Chapter 1142 - Chapter 1142 What About Madam Jiang?
Chapter 1142 What About Madam Jiang?
Shao Jing and Old Madam needed to talk about something secretive without her. Zhao Xiran nodded with a smile, looked up at the door, and quietly returned to the wing room.
Sitting on a stool in the wing room, she looked toward the room next door. The mother and son seemed to have a lot of secrets. Somehow, she felt something strange here…
Inside the room, Old Madam leaned against the headboard and had calmed down. When she saw her son enter, she said, “What’s wrong with you? Why do you have to marry that woman? She’s just a servant girl. Didn’t you say you kept her as a plaything?”
“Mother, it’s all for Ru’er.” Shao Jing said without asking about his mother’s condition. With a frown, he reached out to touch his head in a fret.
“What’s the matter with Ru’er?” Old Madam was stunned and asked in astonishment.
“We should consider her future. She is just a Secondary Consort without any children. Whoever inherits the throne, Ru’er will be locked up in the Yuhui Nunnery and live in miserable conditions for the rest of her life!” said Shao Jing.
Old Madam’s eyes turned piercing, and she asked sharply, “What do you want?”
“Mother, Prince Cheng has promised to make Ru’er his consort as long as she can leave the Palace. If Prince Cheng can get the chair, Ru’er may get a higher position!”
Shao Jing lowered his voice and pointed up, indicating the imperial chair of supreme power — the throne.
“Do you want her to marry Prince Cheng?” Old Madam asked in surprise and unconsciously lowered her voice, “Ru’er is more optimistic about Prince Yue.”
“Prince Yue can’t defeat Prince Cheng!” Shao Jing said grumpily, “If he had listened to me, how could he have ended up like this? Prince Yue is not sensible enough. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have quarreled with Prince Zhou and pushed us into a dilemma!”
Shao Jing never blamed his daughter for hooking up with others. Instead, he accused Chu Liuyue of being incapable and making his family suffer such a big loss. However, he didn’t dare to tell anyone about it. It made him very aggrieved.
“I have arranged everything. E’niang will marry me and bring a daughter into our mansion. Then, Ru’er can come back as the illegitimate daughter. An illegitimate daughter is also my daughter. Once E’niang becomes my secondary legal wife, Ru’er will be a legitimate daughter. Since our mansion has acknowledged her ident.i.ty, it doesn’t matter even if others gossip about this. Consort Lan was also an illegitimate daughter, but she still managed to marry into the Palace!”
Shao Jing didn’t take it seriously.
Old Madam gasped at his boldness and asked anxiously, “Where did you get an illegitimate daughter? E’niang has no child, hasn’t she?”
“We have no child, but I can say otherwise. No one can find out where she used to live, let alone know that she didn’t have a daughter. If she and I keep it a secret, everyone will think I have another daughter!” Shao Jing said.
He had no choice. Since he had spent so much effort cultivating Shao Yanru, how could he exchange her for nothing? At present, a successful marriage for Shao Yanru would benefit everyone.
For this daughter, he didn’t even dare to compete with Rui’an Great Elder Princess for the position of the heir of a duke. If he provoked Rui’an Great Elder Princess, she might even intervene in such an internal affair of his mansion and ruin his elaborate plan.
He wanted a more promising future than being the heir of a duke. For the time being, his nephew held the position of the heir of a duke, but so what? Back then, his brother was the heir of a duke, so he believed this t.i.tle would be his sooner or later.
As long as he schemed carefully, he could achieve anything!
“You already have a secondary legal wife, Madam Jiang!” Old Madam reminded him. He could only have one legal wife and one secondary legal wife. Shao Jing’s current situation was special: he didn’t have a legal wife but had a secondary legal wife. According to law and discipline rites, he wasn’t allowed to marry another secondary legal wife.
After saying that, Old Madam suddenly thought of something and added hurriedly, “Do you want to make Madam Jiang your legal wife again? Don’t even think about that. The Empress Dowager downgraded her, and no one can change her decision!”
No matter what, Madam Jiang mustn’t be the legal wife again.
“Madam Jiang caused all the trouble. Her lousy schemes got us into this mess. Since she brought trouble to Ru’er, she should bear the consequences!” Shao Jing said coldly, with a vicious look flas.h.i.+ng in his eyes.
“You… Don’t tell me you want to… take away Madam Jiang…” Old Madam’s lips trembled. Even though she didn’t like Madam Jiang at the moment, she had never thought of killing her.
“Mother, this is the only way to save Ru’er. Madam Jiang is in such a miserable situation and has become the burden of her son and daughter. Why don’t we take a risk for Ru’er? As a mother, she should sacrifice something for her children!” Shao Jing said.
Old Madam’s heart pounded a few times violently. If Madam Jiang said this as a loving mother, such words would sound touching. However, when Shao Jing mentioned this, he gave Old Madam an indescribable insidious sensation.
“Mother, do you want to keep Madam Jiang or Ru’er?” Shao Jing asked when the opportunity was ripe.
Without a doubt, Old Madam would choose Shao Yanru over Madam Jiang. Shao Yanru, her granddaughter, had a future full of endless possibilities. How could she be stupid enough to give up Shao Yanru?
Old Madam had placed infinite hope in Shao Yanru, the apple of her eye. For the sake of this granddaughter, she was willing to sacrifice other granddaughters. In this case, she might as well discard Madam Jiang. Besides, as Shao Yanru’s mother, Madam Jiang should be glad to give up her interests and even her life.
With this in mind, Old Madam nodded slowly, thinking Madam Jiang would feel the same way.
