Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Qiao Ruofeng clutched her chest and looked at the man in front of her desperately. “Your Highness, you just wanted to use me from the very beginning, didn’t you?”
Prince Mediocre nodded and said, “Duke Anyuan is very powerful. His eldest daughter married into the Duke Qin Mansion, and his second daughter was too spoiled to gain Lu Chen’s favor even if she could marry into the East Palace.
“Besides, when Lu Chen was missing, if I proposed to Qiao Ruoshui, I would have to make her my wife, but Miss Lin is more suitable to be my wife.
“Qiao Ruoshui is not qualified to be my wife, so you are a perfect choice for me because marrying you as my concubine can win over Duke Anyuan.”
Qiao Ruofeng propped against the pillar beside her with a hand and asked slowly, “Then don’t you need to win over Duke Anyuan now?”
Prince Mediocre smiled, his eyes full of calculation.
“But Qiao Jinniang appeared, right? Although she was born by the Duchess, she grew up in the countryside. She would only be grateful to me if I allowed her to be my concubine. By the way, she is more beautiful than you.”
Even in Chang’an, which was full of beauties, Qiao Jinniang’s appearance was top-notch.
At this moment, Qiao Ruofeng hated Qiao Jinniang to her guts. Qiao Jinniang stole everything from her! “It turns out that Qiao Jinniang insisted on kicking us out of the Duke Mansion because of this!”
When she was no longer a noble, Qiao Jinniang could make Prince Mediocre abandon her because she no longer had any value…
Qiao Jinniang was too ruthless! To become Prince Mediocre’s concubine, she simply had no regard for their sisterhood!
…
In the Duke Mansion, Qiao Jinniang put on formal clothes and went to the gate to receive the imperial decree.
There was an incense table placed at the door, and the Old Madam and the Duchess both knelt in front of it wearing formal uniforms. When the Duke saw Qiao Jinniang, he beckoned her to kneel in the front.
Qiao Jinniang’s heart skipped a beat. Was what she guessed right?
“The second daughter of Duke Anyuan is smart, knowledgeable, gentle, graceful, prudent, virtuous and beautiful…”
When the eunuch was reading the imperial decree, the Duchess and the Duke were confused. Why did His Majesty issue an imperial decree to praise Jinniang?
At the exact moment when Qiao Jinniang wanted to stand up and reject the imperial decree, Old Madam Qiao held her hand, her eyes seeming to be begging her.
Qiao Jinniang could only listen helplessly. If she rejected the imperial decree, she would harm the entire Qiao family.
“I appreciate her very much, so I hereby bestow Miss Qiao with the title of “County Mistress Jia’an”.”
Qiao Jinniang breathed a sigh of relief when the eunuch finished reading the imperial edict, and then she followed the others to express their gratitude to the Emperor.
Eunuch Quan handed the imperial edict to Qiao Jinniang and said, “Congratulations, County Mistress.”
Qiao Jinniang smiled and said, “Thank you.”
The Duchess hurriedly asked a mammy to give Eunuch Quan a red packet, and then she asked Qiao Jinniang in confusion, “Why did His Majesty bestow you the title of county mistress for no reason?”
“Regardless of the reason, this is great. There aren’t many county mistresses and prefecture masters in Chang’an. Now I’d like to see who dares to gossip about you again!”
The Duchess was also very annoyed when she heard about the rumors about Qiao Jinniang and Prince Mediocre.
In the face of such rumors, this imperial decree would be a great support to Qiao Jinniang!
Since Qiao Jinniang had become a county mistress, she had to enter the imperial palace to thank the Emperor.
Thinking of this, the Duchess realized she had not yet taught Qiao Jinniang the palace etiquette.
Now she could only hurriedly teach Qiao Jinniang some basic royal etiquette.
Only then did Qiao Jinniang know that there were so many rules in the imperial palace, so many that they were almost suffocating.
“You can only call yourself ‘this humble girl’ in front of the Emperor and the Queen. You must never look directly at the Emperor and the Queen, but you still have to secretly pay attention to their emotions.”
Qiao Jinniang: “…”
The Duke said, “Jinniang was only a county mistress, not the crown princess. She doesn’t have to follow the rules so strictly.”
The Duchess said, “If she is a crown princess, there would be way more rules for her. Jinniang, when you salute, gently bend your legs. Keep it classy and don’t be so stiff.
“If it was the crown princess, even the degree of her bow when she salutes will have to meet a certain standard, no more, no less.
“By the way, speaking of royal etiquette, I forgot to teach Ruoyi that. She is going to marry into the East Palace, so she has to learn some royal etiquette!”
Qiao Jinniang unwillingly followed a mammy to learn the etiquettes. She was a quick learner in cooking, but why was it so difficult for her to learn etiquette?
There was a prescribed gait when walking, the head couldn’t move, and the hair ornament must not shake in the slightest…
“Mother, but I didn’t see Princess Fulu follow these rules,” Qiao Jinniang said.
The Duchess said, “Fulu is His Majesty’s only niece, so she doesn’t have to abide by these rules, but the other princesses and county mistresses in Chang’an all strictly follow royal etiquette, don’t they?
“Xie Yun is the recognized future crown princess because her manners are the template of noble girls, which are almost perfect.”
Qiao Jinniang couldn’t help but sympathize with Tuan’er. Would he have to learn so many royal etiquettes in the future?
“Duke, Madam, His Royal Highness came with the Minister of Public Security.”
The Duke was stunned for a moment and hurriedly went out to greet them.
The Duchess was surprised too and said to Qiao Jinniang, “Continue to learn royal etiquette. I’ll go out and have a look.”
Qiao Jinniang nodded. “Okay.”
Duke Anyuan was wondering why the Crown Prince came with the Minister of Public Security. Could it be that the prince was really annoyed by that sign of Tasty Pavilion? Did he feel that the Duke Mansion didn’t respect the royal family enough, so he came to punish them?
Frightened all the way, when he reached the front hall, he hurriedly saluted. “Your Royal Highness.”
Lu Chen said, “Teacher, you don’t have to be so polite to me. Is County Mistress Jia’an around?”
Duke Anyuan said, “Your Majesty has granted the imperial edict, which is an honor for our family. Jinniang is currently learning royal etiquette to go to the Imperial Palace to thank His Majesty tomorrow. Did Jinniang do anything wrong?”
Lu Chen said slowly, “No. It’s just that the Minister of Public Security has found the person who slandered County Mistress Jia’an, so I came to tell her.”
If Duke Anyuan still didn’t discover which daughter Lu Chen liked, he must be a fool.
He should have figured it out at the Dragon Boat Festival.
But the Duchess and Qiao Ruoshui both thought it was Qiao Ruoyi, so he thought it was Qiao Ruoyi too.
Bayberries and crabs were all popular in the South, so the Crown Prince actually wanted to give them to Jinniang!
And at noon today, the name of the Crown Prince was clearly written on that sign.
But His Royal Highness wasn’t annoyed at all. Now he even had the Minister of Public Security find the person who slandered Jinniang.
“Thank you, Your Royal Highness, Brother Zhou. Come on, call Second Miss over.”
After the Duke ordered, he felt a little proud.
The Minister of Public Security was the second brother of Duke Wu and the Crown Prince’s second uncle.
If it weren’t for the Crown Prince, how would he bother to deal with such a trivial matter?
It could be seen how much the Crown Prince loved Jinniang.