Chapter 374: A Great Change
Zhu Ning was by no means the kind of princess who stayed confined to her boudoir, learning needlework and reading only a few books on female conduct. She was the daughter of Prince Zhou Zhu Zhuo, born after he returned to Kaifeng from Yunnan. From a young age, she had been raised as a boy and always acted according to her own conscience. Although Prince Zhou and the Zhang family had once served together in Kaifeng, one being a vassal prince and the other connected to noble families, they did not maintain close relations. Yet now that her close friend Du Wan had married Zhang Yue, she paid even more attention to the Zhang family’s affairs.
After scolding Zhang Chao harshly and seeing his embarrassed expression, she turned to the woman dressed in silver-red clothes and sneered disdainfully, “If you want to act like a proper lady, you need to work harder. Though it’s not a national mourning period, if you truly came from a well-mannered family, you would never dare wear such bright-colored clothes! I don’t care whether you seduced her or he made promises to you out of infatuation. I just want to remind you—his legitimate wife is the direct sister of the Marquis of Xiangcheng!”
Feng Ying, who was used to seeing delicate and timid noblewomen in the south, had never encountered someone like Zhu Ning before. Even though she had long since stopped caring about face and reputation, she still became angry and retorted, “This young lady speaks without any reason. Who are you to the eldest son that you dare interfere in his family affairs?”
“Who am I?”
Zhu Ning had originally only intended to warn Zhang Chao to stop his reckless behavior. But when she saw this woman ask such a foolish question, her expression turned even colder. She glanced at Zhang Chao, who was already sweating profusely, and her anger surged from seven to ten. She ignored Feng Ying entirely and scolded Zhang Chao, “If you really want to have a concubine, at least find someone decent. How dare you keep some random woman around? Your father was made a marquis, and you were promoted and rewarded generously. Do you really think these rewards are just for your father and your efforts? If the emperor finds out you’re so immoral, your father will be blamed for failing to discipline you properly, and you’ll never be given any more important roles! An elder brother should set a good example—look at the mess you’ve created for your brothers!”
With that, she stopped talking and turned to Zhang Yue, saying, “Zhang Yue, stop meddling in your elder brother’s affairs. If he can’t even handle such matters properly, it means he’s wasted these twenty years. It’s only fitting that your uncles suffer, and it’s only fitting that your Zhang family produces such unreasonable descendants! Let’s go—I happen to want to visit Wan at your house. Don’t waste time here!”
Xiao Wu’s fury was completely extinguished by Zhu Ning’s words. He glared at Zhang Yue once before turning to get into the carriage first. After taking a look at Zhang Chao, who was utterly embarrassed, Zhang Yue suddenly felt that the harsh words he had planned to use on the way back were no longer necessary. Having witnessed Zhu Ning’s unyielding attitude this time, he couldn’t help but recall meeting her three years ago in the peach blossom forest of Qixia Temple. Back then, she had sent her guards to drive Zhang Bin and Zhang Jin away, delivering a merciless lecture as well.
Such a decisive and straightforward woman was truly rare in the Ming Dynasty!
“Elder brother, I’m leaving first. Lian Sheng and Lian Hu will stay here to serve you. I just want to remind you—she isn’t the person you’ve been thinking about all this time.”
Seeing Zhu Ning also turn to get into the carriage, Zhang Yue said these words to Zhang Chao before leading his horse and mounting it. Once they left the alley and onto the main road, his frustration vanished—Zhu Ning’s sudden appearance had been like a timely rain, saving him a lot of trouble. After all, compared to his fourth brother Zhang Jiu, who seemed arrogant but was actually weak, his elder brother Zhang Chao was even harder to persuade, especially since he still harbored grudges from the past, making it even harder for him to speak certain words.
When the carriage passed by the main entrance of the Zhang family home, Zhu Ning lifted the curtain slightly and saw that the gate had been renovated again, now featuring a three-bay, five-pillar gate covered in gold paint and adorned with animal-faced metal rings. A smirk appeared on her lips. On the gate tower, the words “Yangwu Bo’s Mansion” were clearly written in gold paint, exuding great grandeur. She guessed that the imperial decree must have come directly from the emperor, and then the calligraphy was done by scholars from the Hanlin Academy known for their skills—now, it seemed somewhat ironic to her.
A prince could look down upon dukes, marquises, and ministers. As a highly favored princess, Zhu Ning should have been greeted with the main gate opened wherever she went. Yet, she despised such formalities the most, so she always went quietly to the Du and Meng families in the past. But after Du Wan married into the Zhang family, she returned to Kaifeng. Now, returning to Beijing coinciding with the death of Concubine Wang, this was her first time visiting the Zhang family home.
After taking a look at the main gate, she ordered the coachman to keep going until they stopped in front of the west side gate of the Zhang family home. Xiao Wu jumped down from the carriage immediately. Once she stood firmly, she said to Zhang Yue with a half-smile, “Your second uncle was made a count—so quickly they replaced the gate tower. Your Ruiqing Hall, which originally had five bays and seven pillars, can now be expanded to seven bays and nine pillars. When are you planning to start the construction?”
“The grandmother has already given orders, saying not to start major construction right after being made an earl and to avoid showing off an air of nouveau riche. This entrance gate was built only because the emperor sent Lord Zhu Kongxian to inscribe an inscription; otherwise, there would be no reason to renovate the gate at this time.”
