Chapter 1078 Going to the Duke Cheng’en’s Mansion
“How are you getting along with the Duke Cheng’en’s Mansion?” Shao Wanru asked, fluttering her long eyelashes.
In case of any incidents, she didn’t tell her grandma the truth. Her grandma was straightforward and couldn’t hide anything, so the less she knew, the safer she would be.
“The Duke Cheng’en’s Mansion? The Empress Dowager’s parents’ home?” Rui’an Great Elder Princess asked in surprise, “What happened in the Duke Cheng’en’s Mansion?”
“Nothing serious, Grandma. It’s for the Imperial Grandmother’s birthday. I’ve married into the Prince Chen’s Mansion, and Chu Liuchen is not at home now. It’s my first time preparing a birthday gift for my Imperial Grandmother. My gift should please her. But since I haven’t known her long, I want to inquire about her preferences from the Duke Cheng’en’s Mansion.”
Shao Wanru lowered her head shyly, her fair and tender face flushing slightly with embarrassment.
As a newly married young lady, she looked uneasy, but her delicate face was radiant with delight and shyness. Seeing her like this, Rui’an Great Elder Princess smiled delightedly. This was what a newly married woman looked like. She was always worried that her young granddaughter couldn’t remain lovely and innocent when carrying the heavy burden of responsibility.
At present, it seemed that she was satisfied with her marriage. Otherwise, she wouldn’t look so cherubic.
“Okay, it doesn’t matter. Madam of Duke Cheng’en and I are on pretty good terms. Tomorrow, we can visit her and ask her about the Empress Dowager’s preferences.” Rui’an Great Elder Princess said with a smile, “I also know some things she likes. You don’t have to go there to get the information.”
Having been the Empress Dowager’s sister-in-law for so many years, she had a not-bad understanding of her preferences.
“Of course, you know some, but Zhuozhuo wants more details. If I accidentally annoy Her Majesty, she will not be happy with me. It will even bring disgrace on Prince Chen,” Shao Wanru said with a shy smile. What she said was very in line with her current identity.
Sure enough, newly married daughters-in-law were afraid of not being favored by the elders of her husband’s family and even accidentally offending them. Daughters-in-law of ordinary families were like this, let alone Shao Wanru, who had married into the royal family, the greatest family in the world.
“Okay, okay, it’s all up to you!” Rui’an Great Elder Princess repeatedly nodded, suddenly feeling they might as well visit the Duke Cheng’en’s Mansion together. As soon as Shao Wanru returned to the Prince Chen’s Mansion, she sent a notification to the Duke Cheng’en’s Mansion.
She took Shao Wanru to the Duke Cheng’en’s Mansion early the next morning.
Madam of Duke Cheng’en, who received the message long ago, had been waiting for them.
When Shao Wanru followed Young Madam of the Duke Cheng’en’s Mansion to a parlor, an old lady sitting in the center stood up, her face wreathed with smiles.
Though Madam of Duke Cheng’en was the Empress Dowager’s sister-in-law, her status was inferior to Rui’an Great Elder Princess and Princess Chen.
“Madam, why stand on ceremony? It’s not the first time that I’ve been here.” Rui’an Great Elder Princess quickly took two steps forward, pulled up Madam of Duke Cheng’en, who was about to bow and said with a smile.
“Yes, you’re right, but Princess Chen is coming to our place for the first time. I should treat her with courtesy and enough respect!” Duke Cheng’en said with a smile and intended to salute Shao Wanru again.
With a graceful lift of her hand, Shao Wanru signed for her not to do so and said while beaming, “Madam, that’s very kind of you. You are my elder, so you don’t have to be so polite.”
Madam of Duke Cheng’en looked at Shao Wanru, who was of peerless beauty and exceedingly refined, and couldn’t help nodding in her heart in admiration. This was the first time she had seen Shao Wanru in person. She had heard from the Empress Dowager that Prince Chen had taken a fancy to Shao Wanru and even had waited for her for a few years.
With this in mind, she thought more highly of Shao Wanru from the bottom of her heart. Unlike her, many people didn’t take Shao Wanru seriously because she was young and just happened to win the favor of Prince Chen. Perhaps, she would soon be in disgrace with Prince Chen, who appeared to be gentle but was very cold-hearted. No one could win his heart.
Shao Wanru married into the Prince Chen’s Mansion only because of her outstanding appearance.
Madam of Duke Cheng’en was aged and had experienced many things. Prince Chen was indeed ruthless. Initially, she intended to let one of her granddaughters marry Prince Chen. In her mind, though Prince Chen might not live long, he had a distinguished status.
However, Prince Chen didn’t show a little bit of enthusiasm toward her granddaughters. When anyone of them met Prince Chen, he was well-mannered, but in Duke Cheng’en’s eyes, he viewed them without any real feel as if looking at lifeless items. From that moment on, Madam of Duke Cheng’en had no intention of marrying her granddaughter into the Prince Chen’s Mansion.
Prince Chen chose this girl himself and had waited for her for three years, so it was apparent that he cared much about her. Madam of Duke Cheng’en watched Chu Liuchen grow up and knew that once this cold-blooded prince fell in love with Shao Wanru, no one could replace her.
Princess Chen looked indeed extraordinary, not only in her appearance but also in her manners.
It was said that Shao Wanru had been raised in the Qin’s Mansion since she was a child. Her life was not very good: without a biological mother to teach and support her, she even had to deal with her adoptive mother’s sinister plots. Yet, despite all of this, her words and deeds were as good as that of Misses from aristocratic families. Honestly, she was even more decent in some aspects.
She deserved to be Princess Chen.
