The residence of the Marquis of Lin An in Ding Capital City was indeed magnificent. This was mainly because the Marquis Fūrén was the Princess Yu Qing whom the late Emperor doted on most. Originally, once he became a Fūmā (Princess's husband), the Marquis of Lin An's military power must be returned. The late Emperor was unable to withstand Princess Yu Qing's tantrums and whining, and let things slide. This was enough to show Princess Yu Qing's position in the late Emperor's heart.
Princess Yu Qing was an outstanding beauty and had the most gentle and tender temperament. After marrying into the Marquis Residence, she was also doted by the Marquis of Lin An. Unfortunately, the Marquis of Lin An still brought in a concubine, who was the current Madam Fang.
If Princess Yu Qing was a natural lady from a noble house, who had money and power to help one in any occupation, then this Madam Fang was a pretty daughter from a humble family. It was Madam Fang's father who did a favour to the Marquis, and afterwards, when the family fell behind, Father Fang used this favour to compel the Marquis to marry Madam Fang as a Liángqiè (Concubine)
(HidAnas: according to 红楼梦 Dream of Red Mansions, by Cao Xueqin, Concubinage is divided into 11 division: 媵 Yìng, 侧室 Cèshì,副室 Fùshì,偏室 Piānfáng,偏房 Péifang,陪房 Shìqiè,侍妾 Bìqiè,婢妾 Tōngfáng,通房 Wàishì,外室 Wàifù. If I were to summarise this... too many words... so go to https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%A6%BE)
Liángqiè and normal concubines (Shìqiè) were different and could not be killed as one might wish. In addition, Madam Fang was willing to become a concubine and did not display any jealous behaviour, thus the Marquis did not take it to mind. Most likely, it was because noblemen usually had three wives and four concubines and the Marquis of Lin An only brought in one Liángqiè, which was already rarely seen. As such, the Marquis did not feel that anything was wrong.
Unfortunately, when males and females looked at a problem, especially concerning the issue of concubines, they would be poles apart. The Marquis felt that having a Liángqiè was not a serious matter since a concubine was only a plaything and the person in his heart was still Princess Yu Qing, but Princess Yu Qing did not feel the same.
Princess Yu Qing grew up with the favour of the late Emperor and was also pampered all day after marrying into the Marquis Residence. Her husband had only her, the official wife, so she was already used to that kind of lifestyle. Who knew that there would be a sudden appearance of a concubine. At that time, Princess Yu Qing had just given birth to Xie Jing Xin and was in her confinement period when she was hit with the news.
Madam Fang gave her greeting to Princess Yu Qing every day and wore clothes according to the rules. It would be better if she did not come, as it only made Princess Yu Qing feel more anguish. If Princess Yu Qing was an ordinary Princess, she would have found a way to make Madam Fang stumble as it was not impossible to send her away. But Princess Yu Qing was protected very well the entire time and was naïve to the ways of the world, so how would she know how to use those dirty tricks?
Nevertheless, it was the Māmā who was part of the Princess's dowry who thought of an idea to chase Madam Fang out from the house and carried it out without the Princess' knowledge. Who knew that it not only ended in failure but was also discovered by the Marquis of Lin An.
Even though the Marquis of Lin An was usually an unruly person, at the bottom of his heart, he had an honourable temperament and could not stand all the petty little tricks that women played, so he severely rebuked Princess Yu Qing at that time.
It was the first time since Princess Yu Qing married over that she got into an argument with the Marquis of Lin An. She was also one who would not swallow any grievances, so she did not mention the matter of the Māmā and only opposed the Marquis of Lin An with equal harshness, so much so that the Marquis turned and left abruptly.
She initially thought that the Marquis of Lin An would visit her after a few days, but who knew that after a month had passed, the Marquis only rested at Madam Fang's. A female during confinement period must not be upset and Princess Yu Qing kept the anger inside leading her to succumb to a bout of serious illness.
Deep down, the Marquis of Lin An deeply loved his wife and wanted to visit Princess Yu Qing, but on that very night, he received the Imperial Edict to go into battle and could not even inform Princess Yu Qing before he left.
Shortly after the Marquis of Lin An left, Madam Fang found out she was pregnant.
