"Madam, Madam, something terrible has happened! Minister Li's wife has brought people to cause trouble at our door! The Princess Consort is summoning you!"
Jiang Yuwei had just finished drawing the layout of the mechanism when she heard Wang Ma anxiously banging on the door. Jiang Yuwei frowned, quickly put away the drawing, and opened the door.
"Wang Ma, don't rush. Who did the Li family bring with them right now?"
Wang Ma wiped the cold sweat from her forehead.
"Li Huarong's biological mother, Madam Meng, came with her elder sister, Princess Qi, saying they wanted to seek justice for Li Huarong. Now Li Huarong is causing trouble at home, refusing to eat or drink and threatening to go on a hunger strike."
Jiang Yuwei raised her eyebrows, pondered for a moment, and said:
"Given my current status, it's indeed inappropriate for me to interfere in the Jing Prince's family affairs. I can only offer suggestions from the sidelines. Right now, we need to ask the First Madam to have a proper discussion with them. Let's go to Madam Sun's courtyard and invite her!"
Upon hearing this, Wang Ma spoke with a worried expression.
"But the Princess Consort sent me to invite you over. So, can the First Madam accomplish this?"
Jiang Yuwei smiled faintly.
"The First Madam is quite good at arguing, so you don't need to worry about that. It just depends on whether she's willing to step in and help."
With that, Jiang Yuwei led the way, quickly heading towards the Sun family's courtyard.
The two quickly arrived at Madam Sun's courtyard, where they saw Madam Sun holding Ningxin and playing with a bird. When she looked up and saw Jiang Yuwei, her face immediately turned cold.
What are you doing here?
Just as Madam Sun was about to say something more, she noticed that Wang Ma, who was following Jiang Yuwei, had also entered the courtyard. She immediately changed her expression and smiled:
"Wang Ma, what brings you here too?"
Jiang Yuwei smiled and said:
"Now the First Madam still has the leisure to play with birds here, while the Princess is being besieged by the Li family in front, and you don't even go to see her?"
Upon hearing this, Madam Sun quickly handed Ningxin, whom she was holding, to the maid beside her and asked Wang Ma:
"Wang Ma, what exactly is going on?"
Wang Ma glanced at Jiang Yuwei, then said with a troubled expression:
“Right now, Li Huarong’s mother has come to our manor to cause trouble. The princess can’t stand her sharp tongue. I have no other choice but to ask the madam to go to the front to take a look.”
Sun looked at Jiang Yuwei suspiciously.
"Why is Jiang Yuwei here too?"
Wang Ma gave a wry smile.
"I'm not thinking that having more people means more power; wouldn't it be good if Madam Jiang could be a witness?"
Sun glared at Jiang Yuwei before nodding and saying:
"Come on, take me to the front and see what tricks Madam Meng has up her sleeve!"
Upon hearing this, Jiang Yuwei clapped her hands and cheered behind Madam Sun:
"It is the First Madam who has to step up in critical moments. Today, the Princess Consort has witnessed the First Madam's virtues, and she will surely love the First Branch even more in the future."
Upon hearing this, Madam Sun was secretly delighted. Today, she was determined to show the Princess how she could stand up for the Prince's Mansion on her own. She didn't care about Madam Meng or Madam Zhang; with the Prince's Mansion backing her up, she feared no one.
As the three of them approached the reception hall, they heard Madam Meng wailing and crying out:
"Oh dear, my beautiful face is so unfortunate! It's all my fault, why did I have to choose such a marriage for you after so much searching? My beautiful face, sob sob..."
Before Madam Meng could finish speaking, Madam Sun stormed in. She first bowed to the Princess, who was seated in the superior position, then turned and glared at Madam Meng, cursing:
"Whose shrew is this, daring to come to our Prince Jing's residence to wail at a funeral!"
Upon hearing this, the princess sitting above was stunned for a few seconds, and then secretly glanced at the darkening face of the princess sitting next to her.
However, the princess did not want to speak up to stop her. At the moment, Madam Meng's shrewish behavior really needed someone like Madam Sun to teach her a lesson. So the princess pretended to be stupid and started drinking tea.
Madam Meng was, after all, the principal wife of a high-ranking official. She had never been treated like this before. Seeing that Madam Sun dared to be so disrespectful to her, she immediately got up and went to slap Madam Sun's face.
Madam Sun dodged in a flash, grabbed Madam Meng's wrist, and flung her backward. Madam Meng landed on her bottom and began to wail.
"Ouch, ouch, it hurts so much! You country bumpkin, how dare you hit me?"
Madam Sun snorted coldly and sat down in her seat, glancing sideways at Madam Meng as she spoke:
"Madam Meng, please don't make trouble. Just now, you were the one who tried to hit me, and I only raised my hand to block it. Who knew you were so weak?"
Seeing her younger sister being bullied, Princess Qi, who was sitting above, could no longer bear it. She quickly got up to help Madam Meng, and said with dissatisfaction:
"Princess Jing, you spoil these juniors too much. How can you hit people like that? We came here today to discuss the marriage of our two children. Aren't you afraid that I will spread the word about this?"
Jiang Yuwei sneered upon hearing this.
"Princess Qi is really joking. We all saw it clearly just now. It was Madam Meng who struck the First Madam first. Now you're turning the tables on Madam Meng."
Jiang Yuwei paused for a moment and then continued:
"I don't think it's Princess Jing who spoils the younger generation, but Princess Qi who spoils her younger sister. Now that the engagement between your two families has been dissolved, it's still disgraceful for you to come here like this. If others find out, they will only say that your Li family's daughter can't get married and is trying to cling to the young master."
Upon hearing this, Madam Meng's face flushed with anger, and she pointed at Jiang Yuwei, scolding:
"You, you're talking nonsense!"
Princess Qi, standing to the side, also spoke up with a dark expression:
"Who do you think you are, daring to speak to me like that? You're just a mere general's wife. Now that the Princess Consort of Jing is treating you as an honored guest, do you really not know your place?"
At this moment, fearing that Jiang Yuwei would steal her thunder in front of the princess, Madam Sun quickly stood up and said:
“I think Madam Jiang was right just now. Your Li family’s daughters are heartless and rotten and can’t get married. Now they’ve latched onto our young master.”
As she spoke, Madam Sun turned to look at Princess Qi.
"If you really like your niece that much, why not just let her marry your son? That way, you won't have to keep her like a hot potato, tossing her around like this!"
Upon hearing this, Princess Qi's face stiffened. Although she did feel sorry for her niece Hua Rong, Hua Rong was a girl from the Jing Prince's mansion whose engagement had been broken off.
If we were to let our son marry into the Qi Prince's household now, wouldn't the Qi Prince's household become the laughing stock of the nobles in the capital?
Thinking this, Princess Qi unconsciously shook her head.
Madam Meng was startled by what Madam Sun had said. She realized that she still had the option of being Princess Qi as a fallback. Just as she was about to look up at her sister, she saw her sister frowning and shaking her head.
So Madam Meng knew she had no way out and, wanting to secure a good future for her daughter, she had no choice but to throw a tantrum here today.
Thinking this, Madam Meng broke free from Princess Qi's grasp, lay on the ground, and cried out incessantly:
"I can't live like this! The Prince Jing's mansion is trying to force my daughter and me to our deaths!"
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