Discussion
After seeing Grand Princess Shangde off, Consort of Prince of Jingping sat alone for a while before sending someone to the front courtyard to summon Prince of Jingping and relay Zhao Ruxi's words to him.
"What do you think she means by that?" she asked.
"Just as Grand Princess Shangde said, it means exactly what it says," Prince of Jingping.
Consort of Prince of Jingping was frustrated. "Then what do we do?"
"What kind of person is that Concubine Zhao?" Prince of Jingping asked.
Because his wife was a shrewd woman, he never worried about his four sons getting married. This was the first time he had ever interfered in his sons' marriages.
"I don't like her," Consort of Prince of Jingping said bluntly. "She's the adopted daughter of the second branch of the Zhao Family. It's one thing that her original adoptive mother was that beheaded woman from the Wei Family, but she herself is a student at the Capital Women's Academy, her family has some wealth, and she's from a noble family. It would be absolutely no problem for her to marry a newly promoted Jinshi or Juren."
"But she deliberately stooped to such lowliness, dressing up extravagantly every day to seduce our Brother Jie by the lake. He even secretly brought her into the house as a Brother Jie not long after their marriage. I simply can't stand this kind of vain, self-deprecating, scheming, and manipulative woman."
Prince of Jingping himself had several concubines, and his second and third sons were born out of wedlock; the recently deceased heir also had several concubines; Xiao Sijie, in addition to Zhao Ruyu, recently took another concubine and also took two maids as his concubines.
Therefore, Consort of Prince of Jingping had long since learned to be indifferent to concubines, treating them merely as playthings. If she hadn't looked down on Zhao Ruyu so much, she wouldn't have allowed Xiao Sijie's legal wife to humiliate and make things difficult for Zhao Ruyu in the first place.
Now, she naturally has no desire to officially recognize Zhao Ruyu as her official wife.
"Besides, ever since Brother Jie left, several ladies have come to me to inquire about marriage alliances with our family. Why should we abandon a perfectly respectable young lady and instead support a nobody concubine as the heir's wife?"
Prince of Jingping frowned but made no comment.
He turned to his servant and ordered, "Go and fetch the young master. Tell him the princess and I need to speak with him."
"Yes."
The servant left, and a moment later Xiao Sijie returned, bowing to the two of them. "Father, Mother."
Prince of Jingping gestured to a chair and gestured for his son to sit down. He then asked, "Your wife has been gone for almost a year. Your mother is planning to arrange a new marriage for you. What are your thoughts on this?"
Xiao Sijie quickly said, "Father, Mother, you don't know yet, do you? Ruyu is pregnant. Her cousin is now the Consort of the Prince of Qi. If she gives birth to a son, I think it would be better to make her the official wife. What do you think?"
Consort of Prince of Jingping's eyes darkened, and she exchanged a glance with Prince of Jingping.
Ancient times were harsh on women, but very lenient on men.
Although Xiao Sijie's legal wife had not been dead for a year and he was still observing mourning for her, this was merely a customary practice in which families would not remarry within that year to show respect for their in-laws; it did not require the man to actually observe a year of mourning for his wife.
Only princes who were in mourning for the late emperor were forbidden from having their wives or concubines pregnant.
However, Zhao Ruyu was not only pregnant, but she also won over Xiao Sijie, making Xiao Sijie want to make her his official wife, which made Consort of Prince of Jingping feel very uneasy.
"In that case, let's discuss this matter again after your concubine gives birth," Prince of Jingping.
Consort of Prince of Jingping stared wide-eyed at her husband, wondering why he would make such a promise.
"Alright, go ahead. Be good to your concubine, protect her, and don't let anyone harm the child in her womb," Prince of Jingping added.
Xiao Sijie knew that his mother didn't approve of Zhao Ruyu. He was also very uneasy when he said those words.
Hearing his father tell him to treat Zhao Ruyu well and not object to making her his official wife, he was Gao Xing. He bowed and obediently left.
Watching Xiao Sijie's departing figure, Consort of Prince of Jingping said to her husband with annoyance, "Are you really going to let him make Zhao Ruyu his official wife? Wouldn't it be better to marry a girl from another noble family? Consort of the Prince of Qi and Zhao Ruyu don't get along."
"Now the Prince of Qi has stated that he will only marry the Consort of the Prince of Qi and will never take a concubine. Do you know what this means? As long as the Consort of the Prince of Qi can give birth to a son, and the Prince of Qi later becomes the Crown Prince and ascends the throne, it means that the Zhao Family will be the only powerful family. This unique glory will continue for two generations," said the Prince of Jingping solemnly.
"Consort of the Prince of Qi's family doesn't have many brothers and sisters, so others will be scrambling to curry favor with them. We finally have one, and we're making her a concubine? It'll make Consort of the Prince of Qi lose face. What will Prince of Qi think? What will Consort of the Prince of Qi think? What will the future heir think?"
"We're getting old, Brother Jie is still young. He's only inheriting the title with a lower rank, just a General of the State. Whether our family lives in poverty or glory in the future depends on his generation. In any case, once Concubine Zhao's child is born, he'll have to call Consort of the Prince of Qi' Aunt.' Do you want the future Crown Princess or Empress/Empress Dowager's nephew to be a son of a concubine, to be overshadowed by the legitimate child?"
Upon hearing this, Consort of Prince of Jingping felt a wave of fear wash over her, and was extremely grateful that she had consulted her husband about their son's marriage.
"Alright, let's see. If she's lucky enough to have a son, and she behaves herself during this time, then we'll make her our official wife. If she has a daughter, and she's not presentable, then we absolutely cannot make her our official wife. Otherwise, she'll embarrass herself, and Consort of the Prince of Qi will be Gao Xing."
"That's exactly what Consort of the Prince of Qi meant," Prince of Jingping nodded. "If she's not up to par, she absolutely cannot be made the official wife. So let's postpone this matter for now and see what happens."
Zhao Ruxi didn't care how Consort of Prince of Jingping understood her meaning or what she planned to do.
She's busy again.
The wine from Nanyang Winery had reached its peak flavor. After being tasted by Xiao Ge and Eunuch Xie, it perfectly combined the flavors of the two best yellow wines that Eunuch Xie had previously mentioned, becoming the crown jewel of yellow wines. Xiao Ge then officially decreed that it be made into tribute wine.
The wine brewed at the distillery was made strictly according to the recipe that Zhao Ruxi brought back from modern times, and she had confidence in the wine. So although it took almost two years for the wine to be successfully made, the brewing work at the distillery never stopped from the very beginning.
Therefore, the amount of wine produced by the distillery can be gradually released for sale.
"Heavens, why are you pricing it so expensive?" Grand Princess Shangde held the exquisite glass bottle, which could be considered a work of art, and stared wide-eyed at the yellowish-brown wine inside.
This tiny bottle is priced at twenty taels of silver by Zhao Ruxi.
Zhao Ruxi laughed, "You'll see when you let everyone try it."
She prepared some samples to present to Grand Princess Shangde at her banquet. Feeling better after drinking the wine, would she still lack clients?
"Your Majesty, Madam Tao from the Ministry of War has sent someone to deliver a visiting card." Qingfeng entered and handed Zhao Ruxi a card.