Chapter 399 The Imperial Edict from the Two Princes
That was Shao Jie’er, Second Miss of Duke Xing’s Mansion, who was a non-lineal daughter. They had met in the palace before.
The carriage of Duke Xing’s Mansion happened to be parked beside that of Qin’s Mansion. What a coincidence!
Standing beside Shao Jie’er was another Miss, Shao Caihuan, the lineal daughter of the third branch of Duke Xing’s Mansion. Qin Wanru also knew her.
There were three branches in Duke Xing’s Mansion. Shao Yunhao was the only one in the first branch now. In the second one, there was a lineal son and a lineal daughter, as well as a non-lineal daughter. And Shao Caihuan, now in front of her, was the lineal daughter of the third branch and was Third Miss of Duke Xing’s Mansion.
Shao Caihuan was very arrogant and she often looked up at others. Now, she saw that Shao Jie’er was still talking, so she became a little impatient and snorted. “Second Sister, can we go now?”
“Okay, okay, let’s go now. Third Sister, this is First Miss of Qin’s Mansion, the one that grandmother likes very much!” Shao Jie’er introduced her with a smile. She knew Shao Caihuan’s arrogant character, so she immediately said with a smile.
She was just a concubine’s daughter. Obviously, her status in the mansion could not be compared with Shao Caihuan’s.
“The one who smashed grandmother’s blood jade bangles in the street?” Shao Caihuan glanced at Qin Yuru’s face and said disdainfully.
Her words made Qin Yuru blush immediately. She heard some sneering sounds in a low voice and knew that they were from other Misses around her. She was ashamed and angry at the moment, but she also knew that she could not offend Shao Caihuan. So she gritted her teeth and calmed herself down and then she greeted Shao Caihuan sideways with a smile.
“Third Miss, you misunderstand me. The blood jade bangles that your grandmother gave me have always been on my hand,” said Qin Yuru as she stretched out her wrist, just to let them see the pair of bangles on her wrist.
Qin Wanru glanced at them and immediately recognized that this pair of bracelets were the ones that she had asked Rui’an Great Elder Princess to give Qin Yuru. Then she stepped aside quietly.
“Isn’t it said that you have smashed them in the street?” Shao Jie’er also became curious. This matter had been widely spread by many people that First Miss of Qin’s Mansion not only beat and scolded her sister, but also smashed the blood jade bangles rewarded by Old Madam of Duke Xing.
“Not this pair. The pair that I wore before. I accidentally broke the bangles when I was roughly playing with Second Sister.” Qin Yuru lowered her head and said what Nanny Huang had taught her, with a gloomy look on her face.
She subst.i.tuted beat and scold with playing, and even changed her own action into the responsibility of two people. Qin Yuru could not be so talkative like this. Qin Wanru suddenly noticed this and was wondering who had taught her and let her say this.
It was impossible for Madam Di to do that. During this period of time, she had still been quite angry and probably had not figured out so far that Qin Yuru could even want to kill her own mother, so how could she take the initiative to teach Qin Yuru?
Neither would Nanny Zhou. After Madam Di had been hurt and Nanny Zhou had witnessed how ruthless Qin Yuru was, she dared not to give advice recklessly. Even if Nanny Zhou dared to do so, Qin Yuru would not believe it. Since there had been an estrangement between Qin Yuru and her mother, how could she not be afraid that Madam Di would take revenge on her?
So who was this person?
She glanced at Mei Xue with watery eyes, who was impossible to teach Qin Yuru either. After she thought about the people around Qin Yuru, only Nanny Huang seemed to be eligible, because Qin Yuru was awed by her and she could speak to Qin Yuru. However, when Nanny Huang had first come to the mansion, Qin Wanru had not thought that Nanny Huang would be so loyal to Qin Yuru.
It seemed that something that she did not know had happened!
This recalled those aggressive female masters from Duke Yong’s Mansion on that day. It must be Old Madam of Duke Yong’s Mansion who had taken action, because it was impossible for Qin Yuru to control Nanny Huang who was of great experience.
She must pay more attention to Nanny Huang in the future, because Nanny Huang had experienced much more than Nanny Zhou. In addition, as an etiquette instructor, Nanny Huang had a more complicated relations.h.i.+p with others and knew more Misses from aristocratic families, which was a great help to Qin Yuru.
After thinking about all these things, Qin Wanru stood aside calmly.
“It seems that grandmother’s blood jade bangles have not been broken, right?” Shao Caihuan looked at Qin Yuru mockingly. She really looked down upon this First Miss of Qin’s Mansion. Even though she had been engaged to that heir of Duke Yong’s Mansion now, he was just a rich playboy who had no future.
Even though the two sisters really had not gotten along well, they had had no need to fight in the street, which had brought shame on themselves and made them lose their reputation. Obviously, they came from a small city, so they were quite ill-bred.
“Yes, they have not been broken. How could I break the blood jade bangles sent by Old Madam?” Qin Yuru said stiffly with a smile. She was also a proud person, but now she had to knuckle under to Shao Caihuan, feeling wronged and annoyed.
“How lucky this pair of bangles is! It was not broken even after you beat and scolded your sister. So lucky!” Shao Caihuan sneered and ignored Qin Yuru. She asked Shao Jie’er to leave.
“First Miss Qin, I will talk to you later. I gotta go!” Shao Jie’er smiled kindly at Qin Yuru and followed Shao Caihuan away.
