Concubine like a house

Chapter 76
On the second day after Shen Yu fled, King Mu set off for Jingzhou on the pretext of getting married.Chuxiu knew that he was chasing Shen Yu, but she couldn't figure out how much King Mu knew and how much he suspected.

At least on the surface, now that King Mu is using the Yun family, he won't make trouble for a while.But if you look at it in the long run...it's really not sure about Chuxiu.She can only grasp the friendship with Luan Su, hoping that after King Mu learns the truth in the future, he will look at this relationship and ignore it.

Chuxiu knew that with the speed of Yun's hidden guards and Shen Yu's determination to escape, King Mu would definitely not be able to catch up.Furthermore, there are still people in various places secretly managing it, so it is not difficult to hide someone.As long as Shen Yu leaves Fangzhou and the fiefdom of King Mu...the rest will not only be handled by the hidden guards of the Yun family, but Shen Yu's brother-in-law, King Fu, will also not sit idly by.

This matter is still not hidden from Mrs. Tai.Chuxiu accepted the family law, the reason was not that she helped Shen Yu escape, but that she played with King Mu, who was bound to repay him, and it was very likely that she would take advantage of Yun's future.

The family law that Chuxiu received was not heavy, and Mrs. Tai took into account her face as the head of the house, so she only punished her secretly.But even so, Chuxiu lay in bed for nearly a month, and it was mid-August when he fully recovered.At the same time, the dark guard sent back news that Shen Yu had successfully escaped back to Jingzhou.

Out of Xiuxiu, I dare not imagine how the journey from Fangzhou to Jingzhou would take nearly a month at least, how Shen Yu could finish the journey in less than 20 days.She knew that even if Yun's secret guards arranged along the way, Shen Yu must have suffered a lot.

Chuxiu feels lucky for him, but he still has to do what he should do in the bright future—force Shen Yu to marry him.Immediately after going out of Xiuxiu, Mrs. Tai was asked to write a book by herself, and "cry" about this matter to Marquis Wenchang, asking for an explanation to Yun.

The letter of forced marriage in this side room has just been sent out, and the second room in the other side room has already begun to prepare the dowry impatiently.Shortly thereafter, Marquis Wenchang wrote back a letter pretending to be ashamed and indignant, stating that Shen Yu would be responsible to the end.In recent years, the Yunfu has been dying and leaving, it is too deserted and unlucky, so Yun Xiangrong's marriage is very much anticipated by the servants, and it seems to add a lot of joy to the whole family.

Everything is hidden, but it is carried out quietly... On the tenth day of October, King Mu got married in Jingzhou, marrying the daughter of the left minister of the dynasty as his wife.As early as the end of September, Chu Xiu wrote a letter to Yun Xian who was in Jingzhou, asking him to represent the Yun family to attend the wedding banquet.After all, most of the family members in the Yun Mansion are women, the widows are widowed, those who are waiting in the boudoir are waiting in the boudoir, and the eldest son Yun Cheng is still young.Therefore, it is only natural for the third master Yun Xian to come forward to congratulate, and it is not considered impolite.

Coincidentally, on the second day of King Mu's wedding, the Marquis of Wenchang's Mansion also sent the dowry to Yun's Mansion.The second concubine, Hua Wuying, was smiling all over her face, and Yun Xiangrong was even more shy.

Originally, everything was going smoothly, but unexpectedly, there was a storm on the way—the Ninth Prince of Nanxi and Prince of Chengjun, Nie Peixiao, sent someone to propose marriage.The person who proposed marriage was none other than Yun Xiangrong, the eldest daughter of Yunfu, but she was the side concubine of the county king.

This puts Hua Wuying in a dilemma: if her beloved daughter marries Shen Yu, she should be the regular wife.However, the situation in the Marquis of Wenchang is delicate, and the fate of the future depends on the result of the contest between King Fu and King Mu.If her beloved daughter were to marry the Ninth Prince, she would jump into the dragon's gate and become a royal relative, so she would naturally feel proud.But Yun Xiangrong is just a side concubine...

Hua Wuying struggled for a long time, but in the end she still favored the Ninth Prince, so she went to Rongjintang to discuss with Mrs. Tai, intending to withdraw from the marriage in Wenchang Houfu.

It just so happened that Chuxiu was also in Mrs. Tai's house, and she also came to discuss this matter.Hua Wuying couldn't hold back her face. After all, theoretically speaking, the current mistress is Chuxiu. She should go to Xiuxiu to discuss it first. However, she went straight to Mrs. Tai. Xiu caught it straight.

Hua Wuying was a little embarrassed, but when she thought about it, she had no choice but to say cheekily: "Madam Tai, Madam, I'm here for Xiangrong's marriage."

