Chapter 594: Conferment (3)

Editor: Atlas Studios

When the old Hanlin and the other three came to the Qi Residence to ask questions, it was as good as trampling on Madam Wu’s face and skinning her clean. Not only her, but Qi Shaosheng and Qi Shaotai’s identities as the legitimate sons were also questioned.

Considering the Qi family had achieved royalty status thanks to Qi Xiuyuan, naturally, they acted in accordance with Qi Xiuyuan’s attitude. When asked about what happened back then, they said that Madam Wu only became the second wife in hopes of helping to flush away the bad luck so that Mrs. Qi would recover from her illness. However, since this had not received the approval of the elders in the clan, they should still follow the government office’s documents.

The document retained in the government office was still the concubine acknowledgement letter written by Qi Feng when he took Madam Wu as a concubine.

Seeing this, Madam Wu spat out a mouthful of blood and fainted. As Qi Shaosheng hugged her and cried, he questioned, “If you don’t want to acknowledge Mother, just say it. Why do you have to take things so far?”

The patriarch of the Qi family couldn’t let Qi Shaosheng slander Qi Xiuyuan like this. He quickly reprimanded, “How dare you! This is the truth. The Emperor doesn’t remember it since he was still young back then. Now, he wants to confer titles to your mother and you brothers, so it’s only right for him to ask. Are you not willing to accept the conferment?”

Qi Shaosheng gnashed his teeth in anger. He wanted to say no, but he couldn’t bring himself to say the word out loud. All he could do was glare at them with hatred and fury. When had he ever suffered such humiliation?

When his father was around, he treated him as his eldest legitimate son. Qi Xiuyuan was not at home all year round. Although the servants in the residence called him “Second Master”, everyone knew that he would inherit the Qi family’s business in the future.

Now that he had changed from a legitimate wife to a concubine’s son, anyone could trample on him and his mother.

As Madam Wu regained consciousness slowly, tears flowed down her face. She said, “Send me to the ancestral hall. I-I want to complain to Old Master. Old Master, open your eyes and take a look. Eldest Master promised to take care of us on your behalf, but he humiliated us like this.”

Madam Wu lay on the ground and cried, “I know Eldest Master doesn’t fancy me as his stepmother, but Second Master and Third Master are Eldest Master’s biological younger brothers. He can’t forget the promise he made in front of Old Master’s deathbed.”

The patriarch of the Qi family questioned, “Madam Wu, other than your two sons, who else would recognize you as Qi Feng’s legitimate wife? You’d better stop while you’re ahead. If you cause trouble, no one will be able to get away with what happened back then. The Emperor is concerned about face-saving, but Prince Rong is a straightforward one. Seeing as the two uncles of the Zhu family are about to enter the capital, you have to think carefully.”

Madam Wu stopped crying and looked at the Qi family’s patriarch resentfully. The patriarch snorted and looked at the four officials. “Have you finished asking what you’re here to ask?”

The four of them nodded repeatedly and said, “We’re done. We’ll go back and reply now.”

However, they were extremely curious about what had happened back then. From the sound of it, it seemed that Old Master Qi and Madam Wu had let the Emperor and Prince Rong down and the Zhu family had something on them?

If this were other families, it would just be casual gossip. However, considering it was the royal family, it was a secret to be kept private. Everyone was extremely curious.

Madam Wu’s identity was confirmed—she was a concubine and not a wife. Now that this confirmation set the foundation, it was announced to the world that Madam Zhu was Qi Feng’s only wife and Madam Wu was merely a concubine.

This was the outcome Qi Xiuyuan hoped to achieve. Not dragging things on, he directly conferred upon Lady Wu the title of “Imperial Noble Consort”, uniquely bestowing her maiden name as her title, without any additional honorifics. He ordered her to select an auspicious date to enter the palace.

Meanwhile, Qi Shaosheng and Qi Shaotai were respectively conferred the titles of “Marquis of Peaceful Happiness” and “Marquis of Peaceful Stability”. The Emperor even bestowed them with a Marquis’s Residence each. Moreover, the two residences were connected, making it very convenient for them to visit each other.

