Chapter 722 Prince Zhou’s Desire
“Let her also be selected as one of your consorts? What are you thinking? How can two Misses from the same mansion be selected as your concubines at the same time!” The Empress said with a cold face.
Shao Yanru was the n.o.ble eldest lineal daughter. Every mansion usually cultivated their eldest lineal daughter with all their strength and resources.
Shao Wanru was not inferior to her as the lineal daughter of the former Heir of Duke Xing as well as the daughter of Infanta Qinghua. Although she didn’t had a powerful backer, her n.o.ble birth made her even superior to Shao Yanru.
Chu Liuzhou could threaten Shao Yanru with what had happened before. Even if he suggested taking Shao Yanru as concubine, Duke Xing would give in. But it was impossible for Duke Xing to give in when it came to Shao Wanru. If Shao Wanru became Chu Liuzhou’s concubine, Duke Xing would fail to maintain his image as Shao Wanru’s kind uncle.
There was a rumor prevailing among numerous people that Duke Xing’s Mansion had treated the former Heir of Duke Xing harshly. Some people even believed that the current second branch of Duke Xing’s Mansion set up the former Heir of Duke Xing and caused his death, so that the second branch of Duke Xing’s Mansion inherited the t.i.tle of Duke Xing. Now they were even more unwilling to see the descendants left by the former Heir of Duke Xing have a bright future.
That was the reason why the daughter of the eldest branch got into trouble again and again and even almost got killed.
Moreover, the Empress Dowager had learned what had happened to Shao Wanru. At this time, even if Duke Xing was willing to let his niece be Chu Liuzhou’s concubine, it was impossible for him to really do so.
If he really did that, he would thoroughly discredited himself and could no longer play innocent in front of others. Moreover, Rui’an Great Elder Princess would not let him go.
“Mother, it’s okay that I take both of them as concubines! In fact, father didn’t make it clear that two Misses from the same mansion couldn’t marry the same prince as concubines. They are just not allowed to be Princesses at the same time. If they marry me as concubines under exceptional circ.u.mstances, it could be a wonderful thing!” Chu Liuzhou said confidently.
He had indeed asked the Emperor’s opinion about it in a roundabout way, but the Emperor didn’t say anything about it, so he had a new idea.
Shao Yanru was good, but Shao Wanru seemed to be better. It was quite a pity to give up such a beauty. Although Shao Wanru had no powerful backer, she was n.o.ble and stunning.
“How dare you ask your father’s opinion about this?” The Empress flew into a rage and spoke.
“Mother, I just brought it up when father happened to mention the consort selection. Mother, don’t worry. Father couldn’t have told my intention, because I wasn’t the one who mentioned the consort selection!” Chu Liuzhou hurried to explain when he saw the Empress get angry.
After hearing his explanation, the Empress warned him with the anger on her face fading away, “Don’t act rashly. Since you’ve mentioned it to your father, you must have drawn your father’s attention no matter you meant to mention it or not. If nothing happens, it will be fine. But if something happens and the two sisters both get involved in it, he won’t spare you easily!”
“Mother, has father perceived my intention?” Chu Liuzhou said discontentedly, “I just want her to be my concubine. Since I’m going to leave my Princess to be determined by you, why can’t I have one more concubine?”
Seeing that her son remained impenitent, the Empress poked her finger hard into Chu Liuzhou’s forehead and said in rage, “You are so shortsighted. You just covet her pretty face. After you inherit the throne in the future, you can get any beauty you want. It’s unnecessary to covet such a girl with no powerful backer!”
Of course, she expressed her opposition to his thought.
Of course, she objected to letting Shao Wanru marry into Prince Zhou’s Mansion. Marrying Shao Yanru was enough to enable Chu Liuzhou to get Duke Xing’s support. She had expected that Chu Liuzhou would certainly promise Shao Yanru the position of Princess, but now Chu Liuzhou just intended to take Shao Yanru as concubine. In this case, she could make a proper plan to choose a perfect wife for Chu Liuzhou. Thinking of this, the Empress felt a little better.
