In the back courtyard, Mu Qingling was sitting on the bed with a pale face, sipping from the medicine bowl in her hands.
Her appearance wasnât as stunning as Mu Qingrongâs. If Mu Qingrong was a graceful peony flower, then she was an elegant little lotus. Although she was also a beauty, since childhood, as long as she stood beside Mu Qingrong, Mu Qingling was always ignored.
Mu Qingling didnât mind these things. Although her father died when she was a child, she was treated like a normal young lady and with her motherâs guidance, she cultivated an open-minded attitude.
She had never been one to compete with her third sister.
(TNote: Although they are actually cousins, in China, cousins are still called âbrotherâor âsisterâif they ore from the same surname/paternal bloodline, their rank depends on who was born first.)
She never even considered it. When she found out that her third younger sister, Mu Qingrong, had the audacity to ask the Princeâs servants to leave and to speak to him alone, Mu Qingling was still irritated.
The irritation wasnât so much due to the sadness of her husbandâs possible feelings. After all, on the day of the wedding, Mu Qingling already knew that her husband, the Prince of Linjiang, actually liked Mu Qingrong, the first young lady of the second family.
Prince Linjiang had never concealed it, and there was some unhappiness implied in his words. Mentioning things like marrying Mu Qingling âinsteadâ of Mu Qingrong.
Saying that Mu Qingling wasnât sad that she was rejected by her newly married husband would be a lie. In her mind, she could vaguely guess why she had married Prince Linjiang instead of her sister. She clearly hadnât met him that day. Although she was the first young lady of the eldest family, without her father, she was just an orphan girl with no one to protect her in the Marquisâs residence.
Although Mu Qingling had rarely been out and about since her fatherâs death, she had lived in the same residence and somewhat knew the nature of her younger cousin, Mu Qingrong.
She must have despised Prince Linjiang.
Then, their best solution was to push her out, the cousin who had no father to protect her, who was also a âfirst young ladyâ of the Marquisâs family, to marry Prince Linjiang in her place.
Prince Linjiang wouldnât be able to blame the Marquis, nor condemn Mu Qingrong.
And Mu Qingling conceded.
When she heard that Prince Linjiang was a playful and untalented man, she consoled herself with the fact that he was at least the younger brother of the current Emperor, and had a princely status. Although he was a playful man, he didnât have a reputation of being abusive.
The rules of the Marquis family were that every daughter would be given a dowry from the common treasury. The specifications for direct daughters and concubine daughters were naturally different. However, when it was Mu Qinglingâs turn to get married, her Second Aunt, who was now in charge of the Marquisâs household, said that the family had had a difficult time over the years and had lost a lot of money in their shops outside. The money and other things were strictly in accordance with the rules, but the dowry, which looked good in name, were all things that couldnât be shown to the public when the boxes were opened.
Her Second Aunt did so because she knew that Mu Qinglingâs mother and daughter had no one to depend on, and younger brother was young. She was a married woman, so if she were to make trouble with the dowry that she received from the residence, she would be the one to suffer.
The Marquisâs family was the only thing she could rely on. Although a woman might be married to her husband, if she wanted to live well in her husbandâs family, she would have to rely on her maiden family to support her. For that reason, Mu Qingling could only swallow the bitterness in her heart.
Her mother wanted to sell her own dowry to make a better dowry for her, but Mu Qingling stopped her. Even if her dowry was superficially shiny, no one would dare to question it in the future, as she would become a Princess Consort. On the other hand, her motherâs dowry had to be kept for when her younger brother grew up, so that he could start a family business after the family had separated.
She was the first young lady of a Marquisâs family, but her Second Aunt could still deduct money from her marriage. In the future, when the Marquisâs family was divided, she wanted to see if her second uncle and aunt would share anything with her family.
Mu Qingling could tolerate being pushed out for marriage and having her dowry withheld, but she couldnât endure Mu Qingrong having an affair with her husband after she got married.
If you liked Prince Linjiang in the first place, why did you push the marriage to me?
Now that Mu Qingling was a Princess Consort, Mu Qingrong, as the first young lady of the Marquisâs family from the second family, showed no respect for her. She wanted to be alone with the Prince in front of so many servants in the Princeâs mansion. If Lin Chuanwang hadnât been there, and hadnât taken the initiative to follow him, perhaps gossip about the Prince and Mu Qingrong would spread throughout the capital the very same day.
If a woman was involved with a man before she got married, was there any other way to relieve the situation besides marrying him?
At that time, would Mu Qingrong, who was also a first young lady, be a concubine?
If she became a concubine, where would the Marquisâs dignity go? The other unmarried sisters would have to find inferior grooms!
Even the male siblings in the residence, with such a shameless sister in the family, wouldnât be able to find brides.
Mu Qingling fell very ill on the second day of her marriage, and she had just woken up today. As soon as she woke up, she learned of such a thing. She was so angry that she wanted to faint again. She could only hastily send someone to go to the bamboo forest and tell them that she had just woken up and she was thinking that she was going to die soon. She was asking for her younger sister to help bring a message to the Prince.
Even if she was angry, she had to help Mu Qingrong save her repLitation by giving her a reason; For the sake of her mother, her brother, and her innocent younger sisters who were still in the marquisâs residence.
The servant was sent, but Mu Qingling didnât feel relaxed at all. She felt even more worried.
For some reason, a few days before she got married, she felt weak, and even after she got married, she fell into a coma after the wedding night. But even so, Mu Qingling could roughly understand some of her husbandâs character through her short time with him.
Lin Shiheng, the Prince of Linjiang, the youngest son of the Empress Dowager, was made a Prince when he was born. At that time, the late Emperor had seven sons, each one a dragon. They had begun to fight for the throne, before anyone was given the Crown Prince title.
