Chapter 206 Death of Lin Xiaoniang
"That's better than marrying a poor scholar and suffering!" Lin Xiaoniang roared.
Sheng Hong looked at Lin Xiaoniang in disbelief, then nodded sadly, "I understand."
In the past, Lin Xiaoniang told him that she liked him as a person, so she was willing to be his concubine.
Even though he had nothing, she was willing to be his concubine and had no regrets.
This is also the reason why Sheng Hong felt that he owed Lin Xiaoniang and had been indulging her.
Only now did Sheng Hong realize that all this was fake.
Sheng Hong closed his eyes in pain, and opened them after a long time. He said coldly, "Have you ever considered Changfeng and Molan when you did all this? Chi Wu was sent by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and you know what this means. If you commit suicide, you can still retain some dignity, and Changfeng and Molan will not be affected. You decide for yourself!"
After saying that, Sheng Hong stood up and walked out.
Lin Xiaoniang was struck by lightning when she heard this. No wonder Sheng Hong was so decisive and directly gave her poison.
"and many more!"
Lin Xiaoniang called Sheng Hong and said in a trembling voice, "I want to see Molan."
"Why are you doing this?" Sheng Hong stood at the door, without turning around, and said with a complicated expression.
"This is my only request. Otherwise I won't take the poison." Lin Xiaoniang said.
She doesn't want to commit suicide, and the prince will not let it go.
When the news spread, Sheng Changfeng's future was completely ruined, and Molan probably wouldn't be able to get married.
But doesn’t the Sheng family, including Sheng Hong, have any impact?
Sheng Hong stood there in silence for a while, said nothing, and continued to walk out.
…………
The sudden death of a concubine of the Sheng family did not attract much attention.
Every wealthy family has several concubines who have died, and almost all of them are told to the outside world that they died suddenly.
Even though Sheng Hong is now a fourth-rank official, the Sheng family is still doing pretty well.
In a place like Bianjing, it really means nothing.
Official position is only one aspect; the status of a family depends more on its background.
The old man of the Sheng family was a top scholar in the imperial examination and married the daughter of a marquis. If he had not died, the Sheng family would now have a place in Bian Jing.
It’s a pity that Old Master Sheng died early and did not accumulate any connections for the Sheng family.
The Sheng family is now supported by Sheng Hong. The younger generation has not yet grown up, and it is unknown what the future will be like.
When Zhao Xing learned that Lin Xiaoniang had died, he had someone verify it and then stopped paying attention to it.
Lin Xiaoniang deserved to be put to death for murdering Minglan, and the matter ends here.
On this day, the palace sent an imperial edict to confer titles on Yu Yanran, who was made the Prince's concubine of the fourth rank, and Sheng Shulan, who was made the Prince's concubine.
Now the two of them have an official relationship.
However, one of them is Minglan's best friend and the other is Minglan's sister. Minglan's life or death is uncertain, so the two of them cannot be happy even if they are canonized.
It has been a few days since Zhao Xing got married. Now the Eastern Palace already has a Crown Princess. Except for Rulan who has not yet reached the age of marriage, the other concubines that were chosen before have already reached the age of marriage and need to be brought into the Eastern Palace one after another.
In his early years, the Emperor and Empress Cao helped him choose six concubines in addition to the Crown Prince's principal wife.
In addition to Yu Yanran and Rulan, there are four others.
The Emperor and Empress Cao did not add any more things to his fortune over the years.
One queen and six concubines are enough.
It’s not that Zhao Xing can only have so many concubines. According to etiquette, the prince’s harem is full, with dozens of concubines.
However, it is impossible to select all these concubines from the families of lords and ministers. They also have to be selected from the people to fill the Eastern Palace.
However, taking concubines did not require as grand a ceremony as marrying a wife, even though Zhao Xing was the crown prince.
Yu Yanran entered the palace early, skipping some steps.
Normally, when taking in concubines, the palace would send someone to teach the rules and regulations one or two months in advance.
When the day comes, she will be directly canonized and sent to the Eastern Palace, and that will be the end of the matter.
Before Zhao Xing's wedding, the palace had already sent people to several families to teach them the rules.
When Yu Yanran and Sheng Shulan were canonized, the girls from the four families were also canonized.
The next day, the four were sent directly to the Eastern Palace and entered Zhao Xing's harem.
However, Zhao Xing never appeared in the original play with these four people. Zhao Xing had only seen them a few times before, at the polo field and court banquets.
