Chapter 142 - Duke Anyuan Occupied Her Mother’s Courtyard

Zheng Xiao saw Duke Anyuan who suddenly appeared. She frowned and said, “Your Excellency, be more self-respecting. Is this a place you can break into at will?” “It’s my own daughter’s house. Why can’t I enter?” Duke Anyuan glared at the man in front of him.

The man hurriedly cupped his hands and said, “Your Excellency, I’m an imperial physician. County Mistress was worried about Ms. Zheng’s fetus, so she asked me to examine her every three days. Ms. Zheng’s fetus is very healthy. Please rest assured.” Duke Anyuan breathed a sigh of relief. His daughter wasn’t even afraid of the Crown Prince and wanted to marry another man. He hoped that she wouldn’t persuade Zheng Xiao to marry another man.

So, he should coax Zheng Xiao back home while Qiao Jinniang was not in Chang’an.

“Honey.”

Zheng Xiao shook off Duke Anyuan’s hand and said, “I am no longer your wife.”

Duke Anyuan said, “Haven’t we already cleared up the misunderstanding? You’ve already taught me a lesson. For the sake of your unborn child, go back to the Duke Mansion, okay?

“I heard from the Deputy Minister of Rites today in the palace that they were already preparing the Crown Prince’s wedding. Jinniang may get married after the Spring Festival.

“If she marries into the East Palace from the Duke Mansion, it would be better than from this mansion.”

Zheng Xiao said, “Don’t use Jinniang as an excuse. Jinniang has said, she doesn’t care about this.”

Duke Anyuan said, “She doesn’t know the difference, but you do, don’t you?”

“Do you mean that if she doesn’t marry from the Duke Mansion, you won’t acknowledge her as your daughter?” Zheng Xiao sneered, “Don’t forget you owe her!” Duke Anyuan said, “Qian Shi has died. Let bygones be bygones. It’s been so many days and you should move on. If you don’t go back, the Duke Mansion will really be in chaos!

“In a blink of an eye, our son will be seventeen after this Spring Festival, and it’s time to find a fiancee for him…

“The Duke Mansion can’t do without a mistress!”

Zheng Xiao said, “Aren’t there a lot of women who want to marry you? Didn’t you bring a woman to my housewarming banquet? How easy it is for Duke Anyuan to find a new wife! You can easily find a 15 or 16-year-old girl to marry!”

Duke Anyuan said, “I just wanted to make you jealous. I don’t have anything to do with her…

“For the sake of Jinniang, come back.

“She is living with His Royal Highness in the royal paddock this time. She is probably going to get married soon, so the Duke Mansion should start to prepare for her wedding.”

Zheng Xiao said coldly, “Your Excellency, I’m not trying to make things difficult for you. Jinniang’s son is three years old, and we are already grandfather and grandmother, but whenever I think of my life in the Duke Mansion, I feel like a joke.

“Where were you when I was almost killed by Qian Shi and was forced to go to the Zheng family to give birth to my children? Where were you when our daughter was killed?”

Duke Anyuan sighed. “Time can’t be reversed. Xiao’er, believe it or not, I regretted it as soon as I said those words to you that day. I regretted that I shouldn’t have told you that I only loved my cousin.

“Only after we got married did I learn what love between a man and a woman was and realize that I only took Qian Shi as my sister. “If it weren’t for the misunderstandings between us, I would definitely not take her as my concubine.

“I went to her courtyard every time I quarreled with you just to make you jealous… because only in this way would you come to make peace with me.”

Zheng Xiao really thought it was ridiculous. “It’s getting late. If you want to recall the past, please don’t do it here. I’m going to sleep.”

Duke Anyuan followed Zheng Xiao closely. “Since this is my daughter’s house, I can also rest here. I’ll have the servants bring my belongings over tomorrow. I don’t believe Jinniang will drive her father away.”

Zheng Xiao said coldly, “Don’t be shameless.”

However, Duke Anyuan still followed Zheng Xiao into her room. Zheng Xiao was really annoyed but Mammy An didn’t help her drive Duke Anyuan out.