"Second Aunt came just in time, and I was about to send someone to invite you over." Chuxiu's expression was calm, and there was no sign of displeasure.

Hua Wuying didn't want to waste time, and asked bluntly: "I'm not hiding it, I want to ask the Ninth Prince to propose marriage, what do you two think?"

Hearing this, Mrs. Tai glanced at Chuxiu, who understood the hint and replied: "The Marquis of Wenchang is a party of the Four Princes, and the Ninth Prince is on good terms with King Mu. Obviously, this is clearly a marriage dispute, and secretly But it is a power struggle between the two factions. Now that the Ninth Prince suddenly came to propose marriage, he probably wants to completely sever the relationship between the Yun family and the Fourth Prince."

Hua Wuying seemed to understand, and said urgently: "Madam, I don't understand this, I just want to know, who do you want to marry?"

"Naturally, according to the original plan, we will marry to the Marquis of Wenchang's Mansion." Chuxiu replied without hesitation.Married to the Marquis of Wenchang?Hua Wuying was very dissatisfied: "Then what are you discussing with Mrs. Tai? Is this the result of your discussion?"

Chuxiu just found it funny: "We are discussing how to reject the Ninth Prince." "Reject the Ninth Prince?" Hua Wuying finally couldn't hold back after hearing this, and stomped her foot, "No! You should choose the Ninth Prince as your son-in-law! He is a dignified prince, he doesn't care about Xiangrong being a concubine, and he doesn't care that she was engaged, how rare! Although the young duke promised to marry Xiangrong, but he is very reluctant, how can Xiangrong live a good life after marrying him?"

Chuxiu Wenyan smiled again, and asked sharply: "Isn't Xiangrong infatuated with the young master? Is she willing to regret the marriage and remarry?"

Hua Wuying faltered for a while before saying: "It's what I meant, Xiangrong didn't know about it." Chuxiu really didn't have a temper with her, so she had to persuade her again: "Second aunt, I just said so much just because I wanted to. Let me tell you, the Ninth Prince's motive for marrying Xiang Rong is not pure, but to win over the Yun family and not want the Fourth Prince to take advantage of it. This kind of scheming marriage is clearly using the Yun family, will Xiang Rong be happy?"

Hua Wuying was already ready to speak, and she simply said: "The Ninth Prince is a prince after all, and his mother family is prominent. If Xiang Rong follows him, life will not be difficult. But if he follows the young master... If the Fourth Prince falls, she, as the daughter-in-law of the Shen family, will definitely be implicated..."

"Nonsense!" After hearing Hua Wuying's words, Mrs. Tai finally yelled, "You think you can keep Xiangrong by marrying into the royal family? Let me tell you, she married Nie Jiu just as a concubine! What is the status of a concubine? Don't you know? If Nie Qi wants to cross the river and tear down the bridge, even if Xiangrong becomes Nie Jiu's official wife, it's useless!"

Mrs. Tai was not polite, and she didn't show any mercy to Hua Wuying: "You have been a concubine all your life, and you want your daughter to be like you? Are you thinking so lowly? My daughter of the Yun family, entering the palace It is more than enough to be a queen and concubine! Nie Jiu asking Xiangrong to marry her as a side concubine is an insult! Only you, a small family woman, would treat it as a flattery!"

The words covered her head and face, Hua Wuying dared not refute, she only dared to whisper: "Being a concubine depends on whose concubine you are..."

Fortunately, Mrs. Tai didn't hear this sentence.But Chuxiu heard it, and seeing the awkward atmosphere, she came forward to ease it and said: "Second aunt is confused, the young master values ​​love and righteousness, and Xiangrong is also kind to him, and he will not treat Xiangrong badly in the future. And, We have accepted the bride price from the Marquis of Wenchang Mansion, if we regret the marriage, it will not be good for Xiangrong's reputation. In my opinion, it is better not to make extra trouble, and let the Marquis Wenchang Mansion come to pick up the bride tomorrow!"

Hua Wuying was quite unhappy in her heart, but she did not dare to disobey Mrs. Tai's opinion.Remembering that Yun Xiangrong personally picked his son-in-law, he could only nod reluctantly.

The marriage is still proceeding according to the original idea.According to the custom of marrying in Nanxi, the Marquis of Wenchang's Mansion quickly invited the Minister of Rites of the dynasty to propose marriage. Afterwards, Yun Xiangrong brought carefully selected maids and servants, as well as a shockingly huge dowry. Go to Jingzhou in a mighty way to marry Shen Yu.

