Chapter 463 - Be Tough, And See What Would You Do?
Chapter 463 Be Tough, And See What Would You Do?
"Selecting a good marriage will be of great benefit to you, Your Highness. Today, Empress Dowager Queen gave a jade pendant to Fifth Miss of Shao\'s Mansion. I also heard that Prince Chen was in the side palace hall and was asked to meet her. Maybe Fifth Miss Shao is reserved for Prince Chen, so it will be the other Princes\' turns. Prince, I have sorted out for you the information on the marriageable Misses from each mansion, please take a look at it and make a good choice!"
In Prince Yue\'s Mansion, Mr. Liu, who sat opposite Chu Liuyue, asked Xiao Qizi to hand him a pile of documents. Although there were no portraits on the documents, Chu Liuyue had seen most of them before.
Even for those whom he had not seen before, there were some rumors about them, so the information related to these rumors was handed over as well.
Choosing a suitable wife was extremely important to Chu Liuyue.
Chu Liuyue casually looked through several of them and put them down without interest. The breeze from outside filled the whole room which was light and elegant, with fragrance.
Chu Liuyue sighed in a low voice and walked to the window with his hands clasped behind his back. Looking at the scenery outside the window, he muttered to himself, "The duckweed floating to the left and the right, borne about by the current.... It is just what I want but..."
Mr. Liu smiled as he waved his hand to ask Xiao Qizi to go, then he said, "Prince, in your position, you can have all kinds of women, so why should you worry about a woman? Moreover, I think this First Miss does not have much affection for you!"
"It is too much to say that, Mr. Liu! She is just a girl in the boudoir." Chu Liuyue frowned unhappily. He turned around, walked to the table and sat down again with an unhappy look on his face.
"Yes, yes, yes, you are right, Prince. I am wrong, but do you think this is the right time to marry this First Miss? Prince, not to mention that First Miss Shao has not said that her heart is set on you, even Duke Xing\'s Mansion has not officially chosen you. It is not good for you to give the position of the legal wife to someone who is not your match, Prince!"
Mr. Liu smiled mildly, but he despised First Miss Shao in his heart.
In Mr. Liu\'s view, this First Miss Shao was a schemer. On the one hand, she kept a respectful distance from the Prince. On the other hand, she hinted about things and wrote to the Prince, as if she was bashful about speaking about it. It seemed that she wanted to seduce the Prince on purpose, but she did not tell him exactly what she wanted.
He was not Chu Liuyue. Although Chu Liuyue already had his own mansion, he was still a teenager and had only seen a few women. It was reasonable for him to be confused by his passion.
This kind of attitude of giving out subtle invitations was the most common ploy among those prostitutes who performed in the brothels. Such women of loose morals did not let go or revealed the truth and they were always hanging around someone.
Also, Duke Xing\'s attitude was also unclear. He seemed to be hesitating and seemed to have something else as an alternative. Mr. Liu did not know exactly what it was, so he could only observe it slowly.
Chu Liuyue picked up the documents at hand and pored through them once again. He looked calm and nodded. "You are right. Let us pick a few pieces to look at first. Imperial Grandmother will choose a legal wife for me. I can put the matter of First Miss Shao away first, but I cannot let Chu Liuzhou choose her!"
He could choose not to marry Shao Yanru now, but he would not let her marry into Prince Zhou\'s Mansion.
"Don\'t worry, Prince. Although Empress Queen also prefers the family background of Duke Xing, she still has her parents\' family to take care of. She has several good nieces and they will also be chosen this time. It is necessary to choose a legal wife to maintain the glory of Empress\'s parents\' family. First Miss Shao really has a good reputation, so if she becomes a concubine instead of the wife, the legal wife will not be able to suppress her."
Mr. Liu said calmly.
There was more to his words than what he meant on the surface. In his opinion, whoever married her, would have the peace of their family disrupted, because she did not want to show any substantial power, but she just wanted to occupy a high position.
She as the legal wife would not have any intention of helping her husband, while she as a concubine would be bent on getting a promotion. Finally, she would stir the whole family into a tempest and also fish for fame and credit like those refined scholars. So she was not a suitable person for marriage.
Chu Liuyue nodded repeatedly and felt relieved in his heart. Although he was unwilling to let Shao Yanru go, he did not have to marry her now. As long as she had the intention, he would have plenty of opportunities in the future.
"Then I will do what you say, Sir. Let us pick someone first!" Chu Liuyue picked up another document and carefully reviewed it this time.
When Shao Wanru left, she walked through the gate of Prince Chen\'s Mansion and was sent to Rui\'an Great Elder Princess\' Mansion by Chu Liuchen\'s carriage.
However, someone stopped her in front of the gate of Great Elder Princess\' Mansion.
"Fifth Miss, Old Madam is waiting for you!" An old maid stood respectfully in front of the carriage and said.
"Let us get off and have a look!" Shao Wanru immediately understood who this so-called Old Madam was. She got off the carriage with Yujie\'s help. As expected, she saw that a carriage of Duke Xing\'s Mansion was parked at the side of the road. She smiled slightly and showed a hint of ridicule. Then she restrained herself and walked over slowly.
"Come up and have a talk!" Before she could give a greeting, a cold voice came from the carriage.
A servant girl had already come over and put down a small stool. Shao Wanru held Yujie\'s hand and entered the carriage.
The curtain of the carriage was lifted and she saw Old Madam sitting in the middle of the carriage, her cold eyes falling on Shao Wanru and her face was gloomy.
Shao Wanru went in and bowed to Old Madam.