“Your ancestors have managed the household for many years and brought the Zhang family to where it is today—truly remarkable. Back then, when Wan’er didn’t marry you, I couldn’t just come here casually. Since I’m here now, I should first pay my respects to her before seeing Wan’er. It’s just that I’m coming empty-handed; I hope the old lady won’t blame me for being bold enough to show up uninvited.”
Zhang Yue realized Zhu Ning was joking and quickly instructed a gatekeeper to go inform her before inviting Zhu Ning in. Walking along the corridor to the second gate, two senior housewives who had heard about the visit were already waiting to greet them, leading the way. After entering, he accompanied Zhu Ning a short distance before seeing his first aunt, Lady Feng, and his second aunt, Lady Dongfang, coming out to welcome them.
Although Lady Feng and Lady Dongfang had heard that Zhu Ning was on good terms with Du Wan, it was only now, upon seeing her in person, that they realized the rumors were true. They had once visited to congratulate the Princess of Zhou on her birthday in Kaifeng and had seen this Princess of Chenliu from afar, but nothing compared to meeting her face to face now. Seeing Zhu Ning in her silver-colored robe, white silk skirt, with a silver fox fur cloak over it, behaving with grace and speaking without hesitation, they couldn’t help but feel a certain admiration.
One of them secretly sighed that her son was a bit too young, with an uncertain career ahead, and unlikely to marry such a noblewoman; the other regretted not having another son, so that the family could have even more prestige.
The group went to the main house in the northern courtyard. Lady Gu had already left, about to bow, but Zhu Ning stepped forward and helped her up, saying with a smile, “Whether it was my hundredth-day celebration or the ‘catching a fortune’ ceremony, the old lady was always there. How could I dare accept your bow? On my return to Kaifeng, my father and mother often spoke of you, saying you are blessed with both longevity and good fortune. The Zhang family’s prosperity today is thanks to you. Seeing you in such good health, things like ginseng and bird’s nest may not be necessary. I happened to bring some local specialties from Kaifeng—how about I have them sent over for the old lady to try?”
Lady Gu had indeed attended the princess’s 100-day celebration and the ceremony for choosing her future occupations, but which woman from the prominent families in Kaifeng hadn’t been there at that time? The King of Zhou was famously fond of his daughter, always holding grand celebrations for her birthday. Yet Lady Gu had not had much interaction with her before and was surprised to find such a pampered royal princess to be so humble and polite. She felt a great deal of goodwill, thanked her repeatedly, and invited her inside. Since Du Wan was pregnant and knowing that Zhu Ning would surely go there, she did not call her over. After chatting with Zhu Ning for a while, she let her leave and head to the western courtyard.
“Wan’er, I came to see you!”
Du Wan had already heard from Xiao Wu that Zhu Ning was coming, but since they were close friends, there was nothing to prepare. Before the person even entered, she heard this voice and couldn’t help but laugh. Moments later, she saw Zhang Yue lift the curtain—it was Zhu Ning entering. Now, without the earlier sternness when scolding Zhang Chao or the polite demeanor in front of Lady Gu, as soon as she saw Du Wan’s slightly rounded belly, she rushed over in two steps and gently placed her hand on it.
“Weren’t you told that the baby kicks when pregnant? Why isn’t there any movement?”
“Princess, it’s not that quick. Movement starts at five months, and it becomes more frequent at seven or eight months!”
Seeing Zhang Yue just standing there smiling, Du Wan also felt embarrassed. She quickly shook off Zhu Ning’s hand and scolded, “If Sister Ning likes it so much, hurry up and choose a husband and have your own child. Why come to bother me?”
“Do you think I don’t want to get married?” Zhu Ning finally straightened up and sat down on the other side. Seeing Zhang Yue personally make tea and serve it to her, she then handed another special cup to Du Wan, smiling slightly. “How many people in this world are as fortunate as you? Zhang Yue may not be perfect, but he is good to you. But, Wan’er, do you know why I happened to meet him today?”
Although Xiao Wu had already exaggerated the story when she returned, hearing Zhu Ning recount the events in detail, Du Wan couldn’t help but look at Zhang Yue. At that moment, Zhang Yue had no choice but to sit next to Du Wan. After explaining what had happened that day, he briefly recounted the past incident before explaining, “That’s why I planned to go with him once and have someone investigate that woman’s background. If she’s of honest origin, that’s one thing; but if she has ulterior motives, it’s better to end it quickly. I’ll tell him the truth and let him make his own decision. I just didn’t expect to meet the princess right after leaving.”
Thinking of the hidden truths behind Zhang Chao’s marriage on that day, both Du Wan and Zhu Ning felt quite upset. Marriage in these times was indeed arranged by parents and matchmakers; if anyone was to be blamed, it was Zhang Chao, who should have known these principles yet still pursued the sister of a comrade who had died in battle. In the end, he didn’t even know where she was, and now he was doing foolish things again. Seeing that Du Wan and Zhu Ning remained silent, Zhang Yue was about to change the subject when he heard someone calling outside. Upon going outside, he learned that Hu Qi had urgent matters to discuss. He could only wave at the two people in the room before hurrying out. As soon as he reached the second gate, he saw Hu Qi, looking extremely anxious, rushing up to him. Hu Qi spoke in a very low voice, even a bit trembling: “Young master, just now, Lord Yuan sent someone with a secret letter. It says… it says… someone has reported King Zhou… that King Zhou is plotting rebellion. The emperor has ordered the Jinyiwei to investigate! The emperor is furious and extremely agitated. Lord Yuan said there are multiple local officials who made the reports, and the evidence is conclusive…”