0p0 Chapter 522 She's not simple!
Chapter 522 She's not simple!
Two days later, He Jiajun announced to the public that He Bao'er, the illegitimate daughter of He Jiasheng's family, had been adopted by the Xie family and become the daughter of the prefect.
Previously, Miss He's status was naturally quite high. But now, she has become the daughter of the Prefect's Mansion, which can only be described as taking another step up in status.
He Jiajun even held a banquet to invite celebrities from Yanzhou City, just to let everyone know how much he and his wife valued their adopted daughter.
The Prince of Changle's residence naturally received an invitation as well. However, Mu Xin Nuan and Duanmu Chu Ze would not attend such an occasion, as it would make them appear too unrespectable.
Mu Xin Nuan didn't go, but she sent someone to deliver a congratulatory gift, after all, she still had to give the Crown Princess some face.
Who could blame her, since this Lady He is the Crown Princess's sister?
However, Mu Xin Nuan probably guessed the He family's intention in doing this: they wanted to use He Bao'er to form a marriage alliance with the Lu family.
On the one hand, it can help the He family consolidate their position in Yanzhou. Even after He Jiajun is no longer the governor of Yanzhou, the He family's position will not be shaken too much. On the other hand, it is likely that their ambition to seize land is still primarily aimed at obtaining rice and grain from the Lu family.
Mu Xin Nuan has been a bit lazy lately. In fact, it's partly because Duanmu Chu Ze has been putting her through a lot of trouble almost every night, so she spends most of her time sleeping. Even when she's not sleeping, she just lies lazily on the couch, not wanting to move.
Aunt Fang was naturally pleased to see the young couple's good relationship, but she would occasionally offer a word of advice, reminding them that young people should know how to exercise restraint.
Every time Mu Xin Nuan heard Aunt Fang's words, she wished she could use her eyes to pierce holes in Duanmu Chu Ze!
"Your Highness, the bird's nest soup is ready. Would you like to eat it now, or wait a little longer?"
Mu Xin Nuan lazily slumped onto the table. "Use it now. Oh, and remember to send a copy to the Prince in front as well. He's been very busy these days."
"Yes, princess."
Rongyue brought over the bird's nest soup, with Muhua following behind. "Your Highness, the young lady staying at Xiangyuan seems to be acting a little strange."
Mu Xin Nuan paused in her stirring of the bird's nest, looked up at her, and asked, "What's wrong?"
"I found this among the miscellaneous items thrown out by her maid," Mu Hua said, picking up the item from her hand and examining it a few times. "Your Highness, this kind of cinnabar doesn't belong to our palace. Besides, I've already looked into this girl's background; she's just an insignificant concubine's daughter. How could she afford such expensive cinnabar?"
Upon hearing this, Mu Xin Nuan immediately became serious. "So, this young lady was specially selected by some important figure and then sent to our Chang Le Prince's Mansion?"
"Your Highness, may I try her again?"
Mu Xin Nuan shook her head, "Not for now! Also, did anyone see you bring these things out?"
"Your Highness, rest assured, I did it discreetly, and no one saw it."
"That's good. I'll discuss this matter with the Prince later and hear his opinion."
The banquet hosted by Magistrate He also invited members of the Lu family. When it was almost time, Madam He called Madam Lu aside to a warm pavilion and discussed the marriage between the two families.
Originally, Madam He had never considered a marriage alliance with the Lu family because she knew that the Lu and Xie families were essentially one entity. No matter how powerful the Lu family was, frankly speaking, they were just servants of the Xie family. Therefore, Madam He looked down on the Lu family from the bottom of her heart.
But things are different now.
The Lu family actually made their stance clear, not only completely breaking away from the Xie family, but also, from the old man's words recently, she vaguely learned that the Lu family's abilities probably far exceeded their expectations.
Furthermore, in Yanzhou now, who doesn't know that the eldest son of the Lu family is highly valued by the prince?
In addition, Lu Shaofeng's wife is the beloved daughter of Mr. Liu, whom the Prince of Changle greatly relies on.
Therefore, it was at this moment that Madam He came up with the idea of a marriage alliance with the Lu family.
Compared to before, Madam Lu was much more composed and knew not to speak too definitively. She only said that she would ask her husband's opinion when she got back. If her husband did not object, then she would naturally not object either.
Thus, the marriage is practically halfway done.
That evening, Mu Xin Nuan told Duanmu Chu Ze what Mu Hua had discovered, but seeing that he was not surprised, she immediately understood.
"You knew there was something wrong with that girl in the Fragrant Garden all along?"
Duanmu Chuze chuckled twice. "Didn't you suspect her about that suicide attempt before? What? You're only realizing she's the problem now?"
This is tantamount to admitting that he had indeed known all along that this beauty was poisonous.
"To be honest, I don't know which family's young lady this is. I only know that her surname is Xie, but I don't know which family's Xie she is?"
In fact, Mu Xin Nuan had her suspicions about the Crown Princess, but she still refused to believe that the Crown Princess was so distrustful of Duanmu Chu Ze that she would extend her influence so far.
"Alright. She is a young lady from a collateral branch of the Xie family. However, it's really hard to say whether it's the Crown Princess's idea or the Xie family head's idea. Moreover, this Miss Xie is different from the previous Xie Yilin. That Xie Yilin was at most just a talented woman with no real power, but this Miss Xie is different; she knows martial arts."
"Martial arts skills?"
Duanmu Chuze nodded seriously. "If there's nothing else, you should avoid contact with her. Also, even when you're moving around your own residence, it's best to take a few of them with you. Having more people with you can't go wrong."
Mu Xin Nuan nodded, then asked with some concern, "Is she very skilled?"
"Generally speaking, they are probably not as good as Mu Hua and Mu Qing."
"I don't understand this. If she was sent to be your concubine, why did you choose someone who knows martial arts? Could it be that she's not here to please you, but to steal something from our house?"
Thinking this, Mu Xin Nuan unconsciously frowned. This kind of woman is much more difficult to deal with than the kind of woman who only knows how to seduce men!
To put it bluntly, you don't even know what she's here for, so how can you know how to deal with her effectively?
"It seems we really need to be more careful around this woman."
Duanmu Chuze rubbed his forehead, feeling a bit of a headache. "There were three beauties in total. I married one off, one committed suicide, and this one is left. I can't let anything happen to her, can I?"