Zheng Xiao didn’t want to get angry for the sake of the child in her belly, so she could only pretend not to see Duke Anyuan at all. But at night, while he was sleeping soundly, she kicked him hard to the ground to vent her anger.

When the snow stopped, Qiao Jinniang hunted two rabbits before returning to Chang’an. Back in her house, she planned to take her prey to Zheng Xiao first, but when she entered Zheng Xiao’s courtyard, Qiao Jinniang saw a platform practicing martial arts and many things used by men. “Mother, did you find a stepfather for me?” Qiao Jinniang asked.

Zheng Xiao chuckled. “Don’t talk nonsense. It’s your ex-father.”

Qiao Jinniang frowned. She was just out for five to six days but Duke Anyuan had already occupied her mother’s courtyard? No wonder when she came in just now, the concierge at the door looked like a servant from the Duke Mansion…

“Jinniang is back?” Duke Anyuan came in wearing an official uniform, “His Royal Highness said that you hunted two rabbits. Not bad for your first hunt!”

Qiao Jinniang saluted. “Father.”

Duke Anyuan smiled and said, “You found a good house. It’s closer to the imperial palace, so it’s much more convenient for me to go to the imperial palace and my office if I live here, and I can also spend more time with your mother.”

Qiao Jinniang looked at Zheng Xiao. Her mother yielded so quickly? And how did her house become the new Duke Mansion?

Perhaps everyone knew that Duke Anyuan had changed his residence, or perhaps they learned that Qiao Jinniang had lived in the Longquan Palace in the paddock this time, so the invitations that had disappeared for a while were sent to Qiao Jinniang’s house ceaselessly.

Qiao Jinniang felt rather helpless.

Something she felt even more helpless about was her brother Qiao Lu. Qiao Lu would participate in the Imperial Examination next spring. Although as the eldest son of Duke Anyuan, he could enter the officialdom even if he didn’t take the Imperial Examination. However, civil officials would have more chances in the times of peace.

Qiao Lu had always wanted to take the road of Imperial Examinations.

Therefore, he had been studying in seclusion in school, and it was not until more than a month after his parents divorced that he learned of it. He rushed back to the Duke Mansion, knocked on the door for a long time but no one answered, and the guards at the door were also gone.

If it weren’t for the fact that the door was not sealed, he would have thought that Duke Mansion had been raided. Qiao Lu said to his servant, “Kick the door.”

After kicking the door open, the doorman who was dozing inside asked, “Who is it?!”

When he opened his eyes and saw that it was Qiao Lu, he kept kowtowing in fear. “Young Master, you are back? The Duke and Madam are now living in the courtyard opposite Princess Shoulan’s mansion. No one lives in this mansion.”

Qiao Lu: “…”

As the heir to Duke Anyuan, he didn’t even know that the Duke Mansion had moved? Was he still his father’s son?

He rode towards the new house. Qiao Lu knew that the street was full of Princess Mansions, and he had heard about the outrageous deeds of the princesses from a young age.

For example, Princess Shoulan snatched her husband and forced him to marry her.

Helpless, Prince Consort Shoulan had to give his nobility title to others.

Although Qiao Lu was still young, as far as he knew, princesses didn’t mind age at all.

Therefore, at the intersection, Qiao Lu changed into women’s clothes.

He was afraid that the princesses would snatch him away. After all, he was so handsome.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

He wanted to be a powerful minister like his father, and he never wanted to serve a princess and become a prince consort.

When he reached the entrance of the new house, he looked up at the house, but just as he was about to enter, he was stopped by the doorman. “Where did you come from? How dare you trespass in the Duke Mansion?”

At this moment, Fulu happened to go out and spotted a very beautiful girl at the door opposite of her, who looked familiar to her, but she couldn’t remember where she had seen her before.

Qiao Lu had been in school, so she hadn’t seen Qiao Lu much.

Seeing such a beautiful girl, Fulu had only one thought, that is, this girl must not become Qin Miaomiao’s friend.

So she took the initiative to greet her. “Hi, who are you…?”