Chapter 55: Chapter 55 - The Empress Dowager’s Decree

Back to the Hanxia Villa, Song Yixiao told all servants, “Mother is pregnant. The Prince doesn’t want her to be tired. So he asks two young mistresses and Fourth Commandery Princess to replace her to manage the mansion temporarily. A new broom sweeps clean. And Second Young Mistress always niggle us. Luckily, First Young Mistress agrees to conceal it due to my mother today. Otherwise I’m unable to protect you!”

“From now on, you all should remember this!”

“Sixth Young Lady indeed came here once. But nothing happened to the birthday presents. Sixth Young Lady just had a look at them and then left!”

“Do you understand?”

“If Second Young Mistress makes trouble for us because one of you talks nonsense, I won’t let him go!”

Although she treated her servants well in recent years, she never pardoned servants who made mistakes. So when her attitude was serious and Ms. Zhao echoed her view, everyone assented solemnly and didn’t dare to neglect that!

After warning them a few more words, Song Yixiao waved her hands to let them leave. Only Ms. Zhao and Jinxun were left.

“Guard the stairs and don’t let anyone come. If someone goes upstairs, speak loudly to remind me!” Song Yixiao told Jinxun. Then she stood up and said, “Ms. Zhao, please follow me up!”

Seeing her behavior, Ms. Zhao found the thing was important so that she looked serious before stepping on the stairs.

They went upstairs and sat down. Song Yixiao told everything to her and then sneered, “I was confused why only First Young Mistress cared about Sixth Young Lady who caused a trouble today. I thought it was planned by the Dowager Consort to protect Second Young Mistress and Fourth Commandery Princess. But finally, I find it’s First Young Mistress’s plan!”

Ms. Zhao’s eyelids were twitched in fear after hearing that. “Fortunately, Duke Jian likes you!”

“Now Sixth Young Lady will replace me to marry Zhuo Ping’an!” Song Yixiao looked pale, “Although she was jealous of me, she saved Jinxun, which made her be trapped by Second Young Mistress this time. I will be guilty if I don’t help her!”

Ms. Zhao grasped her handkerchief nervously, “But First Young Mistress’s way is bad for your reputation! There must be some people who are jealous of you because you will marry Duke Jian, the powerful man. Even if you are virtuous, they will still nitpic! Grand Princess doesn’t live with Duke Jian and won’t stare at you all day. But she will have a bad impression on you if you have a reputation of narrow-mindedness!”

Song Yixiao couldn’t rely on her family. How hard her life would be if her husband’s elder disliked her?

“That’s why I didn’t agree with First Young Mistress!” Song Yixiao nodded, “After all, it is Second Young Mistress that lets Sixth Young Lady be the daughter-in-law of Commandery Princess Qingjiang. I’m not sure whether Sixth Young Lady hates me or not because it’s hard to guess human’s mind! I can’t make a mistake according to my situation. So I have to guard against her even if it’s mean to doubt her. How can I be caught out by it?”

Especially Lu Chai’er was also clever. Song Yixiao asked, “The prince’s mansion is so large. But when Lu Chai’er committed suicide, First Young Mistress was holding a memorial ceremony for her son in the garden and stopped Lu Chai’er in time. Don’t you think it’s so coincidental?”

When the Dowager Consort made a decision, Wei Mengying wouldn’t oppose her unless she considered fully. Lu Chai’er was just a concubine’s daughter. How could she have the ability to bribe her stepmother?

So she could only ask for First Young Mistress’s help among the whole prince’s mansion. First Young Mistress bore a deep grudge against Second Young Mistress. It was Second Young Mistress’s proposal to let Lu Chai’er marry Zhuo Ping’an. So First Young Mistress must destroy the marriage!

Although First Young Mistress was not so powerful in the prince’s mansion, she had got married and gained more people and experience. While Lu Chai’er was just a concubine’s daughter and depended on other people’s favor since she was young.

As a result, First Young Mistress also involved Song Yixiao in it!

