"Don't complain either. Tell your grandmother, do you want to bring Mingzhu into the household or not?" the Princess asked.
"Yes," Qin Xuan replied dejectedly.
"So, for Mingzhu, you have no choice but to agree. Besides, this matter was originally your fault. You acted first and reported later, so it's normal for the Lu family to have grievances," the Princess reasoned with Qin Xuan.
What else could he do? To bring the woman he loved into his home, Qin Xuan had to compromise.
"Your father and mother went to your father-in-law's place. We handled this matter improperly, and your parents were surely mocked by your father-in-law. When they return, be sharp. Also, you should take Madam Lu back with you. Your parents' visit to apologize represents our family. Only when you admit your mistake and your father-in-law vents his anger at you can this matter be put to rest," the Princess added.
Qin Xuan grunted, "I'll take her back tomorrow. My father-in-law is a reasonable man, he won't make things difficult for me. Besides, my father-in-law had several concubines when he was young."
After all, it's only natural for a young man to be amorous!
The Princess snorted coldly. Often, people have double standards, one for themselves and one for others. While Grand Scholar Lu did take concubines, he would never wish for his own son-in-law to do the same.
"Tell your grandmother how you got together with your cousin," the Princess inquired.
Thinking that the elders had agreed to齐明珠 (Qi Mingzhu) entering the household, Qin Xuan did not hide anything and briefly explained to the Princess.
With these simple words, the Princess saw through it. This was her granddaughter's scheme.
All this talk of admiring her cousin was just to fool this simpleton.
The Princess frowned. For what purpose had she gone to such lengths, even lowering herself to become a concubine for Xuan'er?
Was it simply because she saw no hope of finding a good marriage for herself?
The Princess had a hunch that it wasn't that simple, but she couldn't figure out any other reason.
Never mind. Since the girl was about to enter the household and was related to her by blood, she would protect her more in the future.
If there were a regret pill, the Princess would never have allowed 齐明珠 (Qi Mingzhu) to enter the household, and the Prince's Mansion would not have fallen into decline. Of course, that's a story for another time.
At the Grand Scholar's mansion, despite the polite words, the Prince's heir and his wife felt the strong sarcasm from the other party. However, because their son was in the wrong first, they had no choice but to be humble.
After speaking soft words and expressing their resolve, they finally managed to appease the situation.
Returning to the Prince's Mansion with their hearts full of resentment, the Prince's heir, ignoring his wife's attempts to stop him, severely beat Qin Xuan.
As a result, Qin Xuan could not get out of bed the next day and was carried to the Grand Scholar's mansion in a palanquin, propped up on his stomach.
Originally, Qin Xuan had planned to wait a few more days before going.
However, the Princess said that now was the perfect time to go.
Seeing Qin Xuan in such a miserable state would significantly dissipate the Grand Scholar's resentment, and thus, this matter would essentially be over.
As the Princess had predicted, upon seeing Qin Xuan in such a state and recalling the explanations and appeasement from the Prince's heir and his wife the previous day, Grand Scholar Lu believed that the Prince's Mansion's attitude was proper and that their daughter would not be wronged. He merely reprimanded Qin Xuan a few times before sending him away.
From the Grand Scholar's mansion's perspective, the matter was considered resolved.
Qin Xuan begged his mother to bring this matter up at the Marquis of Changping's mansion. The heir's wife, intending to exert control, was naturally unwilling.
齐明珠 (Qi Mingzhu) was pregnant, so the Marquis's mansion would be the first to lose patience.
齐天明 (Qi Tianming) also realized this.
He sent a reliable person to leak news to the Prince's Mansion, stating that the Marquis of Changping had been in contact with the Prefect of Shuntian these past few days.