized the word "idiot".
Si Yanmo followed suit, hiding behind him and burying her head on his shoulder, tears streaming down her face, looking pitiful: "Brother, I'm scared! The fat pig will curse!"
"Madam, you mustn't talk nonsense!" Zhou Yanqing pretended to cover her mouth and "educated" her, "This is the Fifth Princess, do you know?"
It took Zhou Xiru a while to realize that the two of them were working together to scold her again.
"You, you all..."
Before she could finish speaking, she was interrupted by a dignified female voice, "Enough, Xiru."
Everyone turned to look back and saw a middle-aged woman wearing a dark gold robe, her phoenix crown shining brightly in the sunlight.
"Greetings, Your Majesty." Zhou Xiru quickly composed herself and bowed in greeting.
The surrounding ministers, including Zhou Yanqing and Si Yanmo, also bowed.
Empress Qi Yanyan raised her eyebrows and glared at Zhou Xiru in front of her, "Today is your brother's wedding, and you're making such a racket here. What kind of behavior is this?"
"The Princess Consort of Qin is a child with a tragic fate. Why are you arguing with her? You have no manners of a princess at all. Go back and be confined to your quarters for a month."
"Mother, I..." Zhou Xiru wanted to say something more, but was glared at by the Empress Dowager and had no choice but to slink back to her seat with her maid.
Qi Yanyun turned to look at Si Yanmo, "The Princess Consort of Qin is truly adorable; no wonder the Prince of Qin is so captivated by her."
"Your Majesty, please forgive my rudeness. My wife was very disrespectful to the Fifth Princess just now..."
Before Zhou Yanqing could finish speaking, she raised her hand and said, "It's alright, we're all family."
The kindness at the corner of his mouth and the intimidation in his eyes did not match.
"On the day of your wedding, I originally wanted Consort Qin to attend, but there are too many people in the palace and too much gossip. Prince Qin understands, right?"
The man lowered his eyes, a self-deprecating smile playing on his lips, which he quickly suppressed.
"Your Majesty, I understand. I only wish to live in harmony with my wife. I have never coveted anything else."
"King Qin is a wise man." Qi Yanyun smiled with satisfaction, raised her hand and pulled out a gold hairpin from her hair, inserting it into Si Yanmo's hair bun, "Consider it my congratulatory gift."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Zhou Yanqing nodded slightly.
"Thank you, beautiful sister." Si Yanmo gave a sweet smile, which made Nan Hou even happier. However, after turning away, the corners of their mouths returned to calm.
Seeing the woman's composure, Zhou Yanqing smiled and said, "Madam's acting skills are superb."
"Likewise."
After he finished speaking, silence fell over the room.
Si Yanmo could tell that Zhou Yanqing's expression had changed after the Empress Dowager finished speaking, and now he was staring at his wine glass, seemingly lost in thought.
“Our marriage was just a sham anyway, so if they didn’t come, then it was over…” She was about to offer some words of comfort when she was interrupted.
"Have you memorized the books I was told to read?" For some reason, she always felt that this person's tone was a bit harsh.
Hearing him mention those books, Si Yanmo said proudly, "I've memorized them."
"You memorized it?" Now it was Zhou Yanqing's turn to be surprised. "Those are..."
He didn't finish his sentence, leaving Si Yanmo completely confused: "What is it?"
The man coughed lightly a few times, took a sip of tea, and said with a wandering gaze, "It's nothing."
"You...really memorized it?" Zhou Yanqing was still somewhat skeptical.
These books were secret manuals of the palace, and it would take even a prince at least six months to memorize them.
He originally just wanted to get revenge for the two sentences the woman said to him, but he didn't expect her to actually memorize them.
After all, Si Yanmo is the daughter of a merchant family. Even if she had been taught by the best tutors, it would be impossible for her to memorize these books so quickly.
Moreover, Chen Wu told him that the woman didn't recognize many of the characters and had to look them up one by one. How could she possibly memorize them all at once?
But she said she had memorized it?!
Si Yanmo raised an eyebrow confidently, "Then why don't you test me?"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yanqing opened her mouth but no sound came out.
He...didn't memorize it either!
Seeing this, Si Yanmo chuckled to herself, "Your Highness, as an ally, I seem to have forgotten to tell you that I have another skill."
"What?"
"Photographic memory".
"What a blunder!" Zhou Yanqing put down her wine glass and gave an awkward twitch of her lips.
Si Yanmo smiled and asked, "Are you feeling better?"
"Hmm?" The man frowned in confusion, but then realized when he saw the smile on the woman's face that she was comforting him.
He didn't say anything, his gaze falling on her hand wrapped in white cloth, and asked in confusion, "Isn't it done yet?"
It's better not to mention this, because just thinking about it makes Si Yanmo want to beat him up.
She pouted and deliberately turned her head away from the other person, saying, "It's because the King of Qin was so cruel that day and cut so deep. I've been like this since I was a child; my wounds heal slower than others."
