Allure of a Country Maiden-Chapter 412 - 409

"Sixth Prince, are you not crossing the line?" The First Prince was fuming.

"Crossing the line? When did I? Since when can a concubine interrupt me! Who is the Lady of Rui’an County? Even offering to carry shoes for the Lady of Rui’an County is beyond her dignity! Yet she dares to say that the Lady doesn’t deserve it! If she doesn’t apologize for trying to slander an official appointed by the Imperial Court and my future wife, I’d like to see how many lives she can spare!" Shangguan Xuanyi coldly sneered.

Who was the Lady of Rui’an County? She was the future wife of the Sixth Prince appointed by the Emperor himself! The Sixth Prince cherished her! The women present reaffirmed the position of the Lady of Rui’an in the heart of the Sixth Prince.

As the future wife of the Sixth Prince, slandering the Lady of Rui’an and Madame Marquis Shengping in front of the Sixth Prince was simply a slap in his face!

A slap on the face and an apology with a bow were considered light punishments!

The First Prince had grown to despise Shangguan Xuanyi. He always held onto someone’s mistakes and never knew the principle of forgiving when one could. He fiercely glared at Liang Yanli and barked, "Apologize to the Lady of Rui’an and Madame Marquis Shengping right now!"

Hearing this, Shangguan Xuanyi finally ordered Yang Liu, "Stop!"

Yang Liu stopped and stepped aside.

Liang Yanli’s face was already swollen like a pig’s head and she was in tears. She felt wronged marrying him as a concubine even though her father was an important official in the court, let alone receiving a slap! She had to kneel and apologize! She had never faced such humiliation in her life!

Shen Xiao’er had not even officially become the consort of the Sixth Prince yet and he was already protecting her watertight!

There she stood, unscathed, while he was willing to make his own face swell for her sake!

Time again, he openly showed everyone through his actions, that the Lady of Rui’an was under his protection. Offending her meant offending him, and doing so would not end well!

What about herself? She was carrying the child of the First Prince, providing him with strategies and yet had to lose her dignity to apologize!

How could she not feel resentful!

Liang Yanli gritted her teeth, knelt, and bowed her head. Her face was swollen and her words slurred, "Madame Marquis Shengping, Lady of Rui’an, I apologize. I misunderstood you earlier."

As soon as the words left her mouth, she stood up and left.

"In the future, remember that not everyone can be provoked!" Shangguan Xuanyi warned casually.

Upon hearing this, Liang Yanli paused before continuing to walk away.

Having lost face, the First Prince had no intention to stay and left in a huff.

"First brother, don’t forget to send over the silver you lost in the bet! Also, your wife ruined the pot of flowers I was going to give to the Empress Dowager, remember to compensate! Don’t bother figuring out how to pay for it, just use that piece of jade you acquired recently! I heard you’ve had a master carve it into a jade bonsai of Shouxing holding a peach, which saves me a lot of trouble!"

Hearing this, the First Prince stumbled in anger.

The wife of the First Prince was neglected. It was only after the imperial doctor finished the treatment that she sat alone in the carriage and was accompanied by a maid to return home.

Some of the women present saw through the situation. The reason why the wife and concubine of the First Prince came to make trouble at the Marquis Shengping Mansion yesterday was partly because they had appeared at the mansion. Therefore, these ladies also excused themselves wisely.

The next day, Xiao’er was summoned into the palace by the Empress Dowager.

Before leaving, Mrs. Liu held Xiao’er’s hand and worry was visible on her face, "What should we do? Could the Empress Dowager be summoning you into the palace because of yesterday’s incident?"

"Mother, don’t worry, yesterday’s incident was not our fault. The Empress Dowager is a reasonable person, she won’t make things difficult for me." Xiao’er comforted.

"Still, the First Prince’s wife had a gestation scare at our mansion. Shouldn’t I accompany you to the palace?"

"Not necessary, the Empress Dowager can’t do anything to me, talking aside, I believe I’m not inferior to her. You should worry about me upsetting the Empress Dowager!"

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Liu couldn’t help but laugh, "You really dare to say anything."

Then, a maid came to report, "Madam, sixth prince has arrived to accompany Lady into the palace."

Upon hearing these words, Mrs. Liu’s worries were alleviated. She helped Xiao’er tidy up the bead flowers on her head, "Be careful on the way. When you return, please invite the Sixth Prince over for dinner, I will cook!"

"Mother, the Sixth Prince must be your biological son! Why didn’t I see you offering to cook just now!" Xiao’er teased.

"Stop talking nonsense! Now go! With this hot weather, don’t keep the Sixth Prince waiting!" Mrs. Liu urged Xiao’er out the door.

It looked like she is not her biological child after all!

Cining Palace

When the Empress Dowager learned that the Sixth Prince was to accompany Lady of Rui’an into the palace to meet her, her face paled!

After both of them paid their respects, she ignored them and continued sipping her tea without motioning them to stand.

Just in time, Fifth Princess arrived and paid her respects.

The Empress Dowager glared at the Fifth Princess before placing her teacup down and saying, "You may rise!"

"Come sit over here, my Fifth Granddaughter." The Empress Dowager beckoned the Fifth Princess.

Fifth Princess held Shangguan Xuanyi’s hand and said, "Sixth Brother, Lady of Rui’an, you too, sit! Aren’t you tired standing?"

The empress dowager’s face turned from pale to green, then to pale again. She wanted to lash out but did not want to offend the Fifth Princess, so she could only suppress her anger and snorted coldly. freēwēbηovel.c૦m

With an emotionless face, Shangguan Xuanyi allowed her to pull him to one side and sit down.

Xiao’er bowed her head, desperately trying to suppress her laughter.

What an interesting character the Fifth Princess was!

After both of them were seated, the Empress Dowager asked, "Lady of Rui’an, I heard that the First Prince’s wife had a gestation scare at your mansion yesterday?"

"Yes, Your Highness." Xiao’er stood up to respond.

"Kneel down!" The Empress Dowager suddenly got angry, hitting the armrest of the chair heavily.

"Your Highness, I wonder why you asked the Lady of Rui’an to kneel down." Shangguan Xuanyi stood up.

"Your Highness, don’t get angry, your health is important! Let’s first listen to what the Lady of Rui’an has to say. If you start by asking someone to kneel down, anyone who doesn’t know better might think that Your Highness is unreasonable. It’s not too late to punish her once we know the situation. We have to punish her until she is convinced!" Fifth Princess quickly soothed the Empress Dowager.

"Very well, I ask you! Did you quarrel with the First Prince’s Wife over a few flowers?"

"To answer Your Highness, it was not over a few flowers. It was a seven-colored peony that the Sixth Prince and I, after searching through countless ancient books and enduring numerous failures, finally successfully cultivated. It was a gift we carefully prepared for Your Highness. The peony is the king of flowers, signifying elegance, wealth, prosperity, and longevity since ancient times. The seven-colored peony even symbolizes a flourishing country and lasting peace! Cultivating a seven-colored peony, long considered lost, is a sign from heaven that our country is entering a prosperous era! When I saw the First Prince’s wife wantonly cutting down two stalks of the hard-to-cultivate seven-colored peony and trying to cut a third, I was both excited and worried, hence my strong words." Xiao’er fabricated.