Chapter 220
Chapter 218: A Battle in the Prince’s Manor Inner Residence
Zheng Jia’er threw a fit at the gate.
Because she delayed them, only Wang Jun entered the manor at the proper time. The other three all arrived late and missed the hour.
Prince Yong never showed up.
His Chief Steward, Tao Bo, looked very kind, but his attitude was extremely firm. He said: “If you will not use the side gate, then go back home.”
Zheng Jia’er’s old maidservant who had come with her dowry rather wanted to go back first.
Entering through this side gate meant nothing but humiliation.
But at this moment, Zheng Jia’er changed her mind. She heard that Wang Jun had already gone into the manor, and that Cui Zheng Lan and Pei Yu were also waiting to enter. She could not leave.
If she left now, she would completely lose her chance.
Zheng Jia’er had always admired Prince Yong. Only by stepping into this estate first could she fight for the chance to become his Principal Wife. If she left today, every bridge and path ahead would probably be cut off.
“We go in first,” she said.
Zheng Jia’er entered first, Cui Zheng Lan followed behind her, and Pei Yu went in last.
Nanny Shi arranged quarters for the four of them.
She brought four stewardesses from the Inner Residence, settled each of them one by one, and had their dowry maidservants directly assigned to their own courtyards.
Each of them had a small courtyard of her own, with the courtyard walls connected.
Each courtyard had a main house of three rooms with small side rooms on the left and right, and four side rooms to the east and west.
Prince Yong’s manor was huge, so each of their courtyards also took up a large area, almost as big as the main house in an ordinary noble household. The walls were newly built, and the furniture was complete.
Each Secondary Consort’s courtyard had its own name.
Pei Yu was the last to enter the manor, so her courtyard was near the rear garden and farthest from the main residence. Cui Zheng Lan’s courtyard was separated from the back rooms of the main residence by only a small pond.
There was even a bridge over the little pond. From the gate of her courtyard, she could walk straight to the back door of the main residence.
Luo Ning had specially instructed that this courtyard be reserved for her.
Zheng Jia’er still wanted to make a scene, but this time Cui Zheng Lan ignored her.
The two dowry maidservants who had come with Cui Zheng Lan had dark skin and were very tall. When they stood there, they looked even more fierce than household guards, and they directly scared Zheng Jia’er and her maidservants back.
“Where did she find maidservants like that?” Zheng Jia’er was stunned.
“They must have been given to her by her uncle,” Zheng Jia’er’s maidservant said.
“Then I can ask my third uncle too. Which family does not have military power?” Zheng Jia’er said.
There was some movement in Pei Yu’s and Wang Jun’s courtyards. People often came out to speak with Nanny Shi and the others, asking about small matters.
For example, they asked where they should go to see the Prince or the Princess Consort.
Zheng Jia’er’s courtyard was the noisiest. You could even hear her scolding her maidservants.
Only Cui Zheng Lan’s courtyard was silent. Even the maidservants walked quietly. Nobody spoke; everyone just did her own work honestly.
Luo Ning sat in the main residence, listening as Nanny Shi came in and out to report.
“Each Secondary Consort brought four maidservants and four dowry maids into the manor. The rest are their own dowry people. Counting by the standards for a young lady’s marriage, it comes to sixty-four sedan chairs,” Nanny Shi said.
There was a written list for the dowry, but how much private property they had was unknown. Those were all silver notes hidden at the bottom of their trunks, not shown to others.
“Princess Consort, people from Secondary Consort Zheng came to ask where the Prince will sleep tonight,” Nanny Shi said.
As she spoke, she herself felt a little embarrassed.
Zheng Jia’er was really overbearing and aggressive and very hard to deal with. Among the dowry maids around her, two were stewardesses who did not look like good people at all.
For some reason, Nanny Shi felt a little afraid.
“Send a young maidservant to tell Secondary Consort Zheng that now that she has entered the manor, she should behave herself and must not make a fuss. As for anything else, do not say a word,” Luo Ning said.
Nanny Shi answered at once.
After all the busy running around and noise, this matter had spread all over Shengjing City by evening.
The Luo family of the Marquis of Zhen Nan’s manor also heard the news.
Luo Chong Ye even told the Old Madam: “A’Ning is going to make enemies. If she does not persuade the Prince, he will probably offend all these great noble families!”
The Old Madam looked displeased. She said: “The Prince is not afraid. What are you afraid of?”
“Mother, I am afraid those prestigious clans will take their anger out on us. Isn’t the Duke of Qin’s manor still planning to form a marriage tie with our family?” Luo Chong Ye said.
