The courtyard where Ji Hanyue's spirit tablet was placed was not close to the prince's main courtyard.
This is the Empress Dowager's intention, and also the Crown Prince Pei Luoan's intention. There must be someone else to be the mistress of the East Palace in the future. We can't let a dead person serve the living!
What's more, Ji Youran's family is the one who makes the decisions in the Ji Mansion. As for Ji Youran, she is actually not willing to set up such a place for worship, no matter how small, remote and far away it is.
But Pei Luoan wanted to rely on the dead Ji Hanyue to win a good reputation. Loyalty and righteousness are not just about love between men and women. The court officials would trust a prince who is affectionate and loving more, so they set up such a small mourning hall.
Although the mourning hall is small, it is very nice. Two female Taoist priests were specially invited to serve incense. The Taoist priests were found in Qingyun Temple and are said to have a good reputation.
Ji Youran went to take a brief look at it when it was just completed, and never came back since then.
Seeing the prince and the concubine coming together, two beautiful Taoist nuns came over and bowed to them.
A Taoist nun lit three incense sticks in front of the spirit tablet in the middle, then politely withdrew with another Taoist nun, leaving only one of Pei Luoan's trusted eunuchs and Ji Youran waiting on the side.
Pei Luoan looked at the spirit tablet in the middle, his face darkened, his usual gentleness seemed to turn into gloomy all of a sudden, he stared blankly, and after a long while he sighed softly, muttering to himself: "Hanyue, you brought all this upon yourself, if you had always been so loyal to me... this wouldn't have happened!"
“Your Highness, don’t be sad. Second sister… was confused at that time…” Ji Youran knew the inside story best. Seeing the prince’s expression, she hurriedly comforted him softly, just like Pei Luoan’s advice when he saw Ji Hanyue doing something wrong, as gentle as ever.
But the tenderness at the moment made Pei Luoan feel disgusted.
The situation today is different from the past, and it is really difficult for him to believe that Ji Youran has no selfish motives at all.
"You go down first. I'll talk to Hanyue." Pei Luoan waved his hand.
"Your Highness, I will accompany you. I am worried about you staying here alone. Besides, I also want to see my second sister." Afraid that Pei Luoan would drive her away, Ji Youran quickly brought up Ji Hanyue to talk about something.
Pei Luoan frowned after hearing this, but did not chase anyone away. He just walked forward to take three incense sticks, lit them himself, and then inserted them into the incense burner. He bowed deeply to the spirit tablet in front of him, with his handsome brows furrowed.
I can’t describe the feeling in my heart.
If it were in the past, he would definitely not think there was anything wrong, nor would he feel that he had done anything wrong. It was Ji Hanyue who had let him down, and Ji Yongming was an ungrateful person. He asked him to hand it over, but he refused. It was no wonder that he was rude. She was just a woman, and he could afford to lose.
But what about now? Do you regret it
It seems not, I just feel it's a pity.
If it hadn't been like this at the time, Ji Hanyue would have married him now and become the real Crown Princess, and there wouldn't have been so many things involved...
The mourning hall fell silent, with no sound for a long time.
It took a long while before Pei Luoan's voice was heard: "Has Hanyue's dowry been returned?"
"It has all been returned. Madam Duan and my second brother can now handle it on their own. But Madam Duan was only a concubine, and my second brother is still young. I thought of asking mother to help them, so that they wouldn't be at a loss when they suddenly got so much money and shops."
Ji Youran remembered what Xiao had said to her before, and hurriedly answered while Pei Luoan was asking.
Xiao wanted to interfere in the affairs of the first wife's house, but she couldn't do so without a legitimate reason. For some unknown reason, her grandmother was determined to return everything to the first wife's house. Although Ji Youran secretly kept a lot, Ji Hanyue's dowry was really a lot, and what was returned now was still a large amount, which made Ji Youran and Xiao very jealous.
"That's Hanyue's business. It has nothing to do with you. It's better for your mother not to interfere." Pei Luoan said unhappily. Although he didn't care about such things, it didn't mean he didn't understand them.
"Your Highness, since the Ling'an Marquis's Mansion has been returned, it will be under the jurisdiction of my family. I am not in a position to be the master of your mother." Ji Youran was of course unwilling and said boldly.
Pei Luoan glanced at her and sneered, "If your mother acts this way, you will lose your position as concubine."
"Your Highness!" Ji Youran was shocked and knelt down with a plop, looking resentful. "Your Highness, you said that... do you... do you think I didn't do well?"
"You've done pretty well, as long as you're not so greedy. It doesn't matter whether you have a dowry or not. As long as I'm here, how can I let you starve?"
Pei Luoan said unhappily.
Ji Youran felt resentful and annoyed, but she had to lower her head, "Yes, I understand."
Naturally, she has enough to eat, but she lacks money, whether now or in the future. She also wants to use the money to bribe some people to work for her, or to deal with the prince's concubines in the future, or possibly other women of the prince in the future.
With this calculation, she was not just short of a little money.
