Chapter 991 National Laws Are Above Domestic Disciplines
It was a small case about a successful candidate in the imperial examinations, though Wang Shengxue and Ning Caixian would come to no good end. The Ministry of Justice had handled many homicide cases and this case was not a serious one, so Qiu Yu handled it.
But this trivial case exposed a fiendish plot against Princess Chen hatched by the Marquis Xing’s Mansion. That was a big deal.
If Princess Chen were still the Fifth Miss Shao, it would not cause such a sensation. Unfortunately, she had become Princess Chen.
Princess Chen and Prince Chen shared weal and woe.
Chu Liuchen’s urgent letter came. Shao Wanru opened it and saw a few vigorous characters. Unlike his usual gentle style, he wrote with harsh, slashing brushstrokes. She even felt his writing a little atrocious. Sure enough, Chu Liuchen was never as gentle and genial as he appeared. Such a refined image of him was an illusion to confuse his enemies. Anyone who believed it would lose!
“Beat them back. I’ll always be here for you!”
His words were simple and straight, but they soothed her heart and soul.
His letter of a few words gave her an inner sense of security. He didn’t press about the detailed cause of the matter, nor did he have any scruples. Shao Wanru’s eyes grew misty as she thought about his overbearing manner when protecting her. Somehow, her lips curved in a gentle and sweet smile.
Though he had been away for just a few days, she missed him badly!
In the past, before he came into her life, Shao Wanru didn’t care much about love. It was unknown when she fell in love with him. At this point, her eyes were already blurred with emotional tears.
It was so nice to have him in this turn of life!
Knowing that Shao Wanru missed His Highness, Yujie laughed, covering her mouth with her hand. She rolled her watery eyes and asked, “My Lady, the Ministry of Justice will conduct the public trial today. Shall we go and have a look?”
Only when she talked about something else would Princess Chen stop thinking about Prince Chen all the time.
……
“My Lady, many people have gone to present at the trial. Shall we go too?” Qing Yue also wanted to have a look. As Shao Wanru’s maids, they were more than happy to watch the public trial of Madam Jiang.
Today Madam Jiang would be put on public trial. It was said that the Ministry of Justice had brought Madam Jiang from Yuhui Nunnery to the Marquis Xing’s Mansion.
“She won’t go there!” Shao Wanru shook her head, and her smile faded.
“How could she not go? There has been a rumor from the Ministry of Justice that Marquis Xing will come!” Yujie said with surprise.
“Is it because of her noble status as the Madam of Marquis Xing?” Qing Yue thought of something else and frowned. “Could a Madam with a title of nobility refuse to appear in the court for trial?”
Shao Wanru said unhurriedly, “I didn’t go, she could certainly choose to do the same thing. Although her status is not as high as mine, she is still a noble Madam. Besides, her daughter has entered the Palace. Even if Shao Yanru is not favored, she is still the Emperor’s woman!”
After folding the letter in her hand with great care, she stood up, walked to the bed, and put it in a secret compartment in front of the bed.
“Will she also send over a maid?” Yujie widened her eyes and asked. She went there on behalf of Princess Chen, so who would represent the Madam of Marquis Xing?
“Very likely. She won’t admit her defeat without putting up a fight!” Shao Wanru sat back before the table and took a sip from the teacup. As she looked down, her long eyelashes covered the coldness in her eyes. It should be the time for the Duke Xing’s Mansion to invite her over.
At present, she was the only one who could break this deadlock. Both Old Madam and Madam Jiang would not give up this chance. Yesterday when they sent someone to invite her, she happened to be in the Palace. So, Shao Wanru supposed that the person would come over again today.
“My Lady, someone from the Marquis Xing’s Mansion is coming!” A maid rushed in and reported in the corridor of the courtyard.
“Who is it?” Yujie went to the door, lifted the curtain, and asked.
“It’s the same Nanny in-charge surnamed Yu as yesterday. She serves Old Madam of the Marquis Xing’s Mansion,” The maid reported.
