Chapter 933 Old Madam Was Speechless
The Great Elder Princess stormed toward Marquis Xing’s Mansion with a large group of servant girls and old maids.
The carriage on the front moved slowly, followed by two rows of brawny old maids and servant girls who used to do heavy jobs. They looked st.u.r.dier and fiercer than ordinary servant girls. Moreover, they were going in the direction of Marquis Xing’s Mansion. Needless to say, they were surely going to challenge Marquis Xing’s Mansion again.
Although many people had heard that Old Madam of Marquis Xing’s Mansion and Rui’an Great Elder Princess didn’t get along with each other before, most of them had only heard about it. But recently, they had seen the two mansions fighting against each other several times.
Many people were wondering, “Are they going to fight against each other again? For what this time? Fifth Miss Shao has married Prince Chen. Did something happen?”
Many pleasure-seekers were so excited that they couldn’t help but follow the carriage of Rui’an Great Elder Princess and go to Marquis Xing’s Mansion with a large group of people to watch what was going on.
Rui’an Great Elder Princess’s carriage moved slowly, so those people could follow it.
When they arrived at Marquis Xing’s Mansion, there were already many people following the Great Elder Princess’s carriage.
Marquis Xing’s Mansion had heard the news earlier, and Old Madam got very angry. She didn’t know what Rui’an Great Elder Princess was going to do.
“Grandma, what should we do?” Zhao Xiran was also a little panicky. She had heard that Rui’an Great Elder Princess had been hostile to Old Madam of Marquis Xing’s Mansion, but she had never seen it herself.
“Let’s go to the door to meet her!” Old Madam was also in a panic. She had never beat Rui’an Great Elder Princess. At this moment, she could only show the white feather and made Rui’an Great Elder Princess see their sincerity.
“Grandmother, I’ll go with you!” In fact, Zhao Xiran wanted to leave, but obviously, there was no one else in Marquis Xing’s Mansion to accompany Old Madam now. She had to bite the bullet and go with Old Madam.
They hurried to the door with some servant girls and old maids. They wanted to wait at the gate before Rui’an Great Elder Princess arrived to show their sincerity.
“Grandma, why did Rui’an Great Elder Princess come here? I heard that she cares about Fifth Sister the most!” Zhao Xiran asked circ.u.mspectly while walking.
She didn’t care about these things at the beginning. Because Shao Wanru had married, there should not be any discord between the Great Elder Princess and Marquis Xing’s Mansion.
But now she had to ask a few more questions. She also regretted it. If she had known that the Great Elder Princess would challenge Marquis Xing’s Mansion again, she would have been more cautious at that time.
She would not have let Shao Caihuan get information that could be used against her, in case Old Madam suspected her. Although Old Madam seemed to think highly of her now, in fact, it was because there was no one who could help Old Madam manage the backyard of Marquis Xing’s Mansion, except her.
“Is it because of Commandery Prince Qing’s matter before?” Old Madam was also thinking about what she had done to make the Great Elder Princess come here.
“We’ve only invited Fifth Sister to come and give advice on Commandery Prince Qing’s matter. It’s not a big deal. Why would the Great Elder Princess be so angry?” Zhao Xiran suddenly couldn’t figure it out. She literally couldn’t figure it out. In her imagination, Rui’an Great Elder Princess was not that narrow-minded!
She heard that Rui’an Great Elder Princess was very arrogant and distant, but she was not a troublemaker.
“It must be because of the Fifth Young Lady. She thinks so highly of that troublesome little girl. She must have forgotten which branch has the n.o.bility t.i.tle now!” Old Madam scolded in a low voice. She even scolded Shao Wanru.
Old Madam thought she was innocent, but Shao Wanru, who got involved in this matter because of her for no reason, was actually innocent.
Zhao Xiran’s eyes darkened, but then she comforted Old Madam with a smile, “Grandma, don’t worry. If Rui’an Great Elder Princess has something to say, we’ll listen to her. Fifth Sister is married, but it is not a big deal if she goes back to her parents’ home sometime!”
While they were talking, they had arrived at the gate. Looking outside the gate, they happened to see that Rui’an Great Elder Princess’s carriage had also arrived.
Rui’an Great Elder Princess’s carriage was followed by a large group of people. The sight made the people from Marquis Xing’s Mansion a little fl.u.s.tered.
They wondered, “It’s such a big crowd. Did all the people along the way follow them here?”
The carriage stopped. Seeing Old Madam and Zhao Xiran at the door, someone had already reported it to the Great Elder Princess. The Great Elder Princess got out of the carriage with the help of a servant girl. A servant girl came over and gently tidied her dress, and then the Great Elder Princess walked toward the gate.
Zhao Xiran gently nudged Old Madam and helped her go out.
After they met, Zhao Xiran put down her hand and bowed deeply to Rui’an Great Elder Princess. “Greetings, Great Elder Princess!”
“Forego formalities!” Rui’an Great Elder Princess said coldly.
Old Madam was a little embarra.s.sed, but she suppressed the anger in her heart and also bowed to Rui’an Great Elder Princess.
In the past, when she was still Madam of Duke Xing, although her status couldn’t compare with that of Rui’an Great Elder Princess, she was at least the wife of a highest-ranking official. But now her position was lower than before, so she couldn’t behave recklessly in front of the Great Elder Princess. What was more, Rui’an Great Elder Princess didn’t come with good intentions.
Old Madam felt unhappy but had to show the white feather.
Duke Xing’s Mansion had been reduced to Marquis Xing’s Mansion!
