DPSDH 16

Chapter 16

Sold Away

Fu Zhao Ning did not answer Qing Yi’s question.

This was her family’s matter. There was no need to explain everything so clearly to Qing Yi.

She still did not know what kind of person Prince Jun really was.

“For now, Grandfather is temporarily fine,” Fu Zhao Ning said to Uncle Zhong. “Please trouble Uncle Zhong to wipe his body with hot water.”

“Young Miss, you must not speak so politely to this old servant.” Hearing that Old Master Fu was temporarily safe, Uncle Zhong happily wiped his tears.

“Where are Aunt Zhong and Brother Hu?”

Only now did Fu Zhao Ning finally have the energy to ask this question.

Normally, Aunt Zhong and her son Hu Zi should both have been here. But after she had returned and all this chaos had happened, she still had not seen either of them.

The moment she asked, Uncle Zhong’s tears flowed again, and Xiao Tao’s face turned pale.

“Where are they?”

The moment Fu Zhao Ning saw their reactions, she knew something must have happened.

Otherwise, Aunt Zhong and Hu Zi would definitely have stayed here guarding the place. How could they have allowed Second Madam to act so arrogantly?

Uncle Zhong was honest and dull by nature, but Aunt Zhong was fierce and sharp-tongued, while Hu Zi possessed tremendous strength. With that mother and son around, the servants from the other branches did not dare act too excessively.

“Miss, wu wu wu…” Xiao Tao could not hold back her tears.

“What exactly happened? Explain first, cry later!”

Fu Zhao Ning’s tone became stern.

Xiao Tao was so frightened that her tears stopped immediately, and she hurriedly explained.

“After Miss’s bridal sedan left, Second Madam sent people to summon Aunt Zhong away. But after a very long time, she still didn’t come back. Brother Hu went to Second Branch to look for her, but they said Aunt Zhong had sticky fingers there.”

“They accused her of stealing one of Second Madam’s hairpins and also breaking one of her twin-ear vases.”

“And then?” Fu Zhao Ning’s voice turned even colder.

Qing Yi frowned but remained silent.

“Second Madam said the Fu family could not keep such a servant anymore, so she directly sold Aunt Zhong away. Brother Hu became anxious and argued with Second Madam, so the servants of Second Branch beat him nearly to death and locked him inside the woodshed.”

“They also said they would sell Brother Hu tomorrow too.”

“Outrageous!”

On the First Branch’s side, they had always relied on fierce Aunt Zhong and strong Hu Zi for protection. While Fu Zhao Ning was still around, Second Branch did not dare openly touch the First Branch’s servants.

But now they had finally seized their chance.

The moment she left in the bridal sedan, they immediately made their move against Aunt Zhong and Hu Zi.

Second Madam had even personally come to provoke Old Master Fu.

If Fu Zhao Ning had returned just a little later, the First Branch truly would have been finished.

Old Master Fu would have died from anger and shock. Uncle Zhong’s family of three and Xiao Tao would all have been sold away.

Then the entire Fu family would truly belong to Second Branch.

“They seem to have forgotten whose Fu family this really is!”

Fu Zhao Ning was furious.

She said to Uncle Zhong, “Uncle Zhong, stay here and watch over Grandfather. I’ll bring Brother Hu back! Xiao Tao, come with me.”

“Miss?” Xiao Tao hesitated slightly.

Miss had truly changed now.

If something like this had happened before, Miss would only have panicked helplessly. Although she would loudly curse Second Branch, she definitely would not have dared take action herself.

She would only wait until Old Master Fu recovered enough strength to personally go speak with Second Branch.

“Grab some weapons.”

Fu Zhao Ning even picked up the pack of silver needles.

Only when she was about to leave did she notice Qing Yi.

Fu Zhao Ning’s eyes lit up.

“Qing Yi, can I borrow you for a moment?”

Qing Yi: “…”

After returning to her own courtyard, Second Madam was currently having ointment applied to the small cuts on her face.

The maid had barely touched her skin when she hissed in pain and immediately slapped the maid across the face.

Smack!

“You useless slut! Can’t you be gentler?”

The maid lowered her head and did not dare speak, only becoming more careful.

“That little bitch Fu Zhao Ning, who knows what medicine she took wrong today? She actually dared come back! And she even dared lay hands on me!”

A young girl with delicate but somewhat petty-looking features and sharp eyes hurried inside with her maid.

“Mother, Fu Zhao Ning really came back? Aren’t people outside all saying she married Prince Jun? Hurry and tell me, what kind of person is Prince Jun? I heard even Xiao Shizi doesn’t dare act recklessly in front of him!”

The girl who entered was Second Madam’s youngest daughter, Fu Ming Zhu, whom she had given birth to after turning thirty.

Second Madam doted on this daughter like a precious jewel, which was exactly why she named her Ming Zhu.

The moment she saw Fu Ming Zhu, the viciousness on Second Madam’s face eased slightly.

“Ming Zhu, did you secretly run outside to play again until now? Mother already told you there are many bad people outside. You shouldn’t stay out so late. You must return before dark. Why won’t you listen?”

“Ah, Mother, hurry and tell me about Prince Jun!”

“What did you just say? Fu Zhao Ning married Prince Jun?”

Only now did Second Madam finally react to what Fu Ming Zhu had said.

She was instantly stunned.

The news she had heard was that Fu Zhao Ning had quarreled with Xiao Shizi in the street, had her engagement broken off, offended Li Zhi Yao, and then, out of spite toward Xiao Shizi, randomly pointed at a man on the street and followed him home to get married.

