Princess Jinping was released from house arrest on the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month. After returning from the Buddhist temple, Sheng Qingyun's attitude towards her was the same as before, with no sign of anything unusual. She also prepared several new sets of clothes and new jewelry for her, dressed her up beautifully, and took her with her during all the New Year holidays, showing her motherly love everywhere.
The fact that she was punished with house arrest was not known to the outside world. Because of her status as the future Crown Princess, the guests who came and went were full of praise and flattery for her, and the girls were even more envious of her.
There is only one Crown Princess in the entire Zhou Dynasty. How can people not be envious, jealous and hateful when such a person is picked out from millions of people
In the first two days after she was released, Princess Jinping was quite nervous, fearing that the Second Madam's exposure of her true colors would affect her. After she was released, she found that no one talked about her being under house arrest and they were still as caring and loving to her as ever.
After the doubts, she gradually became relieved and pretended to be well-behaved, sensible and truly repentant in order to win everyone's sympathy and trust. At the same time, she became extremely alert towards Xie Nanjia.
In her opinion, the Second Madam, who was so meticulous and good at disguise, refused to believe her suspicion of Xiu'er, which showed that Xiu'er's disguise skills were even more advanced than the Second Madam's, so she had to be extra careful.
If she had realized this earlier, she would not have acted like that on the street that day, allowing Xiu'er to easily catch her.
She underestimated her enemy and paid the price for it, almost ruining the well-behaved image she had worked so hard to create.
Fortunately, the people in the Duke's Mansion were simple-minded and they really liked girls, so she escaped. If she were in another family with many sisters, she would have been really doomed.
But there was one thing she couldn't figure out: why was Xiu'er targeting her like this
To expose the secret between her and the second wife? Or was he jealous that she had taken the title of Princess Jinping and became the prince's fiancée
If it was the former, there had been no other movement for so many days except for the inexplicable disappearance of a guard. If it was the latter, looking at her current behavior, she seemed to be more interested in Zhao Jingyu, the illegitimate son, and there was no sign of her wanting to marry the prince.
So, what is she going to do
Did she go through so much trouble to return to the Duke's Mansion just to marry back into the Marquis' Mansion and live a mediocre life with a bastard
What a weird person!
"Jin Ping, what are you thinking about?" Sheng Qingyun interrupted her thoughts, "The prince will come to pay New Year's greetings on the fourth day of the first lunar month. Have you prepared the clothes and jewelry you want to wear on that day?"
Princess Jinping came to her senses and acted shy: "The prince is here to pay New Year's greetings to his grandparents, father and mother, and his daughter doesn't need to meet him, so why prepare all that?"
"Why don't you meet?" Sheng Qingyun said, "You are already an engaged couple, so of course you have to meet. If the prince is not in a hurry to leave, I will arrange for you to talk alone."
Jinping County Lady blushed and whispered, "Forget it, I don't dare."
Sheng Qingyun smiled and said, "Why are you afraid? You will marry him sooner or later. Just meet him openly."
Xie Nanjia smiled and said, "If you are afraid, I will accompany you on that day."
Princess Jinping's heart skipped a beat, and she intuitively felt that she had some ulterior motive. She no longer cared about being shy and declined politely, "If you must meet me, I'd better meet alone. If there are others around, I won't know what to say."
"Ha!" Xie Nanjia chuckled, and it was unclear whether it was a joke or a sarcastic remark.
Princess Jinping always felt that everything she did had a hidden meaning, so she smiled back uncomfortably and said with her head down, "Then I'll go back and pick out some clothes and get ready."
"Sister, do you want me to give you some advice?" Xie Nanjia stood up and asked enthusiastically.
"No need, just stay here and talk to your mother!" Princess Jinping declined again.
Xie Nanjia simply wanted to play a trick on her, and when she rejected him, he just went with the flow and sat back.
Sheng Qingyun waited until everyone walked away, then sighed and said, "Actually, I really hope that you two can be like your aunt and I, a pair of good sisters who support each other. It would be great if she wasn't a liar."
"Mother, you're overthinking this. You can't force things like this." Xie Nanjia comforted her, "I have so many brothers who love me, and that's enough. I don't need a sister with ulterior motives."
"Alas!" Sheng Qingyun sighed again, patted her hands, and changed the subject, "If you want to feel sorry for your mother, then promise her not to think about marrying Zhao Jingyu anymore."
Xie Nanjia: “…”
Isn't this a rather abrupt change of topic
Zhao Agou, look how unpopular you are.
On the fourth day of the first lunar month, both new and old sons-in-law will come to pay their respects to the father-in-law.
The Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion, which had not seen a son-in-law for three generations, finally welcomed its first son-in-law today, and he was the most honorable son-in-law in the Great Zhou Dynasty.
One can imagine how busy the Duke Zhenguo's Mansion is.
