Chapter 149
Extra: The people in Jiurui Palace
Shen Jin didn't expect that the next time she heard news about Shen Zi was when she was about to die. Shen Zi was slightly older than her, and was only 26 now. Looking at the maid kneeling on the ground, Shen Jin said, "I know."
The maid looked unfamiliar to Shen Jin, and she was not very old. It seemed that Shen Zi had just placed her by her side in recent years. Thinking about it, Shen Jin felt that she could not remember what Shen Zi looked like. At that time, when she was choosing a queen for Chu Xiuyuan, Shen Jin had seen Shen Zi, but Shen Zi at that time made Shen Jin feel too unfamiliar. What impressed her most was the beautiful girl in red.
Shen Jin didn't like Shen Zi, so naturally he didn't feel sad or upset because of Shen Zi's affairs. Instead, he felt a little disappointed. Seeing the little maid's panic, Shen Jin didn't want to embarrass such a child, so he said, "Anping, take her downstairs to eat some fruit."
The little maid bit her lip, knelt on the ground and kowtowed, saying, "Madam, please go and see my wife, just... just let my wife pass away more comfortably." After saying that, she could no longer hold back her tears.
Shen Jin glanced at An Ping, who stepped forward to help the little maid up and said, "Don't cry, I'll take you downstairs to wash up and have some fruit."
After the maid went down, Aunt Zhao asked in a low voice, "Madam, are you ready to intervene?"
Shen Jin said, "Have someone send that maid to Mother and ask her."
From what the little maid said, Shen Zi was probably not living well in the Zheng family. Now she was about to die without even the last bit of dignity. According to Shen Jin's status, she was not afraid of offending the Zheng family, so it didn't matter whether they cared about her or not. However, Shen Zi was, after all, a girl from the Rui Palace. Although the Rui Prince said that he would not recognize her and would not let her enter the Rui Palace, her background remained unchanged. If it was really as the little maid said, and she had even lost the last bit of dignity, the Rui Palace would have to take care of her. It was not about Shen Zi's life or death, but the face of the Rui Palace.
Sure enough, not long after, the maidservant beside Princess Rui came over. She not only brought some newly made cakes from the palace, game newly sent from Princess Rui's farm, but also conveyed Princess Rui's intention that the Rui Palace would not intervene in this matter, and asked Shen Jin and Shen Qi to go there and let them deal with it.
In fact, this matter is really not suitable for the Rui Palace to intervene. Not to mention the ability of the Rui Prince, the entanglement between Shen Zi and Shen Jin is not good if it is not light or serious. It is better to let Shen Qi and Shen Jin come forward directly, with Shen Jin's opinion as the main one. It all depends on how Shen Jin wants to deal with them.
Both of them were aware of this. Shen Jin felt that it would be bad if things were delayed, so he made an appointment with Shen Zi and let the little maid temporarily live with Shen Zi. After Chu Xiuming knew about this, he just asked about the time and didn't say anything more. However, he did specially arrange guards and maids to prevent Shen Jin from being disturbed when he went to Zheng's house.
The Zheng family is also a noble family, but their descendants are incompetent, and until now they can only barely maintain the face of the family. However, the Zheng family is still particular about everything, and every girl who marries into the Zheng family has a dowry of ten miles. But how much of that dowry is left now?
Shen Jin and Shen Qi's carriage stopped at the gate of Zheng Mansion. Shen Jin looked up at the plaque of Zheng Mansion. The current prosperity of Zheng Mansion was more or less supported by Shen Zi's dowry, but what was Shen Zi's end?
Even if Shen Zi had a thousand faults, she had done nothing wrong towards the Zheng family. Even if there were many grudges between them, they were between sisters and had nothing to do with the Zheng family. Shen Zi ended up like this, and Shen Qi couldn't help feeling a little disappointed.
Shen Jin, on the other hand, didn't have any idea. This was a path that Shen Zi had chosen herself. Princess Rui had given Shen Zi other choices at the beginning, but unfortunately Shen Zi thought that Princess Rui was trying to harm her, so she insisted on choosing the Zheng family as her marriage partner. However, she didn't know that with Shen Zi's personality, marrying into such a family would be a punishment.
Looking at Madam Zheng and others at the door, Shen Jin turned his head and glanced at Shen Qi. Shen Qi also calmed down and there was no emotion on his face.
