eurekapd Chapter 380 Finding Prince Ning
Chapter 380 Finding Prince Ning
When they returned that evening, the princess hugged Zhao Ning and wept bitterly: "My Ningning, your mother was so worried! The imperial physician said that you might not wake up, and even if you did, you would become mentally disabled, sob sob sob."
Zhao Ning laughed: "Mom, I'm fine! Actually, I'm perfectly fine. I just had a long nap, and nothing's wrong!"
The eldest princess looked at her and felt somewhat relieved: "It's good that you're alright."
Zhao Ning complained, "Even though I was asleep, I didn't sleep well at all. I felt like someone was chattering next to me, it was so annoying! It must be Feng Zizhou, why is he so noisy?"
The eldest princess chuckled and tapped her forehead: "You little ingrate, I had a leg injury and couldn't move around easily. I had to be carried to our house just to keep you company and try every possible way to wake you up. And now that you've woken up, you're turning your back on me?"
Seeing that her mother was less sad, Zhao Ning was a little happier, but she still stubbornly said, "Who wants him? Humph, I don't care!"
"You don't care? She was so desperate at home, saying she wouldn't marry anyone but you, that the Feng family had no choice but to come to your door to ask for your hand in marriage... Since you don't care, I'll have someone go and say that you politely decline..."
"Mother, Mother!" Zhao Ning quickly grabbed her, blushing, and said, "But how can he propose? Aren't I already engaged?"
The eldest princess explained, "Don't worry, His Highness Prince Ning has already gone to the Emperor to request the annulment of the engagement."
"Huh? He went...why did he..." Zhao Ning was momentarily confused.
The eldest princess said, "It was all for you and Zizhou that he disregarded other people's opinions and went straight to break off the engagement. Because you've been unconscious lately, I haven't had time to think about anything else, but I do know about the rumors going around... I need to find a way to clear things up for him tomorrow."
Zhao Ning didn't hear the princess's words at all; her mind was filled with the fact that Prince Ning had already broken off the engagement.
Why is that?
Was it for her and Feng Zizhou? Or for...?
The second young lady of the Si family!
Zhao Ning's eyes widened and blinked as she grabbed the princess's arm: "Mother, I want to go find Prince Ning, I want to see him!"
"Huh?" The princess didn't understand. "You're weak and need to rest for a few days. You can't go."
Zhao Ning shook her head: "No, Mother, I'm going to find him. I'll go to the Prince Ning's residence first thing tomorrow morning!"
The eldest princess was puzzled, but still advised, "Ningning, do you want to question Prince Ning? He's not a treacherous person; he's just worried that Feng Zizhou coming to see you every day would damage your reputation, so he..."
"No, that's not it!" Zhao Ning shook her head. "Mom, don't worry about why, but please take me to find him, okay?"
The eldest princess had no choice but to say, "He will be attending the palace banquet tomorrow and will not be home."
“Then I will also attend the palace banquet.”
The princess was initially reluctant to agree, as Zhao Ning had just woken up and was still very weak. The imperial physician had also said that she needed to rest and recuperate.
But unable to resist Zhao Ning's pleas, he had no choice but to agree.
"You can go, but you can't run or jump. You have to talk things out properly."
The next day at the palace banquet, Prince Ning arrived early, which surprised the other officials. After all, Prince Ning usually disliked fuss and was too lazy to attend ordinary banquets. If he couldn't avoid a banquet, he would either go early to make a brief appearance and leave, or he would arrive late.
But few people speak to him today.
The main issue is that his reputation has been quite poor lately.
Firstly, it was too much for him to immediately break off the engagement upon learning that Zhao Ning might remain unconscious and, if he did, be mentally disabled. Secondly, it was clear that he was unfilial for driving away his adoptive parents.
Of course, some people think that there might be special reasons for both of these incidents. But since there was controversy, more people felt that he was unkind and unfilial.
Especially the noble ladies, regardless of their status, all kept their distance from him, fearing that they might be tainted by him.
He is currently unmarried, and if he gets too close to her, it would be bad if the Emperor found out.
The noble ladies who arrived early gathered in twos and threes and began to talk about other things.
"By the way, have you heard? Miss Zhu went to play by the river the other day and almost fell in. Fortunately, her cousin from her second aunt's family rescued her in time, and she was alright."
"Zhu Qingtang?"
"Yes, it's just a pity that his reputation is completely ruined."
"The young master of the Zhu family should be quite good, right?"
“If it were anything else, it would indeed be excellent, but the second wife of the Zhu family was originally the daughter of a merchant, and Miss Zhu’s cousin is the son of a merchant.”
Speaking of this, everyone sighed, feeling that Zhu Qingtang was unlucky to be married to a merchant.
Because of the incident, Zhu Qingtang was confined to the courtyard by the Zhu family and not allowed to leave. However, her reputation was ruined, and despite two days of uproar within the Zhu family, no resolution was reached.
Finally, Zhu Qingtang herself took scissors and threatened to commit suicide, insisting on marrying him, and only then was the marriage considered settled.
The maidservant didn't understand and asked her, "Miss, the Lu family are merchants. If you meet your friends in the future, won't you be considered inferior?"
"Meet again? I'm married to a merchant, even a royal merchant, so where would I have the chance to meet again?" Zhu Qingtang smiled self-deprecatingly, then said, "But Cousin Lu is handsome and has a brilliant mind. I am the daughter of a noble family. As long as the Zhu family exists, the Lu family will treat me like royalty. What's wrong with that?"
The maid still didn't understand.
She always believed in marrying down to marry up, and she felt that her daughter was being treated unfairly.
Zhu Qingtang said calmly, "I've always been ambitious and competitive since I was little. I always felt that if I had been born into the Lu family, I would have had a carefree life. I also felt that it was because my mother was disobedient that she ended up marrying my father. But thinking about it carefully, although my father wasn't very talented, he was gentle. I heard that when he got married, he dismissed all his concubines, wanting to be with my mother for life... Later..."
Therefore, she had two legitimate older brothers, and only after her birth did she have a younger sister and brother born out of wedlock.
Although it was due to the father's philandering, upon closer reflection, the mother was not entirely without responsibility.
"I'll be alright."
The noble ladies, unaware of Zhu Qingtang's true intentions, were only eager to see her make a fool of herself, but naturally, they failed to do so.
On the other hand, Zhao Ning, having just recovered from a serious illness, was granted permission by the Princess to have two of her maids accompany her into the palace.
The maids helped Zhao Ning over, startling the noble ladies.
Zhao Ning, who used to be slightly plump, is now so thin that her cheeks are sunken. Where is there any trace of her former charm?
The noble ladies, having nothing better to do, liked to be jealous and gossip behind each other's backs. But they were all young girls, and they had genuine feelings for their childhood friends. They quickly went to help her up and asked why Zhao Ning wasn't at home taking good care of herself.
Zhao Ning waved his hand: "I'm fine... just a little weak. Have you seen Prince Ning? I heard he's here, where is he?"