radicalducati Chapter 425 Time flies!
Chapter 425 Time flies!
Consort Xian was quite excited about her son's upcoming marriage and was busy with preparations. She was so busy that she couldn't keep up with everything. So, Shen Shixi asked Consort Shu to arrange the eldest princess's marriage. Consort Shu went to Qian Yuan Palace a little too often, which made Li Yuanke object again.
Shen Shixi was speechless. "Stop being so mysterious all the time. She's helping us with the work, yet you treat her like a thief. Are you guarding against her or me? Are you afraid I'll seduce your beloved concubine?"
Li Yuanke slapped her on the butt, "Stop talking nonsense!"
Shen Shixi pretended to be incredulous, "No way, Li Yuanke, do you think I'm in your way because I'm staying here?"
"That's true. With me living here, you can't easily summon your concubines. You should have said so earlier. In two years, I could have helped you choose concubines, but by then I'll be old and faded..."
Li Yuanke covered her mouth, furious. "Shen Shixi, do you believe I'll have the Imperial Wardrobe sew your mouth shut?"
Shen Shixi leaned on his shoulder and laughed like a rooster crowing, extremely smug. Li Yuanke laughed in exasperation, "You little rascal, is it fun to tease me?"
Shen Shixi kissed his neck and then grazed his earlobe with her teeth. "Li Yuanke, time flies. You're about to become a father-in-law..."
"Shut up!" Li Yuanke suppressed the urge to throw her down. "The Crown Prince is still young, what kind of eunuch is he!"
Han Wanyue hadn't expected to actually be chosen as the Second Prince's consort. When the imperial decree arrived, she still felt like she was dreaming. It was only when Shen Shixian nudged her that she snapped out of her daze, raised her hands to receive the decree, and said, "Thank you for your great favor, Your Majesty!"
Now that she was really going to marry into the royal family, Han Wanyue was very nervous. She asked Shen Shixian for advice, "Aunt, I really don't know how to get along with the Empress. She is such a... ethereal person, I'm afraid she won't like me in the future."
She has two mothers-in-law, but the real mother-in-law is Shen Shixi.
Shen Shixian said, "Her Majesty the Empress is a very easy person to get along with. She likes people who are upright and honest. You just need to be that kind of person."
Han Wanyue breathed a sigh of relief.
The wedding had been prepared long ago. After the imperial decree was issued, the Imperial Observatory selected the date as November 28th, and the eldest princess was to be married on November 12th, about half a month apart.
By the time the eldest daughter from a concubine got married and the eldest son from a concubine got married, another year was almost over.
The Empress Dowager passed away, and Li Yuanke did not celebrate his birthday this year. These two events were also happy occasions for the royal family this year. As the end of the year approached, Shen Shixi asked the Second Prince to once again take charge of the New Year's Eve banquet and the New Year's Day court banquet.
"Although your father has already observed the mourning period in days instead of months, according to folk customs, the mourning period should be twenty-seven months. This year's annual banquet and court audience should be slightly more grand than last year's, but less so than in previous years. We must not give anyone anything to gossip about."
Shen Shixi offered some advice.
The second prince replied, "Your subject obeys the decree!"
Shen Shixi then asked him, "How's Wanyue? How are things going with you two?"
The Second Prince said, "I can speak directly to her, and she can speak directly to me. For now, things are going well."
Newlywed, the Second Prince was very satisfied with Han Wanyue.
Shen Shixi was relieved. It was her fourth sister who recommended her. If she didn't do well, people would gossip about her.
Shen Shixi then said, "Keep an eye on Hejing as well. The Duke of Lu is not to be underestimated; don't let Hejing fall victim to any evil."
The second prince replied, "Yes!"
How could a mistress so easily cause the wife of a duke's heir to suffer postpartum hemorrhage without the tacit consent and help of a man?
Without his help, how could Tang Yi's three fiancées have died so quietly?
