"Princess, I can serve you tea." Chen Yi tried to kneel down with difficulty.
"Let's do it another day." Jiang Changning signaled the matchmaker to hold her.
Jiang Changning felt that the appearance of the silver needle was very strange, but it was not convenient to check it in front of the spectators.
A sedan chair was brought over and Chen Yi was helped into it.
"Always loyal."
"Xiu Lan."
The couple spoke at the same time, and Chang Youzhong and Xiulan left with the sedan chair. It seemed like they were escorting them, but in fact they were going to try the case.
"Please take your seats," Jiang Changning said with a smile.
The spectators had a banquet at Prince Jin's Mansion and then left quickly.
Something went wrong with the concubine taking in by Prince Jin's mansion, and there was gossip that could be spread everywhere.
After the concubine knew about this, she called Prince Jin and Jiang Changning to Liuxuanyuan.
When Qiao heard the news, she came over and Jiang Changning caught the gloating expression that flashed across her face.
"What's going on? Why is there a silver needle?" The concubine stared at Jiang Changning and asked.
Prince Jin rushed to answer: "Mother, I asked Chang Youzhong to check this matter, and there is no needle hole on the kneeling mat."
"Fang Ju found the needle hole on Miss Chen's skirt." Jiang Changning added.
King Jin concluded, "The person who did this should be someone close to Chen."
Since the matter had nothing to do with Jiang Changning, the concubine could no longer hold him accountable.
Mrs. Qiao was unwilling to let Jiang Changning escape, and whispered, "How could someone around Mrs. Chen harm her? They must have been bribed."
"Sister-in-law, do you think that I bribed the people around Chen and put silver needles in her skirt to make her look bad in public?" Jiang Changning asked.
The Concubine Dowager and Prince Jin looked over, and Prince Jin frowned slightly.
Qiao tilted her head uncomfortably, "I didn't say it was you, I was just making an inference based on the facts."
"Fortunately, my sister-in-law is just a woman in the inner court. If she were a court official working in the Ministry of Justice, she would have made a lot of false cases and wrongful convictions." Jiang Changning said sarcastically.
Mrs. Qiao had no way to respond. Seeing her shrink back, Jiang Changning raised his eyebrows and smiled.
Prince Jin was trying to comfort the Concubine Dowager, "Mother, I will find out everything about this matter, you don't have to worry."
The toffee rubbed his forehead and said, "Don't let the news spread too badly outside." This is a scandal!
"Don't worry, mother."
The matter was settled, and it was time to leave. However, unwilling to be left alone, Mrs. Qiao spoke again, "Ms. Chen hasn't finished her tea yet. Shouldn't we let her serve it?"
Prince Jin was a little impatient, "Sister-in-law, the princess has already said that we should do it another day."
Jiang Changning added with a smile: "Chen has an injury on her leg. If I ask her to kneel down and offer tea at this time, my sister-in-law will say that I am making things difficult for my concubine."
Prince Jin's face was slightly cold, "Mother, my son and Jiang will return to the courtyard first."
"Go ahead. You've been busy for most of the day. Take a good rest." said the toffee.
Prince Jin took Jiang Changning away without even glancing at Qiao.
After returning to Rujing Courtyard and entering the warm room, Prince Jin took off his outer clothes and sat down on the big kang by the window.
The maid brought in the tea and then left.
Jiang Changning sat down opposite him and took a sip of tea.
Prince Jin suddenly said, "My elder brother is six years older than me, and he is cowardly and indecisive by nature."
"He never dared to disobey Mother's wishes. The only time he disobeyed was when Mother wanted him to marry the daughter of the Yan family, and he refused to obey until his death."
Jiang Changning's eyes flickered. This was another unexpected thing. It turned out that Helian Xing was the one who asked to marry Qiao.
Jiang Changning misunderstood what Prince Jin said.
In fact, Helian Xing just didn't want to marry the daughter of Yan's family. He could marry anyone except the daughter of Yan's family. Qiao was assigned to Helian Xing by the late emperor.