Seeing her so docile, Pei Luoan's face looked better. He raised his hand and motioned her to stand up: "When you entered the mansion, you were in danger. Now what are you talking about whether you have a dowry or not? I don't despise you. Anyway, everyone knows that you don't have a dowry."
Ji Youran felt both ashamed and hateful.
Originally, with her status as the legitimate daughter of the Ling'an Marquis's Mansion, even if she was not as rich as Ji Hanyue, she must have had a dowry. But because she said at the time that she was going to "take care of" Ji Hanyue, and she hurried into the Prince's Mansion, her mother also decided to let her keep Ji Hanyue's dowry for herself, and she didn't get a dowry at all.
As a result, she, the daughter of the noble Ling Anbo Mansion, became a woman without a dowry.
Thinking of the princesses and duchesses she had met before, as well as their daughters and granddaughters, some people had been saying, openly or secretly, that she had no dowry, mocking her for becoming the Crown Princess without any dowry at all, which was really embarrassing, and she was even worse than the daughter of an ordinary family.
Ji Youran heard such sarcastic words several times. Some people said them secretly, while others laughed at her openly. Every time, she comforted herself, saying that these were all trivial matters. Ji Hanyue's dowry was hers. She had no lack of dowry, and was no worse than those people. Just based on Ji Hanyue's dowry, how many people in the capital could compare to her
But ever since the incident at the dowry shop last time, Ji Youran has lost even more face among these royal families!
Dowry, how could she not have a dowry? Dowry is the foundation of a woman in the backyard!
"Your Highness..." Ji Youran felt aggrieved and looked at Pei Luoan with tears in her eyes.
But Pei Luoan's eyes were not on her. He looked at the spirit tablet in the middle and the words written on it. After a long while, he said, "Do you think that I actually saw it wrong at that time? It was because of the angle that I saw it wrong.
Dao Hanyue and Pei Yusheng were secretly talking to each other?"
Ji Youran's heart was filled with hatred. Her fingers pressed convulsively on the ground. The ground was very cold, but she didn't feel it at all. She only felt that the blood in her body was almost boiling.
What did the prince mean by this? Was he saying that he had brought him there on purpose and let him see that scene? Was he blaming himself? Was he doubting himself
The boiling blood slowly calmed down and then turned cold. If the prince knew the truth of this matter, he would definitely not forgive me.
At that time, Ji Hanyue was tricked and fell asleep on the stone table. As for King Jing, it was the same at that time. From the angle where the prince "accidentally" passed by, he did see two people whispering.
"Your Highness, maybe we really misunderstood." Ji Youran replied.
She had to answer that.
The mourning hall fell silent, and it took a long while before Pei Luoan's faint voice was heard: "Get up, let's go!"
After saying that, he turned and left.
Ji Youran hurriedly stood up, turned around to look at the spirit tablet in the middle, and sneered. Ji Hanyue was so glorious when he was alive, and he wanted to occupy the throne of the crown prince when he died. Unfortunately, dead is dead, so what if he occupied the throne of the crown prince
Now, she can use the dead Ji Hanyue to find out the prince's thoughts and fight with Liu Jingyu, who is pestering the prince and wants to enter the prince's mansion to become the princess.
Thinking of this, the smile on Ji Youran's face softened. She turned around sarcastically and chased after Pei Luoan in front of her. She still had to talk about what happened tonight. She had to make a big deal about this matter, and it would be best if it could be related to this Jingyu County Lady. The prince had previously expressed his deep affection for Ji Hanyue, and now there was no decree from the Queen to betroth him to Liu Jingyu, so if the two of them lit the same heart lantern together, it would not be a good thing for the prince!
Doesn’t the prince want people to think that he is a man of deep affection and loyalty, and that he will remember everything that is good to him and be grateful? …
Qu Moying found out what had happened in the mansion when he woke up the next morning.
Not only Qu Xuexin's, but also Qu Qiuyan's.
I heard that King Jing came to visit last night and came back with Qu Qiuyan. He talked with Qu Zhizhen in the study for a while and then left.
And Qu Xuexin's matter was no longer such a big deal because of King Jing's intervention. It was said that King Jing said it was a trivial matter and the concubine of the East Palace was only injured by accident. Today, he asked people from Qu's mansion to send gifts to the Prince's mansion as accompaniment gifts. King Jing would personally explain the matter to the Prince.
In the eyes of the lady, this matter was resolved satisfactorily.
After listening to what the old lady said, Qu Moying pondered for a moment and knew that this matter would not be simple. Prince Jing must be talking about Qu Qiuyan's matter when he came to the mansion. It seemed that Qu Qiuyan's entry into Prince Jing's mansion was a foregone conclusion, but it seemed that her status would not be high, which was why Prince Jing personally went to Qu Zhizhen to talk about this matter.
Since she was a woman of low status, how could Ji Youran buy it? Ji Youran had been feeling very depressed recently. The lanterns last night must have been something that put Qu Xuexin in her wrong hands.
There is such a thing that can prove her status as a concubine, and at such a critical juncture, how could Ji Youran not take advantage of it
Madam, you're still thinking too simply.
However, she is also happy to see these things. Dog-eat-dog is not a bad thing...