Shao Caihuan had a higher status than her. So when they came to Prince Cheng’s Mansion this time, she, as a concubine’s daughter, had to obey Shao Caihuan.
Seeing that Shao’s sisters had left, and hearing the low mocking voice near her ears, Qin Yuru blushed. She was angry and hateful. She suppressed the anger in her heart and waited until she entered the Duke Xing’s Mansion and became the granddaughter of Old Madam, then she would make reprisals on Shao Caihuan.
She was only the daughter of the third branch of Duke Xing’s Mansion. But Qin Yuru entered the mansion in the name of the daughter of the former heir of the Duke Xing’s Mansion. Moreover, if she was recognized, Rui’an Great Elder Princess would be her grandmother who was a real royal family member. Shao Caihuan was nothing compared with her then. She was not as elegant as her.
Thinking about this, she breathed out a sigh of relief to vent all the depression in her heart, and then squeezed out a smile and said to Qin Wanru kindly, “Second sister, let’s go in too!”
Qin Wanru nodded and followed Qin Yuru. But she consciously kept a distance of a shoulder with her and happened to walk behind her.
Her att.i.tude was neither cold nor warm, but she maintained the respect to Qin Yuru. It could also be said that she was estranged from Qin Yuru! Her att.i.tude was the most appropriate one. After all, she was still young and could not be indifferent. It was not long after Qin Yuru beating and scolding her in the street. It was too hypocritical for her to be so close to Qin Yuru.
At such a young age, she did not know how to hide her emotions.
Qin Yuru adjusted her steps and wanted to be side by side with Qin Wanru to show more intimacy with her. She wanted to pretend to be intimate with her as if she had forgiven her for her mistakes early. She was different from Qin Wanru. Qin Wanru had the advantage of a young age, but she couldn’t. If she couldn’t be closer to Qin Wanru, there must be a lot of gossips.
However, when she slowed down, Qin Wanru also slowed down, still standing behind her.
“Second sister, please come up and let’s go together!” Qin Yuru turned back and said with a smile.
“Big Sister, you go first!” Qin Wanru looked as if she didn’t want to get close to her. Her long eyelashes fluttered twice as she quietly stepped back. At this time, the distance between them was even wider.
Qin Yuru was so angry that her face almost changed. However, looking at the Misses around her, she had to smile stiffly and said, “Then Second Sister can do as you wis.h.!.+”
After that, she turned around and walked into the room.
Qin Wanru kept such a distance and went into the room too.
Along the way, they were criticized by many people because Qin Yuru’s previous actions were too shocking. When people couldn’t see her, everyone was indifferent to this matter. Now they could see their sisters, all kinds of speculations, all kinds of curious eyes, and all kinds of whispered voices were ringing around them.
Qin Wanru quietly looked at the road under her feet, walking slowly with a calm look, as if she didn’t hear what she heard. And there were also various malicious speculations about her. Some said that she deliberately provoked Qin Yuru, and some said that the sisters were not in harmony with each other in the mansion, so they often beat each other or hit each other. So there was the scene that Qin Yuru lost control in the street.
Qin Wanru pretended that she couldn’t hear it. Anyway, these young Misses didn’t dare to speak loudly. After all, this was only a small number, and most of them were targeting Qin Yuru.
The more Qin Yuru listened, the angrier she became, especially when she heard several Misses talking about the marriage between Di Yan and her, as well as some rumors about her. Her face was so twisted that she almost couldn’t control herself and she almost turned around to fight with these people directly.
Mei Xue saw that the situation was getting worse and called out in a low voice quickly, “Miss!”
Qin Yuru took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down. She couldn’t help but quicken her pace. She just wanted to stay far away from these people. She couldn’t say anything now. Her ident.i.ty was not high enough, and her status was not high enough to overwhelm the crowd!
When she became the granddaughter of Old Madam in Duke Xing’s Mansion and Rui’an Great Elder Princess in the future, who would dare to look down upon her and criticize her? She would let them swallow what they were talking about today.
Qin Yuru quickened her pace, and Qin Wanru also sped up a little, keeping a neither too far nor too close distance with her.
“Prince Chen and Prince Zhou are here?” Prince Cheng asked in surprise. He had changed his clothes. He wore a gorgeous robe with a jade crown on his head, which made him look more elegant. At this time, he was standing in a pavilion in the garden.
The pavilion was located near the rockery. It was a high-rise building in the Prince Cheng’s mansion. Standing there, he could almost see the whole garden. This was also the position of Prince Cheng today. The so-called consort selection had to be done. Even if they just had to go through the motions, they had to do it once.
No matter how n.o.ble Prince Cheng was, he could not let these Misses from aristocratic families show up in front of him one by one. So he came to this pavilion. If there was anyone who really had a crush on him, he could just go and ask.
There was a pot of tea in the pavilion, and there was no one else. The curling smoke and the scent of sandalwood made people feel at ease.
The pavilion was on the rockery, and behind it was the balcony of another pavilion. It was very convenient to go straight from the pavilion to that pavilion, and then came down from that pavilion again.
“Yes, Prince! They said that they had an order from Empress Dowager!” Xiqi reported respectfully.
“Ask them to come in!” Since Empress Dowager had given orders, Prince Cheng did not dare to be careless and said in a low voice.
But what did Empress Dowager want to do now?