The Prince of Jin returned home two days later after finishing his official duties. That day was a good day for Qin Xizhao, the Junior Duke of Xingzhou County, to take a concubine.
The concubine's surname was Zhao. Jiang Changning asked someone to find out and found out that this Zhao was a cousin of Zhao from the Prince of Jin's Mansion.
Jiang Changning raised his eyebrows, "What did the Empress Dowager think? She actually asked you and Qin Xizhao to be brothers-in-law."
The Empress Dowager is trying to achieve this by hammering here and sticking there. I have no idea what purpose she wants to achieve. It's really confusing.
Prince Jin said seriously: "Princess Jin, I have to remind you that only wives who are sisters can be called brothers-in-law."
"Oh, that's what I mean. Your Highness, please don't be so serious." Jiang Changning said in a tender voice.
If you don't want to be serious, then don't be serious. King Jin didn't dwell on this issue and asked directly: "Has that woman been well behaved these days?"
Jiang Changning smiled, "Except for the provocation on the day she entered the mansion, she has been relatively well behaved. I think she is waiting for you to come back and ask you, the prince, to make the decision."
Prince Jin snorted coldly, "She is confident."
Not to mention, he looked down on her. Even if he slept with her, he would never favor his concubine over his wife.
"Men are always fickle. In her eyes, I, the princess, am yesterday's flower." Jiang Changning glanced at him.
"Nonsense, my princess is clearly the flower of the day, blooming in full bloom." Prince Jin reached out and touched Jiang Changning's face, "She is so tender."
"Your Highness has been through wind and rain, and has aged a lot." Jiang Changning smiled evilly and touched Prince Jin's face.
Prince Jin stared at Jiang Changning with a dangerous look in his eyes, "Princess, do you dislike me because I'm old?"
"Your Highness is seven years older than me."
"Six years old, less than seven." Prince Jin corrected her
Jiang Changning chuckled, "Your Majesty is really fussy about it, just a few months difference."
"Time is money, and this must be taken into account." Prince Jin said seriously.
"Yes, yes, Your Highness is right." Jiang Changning laughed and fell into Prince Jin's arms.
While the couple was chatting, Zhao was arguing with the gatekeeper. She wanted to leave the yard, but the gatekeeper wouldn't let her.
The gatekeeper was still arguing, "Madam, don't you want to follow the rules set by the princess?"
"The prince is back, and I want to pay my respects to him. I am the prince's wife, and even the princess cannot stop me from seeing him." Zhao also had sufficient reasons.
The gatekeeper was unmoved. "When the prince wants to see you, he will summon you. Just wait in the yard."
"The prince has returned from outside, and as his wife, I should have gone outside the mansion to greet him. But the princess did not ask me to go. Now I have to go and pay my respects to the prince with all the formalities." Zhao tried earnestly to persuade the gatekeeper.
"Madam, please don't make things difficult for me." The gatekeeper refused to let her out.
"I've told you so much, but you're still so stubborn, you damn old thing. Fangcao, slap me in the face." Zhao remembered the Empress Dowager's teachings that she should teach servants and not do it herself.
Like what happened that day when Jiang did it herself, she was really uncultured.
Jiang is also lucky, otherwise she would not be worthy of being the Princess of Jin.
The maid beside her stepped forward and raised her hand to hit the gatekeeper.
The gatekeeper did not avoid him, and said fearlessly, "I advise the young lady not to make a mistake."
"Beat him." Zhao shouted.
The maidservant slapped the gatekeeper in the face.
The gatekeeper sneered, "Although I am of low status, I have served the Concubine Dowager. Madam ordered me to be beaten, and I took it."
Although they accepted it, Zhao was still not allowed to leave the yard.
Zhao was so angry that she almost died. "Just wait for me."
She stamped her feet angrily, turned around and walked back with her maid.
Half an hour later, Xiulan came over, "Mrs. Zhao."
Zhao had gone to Rujingyuan several times to pay her respects, and knew that Xiulan was the most respected maidservant by Jiang Changning's side. "Xiulan, what are you doing here?"
"Madam Zhao, the princess asked me to tell you a message. One should consider the owner's feelings before beating a dog. Although Mrs. Zheng is just a gatekeeper, she is also an old lady who has served the princess dowager. Madam Zhao has done her job." Xiulan put the book in her hand on the table.
"Mrs. Zhao, you haven't learned the rules well. Starting tomorrow, you will copy the rules of the government a hundred times. When you finish copying, you can leave the courtyard. You don't have to go to the morning reception. Stay in the courtyard and concentrate on copying the rules of the government."
"You want me to copy the government rules?" Zhao's eyes widened.
"Who is my status? How dare I ask Madam to do something? I am following the orders of the princess." Xiulan smiled calmly.
"I didn't copy. It was Mrs. Zheng who broke the rules first. I taught her a lesson to make her break the rules and look down on others." Zhao said sternly.
Xiulan did not argue with her, and smiled and said, "Madam Chen, who lived in Lanzaoyuan before, participated in the selection and was appointed to the prince as his wife by the current Empress Dowager."
Zhao's expression changed slightly, "Where is Madam Chen now?"
"She committed a serious crime and was tortured. The prince gave her a letter of release and ordered people to carry her out of the palace." Xiulan deliberately put emphasis on the word "carry".
Zhao was silent for a long time, then glared at Xiulan, "Are you threatening me?"
"I am just stating the facts. Madam Zhao should have heard that once you enter a marquis's mansion, it's like entering a deep sea. The threshold of a prince's mansion is even higher than that of a marquis's mansion." Xiulan looked at her with a smile.
"Get out." Zhao was furious.
Xiulan remained calm and composed, bowed and said, "I will take my leave."
She took two steps back and added, "Madam Zhao, don't forget to copy the house rules. I will come to collect your copy in a few days."
Then he turned around and left the Blue Algae Institute without looking back.
Zhao discovered that not only her, but the four maids around her were unable to leave the yard. In addition to Zheng Po and the other four, there were four more people guarding the gate.
When Park, who had been under house arrest, learned about this, she curled her lips in disdain, "I thought someone powerful had come, but who knew he was just a weakling, not even as good as Chen."
Zhao was indeed not as good as Chen Yi. Chen Yi tried to provoke him once, but when she found that something was not right, she immediately lay low. However, Zhao rushed forward recklessly, not knowing his own limits.
Jiang Changning trapped Zhao in Lanzaoyuan and no longer cared about her.
In the mansion of the Duke of Xingzhou, Xie Baoyin was also disciplining Zhao. Her methods were relatively conventional. She asked Zhao to pay her respects in the morning and evening and serve her three meals a day.
However, Zhao was a good concubine after all, and it was impossible for Xie Baoyin to use her as a foot-washing maid. What worried her most was that she was in mourning period and could not serve Qin Xizhao.
She couldn't stop Qin Xizhao from going to Zhao's yard. If Zhao gave birth to a child before her, what status would she have in the Qin family
After dinner that day, she sat alone in her room again, staring blankly ahead, until the maid came to report: "Madam, after the young duke accompanied Madam to dinner, he went to the front yard and did not go to Zhao's place."
"Really?" Xie Baoyin's eyes regained some of their spirit.
The maid nodded heavily, "Really."
Xie Baoyin pursed her lips and smiled. He didn't like this Zhao either.
Suddenly she thought of something and a smile froze on her face. She was also not liked by him.
I mixed up the painkillers and applied them, and the pain went away for half an afternoon, but after dinner in the evening, the pain continued.
(End of this chapter)