Chapter 300: Is Xie Ping Dead?
Ding Dong was quickly brought to Granny Guo's courtyard.
"Greetings to Granny Guo."
Ding Dong performed a slight curtsey, her movements so proper that no fault could be found.
Granny Guo smiled and said, "It's been years since I last saw you. Unnoticed, you've grown into a graceful young woman. I heard you're serving as a third-class maid in the main residence of the Prince's mansion?"
Ding Dong lowered her head and replied, "Regardless of rank, being able to serve the Princess Consort is my greatest fortune."
Er Momo breathed a sigh of relief.
This girl usually seemed unreliable, but she actually knew how to speak properly.
Granny Guo nodded: "I recall you used to serve in His Highness's study as a first-class maid. Now that you're older, your status has actually lowered—that doesn't seem quite appropriate."
Upon hearing this, Ding Dong abruptly raised her head, her face lighting up with joy.
With Granny Guo speaking up to elevate her status, what did she have to worry about...
"However, it was His Highness who ordered you to be a third-class maid. As a mere servant, how could I question His Highness's decision?" Granny Guo lowered her eyes.
With just a slight probe, she had uncovered Ding Dong's hidden intentions.
But thinking about it, it made sense. Although Ding Dong had been betrothed before, she never actually married. Wanting to become a concubine in the Prince's rear courtyard was quite normal.
Considering this, Granny Guo smiled faintly.
Where did women of Ding Dong's status get the confidence to aspire to become the Prince's woman?
She recalled the morning after the Prince's wedding, when he brought the Princess Consort to pay respects to Yin Fei in the palace. Qinghua Princess had merely mentioned the matter of a Side Princess Consort in passing, and the Prince had immediately shown displeasure.
Sooner or later, the matter of taking a Side Princess Consort would have to be addressed. Could they afford to encounter as many obstacles as when marrying the main consort?
This Ding Dong could indeed be used to test the waters.
It would be like solving problems for Lady Yin Fei in advance.
Granny Guo slowly sipped her tea.
If Ding Dong could truly catch the Prince's eye, then Er Momo shouldn't wield so much power anymore—otherwise, she would pose a great threat to the Princess Consort.
"Now that the Prince's mansion has a Princess Consort, it's no longer suitable for Er Momo to manage household affairs," Granny Guo stated. "I will ask the Princess Consort for a few people to train properly. Once they're capable, you can hand over your current responsibilities."
Er Momo felt as if struck by lightning.
She had thought Granny Guo had only come to assist the Princess Consort in managing the Prince's mansion, and that she just needed to perform well.
She never expected that on Granny Guo's very first day, she would take away her authority to manage the household. What difference would there be between her and other momos then?
Her lips parted as if to say something, but seeing Granny Guo wave her hand, she could only retreat unwillingly.
Later, Granny Guo went to the main residence to see Yun Chu, asking her to assign four people to her.
Besides her four senior maids, Yun Chu had four matrons who had accompanied her as part of her dowry, each capable of handling matters independently. She assigned these four matrons to learn properly from Granny Guo.
The four matrons understood that whether the Princess Consort could secure control over the Prince's household depended entirely on them, so each studied with exceptional diligence.
Er Momo was left completely idle.
Not just her, but even the head stewardesses she had promoted saw their authority gradually transferred to Yun Chu's four dowry matrons.
"Er Momo, we can't go on like this..." a stewardess lamented with a sorrowful face. "People like us can manage, but you're the Prince's wet nurse. How many people are laughing at us now."
Er Momo's expression darkened.If the Princess Consort had directly taken over the management authority, she had a hundred ways to make the Princess Consort suffer in silence, because she was the prince's wet nurse, an elder.
But unexpectedly, the Princess Consort invited Granny Guo. No matter how many tricks she had, she couldn't use them, because Granny Guo was even older than her.
Yet she knew she couldn't just wait idly.
Once those women fully took charge, it would be too late to act.
