No wonder she said she had concubines for him. Just the Song Mansion alone had sent five. Song Jinyu had been in charge of the inner affairs of the mansion in recent days. It seemed this must be her doing!
"Give the order to send all these women back!" Prince Yu flicked his sleeves, his mood rather depressed.
"Tell Miss Song that this prince has no interest in these common beauties!" His words were rather stern, and his tone brooked no argument.
Song Jinyu!
Zhongli Mingye's good mood for the day was ruined by these concubines.
Early the next morning, Lady Xiang came to Jinyu very early.
"Those hooligans you had the guards watch over yesterday have been starving in the wood - shed for a day and a night. What's your intention, sister?"
Lady Xiang had been sorting out the accounts of the mansion in recent days and found many deficits.
These deficits were all caused by the second - lady's family wantonly plundering the governor's mansion. So, the several shops that were originally intended for the second branch of the family were kept.
The second - lady's hungry look made Lady Xiang feel quite satisfied.
Recently, in a good mood, her health had also improved greatly. Although Jinyu was the one in charge of the inner affairs, this younger sister - in - law of hers really feared trouble. Now, she was truly the mistress of the governor's mansion.
"Take them in front of my father and see what he'll do!"
Jinyu was actually a bit disappointed in her father. If her father still chose to smooth things over when she faced these secret assassinations one after another.
Next time, she would surely take matters into her own hands and deal with the second branch of the family.
"Yu'er, someone from the prince's mansion sent back the five beauties we picked." Lady Xiang said worriedly.
"Huh? Is he not satisfied? Five beauties, five different styles. There should be one he likes, right?" Jinyu was absent - minded. Prince Yu had really had quite a lot of contact with her these days.
"The butler of the prince's mansion also brought the prince's order: he said he had no interest in these common beauties."
"This..."
Jinyu remembered the accidental "intimate contact" yesterday and the expression on Prince Zhongli Mingye's face when he said this. Her small face blushed involuntarily. She kept pinching her palm, reminding herself, "Don't think about him!"
"Um..." He didn't want them?
"Well, then keep these five beauties for yourself, sister - in - law."
As the Mid - Autumn Festival was approaching, every mansion was preparing Mid - Autumn Festival gifts. But the He Mansion was shrouded in gloom. It turned out that Mrs. He had always mistaken the Miss Song. Even He Shuda had misrecognized the person. Originally, they planned to just go along with the mistake. The governor's daughter of the Song family would be the main wife, and the cousin would be the concubine.
Unexpectedly, He Shuda had a tryst with Song Wangqiu in the Taoist temple and was caught red - handed by Governor Song!
"Beat him! Beat him hard!" The old master of the He family was so angry that his beard was flying and spittle was flying everywhere. He directed the servants to punish He Shuda with the family law.
Mrs. He cried out, "Master, are you going to beat him to death?"
"Beat him to death! There's no such a degenerate in our He family!"
"Concubine He in the palace has always valued our son. If you beat him like this, aren't you slapping the concubine in the face?" Mrs. He brought up the concubine in an attempt to make the old master stop.
Unexpectedly, the old master of the He family looked disdainful. "Yes! What he did in the Taoist temple is slapping the face of our entire He family!"
Mrs. He stopped crying. Yes, although the marriage alliance between the He and Song families still existed, it was now with a side branch of the Song family. Moreover, the second branch of the Song family had been kicked out of the governor's mansion by the governor's family some days ago! By now, this marriage could not be arranged in any case.
But since Prince Yu had made a conclusion on the marriage on the spot, it was impossible to break off the engagement.
No wonder the old master of the He family was beating He Shuda so severely.
He deserved it! He wasn't wronged at all.
Originally, for their merchant family, it was a blessing accumulated over eight generations to be able to form a marriage alliance with the governor's family. But unexpectedly, He Shuda had messed it up! Thinking of this, the old master of the He family was so angry that he had a rush of blood to the head. Suddenly, his body stiffened and he fell backward to the ground.
All of a sudden, the He Mansion was in a state of panic, and all the joy had disappeared.
"Ugh!"
Song Wangqiu had been suffering from morning sickness severely these days, but she wasn't worried. She had originally thought the marriage was a sure thing. She remembered the situation that day very clearly.
But now, she had been waiting for news from the He family for a long time, and He Shuda seemed to have disappeared.
"Qiutong, go and send another letter to Young Master He." She covered her chest, looking uncomfortable.
"Miss, the doormen of the He Mansion have been replaced." Qiutong really looked down on her own miss's behavior.
She was originally a servant born and raised in the Song family. But unexpectedly, after the Song family was divided, her monthly silver had dropped drastically.
She pouted and handed a plate of pickled plums to Song Wangqiu.
"You're just giving me this kind of dirty stuff to eat?"
Smack!
Song Wangqiu knocked the plate to the ground.
"Miss, we're not what we used to be. The second - lady has to cut down on expenses to make ends meet. Now, the servants' monthly silver has been in arrears for a month." Qiutong said timidly.
"What are you talking nonsense about?"
Song Wangqiu never expected that after leaving the governor's mansion, her family had become so shabby.
The second - lady was extremely terrified now because she had sent people one after another to secretly assassinate Song Jinyu, but all the people had disappeared. Not only was her nephew from her natal family like a useless person, but he also turned against her. The fat butcher had simply disappeared.
She was really scared. That's why when Lady Xiang asked her to check the accounts some days ago, she didn't even dare to play tricks and directly used several shops to make up for it.
Now, that scoundrel, the second master, was drinking and whoring every day. He didn't care about the lives of the old and the young in the family at all, let alone his daughter's marriage. The second - lady learned from Wangqiu that Governor Song was going to let Wangqiu truly replace Song Jinyu and marry into the He Mansion. At first, she was happy. This was exactly the result she had wanted for some time. But now, the governor's mansion of the Song family was avoiding her. They wouldn't even let her in!
Humph! Wait until our Wangqiu marries into the He family. Then what's the governor's mansion of the Song family?