Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Qiao Jinniang suddenly realized, no wonder Qiao Ruoshui didn’t come to ridicule her although she had heard the rumors about her. This turned out to be the reason!
The Duchess hurriedly entered the Jin Garden, glared at Qiao Ruoshui, and asked,”Why did the Empress Dowager suddenly grant you to be the concubine of Prince Mediocre?”
The Empress Dowager was a smart person. Although no one could reject an imperial decree, the Emperor was kind and would definitely communicate with them first before issuing an imperial decree.
Qiao Ruoshui said with a look of grievance, “Mother, since this slave-raised woman came to our home, you always side with her and no longer like me. You even claim that I have gone mad and want to marry me far away. I certainly have to take matters into my own hands!”
The Duchess was extremely annoyed. “Do you know that your father is the Grand Mentor of the Crown Prince? Do you know that Prince Mediocre set up Ruofeng to force Jinniang to marry him as his concubine a few days ago?”
Qiao Ruoshui said disdainfully, “Mother, it’s not that His Highness wanted to marry Qiao Jinniang but that Qiao Jinniang had seduced him. He was just being kind and didn’t want to disappoint her.”
The Duchess said, “Then what about the Crown Prince? What Ruofeng did won’t affect us much, but you are your father’s biological daughter. If you marry Prince Mediocre, how can the Crown Prince trust your father?”
“Hadn’t you been insisting on marrying the Crown Prince? Why are you suddenly willing to become the concubine of Prince Mediocre?”
Qiao Ruoshui raised her head and said proudly, “The Crown Prince? He went missing for three years. At this point, he may not be able to secure the position of crown prince.
“Plus, His Majesty is still very healthy and strong. He’ll inevitably suspect the Crown Prince for seizing his power.
“As for Prince Mediocre, he has always been wise and capable and admired by courtiers…
“Didn’t Daddy also praise Prince Mediocre? It’s not certain yet who will be the next emperor!”
The Duchess: “You refuse to become a general’s wife but are willing to be a concubine? If only you have the slightest bit of Jinniang’s wisdom!”
“Mother, you’re wrong. Since I’ve become Prince Mediocre’s concubine, even you’ll have to salute me when you meet me!”
Qiao Ruoshui looked at Qiao Jinniang sideways and said, “A concubine of a royal family member will be recorded in the imperial genealogy and enjoys a very high status. How can a general’s wife be compared to it? Mother, even you have to kneel to the lowest-grade imperial concubine when you enter the Imperial Palace, don’t you?
“As for Qiao Jinniang, she grew up in the countryside and is hopelessly stupid, so she thinks that being a general’s wife is great, but even so, didn’t she seduce Prince Mediocre secretly as well?
“I’m not stupid. I’m waiting for you to beg me!”
Looking at Qiao Ruoshui’s complacent look, the Duchess was almost out of breath.
“The imperial decree has been issued, and the Duke Mansion cannot reject it.
“But the Duke Mansion won’t help you in the future. Whether you live a good or miserable life in Prince Mediocre’s Mansion, you’ll have nothing to do with the Duke Mansion!”
Qiao Ruoshui said complacently, “Fine, I’m waiting for the day you regret it!”
Qiao Ruoshui said and left.
The Duchess burst into tears. Qiao Jinniang handed her a handkerchief and said, “Mother, the imperial decree has been issued. We can do nothing about it.
“It must be for the power of Father that Prince Mediocre did this to Ruofeng and me.
“Even if he can’t win over Father’s support, he won’t dare to offend Father easily, so I don’t think Ruoshui will be abused by him.”
The Duchess wiped away her tears gently and spotted the little red clothes that Qiao Jinniang put on the table. “Why are you making such little clothes?”
Qiao Jinniang said, “It’s for Tuan’er.”
The Duchess patted Qiao Jinniang’s hand gently and said, “My poor girl, I know how difficult it’s for you.”
“It must be very painful being separated from her own son.
Qiao Jinniang went to the Tasty Pavilion in the afternoon with the hope to get some news about the future crown princess. She didn’t care about Lu Chen but just wanted to know what kind of person Tuan’er future stepmothers were.
The Tasty Pavilion’s business wasn’t quite good today. It was not as busy as usual.