While Granny Guo handled the inner household affairs, Cheng Zongguan presented all the account books from the outer court of the manor to Yun Chu.
The sheer volume of the manor's accounts kept Yun Chu awake for several nights, even dreaming of calculating accounts. After five or six days, she finally finished reviewing the entire previous year's accounts and found no discrepancies with those submitted by Cheng Zongguan.
"Princess Consort." Qiutong hurried into the flower hall and whispered, "The intelligence bureau just sent word that Princess Anjing... that is, Xie Ping, has died."
Yun Chu's fingers suddenly stilled.
She set down the account book and looked up. "How did she die?"
"After the Empress Dowager was buried, Xie Ping went missing. Since Anjing Prince died for rebellion, his name was never cleared. Who would care about a Princess Anjing? No one was sent to look for her." Qiutong explained carefully. "It wasn't until last night when a eunuch went to the imperial mausoleum river on business and found a body floating on the surface, mostly eaten by fish... but from the clothes and hair ornaments, it was identified as Princess Anjing..."
Yun Chu felt somewhat dazed.
Could Xie Ping really be dead just like that?
Although Xie Ping wasn't a deeply scheming person, she was someone who would do anything to survive.
For her to die so simply felt somewhat suspicious.
Yun Chu rested her chin on her hand, frowning slightly.
Suddenly, a thought flashed through her mind, and she spoke slowly, "On the day we returned to the capital from the imperial mausoleum, wasn't there an extra carriage behind the Crown Prince's procession?"
Qiutong nodded. "That carriage carried a palace maid from the imperial mausoleum who was responsible for feeding the tigers. She lost an arm while saving the Crown Prince. The intelligence bureau found out that three days after being brought back to the Eastern Palace by the Crown Prince, this woman became a low-ranking imperial concubine in the Eastern Palace."
Yun Chu pressed her lips together.
In her previous life, Xie Ping had also entered the palace to pay respects to Consort Yun and, within a few days, was summoned to the palace to become a cai ren.
She couldn't help but suspect that Xie Ping was the tiger-feeding palace maid brought into the Eastern Palace by the Crown Prince.
Whether it was true or not, she would have to visit the Eastern Palace herself to find out.
If things were really as she suspected, it would be quite interesting.
After Yun Chu finished handling the accounts of the Prince of Pacifying the West Manor, Chen Defu came to report that the great ship was fully prepared and about to set sail, requesting Yun Chu to come and inspect it.
From early autumn last year until now, after more than half a year and nearly a hundred thousand taels of silver spent, the great ship was finally completed. When she saw the massive vessel docked at the river mouth, an indescribable sense of grandeur rose in her heart.
She intended to use this ship to make herself immensely wealthy.
She had even imagined taking her two children aboard this ship to travel across the land, seeing all the famous mountains and great rivers.
Before, she had only thought of her two children, but now there was one more person in her heart—their father, Chu Yi.
Someday, if their family of four could travel together to see the magnificent landscapes of the Great Jin, what a beautiful thing that would be.
Yun Chu lifted her skirt and stepped onto the deck, smiling as she spoke with everyone.After becoming the Princess Consort of the Pacifying West, there was no need to conceal the industries under her name anymore—nor could they be hidden. It was better to be open and straightforward about them.
Moreover, the most profitable industries in the Great Jin Dynasty were salt and iron. The Crown Prince controlled the private salt trade, while the Second Prince was involved in the iron casting business. Compared to these two, earning a meager income from overseas ventures was truly insignificant.
As soon as she stepped onto the deck and stood at the highest point, Yun Chu spotted a familiar figure at the dock.
It was Xie Shi'an.
Xie Shi'an was speaking with four or five burly, rough-looking men who treated him with great respect.
Yun Chu curled her lips slightly.
It seemed Xie Shi'an was attempting to rally people from all walks of life on behalf of the Gong Xi Prince, aiming to form another faction...
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