The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 861 - 339: News from the Royal Mansion

Chapter 861: Chapter 339: News from the Royal Mansion

Jiao Yong, standing to the side, also fell silent, staring at Manbao, then at Bai Shan, and finally turned his head back to look at Ji Hao.

After a while, Wei Ting finally clamped his mouth shut. Swallowing once, he said, "The moutan peonies full of surprises are all supposed to be covered with gauze. At the time, Second Madam Ji found it troublesome to cover each one individually, so she had two silk ribbons pulled over to cover all the peonies on display."

He continued, "The Princess Consort of Yizhou brought only one pot of peony, covered with silk. As soon as it was brought to the stage and the silk was unveiled, the princess consort’s face fell immediately, and she didn’t utter a word for most of the day."

Because white peonies were cheap, and Manbao had already mentioned that she had many pots of them,

So while everyone thought they were of excellent quality and suitable for everyone to enjoy, they were not the kind that needed to be covered with gauze, hence the servants carried them in openly and aboveboard.

However, flowers like Madam Wei’s moutan peony, Madam Huang’s yaohuang, and various other exquisite peonies that the ladies felt were precious, were all enshrouded in gauze.

Initially, everyone thought the single pot of peony the princess consort brought was something extraordinary. Who would have known that upon unveiling, it turned out to be a white peony that most people already possessed, and its quality wasn’t even among the best of them.

Wei Ting said, "The reason we encountered Bai Erlang on the road was that the princess consort’s carriage nearly collided with Qi Jue and their group, clearly indicating her ire was not light."

Manbao wrinkled her brow.

Ji Hao asked her, looking puzzled, "Have you lost your minds? Why would you provoke the Princess Consort of Yizhou?"

Manbao shot him a glance and said, "We didn’t provoke her."

Bai Erlang nodded vehemently, "It was her servants who were too bullying. The pot of white peony she had was the very first pot that Manbao intended to sell, and frankly, Manbao only planned to sell that one pot. Hmph, who would have thought that her servants just snatched it away, giving only sixteen taels and three qian of silver in return."

At this, not only Wei Ting, but Ji Hao and Jiao Yong as well, couldn’t help but open their mouths in astonishment and asked, "So you sold those twenty pots of white peony just because of that?"

Manbao nodded, "That’s right, I feel the white peony has a connection with many of us."

The three of them were at a loss for words.

Wei Ting, conflicted, said, "Aren’t you afraid..."

"I’m not afraid," Manbao replied confidently, "This is Anyang County. Do you know who the real boss of Anyang County is?"

Wei Ting hesitated, "Isn’t it the Prince of Yizhou?"

Jiao Yong suggested, "Lord Huang?"

Manbao shook her head, "It’s County Magistrate Tang."

Ji Hao scoffed, "He’s just a county magistrate."

Manbao looked at him with a slight, cold laugh and said, "He’s the parental official of Anyang County. Even if the emperor himself were here, he would have to abide by the laws set by the county magistrate."

Ji Hao and the others were rendered speechless.

What Manbao said was not exactly right, but neither was it wrong.

As the parental official, regardless of the ranks of sovereign and subject, County Magistrate Tang indeed had authority over the emperor.

Feeling he could not out-argue her, Ji Hao could only say, "Wait until the people from the Wang Family come knocking on your door, then see if you can still say the same."

Manbao snorted. Since she dared to do this, it was naturally because she had calculated that County Magistrate Tang would not let the Yizhou Wang Family bully her.

At that moment, Madam Tang was hurrying home with her entourage. She stormed directly into the study to find County Magistrate Tang, exclaiming, "Your little friend has duped us all, especially both of us, we’ve been thoroughly duped by her."

Without even looking up, County Magistrate Tang said, "That’s impossible, who else could dupe you?"

Madam Tang reached out to pinch his ear but thought better of it and withdrew her hand, softening her voice, "Husband, your wife truly was swindled."

County Magistrate Tang shuddered and finally lifted his head, taking her hand and said sternly, "Speak properly."

Seeing that he was finally willing to listen to her seriously, Madam Tang huffed, "She still doesn’t know how to swindle people? You have no idea how badly we were swindled today."

