Astute Princess: Married to be the Empress Novel - Chapter 19

Chapter 19 Second Brother Fu Tianchen
The more the Emperor listened, the more shocked he became. The Crown Prince was the direct descendant of the Empress. When the Emperor first ascended the throne, he was made the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince was only eight years old now, and it was not his fault. And this Concubine Shu was actually plotting to seize the crown prince’s position, and was plotting against himself with others.

And this palace is heavily guarded. How did this person get in? The Emperor is puzzled. It seems that this palace needs to be cleaned up properly.

The emperor never imagined that the Sun Clan’s imperial edict would have such a big conspiracy. This matter could not alert anyone, so he had to discuss it with Mother. Thus, the Emperor did not alert the people inside. He turned around and left Shuyi Palace, heading straight for Shoukang Palace.

At this moment, Fu Yingran was still waiting in Prince Duan’s Mansion. Just as it was getting dark, the servant reported, “Report to the imperial daughter, Second Young Master is back.”

Ying Ran quickly got up and walked out of the manor. He saw a man on a tall horse and walked inside. He looked like the manor’s Heavenly Sun. Ying Ran took two steps forward and shouted, “Second Brother, are you back?” It had been ten years since she saw him. If he didn’t look like her big brother, she wouldn’t have dared to scream.

“Yes, it’s Second Brother who has returned. I’ve kept Little Sister waiting for a long time.” Seeing the phoenix hairpin on her head, he knew that this was his younger sister. Only mother and younger sister in Duanwang Manor were qualified to wear this eight-tailed phoenix hairpin. Fu Tianchen patted Ying Ran’s head dotingly. He was very moved. He thought that he had missed the time to send her off. He didn’t want Fu Yingran to wait for him until now to be spared the charge of resisting the decree.

Ying Ran saw the exhaustion on his second brother’s face and said in pain, “Second brother, hurry up and freshen up. You still have to take me to Prince Jing’s Mansion later. Mother Concubine has already prepared a lot of clothes for you and put them in your courtyard.”

This was the worry of Er Xing Qianli’s mother. Even though her son was away all year round, Duanqin Princess would prepare clothes for her younger son every year. She was afraid that when he would come back, he would not change his clothes.

“Little sister, wait a moment. Second brother will pay his respects to father and mother first. I will send you to Prince Jing’s Mansion later.” He hadn’t returned for many years, so he should have gone to see his parents first.

“Second Brother, please send me to Prince Jing’s Mansion first. Otherwise, neither of us will be spared the charge of resisting the decree. Besides, Father and Mother Concubine are not in the mansion at the moment. They went to Lian City early this morning to visit grandmother.” Fu Yingran hurriedly told Fu Tianchen that Prince Duan and his wife weren’t in the manor, so as to prevent him from traveling in vain.

Fu Tianchen raised his head and looked at the sky. It was almost dark. If he didn’t send his little sister to Prince Jing’s Mansion, it would be disrespectful to resist the decree. The Emperor would be able to take care of Prince Duan’s Mansion at will. Thus, he said, “Alright, Second Brother, go and freshen up first. I will send my little sister to Prince Jing’s Mansion.”

Fu Tianchen patted Fu Yingran’s shoulder and walked into his own courtyard. He casually cleaned up and changed into clean clothes before coming out. He was truly heroic.

Fu Tianchen strode over and said with a serious expression, “Prepare to leave.” When he turned around, he saw that Fu Yingran was still dressed as before, so he said, “Little sister, aren’t you going to change clothes? Could it be that you’re going to Prince Jing’s Mansion just like that?”

‘”Yes, Second Brother. The imperial edict only says that I will enter the Jing Palace after noon today. It does not stipulate when or how I will enter the palace. Therefore, as long as I enter the Jing Palace before midnight tonight, I will not be able to resist the edict.” Fu Yingran told Fu Tianchen what he was planning.

This time, Fu Tianchen knew that his sister had accepted the imperial edict in order for him to return to the capital. It was also in order for him to arrive safely in the capital that he had wasted so much time. He was very grateful in his heart, so he patted her head and said, “Let’s go, Second Brother will send you to Prince Jing’s Mansion right now.”

“Alright, alright.” Fu Yingran calmly followed his second brother out of the manor. At this time, the sedan chair of the Jing Palace was still parked at the entrance. When the sedan chair driver saw Ying Ran coming out, he hurriedly pressed the sedan chair door to invite the bride to the sedan chair. However, Ying Ran only passed by him and directly walked towards the soft girl in front of him. There was a sign for Princess Jing Xian carved on it.

Fu Tianchen rode his horse and walked in front, representing the princess’ ceremonies. He left for Prince Jing’s mansion, leaving the wedding procession in a mess in the wind.

At this moment, the main entrance of Prince Jing’s Mansion opened wide. Prince Jing stood at the entrance to welcome the newcomers. He was also slightly angry. The welcoming team set off at noon, but she, Fu Yingran, had been wasting her time until now. Furthermore, she, Fu Yingran, had not even boarded the sedan chair of Prince Jing’s Mansion.

