After getting Jian Xubaiâs acquiescence, Yuan Xuepei took a break to make a plan of getting rid of Wei Mengying. However, before he got any idea about it, the shocking news of Lu Guanlun would be adopted by Marquis Zhaode was relayed to him!
âOn the day of Grandmotherâs birthday, Princess Consort Wei had publicly hinted that the princeâs mansion would be handed over to Lu Guanlun and Xueâe,â He was puzzled and asked Yuan Zhan, âThat day, she indeed took Xueâe all the time to receive guests, which made the people present all believe that Lu Guanlun would be the heir of the prince. However, soon after Grandmother died she intends to let Lu Guanlun be Marquis Zhaodeâs adopted son, a deadâs adopted son. Isnât she afraid outsidersâ gossip of her slandering the first wifeâs son while the shiva of Grandmother?â
Yuan Zhan showed a bitter smile, and then said, âYour Excellency, have you forgotten the âtruthâ announced by the princeâs mansion? Lanhui is the culprit who put the poison into the Qingji Incense of warm chamber. And the reason Lanhui did so is that she has grudges on the Dowager Consort not allowing her to be the concubine of Lu Guanlun! With this, Lu Guanlun thought that everything happened because of him. Feeling guilty for the love from the Dowager Consort and the Princess Consort, and feeling sorry for his sister who died at a young age, he decided to take the place of Lu Guanyun and took the initiative to be the adopted son of Marquis Zhaode!â
He added, âPrincess Consort Wei revealed in private that she and the Dowager Consort had made up their mind at the end of March. After Prince of Hengshan submitted the application of making Lu Guanlun his heir, she would give Lu Guanyun away for adopted son of Marquis Zhaode. Yet, Princess Consort Wei is bedridden now, and Lu Guanyun is still young. Lu Guanlun canât bear the separation of his stepmother and stepbrother, so he decides to replace his younger stepbrother.â
âCanât bear the separation of stepmother and stepbrother? What a good excuse!â Yuan Xuepei sneered, âGrandmother should have mentioned about sending Lu Guanyun to be the adopted son of Marquis Zhaode, but I donât think Princess Consort Wei agreed at that time! Itâs a pity that now my grandmother has passed away. The dead cannot give witness. And Princess Consort Wei has won my uncle over. In this case, no matter how she confuses right and wrong, no one can expose her!â
Yuan Zhan couldnât help but say, âYour Excellency, for Lady of Yan, we canât reveal the true face of Princess Consort Wei to the public, but why not tell Prince of Hengshan privately? As long as the prince knows what Princess Consort Wei has done, we have many ways to secretlyâ¦â
He didnât finish his words, only a gesture of cutting his throat.
âIf this method can work, why I bother to sound out Xubaiâs attitude?â Yuan Xuepei sighed after hearing this, and said, âIâm my uncleâs only nephew. But I havenât been in the imperial capital for six full years. Our relationship is neither cold nor warm. Princess Consort Wei forced my grandma, my uncleâs birth mother too much that the old lady wanted to kill her at the risk of life!â
He looked cold, âDo you think I can still make it if I sue her to my uncle?â
Yuan Zhan hesitated and said, âThen what shall we do now?â
âSince Lu Guanlun will become an adopted son, even if my uncle has no other sons in the future, he has no qualification on the position of the heir of the prince,â Yuan Xuepei said blankly, âI allow Xueâe to marry him, only wanting them to have a safe life, but not hoping him to get that position. However, Princess Consort Wei has gone too farâ¦â
Suddenly, he smiled very mildly, âI think, just letting her die like this is too easy for her!â
When Yuan Xuepei was furious about Lu Guanlunâs adoption, in the backyard of Duke of Yanâs mansion, Song Yixiao was teasing the parrot on the shelf with a gold hairpin. She weighed in a complicated mood, âShould I do this or not?â
The thing of Lu Guanlunâs adoption was decided after she and Wei Mengying had broken up and bargained for more than two hours.
She had no other ideas.
Firstly, it was impossible to expose Wei Mengying, because even if Song Yixiao didnât care about ending a mother and daughter relationship, or ruining her reputation, she still had no evidence!
