Chapter 179: Coming to the Door
Shoushan County Prince’s Mansion.
The steward was splashed with tea and thrown out.
“You are all useless! You can’t even find a woman to divorce!” The scolding voice, still powerful, carried through the doors and windows to the outside.
“County Princess, please calm your anger. It’s not that we were incompetent, but the one surnamed Wen is not here, and only a young maid is guarding the door.” The steward bowed and explained, “I will go again tomorrow, and I will surely meet her then.”
“If you don’t bring the person back tomorrow, you don’t need to hold this position anymore,” County Princess Liu Huanchun said with a cold laugh.
“County Princess, please calm down. You shouldn’t hurt yourself over such a person,” the maidservant who served her closely said softly, “It’s not worth it.”
“Not worth it? Then tell me, what have I been doing all these years?!” Liu Huanchun suddenly became furious, gritting her teeth and saying, “Who in the Capital City doesn’t know? We waited for Prince Changliu until we were in our twenties. He finally returned to the capital, and he got involved with that abandoned woman. How can I tolerate this?!”
“It may not be so. After all, Prince Changliu does not have a family background yet. The Grand Princess probably felt that the jade pendant was useless to keep, so she bestowed it upon the one surnamed Wen,” the maidservant tried to persuade her, “What kind of person is the Prince? Many virgins and noble ladies from marquis mansions do not catch his eye, how could he want her, a withered flower?”
“I also often visit the Grand Princess. She knows very well my feelings for the Prince, so why didn’t she bestow that jade pendant upon me?” Liu Huanchun couldn’t listen to the persuasion. “Have you heard what people on the street are saying? They say the Grand Princess intends to matchmake her and the Prince, and that she stayed in the borderlands for seven years, perhaps they already had a connection then.
Now that the Prince has returned, he must have asked the Grand Princess to cooperate in this act, using it to cover up the fact that the two have had a private affair for a long time. Otherwise, why would she leave her position as the Matriarch of the Gong Family and divorce him?!”
As the saying goes, “suspicion breeds phantoms,” just like the story of the bow in the cup reflecting a snake. Once suspicion arises, one sees everything as it is.
This Liu Huanchun is indeed deeply in love, but unfortunately, it is unrequited.
The falling flowers are willing, but the flowing water is heartless. She waited for Prince Changliu for so many years, always believing that sincerity could move mountains, but she never expected that he was a naturally hard stone, unwilling to be moved by her in the slightest.
Until the day she saw Wen Mingqian wearing a jade pendant that was a pair with Ying Wuchou’s at the Jiangxia Marquis Mansion, all her love instantly turned into hatred. She wished she could tear Wen Mingqian to pieces to vent her inner injustice.
However, she was still rational and knew that she could not act out in such a setting.
So, after returning, she ordered the steward to summon Wen Mingqian to the mansion, as she wanted to question her face to face.
Who would have thought that the steward went to Wu Qiu Nunnery, but Wen Mingqian was not there, which only increased her anger.
“County Princess, it’s not difficult to see her. As the saying goes, a monk may run away, but his temple cannot. She is currently living in a nunnery, so we can just go there under the guise of offering incense.
If she is there, it’s good. If she’s not, we can take the opportunity to warn those nuns not to shelter her there. Wouldn’t that be a way to warn others by dealing with one?” At this moment, Liu Huanchun’s Granny arrived. She was older and thought things through more thoroughly.
“Granny, what you said makes sense.” Liu Huanchun always listened to her Granny. “Why bother inviting her? I’ll go find her myself!”
Indeed, the next day, Liu Huanchun got up early and left for Wu Qiu Nunnery.
Wen Mingqian always woke up very early, and today was no exception.
After breakfast, she was blending incense in her room. Sang Er said, “It’s the height of the New Year. It would be nice to go to the garden and pick some plum blossoms to put in a vase. Otherwise, they will all wither in a few days, and we’ll have to wait another year to see them.”
She put on her thick clothes and went out, intending to pick plum blossoms from the southeast corner.
Unexpectedly, as soon as she reached the front, she heard people talking. Sang Er didn’t pay much attention, as there were occasional visitors offering incense here.
She intended to go around them and take a small path.
But she didn’t expect that group of people to follow her.
“Hey, are you deaf or blind?! You didn’t even greet our County Princess when you saw her. You have no manners.” Liu Huanchun’s maidservant called out to Sang Er from behind.
Sang Er turned around and saw them. She found them somewhat familiar, but not that familiar.
So, she said with a smile, “It was my oversight, I didn’t see you all. Please forgive me.”
“Come here, our County Princess has something to ask you.” The maidservant ordered her unceremoniously.
Sang Er didn’t want to cause trouble, so she walked over.
Liu Huanchun looked her up and down and sneered, “What a pretty and beautiful maidservant, as if you were Daji reborn. You and your mistress are running a fraudulent business here, do you think I can’t see it?”
Sang Er heard that the words were not right and realized that these people were not here with good intentions and were deliberately looking for trouble.
But she was not willing to be outdone in words, so she pretended to be foolish and said, “I don’t know what you mean? My Madam and I are here to cultivate purity, practicing Buddhist teachings and learning compassion.
Buddhism says: the eye is the sprout of the heart; what you see is what is in your heart. I see all of you as benevolent Bodhisattvas, so why do you see me as Daji reincarnated or a fox spirit?”
“How dare you! You dare to speak disrespectfully to our County Princess. Are you asking for a beating?” Liu Huanchun’s maidservant immediately reprimanded her.
“You are indeed sharp-tongued!” Liu Huanchun sneered. “Guards! She has spoken disrespectfully to this County Princess, and I will teach her a good lesson to make her remember. Strip off her clothes and tie her to this plum tree, let the cold wind wake her up!”
Wen Mingqian felt that Sang Er had been gone for too long and was feeling puzzled. Hui Xin came, panting, and said, “Madam, the County Princess from Shoushan County Prince’s Mansion has arrived. For some reason, she has detained Sang Er, saying she doesn’t know the rules and wants to teach her a lesson.
The Abbot is not home today, and Reverend Mother Jing An is trying to persuade them, but they are not listening.”
“Alright, I’ll go take a look,” Wen Mingqian said, putting down her work. “Ao Shuang, you don’t need to come. Stay in the room!”
Although Wen Mingqian had not interacted with this County Princess before, she knew her general situation.
She knew that this County Princess could be considered a devoted person. To wait for Ying Wuchou, she was in her twenties and still unmarried.
She was also present at the banquet at the Jiangxia Marquis Mansion that day. Wen Mingqian had felt her gaze was extremely sinister at the time, and she didn’t expect her to come looking for her so soon.
However, judging by her methods, she was a simple-minded person. Coming to her door so openly, Wen Mingqian never feared such people.
She was currently hoping to escalate the situation, the more lively the better. This County Princess coming to her door herself made her feel it was an extraordinary coincidence, truly fulfilling the saying “enemies often cross paths.”
From a distance, Wen Mingqian could hear the sounds of dispute. She knew Reverend Mother Jing An was there, and besides her, there was a particularly sharp female voice, which must be the County Princess from Shoushan County Prince’s Mansion.
