After returning to the mansion and waiting in the room for a short while, Jiyue came back.
Lu Wanning asked indifferently, "Any news?"
Jiyue nodded. "Xiaoying said... He Chan is very generous. She has won over everyone in Prince Chen's Mansion. Now, all those people in the mansion follow He Chan's orders. And Prince Chen... Oh no, the commoner Sheng Chenyi is having a very hard time. I heard that he fell ill in the twelfth lunar month and still hasn't recovered after four months."
Lu Wanning said, "There are only about a dozen people in Prince Chen's Mansion. Although it's relatively easy to win them over, He Chan has no money. How could she manage to do so?"
Jiyue looked a bit embarrassed. But knowing that her mistress was very smart, she quickly stepped forward and whispered, "She... has her own way of making money... The male servants... well, in that way, and the female servants were bribed with the money she earned."
Lu Wanning was stunned for a moment. Then she realized that He Chan was selling her body for money. Before, she was forced by the Crown Prince. Now, it seemed that she did it voluntarily, and to those people she used to look down upon. She...
It showed that hatred was enough to change a person's nature.
Lu Wanning didn't feel overly sad. She just paused for a moment and said, "Tell Xiaoying to persuade her not to kill anyone. If it's investigated, it won't do any good to them."
Jiyue quickly replied, "Your Highness, don't worry. Xiaoying is sensible and often persuades her. He Chan... She once said that living is a hundred times more painful than dying. She won't let Sheng Chenyi die so easily."
Lu Wanning didn't say anything. She just leaned back in the chair and found that her once passionate heart had become cold and hard in all these intrigues.
The voice of a maidservant came from outside the door. "Your Highness, the little princess is about to wake up."
Lu Wanning raised her eyebrows and checked the time. Every day at this time, as long as she was at home, she would go to play with Tangbao. But today, Tangbao's real father was back, so naturally, there was no need for her, the aunt, to go.
She smiled slightly. "Got it. I'll go later today."
After the maidservant left, Jiyue whispered again, "Your Highness, there's another thing... Concubine He in the palace has passed away."
Lu Wanning was shocked. "Passed away? I haven't heard about it. Anyway, she was once the queen. It shouldn't be so quiet, right?"
Jiyue said in a low voice, "It was the emperor who said that since Prince Yu won a great victory and the whole country was in celebration, such a minor matter shouldn't spoil everyone's mood."
What was the use of glory in life? She was so desolate after death.
Jiyue looked up and asked, "Your Highness, should we tell the princess consort about this?"
Lu Wanning was silent for a long time before she shook her head. "No need. She's just a concubine. The emperor doesn't even care... Don't let her worry about it."
In the evening, Lu Wanning slowly walked towards the small Buddhist hall. After the He family fell, Lu Wanning had been paying close attention to the princess consort, but she hadn't shown any abnormal emotions and had never slacked off in managing the household affairs. Gradually, Lu Wanning stopped worrying.
However, after Tangbao was two months old and spring came, after Lady Wei finished her confinement, the princess consort handed over the management of the household affairs to Lady Wei again.
After that, although the princess consort still helped with the household chores, she would spend most of the day praying in the Buddhist hall.
Others thought that she was praying for her two sons far away in Luocheng. Only Lu Wanning knew that she was praying for her elder brothers, whether it was the elder brother who passed away more than a decade ago or the second brother who was executed last winter. She had never been involved in their right and wrong, but her heart was as clear as a mirror. She knew everything.
Lu Wanning walked over gently, and the princess consort immediately stopped beating the wooden fish.
"Ning'er?"
Lu Wanning immediately put on a smiling face, knelt beside the princess consort, and leaned against her. "Mother, the two elder brothers are back. Why are you still praying here?"
The princess consort smiled. "I know they're all well."
Lu Wanning asked, "So, you also know that others aren't well?"
The princess consort's eyes instantly turned red.
Lu Wanning understood. The princess consort knew everything and remembered everything in her heart. Concubine He passed away today. Others might not know, but the princess consort must know. Since Concubine He was demoted and locked in the cold palace, the princess consort had been paying close attention to what was going on there.
"She said that she was finally free."
The princess consort said in a low voice, "The first time was when she was six years old. She took my doll. I said that as the elder sister, I should let her have it. But she was unhappy and even tore the doll to pieces. That was the doll my mother made for me. I never let anyone else touch it."
Lu Wanning listened quietly.
The princess consort continued, "Later, as she grew up day by day, she was innocent and lovely. Occasionally, she would be naughty and do some bad things. But I always thought that it was because she was still young and didn't understand things. Father was strict, but with the elder brother and me protecting her, he never punished her. Ning'er, sometimes I wonder if I was wrong. Not punishing her made her go too far. She thought that no matter what she did, others would always support her?"
"But the elder brother is gone, and father is gone too. The second brother... Sigh."
Lu Wanning leaned against her. "Mother, it's not your fault. It's just that her ambition is too big."
The princess consort nodded. "That's right. She has had ambition since she was a child, but I never took it seriously. At that time, I was a famous noble lady in the capital. When a family has a daughter, many suitors come. Moreover, I was the eldest legitimate daughter of Duke He. I would watch behind the screen, looking at all kinds of young men, but I shook my head at all of them. They had fair and tender faces, but no masculinity at all. She asked, 'Sister, what kind of husband do you want to find?'
"I said that I wanted a man who could stand up to heaven and earth. His eyes should shine like stars, his cheeks should be firm and tenacious. More importantly, his knees should only kneel to heaven, earth, and the monarch. But she laughed and said that if a man could really stand up to heaven and earth, others should kneel to him instead of him kneeling to heaven, earth, and the monarch."
"Her words came true. I fell in love with your father, and she married that man who didn't need to kneel to others."
At this point, the princess consort put down the wooden fish, slowly stood up, and reached out to hold Lu Wanning's hand. "Ning'er, the monarch is first and foremost the king of the world, and then a husband. Do you understand?"
Lu Wanning was a bit confused. The princess consort was talking about Concubine He, but in fact, she was also talking about her. She was going to marry the Crown Prince, who would be the future king. But since ancient times, the king belonged to the world, not just to her.
The princess consort led Lu Wanning out. "You like him, and your father and elder brother respect him. But Ning'er, you must remember that a good person and a wise king may not necessarily be a good husband. Now, you haven't married yet. As long as you don't want to, mother won't let anyone force you."
Lu Wanning pursed her lips and said seriously, "Mother, daughter remembers."
The princess consort was in a daze for a long time. Then she smoothed Lu Wanning's hair at the temple, gave a bitter smile, and said, "Once you choose your own path, you can only strive forward on your own."
Lu Wanning smiled. "Mother, don't worry. I'm not her, and I will never let myself end up in such a situation."