Chapter 15
"The maids in your palace are quite attentive," Zhu Jingchen sneered inwardly.
What did they mean by saying that they knew she missed her family? In his opinion, it was clearly a premeditated plan.
"Fine, Marquis Ruan. Since Prince An and the others haven't arrived yet, you may go to Yongshou Palace first," Zhu Jingchen was just looking for an excuse to get rid of these people.
And now he had a perfect one.
"Your humble servant thanks the Emperor," Consort Lin also had many questions in her mind at this time, but they couldn't discuss them in the Imperial Study.
Consort Lin then led the people from the Ruan Marquis Mansion to Yongshou Palace.
Yongshou Palace
Currently, Concubine Lan lived in the main hall of Yongshou Palace, and Consort Lin lived in the side hall.
Concubine Lan had given birth to the Fifth Prince, Zhu Hongbin.
On weekdays, she looked down on Consort Lin.
"Your Highness, the family members of the lady in the side hall have come," the senior maid Qiaozhu quickly entered the inner hall of Yongshou Palace and reported.
"Let them come. Without the Emperor's permission, can she secretly bring them in?" Concubine Lan said indifferently.
After all, those who came were Consort Lin's family members. What could happen?
The worst-case scenario was probably related to the unborn child. It was only four months, and there were still six months to go. Whether the child could be born was still uncertain.
Concubine Lan didn't take them seriously at all. After all, compared to this unborn child, the strong competitors for her son were the Third Prince born to the Queen and the First Prince born to the Imperial Noble Consort.
As for the Second Prince born to Concubine Xia and the child born to Noble Lady Yuan, Concubine Lan didn't even bother to think about them.
The influence of their maternal families was far inferior to that of her own.
"Your Highness, I heard that the merchant girl betrothed to the heir of the Ruan Marquis Mansion was snatched away by Prince An's Heir," Qiaozhu whispered in Concubine Lan's ear.
"Oh?" Concubine Lan raised her eyebrows. Thinking of the cold-faced Prince An, she felt a bit curious.
How could such a cold and aloof person do such a thing as snatching someone else's fiancée?
She wondered what kind of stunning beauty the girl snatched by Prince An was.
Even the cold and heartless Prince An had fallen in love.
"What's the girl's identity?" Concubine Lan was very curious about the girl's background.
"She's the daughter of a merchant in Li'an County," Qiaozhu wasn't very clear about Li Zhiwei's identity.
"The Li Family? Could it be the richest family in Lannuo Country, the Li Family?" Concubine Lan had heard of the richest family in Lannuo Country.
For some reason, at this moment, she thought of the Li Family, which had a single daughter.
Her intuition told her that the Li girl was the one the Ruan Marquis Mansion wanted to marry into the family.
"The richest family? Your Highness, if she's really the daughter of the richest family, why did the Ruan Marquis Mansion leave her outside the mansion on the wedding day? That's how Prince An's Heir got the chance to take her away," Qiaozhu thought for a while and felt it was impossible. If she was really the daughter of the richest family, they should have happily welcomed her into the mansion for the sake of the Li Family's wealth.
Instead of leaving her outside to give her a hard time and finally having her snatched away.
"Who knows? Those stupid people in the Lin family might have left her outside for some insignificant reasons," Concubine Lan thought to herself. At this moment, she couldn't help thinking that if this was the case, Consort Lin must be extremely angry.
The Side Hall of Yongshou Palace
"What did you say?" Consort Lin trembled as she pointed at her useless younger brother.
She couldn't believe that the cooked duck had flown away.
Without the support of the Li Family, how could she climb up in the palace in the future?
"Elder sister, it was that Li girl who was promiscuous. She actually went with Prince An's Heir," Lin Jitong said dissatisfiedly.
At this time, he didn't think he was wrong.
"Mother and Father, my younger brother is confused. Why did you let him do such a stupid thing? If Zhou Yutang really wanted to marry into the Lin family, what's wrong with waiting for a few more days?" Consort Lin thought that it was all because of Zhou Yutang that her plan had been ruined. She hated Zhou Yutang to the core.
How impatient she must be to want to leave.
"Lanzhi, don't be angry. Be careful not to hurt the unborn child. We didn't expect that a mere merchant girl would have such a strong temper," Madam Zhou carefully persuaded her daughter while blaming Li Zhiwei.
In her opinion, it was all Li Zhiwei's fault. If she had just waited obediently outside the Lin family mansion, none of this would have happened.
"A mere merchant girl? How many mere merchant girls can be as rich as the whole country? Strong temper? You let her wait outside the mansion for two hours!" Consort Lin didn't know whether she should be angry at her stupid family or annoyed at Li Zhiwei's ungratefulness.
Although she thought her family shouldn't have left Li Zhiwei outside, she also thought that Li Zhiwei should have waited outside the Ruan Marquis Mansion for her younger brother to marry her in.
Instead of leaving with someone else.
"Oh, it was just two hours. Mother thought that since she was from a merchant family, she might not be able to control her temper. So I wanted to temper her a bit so that she could be useful to us in the future," Madam Zhou quickly found an excuse.
She felt a bit guilty in her heart. After all, at that time, she didn't take Li Zhiwei seriously.
A merchant girl with no relatives in the capital, what kind of trouble could she cause?
Who would have thought that although this merchant girl didn't cause any trouble, she was taken away by someone else.
"What can a five-year-old Prince An's Heir do by snatching someone? Didn't you go to Prince An's Mansion to get her back afterwards?" Consort Lin looked at Lin Qihua and Lin Jitong dissatisfiedly.
In her opinion, what the Ruan Marquis Mansion had done before wasn't a big deal at all.
Since Li Zhiwei was already betrothed to her younger brother, the proper marriage procedures must have been followed. Otherwise, the Li Family wouldn't have given half of their family fortune to Li Zhiwei as a dowry to marry into the capital.
Prince An's Mansion couldn't just snatch her away. Moreover, the one who snatched her was a five-year-old child who couldn't make any decisions.
"We went, but Prince An's Mansion just wouldn't let her go," Lin Qihua thought of this and felt very dissatisfied. He thought that Prince An's Mansion was too arrogant.
The Emperor should punish Prince An's Mansion.
"Who did you see in Prince An's Mansion?" Consort Lin frowned. She didn't think that Li Zhiwei would become the Princess of Prince An in Prince An's Mansion. After all, everyone in the capital knew what kind of person Prince An was.
He was a man who didn't get close to women. There were so many noble ladies from aristocratic families in the capital, but Prince An didn't take a fancy to any of them.
How could he take a fancy to a mere merchant girl?
It must be that Prince An's Heir was just being playful. Otherwise, he wouldn't have kept her. Maybe it was that slut Li Zhiwei who coaxed Prince An's Heir to do this to take revenge on the Ruan Marquis Mansion for leaving her outside.
"We only saw Prince An's Heir and the steward of Prince An's Mansion," Lin Qihua said dissatisfiedly.
"Didn't you go to visit the Old Princess in the mansion?" Consort Lin gave another cold look. She thought that her father was really getting more and more stupid. What could a five-year-old child decide?
Shouldn't they have gone to the adults in the mansion?
