901 Wife and Concubine (6)
When Lu Wan’er and Madam Lu heard this, they almost choked.
What was going on? They originally wanted to trick Shen Miao and accuse her of being rude, so naturally, there was no one guarding the entrance. However, after hearing what Shen Miao said, it seemed like the Lu family was so poor that they could not even afford to hire a servant to guard the door. Shen Miao even asked the guards to guard the door. If the commoners passing by outside saw this, what would they think?
Shen Miao said kindly, “Madam, you don’t have to thank me. If you need it in the future, you can ask His Highness to send a few guards over to watch the door.”
The surrounding madams also understood that this Princess Consort Rui was definitely not someone to be trifled with. The Lu family had originally arranged this show to scare Shen Miao so that Shen Miao would make a fool of herself.
Unexpectedly, not only was Shen Miao not at a disadvantage, but she even gave the Lu family a taste of their own medicine.
Madam Lu forced a smile and said, “Princess Consort, please take a seat first.”
The seat arranged for Shen Miao was in an inconspicuous spot.
Shen Miao did not decline. She did not come today to argue, let alone quarrel. She just wanted to express her attitude and take the opportunity to evaluate the situation clearly.
Ba Jiao quietly leaned over and whispered into Shen Miao’s ear, “That round-faced madam is Madam Yuan. She’s on good terms with the Lu family. The short madam is Madam Wei, the wife of the Minister of Revenue. She’s in-laws with the Ye family and has a good relationship with the Lu family… As for the madam on the left wearing a yellow dress, her husband is the marquis. Young Master Ji is her youngest son.”
Ji Yushu’s mother? Shen Miao looked at Madam Ji. Madam Ji was very composed and calm, lookng completely different from Ji Yushu.
Shen Miao thought to herself that these madams were either rich or noble. No wonder they said that the Lu family was quite influential in Long Ye, and Consort Jing was so arrogant that she did not even take Empress Xiande seriously. Since these families all wanted to get close to the Lu family, it was obvious that the Lu family had a lot of connections with them.
If Emperor Yong Le and Xie Jingxing wanted to completely suppress the Lu family, it would not be easy. The life and death of the Lu family concerned many other officials. If the Lu family fell, many families related to it would suffer. For the sake of their own survival, those families would not sit back and watch the Lu family fall.
Just as she was thinking, someone walked over and sat down beside her. Ba Jiao immediately stood up and stopped explaining to Shen Miao. Shen Miao turned around and saw the beautiful and proud Fourth Miss Lu sitting beside her.
Lu Wan’er said, “Princess Consort Rui, can I ask you something?”
Shen Miao said, “Please go ahead.”
“How long have you known Prince Rui?” Lu Wan’er asked.
Shen Miao sneered in her heart. She knew why Lu Wan’er approached her. Speaking of which, Xie Jingxing had been in Ming Qi since he was young. Apart from Emperor Yong Le and Xie Jingxing’s people, no one else should know about this. The people of the Daliang Dynasty thought that Xie Jingxing had been traveling with a master for many years.
In that case, it should have been less than a year since she returned to the capital from Spring City and met Xie Jingxing at the tribute banquet.
She said, “Less than a year.”
Hearing this, Lu Wan’er smiled. Her smile was a little smug and disdainful. Lu Wan’er said, “So it’s less than a year. In that case, I think Princess Consort Rui still doesn’t know much about Prince Rui.”
Shen Miao smiled. “Fourth Miss, you seem to know His Highness very well?”
Lu Wan’er said, “I know the status of your Shen family in Ming Qi is high, but in Long Ye, our Lu family is equally powerful. Prince Rui is a very good person. In the Daliang Dynasty, almost every young lady wanted to marry Prince Rui. However, ordinary girls are not worthy of him.”
Lu Wan’er glanced at Shen Miao and continued, “Prince Rui is a very ambitious person.”
“From the moment he returned to Long Ye, he started to make a name for himself in the imperial court. Such a person will waste time on love. What can you help him with? In the future, when you’re useless to him, he’ll mercilessly abandon you.”
Shen Miao was surprised. She originally thought that Lu Wan’er was an innocent and willful girl who was infatuated with Prince Rui. Hearing her words, she realized that Lu Wan’er could see the situation very clearly and could analyze the pros and cons.
“So?” Shen Miao asked.
“His Majesty wants me to be Prince Rui’s wife, but Prince Rui can’t have two consorts.” Lu Wan’er said as if she was giving Shen Miao a gift, “So, you’ll be his concubine, and I’ll be his wife.”
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