“How will you arrange this matter? Do you have a plan?” Since she had made up her mind, Old Madam made a detailed inquiry.
“Take Ru’er out first and keep her in our mansion as an illegitimate daughter. Since this illegitimate daughter is supposed to be her sister, it’s pretty normal that they look alike. Ru’er can pretend to have different hobbies and dress in different styles when being the illegitimate daughter. She doesn’t have to see outsiders, so no one will get the chance to scrutinize and judge her. After some time, we can directly send her to Prince Cheng’s Mansion!”
Of course, Shao Jing had planned it long ago. He was not surprised that Old Madam would agree to it, so he told her the whole scheme on the spot.
“Have you decided to let that servant girl marry into our mansion?” Old Madam still felt this decision hard to accept. As Marquis Xing, how could Shao Jing take a servant girl as his secondary legal wife? She was a little reluctant to accept this.
“Mother, but there is no other way. Without a proper disguise, Ru’er can’t come back and live in our mansion in just ways!” Shao Jing whispered, knowing what Old Madam was worried about.
In fact, he didn’t want to do that, but he had no choice. This was the best solution.
“How should we deal with Madam Jiang?” After thinking for some time, Old Madam finally accepted his choice without demur. Slowly, she uttered another question. She couldn’t let any accidents happen to Madam Jiang for no reason, especially when she had just returned to the mansion. At this critical point, such sudden changes would arouse suspicion.
Shao Jing nodded. It was true that Madam Jiang couldn’t get into trouble without cause, and he also had to avoid arousing suspicion. He was soon going to take his mistress into the mansion. If Madam Jiang had an accident at this critical moment, many others would cast serious doubt on him.
He looked up at Old Madam and asked abruptly, “Mother, what happened to you? Why is your mouth a little contorted?”
“My… my mouth is twisted?” Old Madam was stunned.
Shao Jing stood up and walked to the dressing table, picking up a small bronze mirror. Then, he turned around and handed it to his mother.
After taking the mirror, Old Madam looked at herself and foamed with rage. Her mouth was indeed distorted seriously. “Shao Wanru, that s.l.u.t is indeed an ungrateful beast! She showed no sense of grat.i.tude for our kindness. Relying on Prince Chen’s power, she dared to insult me and p.i.s.s me off.”
Nanny Yu had implicitly told her that she had a slight stroke. But she was fine now and just needed to take a good rest.
Old Madam had never imagined her mouth would become distorted after such a mild stroke. At this moment, she was filled with fury.
“What do you think of making Princess Chen kill Madam Jiang?” Shao Jing suddenly had this idea and smiled.
“What do you mean?” Old Madam raised her head and asked anxiously, without any hesitation, “s.h.i.+fting the blame of Madam Jiang’s death onto that girl? Can… Can we make it?”
“Mother, why couldn’t we do it? No matter how difficult it is, we can achieve our goals by planning carefully!” Shao Jing snorted at her question, lifting his robe, and sat down again. Without his constant schemes, he wouldn’t have been able to become Marquis Xing.
“What are you going to do?” Old Madam leaned over and asked in a low voice.
Shao Jing thought it over and also lowered his head, whispering in Old Madam’s ear. One of them spoke, and the other nodded repeatedly…
When Shao Jing came out, Zhao Xiran hurriedly walked out of the wing room. Looking at his daughter-in-law, Shao Jing a.s.sumed a lukewarm att.i.tude and just told her to take good care of Old Madam before turning away.
Nanny Yu and Zhao Xiran entered the room together. It had been two hours since the mother and son began talking in the room.
Old Madam was tired and had no energy to rest against the headboard. The two of them helped her lay down to rest. Soon, she fell asleep. Eyes on Old Madam’s crooked mouth, Zhao Xiran looked calm.
“First Young Madam,” Nanny Yu covered Old Madam gently with the quilt and said softly.
...
Zhao Xiran nodded and left the room with Nanny Yu.
“Eldest Young Madam, Old Madam is weak with sickness, so I’m afraid she’ll have to trouble you recently.” Nanny Yu said with a wry smile. For now, only this Eldest Young Madam could handle the affairs in the mansion.
“Nanny Yu, you don’t have to say that. It’s my duty to care for her as a granddaughter-in-law!” Zhao Xiran replied softly with a gentle smile. Zhao Xiran appeared pretty tender and harmless. When Nanny Yu looked at her, the rims of her eyes turned red. Miss Shao had once looked after Old Madam with meticulous care too.
Nanny Yu tilted her head to wipe away her tears. After that, she turned around and forced a smile. “His Grace told me that Old Madam had agreed to his marriage. He wanted you to prepare for it in advance. Everything should be ready when the new Madam marries into our mansion. Also, you’ll have to ask servants to clean up a courtyard for the new Miss!”
Of course, the so-called new Miss was the illegitimate daughter.
Zhao Xiran was quite taken aback, her eyes widening. She didn’t expect Old Madam to agree with Shao Jing’s marriage so quickly. Immediately, she flew into a rage. It took her quite an effort to contain her anger. At last, she asked gruffly, “What kind of courtyard does he need?
In a while, she would see Shao Hua’an and ask him what was happening. Didn’t he say Old Madam would deal with the mistress as soon as she returned? Such a cheap mistress had the delusion that she could become the secondary legal wife! How could she become her mother-in-law and domineer over her? She was the daughter of Minister Zhao’s Mansion! Zhao Xiran couldn’t swallow her pride and endure in silence.
She had to accept Madam Jiang. After all, she gave birth to her husband. But now, even such a woman of humble origin wanted to trample on her. She had no idea how their minds worked! She would be too ashamed to go out!