But the Duchess of Lu did not utter a single word about the Duke of Lu, which made things even stranger.
When the second prince spoke to the eldest princess, she was terrified. Clutching his sleeve, she cried, "Second brother, what should we do? What if he kills me?"
The second prince was speechless. "Why don't you strike first?"
"How can I strike first? What should I do?"
The second prince said, "He must have done other bad things over the years. Try to find out some information and put him in jail. Then he won't be able to harm you anymore."
"Won't the prince consort hate me to death?"
The Second Prince said, "Aren't you stupid? How could the Prince Consort hate you? Tang Zhijie's first wife was definitely killed by him and that mistress. He should know that in his heart, but he can't say it because she is his father. If you help him resolve this matter, he will probably thank you."
The eldest princess still felt very conflicted, but she really needed to learn to rely on herself.
Fortunately, she finally has someone to consult with now, namely a nanny whom Shen Shixi helped her choose. Her surname is Hao, and she is the person Shen Shixi arranged for the eldest princess to teach her how to manage the household affairs.
Granny Hao then instructed the eldest princess to test the prince consort.
The two continued to live in the Duke's mansion after their marriage, at Tang Yi's request. He Jing didn't ask why.
Tang Yi returned home after a busy day and, upon hearing that the princess was ill, rushed over to visit her.
"What happened?" Tang Yi asked, holding the eldest princess's hand.
Granny Hao chimed in, "The princess was vomiting and had diarrhea. We just had the royal physician examine her, and he said she ate something wrong."
Tang Yi asked, puzzled, "How could you have eaten the wrong thing?"
The eldest princess comforted him, saying, "I don't know, it must be an incompatibility of the foods. He took some medicine and is feeling much better now, so don't worry."
Before the marriage, Tang Yi was quite worried because the eldest princess had a really bad reputation.
But after the marriage, the eldest princess was neither arrogant nor domineering. On the contrary, she was particularly understanding, kind and considerate, and did not make any distinction between ruler and subject in front of him, which made him very happy.
Later, the couple had a heart-to-heart talk, and the eldest princess said that it was through her mother's teachings that she understood many principles.
Tang Yi was quite happy. The fact that the Empress was willing to teach the eldest princess proved that the palace had not given up on her.
Tang Yi had other matters to attend to, so he gave a few instructions and left, with Granny Hao following behind.
Tang Yi dared not underestimate this palace matron and asked politely, "Is there anything else, Madam?"
Granny Hao bowed and said, "This servant shouldn't have spoken out of turn, and the princess forbade me to say anything, but this servant cannot stand by and watch the prince consort and the princess get into trouble. This servant has dared to say something out of turn, please punish me, prince consort."
Tang Yi offered a helping hand and quickly said, "Please speak, Granny. Since you are doing this for the good of me and the princess, how can I punish you?"
"The princess is ill today not because she ate anything wrong, but because she has been poisoned!" said Granny Hao.
Tang Yi felt as if he had been struck by lightning; his legs went weak, and he leaned against the wall, asking, "Who...who is it?"
Murdering a princess is a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of one's family!
"In my opinion, it should be someone from this household. I heard that someone went into the princess's small kitchen before; it was a servant from the Duke's household."
Unfortunately, we didn't catch him in the act. He ran away quickly after we noticed him, and we didn't think much of it at the time. Besides, the poison had rendered him unconscious. Our negligence led to the princess suffering greatly.
This explanation was full of holes, but Tang Yi believed it.
This only shows that he already suspected his father and didn't dare to poison the princess, but it was enough to make the princess turn against him.
When Tang Yi left, he was trembling all over, and the veins on his tightly clenched hands were bulging.
When Granny Hao returned and told the eldest princess, the princess was worried, "What if the prince consort investigates and finds out that what we said was all false?"
Granny Hao tucked the blanket around the princess, saying, "At least it's true that the princess was poisoned, and these words weren't spoken by the princess herself, so the prince consort won't suspect anything."