Tianliangyuan

Chapter 116 Sowing discord

Xu Zhaozhao looked in the direction of the voice and smiled slightly.

Xu Wanwan puffed out her cheeks in anger and retorted directly, "Who are you? Why are you deliberately trying to ruin my second sister's reputation? You're making baseless accusations and just spouting nonsense. Do you think there's no law under the emperor's nose?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Zhaozhao's smile became even brighter: "Sister, that is Princess Qingping of the Qi Prince's Mansion, who is Princess Leyang's half-sister."

The words "half-sister" were emphasized, which made the noble lady upstairs change her expression slightly in anger.

What she hated most was people bringing up her status as an illegitimate child.

The title of Princess Qingping was merely an honorary title; for the true powerful and influential of Daxing, such a nominal title was meaningless.

In other words, it sounds very noble, but in reality, they didn't have any fiefdoms; at most, the imperial court would send them a certain amount of silver and rice each month.

Moreover, the title of Princess Qingping was only recently bestowed upon her by Prince Qi last year.

It wasn't that the Prince of Qi doted on this concubine's daughter, but rather that the Emperor intended to cultivate good relations with some foreign countries, and bestowing the title of Princess was merely to facilitate her future marriage to a distant land.

Unfortunately, Princess Qingping herself couldn't see this point. She only thought that her birth mother was favored by the prince, so ever since she received the title of princess, she had been trying to compete with Princess Leyang.

But they are still different in the end.

Princess Leyang was given the title from birth, and because she was favored by the Emperor, he would often bestow upon her the things that the princesses in the palace had. As for the other princesses in the royal palace, the Emperor usually did not think of them.

In fact, there were quite a few illegitimate sons and daughters in the Qi Prince's Mansion, but only two of them had the title of Princess.

The hereditary system of nobility in the Daxing Dynasty continued that of the previous dynasty.

The sons of a prince who succeed to the throne are the heirs of the prince, while the other sons are dukes of the prefecture. Those who are promoted by imperial favor are granted the title of duke. Those who inherit the title of duke or the heirs of the prince are granted the title of duke.

In other words, the current heir apparent of the Qi King will inherit the title in the future. Although he will still be called the King of Qi, he will no longer be a prince but a successor to the title of king. If he has another son in the future, the title will be downgraded by one rank, either a prince of the commandery or a duke of the state. This will depend on whether he has the emperor's favor.

Even the title of prince is not static, let alone that of a princess or county princess.

Therefore, Xu Zhaozhao had nothing to fear when she met Princess Qingping.

Li Biyao and Jiang Wanwan saw that someone was speaking up for them and were thinking of taking advantage of the opportunity to gain some benefits. Little did they know that Xu Zhaozhao would act unpredictably and not care about such empty fame at all.

"Lady Wei?"

Wei Niangzi immediately realized what was happening. With a glance, two burly old women came over and began to 'send the guests away'.

These two concubines have made such a fool of themselves at the Beauty Makeup event today. If word gets back to Prince Liu when they return home, they'll be in for a lot of trouble.

Princess Qingping didn't really intend to stand up for the two of them; she simply disliked Xu Zhaozhao.

Xu Zhaozhao completely ignored her, which only fueled her anger. After drinking a cup of tea, her anger reached its peak.

"Go and call your master over."

The fact that Xu Zhaozhao is the mastermind behind the beauty makeup is not a secret to some powerful and wealthy families.

Lady Wei's careful service did not mean she was afraid of this princess.

"Princess, please calm down. Are you not satisfied with these things? To be honest, our shop has recently acquired a new type of cosmetic. It is beautifully packaged and has remarkable effects on the skin, but it is very expensive."

Lady Wei subtly changed the subject, and as she spoke, she cautiously glanced at the princess. Her unfinished words had already displeased Princess Qingping.

"What does this mean? Do you think I can't afford it?"

"I dare not! The high price of this product is only one reason. The one who developed this face cream is a female physician. She has already tested it on several noble people. This face cream has a miraculous effect on fine lines and blemishes on the face. I see that Your Highness has a beautiful face and skin as smooth as cream. You should not need this product."

The next sentence praised Princess Qingping again, which naturally pleased her greatly.

"Hmph! Just because I came to buy things doesn't mean I have to use them myself! Hurry up and get them!"

"Yes, Princess, please wait a moment."

Princess Qingping completely forgot that she had initially intended to make things difficult for Xu Zhaozhao.

After Princess Qingping finished choosing and had her maid pay the money, she realized that she hadn't seen Xu Zhaozhao yet.

"Call Xu Zhaozhao over and tell her that I have something to ask her."

Lady Wei was no fool. Knowing that this princess wanted to cause trouble for her master, she was not about to just sit and wait.

"Your Highness, Miss Xu has just left."

Princess Qingping was even angrier.

Not only did she fail to cause trouble for Xu Zhaozhao, she also gave her a large sum of money. However, if she changed her mind and didn't buy it, she would feel that people would laugh at her for being stingy and petty.

And so, having spent money and been thoroughly angered, Princess Qingping returned to her residence in a huff.

Furthermore, Li Biyao and Jiang Wanwan's fight outside caused the Duke of Su's mansion to lose face. As the mistress of the house, Jiang Fu naturally had to punish the two of them.

Jiang Fu wanted to give the two women a good beating so that they wouldn't be able to serve the young master for a month or two, but at the crucial moment, she was stopped by the nanny.

“Young Madam, we can’t rush things. Li Biyao is fine, she’s just the young master’s new favorite and has no use to him. But Jiang Wanwan is different. She’s been sending money to the young master a steady stream of money.”

"Hmph! If she weren't still somewhat useful, I would have finished her off long ago. Fine, today Li Biyao is to kneel for three hours, and tomorrow she will be slapped. As for Jiang Wanwan, let her be confined to her room to reflect on her mistakes and copy Buddhist scriptures again."

"Yes, young lady."

Jiang Fu also knew that even if she wanted to establish her authority, she couldn't punish both of her concubines too harshly at once.

Turning her head, Jiang Fu invited Princess Qingping to the mansion as a guest.

The reasons are readily available. Thank you, Princess Qingping, for speaking up for Liu Shizi's two concubines.

Princess Qingping was quite pleased with herself, thinking that if she could be on good terms with the wife of the Duke's heir, it would be of great benefit to her marriage in the future.

Both of them were dissatisfied with Xu Zhaozhao. In just a few words, they became close friends and regarded Xu Zhaozhao as their greatest enemy.

“The princess is kind-hearted. She let Xu Zhaozhao leave without punishing her yesterday. In my opinion, she should be made to lose face in public. Only then can her arrogance be curbed.”

Princess Qingping was quite excited upon hearing this. After all, Xu Zhaozhao's reputation in the capital had become too great recently. If she could really embarrass her in public, that would be perfect.

"No matter what, a princess is a royal princess, while Xu Zhaozhao is just a young lady from a marquis's family. Where does she get the audacity to think she can be on equal footing with a princess? I've heard that Xu Zhaozhao often goes out, saying she's going to stay at the estate for a while. Who knows if there's something else going on?"

Princess Qingping was a bit dim-witted. With just a few words from Jiang Fu, she had convinced herself that she was more noble than Xu Zhaozhao, and that a woman like Xu Zhaozhao who did not follow the proper conduct of a wife could not be worthy of Xie Sanlang.