Chapter 926 A Mysterious Mansion
“Princess, Old Madam is very angry!” Yujie said worriedly. When they left, Yujie specially took a glance at Old Madam and noticed the undisguised disgust in her eyes.
“I have never been in a good relations.h.i.+p with her before!” Shao Wanru said casually. They just had a superficial relations.h.i.+p, and they were both pretending to be friendly on the surface. Of course, Shao Wanru was willing to maintain this superficial relations.h.i.+p for the time being.
She wanted to dig out more secrets from Old Madam and Marquis Xing’s Mansion.
As for Old Madam, after she plotted against her so many times, Shao Wanru no longer treated her as an elder. The lesson she learned from her last life was that she’d better not treat Old Madam as an elder relative.
“Old Madam will plot against you!” Qu Le also felt uneasy.
“She already did,” Shao Wanru said indifferently. When she mentioned Old Madam, she had no scruples at all and didn’t care much about her.
Since it had nothing to do with the family relations.h.i.+p, she didn’t need to care about Old Madam. She would just fight against Old Madam’s dirty tricks more fiercely.
Old Madam must know something about what had happened in the past. Shao Wanru didn’t believe that she didn’t know anything. But even though Old Madam knew something, she was still so mean and vicious to her brother and sister. She was determined to cut off the family line of Shao Wanru’s branch from Marquis Xing’s Mansion to make way for the second branch’s bright future.
In her last life, Shao Wanru knew nothing, so she was deceived. In this life, she would not be manipulated and trampled by these people again!
“Princess, was the deceased heir of the Marquis a biological son of Old Madam?” Yujie couldn’t help feeling surprised and asked. If he was her biological son, how could she treat him like that?
“It doesn’t matter!” Shao Wanru raised the corners of her mouth and said with a cold smile, “In her heart, the most important thing is the glory and wealth of Marquis Xing’s Mansion that she relies on.”
Old Madam cares about nothing else other than wealth and honor.
“Fifth Sister, please wait a minute!” Zhao Xiran caught up with Shao Wanru from behind and shouted. She was gasping because she was in a hurry.
“Princess, please wait!” the maid who accompanied Zhao Xiran said loudly while holding her arm.
Shao Wanru stopped and saw Zhao Xiran walking towards her in a hurry.
“Sister Zhao, do you have something to say to me?” When Zhao Xiran approached her, Shao Wanru asked calmly. Her watery eyes were full of indifference.
Zhao Xiran was not easy to deal with. But if it had nothing to do with her, Shao Wanru was willing to turn a blind eye to her.
“Fifth Sister, let me see you off!” Zhao Xiran said with a smile.
“Thank you, Sister Zhao!” Shao Wanru nodded and said casually. With Shao Wanru’s current status, it was proper for Zhao Xiran to see her off.
“Fifth Sister, don’t be angry. Grandmother is getting old and couldn’t think comprehensively. She is very concerned about the marriages of your sisters and blurted out some unpleasant words just now. Fifth Sister, please forgive Old Madam for the sake of her old age!” Zhao Xiran followed Shao Wanru out and said to her sincerely.
Shao Wanru pursed her lips and said lightly, “So what if I don’t want to forgive her?”
Her words almost made Zhao Xiran speechless. She had imagined how would Shao Wanru reacted. In her imagination, she thought Shao Wanru would feel wronged, or indifferent, or angry. However, she had never thought that Shao Wanru would say such disrespectful words outright. If the imperial censor knew such words, with her ident.i.ty as Princess Chen, she would definitely get criticized for being disrespectful to the elders.
“Sister Zhao, do you think what I said is inappropriate?” Shao Wanru said lightly with a leisurely smile, as if she didn’t know how disrespectful her words were just now.
“Fifth Sister, don’t say that at will. It will have bad influences if others hear it. It may even affect Prince Chen’s reputation!” Zhao Xiran suddenly realized and quickly lowered her voice. After looking around and making sure that no one noticed them, she breathed a sigh of relief.
“I’ve only told you that. I believe you won’t spread these words, will you?” Shao Wanru glanced at Zhao Xiran calmly. There was no fear or panic on her calm face at all.
Zhao Xiran’s heart skipped a beat, and she suddenly felt that she had underestimated this Princess Chen who was standing in front of her!
Before Shao Wanru got married, she might care about this trivial reputation. But now she has married Prince Chen, why would she still care about such a trivial reputation?
What’s more, what Shao Wanru said just now was to warn her. Zhao Xiran was sure that if she divulged a word, she would have a hard time in the future. From some things she had found out, this Princess Chen was already very crafty before she got married. Now, with the support of Prince Chen’s Mansion, she was even more incomparable.
Before getting married into the Marquis Xing’s Mansion, Zhao Xiran didn’t care about Shao Wanru at all. Shao Wanru was just a granddaughter who had returned to her ancestral roots. Shao Yanru was the one she cared about. The First Miss Shao was truly talented, beautiful, and famous in the capital city. Therefore, she casually schemed against Shao Wanru.
However, she did not expect that not only did she fail to scheme against Shao Wanru, but she also angered Shao Caihuan, which led to her losing face on her wedding day and losing the favor of Old Madam. After she calmed down and investigated it carefully, Zhao Xiran found out that she was wrong. Fifth Miss Shao, whom she thought was normal, was actually the craftiest.
