Phi-Fic Chapter 594 Duanmu Chen's Woman
Chapter 594 Duanmu Chen's Woman
"Anuan, these are some fruits sent by Lu Shaofeng from Yu County. Take a look and see if they suit your taste?" Duanmu Chuze's voice was full of doting and gentleness as soon as he entered the door.
"Yu County?" Mu Xin Nuan understood. It was probably not Lu Shao Feng's idea, but rather that of his wife, Liu Shi.
“I’m much better these past few days, so you don’t need to keep running back. Your official business is more important. Don’t let people say you’re neglecting your duties. If they say you’re ruining your career because of women, I can’t bear that.”
Duanmu Chuze laughed loudly, "You? How could that be? The matters in Changlefang and Xingwen District are basically settled now. With Mr. Liu and Lu Shaohong keeping an eye on things, there won't be any problems."
"Lu Shaohong? You sent him to Xingwen District as well?"
"Well, he grew up in a business family, so the influence his parents had on him was naturally limited and narrow-minded. Therefore, I asked him to go to Xingwen District more often to gradually correct his temperament and see if he could develop a better sense of the bigger picture."
Mu Xin Nuan chuckled, "So you mean to say that Lu Shao Hong is rather selfish?"
"That's not it. It's just that this perspective is a bit narrow and short-sighted."
Mu Xin Nuan nodded, understanding his explanation.
"These fruits smell so good."
"Come on, try a piece."
Mu Xin Nuan is currently less than three months pregnant, so naturally she has not announced the good news to the public. However, Mu Xin Nuan has not received any ladies or young women who come to visit her for many days, citing her illness as the reason.
There was much speculation outside about the prince's condition.
Of course, some experienced and clever people tried to figure out if the princess was pregnant, which was why she was acting this way. But despite their best efforts, they couldn't find out anything. All they knew was that Zhao Zihe, who was in Yu County, had been urgently summoned back by the prince and was now staying at the Chang Le Prince's Mansion.
Once they learned of this news, the ladies became restless.
Everyone knows that Zhao Zihe is the son of the Imperial Physician Zhao of the Capital, a doctor whose medical skills are as exquisite as a painting. Now he has been urgently summoned back by the Prince, and the Prince has not left his residence for several days. Could it be that the Princess is really not well?
With this speculation in mind, the noble ladies began to wonder if they could take this opportunity to recommend their daughters or relatives to the prince.
However, remembering Madam He's previous actions, they were not in a hurry and suppressed their temper.
Even if the princess is no longer able to live, given the deep love between the prince and her, he is unlikely to give another woman a second glance right now. So, there's no rush.
Although they said there was no rush, some ladies had already begun secretly instructing their daughters in various etiquette and manners within the mansion. Hearing that the Prince had greatly admired the Princess's musical skills, they naturally hired a tutor to ensure their daughter's musical talent was well-developed.
Then, recalling how the prince had praised the princess's dance and even composed the song "Peach Blossom Chant" specifically for it, the ladies and young women of Yanzhou were truly busy.
Mu Xin Nuan was in the inner quarters and knew nothing about this matter.
Even if Rongyue and the others heard the news, they naturally wouldn't dare to bring up such a topic to upset their young lady.
Duanmu Chuze simply laughed it off.
What outsiders say is their business; he only wants Ah Nuan to be safe and sound.
He kept a close eye on the news from the capital and had someone secretly contact Duanmu Chen's wife.
In any case, he would not give Duanmu Chen another chance to get in touch with Mu Xin Nuan.
Duanmu Chen's legal wife was from the Wang family. Even so, the attitudes of the Lu State Duke's Mansion and the Ying State Duke's Mansion in the court remained ambiguous. The only thing that could be seen was that they supported the emperor's decision.
However, marrying a daughter of the Wang family was a good thing for Duanmu Chen and Donggong.
Apart from the Crown Princess being slightly displeased, there was no other way.
The Crown Princess originally intended to support her niece, but the Xie family was far less powerful than the Wang family, so she had no choice but to back down.
Later, the Xie family gradually became more powerful, and the Crown Princess also felt that the Xie family was no worse than the Wang family, so she took it upon herself to send a niece to Duanmu Chen's room as a concubine.
It's just a pity that Consort Xie has never been favored since she entered Duanmu Chen's courtyard. Duanmu Chen only visits her two or three times a month.
However, his principal wife and his concubine, Sun Ruoxiang, have always been favored by Duanmu Chen.
Sun Ruoxiang was also a clever woman. In front of Madam Wang, she always acted humbly, cautiously, and politely, which earned her Wang Xinyan's favor.
Wang Xinyan entered the household later than Sun Ruoxiang, and Sun Ruoxiang was clever; before Wang Xinyan became the principal wife, she had always conscientiously used contraceptive potions, which avoided some trouble for Duanmu Chen. This also earned her the favor of the Crown Princess and Wang Xinyan.
Even the Empress praised Sun Ruoxiang for being sensible after learning about this, saying that it was Duanmu Chen's good fortune to have such a wife in the royal family.
However, even if Wang Xinyan didn't care about these things and was willing to serve Duanmu Chen with Sun Ruoxiang in the mansion, there were still some knots in Wang Xinyan's heart.
She knew that Duanmu Chen still had someone in his heart, and that person was his fourth aunt, Mu Xin Nuan.
Of course, she had been warned by Duanmu Chen after she witnessed that scene.
The reason why Duanmu Chen is being nice to her now is partly because she has remained silent about it for so long.
However, Wang Xinyan overheard Duanmu Chen calling out Mu Xinnuan's name repeatedly after getting drunk.
As his legal wife, Wang Xinyan naturally dared not make this public. Otherwise, how could he, as the eldest grandson of the emperor and a prince personally appointed by the emperor, be so lustful towards his aunt's beauty?
If this gets out, what will become of his reputation? And what will become of the reputation of the Crown Prince's palace?
For this, Wang Xinyan even beat and killed a palace maid.
Wang Xinyan was not a rash person. She wanted to test whether Sun Ruoxiang had also encountered this situation, but Sun Ruoxiang acted as if she knew nothing, so she naturally couldn't ask directly.
It's worth noting that Sun Ruoxiang and Mu Xinnuan were best friends before they got married!
Wang Xinyan did not use this matter to question Sun Ruoxiang. However, after spending so much time together, there had never been any words in Sun Ruoxiang's courtyard that were detrimental to Prince Changsun and Mu Xinnuan. It seemed that either she did not know, or she knew and issued a strict order.