The Devious First-Daughter

Today, the backyard of the Lord Peace’s Manor was full of betrothal gifts. Based on the protocol observed by princes marrying their consorts, the betrothal gifts had been raised a level. His betrothal gifts were more sizeable than an ordinary prince’s and a little less lavish than the Crown Prince’s.

These betrothal gifts made many people feel uncertain and more hesitant.

According to the actual status of Prince Yi, he should provide the betrothal gifts based on the Crown Prince’s share. But now, his betrothal gifts were less than the Crown Prince’s. However, it was justifiable, as his betrothal gifts were more than an ordinary prince’s. Thus, it was hard to quibble on that. After all, he was the emperor’s younger brother, and the emperor had acknowledged that.

“What’s wrong, what’s wrong? Is His Highness Prince Yi coming again?” Yun Luoluo accompanied Commandery Princess Xianyun. When she saw a little maid rushing over, she asked her excitedly. She even gave Commandery Princess Xianyun, who was standing beside her, a meaningful look, filled with a bit of pride. Commandery Princess Xianyun blushed under her gaze and lowered her head, but she did not say anything.

Seeing that she did not stop her as she usually did, in her serious manner, Yun Luoluo felt even more proud.

“Commandery Princess, Second Young Lady, Prince Yi really came here in person. He said that a pair of good jade Ruyi Sceptre was mistakenly sent to the Lord Protector’s Manor. Then he deliberately changed it and sent the betrothal gifts to you again.” The maid wiped away her sweat, and said with a smile.

Hearing that Prince Yi’s Manor had also sent betrothal gifts to the Lord Protector’s Manor today, they were in low spirits. Now, the maids following Commandery Princess Xianyun and Yun Luoluo smiled.

“Is Prince Yi still here?” Yun Luoluo asked excitedly.

“He just went back. I heard that Prince Yi had something else to deal with. If it were not for the fact that the jade Ruyi is very important, he would not have come here in person, because the people from the palace could have sent it to you.” The maid said with a smile.

For the people of ordinary families, it was the groom who sent the betrothal gifts. However, Prince Yi was not an ordinary person. The palace would send representatives to send the betrothal gifts, together with the steward of Prince Yi’s Manor. In this way, they gave a face to the Lord Peace’s Manor. This time, Prince Yi sent the jade Ruyi in person, which meant that he valued the Lord Peace’s Manor.

Perhaps it was because he valued Commandery Princess Xianyun. All the people present felt relieved. They were worried that Commandery Princess Xianyun would be in disfavor once she married into Prince Yi’s manor. Now it seemed that the Fifth Young Lady of Ning was not favored by Prince Yi at all. Prince Yi sent the betrothal gifts at the same time because he thought it was troublesome.

It would be much easier if he sent the betrothal gifts to the consort and co-consort at the same time.

It was not because Prince Yi thought highly of the Fifth Young Lady that he deliberately showed respect to the co-consort when he presented the betrothal gifts to the consort. No matter who took the pair of jade Ruyi, they would feel ashamed. There had been rumors that Commandery Princess Xianyun was not favored, and the Fifth Young Lady of Ning was already one ahead of the Commandery Princess Xianyun, even before she entered the manor.

Now, because of this pair of jade Ruyi Sceptre, all the rumors were quashed. Everyone was in a good mood.

“Eldest Sister, Prince Yi is still attentive toward you. He knew that this jade Ruyi was yours, so he could not let it fall into someone else’s hands. He was busy, but he still came here specially for you. Eldest Sister, it seems that Prince Yi…” Yun Luoluo said joyfully. When she said this, Commandery Princess Xianyun glared at her. She knew that her sister was embarrassed, so she immediately covered her mouth and giggled.

She could not see how it was possible that Prince Yi disliked her beautiful and gentle Eldest Sister. Even if Prince Yi were blind, he should understand that an ignorant young girl could not become the Hostess of Prince Yi’s Manor. Not to mention other things, her identity was also a problem.

To put it in a nice way, the daughter of a co-wife was the daughter of the principal wife. To put it crudely, she was the daughter of a concubine. How could she be compared to her Eldest Sister?

“Prince Yi has gone back? Did my father thank him?” Commandery Princess Xianyun raised her head and asked, biting her lips. There was a hint of shyness on her slightly flushed face.

“Marquis walked Prince Yi to the door. Then Prince Yi left. Later, people in the hall said that the pair of jade Ruyi was perfect and decorative. It must be a treasure in the palace, so Prince Yi came here specially for that.” The little maid peeped at Commandery Princess Xianyun’s face and added.

“What did my father and Prince Yi talk about?” Yun Luoluo asked curiously.

“This…” The maid could not answer for a moment. She had seen them from a distance and did not know what Prince Yi and Marquis talked about. Beyond her expectation, Commandery Princess Xianyun asked that, so she was tongue-tied. It seemed that she could not say anything.

“Eldest Sister, shall we let her make some enquiries?” Yun Luoluo suggested.

“Don’t bother.” Commandery Princess Xianyun said softly, looking both considerate and gentle. “Even if she runs back and forth, she will not get an answer, and will only make the people feel bad. They will think I have gone too far, if I am in the inner courtyard, but still want to interfere in the affairs of the outer courtyard. The man is in charge of the outer courtyard, while the woman is in charge of the inner courtyard. Men and women need to have good cooperation. They must be in perfect harmony.” Commandery Princess Xianyun said with a smile.

