After saying that, Prince Jing turned and left, completely ignoring how angry Consort Zhao was behind him.
This time when her son came back, she had no intention of letting him go back.
During the previous power struggle, although she did not approve of her son going to the border, she fortunately gained the trust of the current emperor.
With a bright future ahead, she naturally wants to find a way to stay in the capital, secure greater benefits for herself, and help her maternal clan in the future.
Unexpectedly, he has turned against me for the sake of a woman, and even said he is going to the border and will rarely come back in the future.
How can this be?
She went to great lengths to raise this one son, how could he possibly escape her control?
She absolutely will not allow it!
After returning, Prince Jing instructed his men to pack their belongings. Once the cooperation with the Eastern Court was finalized, he would set off with the Third Prince of the Eastern Court, which would also help prevent any unrest from the Eastern Court.
In this way, the emperor would remember his contribution, and if his mother caused any trouble in the future, the emperor might give her a break out of consideration for him.
That's all he could do for his mother.
After leaving the palace, Prince Jing went directly to the Lu family. The servants of the Lu family said that Jiang Jiuniang was asleep, but Prince Jing didn't care. He just sat outside and waited for her to wake up. He was determined to see her today.
Jiang Jiuniang slept quite soundly and didn't wake up until evening. It was dinnertime, and she was hungry, so she didn't linger in bed. After getting up, she asked, "Has the General returned?"
"Not yet, but His Highness Prince Jing has been waiting outside for Madam for almost two hours."
While helping her tidy her clothes, Yue Shu reported to her.
The general recently instructed that nothing is more important than the lady's sleep, and no matter what happens, the lady's sleep must not be disturbed. In any case, Prince Jing is willing to wait, so they should just let the lady sleep until she wakes up naturally, as usual.
Jiang Jiuniang didn't react much when she learned that Prince Jing had come to see her. Instead, she thought that since Lu Baichuan hadn't returned yet and they couldn't eat for the time being, she might as well take this opportunity to see Prince Jing.
So, she went to see Prince Jing while munching on an apple.
Prince Jing was sitting there dejectedly, lost in thought. The tea in front of him was still steaming, probably just changed by a maid.
"What brings Your Highness here to see me?"
Jiang Jiuniang was quite curious. If nothing unexpected happened, he should be interrogating someone, verifying something, or going to apologize to Miss Mei. In any case, he couldn't possibly be coming to see her.
"I came here specifically to thank you."
Upon seeing her enter, Prince Jing stood up, but instead of displaying the aura of a prince, he resembled a defeated rooster, hanging his head and looking utterly pathetic.
Why are you thanking me?
Jiang Jiuniang raised an eyebrow. She said she came to thank her, but she didn't actually bring any gifts!
"If you hadn't sent people to protect her secretly, something terrible would have happened."
Prince Jing's tone was somber, and he was in a truly bad mood. Even though he knew that Jiang Jiuniang was pregnant, and he couldn't keep wearing a gloomy face and inviting bad luck, he really couldn't smile right now.
"You knew all along that my mother didn't like her, didn't you?"
"It wasn't early; I found out by chance on the day of the banquet. Consort Zhao made no attempt to hide it, saying in front of many people that Miss Mei was using tricks on you, showing no regard for her reputation as a young lady. Hasn't Your Highness heard anything about this?"
Jiang Jiuniang looked at him and saw that he looked completely bewildered, so she knew that she was talking to a brick wall.
Sure enough, Prince Jing shook his head; he truly didn't know.
When he arrived, he heard Mei Lanyi say that she didn't like him. He was so angry that he didn't care about anything else and took her away. He lost all interest in having a banquet and went to drink alone. He didn't even remember that Lu Baichuan sent someone to tell him a message.
"You see, you don't like her either, Your Highness. Let this matter rest, let yourself go, and let Miss Mei go too."
Jiang Jiuniang chuckled self-deprecatingly, knowing that cutting losses in time is an age-old principle.
But Prince Jing was unconvinced and stubbornly asked, "How can I not like her? If I didn't like her, would I have done so much for her?"
Jiang Jiuniang rolled her eyes, a classic example of a beautiful woman speechless.
Fortunately, the conversation had been brought up, and Jiang Jiuniang still wanted him to be a sensible person, so she said, "Your Highness, ask yourself honestly, of all the things you've done for Miss Mei, has any of them been for her good? Haven't you been doing things your own way all along, without ever considering Miss Mei's feelings?"
"You know how important a young woman's reputation is in this era. You and Consort Zhao have repeatedly damaged a young woman's reputation like this. Is this what you call 'love'?"
"Such an obvious thing happened at the banquet. A simple investigation would have revealed the truth, yet you never suspected anyone else. All you thought about was that Miss Mei publicly said she didn't like you, making you lose face in front of everyone. So you disregarded everything and took her away in public. Wasn't that also a form of revenge?"
...
These incidents, one by one, are the reasons why Jiang Jiuniang was so angry that she couldn't sleep after returning from the banquet.
Prince Jing and his mother are simply going too far.
Prince Jing was speechless for a moment. It was undeniable that although what Jiang Jiuniang said was aggressive, it did hit the darkest spots in his mind.
Especially on the day of the banquet, when he took her away in front of everyone, he was thinking of revenge, even maliciously wanting people to see them entangled in public, so that she would be bound to him and she could never get rid of him.
The things I did were only for my own benefit; I never considered her feelings.
So, you don't actually like her, right?
That's not entirely true. He really treats her differently from other women. He's arrogant and rude, but she's well-educated, speaks gently, and is even cute when she's angry. It makes him want to get closer to her and tease her.
He liked her, but he liked her in the wrong way.
He couldn't force her to like him, nor did he want to force himself not to like her.
So, that's it.
"I will no longer bother her, nor will I give my mother the opportunity to lay a hand on him. I'm going back now."
He left dejectedly, but there was another thought he didn't say: he planned to send a group of people to secretly protect Mei Lanyi until she got married.
Yes, to marry someone and become a wife.
He couldn't make her like him, nor could he stop her from marrying someone else.
If you can't give her what she wants, you can't stop others from giving it to her.
Jiang Jiuniang watched his departing figure, unsure of what to say for a moment.
Prince Jing faces not only his own problems, but also the problems of his surrounding environment.
His family situation is neither as harmonious as Lu Baichuan's nor as simple as Qin Jian's. If it's not handled properly, no girl would have a good time.
However, he estimates it will take him a long time to recover from this.
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