bayedsolid Chapter 153 Awakening
Chapter 153 Awakening
Prince Duan: "Rainbow stayed at the palace for so long recently. You've seen her temperament and character clearly, so why are you still unwilling to agree and still want her to marry me?"
Consort Qin said awkwardly, "It's all because I already promised your aunt. If I went back on my word, people would call me an ingrate. How embarrassing would that be! And then I'd have no family to rely on in the future!"
Prince Duan: "Mother, you are so foolish! Who is your son? Your son is Prince Duan, the only prince of the Western Liang Kingdom! With your son as your powerful backer, what are you worried about? Listen to your son, don't always think about arranging women for me. As long as Princess Yulin is willing to marry me, the Lu family will be no match for her! When that time comes, you can look forward to living a comfortable life and enjoying your retirement!"
Consort Qin frowned and said, "This Princess Yulin grew up in the countryside and was exiled to that godforsaken place in the Northwest. How is she worthy of my son? Hao'er, even if you don't like Rainbow, at least find a proper noblewoman! If you really like Princess Yulin, why not give her the position of a concubine!"
Upon hearing this, Prince Duan was both angry and amused: "Mother, Princess Yulin lived in the Changning Marquis's residence in the capital until she was ten years old before going to live in the countryside for a few years. How can you call her a country girl? Besides, was the exile Princess Yulin's fault? No, it was just Shangguan Zhihua's family's revenge against her."
Not to mention her, even the entire Eldest Princess's family was exiled together, wasn't they? Does this mean that Princess Yue'er, the youngest princess of the Eldest Princess's family, won't be able to marry into a family of equal social standing in the future? Mother, I know very well how Princess Yulin fared in the Northwest. She relied on her intelligence and optimistic personality to make her exile days incredibly wonderful!
Putting everything else aside, her courage and confidence in the face of adversity alone are truly admirable and worthy of respect. Mother, if I could marry her, it would be a great blessing for the Prince Duan's family. In the future, no matter what happens, she will surely have the ability and courage to protect my children and this family. Back then, when the news of the General's martyrdom arrived, the Shangguan family seized the family property and power, determined to kill her mother and her unborn son.
However, at only ten years old, she remained calm and composed under pressure, taking each step with careful planning. She not only safely escorted her mother to their hometown of Wuliping, but also helped her uncle, who was forced to take up a post in Yixian County, ensure his safe arrival and make excellent arrangements for his future there. Ultimately, her uncle was recalled to the capital by the emperor before his term was completed. One might ask, if her mother had faced the same predicament, could she have handled it so well?
Consort Qin was stunned. This was the first time she had heard of Zisu's deeds; no one had ever told her before. She murmured, "If it were me, I would probably be helpless and unable to do anything! Princess Yulin is truly extraordinary. I believe that no one else could have done so well!"
Prince Duan pressed on: "Mother, when I was in the Northwest, I almost died in the deep mountains and forests. If it weren't for General Shangguan saving me, I certainly wouldn't have survived. I would have been devoured by wild beasts, killed by the assassins chasing me, or died of illness in a dark cave. At that time, I was already seriously injured. Fortunately, General Shangguan happened to be passing by and rescued me and Lightning."
Not only that, General Shangguan also sent me to Medicine King Valley to seek treatment from the old physician. Later, he even assisted me in regaining military and political power in the Northwest. It can be said that without General Shangguan's help, I would have been nothing but dust long ago! Therefore, General Shangguan is my great benefactor. Mother, when you see General Shangguan's family in the future, you must be very polite and never say anything to humiliate them!
"So, you and Princess Yulin's family have such a connection. Oh dear, why didn't you tell me sooner? If you had told me earlier, I wouldn't have gone to the Protector General's Mansion and said all sorts of nonsense. Doing that was simply ungrateful! Oh dear, how embarrassing! Why didn't you tell me sooner!" Consort Qin felt extremely ashamed when she recalled what she had said to the Protector General's Mansion.
She has a sense of shame, doesn't she? Making her benefactor's daughter a concubine, and then looking down on her so much—thinking about it now, she feels too ashamed to face anyone! This is utterly ungrateful and shameless! Oh dear, how will she ever have the face to see Princess Yulin's family again?
Consort Qin couldn't help but sigh deeply.
Prince Duan: "Back then, Mother didn't give me a chance to speak at all. At that time, Mother's prejudice against Princess Yulin was too deep. She was also single-mindedly trying to get involved with Consort Shu. I wanted to talk to Mother several times, but before I could even open my mouth, Mother had already become impatient. Moreover, Mother even brought Song Wu into the Prince's Mansion. I was very sad and had no heart to talk to Mother about my feelings."
The mention of Song Wu filled Consort Qin with even more shame.
At that time, she felt that even the Princess of Yulin wasn't qualified to be her son's concubine, yet she valued Song Wu highly. And what was the result? Song Wu secretly pursued her to the Northwest, forcing Hao'er to flee to the ends of the earth. During the period after finally finding her son's whereabouts, she endured daily torment; looking back on those days, she couldn't help but feel lingering fear.
