The Concubine's Daughter Travels Through Time and Space and Takes the Road of Confrontation

The fifth day of May is the Dragon Boat Festival.

In the morning, Zhang was busy delivering mugwort-boiled eggs, rice dumplings, and other goodies to the neighbors. In the afternoon, she took a car to the Marquis' Mansion. Because Lu Rong had a grudge against Lu Zhen because of the past, Jin He persuaded her for a long time before she agreed to go with her to help Lu Zhen with her makeup.

When they arrived at the Marquis' Mansion, Qin came out early, wearing a long gown with a double-breasted collar, embroidered with lotus patterns and gold all over, and a full set of emerald headdress, smiling very politely.

Zhang: "Happy Dragon Boat Festival, sister-in-law. Sister Rong and I are here to help Sister Zhen with her makeup."

Qin took out the sachet she had prepared long ago and said, "Sister Rong, your sister Zhen is waiting for you in her yard. Go quickly."

Lu Rong blinked, took the sachet and took Jin He out of the house.

Zhang picked up the teacup and took a sip without any expression.

Qin's face showed a worried look. "One or two of them both give me peace of mind. Tell me what's going on in Lingjie'er's mind. She gave up her good position as a concubine and chose to go to Qingping Temple to pray for blessings. You, sister-in-law, must have known about this for a long time, but didn't tell the family."

Zhang heard her complaint and pretended to be surprised. "Sister-in-law, you didn't even know Lingjie was in Qingping Temple. This is not right. When the New Year gifts were delivered, didn't you send anyone to check on her?"

Qin wiped her eyes. "She's never been close to me since she was little. Whenever she tells her family, they won't know where to turn when trouble strikes. When Lingjie had a miscarriage, it was all because of this Su. Lingjie was magnanimous enough to let it go, but now her family is being relentless."

Zhang felt nauseous after hearing this and couldn't help but pick up the tea and take another sip.

Seeing that she didn't respond, Qin Shi became anxious. "Could it be that you, the Second Branch, are still holding a grudge against the Mansion because of the division of the family? You were clearly present that day, so why didn't you go and explain it clearly to the ladies in the palace on Lingjie's behalf?"

Zhang said with a half-smile, "Sister Ling is the daughter of your first wife. What relationship does she have with our second wife? Besides, the family has been divided now, and each family should take care of its own. Sister-in-law, you are Sister Ling's mother and the Marquis' wife. Why don't you go to the palace yourself? The Prime Minister's wife has been running around many times."

Qin said confidently, "The old lady has been ill for a while, and Cheng'er hasn't been doing well. I just asked a teacher to come back and take strict care of him. Then there's Zhenjie's wedding, and I've been busy like a top all day. I originally thought I'd wait until Zhenjie's wedding was over before asking the two ladies for mercy, but who knew it would come to this."

Zhang frowned in confusion. "What extent?"

"The concubine that the Third Prince just took in, Liu, is the illegitimate daughter of the Minister of Justice, Lord Li, and she has already returned to her ancestral home. Now, Madam Shen and the Prime Minister's wife have been involved in countless arguments in front of the two Empresses in order to secure the position of concubine for their daughter." Qin's face was gloomy.

The Third Prince's Mansion clearly did not want to offend either side, and one concubine position was not enough, so naturally someone would turn their attention to Concubine Lu, who had just made a big mistake.

If we get rid of her, there will be one more concubine.

Zhang immediately thought of what had happened a few days ago. Could it be that the Third Emperor was thinking of marrying Sister Rong into his palace? Zhang was terrified by her own speculation.

Seeing that her sister-in-law looked uglier than her own, Qin thought her words had worked and forced out two tears.

"Even if I get Lingjie'er, I'm still going to be abandoned?"

Zhang stood up and said, "I'm sorry, sister-in-law, I remembered that I have something to do at home, so I'll leave first." After that, she stood up and went to the backyard to look for her daughter.

Lu Rong and Lu Zhen sat on each side, with two bowls of tea on the small kang table.

Lu Rong didn't even touch it, she took out two purses and put them on the table, "Cousin Zhen, these are the dowries given to you by our family and Ning An."

Lu Zhen accepted it with a smile and looked at Lu Rong. "I've been wondering when my cousin would come. I was wrong last time. I want to apologize to my cousin." After saying that, he stood up, knelt down and was about to salute.