In the parlor, the three took their seats according to their positions. Rui’an Great Elder Princess was in the major guest seat, accompanied by Shao Wanru and Young Madam of the Duke Cheng’en’s Mansion on either side of her.
“Great Elder Princess, how could you find some time to see me today?” Madam of Duke Cheng’en put down the teacup in her hand and asked with a smile.
“No big deal. It’s just about the Empress Dowager’s birthday. What good stuff has your mansion prepared? Could I see them for references?” Rui’an Great Elder Princess also set down the teacup and said with a smile.
She had discussed this request with Shao Wanru on their way here.
“To be honest, our manor has not prepared many gifts. My husband has brought some back and is still searching for new ones.” Madam of Duke Cheng’en said with a smile.
In the past few days, Duke Cheng’en brought things back to the mansion practically every day. He said that he would choose the best ones but couldn’t make up his mind in such a short time. Instead, he kept bringing things to his mansion almost every day.f𝑟e𝒆𝘸𝒆𝙗𝒏ov𝒆l.c𝙤𝑚
At first, Madam of Duke Cheng’en paid great attention to them and checked these presents one by one. Then she became insensitive to the new items and just gave the money to the servant who went to pay the bill. Seeing that a great deal of money had gone, Madam of Duke Cheng’en told her husband not to buy so many things on impulse. He should only take these things that were remarkably good in his eyes.
“If you want to have a look, I will ask someone to show you what he has bought these days. They may not be good. After all, he can’t make sure everything he selected can strike the Empress Dowager’s fancy.”
Madam of Duke Cheng’en said again while instructing the old maid behind her to take out all the things that Duke Cheng’en had bought these days.
The old maid took a few people to the Duke Cheng’en’s study and moved a lot of things over to the parlor.
Rows of gifts were presented on the table. One brocade box was placed above another. Behind them were many scrolls of scripts and paintings.
“Why are there so many?” Rui’an Great Elder Princess opened her eyes wide in surprise. Looking at the table full of various items, she gasped for a while and said, “Are… are you going to send all of them to the Empress Dowager?”
“How could it be!” Madam of Duke Cheng’en smiled bitterly and said, “His Grace is ignorant of miscellaneous affairs. Whenever he saw something he likes, he would buy it and take it back, thinking the Empress Dowager must also like the things he took a fancy to. However, when he encountered a new good item, he felt it was better than the previous ones. With words of praise from the seller, he would think the new piece was the best and pay for it.”
Madam of Duke Cheng’en had criticized her husband several times for this habit. Each time, Duke Cheng’en promised that he wouldn’t do it again. However, because Duke Cheng’en was too trusting, he would listen to others’ words the next day and think it was right to buy more things. Once again, his wife’s repeated warnings to him passed his ear like a puff of wind, and he forgot them all.
Shao Wanru stood up curiously, walked around the table, and asked Madam of Duke Cheng’en, “Your Grace, may I have a look?”
“Do as you please, Your Highness!” Madam of Duke Cheng’en waved her hand and said. She had sharp eyes and could tell that Rui’an Great Elder Princess came here mainly to accompany Princess Chen.
Princess Chen had just married into the royal family. To please the Empress Dowager, she specially came here to see gifts picked up by the Duke Cheng’en’s Mansion. In this way, she could know better what the Empress Dowager liked, which was really thoughtful. Madam of Duke Cheng’en admired Shao Wanru enormously, so she was willing to let her view all these gifts. Since the Empress Dowager liked Prince Chen, people in the Duke Cheng’en’s Mansion should be nice to visitors from the Prince Chen’s Mansion. Moreover, Madam of Duke Cheng’en was very fond of Shao Wanru.
“Your Highness, please have a look. Here is a piece of jade.” Young Madam of the Duke Cheng’en’s Mansion walked over, opened a brocade box, and showed it to Shao Wanru.
Shao Wanru looked into it. It was a piece of red jade, which looked beautiful.
“Here is a pair of jade bracelets.” Young Madam of the Duke Cheng’en’s Mansion opened another box with two exquisite and brilliant bracelets made of blood jade.
“A jade pendant.”
The blood-jade ornament appeared simple and unsophisticated, obviously a rare ancient treasure.
“Please look at this ruby. It’s a crude stone and hasn’t yet been made into an artifact, so it can be matched with any gold accessories!”
“This tea set is made of blood-red cinnabar.”
“These are 101 pink pearls, which can be made into a string of beads for clearing the heart and calming the mind.”
“This is red…”
She opened the brocade boxes one by one. When these top-quality items, red or pink, came into view, Shao Wanru and Rui’an Great Elder Princess were stunned.
“I know the Empress Dowager prefers vibrant colors, but I’ve never heard she likes them to this extent!” Rui’an Great Elder Princess blinked and asked tentatively.
She had no idea that the Empress Dowager liked red so much. Did she neglect something important in the past? She had been the Empress Dowager’s sister-in-law for so many years but never found this.
Madam of Duke Cheng’en gave a wry smile and said, “Do you think the Empress Dowager has such a partiality for red? It’s His Grace who likes it. He said the Empress Dowager was quite fond of red ornaments a long time ago, so the gifts he prepared were all this red stuff. In fact, during these years, the Empress Dowager still likes red but doesn’t express a strong preference. Only His Grace is a little confused and always thinks the Empress Dowager favors red!”
Speaking of this, Madam of Duke Cheng’en felt helpless. She had tried to persuade him but couldn’t change his mind, no matter what she said. The Empress Dowager had gained her current status, so she no longer needed red to emphasize her position as the Empress like a long time ago. However, Duke Cheng’en was not to budge on the issue.