Shen Qi and Shen Jin both had imperial edicts on them, so everyone in the Zheng family had to kneel to welcome them. Shen Jin glanced at Old Madam Zheng, then walked in with Shen Qi and their companions. After everyone entered, the accompanying maids asked everyone to stand up. Old Madam Zheng was already quite old, and she was helped by her personal maid to stand steadily. "Mother-in-law, look..." the eldest daughter-in-law, who was standing next to Old Madam Zheng, asked in a low voice.
Madam Zheng's face turned pale. Upon hearing this, she just glanced at her eldest daughter-in-law and shook her head slightly. As far as she knew, Shen Zi had long severed ties with the Rui Palace, and had a very bad relationship with sisters like Shen Qi and Shen Jin. Otherwise, they would not dare to treat Shen Zi like this. But now Shen Qi and Shen Jin suddenly visited and showed their power right away. It seemed that it would not be easy to resolve the issue. However, if they really pursued the matter, the worst that could happen was that the bitch would be handed over to the Rui Palace for disposal.
Shen Qi and Shen Jin had no intention of talking to the Zheng family at all. The little maid who was sent by Shen Zi to ask for help led everyone to the courtyard where Shen Zi was.
After all, the Zheng Mansion had once been glorious, and it had not yet fallen into complete decline. The house was quite large, but unfortunately some places looked desolate due to disrepair.
The courtyard where Shen Zi lived was extremely remote. Not to mention rockery, flowing water, flowers, plants and stones, it was simply overgrown with weeds. Shen Qi had never seen such a scene before and her brows were furrowed. In fact, it was because the two of them came so suddenly. If they had sent a visiting card in advance, the Zheng family would probably have found another place for Shen Zi to live and would not have let Shen Jin and the others see such a scene.
Shen Qi glared at the Zheng family members behind him and sneered, "The Zheng family... is really eye-opening." Shen Qi's voice was gentle, without any anger in it, "I remember that Shen Zi was not expelled." No matter what the attitude of the Rui Palace is, as long as Shen Zi is not expelled, then Shen Zi is the princess of the Rui Palace.
As soon as these words were spoken, Old Madam Zheng broke out in a cold sweat, and everyone in the Zheng Mansion turned pale.
After Shen Qi said this, he said no more and followed Shen Jin into the courtyard. The little maid was already in tears. She didn't know about the dispute between Shen Zi and Shen Qi. In her opinion, they were all princesses of Prince Rui's Mansion, but Shen Zi's life was really miserable.
Just as Madam Zheng and others were about to enter the courtyard, they were stopped by the guards at the door. Those people had no intention of explaining, but just looked at the Zheng family with cold eyes. The Zheng family members looked at each other, feeling even more uneasy.
As soon as Shen Jin and Shen Qi entered the house, they smelled a strange odor. Even Shen Jin couldn't help frowning. The room was a little damp. Because of Shen Zi's illness, the windows were not opened. There was also a maid serving in the room, but she was not attentive. When she suddenly saw so many people, she became confused and didn't know what to do. She was originally a servant in the Zheng Mansion. If she had some background, she would not be placed here.
Shen Qi's maid stopped the old woman, and she didn't need to do anything as several people started to clean up. Shen Qi looked at the sick and pale Shen Zi, sighed and said, "Please call Doctor Chen." Since they already knew that Shen Zi was seriously ill, they naturally brought a doctor this time, but he waited outside and did not come in.
"Yes." The maid quickly brought in Doctor Chen. After Doctor Chen bowed, he said nothing and went straight to diagnose Shen Zi.
After this noise, Shen Zi barely opened her eyes and looked at Shen Jin while panting, "Ha..." Her voice was hoarse and unpleasant.
The little maid quickly poured the water, waited for Shen Zi to drink it and said, "Madam."
When Shen Zi heard the voice, his eyes moved and he looked at the little maid. She had fallen from the clouds to the bottom of the valley, and in the end she was the only one willing to stay with her. He lowered his eyes slightly and drank a few sips of water. This time he had to find a future for this maid. She was not a kind-hearted person and might be dying, so he felt pity for her.
Shen Jin didn't say anything. After Doctor Chen finished his diagnosis, he looked at him. Doctor Chen whispered, "I am not very knowledgeable..." The implication was that Shen Zi could not be saved and was just waiting for the day.
"Please prescribe the medicine first." Shen Jin said.
“Yes.” Doctor Chen first asked someone to boil the ginseng soup, and then went downstairs to get the herbs and boil them.