The paragraph about the Ninth Prince intervening in the marriage proposal also allowed Mrs. Tai to find a reason to get over it. Naturally, it was Shen Yu who had to take the blame.The general excuse was: Shen Yu broke into Yun Xiangrong's boudoir by mistake after drinking, which had ruined her innocence.Therefore, Yunfu could only politely decline the marriage proposal and express its deep regret.

No flaws could be found in this rhetoric, so the Ninth Prince had no choice but to give up.

On the fifteenth day of the winter month, Shen Yu and Yun Xiangrong got married in Jingzhou.Since Marquis Wenchang was "ill," their marriage was kept simple.The marriage between the Yun family and the Shen family was another major event that caused shock in the Nanxi Dynasty after the marriage of King Mu.On the twentieth day of the winter month, King Mu and the new princess returned to Yanlan City.Immediately afterwards, King Mu sent someone to send a message, please go out of Xiuxiu and go to the mansion.

"My king was attacked twice on the way back from getting married in Jingzhou." King Mu cut straight to the point.In fact, Chuxiu had already heard about his attacks, once in the mountains on the outskirts of Beijing, and once in the fiefdom of the Fourth Prince Fu Wang.But she decided to pretend not to know, so she pretended to be concerned and asked: "Attacked? Is Your Highness injured?" Let him decide. If there is no accident, within three months, he will definitely be impatient to rebel." "Rebellion?" These two words mean... "Yes, rebellion." King Mu seduced Chuxiu With a smile, "A dog will jump over the wall when it is in a hurry. Remember this sentence." Chuxiu couldn't imagine what kind of methods King Mu used to force King Fu to openly rebel.In any case, it is unwise for the prince to force the palace. Either the chances of winning are certain, or the beast will strike, and no matter whether it succeeds or not, the son rebelled against Lao Tzu, which is a crime of "unfilial piety".What's more, King Fu has always been known as "benevolent and kind"... Chuxiu was thinking about it, but heard King Mu say again: "If he wants to rebel, he must use troops. When it comes to using troops, the fourth brother is far inferior to this king."

Hearing this tone, Mu Wang is confident.Chuxiu had no choice but to nod: "My concubine wishes His Highness his wish to be fulfilled." Hearing this, King Mu's phoenix eyes narrowed slightly, and he didn't speak for a while.Just when Chuxiu was about to bring up another topic, he said abruptly: "When Miss Yun got married, the king didn't stay in Jingzhou to watch the ceremony on the way back. Now I have to express my heart, and I will send someone to send the congratulatory gift to you later." to the house."

After these words, there was no mention of Shen Yu's escape.Out of Xiuxiu's heart, I felt a little more at ease, and said a few more polite words to express my thanks.Unexpectedly, Mu Wang Yufeng turned around, and there was something else to say: "After the fourth son raises his troops to rebel, this king will use his troops passively for a period of time, and the situation will temporarily turn to the fourth brother's side. At that time, what should I say to the young lady? I don’t need to say anything, I hope Madam knows it well.” So this is the key point!King Mu was afraid that she would leak the news to Yun Xiangrong and Shen Yu, so that King Fu would know the inside story.

Chuxiu's thoughts sank, but she smiled and said: "Don't worry, I have my own discretion." Mu Wang said "Yes", and then took a look at Xiu: "Madam and Shen Xiaohou are very familiar?" "Little Hou I have been very kind to my concubine." Chuxiu only replied this sentence.She knew that King Mu had already figured out all the stories, so she didn't intend to spend more time talking.

"This king dares to ask Madam, if one day Shen Yu threatens the status of Yun Mansion, how will Madam choose between the two?" King Mu's tone was flat, but his words were aggressive.

With just this question, Chuxiu's back was covered with cold sweat.She had thought about this question countless times, Shen Yu and Yunfu... If she wanted to hurt Shen Yu, she couldn't do it.But if she wanted to abandon Yunfu, she couldn't do it.

For the sake of Yunci...Chuxiu gritted her teeth, and replied ruthlessly: "As the daughter-in-law of the Yun family, I naturally put the family interests first and personal grievances as the least."

"Really?" King Mu hinted at her vaguely, "Madam, please remember what you said today."

Not long after returning from King Mu's mansion, the secret talks between Chuxiu and King Mu happened step by step without any omission.Throughout the twelfth lunar month, there was no major movement in Prince Mu's Mansion, only some rumors of petty love and love came out, either that the princess Zhuang's family was jealous of the side concubine Luan Su; Back then, King Mu had been forced to marry Luan Su... Until the end of the year was approaching, King Mu seemed to have been immersed in the troubles caused by his two wives and concubines, and had no time to care about the affairs of the court.But when he was newly married, Yaner's family ugliness was rumored, and the world sympathized with him.