“Eldest Sister, you will bring grief on yourself again. How could you ask the Empress to agree to your request to marry into Prince Yi’s manor together with Ning Xueyan? Why did you not think it through first, instead of being so muddle headed? If she gets married into the manor with you, you will suffer a loss of status, as the principal wife.”

Yun Luoluo stamped her feet to show her dissatisfaction.

“Prince Yi is a person who is afraid of trouble. If he marries both the consort and co-consort at the same time, it will save a lot of trouble for him. Besides, even if we enter the manor at the same time, it does not matter. After all, I am Prince Yi’s consort, and she can’t take my place.” Commandery Princess Xianyun explained happily. This was the first time that she had stated it so clearly.

Everyone immediately looked at her with admiration.

She must have a lot of trust that she agreed for both the consort and co-consort to marry into the Prince’s Manor at the same time. The Commandery Princess was a very virtuous lady. In order not to make trouble for Prince Yi, she would rather suffer herself.

“Your Highness, you are too magnanimous.” The crowd praised her.

“Alright, let’s go. Don’t gather here.” Commandery Princess Xianyun turned around and walked out of the room with measured footsteps, without even looking at the betrothal gifts. It was as if the exquisite jewelry and gorgeous brocade were not enough to attract her attention.

“Commandery Princess is indeed the best.”

“Of course, Commandery Princess is the best. How can the Fifth Young Lady of Ning be compared to our Commandery Princess? Prince Yi personally sent such a good jade Ruyi to her, but Commandery Princess did not care about it at all. She did not even take a look at it.”

“That’s right. Commandery Princess cannot be compared with those ignorant people.”…

The crowd kept discussing this, and they sided with Commandery Princess Xianyun, unreservedly. On the one hand, it was because Commandery Princess Xianyun was their master. On the other hand, what happened today showed that Prince Yi thought highly of Commandery Princess Xianyun. The rumors about the matter of the consort and the co-consort marrying into Prince Yi at the same time had been quashed.

Everyone, including Yun Luoluo, went to look at the betrothal gifts. After all, those gifts surpassed that of any ordinary princes’, so they wanted to expand their horizon. No one noticed that there was a faint smile on Princess Xianyun’s face when she turned around. She whispered, “As expected, you’re just so-so.”

The consort and the co-consort would marry into Prince Yi’s manor at the same time. He sent the betrothal gifts to them at the same time. And because of the sudden incident regarding the Jade Ruyi Sceptre, the follow-up of this matter had been influenced. After all, from this last incident, one could tell that Prince Yi, Ao Chenyi, did not value the Fifth Young Lady at all. He even asked for the Jade Ruyi Sceptre to be sent back, regardless of her feelings.

Such a shameful thing could not be carried out by ordinary people, but it was in accordance with Prince Yi’s character. Others might be wary about hurting the co-consort-to-be’s feelings. Prince Yi would certainly not be bothered about this. After all, Prince Yi was well-known for not showing mercy to women.

It was said that Prince Yi was going to marry this co-consort because they were linked by fate. Then, the consort and the co-consort would marry into Prince Yi’s manor at the same time. Although it was Princess Xianyun who proposed it, it was enough to set peoples’ tongues wagging. They wondered if there was something more to it that they were not aware of.

Now that everything was gone, Prince Yi did not care about her feelings. Prince Yi chose the Fifth Young Lady because of what had happened in the imperial palace. The Fifth Young Lady had an argument with Vice Minister Ling’s daughter. They happened to meet Prince Yi and Prince Yi asked them to go to the Small Jing’an Temple together.

However, the Young Lady of Vice Minister of Justice Ling did not seize this opportunity, which made Prince Yi so angry that she ended up like that. As for Fifth Young Lady of Ning, she was lucky. She said nothing, and was granted the position of a co-consort. It could only be said that she was lucky. If the Young Lady of Vice Minister of Justice was obedient and had not said anything, it was hard to say who would have become the co-consort.

It seemed that the reason why Prince Yi married the Fifth Young Lady was because she was obedient.

He wanted to marry her because she was obedient. He arranged to marry the consort and the co-consort together, to avoid any problems. What’s more, he had no regard for her face, when it came to the incident of the misplaced jade Ruyi.

Combined with these points, the reason why the Fifth Young Lady was able to marry into Prince Yi’s Manor, together with the consort, might be that she was lucky.

Then what about Commandery Princess Xianyun of the Lord Peace’s Manor? They had always felt that Commandery Princess Xianyun had been wronged. However, she took the initiative to ask for that. Moreover, she knelt in front of the Empress’s palace and fainted. They thought that she might lose the favor before she got married. How could one explain the matter of the jade Ruyi?

“Is she playing tricks?”

Why did the consort request a reward for the co-consort before getting married? Did she deliberately put Fifth Young Lady at the center of a dispute? If Prince Yi had not sent the jade Ruyi in person, everyone would think Commandery Princess Xianyun was the one who was out of favor.

Some people were smart, and they would have different ideas if they thought about it a bit…

Most of the time, fights within the royal family were always not obvious. What did this mean now? Many people were guessing the reason for Prince Yi to give back the jade Ruyi. Most of them were thinking about this matter between Commandery Princess Xianyun and Prince Yi. As for Fifth Young Lady, most of them no longer gave any thought to her.

She was not only a co-consort, but also an unfavored one. So, she was a good-for-nothing. There was no need to treat her as a target.