But that man was Prince Jun?

How was that possible?!

“Yes! Everyone outside is saying it. The whole capital is talking about it!”

“Impossible. Absolutely impossible.”

Second Madam completely refused to believe it.

“Do you think there are that many princes in Da Zhao? Running all over the streets so casually that you can just catch one at random? And even if you did, would he casually marry Fu Zhao Ning?”

“But everyone is saying so. Mother, don’t you know who Prince Jun is?”

Fu Ming Zhu’s dream was to marry into a royal household and become a princess consort.

Xiao Wang’s heir had already been engaged to Fu Zhao Ning for ten years, which made her jealous for all ten of those years.

Although Xiao Yan Jing was not yet a prince, he was still a shizi. In the future, he would inherit the title.

And Xiao Shizi was also extremely handsome.

Unfortunately, no matter how much she tried to show affection toward him before, Xiao Shizi ignored her.

Fu Ming Zhu had always believed Xiao Shizi was simply an honorable man who remained loyal to his engagement with Fu Zhao Ning and therefore paid no attention to other women.

Today, after hearing Fu Zhao Ning had publicly broken off the engagement with Xiao Shizi, she was first overjoyed.

But immediately afterward, she heard Fu Zhao Ning had turned around and married Prince Jun!

Prince Jun—not a shizi.

That meant Fu Zhao Ning had directly become a princess consort now.

Fu Ming Zhu was nearly driven mad with jealousy.

She had already thrown Xiao Shizi to the back of her mind. Now she only wanted to know what kind of man Prince Jun was.

Second Madam still refused to believe it.

“Prince Jun is just… Prince Jun. He hasn’t been in the capital for years, and nobody has mentioned him all this time. He’s probably just some idle prince without real authority, the type the palace doesn’t even care about.”

Second Branch had originally only been an ordinary family from a small town barely making ends meet. Later, after learning Old Master Fu was doing well in the capital, the whole family came to rely on him.

With their background, they had never been able to interact with the imperial family before.

So although Second Madam had heard of Prince Jun, she knew almost nothing about him.

“But everyone outside says even Xiao Shizi doesn’t dare raise his voice before Prince Jun,” Fu Ming Zhu cried out.

“Could it be because this Prince Jun is older and of a higher generation?”

Second Madam guessed.

“Doesn’t Xiao Shizi still have to follow proper etiquette and respect his elders? They were out on the street. As a younger generation member, could he really openly clash with an elder? What if someone reported him to the Emperor?”

Fu Ming Zhu froze.

“Is that how it is?”

“Of course. Among the Emperor’s sons who received princely titles, which one haven’t you heard of before?”

After thinking about it, Fu Ming Zhu realized it actually made sense.

Immediately, she became excited again.

“But Mother, everyone says Fu Zhao Ning turned around and married Prince Jun right after breaking with Xiao Shizi!”

Second Madam twitched her mouth, accidentally pulling at the wound on her face. The pain instantly reminded her of Fu Zhao Ning’s behavior earlier, making her grind her teeth in hatred.

“You know Fu Zhao Ning’s stubborn dog-like temper already. Before, when her grandfather was dying and worried about her future, she shamelessly chased after Xiao Shizi every day and insisted on marrying him.”

“Clearly Xiao Wang Manor already refused to acknowledge the engagement.”

“So tell me—after Xiao Shizi publicly broke off the engagement and humiliated her, wouldn’t someone as stubborn as her randomly grab a man and marry him just to save face?”

Fu Ming Zhu paused, then subconsciously replied,

“But at least he’s still a prince. That’s not random at all.”

No matter what, Fu Zhao Ning had married a prince and become a princess consort.

She was deeply jealous.

“That must have been completely out of spite. Besides, if Xiao Shizi respected him like an elder, then how old must this Prince Jun be?”

“You think such an old man, plus an obscure idle prince few people in the capital even know about, wouldn’t already have a princess consort before? Wouldn’t his residence already be filled with secondary consorts and concubines and all kinds of messy women?”

The more Second Madam spoke, the more convinced she became of her own theory.

“He probably already has a whole group of legitimate sons, illegitimate sons, and even bastards. Even if Fu Zhao Ning married in, she would only become a second wife and a stepmother.”

A maid beside them could not help joining in.

“That’s right, that’s right. Maybe the young masters and young ladies in Prince Jun’s residence are even older than Miss Zhao Ning!”

“Exactly.”

Second Madam continued comforting her precious daughter.

“And tell me, why would that Prince Jun casually agree to marry Fu Zhao Ning after being stopped on the street?”

Fu Ming Zhu blankly asked, “Why?”

“Because he was attracted by Fu Zhao Ning’s face, of course! Fu Zhao Ning has already used that face to seduce who knows how many men.”

Fu Ming Zhu bit her lip.

This was another reason she was so jealous of Fu Zhao Ning.

Fu Zhao Ning’s face was simply too stunning.

Ever since childhood, whenever the two of them stood together, everyone’s eyes would always land on Fu Zhao Ning’s face, even if Fu Ming Zhu dressed more luxuriously.

“Just wait and see,” Second Madam said coldly.

“With only that pretty face and such a stubborn personality, how could Fu Zhao Ning possibly survive inside a prince’s residence?”

“She even ran back home tonight. She has probably already angered that old Prince Jun.”

“Within a few days, she’ll definitely be thrown out.”

“Fu Zhao Ning really came back?”

“Bad news!”

A maid ran in panic-stricken.

“Second Madam, Eldest Miss has barged in here!”

“What?! Barged in?!”