At the same time, news came from Yun's secret guards: the fourth prince, Prince Fu, had been impeached many times in the court. Not only was it revealed that he had attacked Mu Wang twice, but also he repeatedly failed in the errands he was in charge of, and bloody incidents occurred from time to time.

All of a sudden, various rumors sprung up like mushrooms after a spring rain, pointing at Fu Wang's hypocrisy one after another, destroying his reputation of "benevolence and kindness" and his achievements in literary governance over the years.Knowing the world's major events without leaving Xiuxiu, and hearing the secret reports from the secret guards everywhere, he couldn't help applauding King Mu's methods.

The fourth prince, King Fu, really couldn't wait any longer, and started plotting secretly.The new year has quietly arrived amidst the murky situation of Nan Xi's seizure of the heir apparent, making people more nervous than ever before.There are swords and swords hidden in the air, as if a little carelessness, a "big event" will be triggered at any moment!At this moment, news about the Marquis of Wenchang also came from Jingzhou—the old Marquis fell ill again after Shen Yu got married.This time he was really seriously ill, and died of illness with great worries about the future of his family.But Chuxiu thinks that Marquis Wenchang should be relieved before his death, at least his beloved son-in-law has become Yun's son-in-law, and there is no need to worry about his life.

Shen Laohou's funeral was held in a very grand manner. Nanxi Emperor Nie and Empress Ming went to the mansion to pay homage in person, which was considered a full face of Wenchanghou Mansion.After the New Year's Eve, Shen Yu's eldest brother, the eldest son, Shen Zan, officially inherited the title and succeeded him as Marquis of Wenchang.This time, Yun Shi, as Shen Shi's in-law, was still congratulated by the third master Yun Xian who was in Jingzhou.

King Mu got married, and the Marquis of Lixin, who was in the same place, sent Yun Xian to congratulate him; the new Marquis of Wenchang came to the throne, and the Marquis of Lixin, who was an in-law, still sent Yun Xian to congratulate him.This seems to be impartial to the two factions, and others can't see Yun's thoughts for a while.

In the month when the new Marquis Wenchang succeeded to the throne, the fourth prince, Fu Wang, finally raised an issue publicly, pointing the finger at the seventh prince, Mu Wang, to sow dissension and double-face three swords.But Mu Wang just resisted passively, while shouting his grievances, he never took too strong actions.

The dispute between King Mu and King Fu for the heir apparent finally came to light, and was sometimes called "the dispute between Mu and Fu".After that, King Fu preemptively attacked, and King Mu seemed caught off guard, and the whole situation seemed to be in favor of King Fu.However, Emperor Nie watched the fire from the other side, watching the two sons fight back and forth, and did not express his support for anyone.King Mu said that he would resist passively for a period of time and take the opportunity to see the situation in the court clearly, so Chuxiu was sure that he would win in this battle.What's more, although King Mu was defeated on the surface, the money was spent, and a large sum of money was transported out of Yunfu.

Because King Mu spent too much money, Chuxiu had no choice but to order several banks to be closed down.For this reason, amidst the troubled times, there were more turmoil. Everyone rumored that the new mistress of the Yun family was incapable of running the family. Not only had she abandoned Beixi's family and business, but now she couldn't even manage Nanxi's business well, and she was forced to close the bank.

Some people even said that Mrs. Chuxiu planned to hand over the mess to him because the eldest son Yun Cheng was adopted.Later, I don’t know who spread rumors with ulterior motives, saying that Xia Yanran didn’t die by drowning, that the second master Yunqi didn’t die from an accident, and that the third concubine Wenxian didn’t die of illness—Mrs. The culprit!Seeing that there were more and more rumors about leaving Xiu, Mrs. Tai did not express anything except a few words of comfort.Chuxiu tried his best to investigate several times, only to find out that the source of the news was the imperial city of Jingzhou... This is a bit subtle.There are only two people who can know so many things about Yun Mansion while they are still in Jingzhou: Yun Xiangrong who married into the Marquis Mansion of Wenchang, and Yun Xian who manages the business in Jingzhou.The former has love and jealousy towards Chuxiu, while the latter has the hatred of killing his mother towards Chuxiu, both of which are suspected.

No matter who spreads the rumors, Chuxiu's reputation will be ruined anyway.With Mu Wang's "retreating steadily", more and more businesses were closed by the Yun family. Although the reason given on the surface was to avoid the war and close the shop, it is an indisputable fact that the family fortune of the Yun family has become thinner.

In just three or four months, in the hearts of the people of Nanxi, "Madame Chuxiu" has become an unscrupulous woman who is in the top position, who is in the morning, and lacks ability. Some people even analyze that the always invincible King Mu has fought repeatedly The defeat was also because of her bad luck.After all, the two are in the same city.

(End of this chapter)