Allure of a Country Maiden
Chapter 778 - 776

Chapter 778: Chapter 776

As Shangguan Ruixi hurriedly rushed out, Furong asked, "Where are you going, Prince?"

"To the Imperial Palace."

"But it’s almost time for the palace lockdown!"

At these words, Shangguan Ruixi halted.

Yes, it’s almost time for the palace lockdown. He couldn’t enter the palace now!

Prince An probably didn’t give the bracelet to the Empress Dowager, otherwise it wouldn’t be this calm in the afternoon!

Once the Empress Dowager saw the bracelet, she would have summoned them to the palace.

Shangguan Ruixi thought of this and the anxiety in his heart eased slightly. Then he returned to his previous spot, thinking about how to protect Du Yijin from being troubled by the Empress Dowager.

Shangguan Ruixi did not have much time to think. As soon as he sat down, a messenger from the palace arrived to summon Du Yijin to see the Empress Dowager!

Being summoned to the palace at this time indicated how angry the Empress Dowager must be! She couldn’t wait until tomorrow!

Even though only Du Yijin was summoned to the palace, Shangguan Ruixi could not dare to let her go alone!

It wasn’t time for him to openly protect Du Yijin yet, but now he couldn’t enter the palace either!

What should he do? Shangguan Ruixi thought while heading to his own courtyard, intending to advise Du Yijin on how to deal with the Empress Dowager.

On the way, he saw a maid leading Feng Haozhen towards the main courtyard. A thought popped up in Shangguan Ruixi’s mind.

He thought of Princess Consort An! He had no choice but to let his mother accompany Du Yijin to the palace.

Upon reaching this conclusion, Shangguan Ruixi ran back to his courtyard and hurriedly relayed his plan to a primping Du Yijin, who was preparing to go to the Imperial Palace.

Then he turned around and rushed out again, heading for the main courtyard with an intentionally sullen expression on his face. He angrily addressed Princess Consort An. "Mother, the people of the Du Mansion are outrageous!"

Seeing her son burst in, the Princess Consort An couldn’t help but cough. "Ruixi, what manners have you shown by barging in like this! Your young cousin is still here!"

Shangguan Ruixi, as if only just noticing Feng Haozhen, quickly bowed. "So, cousin Haozhen is here too, I apologize for my previous rudeness."

Having said this, Shangguan Ruixi intentionally glanced around and asked as if casually, "Didn’t aunt and cousin Haoyu come?"

"Mother and elder brother have not come." Feng Haozhen got up and returned him a greeting, her face blushing.

"What has my cousin Haoyu been so busy with lately? Why didn’t he come to have a chat with me? When he has time, let him come over to visit!"

"Elder brother is busy with preparing for next year’s central examination, he hasn’t had any free time." Feng Haozhen instinctively shut down Shangguan Ruixi’s suggestion.

Shangguan Ruixi seemed rather disappointed at Feng Haozhen’s response, "Is that so? The central examination is indeed important, so he should also take care of his health. When are you leaving? I can send you home, and remind Haoyu at the same time to look after himself!"

Feng Haozhen: "..."

The Princess Consort An didn’t let Shangguan Ruixi down. She didn’t miss the look of disappointment on his face. She remembered how Shangguan Ruixi had looked last time when he saw Feng Haoyu. She became tense and blurted out. "No!"

Shangguan Ruixi looked at her, confusion in his eyes.

The Princess Consort An noticed her abrupt reaction, she coughed and then said, "Haozhen, you should go back first! I will keep this in mind. I will make time to talk to your mother."

The Princess Consort An gave the maid a look, indicating to her to quickly escort Feng Haozhen out.

Hearing this, Feng Haozhen got up, gave a respectful bow, and asked to be excused.

"I’ll accompany my cousin!" Shangguan Ruixi moved to follow her out.

"You stay right there!" Princess Consort An scolded.

"Mother?" Shangguan Ruixi looked at her innocently.

The Princess Consort An was so angry with Shangguan Ruixi, she gave him a vicious stare but had to be careful not to discipline her son in front of outsiders. "Why did you rush in here so angrily just now? What’s the matter?"

Shangguan Ruixi immediately looked furious again, he sat down. "Mother, the people of the Du Mansion are simply outrageous! Today, while counting Crown Princess’s dowry for storage, the maid noticed a few pieces of jewelry missing, among which is a jade bracelet passed down from the late Empress Dowager. As soon as I knew this, I sent people to investigate! We found out that it was Mrs. Du who stole it and even pawned it! What kind of people are the Du family! They even dare to steal their daughter’s dowry! If Crown Princess has such a mother, can she be any good? Maybe we should just send her back to the Du Mansion before she returns home! We wouldn’t even need to write the divorce letter!"

Princess Consort An jumped when she heard that the jade bracelet passed down from the late Empress Dowager had been stolen and pawned by Mrs. Du. Her anger rose instantly. However, upon hearing Shangguan Ruixi’s later words, she calmed down again.

The way her son had just been looking for information about Feng Haoyu made her very uneasy. Was he trying to use this opportunity to kick out his wife?

This couldn’t be! After all the difficulty of bringing her into the family!

"Mrs. Du is Yijin’s stepmother, she’s always been a muddled one! How can we blame Yijin for what she did! Yijin is already such a pitiful child. " Princess Consort An spoke up for Du Yijin.

"But the Empress Dowager already knows about it. If we don’t send her back to the Du Mansion, the Empress Dowager will also penalize us!"

Listening to this, Princess Consort An was genuinely frightened. "Ho- How did the grand Empress Dowager know!"

Shangguan Ruixi recounted the information he had gathered, including how he had seen Prince An Cheng entering the palace as he was leaving. He added, "The Empress Dowager just sent someone to summon Crown Princess to the palace. I guess it must be about this issue."

"What!" Princess Consort An directly jumped up. "Why didn’t you say this earlier! Just like that, you are letting your wife go to the palace? What kind of husband are you! I’m about to be killed by your nonsense! How did I end up with such a son!"

After scolding Shangguan Ruixi, she quickly paced around the table anxiously. "No, I have to go to the palace too!"

Upon saying this, she quickly went to change her clothes.

Shangguan Ruixi breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing her words. At least Yijin wouldn’t be fighting alone now!

The Princess Consort An after walking a few steps came back and glared at her son who was just standing there blankly. "What are you standing there for! Hurry up and change your clothes, accompany me to the palace!"

"Yes." Shangguan Ruixi quickly responded to her command.

Unfortunately, Princess Consort An didn’t notice that he was a little too eager in his response.

So, the three of them rushed towards the Imperial Palace.

Outside of the palace gates, Shangguan Ruixi said to the two, "Mother, it’s almost time for the palace lockdown. I’ll wait for you outside!"

Only then did Princess Consort An remember that. She nodded.

After the palace lockdown, men from the outside were not allowed to stay within the palace.

Although Du Yijin was summoned by the Empress Dowager and Princess Consort An was the Empress Dowager’s daughter-in-law, it wouldn’t matter if the two of them entered.