Ms. Zhao asked worriedly, “How did you reply to First Young Mistress?”

“I asked First Young Mistress to remind the Dowager Consort when paying respects to her: How can Second Young Mistress be kind enough to help Third Young Master?” Song Yixiao sneered, “People in the prince’s mansion all know Third Young Master’s character. I depend on other people for a living. But he also treats me well. How affable and considerate he is! Besides, Sixth Young Lady is his younger sister.”

According to Lu Guanlun’s temperament, he wouldn’t let his younger sister sacrifice for him!

Even if the Dowager Consort made it true without telling him, he would request to break it if Lu Chai’er wasn’t willing to marry Zhuo Ping’an!

“Second Young Mistress must plan like this. She first persuades the Dowager Consort to let Sixth Young Lady marry Commandery Princess Qingjiang’s son, and then tells it to Third Young Master. He will go to provoke Commandery Princess Qingjiang. So Commandery Princess Qingjiang won’t let him be the heir of the prince!” Song Yixiao snorted, “Once Third Young Master’s prospect is dim, the Dowager Consort has to support Master Guanqun because she dislikes my mother!”

Ms. Zhao reminded her, “The Dowager Consort knows Third Young Master clearly! Since she agrees with Second Young Mistress, how can’t she think of a good solution?”

“Sixth Young Lady is daughter of a prince. It will lose the face of prince’s mansion if she marries Zhuo Ping’an!” Song Yixiao touched the golden bracelet on her wrist and said casually, “I guess that the Dowager Consort has negotiated with Commandery Princess Qingjiang to let Zhuo Ping’an smear Sixth Young Lady’s reputation due to some accidents. So she must marry him. In this way, other people and Third Young Master can’t blame the marriage!”

She sneered, “But Sixth Young Lady obviously doesn’t resign herself to her fate and takes a risk to ask for First Young Mistress’s help! And First Young Mistress also supports her. If the Dowager Consort doesn’t change her thought, First Young Mistress will tell my mother or Third Young Master, which will break the Dowager Consort’s plan!”

“But First Young Mistress is the Dowager Consort’s junior. What if the Dowager Consort threatens First Young Mistress?” Ms. Zhao frowned.

Song Yixiao shook her head, “The Dowager Consort can threaten everyone except First Young Mistress because she fears nothing. Anyway, she and First Young Master don’t want to be the heir of the prince. The legacy of prince’s mansion has been stipulated and First Young Master is able to live well after getting his legacy. In my view, the reason why they fawn on my mother is that they want to revenge for their first son! They may not really want to get the title and poverty!”

First Young Mistress handled the troubles in six etiquettes of Song Yixiao and let Second Young Mistress and Fourth Commandery Princess not blame others about the thing happened this time. How couldn’t she solve the problem of Lu Chai’er?

The simplest way was to find a reliable husband for Lu Chai’er and get married soon. Then Commandery Princess Qingjiang had to give up!

But she called Song Yixiao to negotiate in the name of helping Lu Chai’er. In fact, she just wanted to draw a future wife of duke over to her side in order to make trouble to Second Young Mistress together!

Ms. Zhao sighed, “How can she forgive Second Young Mistress? Her first son was dead so early… Her husband only has a son born of a concubine until now!”

“Besides, First Young Master and First Young Mistress are the Dowager Consort’s grandson and granddaughter-in-law.” Song Yixiao smiled, “How can the Dowager Consort kill them cruelly?”

Since the Dowager Consort couldn’t hurt them, she had to compromise.

Ms. Zhao thought about it again and finally felt relaxed, “It’s a good way that we can protect Sixth Young Lady without destroying your reputation!”

But she also worried, “The Dowager Consort and Second Young Mistress must hate you!”

“Will they let me go if it doesn’t happen?” Song Yixiao sighed, “I’m Guanyun’s elder sister, even if we have the different father!”

Why did she fear to offend the Dowager Consort and Second Young Mistress? They had already planned to destroy her!

