nycdaug Chapter 123 Leaving
Chapter 123 Leaving
The second wife couldn't help but burst into tears: "No, I don't want to be divorced! I was born a member of the Jiang family, and I will die a member of the Jiang family!"
Jiang Shichang snorted coldly and said sarcastically, "The letter of divorce has already been filed with the yamen. You are no longer a member of the Jiang family. Even if you die right in front of me, you will not be a ghost of the Jiang family!"
"What?! You actually took the letter of divorce to the yamen to file it?!" Upon hearing this, Murong was so angry that she wanted to kick him a few times to vent her anger.
Once the letter of divorce is sent to the government office for filing, there will be no room for negotiation. Reconciliation in the future won't be easy; the records would have to be cancelled. Moreover, the procedures are quite complicated, and Jiang Shichang certainly wouldn't be willing to go through that trouble.
From now on, the Second Madam will be called Murong.
Jiang Shichang snorted coldly: "If I don't do this, you'll think I'm just bluffing you. You must still be clinging to the illusion that you can come back to the Jiang family. Let me tell you, don't even think about it. You'll never set foot in the Jiang family again! You'd better leave now. Pack your clothes and jewelry, take the money and the deed, and leave within half an hour, or I'll have someone drag you out!"
"Oh dear, this is terrible!" Murong Shi, disregarding her image, suddenly sat down on the ground and burst into tears.
She looks exactly like a shrew!
Jiang Shichang frowned deeply, inwardly lamenting how blind he had been to not know she had this side to her. Had he known this earlier, he would never have married her! Unfortunately, it was too late for regrets. He was fine, but the children were pitiful!
As a father, he felt deeply guilty for divorcing Murong Shi, as he felt he had failed his children. However, divorcing her was now an urgent matter! If he didn't divorce her, there would be no excuse to cancel Princess Qianjiao's marriage!
Jiang Shichang had neither the inclination, the time, nor the energy to deal with the Murong family. He summoned a few trusted confidants to his study, gave them several instructions, and they readily complied and left.
In less than an hour, everyone in the capital knew that Murong had been divorced by Jiang Shichang! Jiang Shichang also declared that the Jiang family would not acknowledge any promises made by Murong; nor would the Jiang family acknowledge any money borrowed by Murong from anyone!
This means that Lady Murong no longer has the qualification or right to interfere in the marriages of her children. Her agreement with Consort Shu can be considered meaningless.
"Useless thing, to be divorced by her husband at this critical juncture! Jiang Shichang, I will never let you go! Shili Xiang will also never let Hao Ri Zi Restaurant go!" Upon hearing this, Consort Shu was so angry that her heart ached, and she smashed a pile of porcelain shards on the ground.
Shili Xiang is now the property of Consort Shu's maternal family, the Song family, and is managed by Consort Shu's second brother, Song Fugui.
Consort Mei's maternal family was also the Song family. However, they were not related. Consort Mei's family was the Song family of the capital; Consort Shu's family was the Song family of Jiangnan. Both were prominent families, but not from the same lineage. The Song family of the capital and the Song family of Jiangnan were separated by more than ten generations. Otherwise, when Consort Mei's family was raided and exiled, Consort Shu's family would have been implicated as well.
However, despite this, they were both from the Song family. Therefore, the relationship between Consort Shu and the Eldest Princess was not very good to begin with. Now, Jiang Shichang had ruthlessly humiliated Consort Shu, and Consort Shu had even come to hate the Eldest Princess.
Zisu was close to Princess Chang and also to Hua'er, while Consort Shu disliked Zisu intensely. Consort Qin, the mother of Prince Duan, was close to Consort Shu. When they discussed Prince Duan's marriage, Consort Qin was furious: "My good-for-nothing son has actually fallen for a woman who has been exiled! Isn't that going to kill me?"
Consort Shu was shocked and quickly said, "No, how can this be? Prince Duan is such a noble man, how can he marry such a woman of no character and virtue as his principal wife? Now that her father has returned alive and is the Protector of the Nation General, it is acceptable to give her the position of a concubine! But, a principal wife or a secondary wife is absolutely unacceptable!"
She knew that with Shangguan Zisu's proud nature, how could she willingly lower herself to be a concubine? Let alone a secondary concubine, Shangguan Zisu wouldn't even desire that. However, from her perspective, even if Shangguan Zisu were merely a concubine to Prince Duan, she still wouldn't want to see it happen.
Ideally, Shangguan Zisu would turn against Prince Duan, and Prince Duan would become a supporter of her son, Prince Yan. That would be exactly what she wanted!
Prince Yan, Xiao Han, was thirteen years old at the time, five years older than the Crown Prince. Consort Shu was single-mindedly determined to have her son replace the Crown Prince, or at the very least, to make him a prince with a large fiefdom!
If Prince Duan were to side with her, then the chances of Prince Yan becoming the crown prince would be over 70%. As the emperor's concubine, she knew very well that the emperor didn't have many years left to live! In her estimation, the emperor had at most a year left to live! A young emperor not yet ten years old—if Prince Duan wanted to, he could easily kill the young emperor.