“Go and pay your respects to the Empress Dowager!” She waved her hand and spoke.
Since Chu Liuzhou had entered the imperial palace, he should pay his respects to the Empress Dowager.
“Mother, I’ll go now. But what about the thing we have talked over…” Chu Liuzhou said with dissatisfaction, expecting a definite answer from the Empress.
“Didn’t you just say that we could take actions after the candidates for the consort selection enter the imperial palace? It’s useless to talk about it now. Remember, don’t give yourself away in front of your father again!”
The Empress said with a wave of her hand, exasperated at his remaining impenitent.
Although he did not get a definite answer from the Empress, at least the Empress did not object as she did at the beginning. Chu Liuzhou was satisfied. He stood up and bowed to the Empress. Then he went to the Empress Dowager’s palace to pay her his respects.
As soon as he left, the palace maid sent to make an investigation came back.
“Your Grace, I’ve checked it out. At that time, it was Duke Yong’s Mansion who sent Nanny Zheng to the Qin’s Mansion. They hired Nanny Zheng to be an etiquette instructor, but they only sent Nanny Zheng to the Qin’s Mansion without telling who was going to be her master. Both Nanny Zheng and the other nanny sent by Duke Yong’s Mansion stayed in the Qin’s Mansion. But when the Fifth Miss Shao returned to her ancestral roots, the nanny who educated the First Miss of the Qin’s Mansion quit and left!”
As the palace maid said, she presented the file she had just flipped through.
The Empress took it over and looked through it. All etiquette instructors had something to do with the imperial palace. In particular, Nanny Zheng, who had been of rank in the imperial palace, must have been recorded in files.
When she turned to the page, where Nanny Zheng was recorded, she saw the information the palace maid had just told her as expected. It seemed to be a real accident. The Empress frowned again.
After a long while, she said to Nanny Xi, who had been kneeling at her feet, “Go back to Duke Xing’s Mansion and serve as the etiquette instructor of the Misses of their mansion. As for the Fifth Miss Shao, since she also has to learn rules and etiquette, of course, she had better join the other Misses. Her etiquette instructor has left the imperial palace for several years, so her etiquette instructor doesn’t know about the situation in the imperial palace as well as you do. You can explain the taboos in the imperial palace in your cla.s.s. In this way, you should be able to attract her to join your cla.s.s.”
“What should I do after that, Your Grace?” Nanny Xi asked. After kneeling for so long, she got achy knees, but she did not dare to move and was just trying to figure out what the Empress meant.
The Empress seemed to suggest her to adopt a much softer tactic than that she had adopted during her last visit to Duke Xing’s Mansion.
Last time she was sent to suppress Shao Wanru, but this time the Empress seemed to suggest her to coax Shao Wanru to join her cla.s.s. Nanny Xi, who was uncertain of her master’s intention at the moment, asked cautiously.
“Go ahead!” The Empress did not intend to explain it to her. She waved her hand, leaned back, and directly instructed her to leave.
“Yes, Your Grace!” After saying that, Nanny Xi came out with her hand on her trembling knees. After getting out of the hall,, she carefully thought over what the Empress had said to her and the conversation between the Empress and Prince Zhou. Suddenly, she understood what the Empress meant.
After the soreness of her knees eased, she hurried back to Duke Xing’s Mansion with the two palace maids who served her.
“She wants me to join my sisters in learning rules, because she’s not only going to provide guidance on etiquette, but also going to tell some recent taboos in the imperial palace?”
Shao Wanru thought for a moment and realized that Nanny Xi wanted her to join her sisters. Although she had an etiquette instructor, Nanny Zheng did not know what had happened in the imperial palace recently. So Nanny Xi took this as the excuse to ask her to join her sisters in learning etiquette.
In fact, she could join them!