Those days were simply unbearable to recall! During those days, she felt utterly hopeless, as if there was no sunshine, no hope, and no expectation in her life.
Her son wasn't coming back, and she might never see him again in her lifetime. How could she not despair? In her despair, she did something foolish to the Yulin Princess's family. Looking back now, she felt utterly ashamed!
In this world, how many people with a conscience would be so ungrateful to their benefactor? It seems that apart from those heartless villains, practically no one would do that!
"Alas, it was all my fault in the past." In front of her son, Consort Qin finally lowered her head and said with self-reproach.
Although she could be confused at times and not kind enough to people, she was ultimately a good person, a kind soul, not the kind of wicked matriarch from a wealthy family.
Prince Duan felt both heartache and anger towards his mother. Now, seeing that she knew she was wrong, he felt much comforted. So, he gently soothed her: "Mother, it's good that you know you were wrong. His Majesty has agreed to let me marry Princess Yulin, and even said he would bestow a marriage upon us! But Princess Yulin hasn't fallen in love with me yet. I must use my sincerity to move her and make her willingly fall in love with me! In the future, if you meet Princess Yulin, you must treat her well. At the very least, you mustn't embarrass her, nor ridicule or humiliate her! Can you promise me this, Mother?"
Consort Qin: "Alright, I can promise you! As long as she doesn't provoke me, I will absolutely not embarrass her. If the opportunity arises, I will even take the initiative to befriend her!"
"Thank you, Mother. If I am in the capital in the future, I will try to come home often, and I will have dinner with you every time I return!" Prince Duan was overjoyed and immediately made a promise to his mother.
The Dowager Consort Qin was overjoyed: "Good, good, good! I'll be waiting to see. I'll have your favorite dishes prepared every day, just in time for your return home!"
Prince Duan said, “Mother, you don’t need to bother fighting with the Lu family in the future. Just lower your stance a little. If the Lu family dares to lay a hand on you, I will definitely take action to deal with them and make sure they have no place in the Prince’s mansion!”
Consort Qin sighed and said, "Hao'er, why do I feel that even the servants of Rongfu Hall are siding with Madam Lu?"
Prince Duan said, “Mother, that’s because you don’t know how to behave. Although these servants are of lowly status, you can’t show them contempt. If you want to gain their loyalty, you have to think about them and give them the respect they deserve. Otherwise, no one is a fool to be loyal to a master who constantly insults them with his words!”
Consort Qin: "Alas, Mother was indeed wrong before. Now that things have come to this, what should we do?"
Prince Duan: "Mother, replace all the people around you, leaving none behind! I will find a new group of people to bring back. After the new maids and servants arrive, Mother must not say anything untoward to them. If necessary, you should also try to win their hearts. As for the guards, I will also thoroughly clean them up. If I find that any of them have sided with the Lu family, I will send them away!"
Consort Qin: "Leave none of them? That's not right. At least leave my personal maid and servants behind?"
Prince Duan: "Mother, according to my secret guards' observations, none of the maids and servants around you are good. Almost all of them have sided with the Lu family! Of course, there may be one or two good ones, but just in case, they have all been sold off. As for the two or three who have not yet been confirmed to have betrayed you, I will sell them to good families in the capital area, not to some remote, cold place."
Consort Qin stared wide-eyed in astonishment, unable to believe her son's words: "Almost all of them have sided with Lady Lu? Son, this can't be!" Her personal maids and servants were either brought from her maiden family or purchased by her from outside. She gave them generous sums of money during festivals.
Prince Duan: "You heard me right! Otherwise, why has it been that in the past ten years or so, every time you've fought with the Lu family, they seem to have some kind of premonition? Why have you rarely won in these past ten years? Otherwise, why would your father trust the Lu family so much and love them so much? And think about it carefully, when you went to cause trouble at the Protector General's Mansion, wasn't it your trusted subordinates who instigated you? If they hadn't instigated you, would you have gone yourself?"
He had been thinking about these things a lot while he was on the northwestern border. He also instructed the guards left in the mansion to keep a close eye on the movements of the maids and servants around his mother, to see if they were colluding with the Lu family.
As expected, his guess was correct; his mother had very few reliable people around her. However, because of his presence, Madam Lu didn't dare to harm her mother. At most, Madam Lu's family simply didn't want to move out of the Prince's mansion and wanted to treat him like a sucker, providing him with good food and drink. Furthermore, they wanted to use his power, status, and prestige to secure a future and benefits for Madam Lu's children.
Upon hearing her son's words, Consort Qin burst into tears, repeatedly cursing, "These heartless bastards! I only occasionally spoke ill of them because I was feeling resentful. But I gave them generous rewards during holidays and festivals. Why did they betray me? They are ungrateful wretches! All the kindness I've shown them over the years has been for nothing!"
Prince Duan said, “Therefore, Mother, you should treat the servants better in the future and not scold them so easily! You should also give them the most basic respect, after all, they are human beings too! Treat them well and they will naturally be loyal to you. Of course, you should also use kindness and strictness together, have strict rules, and be clear about rewards and punishments!”