Consort Qin was completely unaware of Consort Shu's dark intentions. She was being plotted against without realizing it. She gritted her teeth and said, "That lowly woman isn't even qualified to carry my son's shoes. She can only dream of becoming my son's concubine!"
Consort Shu chuckled and said, "My family has a niece who is very beautiful and just turned fifteen this year. She has a wonderful personality; she is gentle and compliant, yet strong-willed, and a capable woman in managing a household. If Prince Duan were to marry her as his principal wife, she would surely be able to manage the Prince's residence perfectly. If you are interested, why don't we arrange a date for you to meet the girl?"
Consort Qin shook her head: "I'm sorry, I already have a choice for the principal wife, who is my niece from my maternal family. I've already discussed this with my sister-in-law, so it's not easy to go back on my word. If Your Majesty doesn't mind, a concubine would be fine."
Concubine? Hmph, you old hag, how dare you say that! But, being a concubine is fine, I'll be a concubine for now, and I'll kill the principal wife later!
Consort Shu: "A concubine? A concubine is fine too! Oh, speaking of which, my niece is really good; she could be a concubine in the palace. However, I really like Prince Duan; he is just too outstanding. Well then, such an excellent man, it wouldn't be an insult to my niece to have her as his concubine!"
Consort Qin: "Then it's settled. Although we can't give Your Majesty's niece the position of principal wife, we can let her marry into the family first. Your Majesty, are you satisfied with this arrangement?"
Consort Shu is His Majesty's favorite concubine, and her son is outstanding in every way. Offending Consort Shu would be a bad thing. Fine, I'll just sell her out!
Consort Shu was overjoyed and quickly said, "Oh, that's wonderful! Thank you so much! It's settled then. I'll bring my niece into the palace another day so you can take a good look at her. If you're satisfied, I'll ask His Majesty to grant us a marriage, so she can give you a healthy and chubby grandson soon!"
"Please grant the marriage, Your Majesty?" Upon hearing this, Consort Qin's eyes lit up immediately. "Great! That would be wonderful! If Your Majesty grants the marriage, that brat will have no reason to object. He can't possibly disobey the imperial decree, can he?"
Consort Shu: "Alright, let's set the date for the matchmaking tomorrow! You can come to the palace tomorrow and meet my niece, how about that?"
Consort Qin: "Excellent, excellent! Let's do it this way, thank you, Your Majesty!"
In that case, let's see how that brat will marry Shangguan Zisu. Doesn't that woman refuse to share a husband with another woman? Once that brat has a concubine, that woman should give up on him, right?
Three days later, an imperial envoy came to the Prince Duan's residence to read out an imperial edict, betrothing the niece of Consort Shu's family to the Prince Duan as a concubine.
Prince Duan was struck dumb, as if by lightning. From the angel's words, he learned that it was all thanks to his mother. After seeing the angel off, he looked at his mother, his eyes wide with shock, unable to utter a single word.
That very evening, he packed his bags and left without saying goodbye.
No one knew where he went, not even the emperor.
Around the same time, Jiang Chun also left the capital and went to the Northwest military camp. He did not leave without saying goodbye, but obtained the consent of Shangguan Mufeng, the Minister of War, to go to the Northwest military camp in the name of the fourth-rank General Guide.
Prince Duan left without saying goodbye, and Consort Qin was so frightened that she ran to Consort Shu to cry and complain.
When Consort Shu learned of this, she couldn't help but reprimand her: "Look at you, all you do is cry and whine, you can't even manage your own son! Didn't you say your son is very filial? Let me tell you, although your son has run away, the day my niece enters the Prince Duan's residence will not be delayed! The Emperor has decreed this marriage, your family can't refuse, my Song family is not to be trifled with!"
Consort Qin nodded vigorously: "I won't back down, and the wedding date won't be changed. Even though Hao'er has run away, I, as his mother-in-law, am still here. I accept Miss Song, the Fifth Miss, as my daughter-in-law!"
You're smart to know what's good for you, otherwise you'd be in deep trouble! Prince Duan isn't even in the capital anymore; taking over his residence would be a piece of cake! Besides, the Emperor is currently ill and doesn't have the energy to manage many things. Even if she were to take action against Prince Duan's residence, the Emperor wouldn't know!
Consort Shu snorted coldly in her heart.
Upon hearing that Prince Duan's whereabouts were unknown, Zisu couldn't help but sigh deeply.
It seems that Prince Duan's mother is indeed unreliable, not much better than the Second Consort. If Prince Duan were to marry Consort Shu's niece, wouldn't that be tantamount to taking sides?
----Sorry, I'm not in a good mood today, hence the late update. It'll still be two or three updates a day. If I get over 40 monthly votes, I'll update three times; if it's 50 or 60, I'll update three times tomorrow too. This month, I'm giving it my all! I'm not on the leaderboard yet, but I hope I can tomorrow. Please vote for me, thank you so much, muah!