The original host’s tragic end had been due to the combination of many factors, but Duan Xinghui’s mother had been responsible for a large part of it. She found Er Ya displeasing to the eye and believed that Er Ya’s status was too low to match up to her son. At the same time, she was worried about ruining her relationship with her son, so she took advantage of the fact that Princess Jiahui liked her son and made use of her to deal with Er Ya.
It had caused Duan Xinghui to loathe the princess more and more and the critiques of the public all landed on Princess Jiahui while Madame Duan remained completely unaffected. To the very end, she maintained her status as a respected madame.
Ning Shu pressed her lips together as she internally sprouted a string of curses. Why did all of these people treat Princess Jiahui as a vanguard!?
Perhaps Princess Jiahui did understand what was happening, but she still couldn’t overcome the anger from having her man snatched away by a woman that crawled out from some unknown corner and hence insisted on targeting Er Ya.
In any case, during that time period, Princess Jiahui’s reputation grew increasingly worse. Meanwhile, one day Er Ya happened to save the Marquis’s wife and became the Marquess’s goddaughter. Her status immediately took a leap and she became a woman that was a good match for the Duan Residence.
At that time, Madame Duan had welcomed Er Ya into Duan Residence with a happy smile. Everything became perfect. It was a family with a benevolent mother and filial children that lived together happily.
Ning Shu only wanted to say, fuck off!
Madame Duan’s motive in coming here today was probably to start this sequence of events. When Ning Shu’s thoughts got to here, her expression became even colder.
Madame Duan sensed the princess’s mood and felt uneasy. Inwardly, she started cursing Er Ya like crazy. Her looks were that poor, so she must have used some sort of lowly method to bewitch her son!
“Princess…” Madame Duan started crying before she even started speaking. She pulled out a handkerchief and pressed it to the corner of her eye as she continued, “Princess, please believe in my son. That thoughtless woman had saved my son once, and now she’s using this favor to blackmail Xinghui. She even dragged Xinghui down to the point he lost his official position.”
“Now Xinghui won’t even listen to this subject even though this subject is just worrying about Xinghui’s future.” As Madame Duan sobbed, she pleaded, “Princess, Xinghui respects you a lot. Can you just exhort him a little and tell him that he shouldn’t treat his future as a joke?”
Ning Shu’s lips twitched as she listened to Madame Duan’s laments.Originally she hadn’t planned to get involved in Duan Xinghui and Er Ya’s matter, but what could she do now that Madame Duan decided to try and use her?
Madame Duan’s intention was clearly to not just to inform Ning Shu of this, but also to blame her for treating Duan Xinghui’s future as a joke. Madame Duan believed that the reason Duan Xinghui lost his position as an official was because she had begged Li Wen to dismiss him.
Ning Shu had no plans to explain either. However, she disliked Madame Duan’s way of doing things, so she laughed coldly and said, “Audacious! You, a married woman of the inner chamber, actually dares to meddle with the court’s politics!? The matters of the official court are naturally decided by His Majesty. Could it be that you expect Imperial Older Brother to reward a general that lost in his first campaign? It’s already an act of benevolence that Imperial Older Brother didn’t have him take responsibility for all the soldiers that have lost their lives.”
“He left the barracks without permission, and he was even the commander-in-chief! To be absent without leave is a terrible crime punishable by death. Since you’re so dissatisfied with Imperial Older Brother’s decision, then just come with this princess to the palace so that Imperial Older Brother can give you an explanation.”
Ning Shu’s expression was cold and she emitted a oppressive aura as she creased her brows. Madame Duan was stunned. In the past, Princess Jiahui had always treated her very respectfully and never acted haughty in front of her. However, Ning Shu did not bother to be polite towards her at all, so it immediately caused Madame Duan’s heart to sink.
She came only relying on the fact that the princess liked her son a lot. However, right now the princess seemed very much like a stranger. There was no trace of warmth in her words or behavior at all; all that was present was the imposing aura of a monarch and it intimidated Madame Duan.
It seemed that the princess wanted Duan Xinghui to take responsibility for the defeat at the border. Could it be that she wanted Duan Xinghui to die? Madame Duan stared at Ning Shu in shock, her pupils dilating. Now she was crying for real as she said, “Princess ah, this subject, this subject…”
Madame Duan couldn’t help but say, “Princess, could it be that you really want to watch Xinghui be ruined like this?”
“What does Duan Xinghui have to do with this princess? Do you think a defeated general has the right to get involved with this princess? Madame Duan, this princess hopes that you’ll stop making up connections and ruining this princess’s reputation.”
Ning Shu spoke without bothering to be polite at all. She was a princess, what need was there for her to mind her attitude towards others? She didn’t feel anything towards Duan Xinghui at all, so why would she bother to curry favor with Duan Xinghui’s mother? At that kind of time, she should pull out the might of the imperial family and let these low-lifes know that she wasn’t someone they could afford to provoke!