After Transmigration, I Snag a Stunning Bigwig as My Husband-Chapter 803 - 801: Ruthless Gambit
Prince Zhenbei Mansion, in front of the gate.
The carriage slowly came to a halt.
After Xingxing jumped off the carriage, she helped Su Jin down.
After sending Nie Yao off, Su Jin and Zhou Jingyi wandered the streets, sending the Hidden Guard back for medicine to give to Nie Yao.
The Hidden Guard delivered the medicine back, and then Su Jin returned to the mansion.
Su Jin and Xingxing walked forward, laughing and chatting.
Not far away, a little maid ran toward the direction of the study.
Xingxing spotted her from the corner of her eye and said to Su Jin, "Could something have happened?"
Su Jin’s mouth twitched.
Ask her, who else could they ask?
The little maid sweeping nearby heard Xingxing’s words and came over with a broom, saying, "Today, shortly after the Heir’s wife went out, Second Young Lady left the mansion with a maid, and just fifteen minutes ago, she ran back crying."
"What happened?" Xingxing was full of gossip.
The sweeping maid shook her head.
She only saw Second Young Lady’s red, swollen eyes, nothing else.
Inside the study.
The Old Prince was looking at a map.
The servant knocked loudly on the door.
"Come in," the Old Prince said without raising his head.
The servant pushed open the door and said, "Old Prince, there’s been an incident in the Third House."
The Old Prince frowned, "What happened?"
"A maid from the Third House came to report that Second Young Lady has suffered a setback and wants to cut her hair and become a nun, Third Madam couldn’t stop her and asked you to go to the Third House," the servant quickly said.
Though the entire mansion no longer cared for the Second House and Third House.
But regardless, the Third Master is still the Old Prince’s son, and Xie Jinxiu remains his granddaughter.
A girl becoming a nun is not favorable to the reputation of Prince Zhenbei Mansion.
This isn’t a small matter; the servant dared not neglect to report it.
The Old Prince’s brow furrowed deeply.
He went out with a stern face.
Due to the urgency, the Old Prince walked quickly; just as Su Jin reached the second gate, the Old Prince hurried past her.
Xingxing looked at Su Jin and said, "Miss, shall we go see for ourselves?"
Su Jin couldn’t resist her curiosity either.
The master and servant agreed instantly.
But the Old Prince’s strides were large, and Su Jin almost had to jog to keep up with him.
Following the Old Prince into the South Courtyard, they arrived at Xie Jinxiu’s residence.
The courtyard was filled with maids and matrons, all looking toward the inner room.
The Old Prince stepped forward, and the maids and matrons quickly retreated.
Inside the room.
Xie Jinxiu was crying in the arms of the Third Madam.
Hair littered the ground.
Along with a pair of scissors.
The scissors had blood on them.
Looking at the Third Madam, her hand was still bleeding.
Clearly, she had injured her hand trying to snatch the scissors from Xie Jinxiu.
A maid wanted to bandage Third Madam’s wound, and Third Madam said resentfully, "What bandage?!"
"If the blood drains dry and I die, it’d be less trouble!"
The blood dripped from the Third Madam’s hand, an alarming sight.
The Old Prince walked over with a cold face and said, "What’s going on?!"
Xie Jinxiu only cried.
The Third Madam held her daughter tight, full of anguish.
She seemed to be suffering a great injustice.
The Old Prince ordered a maid to bandage the Third Madam’s wound.
The maid brought medicine and gauze.
But the Third Madam wouldn’t let the maid approach.
After two refusals, the Old Prince’s face darkened.
The Third Madam dared not speak again.
The maid knelt on the ground, helping the Third Madam bandage the wound.
Su Jin stood on the side, watching.
Looking at the injury on the Third Madam’s hand, Su Jin furrowed her brows slightly.
This wound...
Su Jin blinked.
She stepped forward and said, "Let me do it."
The maid quickly stood up.
