"If I show mercy again, I'd be a fool. I will never let this matter rest easily today," the princess said firmly.
Just as her voice faded, a servant from the front gate came to report that the Duke of He, carrying generous gifts, had come in person to apologize.
Lu Hongxi frowned and said unhappily, "What's he doing here?"
Although the Duke of He was his elder brother - in - law, since one was a civil official and the other a military general, and Lu Hongxi always thought the Duke of He was too delicate and coy, he didn't like to interact with him much on weekdays.
Considering they were in - laws and the head of the family was coming to apologize, it was not appropriate to turn him away. Lu Hongxi gritted his teeth unhappily and reluctantly waved his hand. "Let him in."
Although he had the Duke of He invited in, Lu Hongxi didn't want to show up. He just sent someone to call Lu Hanchi and told him to handle it.
When the Duke of He entered, the princess just sat there with a straight face, saying nothing.
Lu Hanchi asked the servant to serve tea.
The princess said loudly, "Coincidentally, we've run out of tea and haven't bought any new ones. If the Duke of He doesn't mind, we still have a bit of last year's old tea."
Hearing this, the Duke of He burst into tears. Instead of sitting down, he stood aside, wiping his eyes. "We are siblings from the same mother. In fact, I'm only one year older than you, Renran. Do you really not want to recognize me as your elder brother anymore?"
The princess said expressionlessly, "Last time, the Duke of He said that I was no longer a member of the He family. How could I be qualified to interfere in the He family's affairs? Now your He family has bullied Ning'er again and again. Do you think I'm a soft - tempered person?"
The Duke of He shook his head and asked his attendant to hand over the wooden box in his hand. "I deeply regret saying those words last time. I've been sleepless at night since then, only thinking about finding an opportunity to ask the Queen to mediate for me and apologize to you properly... I didn't expect so many things to happen later. It's all my fault for not educating my daughter well. I've let Ning'er suffer such humiliation!"
His words were sincere. As he spoke, he didn't even care about his image and wiped his tears.
Lu Hanchi couldn't help but stand up and respectfully hand over a handkerchief.
The Duke of He took the handkerchief with a trembling hand, wiped his tears, and sighed. "Hanchi has really grown up. He has the charm of Hongxi back then. It's a pity that my two children have been spoiled by their mother. Wenhao is mediocre, which is okay. But Wenbo is about to get married and still doesn't behave well. He gets drunk outside all day long. Sigh..."
The princess had heard about these things, but after all, it was the He family's business. She could only mention them to Mrs. He a little. Now that the two families were on bad terms, even that was impossible.
Hearing her elder brother expose his family's scandals, the princess felt very uncomfortable. She remembered that when she was young, her eldest brother was very strict. Whenever she and her younger sister were naughty, they would be scolded by him. It was always her second brother who protected her. Now they were all in their forties or fifties. Even though their feelings were not as deep as before, he was still her elder brother.
The princess took the box and opened it. Inside was a folded piece of paper. When she unfolded it, she found it was a letter of divorce.
The letter of divorce stated that Mrs. Shi was uneducated. When her in - laws were alive, she often made them unhappy. She was unable to educate her youngest daughter, which led to her daughter committing a great crime. Mrs. Shi was unworthy of being a daughter - in - law, a wife, or a mother.
The Duke of He sighed. "When I got married back then, since I was just the second son, I didn't have many demands. The Shi family from Mianyang was not a small family. I treated her with great respect after marrying her. But she was really hopeless. In terms of children's education, she only knew how to dote on them blindly, which made Chan'er such a jealous and vicious person. Chan'er is my daughter. I have to come here shamelessly to plead for mercy. I beg you and the prince to discuss it before making a decision. But I can't keep this stupid woman anymore..."
The princess frowned. Although she didn't like Mrs. He and thought she was selfish and disgusting after these incidents, considering the He family, Wenhao was already married with children, and Wenbo was about to get married. If their mother was divorced at this time, where would their faces be? And where would the He family's face be?
"Second brother, let's forget about the divorce..."
The Duke of He was stubborn. He asked his attendant to put the box away. Then, at Lu Hanchi's invitation, he sat down. Pointing to the boxes outside, he said, "Ning'er is grown - up. As her uncle, I'm busy with court affairs and don't know what she likes usually. I just bought some things casually. I hope she can calm down. As for Chan'er's attempt to harm her, the specific details haven't been found out yet. Anyway, Chan'er was wrong first. Normally, it should be reported to the Supreme Court... But... As a father, I hope you can understand my selfishness. No matter how wrong she is, she is still my daughter. How could I bear to let her suffer in prison?"
The princess deeply hated He Chan at this moment, but the Duke of He's words made her empathize. He Chan was bad, but she might have been scared by today's incident. As parents, how could they not feel heartache?
But if she felt heartache for He Chan, who would feel heartache for Ning'er? Ning'er's reputation was bad. Last time, because of the purse incident, she was criticized for deliberately framing He Chan. This time, the He family even shifted the blame and said it was Ning'er's scheme. If it weren't for His Highness the Prince of Yu, Ning'er would be unable to clear her name now.
Thinking about it, she felt full of hatred.
The Duke of He quickly said, "Sister, Chan'er has committed a great mistake and should be punished. I'm so angry when I think about her actions. If you agree not to send her to the Supreme Court, I'll ask the family to whip her five times, make her eat a vegetarian diet for half a year, then punish her to kneel in the ancestral hall for four days to pray, and then confine her in the courtyard until she gets married. Is that okay?"
The princess hesitated. This punishment was quite severe. For an ordinary mistake, it would be enough. Moreover, if a woman went to prison, even if she came out later, even if the He family still recognized her, she could only be sent back to her hometown or the manor, and her life would be like that from then on.
But He Chan didn't seem to be a sensible person. There was no hope that she would reform in half a year. What would happen after she came out?
Just as the princess was hesitating, Lu Hongxi strode in. "Let's do as the elder brother - in - law said."
The princess quickly stepped forward. "Your Highness..."
Lu Hongxi smiled. "Don't worry, madam. Just now, Ning'er came to me and specifically pleaded for He Chan, saying that although she was wrong, it was probably because she was young and naive and was instigated by others. Ning'er's words about sending her to the Supreme Court were just out of anger. Since the Duke has already made an arrangement, we don't need to be too aggressive."
Did Lu Wanning plead for her voluntarily?
The Duke of He was surprised but didn't say anything. He just thanked them repeatedly and then asked, "Where is Ning'er? She has suffered grievances. I want to apologize to her in person."
Lu Hongxi waved his hand. "She had a narrow escape today and is not in a good state of mind. She's resting now. There's no need for an apology. I understand that you're busy all day and naturally neglect your children's education."
After some politeness, the princess finally had someone serve good tea properly. She personally served it to her elder brother and then asked, "After what happened today, how do you plan to handle Chan'er's marriage, brother?"