If it was still the Great Zhou Dynasty, the two of them would probably die of happiness to be conferred the title of Marquis. After all, General Yuan had worked hard for more than 20 years to only be conferred the title of Marquis.

However, it was the Great Qi Dynasty now and the person sitting on the throne was their elder brother. Seeing as their younger brother born from the same father was conferred the title of a Prince, being conferred a Marquis was too insignificant in comparison.

However, they didn’t dare to make a fuss since Qi Xiuyuan had already made his stand clear. The people who had originally been sucking up to them now steered clear from them, and visitors were few and far between at the Qi Residence.

Having been taken down a notch by Qi Xiuyuan, they were a little dispirited and muddle-headed. When the palace servants came to pack their things and offered to help them to move to the new Marquis’s Residence and the palace, they did not think too much and simply let them pack up.

It was only when they moved into the new Marquis’s Residence that Qi Shaosheng finally realized that something was amiss. Frowning, he asked, “Where’s Mother?”

Moving house being a laborious task, Madam Xu was thoroughly exhausted. Although she didn’t have to do it herself, she was already so tired from ordering the servants around that it was difficult for her to even move a finger. Hearing this, she said, “Didn’t Mother enter the palace? She’s the consort, so she should be living in the harem.”

With a look of hesitation, Qi Shaosheng said, “Qi Xiu… His Majesty has never been fond of Mother. Why would he let her live in the harem? Besides, it’s not like there have never been cases of imperial concubines living outside with their sons…”

At this point, Qi Shaosheng became even more suspicious. “Why did the Emperor summon Mother into the palace?”

An ominous feeling rose in Madam Xu’s heart, but she forced a smile and said, “After all, the Emperor has just ascended the throne, so it’s not appropriate for him to disassociate himself with her too clearly. Hence, it makes sense for him to let Mother stay in the palace.”

“Is that so?” Qi Shaosheng remained skeptical.

Madam Xu hurriedly stood up and said, “What else can it be? Alright, let’s quickly pack up. Considering the Marquis’s Residence is so big, there are many areas to take care of. It’s only our family that lives here now, but this place is three times as big as the Qi Residence…”

Qi Shaosheng pursed his lips in disdain and said, “You only think our Marquis’s Residence is huge because you’ve never seen the Prince’s Residence. I heard that only a few courtyards of Minister Qin’s residence were excluded. Think about how massive Minister Qin’s residence is considering it occupies the entire foot of Nanping Mountain…”

See, this was why Qi Shaosheng was green with envy.

Qi Haoran’s Prince’s Residence alone was three times the size of his and his brother’s Marquis’s Residences combined.

Madam Xu lowered her head and remained silent. How could they compare when Qi Xiuyuan had doted on Qi Haoran like a son all along?

However, Madam Xu did not retort when she saw the injustice on her husband’s face.

Madam Wu, who had entered the palace, was not in the mood to think about this. After being sent to Qingning Palace to settle down, Madam Wu came back to her senses. When she saw that Nanny Wu was the only familiar person beside her, her heart skipped a beat and she hurriedly asked, “Where are the servant girls and maidservants?”

Oblivious to Madam Wu’s abnormality, Nanny Wu replied happily with a smile, “Have you forgotten that we’ve entered the palace? Naturally, those servant girls and maidservants remain outside. Now that we’ve entered the palace, there will be palace maids serving us. Only I followed you into the palace.” Feeling that this was a great honor, Nanny Wu was thrilled.

Madam Wu felt a chill run down her spine. This was a place where Qi Xiuyuan called the shots.

Previously, she had spat out a mouthful of blood from her heart. In addition, the agitation had dealt a blow to her health, so she was still feeling muddle- headed. She did not expect to be tricked into coming to the palace while she wasn’t paying attention.

After entering this place, wouldn’t she be at Qi Xiuyuan’s mercy?

Madam Wu couldn’t help but think of the wet nurse who had been smashed into a bloody mess back then. She shivered and said in a sharp voice, “I don’t want to live in the palace! I want to leave! I want to go out and live with my sons!”

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