Su Jin bent down, cleaned the blood off the Third Madam’s hand, applied medicine powder, and wrapped it in gauze.
While Su Jin was bandaging the wound, the Old Prince already found out what happened.
The story was that Xie Jinxiu left the mansion today and was mocked. They laughed at Xie Jinxiu for being picky before, unwilling to accept suitors, but now, with the Third House in decline, no one dared to marry her. Those she had previously dismissed now looked down on her.
Xie Jinxiu couldn’t bear the humiliation and cried back to the mansion.
She picked up scissors and started cutting her hair...
The Third Madam arrived just in time, collected about a hundred strands of hair, and snatched the scissors, throwing them on the ground, and the mother and daughter cried in each other’s arms.
After the maid finished reporting, Su Jin also finished bandaging the Third Madam’s wound.
The Third Madam drew her hand back and knelt before the Old Prince with a thud.
The Third Madam cried with tears and snot, "We knew nothing of the false Old Madam’s duplicitous actions, nor did our master. Xiuxiu is innocent but now suffers such injustice...."
"It’s all my fault. Before, there were countless suitors, and picky as I was, I wanted to find better matches for Xiuxiu. Who could blame a mother for wanting her daughter to marry well?"
"Now, with the Third House in decline, not a single suitor has come in all this time, and Xiuxiu has long reached adulthood, she should be promised to someone...."
"Should Xiuxiu spend her life under such circumstances due to the Old Madam’s faults, living like a nun?"
The more the Third Madam spoke, the sadder she became.
She was genuinely distressed.
Watching the expression of grievance and heartbreak on the Third Madam’s face, Su Jin couldn’t discern whether her words were true or false.
But she could be sure the Third Madam was using self-inflicted pain as a tactic.
The wound on her hand wasn’t from grabbing scissors, it was self-inflicted.
Since the Third Madam’s injury was fake, Xie Jinxiu’s surely was too.
It was a ploy by mother and daughter to plead with the Old Prince, going as far as cutting hair and injuring a finger, putting forth a significant effort.
The Third Madam knelt on the ground, while Xie Jinxiu was seated on the bed.
She also knelt.
The clearly visible cut hair made a striking scene.
This was to force the Old Prince into arranging a marriage for Xie Jinxiu.
This time they cut hair, next time they might resort to hanging themselves.
Though the false Old Madam’s actions were detestable, Xie Jinxiu was still the Old Prince’s granddaughter.
As her grandfather, could he sit back and watch his granddaughter unable to marry and hang herself in despair?
Not only did the Old Prince lack that cold-heartedness, but the mansion’s reputation was at stake too.
The Old Prince frowned and said, "A daughter from Prince Zhenbei Mansion cannot remain unmarried, grandfather will find a suitable family for you."
Xie Jinxiu only silently shed tears.
The Third Madam held her and said, "Your grandfather’s word is unbreakable; he won’t deceive you."
Xie Jinxiu choked and said, "I know grandfather’s words are reliable, but who would want to marry me?"
"If marrying results in a lifetime of mockery, I’d rather never marry."
The Third Madam looked at the Old Prince, but he didn’t speak.
The false Old Madam’s scandal had spread; with a grandmother who once eloped, surely she’d face ridicule?
He, even with military power, could not control people’s tongues.
The Old Prince said, "Grandfather will do his best to find you an honest family."
Only then did the Third Madam feel assured.
The Old Prince didn’t stay long and turned to leave.
Su Jin quietly followed him and quietly left with him.
In the garden, Xie Jingchen came over, asking, "Why go to the Third House to watch the commotion?"
"How did you know it was a commotion?" Su Jin raised an eyebrow.
"Isn’t it obvious?" said Xie Jingchen.
"....."
Su Jin looked at Xie Jingchen, wondering how it was obvious.
Xie Jingchen said, "Grandfather plans to go to the border with Marquis Yangnan."
"Once gone, it’ll be at least a year or two; besides grandfather, who else could they turn to in the whole mansion?"
