The royal family's reputation is crumbling.
The late emperor was furious and issued three imperial edicts overnight.
A gift was given to the Zhang family, and their eldest daughter, Zhang, was betrothed to Shen Ce as his princess consort.
The gifts were given to the Ning family, and Ning Qiong was betrothed to Shen Ce as his concubine.
The last order was given to Shen Ce, commanding him to choose a date to marry the two new brides!
Three imperial edicts, three families—none of them were satisfied.
Zhang married Shen Ce as the principal wife as she wished. She didn’t care about the concubines. However, the concubines entered the household on the same day as her, which was a slap in the face to her and the Prime Minister’s mansion!
Ning Qiong married the man she loved as she wished, but she was not his only wife, but a concubine. Even though she had a thousand grievances, she endured it all for the sake of marrying Shen Ce.
Shen Ce was struck dumb. He had no connection with Zhang Shi at all, yet she had stolen his chance, forcing him to break his vow to Ning Qiong and wronging her. He was furious.
But the imperial decree had been issued, and the emperor's word was law; the three families had no choice but to begin preparing for the wedding.
There were strict royal regulations for the marriage of princes, with specific amounts of betrothal gifts and dowries for the principal wife and concubines.
Zhang thought she had outdone Ning Qiong in terms of betrothal gifts, but little did she know that Ning Wenyi was also holding his breath.
They directly used the dowry to give the Prime Minister's mansion a severe slap in the face.
Shen Ce did not back down. In addition to the Ning family's own dowry, he gave the Ning family a lot of extra good things, all of which were included in Ning Qiong's dowry.
On the day of the wedding ceremony, both families married off their daughters at the same time, and the dowries behind them stretched for dozens of miles, which was quite a grand occasion.
According to regulations, princes and their consorts are required to worship at the Heavenly Shrine and then return to their residences to pay homage to Heaven and Earth, while concubines are not required to do so.
Zhang was smug, thinking she had outdone Ning Qiong.
Little did they know that when they returned to their home to pay their respects to Heaven and Earth, they were not even allowed to enter the gate.
Because Ning Qiong's dowry had not been fully carried out, Shen Ce instructed that they could only go in to pay respects to heaven and earth after the dowry was completely carried out.
The master of ceremonies urged them repeatedly, and they were finally allowed to enter, but the auspicious time had already passed.
Shen Ce didn't care; he finished his prayers and left.
Zhang was so angry she almost vomited blood. Not only had she missed the auspicious time, but Ningqiong's dowry was also more than hers!
During the wedding ceremony, the guests whispered among themselves, discussing the Ning family's affairs and completely disregarding the Zhang family.
Later, on their wedding night, Shen Ce went to Ning Qiong's side, leaving the principal wife alone in her wedding night.
The next day, it was even rumored that Shen Ce and Ning Qiong had performed the wedding ceremony in their new house the night before, completing the rituals of marriage.
This made Zhang a laughingstock throughout the entire prince's residence.
The concubine was punished and caught a cold…
The concubine was punished by copying scriptures and family rules...
The concubine was forced to kneel and suffered a miscarriage…
The concubine and the principal wife got into a fight...
The concubine's maid stole something from the principal wife...
Various situations arise one after another, but each time there is a biased approach.
Later, when the late emperor passed away and Shen Ce ascended the throne, Zhang became empress and Ning Qiong became the head of the imperial concubines, thus beginning the real power struggle in the harem.
The more Shen Ce favored Ning Qiong, the more open and covert harm Ning Qiong suffered.
Gradually, many problems arose between Shen Ce and Ning Qiong. The injustices and persecution they suffered in the Prince's Mansion back then became an insurmountable chasm between them.
The two people who were once deeply in love have ended up like this.
Ning Wenyi harbored resentment, but as the emperor, what could he, as a subject, say?
Now that his beloved daughter has escaped that cage, unexpectedly, His Majesty has followed her, even abandoning the empire.
If this gets out, Ning Qiong will surely be cursed by the whole world.
Ning Wenyi would never let Ning Qiong take the blame again!
"It's good that you've made this trip. If His Majesty is indeed in Licheng, as his uncle, you must persuade him to return. This is of utmost importance. As for us common people, His Majesty need not worry about us!"
Shen Wei was amused upon hearing this; it seemed that this person harbored resentment towards His Majesty!
But thinking about it, it makes sense; His Majesty is acting too casually.
This is not the way to love a beautiful woman. You're even willing to abandon your ancestors and the country. How can that be allowed?
Shen Wei now strongly disagrees with Shen Ce's approach, little did he know that years later, this same problem would fall on his own son.
Thousands of miles away, in Licheng.
Ning Qiong was sent here more than a year ago.
The Ning family owned a manor outside Licheng, which they bought together when they sent Ning Qiong over.
The manor was later reinforced, with blueprints provided by Ning Yao. The manor was so solid that even an army would suffer heavy losses.
They even dug a deep well in the yard, just so that their family would have water to drink when drought struck.
In the spirit of keeping a low profile and ensuring safety, Ning Wenyi did not assign Ning Qiong many servants, only one maid and one servant boy to do chores.
For the first year after their arrival, the three of them, master and servant, learned how to make charcoal and store embers every day.
I bought some, burned some myself, and then stopped after a year.
He began to live a secluded life, doing everything himself and trying to avoid going out as much as possible, creating the appearance of an uninhabited manor.
During the time Ning Wenyi was stockpiling grain, he would also deliver grain to Licheng on time. Anything that Ning Yao asked him to stockpile, he would prepare a portion and send it to Licheng.
So much so that now, six months after the drought struck, this manor in Licheng is basically unnoticed.
Ning Qiong, along with her maids and servants, has been here for half a year.
"Miss, that person is outside again!" said the maid Zhihe.
Ning Qiong remained unfazed: "Never mind him. The sun is out today, let's air out the blankets so they'll be warmer tonight!"
To avoid attracting attention, Ning Qiong and her two companions lived a very simple life, rarely even lighting a fire.
Ning Qiong carried the quilt and walked out, with Zhihe following behind.
The master and servant aired out the quilts, and the servant Ning Shan came over and said that it was time to eat.
"Let's go."
The food was simple, but it was hot, so taking a bite warmed me up a bit.
Ning Qiong and the other two silently finished their simple meal and then began their day's practice.
In each letter, Ning Wenyi would send some blueprints, saying that they should practice with them to improve their health.
Ning Qiong listened and did as instructed, and after more than a year of persistence, her health did indeed improve significantly.
Otherwise, in the dead of winter, without the ability to light a fire for warmth and with poor food, she would have fallen ill long ago, given her health condition.
Although there is charcoal fire, it cannot be used too much, otherwise it will be easily discovered, and if it is used up, the person will not survive the winter.
After finishing her workout, Ning Qiong went back to her room, closed the door, and stopped paying attention to what was happening outside.
Zhihe and Ningshan exchanged glances, and Ningshan asked in a low voice, "Are you really not going to do anything about that person?"
Zhihe sighed, "Let's listen to Miss!"
Ning Shan fell silent.
Zhihe was the younger sister of Ningqiong's dowry maid. She died in place of Ningqiong because of palace intrigue.
When Ning Qiong set off for Licheng, she took Zhihe with her.
The people outside the manor waited for a long time, but no one came to open the door. They sighed and turned to leave.
Ning Shan breathed a sigh of relief when he realized the person had left.
They all knew who that person was. Although they couldn't decide, if the young lady said she wouldn't see him, then she wouldn't see him!
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