These words made the man's ears turn slightly red. He said shyly in a low voice, "I have some wound medicine. I'll ask Chen Wu to get it for you when I get back."
——
Night fell in the palace of the Third Prince, Zhou Junsong.
The maid Cuizhu helped Si Yunyun light the candles and said enviously, "The Imperial Concubine is so lucky. Our Highness's wedding ceremony is so much better than that of the Prince of Qin. As expected, His Majesty is very generous."
Si Yunyun was naturally delighted, and under the candlelight, her smile was hard to hide.
On the day of the palace banquet, she met Zhou Junsong. He didn't mind her rudeness at all and even took her to Consort Shu's palace to redo her makeup. She fell in love with him at that one meeting.
But Si Yunyun knew that the other party was a prince, and she was not worthy of his position.
Upon receiving the imperial edict from the Southern Emperor, she was both worried about her younger sister and overjoyed that she could marry her beloved in a grand and glorious manner.
She and Cuizhu were chatting happily when the door to the bridal chamber was pushed open from the outside.
The newcomer was a woman in a long red dress, with slightly curved, alluring eyes. Several maids followed behind her, the one closest to her holding a cup of tea.
The woman bowed slightly, took the tea from the maid's hand, and offered it to Si Yunyun: "This concubine greets the Third Prince's Consort."
Si Yunyun paused slightly, recalling what the palace maid had told her earlier: when the Third Prince had just come of age, Lin Jiao'er, the illegitimate daughter of the official in charge of the ceremony, was given to him as a concubine. For the two years after the Third Prince established his own residence, she had been helping him manage the affairs of the residence.
According to the customs of the Great Southern Kingdom, if a concubine enters the household before the wife, she is to serve tea to the wife at this time and hand over the household's account books, sacrificial books, and other items to the wife.
Si Yunyun glanced at the package and saw that the other party had brought the tea, but neither the account book nor the sacrificial book was there, clearly indicating that they were there to show off.
She didn't react, but smiled gently and said, "Thank you, little sister."
Merchants in the south had a lowly status, and even the illegitimate daughter of a ritual official dared to challenge her.
If she is angered by such petty tricks upon first entering the Prince's residence, her future will be bleak.
Si Yunyun raised her hand to take the tea from Lin Jiao'er, but the other person pulled away a step too quickly, and the teacup crashed to the ground with a "bang," shattering into pieces. The warm tea splashed up and wet her skirt.
Si Yunyun frowned, about to say something, when she saw the person kneel down with a thud, her eyes instantly filled with tears, crying out, "Sister, I'm sorry, I know I entered the manor before you and spent more time with the Third Prince, but don't worry, I will never covet the position of Imperial Concubine, please don't be angry."
Lin Jiao'er cried so hard that her face was streaked with tears, and I felt sorry for her.
Si Yunyun sneered inwardly upon seeing this.
Ha, such a low-level tactic, they actually used it on me.
She had just looked up and saw Zhou Junsong behind the door. She realized that this woman was deliberately acting, pretending to be weak, trying to frame her.
It's a pity that she had already seen countless instances of this kind of tearful framing while helping her father manage his family's shop.
She sat up straight and said, "Sister, what are you saying? You've worked so hard for two years, relieving His Highness's worries for me. I'm so grateful. But how come you're so clumsy at such a young age? You can't even hold a teacup when serving tea! You must have been working too hard!"
"Cuizhu." Si Yunyun looked at Cuizhu, "Go to Linniang's room as soon as possible tomorrow morning and bring back the account books, sacrificial documents, and so on. Don't let your younger sister work so hard anymore."
Cuizhu was also perceptive. Seeing that her master had exposed Lin Jiao'er's little schemes in just a few words and slapped her in the face, she couldn't help but feel smug. She bowed and said with a smile, "Yes."
Lin Jiao'er was about to say something when a gentle male voice came from behind her: "What you say is very true, Madam."
Zhou Junsong wore a dark gold wedding robe, which was much more elaborate than Zhou Yanqing's simple and casual one. The hem of the robe even hung down to the ground, making him look even thinner.
"Mrs. Lin has been working hard for a long time and deserves a rest. Tomorrow, please send the household account books and official seal to Madam."
Lin Niang?
Lin Jiao'er couldn't believe what she had heard. Although Zhou Junsong hadn't looked at her properly many times before Si Yunyun entered the house, he would still call her Jiao'er when they met or had meals together.
At this moment, she only politely referred to herself as Lin Niang. Could it be that this merchant's daughter really possessed some kind of bewitching art that had him so bewitched?
“Your Highness, I have been in charge of the affairs of the household for many years and I am experienced. There is no need to trouble my sister.”
Lin Jiao'er still wanted to try.
After all, the official seal and account books are the symbol of the lady of the house. As long as she keeps them, she will still have a chance to become the third prince's wife.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com