The Fifth Miss Shao was inconspicuous in Marquis Xing’s Mansion. Even though Old Madam didn’t like her, and she was plotted against by Madam of Marquis Xing, she still lived a smooth life. Moreover, she married Prince Chen, who was the most favored by Empress Dowager and the Emperor.
“Fifth Sister... Don’t worry, I’m not that kind of a person who lacks judgment!” Zhao Xiran smiled awkwardly. She thought that she had the initiative, but now she found that she had nothing.
She had to be more careful in front of this Princess Chen.
“Thank you, Sister Zhao. In the future, you should be the one to manage the inner courtyard of Marquis Xing’s Mansion. However, the Madam of Marquis Xing, who is living in seclusion on the mountain now, may go back any time. Before I returned to Marquis Xing’s Mansion, I heard that she and Old Madam are as close as mother and daughter. After such a long time, Old Madam, as a ‘mother’, will definitely miss her ‘daughter’!” Shao Wanru said lightly.
Zhao Xiran’s eyelids fluttered. A thought struck her, and she got panicked. The Madam of Marquis Xing’s Mansion wasn’t in the mansion, and she didn’t even attend Shao Hua’an’s wedding. No one would believe that she was living in seclusion on the mountain.
No matter how long she needed to take a rest, she was not actually too ill to even attend her son’s wedding. Because of this, there was a lot of gossip about Madam of Marquis Xing outside. Besides, Zhao Xiran also did not want her to come back. No daughter-in-law would want to have the mother-in-law come back for no reason.
What’s more, this one was a troublesome mother-in-law.
“Mother is taking a rest on the mountain. No matter how worried Grandma is about Mother’s health, she couldn’t come back!” Zhao Xiran calmed down and said with a smile.
“Is that what you think, Sister Zhao? Then you really look down on Madam of Marquis Xing. Madam of Marquis Xing has been leveraging her relations.h.i.+p with Old Madam to manage the backyard of Marquis Xing’s Mansion tightly for so many years. She is not an ordinary woman!” Shao Wanru said in an extremely peaceful manner.
“Fifth Sister, what do you mean...” Zhao Xiran couldn’t stand it anymore and asked carefully.
“What do I mean? I don’t have any other intentions. It’s just that Madam of the Marquis Xing has a bad temper and likes to make trouble. If Sister Zhao invites her back, I’m afraid that you won’t be able to manage the backyard in the future!” Shao Wanru smiled slightly and said meaningfully.
Zhao Xiran was smart, and it was easy to talk with a smart person. Judging from her thoughtful look, Shao Wanru knew that she must be thinking of a solution.
When they were about to arrive at the parking place, Shao Wanru turned around and said with a smile, “Sister Zhao, I’ll go back now. Thank you for seeing me off!”
“I’m not in a hurry, let me see you off!” Zhao Xiran said kindly.
“Sister Zhao, you should stay here. When the carriage runs, the dust will rise. You should stay away from it!” Shao Wanru said with a smile and then went to the carriage with two servant girls.
Zhao Xiran moved her feet and wanted to follow her, but eventually felt that Shao Wanru was right, so she stopped there.
After seeing Shao Wanru take a few steps, Zhao Xiran suddenly became anxious and said loudly, “Fifth Sister, I mean no harm to you!”
Shao Wanru stopped, but then slowly walked up and said, “Sister Zhao, if there is anything I can do in the future, I will help you. But I hope that what you told me is the truth!”
“Fifth Sister, don’t worry. What I told you is the truth!” Zhao Xiran said in a hurry.
“Sister Zhao, Marquis Xing’s Mansion is a mysterious mansion. You’d better be careful!” Shao Wanru said in a low voice, but Zhao Xiran heard her clearly.
Zhao Xiran frowned and stood in the same place, watching the two servant girls help Shao Wanru get on the carriage. Then the inconspicuously luxurious carriage of Prince Chen’s Mansion turned around and slowly pa.s.sed by her. Perfectly, it was not too far away or too close, and the dust didn’t catch her.
Seeing the carriage go away, Zhao Xiran’s eyes narrowed slightly.
She was also a cautious person and had observed carefully. When the carriage turned around in front of her, she could see some dark patterns on the corner of the carriage, which were in the shape of b.u.t.terfly wings. It looked more like a woman’s carriage.
There was no female master in Prince Chen’s Mansion before, and it was impossible for Prince Chen’s Mansion to specially prepare a carriage for women, so the carriage should be specially prepared for Shao Wanru by Prince Chen.
Prince Chen really treated Shao Wanru differently. No wonder Shao Wanru could challenge Old Madam now. What about her? Should she stand on the side of Old Madam or Shao Wanru?
If it were in the past, she might think it was better to be on Old Madam’s side. After all, Old Madam was righteous and her elder. But now, thinking of the Madam of Marquis Xing, who was in the Yuhui Nunnery, Zhao Xiran felt that no matter how good she was to Old Madam, she could not compare with the “mother-daughter relations.h.i.+p” between Madam of Marquis Xing and Old Madam for so many years.
From this point of view, she had no advantage over the Madam of Marquis Xing. She could get close to Princess Chen. What was the secret of Marquis Xing’s Mansion? What was Shao Wanru investigating? Was it the same as what she was investigating?