But after speaking, remembering the Princess Consort of Yizhou’s dark expression that day, Madam Tang couldn’t help but let out a laugh, and she sat directly in County Magistrate Tang’s arms, chuckling, "However, today we did get to see a good show. Although we were swindled, it’s no skin off our back, at worst it’s just a bit of embarrassment for us, but the Princess Consort of Yizhou was really swindled miserably."

Holding his wife, County Magistrate Tang’s expression turned grave and he hastily asked, "They swindled the Princess Consort of Yizhou? How?"

Madam Tang glanced at him and questioned, "Why so nervous? And here I thought you were not the nervous type."

County Magistrate Tang massaged his forehead and pleaded, "My little ancestor, just tell me quickly, who are they? And the Princess Consort of Yizhou, who is she?"

"Who else could they be? Just a princess," Madam Tang rose from his embrace and scoffed, "From a small family, that’s all."

County Magistrate Tang: "...Aren’t our Tang Family also from a small family in front of your Wang Family?"

"You’re not," Madam Tang looked at him with a smile, "You, dear, are the Wang Family’s illustrious son-in-law."

County Magistrate Tang was truly getting anxious; the two families were mortal enemies, and his greatest fear was that those two children, ignorant of the immensity of the heavens and earth, would provoke the Yizhou princely estate and then...

Seeing his genuine worry, Madam Tang then recounted what had happened with Manbao selling flowers the other day and today, "The Princess Consort of Yizhou left early in the morning. I felt something was off, so I sent someone to check, and many other ladies did the same. Guess what happened?"

When County Magistrate Tang heard it was about selling flowers, he relaxed a bit and became curious, asking, "What happened?"

"It turns out the flowers in the Princess Consort of Yizhou’s possession were indeed sold by Manbao," Madam Tang laughed again, unable to contain herself, "I thought so, these flowers looked too similar, and I suspected they came from the same person. That girl must have originally planned to sell just one pot, so she had it taken to the street on the first day, asking for six hundred taels, and the next day, it was taken to sell right in front of the Yizhou Prince’s estate."

Madam Tang sighed, "Speaking of which, I do have some connection to this incident. It was I who mentioned that the Princess Consort of Yizhou liked peonies. I guess the child must have been thinking about making money from the Princess Consort of Yizhou at that time."

I had initially thought she was trying to make connections, but in the end, it was all about making money.

How fixated on money she is, yet somehow so endearing.

"There was a steward in the prince’s estate who took a fancy to that pot of flowers and forcibly bought it, simply tossing a pouch of money to Manbao. I heard there was almost a fight over it."

County Magistrate Tang then asked, "And then?"

Madam Tang gave a meaningful smile and said, "Then Manbao said the steward had a destiny with that pot of flowers, sold it to him, and there were sixteen taels and three coins of silver in that pouch. After that, she imported twenty pots of peonies in one go, selling each pot for sixteen taels. Tell me, isn’t she wicked?"

County Magistrate Tang, however, asked, "Zhou Man doesn’t seem like someone who would talk behind people’s backs. Where did you hear this conversation from?"

"From the prince’s estate, of course. As long as you pay attention and inquire, you can always find out."

County Magistrate Tang pondered, "Are the mouths of the people in the prince’s estate so easy to pry open?"

"It depends on the person. A bunch of gatekeepers and servants, who usually keep quiet—if you give them some money or promise them some benefits, there’s nothing they know that can’t be asked."

Seeing County Magistrate Tang unnaturally quiet, Madam Tang couldn’t help but push him, "You’re not thinking of investigating anything in the Yizhou Prince’s estate, are you?"

County Magistrate Tang came back to reality and smiled, "No, there hasn’t been a recent case in the prince’s estate that I can investigate."

Madam Tang thought it over and agreed, no longer focusing on the matter but instead asking, "By the way, you must get that little friend of yours to do me justice. I have been helping her so much, and yet she even swindled me along with the rest."

County Magistrate Tang said, "You seem to enjoy it quite a bit... Ow, alright, alright, I will talk to her, I will definitely talk to her."