Allure of a Country Maiden
Chapter 1142 - 1139_1

Chapter 1142: Chapter 1139_1

"A thousand taels of silver? That cheap? Are you sure you didn’t make a mistake?" Shangguan Ruixi could hardly believe it.

"Of course not! Everyone is eating food, not gold, silver, jewelry, how could it possibly be ten thousand taels of silver per table!" Jiang Yuheng looked at his incredulous face, wondering if he had water in his brain, couldn’t understand such simple logic!

Shangguan Ruixi felt a sense of injustice when he heard this!

That’s right! He was tricked by Princess Rui!

And he was tricked too miserably!

The banquet for his son’s full moon celebration was four thousand taels per table, and the dishes didn’t even have this many expensive rare delicacies!

Why did his son’s full moon celebration banquet cost four thousand taels per table, while Jiang Yuheng’s wedding banquet, with such good dishes, only needed a thousand taels per table!

The several hundred thousand taels of banquet money made him have to tighten his belt lately!

Shangguan Ruixi couldn’t help but go to Xiao’er for an explanation.

Xiao’er glanced at Shangguan Ruixi’s indignant face and said righteously, "Isn’t your son’s full moon banquet the same as my son’s? The emperor gave four thousand taels per table, and he didn’t have any qualms about it. Do you dare to give less than the Emperor!"

"Can’t you give me a discount? How can I be as wealthy as the emperor!" Shangguan Ruixi was close to tears.

"My son didn’t get a discount. If your son gets a discount, wouldn’t that be unfair?"

"..." Shangguan Ruixi found himself speechless!

"If the prince has any objections, you should ask the Emperor why he set such a high price!" Xiao’er said this irresponsibly as she was still busy and walked away.

Prince An went to ask his royal brother as expected when he heard about this!

The Emperor and Empress also pretended to attend this new-style wedding ceremony.

After all, the Emperor needed to personally hand over his princess to Jiang Yuheng.

After getting the answer from the Emperor, Shangguan Ruixi and Prince An were both depressed. The Emperor didn’t mind at all! They were obviously all bamboozled by her and had no place to appeal!

Shangguan Ruixi realized only now that making money to support a family after having a child is such a difficult thing! Most importantly, his money keeps pouring into Princess Rui’s pockets!

The first time Ruixi went to the toy store to pick out a full moon present for his son, he ended up buying almost everything in the store! He nearly bought out the entire store!

It was only when he paid the bill that he realized it was incredibly expensive, and he spent nearly a thousand taels all at once!

Each month the toy store will have new arrivals, and the shopkeeper will send a brochure of the new product introductions to Prince An’s mansion for him!

When Du Yijin saw this, she was overjoyed! In order to pamper his wife and young son, Shangguan Ruixi decided to buy the new products in the toy store every month. After the accountant reported the monthly expenditures, he realized that since the birth of the child, the mansion was spending nearly two thousand taels more each month!

The cost was all on food and provisions!

Premium blood bird’s nest, premium donkey-hide gelatin, premium fish maw and shark fin... all for the sake of Du Yijin’s health!

So, out of these two thousand taels, one thousand eight hundred taels went into the pockets of Prince Rui and his wife!

He only realized now that the couple, Shangguan Xuanyi, were like blood-suckers!

If he didn’t start figuring out ways to earn money, he would not even be able to support his wife and child!

Just as Shangguan Ruixi was about to ask Xiao’er for some advice on making money.

The servant of the mansion hurriedly came over, "Your Highness, Your Highness! Something terrible has happened!"

"What’s so urgent that you’re panicking like this! So many guests are here, what if you scare them? And look at you, so flustered and panicked, have you no manners!" Shangguan Ruixi chided with a stern face.

He was in a bad mood, and whomever he ran into would unavoidably get a piece of his mind!

The housekeeper abandoned all decorum and whispered a few words into Shangguan Ruixi’s ear.

Shangguan Ruixi’s expression changed dramatically!

Shangguan Ruixi hurried to say something to Du Yijin and then located Prince An before rushing back to his mansion.

He didn’t even have time to say goodbye to the host.

Everyone who noticed the hurried departure of Prince An and his son started pondering, wondering what had happened!

Shangguan Xuanyi, who was not far away, also frowned: what had happened?

Seeing the duo leaving in a hurry, Xiao’er approached Du Yijin and asked, "What happened? Why did the crown prince and the imperial uncle leave in such a hurry?"

"The housekeeper from our mansion came to report that the princess has been abducted!" Du Yijin said in a low voice.

Upon hearing this, Xiao’er’s face changed. Had Shangguan Wanru been abducted?!

As Du Yijin fretted, she decided that she needed to hurry back to the mansion too: "Xiao’er, I need to go back now! Don’t tell the Fifth Princess about this yet, in case it upsets her."

"Alright, I won’t make it known."

Du Yijin quickly went to make her excuses with the Fifth Princess.

Xiao’er watched Du Yijin leave, deep in thought.

The person who abducted Shangguan Wanru must have been sent by Gong Zixuan!

But why would Gong Zixuan abduct Shangguan Wanru?

Was he planning to use Shangguan Wanru as leverage against the Imperial Court?

Currently, Di Shaowei and Shangguan Xuanjun’s forces had split into three and surrounded Nangong Country, making the situation there extremely precarious!

Xiao’er quickly went over to Shangguan Xuanyi: "Brother Shangguan, a servant from Prince An’s mansion just came to report that the Princess has been abducted."

Upon hearing Xiao’er’s words, Shangguan Xuanyi quickly understood the situation. "I’ll go take a look. You head back to the mansion once the banquet ends. You don’t have to wait for me."

Xiao’er nodded: "Understood."

The Fifth Princess and Jiang Yuheng noticed them leaving and came over to ask: "What happened?"

Not wanting the Fifth Princess to worry on her wedding night, Xiao’er said: "Apparently, there’s a slight issue with the medicine for the injured. They’ve all rushed over to check."

"The medicine for the injured has encountered problems again?" Jiang Yuheng frowned upon hearing this.

Having been on the battlefield before, he understood the importance of food and medicine for the soldiers! Without food, the soldiers wouldn’t have the strength to fight. Without medicine, the wounded soldiers wouldn’t receive timely treatment, which could even result in the loss of life!

"Is it serious? Haven’t all the supplies been ruined again?"

"It’s not serious, don’t worry. The weather is warming up and many herbs are growing now. The soldiers will not lack medicinal herbs. Today, you two just relax and enjoy your wedding day, no need to worry about so much! Even if the court can’t provide enough herbs, there’s plenty of medicine at my shop, so rest assured!" Xiao’er reassured.

Reassured by Xiao’er’s words, the couple finally calmed down.

"I’m glad you’re running a medicinal herb shop! With your assurance, there will certainly be no problems with the medicine!" the Fifth Princess said with relief.

"You trust me that much? Even if I’m running a herbal medicine shop, there will be times when I run out of stock!"

"But you’ll find a solution!" declared the Fifth Princess, as if it were a matter of fact.

Xiao’er responded to this with mixed emotions: "I didn’t expect that you held me in such high esteem, Princess!"

"Of course!"