Even if on the fifth day of the fourth lunar month on that questionâwhy did Wei Mengying say Lu Kouâer cannot be the No. 1 Scholarâs wife, which tore Wei Mengyingâs fake mask of being a loving mother, Wei Mengying only acquiesced that it was a slip of her tongue when only they two had a face-to-face showdown.
However, if someone else were over there, âyou heard it wrongâ would be her perfect excuse, and Song Yixiao would have no room for rebuttal. After all, when Wei Mengying said that sentence, there was no one else besides their maids!
The subordinates must all be loyal to their masters. And in this era, filial piety was the most important. As a daughter, Song Yixiao had already lost in this dispute!
Secondly, as the birth mother of Prince of Hengshan and the mother-in-law of Wei Mengying, Dowager Consort of Hengshan even fell short of success, and died with resentment, leaving such a big family, how could Song Yixiao have the confidence to protect Lu Guanlun and Yuan Xueâe on her own after the death of the Dowager Consort?
Therefore, she could only propose to make Lu Guanlun an adopted son and cause him to completely lose the possibility of being the heir of the prince, so that he wouldnât stand in the way of Wei Mengying; at the same time, with the same reason, she separated Lu Guanlun and his wife from the princeâs mansion. Living alone would greatly decrease the possibility of they finding the truth of the Dowager Consort and Lu Kouâerâs death, so as to minimize the possibility of Wei Mengying murdering them.
âAlthough I did this for their sakeâ¦â For this matter, Song Yixiao had been exhausted from the quarrel with Wei Mengying. But at this moment when it was done, she felt worried, âI did all and hid all from them. I am an outsider. I am not qualified to intervene in the household affairs of the Prince of Hengshanâs mansion, let alone a major event like adopting. One day if they know about it, they will probably blame me.â
But her birth mother, who had given up her daughterâs life twice in the present life and her previous life and was so indifferent to her daughter who was born after ten monthsâ pregnancy, must be more malicious to her stepson and stepdaughter-in-law. With this thought, the perplexity in Song Yixiaoâs eyes turned into firmness in an instant, âIf they donât do as my plan, they may have no future according to my motherâs means!â
Just as she figured it out, a maid came to report, âYour Highness, Jiayue is here.â
Song Yixiao hurriedly ordered someone to invite her in. This time she didnât have to change her dress to see the guest, which thanked to the event that she was nearly poisoned to death in the warm chamber when she went to congratulate Dowager Consort of Hengshan. It had spread throughout the imperial capital. A few days before, because she was so groggy and bedridden, Jian Xubai stopped everyone who came to visit.
Ever since she went to see Wei Mengying in the Prince of Hengshanâs mansion, everyone knew that she could receive guests. Besides friends and relatives, Jian Xubaiâs colleagues and subordinatesâ wives had all arrived one after another.
So these days, as soon as Song Yixiao got up, she would prepare to receive the guests. Now, she only asked the maids to take the bird shelf out and tidied up her clothes, then waited for Jiayueâs arrival.
In fact, Jiayue had already visited her on behalf of Jinguo Grand Princess. This time, besides sending her a box of cubilose, she came to pass on the words of Jinguo Grand Princess, âAlthough the 13th day of this month is Xubaiâs birthday, due to the mourning period of Prince of Yi and your accident days ago, the birthday banquet can be canceled. I will send someone to bring you a bowl of noodles. You two can enjoy it together. Thatâs it.â
Hearing this, Song Yixiao appreciated her mother-in-law in front of Jiayue, but she knew clearly in heart, âXubai must go to ask for it for fear of me worrying too much about his birthday banquet!â
After all, when Jiayue came here two days ago, she didnât even mention about Jian Xubaiâs birthday banquet. At that time, Song Yixiao couldnât even get up. Her condition at that time was even worse than now! But now, Song Yixiao could walk around and had recovered much, her mother-in-law told her to cancel the banquet!
âAlthough Mother-in-law canceled it after Xubai requested her, as a junior, Mother-in-law shouldnât always worry about me.â After sending Jiayue away, Song Yixiao felt moved because of Xubaiâs considerate behavior, but she also felt disconsolate, âMy mother-in-law is really kind to me. People say that women live the happiest and most comfortable life before getting married. Once getting married, women will live a totally different life than before in their own home. But I am different. I have a better life after getting married.â
At the thought of Wei Mengying, sourness surged in her heart. The current feeling was so unspeakable.