Everyone saw Fu Tianchen turn around and dismount, He came to Ying Ran’s car door and said, He reached out and helped Ying Ran out of the sedan chair. The siblings directly walked past King Jing. Everyone walked towards the entrance of Prince Jing’s Mansion. The banquet had already begun. When they saw someone enter, they looked up at the door and saw the phoenix hairpin on Ying Ran’s head and the jade pendant on his neck. They did not dare to neglect it. They quickly stood up and saluted, “Greetings, Princess Jing Xian.” The eight-tailed phoenix hairpin and the jade pendant were bestowed by Emperor Wen. Who dared to be disrespectful?

Prince Jing’s heart was even more depressed at this moment. Not only was Prince Duan and his wife not present at her wedding today, but she herself was not dressed as a bride. Moreover, not only did she delay the wedding, she did not wear wedding clothes, cover her head, or sedan chair, but she also wore an eight-tailed phoenix hairpin. Was this a slap on his face? His main wife could only wear the seven-tailed phoenix hairpin, while her ordinary wife wore the eight-tailed phoenix hairpin. Was this a hint that he was blind?

However, Fu Yingran did not care what Prince Jing thought. Instead, he raised his hand slightly to the crowd and said, “Get up.”

“Princess Xie,” the officials slowly stood up. Looking at Fu Yingran’s outfit, their hearts were clear. This was not a wedding outfit at all, but they didn’t dare to say anything. After all, he was like me personally. They could do whatever they wanted. They only hoped that Prince Jing could let them go back to their mansion.

After all, no one wanted to go against Prince Duan. No one from Prince Duan’s Mansion came out for today’s wedding. Judging from Princess Jing Xian’s outfit, it was clear that Prince Duan’s Mansion did not recognize this marriage. Therefore, everyone only wanted to leave quickly to avoid being dragged into a pigtail by Prince Duan. After all, they had been officials for many years and no one was clean.

Ying Ran didn’t care what the crowd thought and only asked King Jing, “Is there a place for me in King Jing’s Mansion?”

“Yes, after we pay our respects, this king will find someone to send you over.” King Jing was struggling for the last time. He knew that Ying Ran could not be considered married to him unless he wore a wedding robe and got into a sedan chair. As long as Ying Ran agreed to worship him, this wedding could be counted as well.

“Oh, then you can ask someone to bring me over now. As for worship, I don’t think so. She’s just an ordinary wife. It’s fine whether you worship her or not. Besides, without a host, without a high court, who are you going to worship?” Are you kidding me? She’s a married couple after she pays her respects to the hall. Can she still leave?

Prince Jing was speechless. He could only close his eyes and take a deep breath. He had no choice but to compromise, “Alright then, you go in. This king will see you later.” Yes, there is no host, but the high hall is still alive but not present. This marriage is not recognized, and it is the same whether you worship the hall or not.

“Someone, send Imperial Concubine Ping to Luo Hua Pavilion.” That was the main courtyard’s main room and also Prince Jing’s bedroom hall. Only the main wife could move in. She had already said that Ying Ran would enter the manor to be respected. There was nothing wrong with arranging for her to stay in Luo Hua Pavilion.

“Second Brother, little sister has gone in. You should go back and rest as soon as possible. You should be exhausted from your journey. If you have anything to discuss later, Second Brother, please be careful on your way back.” Looking at the exhaustion in Fu Tianchen’s eyes, Ying Ran couldn’t bear it and felt a slight pain in his heart.

“Alright, then Second Brother will go back. Take good care of yourself.” After Fu Tianchen finished speaking, he patted Fu Yingran’s shoulder and turned to look at Prince Jing. “Duanmu Jing, I will serve the empress dowager’s decree today to send Princess Jingxian into Prince Jing’s mansion. As for you, I am very disappointed. I hope you can do it yourself.” After saying that, he walked out without looking back.

Seeing his second brother leave, Ying Ran’s heart was empty.

“Imperial Concubine Ping, this way please. This servant will take you to Luo Hua Pavilion. This servant Yan’er is the maidservant of Luo Hua Pavilion. Imperial Concubine Ping, if you need anything in the future, just instruct this servant.” With that, Yan’er trembled as she walked to the side and led the way.

“Yes, I understand. Let’s go.” Ying Ran silently followed Yan’er to the inner courtyard and arrived at the Luo Hua Pavilion’s entrance. Ying Ran raised his head and saw that this Luo Hua Pavilion was indeed imposing and worthy of being called the main courtyard’s main room.

“This should be a room that only imperial concubines can live in, right? This imperial daughter lives here, then where does your imperial concubine live?” Ying Ran was not stupid. Of course, she knew that only the main wife could live in the main courtyard. The lower the status of the others, the more biased their residences would be.

Based on her current status as a flat wife, she should live in a side room of the main courtyard, or build another courtyard beside the main courtyard. What exactly did Prince Jing mean by this arrangement?

However, Yan’er respectfully replied, “Concubine Ping, Concubine Wang lives not far away in the Autumn Moon Pavilion.”

“Yes, I know.” Ying Ran replied casually. She looked at Jin’er and Cui’er and introduced them to Yan’er, “They are the two eldest maids beside me. Ask them if there’s anything you want. It’s getting late. You all should go down and rest.” Ying Ran only brought Cui ‘Er and Jin’ Er over. They should be exhausted today, so let them go down and rest early. After all, they still have a few days to go.