On November 26th, the weather was sunny, and the afternoon sun was so warm that it gave the illusion of spring.
Outside He'an City, Lu He and Lu Mingke led people out of the city to greet Yu Zheng.
As the huge procession approached, the carriage slowly stopped. Lu He and Lu Mingke stepped forward and greeted them respectfully.
"My lower official, Lu He (Lu Mingke), has met His Royal Highness King Jing."
Lu He was dressed in official uniform, nearly fifty years old, with a dignified and elegant face, and the air of a clean civil servant.
The car door opened, Yu Zheng sat upright, looked at Lu He and said, "Please, Mr. Lu, lead the way."
"Yes." Lu He responded respectfully, turned around and walked towards the carriage.
When Lu Mingke turned around and looked up, he glanced into the carriage and was a little surprised to see Jiang Shu, and finally raised his lips slightly.
The spies reported only that King Jing was here and did not mention the people accompanying him.
But last year, Lu Mingke was shocked when he learned that Jiang Shu had been granted a marriage to King Jing and Gao Gao.
Even more shocked than him was Shen Qingrong.
I wonder how Shen Qingrong will react when he finds out that Yu Zheng and Jiang Shu came to Ancheng together?
The wheels were rolling, and Lu He and Lu Mingke's carriages led the way, leading the team into the city and towards the county governor's mansion.
When they arrived at the governor's mansion, Yu Zheng and Jiang Shu got off the bus, and the Lu family and his son welcomed them into the mansion.
Entering the main hall, Yu Zheng sat down at the top and said, "I am here with the Holy Majesty's decree. Please prepare to receive it, Mr. Lu."
Lu He looked shocked when he heard this, and quickly ordered people to set up the incense table and invite the family members in the mansion.
Lu Mingke was a little worried after being surprised, fearing that Shen Qingrong would lose his composure.
However, for such an important event as receiving an order, all the family members in the mansion must be present, and Shen Qingrong had to come because of Mrs. Lu's name.
The servants hurried to each hospital to report the news.
Shen Qingrong, who was grounded, couldn't believe it for a moment when he heard the report from his servants.
"What did you say?" Shen Qingrong stood up from the chair and asked in surprise.
The servant repeated: "His Royal Highness King Jing and Princess Jing have come with the Holy Emperor's decree. Your Excellency asked me to ask the young lady to go to the front hall to receive the decree."
"Prince Jing is here, how is it possible..." Shen Qingrong was stunned and muttered to himself.
And Princess Jing...
Chewing these three words, Shen Qingrong gritted his teeth, and his heart was suddenly filled with resentment.
Ever since she returned to Pingyang from Beijing, she had been rejected by Lu Mingke. Lu He and his wife, who learned about her actions in Beijing, were extremely disappointed with her and agreed to let Lu Mingke marry Su Rou as his equal wife.
Of course she didn't want to, and for the first time she contradicted her parents-in-law and made a fuss. Madam Lu scolded her, made her kneel in the ancestral hall all night, and punished her by having her female vows copied.
In the Western month of last year, Su Rou married into the Lu family. The whole city congratulated her, but no one cared about her feelings.
When the bride offered tea, Shen Qingrong refused to accept it, which made Lu Mingke angry. Mrs. Lu scolded her displeased.
Later, I only heard the new ones laughing, but not the old ones crying. Lu Mingke stayed in Su Rou's room every night and never set foot in Shen Qingrong's courtyard again.
Shen Qingrong was unwilling and used Lu Xingyuan to deceive and force Lu Mingke to come to her hospital. Lu Mingke did come, but he always had a cold face, looked at her with more disgust every time, and never stayed overnight.
Lu He and his wife no longer upheld justice for her. Instead, they told her to be aware of the general situation and to be jealous, and asked her to educate Lu Xingyuan well.
A few months later, Su Rou was pregnant.
Shen Qingrong saw that Lu Mingke was very protective of Su Rou, and heard that Lu He and his wife were caring about Su Rou. They seemed to have completely forgotten her existence, and only still had some love for Lu Xingyuan.
Looking at Su Rou's growing belly, Shen Qingrong felt a crisis. With the Lu family's attitude, if Su Rouru gave birth to a son, Lu Xingyuan's status would be in jeopardy.