"After my eldest sister-in-law came into the family, she treated my eldest brother with respect. But my mother didn't like my eldest sister-in-law and always made things difficult for her. In order to protect my eldest sister-in-law, my eldest brother always contradicted my mother and was scolded by her many times."
Jiang Changning recalled that the Prince of Jin had never directly defended the Concubine Dowager in front of her, but always changed the subject calmly. It seemed that he had learned from previous experience.
"My eldest brother's sudden death was a great blow to my mother and sister-in-law."
Jiang Changning's eyes turned cold, "I understand. From now on, as long as my sister-in-law doesn't go too far, I will give in to her."
After saying that, he stood up and prepared to leave.
What a bastard, what a pig's hoof. He laid so much groundwork just to make her endure Qiao's harassment. It really made her angry to death.
"Ningning, you misunderstood me." Prince Jin got down from the kang and reached out to grab her.
Jiang Changning pursed her lips and said nothing, looking at him indifferently.
The cold gaze made the Prince of Jin feel uneasy, and he quickly said, "My eldest sister-in-law is a widow and has lost her job. She is really pitiful. Mother couldn't bear to take away her housekeeping power. You have been wronged. Mother said that she would compensate you."
Is this a slap in the face followed by a sweet reward
"Thank you, Concubine Dowager. I will swallow my anger, be humble in every aspect, and will never make Concubine Dao unhappy." Jiang Changning deliberately spoke in a sarcastic tone.
She wanted to test King Jin's bottom line and see if he would indulge her
"Ningning, it's pitiful that my eldest sister-in-law is a widow, but that's no reason for her to do whatever she wants in the mansion. You don't need to give in. If she goes too far, you should fight back. You did the right thing on the 30th."
Jiang Changning was surprised, "You know!"
"My sister-in-law is not a good housekeeper. If I don't have someone keep an eye on it, the reputation of the Prince of Jin's Mansion will be completely lost, and my mother will be sad."
Jiang Changning sneered with an ambiguous meaning. It was really annoying that Prince Jin was so protective of the Qiao family.
Prince Jin continued, "From now on, I'll rely on Ningning."
"Your Highness thinks too highly of me." Jiang Changning felt that life was good now. She was lazy and relaxed, occasionally fighting with Qiao for fun. She didn't want to help Qiao clean up the mess.
"Ningning, don't worry, you can do it. I'm here with mother."
"Yong Zhou, are you going to support me?"
"I am your husband. If I don't support you, who should I support?" Prince Jin leaned over and kissed her cheek. "You got angry before I even finished speaking. Ningning's temper is getting worse."
Jiang Changning curled his lips, "I'm not angry."
"Okay, okay, I'm not angry, I'm not angry, let's go in and take a nap." Prince Jin said as he half hugged and half embraced Jiang Changning and coaxed him into the bedroom.
Taking a nap naturally led to doing that during the day.
Snowflakes began to fall in the evening. Seeing that the person in his arms was still sleeping soundly, Prince Jin got out of bed quietly and told the maid not to wake her up. He went to Liuxuanyuan alone to pay his respects to the Concubine Dowager.
When the concubine saw that Jiang Changning didn't come, she asked coldly, "Is she throwing a tantrum?"
"My son had something to say to mother, but I didn't let her come because I was afraid she would come and disturb me. She said that if she didn't come, mother would punish her. I said mother is kind and amiable, and she wouldn't bother with her. Besides, mother would rather see my son than her, right?"
The concubine was so pleased with these words that she didn't care whether Jiang Changning came to greet her or not. She took the hand of the Prince of Jin and said, "Do you have any private words to tell your mother? What can't you tell your wife?"
"Her parents died when she was young, and she grew up relying on her relatives. She has little experience, but fortunately she has a gentle personality and will not cause trouble for her son. However, her son does not want her to know too much about what is happening outside."
(End of this chapter)