Sure enough, it was Nanny Yu. She was the most decent servant in Marquis Xing’s Mansion, and worked for the Old Madam. She seemed to be on the righteous side.
“Let her in!” Shao Wanru said lightly.
“Yes!” The maid left.
“My Lady, why would you let her in? She has no conscience. You saved Old Madam, and she stayed alive because of this. However, she ungratefully plotted against you with Old Madam. It’s never good when she comes here at the time. Why don’t you go to the Palace and avoid them?”
Yujie said grumpily. She has bad feelings toward Nanny Yu.
“I could stay away from this once, but I can’t do it the second time. If I enter the Palace this time, she will wait here. I can’t stay in the Palace all my life, so I have to meet her, sooner or later.” Shao Wanru looked up, eyes under her long eyelashes showing a hint of sarcasm. How could Old Madam let her “avoid” them at such a critical period?
Since she couldn’t get away from them, she chose to face this matter. Anyway, she had decided not to see Old Madam in the Marquis Xing’s Mansion.
She was not in a hurry to deal with the Marquis Xing’s Mansion.
“Qing’er, how is Madame Dong?”
“I have spread the news secretly, saying that a supervisor of the Prince Yue’s Mansion did this, but they shifted the blame onto the Ruiping Great Elder Princess’s Mansion. I also found out the identity of the person who stirred up trouble behind the scenes that day!” Qing’er, who had been silent all the time, answered.
That day, she went after the passer-by who hinted that the woman made trouble before Madame Dong’s Butterfly Clothing Shop was sent by the Ruiping Great Elder Princess’ Mansion. As expected, the onlooker turned out to be a supervisor from the Prince Yue’s Mansion.
After that, Shao Wanru asked her to secretly reveal the matter to Ruiping Great Elder Princess’s Mansion.
She deliberately emphasized the supervisor’s identity.
People from many places gathered that day. Some were from the Prince Yue’s Mansion, while some were from the Ruiping Great Elder Princess’s Mansion. It was a good thing for the two sides to confront each other.
“That’s good. Tell Madame Dong to deal with this matter carefully for the time being. It hasn’t over yet,” Shao Wanru said meaningfully.
“I understood. I will pay close attention to Madame Dong’s shop. If anything happens, I will report it to you immediately!” Qing’er nodded. She had sent someone to keep an eye on Madame Dong’s place so that she could know the reaction of the Prince Yue’s Mansion and the Ruiping Great Elder Princess’s Mansion.
The two mansions were not easy to deal with. Even if they sent some secret guards there, they would be exposed soon. It was better to watch the Butterfly Clothing Shop, which could show a sign of disturbance if anything happened.
The Butterfly Clothing Shop had been brought into the public eye. But just because of the fight between the Prince Yue’s Mansion and the Ruiping Great Elder Princess’s Mansion, the situation became safer for it.
When two tigers fight, one will get injured.
The Ruiping Great Elder Princess’s Mansion certainly couldn’t compare with the Prince Yue’s Mansion, but Infanta Yuan’an was going to marry Chu Liuzhou, so this matter would inevitably involve Prince Zhou.
It was Princess Chen who set in motion this train of events. Thinking of this, Qing’er admired her even more. “Prince Chen and my master are well suited to each other. Both are exceedingly gorgeous and extremely intelligent. How can that Infanta Yuan’an compare with my master?”
As soon as Nanny Yu came in, she bowed to Shao Wanru respectfully. Then she looked up and said with a smile, “Your Highness, you haven’t come back for many days. Old Madam misses you very much and wants to chat with you about our mansion’s own business. Princess Chen, would you like to go back when you’re free?”
“What does she want to share with me? Wouldn’t she blame me for what my grandma had done?” Shao Wanru said vaguely and glanced at Nanny Yu with a trace of coldness in her eyes. Her questions sounded polite in her soft voice, but Nanny Yu noticed something intimidating on second thoughts.