Shen Zi didn't have the energy to say more, and Shen Jin and Shen Qi didn't know what to say. The room fell silent for a moment. The maid quickly tidied up the room, replaced the cold water with hot tea, and replaced the tattered tea sets with their own. The lights in the room were turned on, and it became brighter.
Soon someone brought over the ginseng soup. The little maidservant had not dared to say anything, but now she quickly took it and fed it to Shen Zi. It was not known whether it was due to the long rest or the effect of the ginseng, but Shen Zi's complexion had improved a lot. In fact, the reason why Shen Zi became like this was purely because he was dragged down. If he had been well taken care of earlier, this would not have happened.
Shen Zi was helped by the maid to sit up. Shen Jin noticed that Shen Zi's clothes were the same ones she wore in the Rui Palace before she got married. Now they were not only no longer shiny, but even the edges were frizzy. Her hair was only tied up with a cloth ribbon, and she didn't have a single piece of jewelry on her body. "I am not willing to be reduced to this day."
Shen Jin asked, "What do you want us to do for you?"
Shen Zi gritted his teeth and said, "I will destroy the Zheng family and pay me back a hundredfold."
Shen Qi sighed and said nothing. Shen Zi looked at Shen Jin and said, "Lend me a few people."
"Yeah." Shen Jin agreed, and he vaguely understood what Shen Zi wanted to do.
Shen Zi's face was distorted as he said directly, "Come here, take Aunt Mei..." He mentioned several names in succession, including concubines, servants, stewards, and maids, "all of them are beaten to death."
The maid looked at Shen Jin, and when Shen Jin nodded, she went outside to pass on the message. Soon, she heard the sound of crying and begging for mercy outside, followed by wailing. The maid respectfully asked, "Madam, do you want to keep your mouth shut?"
Shen Jin looked at Shen Zi, who grinned and said, "I want to hear them die."
Shen Qi frowned slightly, knowing that Shen Zi hated him very much. She was the type of person who would never let go of any flaws, and now that she knew her end was near, she had no scruples. However, judging from what the Zheng family had done, these servants dared to humiliate the daughter of the royal family, they deserved to die.
A strong smell of blood came from outside the house, and the wailing lasted for half an hour before all the people Shen Zi mentioned were beaten to death, and their bodies were piled aside.
Shen Zi was abnormally excited. When he stopped making any sound, he coughed up blood. The maid was frightened and poured water for Shen Zi to rinse his mouth. Shen Zi coughed a few times and said, "Take my dowry away. I would rather die than stay in the Zheng family. I want to divorce him."
"That's right." Shen Qi said.
Shen Zi looked at Shen Qi, "I want to take this little maid... and this old woman with me." The old woman was clumsy, but she took care of her very carefully. She had been bullied a lot because of her. The Zheng family was doomed, and Shen Zi didn't want to see them suffer.
Shen Qi nodded and said, "Okay."
Shen Zi lowered his eyes slightly and placed his hand on the little maid's hand, "I won't go back to the Rui Palace, just find me a farm."
Shen Qi wanted to persuade her again, but heard Shen Jin say, "Okay." Shen Zifeng had married in such a grand manner, and with her pride, how could she be willing to go back in such a miserable state.
"Thank you." Shen Zi might really be going to die. He suddenly felt much clearer. Thinking of all the grudges in the past, he felt it was pathetic and ridiculous. After saying the word "thank you", Shen Zi closed his eyes and stopped talking.
Shen Qi sighed, took out the dowry list that Princess Rui had sent earlier and handed it directly to a maid. He then ordered someone to get a carriage and arranged for people to carry Shen Zi onto the carriage. He had no intention of meeting the Zheng family at all. He just left guards to help the maid collect the dowry and ordered the Zheng family to return the dowry within three days.
With the face of the Rui Palace, although it was unreasonable, the divorce was still handled. The Zheng family had spent all the dowry long ago, and some of it had been given away. All that could be taken back was taken back, and those that could not be taken back were directly exchanged for silver. For this reason, the Zheng family even sold the ancestral property of the sacrificial fields to make up for the loss.
Shen Zi's death was silent. When the maid went to serve Shen Zi the next morning, she found that Shen Zi was dead. However, the maid and the old woman had already made arrangements for their escape.
To others, Shen Zi was not good in every way, but to the little maid, Shen Zi was the best. Looking at the little maid crying and heartbroken, Shen Qi felt melancholy, "After all, there was someone who really shed tears because of her death."
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