While the Lu family still liked Lu Xingyuan, Shen Qingrong took action against Su Rou.
Su Rou almost had a miscarriage and stayed in bed for three months to recuperate before she could save her unborn child.
Lu Mingke found out that it was Shen Qingrong who did it, so he slapped her angrily and wanted to divorce her.
The family scandal was not to be publicized, but Lu He and his wife were concerned about their appearance, and finally persuaded Lu Mingke to resign and put her under house arrest. Lu Xingyuan was also taken away from her.
Shen Qingrong was disillusioned with all her thoughts and was getting more and more depressed, thinking that Lu Mingke would never set foot in her yard again in this life.
But a month later, Lu Mingke suddenly came to see her.
Lu Mingke was in a good mood that day, with a smile on his face and talked to her calmly.
Just what he said made Shen Qingrong angry and crazy.
Lu Mingke told her that Jiang Shu was granted marriage to King Jing by imperial decree and was about to marry into the prince's palace.
Shen Qingrong felt buzzing in his ears, and the hidden strings in his mind suddenly disconnected. He was so angry that he lost his mind and desperately wanted to return to Beijing.
She wanted to question Jiang Shu face to face.
How could the Lu family let her go back?
Not only was she not allowed to go back, even the letters she wrote home were intercepted and never sent out.
Shen Qingrong did not believe that Yu Zheng would marry Jiang Shu, but there was no way to prove it. He was tortured by unwillingness and hatred every day, almost going crazy.
She hated Su Rou and Jiang Shu even more, but she couldn't do anything.
The only thing that supported her was seeing Lu Xingyuan every few days.
The days were so painful and unbearable. When Su Rou gave birth to a sickly daughter, Shen Qingrong became happy again and her spirits improved greatly.
But being confined to this small courtyard and not allowed to go out, and not even able to receive or send letters from home, it was like being cut off from the world.
As time passed, Shen Qingrong couldn't stand it any longer. She often muttered to herself, and suddenly went crazy and beat things, drinking to drown her sorrows.
On the day of her birthday, no one celebrated her birthday, so she drank it herself. When Lu Xingyuan came to see her, she was half drunk.
Shen Qingrong yelled at Lu Xingyuan and cursed the Lu family. His crazy appearance scared Lu Xingyuan. Lu Xingyuan was so scared that he wanted to leave. Shen Qingrong refused and knocked over the incense burner while pulling. The hot incense burner hit Lu Xingyuan's forehead and burned a large piece of his finger. .
From then on, Mrs. Lu no longer allowed Shen Qingrong to see Lu Xingyuan.
She lost contact with her natal family, was rejected by her husband's family, and her son also left her. The servants in the family recognized Su Rou as the young lady. Shen Qingrong was completely decadent and lived like a zombie every day.
"Young lady, please hurry up, His Royal Highness King Jing and Princess Jing are still waiting." Seeing Shen Qingrong not moving for a long time, the servant couldn't help but urged.
Shen Qingrong suddenly came back to his senses, glared at the servant with cold eyes and said: "You must be dignified to receive the imperial edict."
After saying this, Shen Qingrong turned around and went into the inner room. She went to the closet and took out her favorite clothes and put them on. She sat in front of the dressing table and let the maid dress her up.
Although the maid moved quickly, it took two-quarters of an hour to finish cleaning up.
After being banned for more than a year, Shen Qingrong stepped out of the yard for the first time. Shen Qingrong felt that the air outside was sweet, and the scenery everywhere was so beautiful that it made people yearn for it.
But before she could finish her emotion, two strong women clamped down on Shen Qingrong's arms, one on the left and the other on the right, and roughly carried her to the front hall: "Young lady, please hurry up, let His Highness King Jing and Princess Jing wait. Not appropriate."
"Let me go, I will leave on my own." Shen Qingrong struggled hard.
The two women were unmoved. They let go of her when they were almost in the front hall and warned in a low voice: "Madam, please be more responsible, young madam, otherwise the Lu family's rules are nothing more than decoration."
She is the wife of the Lu family, and the Marquis's residence in Jingan is thousands of miles away. The Lu family has the final say on how she lives and dies.
The lessons learned in the past two years are enough for Shen Qingrong to understand this truth.
