The old madam punished the second branch of the family and didn't spare Concubine Yuan either.
It took some effort to find evidence to deal with the second branch, but dealing with Concubine Yuan was much simpler and more straightforward. She was directly put under house arrest.
Concubine Yuan had planned to entice Xie Yihui to come and see her today. Who would have thought that after waiting for a long time, she didn't wait for him but only the news of her own house arrest.
Inside the Marquis Mansion, the old madam of the Xie family acted swiftly and decisively to punish the people. However, the rumors outside didn't stop. This time, it was the Zhang family's turn.
Because of the farce at the gate of the Zhang Mansion that day, the relationship between Zhang Yao and her cousin from the Zhang family suddenly became ambiguous.
Prime Minister Zhang wanted to pour this bucket of dirty water on Xie Fengran, but unexpectedly, the abbot of the Huguo Temple submitted a memorial, stating exactly what had happened in the temple that day, only omitting Qin Junxing.
Prime Minister Zhang didn't even have a chance to turn things around this time.
The emperor was also annoyed. During the morning court, he scolded Prime Minister Zhang for the chaos in his inner mansion and his poor upbringing of his daughter. The marriage with Qin Junxing was also directly called off, and no one mentioned it again.
The old madam of the Xie family directly bypassed Xie Yihui and personally submitted a memorial to the queen, admitting to her lax management of the household and vaguely mentioning the disputes between the legitimate and concubine - born children in the Marquis Mansion. The queen didn't express her opinion clearly after reading it, but she did reward Xie Fengran with a lot of things.
So the rumors about Xie Fengran disappeared without a trace.
One day, the admission examination of the Women's College was issuing admission numbers.
Different from the imperial examination which had a multi - level selection process, the Women's College only required students to register and then pass the examination to be admitted.
One didn't need to come in person when registering, but they had to come in person to get the admission number before the exam.
This was to verify the identity and issue a certificate. The identity would be verified again on the day of the exam and also when entering the college. Only after three verifications of the same person would they be officially admitted. This was to prevent someone from taking the exam on behalf of others or entering the college under a false name.
Xie Fengran came early in the morning to line up.
The Women's College was built next to the Imperial College. The plaque of "Royal Women's College" was inscribed by Emperor Dezong himself.
Xie Fengran stopped under the plaque for a while. She had read Emperor Dezong's handwritten notes. The characters on them were delicate and elegant, showing a little girl's thoughts.
But these characters were written with a bold and unrestrained style, with a majestic and imposing momentum, completely different from the characters in the handwritten notes.
However, it was not difficult to tell from the handwriting and the writing habits that they were written by the same person.
Maybe Xie Fengran was looking too intently. She didn't even notice someone approaching from behind.
"What are you looking at? So engrossed!"
Sun Yuelan jumped out from behind and patted her on the shoulder. "Surprised! Amazed?"
Xie Fengran was startled. She patted her chest. "You walk without making a sound. Why are you so early too?"
"You were the one who was so engrossed in looking. Now you're blaming me. I didn't want to come so early either. It's just that my brother was going to the next - door place, so he brought me along."
Xie Fengran looked back. Sure enough, she saw Sun Jiming getting off the Sun family's carriage. When he saw her looking over, he quickly bowed his hands.
Xie Fengran nodded and then shifted her gaze.
Sun Yuelan saw the performance of these two people. Seeing her stupid brother still looking over here all the time, she clicked her tongue twice. "So heartless!"
Xie Fengran was already immune to her teasing. She ignored it and walked straight inside.
She hadn't walked a few steps when she heard someone shouting from behind, "Sister Xie!"
The two of them stopped and looked back. They saw two carriages parked at the entrance of the Women's College. Princess Four poked her little head out of the window and shouted at her.
As the carriage stopped, Princess Four couldn't wait to get off and skipped towards Xie Fengran.
After the other carriage parked, Princess Three got off and walked towards them too.
Xie Fengran and Sun Yuelan saluted in unison. "Greetings to Princess Four."
"Sister Xie, Sister Sun, don't be so formal. I haven't seen you for a long time!" Princess Four took one of them by the arm and led them inside, ignoring Princess Three who was catching up behind.
To Xie Fengran's surprise, Princess Three didn't come up to cause trouble.
However, they didn't manage to go in because the Crown Prince came.
"Zhaoyue, you forgot something again!"
As soon as the Crown Prince appeared, Xie Fengran even felt that the air around had become a bit hotter.
Princess Four looked at the thing in the Crown Prince's hand and stuck out her tongue. She took it from behind. "I thought they would hold it for me."
The Crown Prince had a smile on his face. He flicked Princess Four on the forehead. "You've forgotten the rules again."
"Okay, brother. I've grown up. Don't flick me anymore."
The Crown Prince hooked the corner of his mouth, shifted his gaze, and nodded at Xie Fengran and Sun Yuelan. "Miss Xie, Miss Sun."
"Greetings to the Crown Prince."
"Ladies, there's no need for such formalities. I would like to trouble you two to take good care of Zhaoyue." Although he said "ladies", the Crown Prince's gaze was directly fixed on Xie Fengran. Even someone as slow as Sun Yuelan noticed something was wrong with the Crown Prince.
Immediately, she took over the conversation. "Your Highness, you're being too serious. Princess Four is intelligent. Why should Your Highness worry?"
Seeing Sun Yuelan speaking, Xie Fengran quietly took a step back to avoid the Crown Prince's gaze.
The Crown Prince noticed Xie Fengran's resistance. His eyes flashed, but he didn't pester her. After saying a few words, he left and went to the Imperial College next door.
After the Crown Prince left, the atmosphere immediately relaxed. The three of them walked in talking and laughing. But unexpectedly, there was someone so blind as to rush up and court disaster.
"Xie Fengran, stop for me!"
This familiar voice made Xie Fengran frown slightly. She looked back and, sure enough, it was Zhang Yao!
Before the carriage had even stopped steadily, Zhang Yao jumped out. She walked up to Xie Fengran and raised her hand to hit her.
Sun Yuelan was standing next to Xie Fengran. Without thinking, she reached out to block. "Zhang Yao, don't be like a mad dog. Biting anyone you see."
"Xie Fengran, don't hide behind. If you have the guts to scheme against me behind my back, don't you dare stand up and confront me?"
Xie Fengran reached out and pulled Sun Yuelan behind her, signaling her to protect Princess Four. Then she stood in front of Zhang Yao and looked at her. "Why wouldn't I dare? What do you want to confront me about?"
"Did you, did you find my cousin back?"
Xie Fengran scoffed. "Miss Zhang, he's your cousin. What does it have to do with me? Why would I look for him?"
"Of course you wanted to pour dirty water on me!"
"Miss Zhang, at the gate of the Prime Minister's Mansion that day, it was your aunt who said in person that your two families had once discussed a marriage. It was your parents who went back on their word and looked down on your cousin. How come now it's me pouring dirty water? Could it be that I can even decide your marriage, Miss Zhang?"
"Moreover, in the Huguo Temple that day, you were very intimate with your cousin. How would I know that your cousin had left the Prime Minister's Mansion so quickly and even left his cousin behind!"
"You..."