Ms. Zhao still wanted to say something. Song Yixiao said, “First Young Mistress promised me that it would finish within three days. The most important thing now is how to tell mother about my marriage.”

Even First Young Mistress found that Song Yixiao had grown apart from Wei Mengying. Her clever mother must have found it, too.

Song Yixiao felt a little worried, “Mother will not be happy if I don’t listen to her.”

Wei Mengying arranged many terrible men to propose to her as soon as she refused to seduce Yuan Xuepei. But this time, she didn’t tell Wei Mengying that Jian Xubai proposed a marriage. Wei Mengying must make trouble to Song Yixiao definitely after knowing it!

“It will be good for Her Highness and Seventh Young Master if you marry into a powerful family.” Ms. Zhao was calm in this case and reminded her, “You are her daughter. How can she hate you forever? I think she will forgive you if you apologize to her sincerely!”

She sighed again, “Your Ladyship, please bear it. After you get married and have your own family, you will have someone to depend on.”

Song Yixiao knew her hint. Her foster nurse didn’t agree with her to guard against her mother. She thought the reason why Song Yixiao didn’t trust her mother was because she lived in other people’s house and didn’t feel secure. And she believed that Song Yixiao would change after marrying a man who she could rely on.

“How can you know the real reason why I distrust my mother?” She smiled bitterly and didn’t explain it. She just said, “Just do it.”

First Young Mistress said it would use three days. But the Empress Dowager’s decree was sent to Prince of Hengshan’s mansion the next day.

When Song Yixiao’s embroidery needle was grabbed by a maid and she hurried to change clothes to hear the decree in the hall, almost all people in the prince’s mansion were shocked by the news!

Half of them didn’t know it before and was shocked that Song Yixiao could have such a good marriage. While the other people were curious why the Empress Dowager’s decree was sent to the prince’s mansion, which would lose the Song Family’s face.

“Although the Song Family has declined, Song Yuan’s present wife, Madam Lu, is the daughter of Advisor to the Crown Prince! But the Empress Dowager doesn’t give any face to the Song Family. Does she dislike the behavior that the Song Family drove eldest legitimate daughter away, or does she think the Crown Prince…”

No one dared to talk about this kind of guess openly because it might implicate themselves. They just discussed in private.

It was well known that the most important reason why the Crown Prince was designated was because Emperor Xianjia was ill. He was afraid that the country would suspect a young emperor’s ability. So he made his eldest son be the crown prince.

But it was the situation at that year.

At present, in the 20th year of Xianjia period, Prince of Wei and Prince of Liang would get married soon. Prince of Zhao was the Empress’s son and was 12 years old. It was said that he was clever, kind, loyal and had filial piety. Although Emperor Xianjia’s condition was not good and he was sick sometimes, he had dealt with government affairs for many years.

Prince of Liang and the Crown Prince had the same mother. But the family of Virtuous Consort Jiang, the adoptive mother of Prince of Wei, was also powerful like the Cui Family of Noble Consort Cui. The present Princess Consort of Wei was Commandery Princess Nanzhang, the daughter of Daiguo Grand Princess! Who didn’t know Emperor Xianjia treat two grand princesses well?

As for Prince of Zhao, he was also extremely noble because Empress Su was his mother and Duke of Ji, the old general, was his uncle!

Since Commandery Princess Nanzhang became the future Princess Consort of Wei, the rumor that the Crown Prince’s position was weaken had handed around.

The Empress Dowager’s decree had nothing to do with the Crown Prince. But Song Yuan was the son-in-law of Advisor to the Crown Prince, which finally caused the rumor that the Crown Prince would be abolished!

Even the explanation from the imperial capital showed that the reason why the decree wasn’t sent to the Song Family was Miss Song was not proper to stay with her grandmother because it would have a bad effect on her grandmother’s health. So she lived on other people’s house many years and her wedding wouldn’t be held in her family. But the undercurrent of the political field became fiercer and fiercer instead of disappearing.

Gradually, it became serious.