Marrying a royal playboy and becoming a glamorous matriarch

The princess breathed a sigh of relief. "Who do we have here? It turns out to be a poor family that desperately sent their daughter to be a concubine, trying to curry favor with Princess Liuhe."

Princess Liuyang had just married her daughter to the Xu family when the Luo family, eager to curry favor with the powerful, quickly married their daughter off as a concubine to the Xu family's second wife, thus indirectly establishing a kinship.

To outsiders, it's said to be a marriage alliance, which makes it look good on the surface, but in reality, being a concubine doesn't count as a proper marriage at all.

Therefore, they didn't even have the right to eat at banquets with Prince Dun's Mansion on ordinary days, so it was true that the Princess Consort said they were a poor family.

The princess said coldly, "Has the Luo family gone mad? How dare they cause trouble for my Prince Dun's Mansion? Let's go and see."

The princess flicked her sleeve, picked up the rattan whip again, and was about to rush out.

The servant then stammered, "The Luo family said that our second young master went to Luoxianlou to drink and gamble without paying, and even injured someone. They had no choice but to come here to seek justice."

"Hmm?" The princess's eyes widened instantly, and she turned her attention back to Qin Ping'an.

Before Qin Ping'an could even retract his scheming and blackmailing gaze, he was spotted by the princess.

He straightened his back instantly and said righteously, "It's all baseless! Mother, I've been wronged."

Wei Qingrou quickly handed the box containing the luminous pearl forward, reminding the princess, "You forgot, we went to choose a gift for you yesterday, how could we have ended up drinking and carousing?"

The princess withdrew her gaze with a mixture of disbelief and skepticism.

"Let's go check the entrance first. If the Luo family is causing trouble for no reason, we'll make them pay."

Princess Consort's phoenix eyes flickered as she looked at Qin Ping'an: "If you cause trouble again in the end, I have plenty of strength and means to deal with you!"

Qin Ping'an quickly put on a fawning smile and took the princess's arm as they walked out: "Don't worry, I'll go with you."

Wei Qingrou quickly followed.

The Luo family is the villain who filed the complaint first. It seems they'll have to be severely punished before they'll behave.

In front of the Prince Dun's Mansion, where ordinary people usually wouldn't dare to stand, a large crowd had gathered, all craning their necks to watch the spectacle.

In the very center of the crowd lay Luo Laowu, his body covered in blood.

To make the horrific scene even more realistic, he was still wearing yesterday's old blue robe, the bloodstains and dirt on it clearly visible, making it even more glaring under the bright sunlight.

His face was pale, and he was groaning with his eyes closed, muttering, "Second Master Qin is killing me! Second Master Qin, spare my life!"

People always believe the words of the weak, and seeing how miserable Luo Laowu was, they couldn't help but believe it and indignantly denounced the Prince Dun's Mansion.

The Luo family members pounded on the gates of the Prince's mansion, shouting as they did so, "People are almost beaten to death, and you're just hiding and not saying a word? Is there no law under the Emperor's nose?!"

"Incorrigible and heartless, the world is going to the dogs."

"Come out now! Don't hide like a coward!"

Seeing this, the people around couldn't help but turn their heads and whisper among themselves.

"The second young master of Prince Dun's mansion has always been a playboy and a rogue, but this is the first time that people from a brothel have come to his door to collect a debt."

"Luo Laowu is in such a sorry state. I saw him being beaten to death!"

"Sigh, let's see how the Prince Dun's Mansion handles this."

How to deal with it?

The princess's idea, of course, was to quickly give money to send the Luo family away; the Prince Dun's mansion couldn't afford to lose face like that.

She had just secretly peeked at Luo Laowu outside and saw that he was covered in blood and barely breathing. Her heart sank.

At this moment, she had no time to deal with Qin Ping'an and hurriedly dismissed the steward of the manor: "Have you asked the Luo family what their demands are?"

The steward of the Prince's mansion was sweating profusely and hurriedly said, "The Luo family demands 100,000 taels of silver in compensation, not a single coin less."

"What?!" the princess exclaimed in shock. "The Luo family is really asking for an exorbitant amount! The person isn't even dead yet, how dare they extort 100,000 taels from our Prince Dun's mansion?"

The head steward quickly echoed this sentiment.

“Who can argue with that? But now, there are more and more people watching outside. Your Highness, you need to come up with a plan as soon as possible.”

The princess's disappointed gaze was like a knife as she glared at Qin Ping'an, "Did you really hit him?"

Qin Pingan nodded. "I did it."

Wei Qingrou was getting anxious. Why did Qin Ping'an only tell her half of the story?

Yesterday, Luo Laowu embezzled the money belonging to the First Prince and Wei Lanxin, and when confronted about the debt, he tried to renege on his promise.

Then Qin Ping'an exposed his tricks to fool his employer, and he also made wild remarks and slandered the Prince Dun's Mansion. He deserved a good beating.

The princess didn't ask any more questions, but sighed helplessly and said, "Go and raise the money."

Upon hearing this, the flames that had been flickering in Qin Ping'an's eyes gradually died down, and he became even more silent, too lazy to explain any further.

Seeing that the two were no longer explaining, Wei Qingrou decided to be the one to talk and make everything clear.

Only when there are no misunderstandings or barriers among family members can they become close.

Wei Qingrou stepped forward and blocked the head steward's path.

Her gaze was steady and firm as she resolutely said to the princess, "Mother, no. If we give the money to the Luo family now, wouldn't that confirm that my husband is having an affair, damaging our reputation?"

"The power of rumors is such that three people can make a tiger out of a thousand words. If we back down, the tiger will devour us alive."

"Besides, our money didn't fall from the sky or come from the wind. Wouldn't it be a waste to let these scoundrels profit from it?"

How could the princess not understand this principle? But now that the Luo family was blocking the door, what else could she do? She could only send the Luo family away for the time being.

“Qingrou, if this continues, the reputation of Prince Dun’s Mansion will only get worse, and we might even incur the Emperor’s reprimand.”

Wei Qingrou shook her head and said, "If our Second Master really ate and drank for free and hurt people, it would be reasonable for us to compensate the Luo family. But last night, we were really doing something important. It's so frustrating to suffer such injustice for no reason."

Wei Qingrou clenched her fists and said angrily, "Mother, don't worry. I went there yesterday too. I'll go out and explain things to them right now."

The princess quickly stopped him from leaving, her eyes showing surprise and doubt.

"Qingrou, did you also go to Luoxianlou yesterday?"

Wei Qingrou looked embarrassed, but at this critical moment, she couldn't care less about anything else.

She nodded and said, "I dare not lie to Mother, but my husband and I went to select the Night-Shining Pearl. We did not eat and drink for free at Luoxian Tower. The Luo family is maliciously framing us, and I must reason with them."

Wei Qingrou took a step, but the princess held her back tightly. "You can't go. If you go out, things will only get worse."

The princess's eyes held complex emotions, but she genuinely cared for Wei Qingrou.

In today's world, there are many restrictions on women.

If outsiders knew that Wei Qingrou went to a brothel like Luoxianlou, no matter what she did there, they would all belittle her.