“Go and tell the person sent by Nanny Xi that I will definitely join them tomorrow!” Shao Wanru, who was concentrating on working on the sachet in her hands, said without raising her head.
Her embroidery was very exquisite. In the last life, after she married Wen Xichi, she naturally had plenty of time to embroider leisurely. Although Wen Xichi knew nothing about embroidery, he was good at painting, which endowed him with a unique understanding of embroideries. So he gave Shao Wanru some advices.
As a result, her works were different from those of other women with a better layout, which made her works poetic and picturesque.
No matter how skilled other women were in embroidery, their works were based on women’s advices. However, her works were based on a man’s advices, so they had a more magnificent layout.
To take the sachet in her hands as an example, although she was embroidering it with the common pattern of a cl.u.s.ter of flowers, the flowers looked more elegant and natural. Painting skills blended in her work.
“Miss, are you really going to join them? I can tell at a glance that this Nanny Xi is up to nothing good. This time she acts on instructions from the Empress. I’m wondering how she’s going to deal with you!” Yujie said worriedly.
She had seen Nanny Xi pick on Shao Wanru in Old Madam’s courtyard. At that time, she was so angry that she almost lost control of herself.
“It doesn’t matter. She’s much softer now!” Shao Wanru said with a smile. Nanny Xi’s words were much softer than what she had said before. It seemed that the Empress had suggested Nanny Xi to be soft. In this case, she would like to see what Nanny Xi was going to do next.
Otherwise, if something really happened in Nanny Xi’s cla.s.s, as someone on bad terms with Nanny Xi, she would definitely be suspected.
“Did anything happen in the ancestral hall?”
“Qing’er just told me that Nanny Sheng has been very busy these two days. She even sent someone out, and the person seemed to have delivered something into the imperial palace!” Yujie answered.
Since it was inconvenient for Qing’er to get in the room directly, she entrusted Yujie to report it.
“She sent someone to the imperial palace?” Shao Wanru asked thoughtfully.
“Did she send someone to deliver a message to the Empress?” Qu Le was shocked and asked in a hurry, for fear that Madam of Duke Xing and the Empress would collude to set up her master.
Shao Wanru shook her head and said, “The message wasn’t delivered to the Empress!”
The Empress had never been on intimate terms with Duke Xing’s Mansion, because she had never considered them, her extremely distant relatives, as real relatives. Madam of Duke Xing and the Empress were not close to each other.
Madam of Duke Xing was much closer to Honored Consort Shu, who was also a distant relative of Duke Xing’s Mansion. She occasionally sent some gifts, some of which were special for the Misses of Duke Xing’s Mansion.
The two of them had colluded to set up Shao Wanru before.
What happened to her before she entered the imperial palace last time was arranged by Duke Xing’s Mansion, and what happened in the imperial palace was arranged by Honored Consort Shu. Shao Wanru had figured it out when the accident occurred.
“The message should be delivered to Honored Consort Shu!” She said with a cold sneer. She was worried that Madam of Duke Xing was too hesitant to turn to Honored Consort Shu rather than that Madam of Duke Xing turned to Honored Consort Shu!
Now, Madam of Duke Xing got her favorite cloth, which set her mind at ease and gave her the impression that Shao Yanru was trying all she could to help her and left her the cloth as a hint of getting her out of the ancestral hall. So Madam of Duke Xing intended to save herself!
Madam of Duke Xing thought that she could cooperate with Shao Yanru and ask Honored Consort Shu for help. She was punished because what she had done was witnessed by someone from the imperial palace. Although Honored Consort Shu was not quite powerful, if she got the Empress involved in it, she still had a chance to get out of here!
“Miss, do we still need to keep an eye on her?”
“Yes. If she takes any unusual action, tell Qing’er to report it to me as soon as possible!” Shao Wanru rolled her watery eyes and said leisurely. A person was the most impatient when she was locked up. It was true even if this person was Madam of Duke Xing, who had always done a good job in restraining herself and didn’t seem like a gullible person…