Qiao Jinniang entered the No.1 private room and saw Princess Fulu and Princess Jinghua there. The two cousins were at different extremes of character, one quiet and one lively.
“Jinniang, I wanted to go to the Duke Mansion to find you just now but then I heard about my grandmother’s imperial decree.
“It just so happens that you came. This is the money you bet last time in Junior Duke Rong’s casino.”
Qiao Jinniang had forgotten about the bet. “I’m not winning or losing?”
Fulu said, “You don’t know yet, do you? It’s been a few days since my imperial cousin left Chang’an for the Shu Region, and he won’t be back for a month or two. His consort selection banquet has been canceled.”
Qiao Jinniang really didn’t know it and asked, “Did something happen in Shu?”
Fulu shook her fan and said, “The salt merchants in Shu colluded with the salt officials, sold illicit salt, extracted the salt tax from the imperial court, and raised the price of official salt, making the salt merchants in Shu cities a lot of money.
“Before my imperial cousin went to Shu to investigate the illicit salt, he had already executed two officials in charge of salt sales in Chang’an, causing many officials don’t dare come out to have dinner recently for fear of being implicated in this matter.”
Qiao Jinniang didn’t expect that her bowl of winter gourd soup would arouse so many matters.
Official salt was not expensive, and illicit salt would also be sold in the market occasionally.
But what those salt merchants did in the Shu Region would undermine the foundation of the country. It was no wonder that the Crown Prince went there to investigate this matter personally.
Fulu jested, “Those salt officials and salt merchants are really hateful. Because of them, I can’t make money. I heard that this time my imperial cousin only brought Lin Mo, Zhou Siming and Xie Yun with him. If he can return safely from Shu, Xie Yun will definitely become the crown princess.”
Princess Jinghua took a sip of tea and said, “Our country has been on a roll for too long, if it weren’t for the Crown Prince who found that something was wrong with the salt sales, who would have thought that there is such a dark side hidden in this golden age.
“Plus, the Crown Prince seemed to really hate salt. His consort selection banquet is soon but he put aside all those beautiful girls and chose to examine the hundreds of salt tax journals. If it weren’t for him, this matter wouldn’t have been revealed!”
Qiao Jinniang thought to herself, ‘Lu Chen hates salt indeed.’
Even a person who had lost his sense of taste would taste the saltiness after drinking that bowl of winter gourd soup. Yet, Lu Chen had drunk a whole bowl. It would be strange if he didn’t hate salt.
It seemed that that bowl of winter gourd soup she made had made a little contribution for the country and the people.
Fulu was feeling impatient listening to Princess Jinghua talking about these state affairs and said to Qiao Jinniang, “What imperial decree did the Empress Dowager give to your family?”
Qiao Jinniang said slowly, “To grant Qiao Ruoshui to be the concubine of Prince Mediocre.”
Fulu looked at Qiao Jinniang in surprise. “Is Qiao Ruoshui crazy?
“Sometimes I really don’t know whether my grandmother likes or hates Prince Mediocre? She actually granted such a concubine to him?”
Jing Hua smiled and said, “Sometimes I have such doubts too. After all, she wanted you to be his wife before.”
“Very good, how dare you laugh at me!” Fulu said angrily.
Qiao Jinniang said, “The Empress Dowager wants to help Prince Mediocre. After all, my father can’t just ignore Qiao Ruoshui.”
Fulu said, “Then I bet she’ll be disappointed. After all, Tuan’er is your father’s grandson. He will definitely support his own grandson!”
Qiao Jinniang didn’t think much about this. If it was possible, she just wanted Tuan’er to be safe. She didn’t want him to be involved in the struggle for the throne.
…
Qiao Ruoshui was going to marry into the Prince Mediocre Mansion on the eighth day of the seventh lunar month ahead of Prince Mediocre’s wife, so as her elder sister, Qiao Jinniang had to get married as soon as possible.
The Duchess was very worried about this matter. She originally thought that Jinniang could take her time finding a suitable husband since she was a county mistress now, but because of Qiao Ruoshui, she had to be in a rush.
The Duke asked tentatively, “Old Xu intends to let Xu Mingwei succeed him as the governor of Yunzhou.. Xu Mingwei is a very good young man and has a very promising future. How about marrying Jinniang off to Xu Mingwei?”
