The princess had long been dissatisfied with her natal family because of the incident involving He Nanfeng a few days ago. She had also suspected for a long time that her sister - in - law was not truly kind to Ning'er. Now, with the Fu family falsely accusing Ning'er, her heart was in a vice. When she heard what her sister - in - law said, she couldn't hold back her anger any longer and directed all her fury at her.
"Lady He, your words are quite amusing. So far, it's all just the one - sided story of Fu Rongli. Our Lu family hasn't even had a chance to refute, yet your daughter rushes out, eager to label Ning'er as an immoral girl. Instead of restraining your own daughter, you come to scold my daughter? If He Chan weren't my niece, I would have had her dragged away and slapped in the face by now. How could I tolerate her spouting nonsense here?"
Lady He was stunned for a moment. She was seething with anger inside, but on the surface, she had to force a flattering smile. She pulled He Chan up and bowed, saying, "It's my fault, Princess. Please don't be angry. You know, Chan'er has been reckless since she was a child. Please don't take it to heart. Chan'er, hurry up and apologize to your aunt!"
Lu Wanning watched them leisurely and said with a smile, "Take it to heart? If my mother wanted to take it to heart, she wouldn't have waited until now. Don't worry. We all know that our cousin has always been so outspoken. Even I, the princess, haven't minded her at all. How could my mother mind?"
Lady He gritted her teeth tightly and gave He Chan a push. "Go and apologize to your cousin!"
He Chan was extremely reluctant and was about to shout. But Shi Aohan beside her quickly grabbed her hand, signaling her to calm down.
Lu Wanning sneered. "There's no need for an apology. Although we're cousins, we haven't been on good terms since childhood. As the elder sister, I've always let you have your way. But today, my reputation is at stake. I have no reason to let you act recklessly. If you can't speak properly, just shut up."
After that, Jiang Shishi walked up to Fu Rongli, looked at him coldly, and asked, "You said that Princess Zhaoyang has feelings for you? Let me ask you, is it your knowledge, literary talent, appearance, or personality that attracted Princess Zhaoyang to you?"
Fu Rongli pursed his lips and stammered. He couldn't say a word for a long time.
When the people present first heard such a scandal, especially one involving Princess Zhaoyang, they all showed surprise. Now that they had calmed down and heard Jiang Shishi's question, they all sized up Fu Rongli. They thought Jiang Shishi was right. Princess Zhaoyang was such an arrogant girl, always looking down on others. Only those with top - notch family background and character could catch her eye.
For example, Fu Rongxuan used to be the most outstanding young man in the capital. Fu Rongli was a concubine's son. Although he was from a noble family in the eyes of others, he was far from being good enough in front of Princess Zhaoyang. Moreover, with Fu Rongxuan setting such a high standard, how could Princess Zhaoyang take a fancy to Fu Rongli, who was inferior in every aspect?
After a long time, Fu Rongli finally forced himself to argue, "It's because of my face, which is quite similar to my elder brother's."
This statement was somewhat believable.
Jiang Shishi wasn't angry. She continued to ask, "If that's the case, tell us in detail how you met Princess Zhaoyang and how your deep affection developed. And just now you said that you and the princess have had intimate contact. When and where did it happen? Is there anyone who can testify? Tell us everything."
Fu Rongli's face turned red. After a long while, he said, "How can I talk about such private matters in public? Wouldn't it sully everyone's ears?"
"But I thought you were quite eager to talk. Just now, when your step - mother simply asked who the girl was, you said so much. You were so straightforward when talking about having an affair and even intimate contact. Why are you suddenly too embarrassed to talk now?"
Fu Rongli argued, "Just now... it was an accident in a hurry..."
"An accident?" Jiang Shishi raised her eyebrows. "If you truly love someone, you should always think about that person. Even if the two of you couldn't help yourselves and did something against the rules of etiquette, you should handle it carefully. How could you be in such a public and gossipy place, eager to label the person you love as immoral? Your behavior seems to be on purpose. Could it be that you're afraid that she has a secret relationship with you but still refuses to marry you?"
Without thinking, Fu Rongli immediately nodded. "Exactly. Although we have deep feelings for each other, she... she dislikes that I'm a concubine's son and have no official title. So she always refuses to tell the prince and the princess. I had no choice..."
Everyone's gazes became more meaningful. It seemed that Fu Rongli was really on purpose.
Fu Rongli realized his mistake and waved his hands in a hurry, continuing to defend himself. "It's not like that, it's not like that. It's just... just that the princess and I have already promised to be together for life. How could I harm others? I heard that my step - mother intended to choose a wife for me, so I..."
Lu Wanning then stood up and nodded. "So, it seems that you're much more reliable than your elder brother. At least you won't do something like wanting to take both a wife and a concubine into the house."
All the guests here were women, and there were only a few male guests who accompanied Fu Rongli. Fu Rongxuan wasn't here, so he didn't know that Lu Wanning was mocking him. But Shi Aohan was still sitting in the crowd. After hearing Lu Wanning's words, she felt extremely uncomfortable.
She tightly pinched her own hand, thinking that if you can't endure the small things, you'll ruin the big plan. This time, Lu Wanning will be completely disgraced and will never have a chance to turn things around. So what if she says a few words?
Jiang Shishi continued to ask, "So, how can you prove it?"
Fu Rongli pointed at the purse. "That purse is the proof."
Zhen Yan sneered. "The purse? You mean this one?"
She took out one too and threw it in Fu Rongli's face. "We all have one. Come on, can such a thing prove that Ning'er has a secret relationship with a scumbag like you?"
Fu Rongli said angrily, "There's a character embroidered inside the purse, which is exactly Ning'er's boudoir name."
Zhen Yan picked up her own purse and opened it. Sure enough, there was also a character "Ning" embroidered inside.
Fu Rongli was shocked. "This... this this this..."
Lu Wanning burst out laughing. "I made all these purses, so of course my name is embroidered on them. Not only every member of the Lu family has one, but Sister Jiang and Sister Zhen also have them. Oh, right. I also sent some to the palace. The emperor, the empress dowager, the queen, and all the concubines have them. The He family also has them. At the end of last year, when my mother sent New Year gifts to the He family, I sent nine of them."
This was true, but it wasn't Lu Wanning who sent them. It was Wei who sent them as New Year gifts at the end of last year. The style of those purses was actually different from this batch. But it didn't matter. Lu Wanning knew clearly that except for the gifts for show, the He family would just store the other things from the Lu family, especially these small personal items.
As for the character "Ning", it was just that the original owner was bored and asked the embroiderer to embroider this character on all the purses in the mansion. Although "Ning" was the boudoir name, there were so many of them that it wasn't anything special or a big deal.
Fu Rongli suddenly turned around and stared at Shi Aohan.
Shi Aohan was also stunned. Lu Wanning sent purses? She had no idea. Of course she didn't know. He Chan had always disliked Lu Wanning. The things sent by the Lu family were directly put into the warehouse, and no one even bothered to look inside. Even the servants who counted the items wouldn't care about those few purses.
The princess stood up and said coldly, "Someone, take Fu Rongli to the Dali Temple for a thorough interrogation. How dare he falsely accuse our Zhennan Prince's Mansion? Does he really think there's no one in the mansion?"
Cold sweat broke out on Fu Rongli's forehead. No wonder... no wonder Lu Wanning hadn't shown the slightest sign of fear from the beginning to now. Had she planned this all along?
He turned around and crazily snatched his own purse, tearing it apart with all his might.