Jin He hurriedly helped her up and said, "Miss Zhen, the matter has passed. There is no need to mention it again."

Lu Zhen nodded slightly.

"Is that Miss Rong in there?" someone asked at the door.

Lu Zhen stood up and said, "Auntie is here, please sit down."

Aunt Sun handed a small box to Xiao Taohong beside Lu Zhen and said with a forced smile, "This is the makeup your sister Ling gave you."

Lu Zhen thought of her elder sister. When she married into the Third Prince's mansion, she enjoyed great glory for a while. But now, after eight or nine years of fighting, she ended up like this.

"Thank you, big sister, for still thinking of me. I will definitely go to the temple to see her when I have time."

Lu Rong frowned. "Cousin Ling is only staying at Qingping Temple temporarily."

Lu Zhen was stunned. "I said the wrong thing, please don't blame me, Auntie. Even if Cousin Ling wants to become a nun, she should go to Mei'an."

Aunt Sun raised her willow-shaped eyebrows slightly. "Sister Zhen, no wonder the Madam always praises you for being caring. Knowing that Master Qian's family is short of money, you actually took the initiative to reduce the dowry. When your sister got married, her dowry was eighty loads—" She looked around, her eyes contemptuous. "According to the rules of the public house, a daughter's wedding should also have forty loads."

Lu Rong noticed the boxes in the room. Forty loads would definitely not be enough, but twenty would be about the same.

Aunt Sun chuckled and turned to look at Lu Rong. "Miss Rong, I have a few jars of good tea. Why don't you come over and sit with me?"

Lu Rong had long lost her patience and immediately followed him out.

The two men walked to the gate of the courtyard and heard the sound of tea bowls falling to the ground from the house behind.

When Zhang came, Aunt Sun was putting a small box on the table.

"What's this?" Zhang sat down next to her daughter, wondering what Sun was up to.

Sun glanced outside nervously and winked at the maid, "Go to the door and water the two pots of flowers."

After saying that, he opened the small box, which was filled with gold and silver hairpins and rings.

"This is the money I've saved for my own pocket over the years in the mansion." Sun felt the contents of the box and then pushed it over to the Second Madam. "Please, Second Madam, give this box to Lingjie'er. This is all I can do for her."

Zhang frowned. "Sister Ling is still in Qingping Temple. You can give it to her in person."

Aunt Sun shook her head and lowered her voice, "Lu Cheng is a gambling addict, and he refuses to change despite repeated warnings. About a month ago, he lost over 15,000 silver coins, and the master brought him back to the mansion. He had just been at peace for a while, but then he was coaxed into gambling again. It's been seven or eight days now, and the master and his wife still don't know."

Zhang was surprised. "How did you know?"

Aunt Sun: "Ever since the old lady fell ill, Madam has entrusted the care of her to Aunt Guo and me. Aunt Guo was honest and did her best to take care of the old lady. One night, I was tired and fell asleep in the outer room. In the middle of my sleep, I heard the sound of a box being opened from inside. I didn't dare move, waiting for the person to come out. I peeked through the cracks of my eyes and recognized it was Lu Cheng. After a few times, he stole all the old lady's treasures with a private key."

Zhang's expression was serious. "You should inform the eldest wife and the eldest master about this."

Aunt Sun spat, hatred flashing in her eyes. "I listened to them and went to persuade Lingjie to go back and admit her mistakes. When I came back, they heard me say that Lingjie refused to admit her mistakes and refused to go back. Madam immediately said that Lingjie had offended too many people and the family might not have room for her. If she couldn't return to the Third Prince's Mansion, the family would treat her as if she didn't exist and even send someone to the door to take back her dowry. Isn't this just forcing Lingjie to die?"

By the end, her voice was choked with sobs. Sun wiped away her tears with a handkerchief. "I only have Lingjie'er in my life, and all my plans and plots are for her. Besides, the current situation of the Marquis' Mansion was remedied with money from the public treasury last time, but next time, we might have to sell property, land, and people!"

Zhang took the box. Before leaving, Sun returned to her usual state as the favored concubine she was, and followed Qin to see her off to the door.

Zhang took one last look at the vermilion double copper-plated gates behind her and boarded the carriage back home.