Not long ago, because of Rui’an Great Elder Princess, the Marquis Xing’s Mansion suffered greatly from the inside to the outside. The cause of their suffering was that Old Madam asked Princess Chen to go back to the mansion, and now it seemed that something similar would happen again!
Nanny Yu secretly complained in her heart, “Old Madam has never treated Fifth Miss nicely as her granddaughter. How could she make Fifth Miss treat her with respect as her grandmother?
“Moreover, Fifth Miss was not the same as before. As Princess Chen, she won’t allow herself to be ordered about by Old Madam. There are rumors saying that Old Madam has been unkind to Fifth Miss. So, Old Madam has lost the right to order her in the name of filial piety. Besides, there are Rui’an Great Elder Princess and Prince Chen supporting Fifth Miss.”
Nanny Yu felt that the Marquis Xing’s Mansion couldn’t afford to offend any of them. Before Prince Chen left, he even broke the hand of Second Young Master Qu, who was the grandson of Ruiping Great Elder Princess! It was said that he did it for Fifth Miss. For that alone, Nanny Yu felt that Old Madam should flatter Fifth Miss.
“Well, it’s not an important thing. She wants to clear up the misunderstanding between you and the Madam. Old Madam will punish her immediately and give you justice if the Madam is proved to be wrong.” Nanny Yu explained with a smile.
“Give me justice? Oh, I’ve heard too much like that from your mansion, but I never expect it to happen. Now the case is in the charge of the Ministry of Justice. No matter how mighty Old Madam is, she can’t rob the right of the Ministry of Justice! We have to wait for the verdict from the Ministry of Justice before talking about other things.” Shao Wanru said indifferently.
How could Old Madam believe that her ways of running the inner court could apply to everything? Once again, she was looking forward to cracking this hard issue through some hypocritical shows of the family cordiality and keeping this matter within the Marquis Xing’s Mansion. Never would she allow any outsiders to know those inside stories, which would humiliate the whole Marquis Xing’s Mansion.
Since they were a family, there would be no tough nut to crack. Even if anyone did something wrong, she could just use a little punishment to show fairness and mollify the victims. Old Madam of the Marquis Xing’s Mansion had done a lot of things like this, and now she came up with the same set of tricks.
Nanny Yu’s smile froze on her lips. Though she felt awkward, she had to go on. “Your Highness, you are the granddaughter of Old Madam. Of course, you are closer to her than the Madam. Old Madam won’t make things difficult for you for a daughter-in-law, right?”
No matter how powerful Old Madam was, she wouldn’t dare to go against the national law and take people away from the Ministry of Justice.
“Nanny Yu, I don’t want to pressure you. Go and tell Old Madam that I’m not well recently, so I won’t go back. If there is anything, wait for the verdict of the Ministry of Justice. We must respect the facts. The national law should be above our domestic disciplines.” Shao Wanru sneered with steely eyes.
It was not that she was afraid to see Old Madam, but that she felt it disgusting to be part of Madam Dowager’s shameful actions. As early as when she returned to the Marquis Xing’s Mansion, she knew that Old Madam was not one of the good ones. It was obvious that she felt no affection for her, her so-called granddaughter.
In previous days, she was incapable of resisting Old Madam, but now it was almost the time to fight back. Rui’an Great Elder Princess stirred up trouble and confirmed that Old Madam was unkind to the descendants of the Marquis Xing’s Mansion. On this premise, even if Old Madam went to the Palace to lodge a complaint against her before the Empress and the Empress Dowager, Shao Wanru had reliable evidence to justify herself.
“Your Highness, it’s not good if you don’t go back,” Nanny Yu awkwardly insisted. Her eyes fell on Shao Wanru’s tender face, which was as delicate as tip-top porcelain, and she had that fine pink color in her cheeks. How could she be in poor health?
“Nanny Yu, go back and report to her. It’s getting late. I still need to take medicine, so I won’t see you off!”