At this time, Qiaoqin came in and reminded, âYour Highness, would you like to have a look at the rewards for Cuipiao tomorrow?â
âHuh?â Song Yixiao was stunned for a while, only to remember that Cuipiao and Fan Zhongâs wedding date was the ninth day of the fourth lunar month, which was the day before yesterday. For a decent maid like Cuipiao, whose marriage was matched by the master, on the third day after the wedding when she returned, she needed to kneel to the former master and showed her gratitude. So Song Yixiao had to prepare the rewards for Cuipiao in advance.
âTake them over and I want to have a look!â Originally, rewarding several casual things to a maid would be okay. Yet, Song Yixiao thought of the twists and turns of Cuipiaoâs marriage, she added some more, âIn this way, she will get more respect from Fan Zhong, so that she will have a better life.â
She did this just in the consideration of their relationship as mistress and servant. However, the next day, when Cuipiao came here to pay respects with Fan Zhong, she met Yu Shiheng at the gate, who refused to marry her before. The tall and handsome Yu Shiheng was in dark black garment and boots. When he was riding a horse and going out, his cloak was whistling in the wind, looking spirited and cool.
Although Fan Zhong was fair-skinned and good-looking, compared to his weak character, Cuipiao preferred Yu Shihengâs heroic and unaffected character.
Fan Zhong didnât know her thoughts. When he saw Yu Shiheng, he pulled his wife and reminded in a low voice, âThis is the guard leader who has always been trusted by His Highness. Now he is going out in person, he must have something urgent. Get out of the way, lest we make any troubles.â
There was nothing wrong with what he said, but the condition gave Cuipiao a feeling of shameâYu Shiheng was on the horse while they were on the ground, and when Yu Shiheng passed by them, he didnât even give her a glance. Cuipiao shook off her husbandâs hands with anger!
Fan Zhong was confused. But at this time, the doorman came to tell them that they could go in, so he didnât think much about it, only regarding it as his newlywed wife losing her temper.
Later, they arrived at the back hall. Jian Xubai was at Yamen, and wouldnât take a leave of absence for the sake of two servants, so Song Yixiao was the only one to receive their gratitude.
Taking over the two tea bowls that the new couple had held over their heads high, Song Yixiao sipped symbolically, and then smiled and congratulated. With this, she let Jinxun take out the rewards.
Sure enough, after seeing the rewards in the gilt lacquer plate, Fan Zhongâs gaze at his wife suddenly became a little bit more surprised and serious. Song Yixiao saw all of this. She chatted with them for a while and when it was the time to send them off, she asked Jinxun to accompany them away in person, to show how much she cared Cuipiao.
However, this kindness made an opposite effect. When Jinxun sent them outside and was saying goodbye, Yu Shiheng happened to have finished his business and returned. He drew rein hurriedly and greeted, âJinxun!â
âItâs you?â Because Song Yixiao once asked about Yu Shihengâs name and he refused to marry Cuipiao before, Jinxun was impressive on him. But she was not very enthusiastic. She nodded slightly and turned her head, no longer looking at him. She continued to talk to Cuipiao and Fan Zhongâeven though she was always straightforward, she knew that it was not appropriate to talk to Yu Shiheng at the moment. She simply ignored Yu Shiheng.
She thought she was considerate, but Cuipiao didnât think so. Cuipiaoâs heart was overwhelmed with anger now, âWhen we were waiting outside the door, Yu Shiheng didnât even glance at us when he passed by! Now when he saw Jinxun, not only did he greet Jinxun, but also be so kind after being embarrassed by Jinxun! Look, maybe he wants to have a warm talk with Jinxun after sending us away if he doesnât have to go back to report the task!â
Cuipiao felt that apart from being a few years older, she was much better than the impudent Jinxun!
But Yu Shiheng refused to marry her and favored Jinxun more. It was all because she was Song Yixiaoâs trusted maid and would have a great future?!
She wasnât completely unconscionable. She could feel the kindness of Song Yixiao today.
However, she just couldnât let it go on this thing!
With a lot of thoughts in mind, Cuipiao didnât know when she said goodbye to Jinxun. She was simply pulled away by her husband in a daze.