"Sit down first. You do not need to be so polite in the carriage!" Old Madam said coldly.
"Yes!" Shao Wanru sat down obediently on one side. Then she lowered her head and waited for Old Madam to speak.
Old Madam was satisfied with Shao Wanru\'s obedience and said, "You are the Miss of our Duke Xing\'s Mansion, not of Great Elder Princess\' Mansion. If you really live in Great Elder Princess\' Mansion, some words will be easy to say but will not sound good and they will even affect the reputation of Great Elder Princess and Duke Xing\'s Mansion."
Old Madam said.
Shao Wanru nodded slightly but did not say anything. Old Madam would not only be saying these, because Shao Wanru was only living there temporarily and she would be going to Yuhui Nunnery in a few days.
"It is indeed a great filial action for you to observe mourning for your parents for three years in Yuhui Nunnery. But after three years, you must return to Duke Xing\'s Mansion. No matter how strong Great Elder Princess will be, this matter is not negotiable." Old Madam said coldly. She felt depressed when she thought about how she had been restrained by Great Elder Princess in front of Empress Dowager Queen.
"I will do as you ask, Old Madam!" Shao Wanru said in a low and gentle voice.
"It is excellent that you can understand this. After all, you are the Miss of Duke Xing\'s Mansion and the only daughter of my elder son, so I will not treat you badly. As for your marriage, it is still early, but it will be a little late to talk about it after three years. However, there is no other way, because your marriage cannot be discussed during the mourning period."
Speaking of this, Old Madam was also very depressed. Just now, in front of Empress Dowager Queen, Rui\'an Great Elder Princess actually robbed her of the right to discuss this engagement. She was Shao Wanru\'s biological grandmother, but in the end, she failed to compete with Rui\'an Great Elder Princess, who unexpectedly had some right of speech on this matter.
It was hard for Shao Wanru to answer, so she just lowered her head and pretended to be obedient. She twisted the handkerchief in her hand and then loosened it. She knew that Old Madam did not want her to answer this, so Old Madam obviously came to inform her about this!
As expected, Old Madam paused for a moment and said, "Have you been engaged before? If you have, you can wait for a few years before getting married."
"I am still young, so I have not been engaged yet!" Shao Wanru said in a low voice.
"It is good that you did not get engaged. Your previous identity is not as good as your present one, so your previous engagement cannot be good either. I will ask your second aunt to choose a new one for you in the future. I heard that you had once fought with First Miss of Qin\'s Mansion for a husband when you were in Jiangzhou. Such a thing is not allowed to happen in the future. It is okay if you did not know the rules in the past. But if this happened in Duke Xing\'s Mansion, you would have been given a length of white silk to end your life."
Old Madam warned her sharply.
Shao Wanru sneered in her heart, "She says that my status is higher now, but she also says that my previous engagement will also not recognized if I had any. It is obvious that she wants to just let me marry anyone casually. Fortunately, I will be outside for a few years, otherwise something bad might happen."
As for the self proclaimed rules that Old Madam of Duke Xing\'s Mansion boasted of, she also felt that it was ironic. In her previous life, the decent First Miss Shao of Duke Xing\'s Mansion had always been doing something not decent. After becoming the favorite concubine of the Emperor, she had an affair with Chu Liuyue and really thought that no one would find out about their relationship.
It seemed that Old Madam\'s so-called rules were targeted at her.
"Old Madam, you can ask someone to investigate into the matter in Jiangzhou Prefecture. Justice naturally inhabits people\'s hearts. I believe that everyone in Jiangzhou Prefecture can prove it for me!"
The insinuation in Old Madam\'s words was obvious. Shao Wanru slowly raised her head and explained with a cold expression in her eyes.
"You... How dare you speak to me like that!" Old Madam was very angry.
"Old Madam, do you mean that I should admit to such matter that will harm my reputation? What is the benefit for Duke Xing\'s Mansion if I do that?" Shao Wanru was not swayed and said.
It was okay for her to pretend to be obedient, but it was impossible for Old Madam to pour dirty water on her head. She stopped her carriage and poured all the dirty water without demurring. If Shao Wanru did not say anything this time, there would be much more dirty water which would be poured on her in the future!
The fact that Old Madam disliked her had already been spread out, so Old Madam would not go too far. Besides, she had her grandmother to back her up.
After hearing Shao Wanru\'s words, Old Madam was so angry that her face changed and said, "Are you trying to offend me?"
"I dare not, but I am just telling you the truth. Even if this matter is exposed to Empress Dowager Queen, I will also ask Empress Dowager Queen to investigate it!"
Shao Wanru said this in a neither servile nor overbearing manner.
"You... well... well, well, you are so strong that I cannot control you, right?" Old Madam reached out and said angrily to Shao Wanru.
"Please don\'t get angry, Old Madam. If I admit to such a negative incident, will you be happy and not be angry?" Shao Wanru tilted her head innocently and said seriously.
These words almost made Old Madam want to spit out blood. Even if she had such an idea, she would not really say so.
"Old Madam, don\'t be angry. Fifth Miss is also explaining what happened in Jiangzhou and she is afraid that you will misunderstand it, so don\'t worry. It seems that the matter had nothing to do with Fifth Miss and it is not what you heard outside. It is good because it was not true and you should be happy." Nanny Yu came out and said with a smile.
It sounded as if Old Madam really cared about Shao Wanru.
She tugged on Old Madam\'s sleeve as she spoke, hinting that Old Madam could not be angry at this time. It was because Old Madam had something important to tell Fifth Miss and that was why she had secretly stopped Shao Wanru.