Chapter 810 A Promise from Three Years Ago
The atmosphere between the two of them immediately became tense.
Neither of them was willing to compromise.
Great Elder Princess suddenly smiled, took out a ring from her bosom, and put it on the table. “Old Madam, I picked this ring at the door of your yard when I came in just now.”
Seeing Great Elder Princess suddenly calm down, Old Madam had a sense of foreboding. She involuntarily looked at the ring in front of her and inexplicably panicked.
It was a white-jade ring decorated with a red gem, which was surrounded by fine, delicate pearls. It looked like an elegant, beautiful flower.
She glanced at the ring but couldn’t recognize it. She looked up at Great Elder Princess with a confused face. She had seen many jewels and found the ring a little familiar, but couldn’t recall where she had seen it. She frowned tightly.
“Old Madam, why don’t you pick it up and have a look?” Great Elder Princess sneered.
Old Madam reached out her hand, picked up the ring, and checked it carefully. When she saw the mark on the ring, her face changed greatly.
“Old Madam, can’t you recognize this ring as an object made by the royal palace? When Qinghua married into your mansion, this ring should have been recorded on the picture alb.u.m. I’m afraid that you might have lost the alb.u.m, but it doesn’t matter. I have a copy. If you don’t believe me, you can go to the royal palace to check it out. There are records of this kind of object in the palace,” Great Elder Princess said to Old Madam calmly.
Old Madam’s hand trembled and she tried hard not to shake it. She raised her head and her face turned pale. “What do you mean, Great Elder Princess?”
“Old Madam, I want to ask you this question too. You said that Qinghua’s dowries are well kept in her private storehouse, and you found an old maid saying that she used to serve Qinghua. Qinghua has been dead for so many years, and even if this maid used to serve her, she probably has submitted to you. Now, I want to open Qinghua’s private storehouse to have a look. I have reason to suspect that you people of the Duke Xing’s Mansion have pocketed Qinghua’s dowries, and the ring is the proof,” Great Elder Princess said with an imposing manner.
“Someone dropped the ring made by the royal palace at the door of your yard. It meant that Qinghua’s possessions in her private storehouse have been stolen out. I’m wondering if those things have ended up in your private storehouse.” Great Elder Princess’s tone became firmer with the ring as the proof.
She had recognized the ring as one of Qinghua’s dowries. Now Qinghua had pa.s.sed away, yet the Duke Xing’s Mansion dared to pocket her dowries. Thinking of this, Great Elder Princess had an urge to slap Old Madam in the face.
“This d.a.m.n old woman. If not for her, my daughter would have been fine and all those troubles could have been avoided. Yet, she didn’t reflect on herself and even caused more troubles. She failed to teach her grandson well and abused her granddaughter. I didn’t expect her to do such a despicable thing.”
Old Madam’s hands dropped, and her face turned blue, then pale, and blushed at last. Instead of feeling ashamed, she was furious that there was a thief among her servants who stole Qinghua’s dowries and dropped the ring at the door. “Is this thief trying to make trouble for me?” she wondered.
But now was not the time to punish the servants. Old Madam suppressed her anger and put on a smile. She was no longer that uncompromising.
“Great Elder Princess, please rest a.s.sured that I will find out the truth and give you an explanation. Give me three days. I only need three days to investigate it. When I finish, I will invite you to come over!” Old Madam had to surrender and give a deadline.
Different like before, this time, there was solid proof, so she could not avoid it.
“Good. I’ll come again in three days. Now, I’m going to see Zhuozhuo!” Great Elder Princess didn’t want to see Old Madam’s fake smile anymore, so she stood up and spoke in a cold tone.
“Send Great Elder Princess off!” Old Madam ordered, tired.
Great Elder Princess glanced at her coldly, turned around, and walked out with the old maid who led the way.
In the room, Old Madam said to Nanny Yu, “Investigate the matter! Investigate everyone in the yard and once we find out that thief, we must sell him or her away immediately.”
She thought that all the servants in her courtyard were loyal to her. Unexpectedly, such a disgraceful thing happened, rendering her in a pa.s.sive position.
“Yes, Old Madam, I’ll check it right away, but what about Infanta Qinghua’s dowries? Some of them were taken away by Madam…” Nanny Yu replied in embarra.s.sment.
As for Qinghua’s dowries, some of them were taken away by Old Madam, while some were taken away by Madam of Duke Xing, who was not in the mansion now, and it was unrealistic to get her back right away.
“I’ll ask Jing’er to find someone to check his wife’s private storehouse, take out all the things inside, and see if we can make it up. If there is still something missing, then we can only make it up first and then talk about the other things,” Old Madam said in a solemn tone. Madam of Duke Xing had been in charge of the diet of everyone in Duke Xing’s Mansion for a long time, so she must have saved some money that could be used to make it up.
Nanny Yu looked at Old Madam and wanted to say something, but stopped on second thought. In the end, she lowered her head and left without saying anything before giving orders to the servants to check the yard.
Madam of Duke Xing was not a kind woman, but if they carved up her private storehouse, what would First Miss and First Young Master think of it?
