Allure of a Country Maiden
Chapter 1059 - 1057_1

Chapter 1059: Chapter 1057_1

Seven days after the deaths of the Duke of Zhen and his son, they were buried. After the funeral, the Emperor summoned the Duke into the palace. The next day, the Emperor’s edict arrived. The Emperor issued two edicts consecutively: the first conferred the title of Duke on Jiang Yuheng; the second arranged the marriage of the Fifth Princess to him, with the wedding to be held in the spring of the coming year.

After the eunuch who delivered the edict left, the Duchess could not help but make a fuss in front of the Duke: "Father, what on earth did you say to the Emperor? Didn’t you say that the title of Duke should be inherited by Wei Jia? Jiang Yuheng has murdered my husband and son, how can he inherit the title! How can my husband and son rest in peace in the underworld!"

"Indeed, I absolutely refuse to accept Jiang Yuheng being given the position of Duke. If this happens, how are we going to live peacefully in this mansion! Grandfather, you should persuade the Emperor to retract the order!"

Princess Ling’er had thought that with the death of the Duke of Zhen and his son, her good days were finally approaching. As for whether they were killed by bandits or by Jiang Yuheng, she didn’t care much. She was only concerned that now her consort finally had the opportunity to become the heir! After all, her consort was the son of the deceased Duke of Zhen, how could Jiang Yuheng inherit the title! So she couldn’t help but join in: "Grandfather, has the Emperor made a mistake? Father and uncle are dead, but my consort is still here, we are not without a male heir. How can Jiang Yuheng inherit the title! Should I go to the palace to seek the Empress Dowager’s help in asking the Emperor to withdraw his edict and make my consort the Duke of Zhen?"

She dared not approach the Emperor, but it was still possible to seek the Empress Dowager’s aid!

The Duke looked at the three women crying and sobbing in front of him, it was quite a headache. After listening to their words, he was even more enraged, "Ask the Emperor to retract the order? Are you out of your minds? Don’t you know that the king does not speak in jest? Moreover, this dukedom originally belonged to him. It was only because we thought that the main family line had been decimated in battle that it fell to you. Now that Yuheng is alive, of course, the title must be returned to him!"

"Father, I do not believe that my husband could not deal with a mere bandit leader, my husband’s death must have been..."

"Enough!" the Duke interrupted sharply: "You’d better not speak such words in the future! Wei En and his father were killed by bandit! The Emperor has already ascertained everything! He also knows about what happened years ago! If you don’t wish for extermination of the entire clan, go ahead and ask the Emperor to withdraw the order! You should all remember, what is gained from others must one day be returned!"

The Duke left in a huff after throwing down these words. These people are determined to anger him to death!

Extermination of the entire clan? The Duchess was dumbfounded, the Emperor knew? But even if the Emperor knew, there wouldn’t be any evidence! However, the Duchess didn’t dare to gamble. Nine familial exterminations, that would include her maternal family!

Seeing the Duke rage and leave, Princess Ling’er dared not utter a sound, only when she returned to her room, she couldn’t help expressing her anger to Jiang Weijia, "You useless coward, why don’t you speak up? If you had begged in front of the Emperor, perhaps you would now be the Duke of Zhen. I, a princess, demeaned myself to marry you. You have been serving as an official for so many years, but you are still a small sesame official. Look at the Marquis Shengping Mansion...."

Jiang Weijia walked into the room and lay down on the lounger without a word. He didn’t even glance at Princess Ling’er. He had been recalled last year and was only holding a sinecure in the Ministry of Rites. Because of this, Princess Ling’er ridiculed him every day!

"I’m talking to you, why aren’t you replying!" Seeing that, despite speaking for so long, Jiang Yuheng had not responded, she could not help but kick him.

Jiang Weijia sprang up with a start. He glared at her fiercely, and said through gritted teeth, "Since you find me useless, then I will divorce you. You can go and marry someone better! Marry the father of the child in your belly!"

When Princess Ling’er fainted during the vigil a few days ago, the imperial doctor discovered that she was pregnant. Jiang Weijia had a strange look on his face when he heard this. Ha, did she think that the night he got himself drunk, stripped her clothes off and lay in the same bed with her, something really happened between them? Heaven knows he has no sexual interest in women, he only likes men. Even if he considered her a man that night and consummated the marriage, she could never bear his child! Several years ago, a doctor had determined that he was infertile!

Leaving these words behind, Jiang Weijia walked out without a backward glance. He felt as if the air in the same room as her was filthy. If it weren’t for using her to cover for himself, he would have definitely not let this promiscuous woman off!

"What nonsense are you babbling!" Hearing his words, Princess Ling’er turned pale. Responding with a guilty conscience, she picked up a cup to take a drink and disguise her unease, did he know something? It’s impossible!

Because of Jiang Weijia’s words, Princess Ling’er worriedly spent the whole night without sleep. The next morning, seeing that Jiang Weijia did not show her any good face but did not bring up the matter of the father of the child in her belly, she felt a little relieved. Perhaps he said those words out of anger, trying to test her. Because when she woke up that day, he looked at her with disbelief of having consummated the marriage. Yes, he must have been testing her last night. Thinking this, Princess Ling’er breathed a slight sigh of relief.

But, that man, she absolutely must not meet him again! Princess Ling’er decided resolutely in her heart!

...

Although the two imperial edicts concerning the Duke’s Mansion were expected, it still aroused much discussion. However, everyone’s attention was quickly drawn to another matter, because the day after tomorrow was the day for the announcement of the provincial examination results!

The second son of Marquis Shengping ranked first in the provincial examination this time. This set off a heated discussion. People even started betting about who would rank first in the central examination in the coming spring. They speculated that the second son of Marquis Shengping would also be the top scorer, following his older brother to become another young genius who received the top three ranks.

Many gamblers wanted to place bets in the gambling house, but the Zhuang family also believed that the top scorer would inevitably be the second son of Marquis Shengping, so they removed that bet to avoid losing everything.

Although Jinghao was the top scorer and Zhiwen and Zhiwu also ranked among the top in the provincial examination, because Yun’er’s wedding was imminent, and when Jingrui ranked among the top the family did not host a banquet, this time too they decided to host the banquet only after they receive the top ranks in the imperial examination.

While the family did not host a grand banquet, the members gathered together to celebrate. After Xiao’er had dinner at Marquis Shengping’s Mansion, she thought that the wedding day of Yun’er was approaching and it would be difficult for the two sisters to meet in the future, so Xiao’er decided to stay in Marquis Shengping’s Mansion for two nights. Shangguan Xuanyi did not object, he just stayed with Xiao’er in Marquis Shengping’s Mansion, his reason being: he could not sleep without her in Wang Mansion.

Xiao’er had no choice but to let him do as he wished.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.