“Old Madam, you are too polite. I heard that in order to help Commandery Prince Qing marry the Second Miss or the Third Miss of your mansion, you invited Zhuozhuo, who has been busy taking care of Prince Chen, over, and forced her to go to the palace to inform the Empress Dowager about it. Do you intend to let the Third Miss marry Commandery Prince Qing instead of the Second Miss?” Rui’an Great Elder Princess was very calm, but she raised her chin high. She glanced coldly at Old Madam and asked.
Old Madam’s face went crimson. Her fingers trembled, and she grabbed the handkerchief with spasms.
“Great Elder Princess, you mistook our intention. How could we do such a thing? We just invited Fifth Young Lady to come over and give advice on that matter…” Old Madam did not dare to admit it. Not to mention the other things involved in this matter, if she admitted it, she would definitely be seen as an unkind grandma. Fifth Young Lady was no longer who she had been, and she was related to Prince Chen. For this reason, Old Madam did not dare to speak at will.
The Great Elder Princess didn’t believe it and still said coldly, “Did I mistake your intention? I heard it from the Empress Dowager. Could the Empress Dowager lie to me?”
Old Madam’s face turned pale. If the Empress Dowager said it was true, it had to be true.
“Why, why would the Empress Dowager say such a thing…” Old Madam stammered.
“Since Commandery Prince Qing has pleaded with the Empress Dowager, the Empress Dowager should certainly make a decision. Old Madam, are you saying that the Empress Dowager should not tell me about it, but instead let you keep pressuring Zhuozhuo?” Although the Great Elder Princess did not act out her anger, the anger was burning in her eyes.
The Great Elder Princess continued, “Whether your mansion wants to swap the two sisters’ marriages or not, it has nothing to do with Zhuozhuo. She is married and is the youngest sister. She has no obligation to help your mansion with these troubles.”
“I… this matter…” It was out of Old Madam’s expectations that Rui’an Great Elder Princess didn’t fight with her directly but argued with her. However, Rui’an Great Elder Princess took the initiative and said that she was told by the Empress Dowager. Old Madam did not dare to say that such a thing was not true.
However, it was okay to arrange this kind of thing privately, but in front of so many people, no matter what they said, the blame was on Marquis Xing’s Mansion!
In the past, Rui’an Great Elder Princess used to fight with Old Madam directly, and Old Madam could deal with it. But now, Rui’an Great Elder Princess had become especially argumentative and suppressed others at the beginning. Old Madam felt unfamiliar and did not know how to fight back. She couldn’t help but turn to look at Zhao Xiran. Her granddaughter-in-law was very smart.
“Great Elder Princess, in fact, that’s not what we meant. Commandery Prince Qing has already understood what our mansion meant and was considerate toward our mansion. If Great Elder Princess is unhappy, we would not bother Fifth Sister with the affairs of the mansion in the future. Great Elder Princess, please do not hurt the harmony between us!” Zhao Xiran braced herself to explain with a smile. In fact, she was unwilling to confront Rui’an Great Elder Princess at all, but now she couldn’t pretend that she didn’t get Old Madam’s hint.
The Great Elder Princess squinted at her and then looked at Old Madam again. She didn’t pay any attention to Zhao Xiran at all. “Old Madam, is your Second Miss going to marry into a more powerful family? If she doesn’t like Commandery Prince Qing, why did you ask Commandery Prince Qing to come over to discuss the marriage at that time? And you asked Zhuozhuo to plead with Prince Chen to tell Commandery Prince Qing about it!” Rui’an Great Elder Princess said angrily.
“The Second Miss of Marquis Xing’s Mansion wanted to marry into a more powerful family, so she didn’t want to marry into Commandery Prince Qing’s Mansion?” This news was sensational, and it immediately arouse all kinds of speculations among the onlookers.
In the past, many people knew about the relations.h.i.+p between Second Miss Shao and Commandery Prince Qing. Although it happened in the palace at that time, many people spread it out with different intentions.
When people heard this obscene story, they spread it out, so more and more people knew about it.
The two of them did that kind of thing, but Second Miss Shao still wished to marry into a more powerful family. People who didn’t understand Rui’an Great Elder Princess’s words before had all understood.
So, it was not that the younger sister was willing to marry her elder sister’s fiance. It was just that the elder sister didn’t want to marry her fiance, so she forced her younger sister to marry him. Second Miss Shao was a concubine’s daughter. All the daughters in Marquis Xing’s Mansion were legitimate daughters, except her.
Someone in the pleasure-seekers said, “Force a legitimate daughter to marry a concubine’s daughter’s fiance? Is Marquis Xing’s Mansion crazy?”
“How, how could this happen? Does the concubine’s daughter take a fancy to… someone in there?” Someone pointed in the direction of the imperial palace.
“No matter how unsatisfactory Commandery Prince Qing is, he is still a member of the imperial family and is quite handsome. Why would Second Miss Shao dislike him? But on the contrary, if Second Miss Shao dislikes Commandery Prince Qing, it means that she might take a fancy to the Emperor or the young princes of the Emperor. From this point of view, it seems that Second Miss Shao indeed wants to marry into a more powerful family!” People were guessing.
“For the matter of a concubine’s daughter, they forced a legitimate daughter who married Princess Chen to help with the affairs of her parents’ home again and again, and they also forced another legitimate daughter to marry that concubine’s daughter’s fiance. How… could a concubine’s daughter be so imperious?” someone said in surprise. It was unbelievable for a concubine’s daughter to be able to do this.
“In the future, if someone tells me that a concubine’s daughter would live a hard life, I will tell him about the life Second Miss Shao is living! She can marry whoever she wants. If she doesn’t want to marry that person, her legal sisters will marry him for her!” Someone made a crack.