Of course, as a servant, Nanny Yu should not intervene in these things…
When Great Elder Princess arrived at the Piaoyun Courtyard, Shao Wanru had already received the news. She waited at the gate of the courtyard. Seeing the princess coming over, she smiled and came up to her. She bowed sideways to her respectfully and said in a sweet voice, “Grandma!”
Looking at her granddaughter and thinking of the aggressive expression of Old Madam of Duke Xing’s Mansion, Great Elder Princess felt pity for her granddaughter and regretted that she agreed on the marriage. If she had insisted on disagreeing at that time, her daughter would have been fine and her granddaughter would not have gone through hards.h.i.+ps.
She reached out to take Shao Wanru’s hand and led her into the courtyard. “Are you used to living here? If you find this place not comfortable, how about spending a few days in my mansion?”
“Grandma, don’t worry. I’m fine living here, and I do want to go to your mansion to accompany you for a few days and see Hao’er, but it’s not appropriate now,” Shao Wanru said with a smile, reached out to pull Great Elder Princess’s sleeve, and pulled her to sit down with a sweet smile on her face. She looked like she was still a sweet little girl, which made Great Elder Princess feel more pity for her.
She also reached out to pull Shao Wanru to sit down beside her and said, “I know that it’s not appropriate now. After the dowry matter is over, you can spend a few days at my place. It’s not so convenient for you to stay at my pace after you get married…”
As Great Elder Princess said that, her eyes turned tearful. Thinking of how her daughter slowly disappeared from her life after getting married, she couldn’t help feeling sad and shedding tears even though she had always been a tough woman.
Shao Wanru hurriedly comforted her and said, “Grandma, don’t be sad. If you can’t bear to watch me get married, I won’t get married.”
Those childish words made Great Elder Princess laugh. She reached out to wipe her tears with a handkerchief and couldn’t help lecturing her. “Marriage is an important thing, and you can’t decide it on your own. What’s more, Prince Chen is determined to marry you. He promised me three years ago that he would marry you.”
“Three years ago?” Shao Wanru tilted her head curiously.
“Yes, three years ago, Her Majesty the Empress Dowager had such a plan. I was worried about Chu Liuchen’s health condition and went to him. If he pa.s.ses away at a young age, you would have to spend the rest of your life alone. You know, the royal family will not allow you to remarry,” Great Elder Princess sighed, took Shao Wanru’s hand and said lovingly.
Even though she was Great Elder Princess and knew that her power could not affect Chu Liuchen, who was favored by the Empress Dowager and Emperor, she still went to him with the purpose of finding out if Chu Liuchen and Shao Wanru were suitable for each other. If Chu Liuchen was in bad health, she would oppose the marriage even at the cost of her life.
“What… did he say?” Shao Wanru’s face blushed slightly, but she still couldn’t help asking in a low voice.
Seeing her expression, Great Elder Princess knew that she was happy to marry Chu Liuchen. For a moment, she felt both sad and happy. She felt sad because back then, her daughter was also happy to accept the marriage arrangement but ended up badly. She felt happy to see that Chu Liuchen and Shao Wanru loved each other.
His daughter had led an unhappy life, so she hoped that her granddaughter could live a happy life.
“He said that he would definitely take good care of you and would never leave you. He told me that his illness could be cured and asked the physician in his mansion to come and explain it to me.” Great Elder Princess smiled and looked at her granddaughter gently. She had watched Chu Liuchen grow up into an unyielding man.
He looked gentle, but in fact, his means were very cruel. He was a cold-hearted man though he would wear a smile on his face. Everyone in the royal family knew that he had given up on himself. He didn’t even care about himself, let alone others.
Great Elder Princess didn’t expect that he would care so much about a girl one day. In order to let her believe him, he even made a promise and even asked the physician to explain to her. Though she didn’t understand the physician’s words, she could tell that Chu Liuchen was in better health. He finished up the medicine the physician brought to him without hesitation.
Thus, she agreed on the marriage, but she asked Chu Liuchen to keep his promise and asked him to recover his health in three years. Then, she would allow them to marry.
Now she thought about it again and found that he had kept his promise.
Prince Chen got better. Although he was still weaker than ordinary people, she had asked the imperial physicians in the palace about it and learned that if he nursed his health well, he should be able to live for decades and there wouldn’t be big problems with his health.
Great Elder Princess originally was hesitant, but now seeing Shao Wanru’s happy expression and knowing that she was willing to marry Chu Liuchen, she could not help sighing in her heart and thought Shao Wanru’s life would be better than Qinghua’s. Unlike Shao Jiang, Chu Liuchen would protect Zhuozhuo and wouldn’t let anyone hurt her as long as he was alive.
Great Elder Princess was sure of this.
In this case, she had no reason to object the marriage.
She took Shao Wanru’s hand and said in a serious tone, “In the future, even if Duke Xing’s Mansion is not on your side, I will always be on your side. If you ever get into trouble, you must come to me. Don’t bear it all on your alone even if it’s beyond your ability like your mother… and at last…”
As Great Elder Princess said that, her tears fell along her face. Seeing this, Shao Wanru also felt sad. She threw herself into Great Elder Princess’s arms, and there was a trace of hostility in her slightly tearful eyes. In her previous life, Great Elder Princess was so heartbroken and desperate that she spent the rest of her life in a nunnery. In this life, she would never allow that to happen…