The Old Madam said: “What marriage tie? I have never heard of it.”
“Mother…” Luo Chong Ye said.
“Your madam has only gone back to Yuhang, and the formal notice of death has not even been sent back yet. What marriage are you talking about? At a time like this, who are you going to send into mourning seclusion? A’Ning?” the Old Madam pressed him.
Although a married daughter’s level of mourning was lower than that of an unmarried girl, there was still a one-year mourning period.
During the mourning period, she could not become pregnant. If the Princess Consort lost a whole year like that, her path ahead would be difficult.
After being scolded by the Old Madam, Luo Chong Ye put aside his plans for the moment.
He was still afraid.
The Old Madam hated his attitude so much that her teeth itched. She said: “The Prince is not afraid of what he is doing, so what are you afraid of?”
“After all, I am the Prince’s wife’s family. I am afraid others will take revenge,” Luo Chong Ye said.
“You are now a Lord Marquis and also the father-in-law of a prince of the blood. You must not be as timid as a rat,” the Old Madam said.
Luo Chong Ye went out.
Zheng Jia’er’s father, a titled Duke of the Realm, smashed a teacup. He wanted to enter the palace and see the Emperor to complain in person, saying that Prince Yong did not respect His Majesty and was treating the Secondary Consorts appointed by His Majesty as mere concubines.
Unfortunately, the Palace Gate was tightly closed today and no one could go in. The Emperor had not even held Morning Court, which meant that he was sick again.
How serious his illness was, no one could say.
Wang Jun’s father, the Marquis of Jian Ning, was also angry.
“…I told you we could not marry off a legitimate daughter for this, but you would not listen,” Madam Wang was also furious and about to lose her temper.
The Marquis of Jian Ning felt that she understood nothing. He said: “Do not speak carelessly.”
Wang Tang Yao sat to the side.
His right arm had not fully recovered; it was only seventy or eighty percent better. He was still training, and it might take another year or so to heal completely.
“Prince Yong has always been harsh. Even the Emperor and the Empress Dowager cannot do anything about him. This arranged marriage was a foolish move. It would be more frightening if he did not strike back.
Now he is acting like a crude brute. The Censorate will scold him fiercely again. I guess the Emperor will only be so angry and will not stand up for us.
Brother, we have lost face for sure. There is nothing more to say,” Wang Tang Yao said slowly, speaking word by word.
The Marquis of Jian Ning said: “Prince Yong is very cunning. How is he a mere brute?”
“The more arrogant he is, the happier the Emperor is. We are suffering in vain,” Wang Tang Yao said.
They had walked right into a beating and humiliation.
All the commoners under heaven would surely laugh at their families over this.
But in his heart, Wang Tang Yao was thinking: [All the Secondary Consorts have entered the manor, but what about Prince Yong’s Principal Consort? This time, did she help Prince Yong come up with these plans?]
He could not forget how, in the secret chamber where the light was very dim, Luo Ning had rested her head on human bones.
That scene had even entered his dreams.
Even though four months had passed, when Wang Tang Yao thought of it, it was still terribly clear.
He even remembered her expressionless face in that moment. It was plainly clean, yet more eerie and vivid than a mural painted with cinnabar.
In the Pei family, the Grand Princess Jia Hong also heard the news.
She said to Pei Ying: “Sooner or later A’Ning will not be able to stand it and will leave the Prince’s Manor. Maybe she will be willing to go back to Shaoyang with you.”
Pei Ying stayed silent.
Only a bamboo flute lay by his hand, and his heart felt just as empty.
While the others in the Pei family cursed Prince Yong, cursed the Emperor, and even cursed the Empress Dowager, Pei Ying and his mother only talked about Luo Ning.
The Grand Princess even said: “What are you so upset about? She only got married. She did not die.”
Pei Ying said nothing.
The Cui family had also not received the news in advance.
Cui Zheng Qing was called over by his parents and uncle and asked why he had helped hide it.
“I did not know. The Prince did not tell me,” Cui Zheng Qing said.
“Stop pretending. This matter has made us lose all face. We are the Empress Dowager’s maiden family,” his father said.
“When His Majesty came up with such a rotten idea, you should have spilled your blood on the Golden Hall and fiercely opposed it. You are his uncles. Your words carry weight.
That would have been the way to protect Madam Cui’s and the Empress Dowager’s dignity, not scolding me now for not sending you secret news ahead of time,” Cui Zheng Qing said.