Mu Qingling fell ill the day after her marriage, and judged Lin Shiheng, the Prince of Linjiang, based on all the information she had heard before the wedding and on her own speculations on the night of the wedding.
She had thought that it would be difficult to persuade a Prince like Prince Linjiang, who had never been wronged since he was a child, to listen to her advice. She never expected that the other party would listen to her so soon after she had opened her mouth.
Mu Qingling carefully observed Lin Shiheng’s expression, and saw that he didn't look like he was acting perfunctory. She was slightly relieved.
A husband who she could communicate was better than a husband who wouldn’t listen to her words.
“By the way, Princess.”
Lin Shiheng suddenly spoke up as Mu Qingling was just breathing a sigh of relief. His tone was slightly displeased, “That third sister of yours, isn’t she a bit too unruly?”
Mu Qingling’s eyes widened for a mont, “What does Your Highness an?”
“Just now, when I was walking along the path, she stopped
and said she wanted to speak to
alone. How can a daughter of a good family do such a thing, isn’t that too unruly? “
Mu Qingling hesitantly glanced at Prince Linjiang, who looked disgusted.
If she rembered correctly; on the night of the wedding, this man had complinted Mu Qingrong extensively in front of his new wife, had he not?
He praised her for her boldness even when she was wandering alone in the temple, unlike other won in the harem who were dull and uninteresting.
To be honest, boasting about another woman to the wife on the night of the wedding was considered a humiliating thing. Mu Qingling was so angry that her face turned red. However, he was her husband. There was no other way to deal with it than to swallow that anger and pretend that nothing had happened.
However, at that ti, her heart felt cold. She was glad that although the person he liked was Mu Qingrong, fortunately, he was still willing to give her the dignity of a Princess Consort and didn’t leave after seeing her face.
Then the question was, how long had it been. Why did he suddenly dislike Mu Qingrong?
Mu Qingling’s heart was full of questions, but it was hard to sound them out. She just lowered her eyes slightly and whispered, “Third sister was brought up in the palm of her father’s hand when she was a child, and her character is inevitably naive. She didn’t an to bump into you, Your Highness. Please forgive her.”
“She is your sister, and calls
brother-in-law. Naturally, this Prince should forgive her for your sake Princess.”
Lin Shiheng smiled gallantly, seemingly charming, “Princess, take good care of yourself. When you’re well, I’ll go with you to visit father-in-law.”
“Many thanks, Your Highness.”
Mu Qingling was still weak and couldn’t do the first return ceremony, so she could only accept it with a pale face.
(TNote: First eting ceremony = Hui n (HHl'j); first return of bride to her parental ho after marriage.)
After she had just answered, she saw the splendidly dressed man stand up, “Then I’ll leave first. I going to have a drink with soone today, do you have anything you want? This Prince will bring it back for you while I’m out.”
Mu Qingling was still ill, how could she want anything? As she opened her mouth to refuse, she rembered that she was his wife now.
She had been in a coma since the day after she married, and was still unaware of Prince Linjiang’s attitude towards her as a Princess Consort. Now was the best ti to test it.
Mu Qingling thought about it and pulled back the refusal in her throat. She whispered, “If Your Majesty is free, could you go to the Purple Cloud Pavilion and bring back so powder for this consort?"
“Hmm, I’ll bring so back.”
Lin Shiheng brushed his sleeve, “You won are troubleso, the Prince never uses powder.”
Mu Qingling smiled and didn’t reply, only watching Lin Shiheng walk out of the room. Not long after he did, she could hear a flirtatious laugh coming from outside the room.
“You’re a good-looking girl, but are you with the Princess Consort? What’s your na?”
Then, there was a timid voice with a hint of joy. Her dowry maid, Pu Tao, crisply replied, “Greetings, Your Highness. This maid’s na is Pu Tao and I’m the second-ranking maid serving beside Her Highness.”
“Pu Tao.”
Her husband repeated the na playfully, and the amusent in his tone intensified, “As the na implies, you look attractive and lovable. Go and speak to the Princess Consort and ask her to prepare you so that you can serve this Prince when she returns to her house."
Pu Tao’s pretty face imdiately lit up with joy as she knelt and kowtowed to Prince Linjiang, who looked handso and was smiling at her.
She was specially chosen by the second madam to accompany her, so naturally she wasn’t on the sa side as Mu Qingling. When an opportunity like this ca along, she certainly had to hold on to it.
“Yes, this maid is grateful, Your Highness."
“Don’t kneel, don’t kneel. My heart aches when I see a beauty like you kneeling on this cold ground. Get up quickly. How about if I give you a side consort tittle later?"
Pu Tao was helped to stand up by Lin Shiheng himself, and was given the title of side consort for nothing. The surprise in her eyes was almost overflowing; she was just a maid, and although she had married in after Mu Qingling, the deed of sale was still in the hands of the second madam. She never expected to have such an opportunity.
When she becos a side consort, she’ll beco a master in the future.
The second madam had also told her to drug the eldest lady, who would surely die in less than 7 days. Once she died, even if she had been a slave and a maidservant and couldn’t beco a proper consort; with this side consort position, she was sure she could keep the Prince, who liked her, in her room before the successor main consort entered the household.
And also have a child...
Instantly, Pu Tao relished the future. Her pair of beautiful eyes were filled with excitent and delight, and the gaze towards Lin Shiheng was full of yearning and bashfulness, “This maid thanks His Highness.”