No one knew how many attacks the current Emperor had dodged. After ascending to the throne, perhaps because he had been hurt by his half-brothers, the Emperor was very tolerant of his younger brothers who werenât involved in the struggle, especially his biological younger brother, Prince Linjiang, who he favored.
When the current Emperor ascended to the throne, Prince Linjiang was still young. The Empress Dowager was his biological mother, and the Emperor was his biological older brother. He was raised in the palace like a young master, so he grew up somewhat childish. However, when he became an adult and a powerful Prince, his childishness turned into a reputation of being a dandy.
In other words, an adult brat.
On the wedding night, Mu Qingling only had a short talk with her brat of a husband before she put her mind at ease. Apparently, although her husband was very bossy, he wasnât terrible at heart. It was just that he had never suffered any hardships before, and when people urged him to do something, he would take it seriously and do whatever he wanted.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Although he wasnât pleased with her becoming the Princess Consort, he was respectful enough to hand over the Princeâs Mansion to Mu Qingling that night. Mu Qingling wasnât expecting her husband to fall in love with her once he met her, she only wanted mutual respect.
Since the Prince had trusted her with the entire mansion, she would take good care of it and return the trust.
Who would have thought that her failing body would reach such a state, falling into a coma the next day?
Mu Qingling sighed. She didnât want to die, she wanted to live. She wanted to live to see her brother grow up, to marry and have children, to move out of the Marquisâs residence with her mother, and to see her mother grow old.
So even now, even though her heart ached with anger at Mu Qingrongâs death-defying act that was likely to bring down the whole Marquisâs family, Mu Qingling was still strong enough to get up and drink the medicine, trying to survive a little longer.
She was just too weak and had no strength in her hands. After a few sips, she dejectedly lowered her hands and whispered, âNanny, feed me.â
Seeing that, the wet nurse, who had been carefully watching over the bedside, was in tears. She hastily took the medicine bowl, scooped up the medicine and brought it to Mu Qinglingâs lips. When she saw her feeding her a spoonful, she drank the spoonful. It was as if she was completely unaware of the bitter taste of the medicine, and her tears fell even more.
âMiss, please let this maid send a letter back to Madam, so she can come and see you.â
âNo need.â
Mu Qingling shook her head and spoke with a wry smile, âIf Mother sees me like this, sheâs bound to cry. Since the doctor said it could be fixed, why should I make my Mother sad? â
When her wet nurse heard her say that, her heart ached even more. She couldnât help but shed tears of bitterness.
Her young lady was such a good person, why did she have to suffer so much? Even though she lost her father when she was a child, she was obviously the first young lady of the Marquisâs eldest family. She had never set foot in that temple, but she was married off in such a muddled manner.
Originally, she was furious that the dowry had been tampered with, but the young lady reassured her that at least she would be a Princess Consort in the future, and how noble it was. Who would have thought that before her good days as a Princess Consort had begun, she would be ravaged by a strange illness!
All the medicine in the soup bowl had been drained, her young ladyâs face looked pale and her eyes slightly closed. She looked very tired, but she still had to force herself to ask, âHas the maid I sent out come back?â
Naturally, the maid she was talking about was the maid she had sent to the bamboo forest, to give Mu Qingrong an excuse for wanting to spend time alone with the Prince.
The wet nurse thought of the undisguised bravado on Mu Qingrongâs pretty face.
When she was in the residence, her young lady had repeatedly avoided her. Now that she was married, it was clear that the third young lady herself didnât want the marriage, so why did she come back to stir up trouble? Why didnât she have any regard for the reputation of the Marquis? Even if she didnât want her own reputation, there was still those unmarried girls in the residence!
The wet nurse was so angry that she spoke with gritted teeth, âShe hasnât returned yet, Miss. If this maid is allowed to say, I think you should tell the residence about the dirty deeds the Third Young lady did today.â
âThe residence...â
Mu Qingling seemed to have thought of something, and a little ridicule appeared in her eyes as she spoke in a whisper, âIâm afraid it wonât work. Second Uncle and Second Aunt have always been united, so even if I told them, they would only think I was deliberately sullying Third Sisterâs reputation.â
âBut we canât just let the Third Young Lady seduce the Prince!â
The two of them were the only people in the room, and the wet nurse wasnât afraid to speak out with an angry tone, âShe obviously despised the Prince and refused to marry him. Thatâs why she pushed Young Lady out, to replace her. Even the girls of those poor families, who canât afford to eat, arenât as shameless as she is!â
âAs shameless as she is, even if itâs only for Ningâerâs reputation, Iâm going to cover for her.â
Ningâer was Mu Qinglingâs concubine younger brother, Mu Ning. When her father returned to his hometown to pay respects to his ancestors, he became very ill on his way back and died before he could return to the capital. The concubine who went with him was so shocked that she prematurely gave birth, and followed him to the afterlife.
When the group returned to the capital, the Madam, who had first learned of her husbandâs death, almost fainted from sorrow. But the situation was right in front of her, and she could only gather up her grief and raise the concubine son at her knees.
After so many years of parenting, although he was a concubine son, he was no different from a direct son. In Mu Qinglingâs mind, her brother Mu Ning and her mother were the only people she cared about in the Marquisâs residence.
Now that Mu Qingrongâs move was going to drag the entire family down, Mu Qingling didnât even have the strength to be angry. She had long been used to her third sisterâs tendency to not care about other peopleâs lives as long as she was happy. Even Second Uncle and Second Aunt had never considered the reputation of the family right?
For now, she just wanted to survive until her younger brother grew up and could take her mother to live alone. At that time, the messy affairs in the Marquisâs residence would never affect her family anymore.