The house had been cleaned thoroughly inside and out during the Chinese New Year, but in order to welcome the arrival of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, the servants got up before dawn and watered and cleaned everywhere. Red carpets were laid from the gate to the backyard, red lanterns were hung, and many flowers grown by flower farmers in greenhouses were bought to decorate the road that the Crown Prince must pass with flowers.
After breakfast, except for the future father-in-law Su Xian, the other three masters and Su Jincheng went to the gate to welcome the prince.
Su Xian was a father-in-law for the first time. He was sitting in the main seat in the main hall, rubbing his hands nervously. Sheng Qingyun sat next to him and teased him with a smile: "Other sons-in-law are nervous when they see their fathers-in-law, but you are so scared that you are sweating before you even do anything."
Xie Nanjia and Princess Jinping were sitting in the compartment behind them. When they heard their mother teasing their father, Princess Jinping covered her mouth and laughed.
Caidie said, "Miss, you can still laugh. Don't say that the Duke is nervous. I am almost dying of nervousness."
Princess Jinping glanced at Xie Nanjia intentionally or unintentionally: "Who said I wasn't nervous? Fortunately, my second sister was with me, otherwise I would have fainted."
"..." Xie Nanjia smiled but said nothing, thinking to herself, you fooled the entire Duke's Mansion without revealing any clues, but a prince makes you faint
Then Su Xian laughed bitterly outside: "Other people's sons-in-law don't have such a big show. If it was Zhao Jingyu, do you think I would still be nervous?"
Sheng Qingyun immediately glared at him: "Why are you bringing him up again? He's really causing trouble for me. If he dares to come, I'll kick him out!"
Princess Jinping covered her mouth and laughed again: "Second sister, I'm not saying that the second young master Zhao is really not a good match. He has nothing good except his face. Don't be fooled by his appearance. You should listen more to mother's opinion."
"..." Xie Nanjia couldn't help but choke her, "I just look at the face, what's wrong with that?"
Princess Jinping choked and shut up angrily.
It was quiet here. Su Xian snorted outside and stopped talking.
Sheng Qingyun said again: "You are dumb, tell me the truth, did that boy secretly give you some benefits?"
"No, no." Su Xian shook his head quickly, "How dare I do that if you don't agree!"
Sheng Qingyun rolled his eyes: "You don't dare. If I find out that you accept his things without permission again, I will divorce you!"
Su Xian: “…”
Not really? It seems that I need to hide the new ink sticks somewhere else.
At this time, a servant came in to report that the prince had arrived and was receiving visits from masters and young masters outside the gate. The gifts alone filled six horse-drawn carriages and he was about to come in.
Su Xian suddenly became nervous again and subconsciously wanted to get up to greet him.
Sheng Qingyun said: "Sit down, look at your useless appearance!"
Su Xian had no choice but to sit down again, rubbing his hands.
After a while, the footsteps and voices outside were getting closer and closer, and the three brothers of the Su family and the twelve young masters surrounded the Crown Prince and entered the hall.
Song Jingxing wore a golden crown on his hair, an apricot-yellow brocade robe with a dragon pattern, and a fox fur cloak with a silver pattern and round flowers. He had an upright posture, a handsome face, and was extremely wealthy and romantic, attracting the attention of the maids and servants standing inside and outside the hall.
When Sheng Qingyun saw this, he couldn't help but feel sorry for Xie Nanjia. She looked down upon such a talent and instead fell for a monster like Zhao Jingyu. What a waste of time!
Song Jingxing arrived in the hall, lifted his clothes and knelt on the brocade cushion that had been prepared long ago, and paid great respects to his future father-in-law and mother-in-law who were sitting in the upper seats, wishing him a prosperous New Year and longevity and good health.
When Caidie heard the prince talking, she excitedly shook Jinping County Lady's arm: "Miss, Miss..."
"Shh." Princess Jinping raised her index finger at her, "Keep your voice down. Don't let anyone hear it."
"Oh." Caidie nodded and whispered, "Miss, can we quietly go behind the screen and take a look?"
"This..." Jinping County Lady was a little moved, but also a little embarrassed. She looked at Xie Nanjia hesitantly, "Second sister, can you accompany me?"
With Xie Nanjia accompanying her, even if she was discovered, she would have someone to take the blame.
"He is not my lady's brother-in-law, why would my lady look at him?" Liusu said rudely.
"You..." Caidie was about to argue with her with her eyes wide open, when she suddenly heard another servant outside report, "Master, Madam, the second young master Zhao is here, and he said he came to wish you a happy new year!"
ah
Xie Nanjia stood up with a start.
Then Sheng Qingyun said, "What is he doing here? Go tell him that the mansion is hosting the Crown Prince today and cannot receive any outside guests. Ask him to come back another day."
"But, but..." The servant pointed outwards and stammered, "But the Second Young Master is already outside the door. He insisted on coming in, and the servants couldn't stop him..."
(End of this chapter)