Unlike with Zhang Guifen and the others, Zhao Xing did not have early contact and foster affection. As Minglan's life and death were uncertain, Zhao Xing had no interest in favoring them, and even after they entered the Eastern Palace, Zhao Xing did not go to see them.
Zhang Guifen felt that this was inappropriate, as the concubines who were chosen early on all had political factors involved.
These four people, two are from civil officials' families and two are from noble families, represent civil officials and nobles.
If they approach the Eastern Palace, Zhao Xing will ignore them, and not only the families behind them, but even the civil officials and lords will have second thoughts.
She wanted to persuade him, but she knew that Zhao Xing was in a bad mood. After hesitating for a moment, she did not persuade Zhao Xing and could only come forward to comfort him herself.
…………
Moriya
Xiaotao sat on the bed, resting her head on her arms, dozing off.
She was startled by the sound of light footsteps. When she saw who was coming, Xiao Tao breathed a sigh of relief.
"Sister Cuiwei, is the old lady okay?"
"The old lady is so worried that she is sick. If the girl still doesn't wake up, I'm afraid the old lady will also..."
Cuiwei sighed when she said this.
The imperial physician said that if Minglan didn't wake up within twelve hours, she would be in danger.
But Minglan did not wake up, but fortunately her condition did not get worse.
However, Mrs. Sheng and Mrs. Wei fell ill due to worry.
Then Lin Xiaoniang died suddenly, and Sheng Hong also had a sullen face.
Sheng Changfeng and Molan are heartbroken over their mother's death, while Rulan is worried about Minglan.
Among all the owners of the Sheng family, except for Madam Wang, everyone else was sick or crying, and the atmosphere was very depressing.
Now, there is not much time left until Sheng Changbai's wedding. Originally, the wedding should have been held with great fanfare and decorations, in preparation for marrying his eldest daughter-in-law, but now it is uncertain whether it can be held normally.
"You haven't had much rest these days. Go to sleep for a while. I'll take care of the girl." Cuiwei said.
"No!" Xiao Tao shook her head and said, "I want to stay here with the girl."
Cuiwei saw this and was helpless, so she said, "I'll have someone bring some hot water over. You wipe the girl's body while I go to the kitchen to see if the ginseng soup is ready."
Minglan was in a coma and could only rely on ginseng soup to stay alive.
The medicine was stopped two days ago. The imperial physician said that in the current situation, taking medicine is no longer useful.
Whether she can wake up depends on herself.
"Yeah!" Xiaotao nodded.
Cuiwei looked at Minglan, turned around and was about to leave, but suddenly stopped.
"Sister Cuiwei, what's wrong with you?" Xiaotao asked puzzledly.
Cuiwei stared at Minglan and said uncertainly, "I just saw the lady's eyelids move."
When she turned her head just now, she seemed to see Minglan's eyelids move out of the corner of her eye.
"Really?"
Xiaotao exclaimed and quickly squatted beside the bed, looking at Minglan in surprise.
"Miss, did you hear what I said? The old lady is so worried about you that she is sick. Please wake up soon!"
However, Xiaotao held Minglan's hand and kept talking for a long time, but Minglan did not respond.
"Maybe my eyes are blurry and I saw it wrong. Please wipe the girl's body." Cuiwei shook her head and said to Xiaotao when she saw the maid coming in with hot water.
"The girl is really awake!"
Cuiwei was about to leave when she heard Xiaotao's exclamation. She quickly came to the bedside and saw that Minglan's eyes were closed and there was no sign of waking up. She said, "Xiaotao, don't shout. The old lady can't bear any more blows now."
After saying this, Cuiwei wanted to go out and tell the other maids not to talk nonsense.
If a maid heard it, took it seriously, and ran to tell Old Madam Sheng, and Minglan was still asleep, Old Madam Sheng might not be able to accept it.
"I'm not talking nonsense. The girl's hand is moving. Sister Cuiwei, look!" Xiaotao said in surprise while holding Minglan's hand.
Cuiwei looked carefully and found that Minglan's fingers were indeed moving slightly.
"Hurry, go and ask Imperial Physician Ma to come over!" Cuiwei ordered excitedly.
Imperial Physician Wu stayed at the Sheng family for two days and then left, but Imperial Physician Ma was kept at the Sheng family by Zhao Xing.
The maid who brought in the hot water quickly put down the basin, picked up the skirt and trotted out.
Minglan felt as if she had had a very long dream. Although she was in a daze in the dream, she was free of all stress and worries, which made her immersed in it and unwilling to wake up.
(End of this chapter)