Consort Qin: "Alright, then I'll do as you say. Replace all the servants in Rongfu Hall! Also, replace all the guards at the gate of the Prince's Mansion! Except for the people serving the Lu family, replace everyone else!"
Prince Duan said, “Mother, you are only thirty-seven or thirty-eight years old now, still in your prime. There are some things you can do yourself, such as taking a bath and washing your underwear, pouring water for a drink, or picking up food for yourself. You can do these small things yourself, instead of having the maids and servants do them. This way, it will be better for your health, and you will be more capable of doing things yourself.”
In this way, no matter what happens in the future, it won't feel like the sky is falling. Take Princess Yulin for example; if she weren't strong and independent, how could she have led her mother and younger brother through thick and thin, waiting for the General of the Nation to return? Mother, life is unpredictable; no one knows what unexpected things might happen in the future. It's always good to be prepared!
After a moment of silence, Consort Qin finally nodded: "Alright, I'll listen to you. I'll take it slowly and gradually develop the habit of doing things myself! I won't rely too much on maids and servants and will strive to be able to take care of myself!"
My son is right. If she relies on maids and servants for everything, she wouldn't even realize if they drugged her.
Prince Duan smiled happily: "Good, I will first clean up the few cancerous plants around Mother. After I find suitable maids and servants, I will replace everyone! In the next few days, I will leave Lichun, Liqiu, Lidong and Lixia to you to do. If anyone dares to disrespect you or lay a hand on you, let Lichun and the others deal with them!"
At this moment, only the mother and son remained in the main hall of Rongfu Hall. The other maids and servants had been driven to the courtyard by Prince Duan. Furthermore, Lixin, along with nine other guards, stood watch at the entrance to the main hall, keeping the maids and servants at a distance. It was utterly impossible for them to overhear Prince Duan's conversation with his mother.
Consort Qin nodded with tears in her eyes: "I understand, Mother. You can go about your business with peace of mind! If anything happens to me, I will have Lichun inform you!"
Prince Duan: "Then I'll go and attend to my duties now. Mother, you must remain calm and take good care of yourself! No matter what happens, you must stay composed. I'm here for you, and I will never leave you helpless!"
"Okay, Mother understands. You can go ahead and do your work!" Consort Qin smiled through her tears.
That very day, Prince Duan thoroughly cleaned up Rongfu Hall, publicly flogged the three biggest troublemakers with one hundred strokes of the cane each, and then sold them far away to the harsh, cold northeast to do hard labor. He also flogged five maids and servants who were close to Lady Lu with fifty strokes of the cane each, and similarly sold them far away to the northeast to do hard labor.
Once these eight people were eliminated, the remaining individuals, though having varying degrees of collusion with the Lu family, did not significantly impact the overall situation. Prince Duan then selected another thirty people, gave each twenty strokes of the cane, and sold them off to distant lands. Of the remaining fifteen, Prince Duan chose five to keep, and sold the rest as well, without requiring the matchmakers to sell them to harsh, cold regions.
Of the five people selected, three were maids and two were old women. Although these five had not pledged allegiance to Madam Lu, they had close relationships with the maids and old women under Madam Lu's command, and were not exactly clean people. At the very least, they were outwardly loyal but inwardly treacherous, and did not wholeheartedly devote themselves to the affairs of Rongfu Hall.
Until suitable replacements are found, these five can be used temporarily, as long as they don't cause any trouble. After all, when Prince Duan takes action, it's either a hundred or fifty strokes of the cane, and he even sells them to the harsh, cold northeastern region to do hard labor, which has frightened everyone.
Good heavens, under such circumstances, who would dare to lay a hand on their master? Who would dare to betray their master?!
The once grand Rongfu Hall now only has five maids and servants remaining. Lichun and the others are only responsible for the security of Rongfu Hall and don't care about anything else. Unless Consort Qin instructs them to do something, they won't even lift a finger to help if an oil bottle falls over.
And indeed, Consort Qin began washing her own underwear, serving herself food, pouring her own water, and taking her own bath. After a few days, she went from feeling very uncomfortable to gradually getting used to it, and no longer felt that doing things herself was such a difficult thing.
Five days later, Prince Duan found five suitable maids and five suitable old women and sent them to Rongfu Hall. In addition, he found thirty skilled retired soldiers, who were his former subordinates, and sent them to the palace to replace some of the previous guards and gatekeepers.
After settling his mother in, Prince Duan resumed his routine of shuttling between the two places, staying at Qinyuan Garden one day and the Prince's Mansion the next. Life was much happier than before!
On this day, Zisu met Qin Caihong again on her way to Haori Restaurant.
Dear readers, Happy New Year! Thank you all for voting for this book! It's already surpassed tenth place on the new book monthly ticket chart, and it might even make the list tomorrow! If it gets another two or three votes, it'll be a shoo-in for tomorrow! To express my gratitude, I'll still be updating twice today, and there will be one more update tonight. Thank you!