The Marquis's Residence in the capital was indeed magnificent. The late wife of the Marquis was the late emperor's favorite, Princess Yuqing. After becoming the emperor's son-in-law, the military power of the Marquis was supposed to be taken back. However, the late emperor didn't, which showed how important Princess Yuqing was to him.
Princess Yuqing was born with outstanding beauty and a gentle temperament. After marrying to the Marquis, she was naturally doted on by the Marquis. Unfortunately, in the end, the Marquis still took in a concubine, who was now Madam Fang.
If Princess Yuqing was a natural-born daughter of a rich family, then Madam Fang was just a pretty girl from a humble family. Originally, the Marquis owed the Fang family a favor. Later, when the Fang family was in trouble, they asked the Marquis to marry their daughter.
Madam Fang was humble and not jealous, so the Marquis of Lin'an just pretended she didn't exist. Probably because the children of noble families all had a few concubines, the Marquis of Lin'an didn't think there was anything wrong with him having one.
Unfortunately, men and women looked at things differently, especially when it came to concubines. The Marquis of Lin'an felt that it was not a big deal to take in a concubine. A concubine was just a plaything. The person in his heart was still Princess Yuqing, but Princess Yuqing didn't think this way.
Princess Yuqing grew up under the favor of the late emperor. After marrying into the marquis's mansion, she lived a pampered life. She was the only wife of her husband and was used to such a life. Unexpectedly, a concubine suddenly came. At that time, Princess Yuqing was about to give birth to Xie Jingxing. Before she gave birth, she was shocked by this news.
Every day, Madam Fang would come over to pay her respects to Princess Yuqing. She always dressed and behaved properly. It would have been fine if she didn't come, but the moment she came, Princess Yuqing felt extremely annoyed. Growing up well-protected by her parents, Princess Yuqing was quite unsophisticated and didn't know any dirty tricks she could play to get rid of people.
It was the nanny who thought of a way to force Madam Fang to leave without telling the princess. Unexpectedly, she didn't succeed and was even discovered by the Marquis of Lin'an.
The Marquis of Lin'an was an upright person and he could not stand women playing tricks, so he immediately reprimanded Princess Yuqing.
This was the first time Princess Yuqing had quarreled with the Marquis of Lin'an since she married him. She was a person who could not stand being wronged. In the end, she left the mansion in a fit of anger.
She thought that the Marquis would come to visit her in a few days. Unexpectedly, a month went by and he still didn't show up. Consumed by anger and jealousy, she fell seriously ill one day.
The Marquis of Lin'an still loved his first wife deeply and wanted to come over to visit Princess Yuqing. However, he received an imperial edict to go to war overnight and left without even saying goodbye to her.
Not long after Lin An left, Madam Fang found that she had a body.
As the main wife, without the Marquis of Lin'an around, Princess Yuqing had to protect Madam Fang and her child. Otherwise, if anything happened to Madam Fang, the rumors in the capital would probably be that she took advantage of her husband's absence to harm the concubine.
After a long time, she was mentally and physically exhausted. Princess Yuqing's body was gradually getting worse and worse. Seeing this, the nanny was anxious. However, Princess Yuqing did not allow her to inform the royal family of her illness. She got up and wrote a letter to the Marquis of Lin'an, asking him to come back and see her.
She waited and waited, but no one came.
Three days after Princess Yuqing was buried, the Marquis returned in triumph. He did not even see the corpse of his beloved wife and was extremely sad.
At that time, the late emperor was furious and removed his title as the Marquis of Lin'an. When the new emperor took over, he returned the title to him. Unfortunately, the love story between a talented Marquis and a beautiful princess could never be played again.
The Marquis of Lin'an never married another wife. Madam Fang was still as humble as before and gave birth to a few children. The Marquis of Lin'an cared a little about her children but spent all his energy on grooming Xie Jingxing.
However, Xie Jingxing did not appreciate it. Ever since he came of age, he had always been distant from the Marquis of Lin'an. The love and hate entanglement between Princess Yuqing and the Marquis of Lin'an was almost known by everyone in the capital. If he wanted to know, he could always find out.
The Marquis of Lin'an felt guilty towards his son and always tried his best to satisfy him. On the other hand, Xie Jingxing seemed to like going against his father a lot, which always gave his father a headache. However, no matter what, he had inherited the beauty and talent of Princess Yuqing. Apart from his mischievous behaviors, he was a wonderful and pretty boy. Naturally, he was also Prince Charming of rich girls in Ming Qi.
It was the same today for this son and father.
Xie Jingxing strode into his study.
His courtyard was where Princess Yuqing used to live when she was recuperating. It was far from the main courtyard and was quiet. Xie Ding once wanted him to move to a place near the main courtyard, but he rejected him. The reason was that he really did not want to see some people.
His attitude towards the Marquis mansion had always been so cold.
The maids beside him pushed open the door and walked in with a snow-white porcelain bowl, saying, "Madam Fang made crystal lotus seed porridge. She said it was cooked for a few hours. Master, eat some to warm up."
He did not like his maids calling him "Young Marquis", but "Master", as if this could separate him from his father.
Xie Jingxing glanced at the bowl. The porridge was cooked until it was sparkling, and the soup was bright and sticky. It had been cooked for quite a while, and it emitted a fragrance that made people salivate.
He said coldly, "Dump it."
The maid agreed as usual and left.
As soon as she left, a person appeared behind the door. He lowered his head slightly and said in a low voice, "Master, I've found out. She's Shen Miao, the daughter of Shen Xin."
"Shen Xin?" Xie Jingxing frowned.
Shen Xin and Xie Ding had been at odds with each other for many years, and the Shen family and the Xie family did not like each other either.
The Xie family and the Su family were good friends. The Shen family might want to deliver the message to the Xie family through the Su family. However, they were enemies, so why did the Shen family do that? Moreover, what did a little girl like Shen Miao know? Xie Jingxing thought that the Shen family must have deliberately asked Shen Miao to be the messenger. Shen Xin was now far away in the northwest. Could it be the second and third branches of the Shen family that made the instruction? Shen Gui and Shen Wan were also extremely ambitious people. Now that the imperial court was in turmoil, they probably wanted to take advantage of the situation.
"The Shen and Xie families have always been at odds with each other. The fact that the girl from the Shen family suddenly expressed goodwill means that she is up to no good." He raised his eyebrows and said coldly, "Continue investigating!"