Lin Shiheng looked at her with tenderness and love in his eyes, even his voice softened, “What’s the point of thanking
now, there’s plenty of ti for that later.”
With those words, he turned and left the courtyard in what must have been a wonderful mood. Pu Tao stood and watched his back, her face full of bashful excitent.
The nanny standing off to the side looked at her with such hatred that she almost crushed her own teeth.
Although it was an unspoken rule that the bride’s dowry maid would be included in the husband’s harem, any family that loved their daughters would only look for a bride with a good-looking face, but a very loyal personality. In addition, the contract of sale would sit firmly in the bride’s hands.
If the girl’s deed of sale was in hand, no matter how favored she was, she was still sothing that the bride could sell at will.
Although being a dowry maid was a heartbreaking position to be in, it was the greatest protective asure that could be taken to safeguard the bride.
The madam had worked hard to find four beautiful and honest maids who would never betray their master, so that they would not threaten the lady’s position in the Prince’s household.
However, the day before the wedding, one of the maids “happened” to be seriously ill and couldn’t get up. The second madam “happened” to have a goodlooking maid of the right age on hand, so she sent this maid to the eldest family without asking for permission.
Naturally, this girl was none other than Pu Tao.
On the first day this girl ca over, the nanny could see that she wasn’t a sincere one. Originally, she thought that she would find an excuse to send her back after the girl had settled down, but this little hussy, the lady had just woken up, but she had actually seduced the Prince.
She hated it and worried that if Pu Tao really beca a side consort in the future, it would give her lady a lot of problems. Her face turned blue with anger.
The nanny’s face was so conspicuous that Pu Tao certainly wouldn’t have missed it, but she didn’t care about that now. Does a side consort still need to care about a servant?
What’s more, she had already confird in her mind that Mu Qingling wouldn’t live beyond 7 days. When Mu Qingling, the Princess Consort dies, even if the nanny and the others were sheltered by the Princess, they would still turn into rootless duckweed, at the rcy of others.
Pu Tao’s heart was full of confidence. With a rather condescending glance at the others, she pulled the curtain open and walked in.
(TNote: rootless duckweed = floating freely; having nothing solid supporting it.)
The nanny was furious at her smug look and quickly followed her inside.
“The Princess Consort hasn’t even been inford, what are you trying to do?!”
Pu Tao was a maid that the second madam had found from outside the residence. Not having gone through any strict training in the regulations, coupled with the determination in her heart that Mu Qingling wouldn’t survive for 7 days, that undercurrent in her heart was very peculiar.
With a smile on her face, she mockingly looked at the nanny, “Nanny Liu just heard it. The Prince said he would take
into his room tomorrow. Although I, Pu Tao, am only a maid, I’m still a maid by the Princess Consort’s side, accompanying her from the Marquis’s residence to marriage. Not to ntion the fact that the Prince said he wanted
to be a side consort, so at least Pu Tao would be soone by the Princess Consort’s side, so I can’t be unprepared, right?"
When nanny saw the smugness on her face. She couldn’t wait to tear her face off, so her words turned ruthless, “Even if the Prince had said he would take you into his room, that would be tomorrow. Today, you’re still a second-ranking maid at the Princess’s side!
“You barge in like that without a word from your master, have you no rules!"
The Master is going to die soon, so what's the use of this rule?
Pu Tao’s mocking expression intensified, “Nanny Liu, Pu Tao is still a maid now, but tomorrow I won’t be. I advise you to be more careful with your words, today you are reprimanding a little maid, tomorrow, if you talk to
like that again, even if I let you off, I’m afraid the Prince won’t take it well, right?”
“You!"
The nanny was furious and was about to say sothing in return when she heard Mu Qingling’s faint voice ringing out from the curtain, “Nanny, let Pu Tao in.”
Even though she was furious, she could only force this anger down. She glanced coldly at Pu Tao, whose smug look had intensified after hearing Mu Qingling’s voice, and coldly said, “Co in with .”
Pu Tao smiled triumphantly and strolled in with a swaying figure, lifting the curtain.
“This maid greets the Princess.”
Her kneeling deanor was very different from before, and she had taken on a rather delicate Tm a favored concubine’ deanor.
Mu Qingling’s lips were still white, but she didn’t look as angry as Pu Tao and her nanny thought she would. Instead, she looked as if she hadn’t heard that her husband was going to take the maid by her side as a side consort.
“Pu Tao, as I recall, you’ve been with
for less than 10 days."
“Yes.”
Pu Tao raised her face, smiling like a flower, “This maid was originally serving the second madam, and ca to serve the Princess right before the wedding.”
“You didn’t grow up beside , maybe you don’t know my temperant.”
Mu Qingling didn’t seem to see her deliberate and coquettish smile, and only whispered on, “I liked rules the most when I was in the residence. What I disliked the most, was having unruly people around .”
“This Prince’s Mansion is considerably larger than of the Marquis’s Residence and requires more rules. If the rules were disrupted, wouldn’t the whole mansion be in a ss? “
Pu Tao crisply replied, “This maid has never studied and doesn’t understand Your Highness’s words.”
“You have never studied, but you should know that if you do beco a side consort, then you are a mber of the Imperial family, a noble person, and there is no such thing as a deed of sale in the hands of another.”
Mu Qingling reached out, and the nanny, very quietly, stepped forward and handed over a cup of tea.
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