Chapter 58: The Old Prince Next Door 11

Why was the Duchess of Yi so intent on marrying Su Huandan off?

It was because ever since this widow moved out of the Duke’s estate, she had been causing all sorts of trouble. The Duke of Yi household had suffered a great loss of reputation because of her, yet the widow was like a hedgehog—untouchable. The only solution was to marry her off; once she was wed, she would no longer belong to the Duke’s household.

Whether her life was good or bad after marriage would have nothing to do with them.

The Duchess of Yi felt she wasn’t acting in bad conscience. The candidate she had selected for the widow was truly decent in character and every other aspect. Although he was a bit older, he would need to rely on the Duke’s household to secure a position as a capital official in the future, meaning he wouldn’t dare mistreat her.

The Duke of Yi had originally wanted to marry the widow off to a distant location. It was only out of consideration for their shared gender that the Duchess had chosen this local match. And yet, the woman looked down on it?

Fine. Since you look down on it, I don’t need to waste my kindness.

The Duchess of Yi left immediately, giving her wet nurse a meaningful look before she departed. The wet nurse remained behind.

This wet nurse spoke with a bizarre, mocking tone. “To tell you the truth, you’re getting married whether you like it or not. You’ll be wed by the end of the month. The Duke’s household will prepare a dowry according to the standards of a legitimate daughter; we won’t mistreat you. Those are the Duke’s own words. Our Madam originally intended to marry you into a family here in the capital so that with the Duke’s backing, no one would dare mistreat you. But since you look down on our Madam’s kindness, then so be it. According to the Duke’s wishes, you’ll be married far away. As for whether you’re mistreated after that? My apologies, but the Duke’s household is far away and won’t be able to look after you.”

The wet nurse truly felt Su Huandan was being ungrateful.

Su Huandan, for her part, truly felt the Duke of Yi and his wife were pieces of work.

They couldn’t even tolerate a single widow. With such a petty temperament and lack of spirit, what could they possibly achieve in the future?

They weren’t fit for great responsibility!

In her past life, when Su Huandan managed her company, her employees had cursed her behind her back plenty of times. Whenever she asked them to work overtime, they’d call her a bloodsucker or something similar. Su Huandan had been angry at first. It wasn’t as if she didn’t pay overtime. She even gave out red envelopes at the end of the year. Whose company had benefits as good as hers?

Su Huandan could truly beat her chest and say her company’s benefits were top-tier in the industry.

But employees didn’t think that way. After working for a long time, they would start to feel they were indispensable members of the company, believing the place couldn’t function without them. They’d feel the annual raises were too small and the benefits too few.

To put it bluntly, their hearts grew too big and they got ahead of themselves. But could Su Huandan, as the boss, fire every employee who thought like that?

Impossible. She could only pick a few who made mistakes because of such attitudes and fire them. For the rest, she had to pretend she didn’t hear the talk. Otherwise, how would the company run?

How would the family make money?

How did Yu Zexiu put it?

“There are few people in this world who don’t suffer from a bit of jealousy. However, the majority are still clear-headed. When you’re making massive amounts of money, those who lack the ability to do the same are bound to curse you. That’s just their mindset. What can you do? If you get angry over that, you won’t get anything done. Let them shout and curse. The more they curse, the more you earn. Anyway, if someone’s going to be driven to death by anger, it won’t be the two of us.”

Su Huandan felt that if she needed great spirit and a broad mind just to manage a company, then a high-ranking official like the Duke of Yi, who held military power, would never be favored by those in power if his heart was this petty.

Looking coldly at the wet nurse’s wrinkled face, Su Huandan spoke unhurriedly. “Take my words back to them. If they dare to force me into marriage, I will go and beat the Dengwen Drum¹. Even if I don’t beat the drum, I’ll go knock on the gates of the Prince Chen Manor next door and ask Prince Chen if the Imperial Court cares about a brother-in-law forcing a widow to remarry. We’ve already split the household², yet he still pressures me like this. Why? Does he actually intend to marry me off, or is he using the name of marriage to send me to someone as a plaything? Or does he plan to keep me as a plaything himself?”

This string of accusations sent a surge of rage through the wet nurse, who felt like slapping Su Huandan’s face.

Su Huandan snorted coldly and had Xia Chan push the woman out of the room.

As luck would have it, the procession from the palace arrived to announce an imperial decree.

The officials delivering the decree were startled, their eyelids twitching wildly at the scene they walked into.

They were here to announce the Empress Dowager’s decree for a bestowed marriage. Although they couldn’t understand why a widow was becoming Princess Consort Chen, they were merely servants. They just had to do their jobs; the thoughts of the masters were not for them to guess.

The future Princess Consort Chen lived in a small two-entry courtyard; she was being wronged.

But as soon as they entered, they saw an old woman being shoved out of the main hall. What was this about?

Did the future Princess Consort Chen enjoy mistreating servants?

Gui Xi had been following the messengers. Seeing this scene, he nimbly ordered the young eunuchs beside him to seize the wet nurse.

“Madam, which family’s servant has come to cause trouble now?” Gui Xi knew very well that Su Huandan was currently the apple of his Prince’s eye.

The Prince’s darling and the legitimate Princess Consort Chen—she was naturally Gui Xi’s master as well. A servant had to protect his master at all times.

Su Huandan’s eyes brightened when she saw Gui Xi, and she immediately began to fake a cry. Her acting was a bit poor, making Gui Xi feel embarrassed for her.

“Eunuch Gui, is there no path left for a widow like me in this world? This woman is the Duchess of Yi’s wet nurse, and she came with the Duchess. The Duke of Yi household can no longer tolerate me and wants to marry me off… I just want to ask, who can guarantee I’m not being sold to someone as a plaything?” As Su Huandan finished, the wet nurse, who was pinned to the ground by the two eunuchs, immediately tried to argue. Gui Xi gave a look, and a young eunuch promptly gagged her.

Gui Xi looked at the wet nurse with a cold sneer. “Good. A fine Duke of Yi household indeed. A fine Duke of Yi.”

He turned his face toward the head eunuch from the palace. “I must trouble you to hurry and announce the decree, lest our Prince grows anxious.”

His Prince wasn’t exactly a broad-minded man himself. If he knew the Su widow was nearly married off to some distant place by the Duke of Yi, he would likely spend the rest of his life feuding with the Duke.

The head eunuch didn’t dare delay. he briskly announced the decree. After leaving behind two Etiquette Matrons to instruct Su Huandan on palace rules, the head eunuch hurried back.

This was incredible news. The Duke of Yi wanted to marry the Princess Consort Chen off to a distant land? What was he trying to pull? This gossip had to be reported to the Empress Dowager immediately.

The Empress Dowager kept everything related to Prince Chen close to her heart.

Su Huandan still hadn’t come to her senses even after the head eunuch had departed. Had she really just been granted a marriage by imperial decree?

And to the man next door, Prince Chen, who couldn’t father children and was practically on his deathbed?

Dammit. If she married a man who was sterile, what would happen to her future powerhouse son?

Was she supposed to have an affair to conceive him?

Hiss. The thought was actually quite thrilling, though she wasn’t sure how difficult it would be to pull off in practice.

Prince Chen: …

Just try having an affair and see what happens.

The two palace nannies were both trusted confidantes of the Empress Dowager. One was surnamed Bai, and the other was Nanny Cui. Nanny Cui helped Su Huandan up and then pointed at the wet nurse, asking, “Princess Consort, how should this person be dealt with?”

Translator’s Notes