As the main household, when the Marquis was not in, Princess Yu Qing could not create problems for Madam Fang and even had to protect the child inside her. If there were any unexpected mishaps, the gossip in the capital would be how she murdered the concubine while her husband was away.
Over time, being physically and mentally exhausted, Princess Yu Qing's health was gradually neglected and almost at the brink of collapse. When the Māmā saw it, she was filled with anxiety, but Princess Yu Qing did not allow the Māmā to report back to the Imperial family. She got up to write a letter to the Marquis of Lin An asking him to come back to see her.
She waited and waited, but in the end, she was unable to wait for the Marquis of Lin An's return.
Princess Yu Qing died. Three days after the burial, the Marquis of Lin An returned in triumph, but upon failing to see his beloved wife, he was deeply grieved. Unfortunately, the beauty was gone, leaving behind only a grave.
At that time, the late Emperor was extremely furious and demoted the official rank of the Marquis of Lin An. Until the new Emperor took the position and pitied the loss of his talent, he was then promoted back to the Marquis of Lin An. Unfortunately, there were no more anecdotes about the ideal couple.
The Marquis of Lin An did not marry a second wife and there was only Madam Fang in the entire Marquis Residence. Madam Fang also lowered her head for a more than a decade to be more low profile. Though the Marquis of Lin An cared about her children, he put all his energy on his Di-son, Xie Jing Xing.
But Xie Jing Xing did not appreciate it. As he gradually became sensible, he started to become estranged from the Marquis of Lin An – Princess Yu Qing's and the Marquis of Lin An's love-hate disputes were household analogies, thus if one wanted to know about it, it would be known.
The Marquis of Lin An was conscience-stricken by his son and would always do his best to satisfy him. However, Xie Jing Xing especially loved to adopt a confrontational attitude with his father, which made Xie Ding's head hurt in fury. In any case, he had inherited the beauty and talent of Princess Yu Qing and was a wonderful and brilliant gentleman, except for his unruly temper. This naturally made him the ideal man of the young ladies from aristocrat families.
Today was still the same.
Xie Jing Xing strode into his study.
His courtyard was the courtyard that Princess Yu Qing used to recuperate. It was far from the main courtyard and was very peaceful and secluded. Xie Ding always urged him to move nearer to the main courtyard but was always rejected by his son. The reason was that he did not want to see certain people.
His attitude towards the Marquis of Lin An had always been so cold.
His manservant pushed the door open and came in carrying a snow-white flower ceramic bowl, "Fang Yíniáng has cooked lotus seed porridge for Zhǔzi to warm his body and said that it has been boiling for a few shichen."
He did not like his men to call him 'Young Master (Shàoyé)' or 'Heir (Shìzi)' and had them call him just 'Master (Zhǔzi)'. It seemed that with this, he wanted to be separated from the Marquis Residence.
Xie Jing Xing cast a glance at the bowl. The porridge was shimmering and the soup was thick and fresh, it really took a lot of time to make. It was emitting a light fragrance and could move one's appetite.
He coldly replied, "Pour it out."
The manservant replied yes and withdrew.
Just when the servant left, a person suddenly appeared from behind the door. He lowered his head and softly said, "Zhǔzi, this one has investigated thoroughly. It is the Wǔ xiǎojiě of the First Household in the General Residence, Shen Xin's Di-daughter, Shen Miao."
"Shen Xin?" Xie Jing Xin frowned.
Shen Xin and Xie Ding had political differences for many years and the Shen Residence and Marquis Residence each felt the other was unpleasing to the eye. As for the checks and balances of the military, it involved a lot of interest.
The Marquis Residence and the Su family were good friends, so for the Shen family to warn the Su family, perhaps it was also to remind the Xie family. But for opposing people to suddenly give a reminder, what was the meaning of it? Even more so, Shen Miao was a little girl, what would she know. It was, of course, the Shen family who deliberately made her give the reminder. Shen Xin was currently in the faraway Northeastern area, could it be the Second or Third Household? Shen Gui and Shen Wan were very ambitious people and now that the situation in the Imperial Court showed some movement, they might take advantage of the crisis for personal gain.
"Shen and Xie's families are as different as the Jing and Wei Rivers. For the Shen girl to suddenly show goodwill, she obviously has ill intentions." He raised his brows as his voice became as cold as iron, "Continue investigating!"