freenovelworld Chapter 481 Three Beauties!
Chapter 481 Three Beauties!
When Mu Xin Nuan arrived at the front hall, she discovered that Duanmu Chu Ze was not wearing formal court attire. She was puzzled, as it was an important matter to receive an imperial decree, so it was only appropriate to wear court attire. Why hadn't he changed?
Could this decree be for him?
Mu Xin Nuan was startled. She hurriedly came out, wearing only a set of the common clothes made for a princess, not a formal court dress. Could it really be an imperial decree for her?
Mu Xin Nuan had no time to think. When she arrived at Duanmu Chu Ze's side, she saw the faint smile in his eyes. Looking at the eunuch who was delivering the imperial decree, she realized that he did not seem to be the imperial decree messenger.
Upon seeing the several beauties standing in the courtyard, along with some trunks and cages, Mu Xin Nuan could roughly guess what was going on.
Sure enough, after the imperial decree was read, Mu Xin Nuan glanced at the beauties in the courtyard with a slight smile and said with a hint of teasing, "Your Highness is so lucky. These beauties are all exceptional girls, and those who have been ordered by the Empress to serve Your Highness must come from noble backgrounds. I would like to offer my congratulations to Your Highness."
As she spoke, she curtsied to him.
This behavior truly makes her seem like a virtuous wife.
The eunuch who delivered the decree didn't hear it very clearly, but seeing the princess's smiling face and hearing her congratulatory words at the end, he understood. So, he happily returned to the capital to report.
Once the people from the capital left, only the three young ladies and some maids remained.
Mu Xin glanced at Duanmu Chuze with a cool expression, raised an eyebrow, and turned back to the backyard.
Duanmu Chuze gave a wry smile. The two of them had finally reconciled, and their relationship had finally taken a step closer. He never expected that his mother would send him three beauties at this time.
These three women, though currently without official titles, none of them come from particularly low social standing. Just as Mu Xin Nuan said, how could the women chosen for him, a prince, possibly have any issues with their backgrounds?
This was because he was thinking that if he favored them in the future and they became pregnant, he would be able to receive a title and honors.
The three beauties were still in the courtyard, waiting to pay their respects to the mistress first. But when they looked up again, the princess was nowhere to be seen in the main hall.
Although the three young ladies couldn't be described as being from prestigious families, they were all well-bred and refined, yet at this moment, they lost their composure. What should they do next?
After a while, Aunt Fang came out and said, "Please come with me, ladies. The Princess Consort has been summoning many ladies today and is tired. She has specially ordered me to come and settle you in."
An official explained her identity to them, clarifying that she was not a servant bought from this manor. Although the three young ladies were very likely to become the prince's women in the future, they should not do anything too inappropriate to her.
Mu Xin Nuan asked Aunt Fang to arrange for them to stay in the west courtyard. One of them had a separate courtyard, while the other two shared a room. Although both were separate courtyards, they were not large because none of the three of them had yet served the emperor and did not have a clear identity.
As a result, although the two young ladies living together did not say anything, the maids below them gradually began to complain.
For several days in a row, Mu Xin Nuan was busy receiving the wives of officials from various counties and prefectures, so she naturally had no time to pay attention to these three beauties.
All three of them had sent people to inquire, and it was confirmed that the prince and princess had indeed been very busy these days, so they had all stayed quietly in their own courtyards and had not gone out to visit anyone.
It wasn't until the evening of the tenth day of the lunar month that Mu Xin Nuan was finally able to have some peace and quiet.
For several days in a row, I had to put on a generous and proper smile and say things that even I found a bit pretentious. Finally, I was able to have a few days of peace and quiet.
“Your Highness, according to local custom, there will definitely be a lantern festival outside on the Lantern Festival. Moreover, you are the princess, the most noble lady in Yanzhou. Logically speaking, you and the prince should go out and show your faces on the Lantern Festival.”
"That doesn't matter. Anyway, I've been feeling a bit bored lately and was thinking of going out for a walk."
"Your Highness, what about those three young ladies in the west courtyard?" Aunt Fang knew that the Princess Consort certainly didn't like these three, but since the Empress had ordered them to be sent to the Chang Le Prince's residence, they naturally couldn't be mistreated. Otherwise, it would be seen as dissatisfaction with the Empress's actions, and then the Princess Consort's future days would likely not be easy.
Mu Xin Nuan knew that she was doing this for her own good, so she thought for a moment and said, "Tonight, lock Yi Jing Garden early. Also, tell the person staying at Die Garden that the Prince will be having dinner there tonight. As for whether the Prince can stay, that's not something I can control."
"Yes, Your Highness." Aunt Fang nodded approvingly. As the mistress of the house, she should naturally have such demeanor.
Unlike Chunyu and the others, Aunt Fang knew that the prince doted on the princess, but she also believed that there should be limits to how much he doted on her. For example, since the princess had not yet come of age, the prince, as a man, should not wrong himself.
However, it's perfectly normal to casually favor one or two women.
Besides, the prince refused to take a concubine back in the capital, which already gave the princess enough face. So, it would be inappropriate for the princess to continue to be jealous.
Aunt Fang had someone pass on the message to the person in Butterfly Garden, and then she went to the Prince's study in person to clearly convey the Princess's meaning. She did not see any surprise in the Prince's eyes, and then she withdrew.
Duanmu Chuze pondered for a moment, then shook his head and chuckled. Wang Zhao, standing to the side, seemed somewhat puzzled.
"Your Highness, do you think the Princess Consort is truly so magnanimous?"
“If it were before, perhaps it would have been true.” Duanmu Chuze raised an eyebrow. “But now, she doesn’t have that kind of tolerance. It’s alright if I’m just going there for dinner, but if there’s anything else? Heh, I’m afraid I don’t know how long it will take before I can get into Yijing Garden.”
He wasn't afraid of being laughed at by Wang Zhao and Xu Hai for saying this. After laughing for a while, he thought of Fang Heng.
"Go, send someone to invite Old Madam Fang to the manor for a chat. Tell her that the Princess Consort has invited her. Uh, let's set the time for tomorrow morning."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Wang Zhao and Xu Hai exchanged a glance, completely bewildered. However, seeing their master's sinister smile, they couldn't help but shudder. Whenever their master smiled like that, it was never anything good!
It seems that this time, the one who's going to be unlucky is Fang Heng, that straightforward guy!