svetikya Chapter 421 The Man Who Kills His Wife
Chapter 421 The Man Who Kills His Wife
"Mom, I heard you're sick. How could you be sick? Please don't get sick, okay?" Wang Shu came over and wanted to snuggle in his mother's arms.
Shen Shixi was afraid that she had a viral cold, so she quickly covered her mouth and nose with the blanket. "Don't come any closer. Get out of here right now, or I'll give you my illness."
Wang Shu felt extremely wronged, her eyes brimming with tears that seemed ready to spill over at any moment. "Mother, can't I go to school? Please don't despise me, okay?"
Li Yuanke's heart was broken. He hugged his son and comforted him, "Your mother is afraid of passing on the disease to you. Dad will take you out. Don't overthink it. If you don't want to go to school, then don't. Dad doesn't expect you to become the top scholar."
Shen Shixi hurriedly said, "Wangshu, if you go to school with your brother, your mother's illness will be cured."
Shen Shixi forbade the children to visit her while she was sick. Wang Shu sneaked in, and when she came out, her older brothers and sisters surrounded her and asked what was wrong. When they heard that their mother was much better, the other three children were relieved.
The children were truly afraid of their mother getting sick. When their mother was sick, they felt extremely insecure. When the Crown Prince and Xihe went to school, Fuguang and Wangshu obediently followed.
The two little ones really don't want to go to school, but they also really don't want their mother to get sick.
The two were five years old (by Chinese reckoning), which was still early for them to start school, but Shen Shixi really didn't want to take care of the kids. The Crown Prince and Xihe had started school at the age of four (by Chinese reckoning), and she didn't expect them to learn anything; she just wanted them to stay out of her sight.
In the war in the southeast, the Great Zhou Dynasty won a great victory. When Li Yuanke returned, he rewarded those who had made contributions. The Second Prince was rewarded for his merits and was granted the title of Prince of Pingyang, with the authority to establish his own government office.
Prince Guo also made a great contribution this time, and Li Yuanke promoted him to the rank of Prince.
The Empress Dowager was seriously ill, and Li Yuanke urged him to return to the capital as soon as possible.
About half a month after Shen Shixi recovered from her illness, Consort Xian and Consort Shu came to visit her together. They talked about the marriages of the princes and princesses. "The Second Prince is a prince, so it's not a problem for him to get married at an older age. What I'm thinking about is the First Princess. She is already twenty years old by the traditional Chinese age reckoning. If we don't arrange a marriage soon, I'm afraid it will damage the Empress's reputation."
The main problem is that the Empress Dowager's condition is not very good. If she passes away, the Grand Princess will have to observe a year of mourning. By the time the mourning period ends, she will be twenty-two years old.
What decent family's daughter wouldn't be married by the age of twenty-two? Shen Shixi isn't her biological mother; it's not worth it if people gossip about her later.
Shen Shixi was also extremely annoyed. "I want to, but look around, where can I find a suitable candidate?"
When Li Yuanke returned, Shen Shixi complained to him, "The eldest princess's temper is beyond words. I don't know if she has toned it down over the years. Her affairs are known throughout the city. If I were to choose a better one, it would be a real injustice to her."
If I choose a bad one, it would be unfair to the eldest princess; a daughter's marriage is like a second reincarnation, and throughout history, I have never heard of a princess having a happy marriage.
Li Yuanke said, "Don't worry, our Xihe will definitely be happy in the future. Don't worry about the eldest princess's marriage, I have someone in mind."
Shen Shixi was happy to ignore it and didn't bother to ask. It wasn't until the eldest princess came to her door that she learned what kind of person Li Yuanke had arranged for his eldest daughter.
Tang Yi, the son of Tang Zhijie, the governor of Cangzhou, killed three of his fiancées in succession. His first fiancée was betrothed to him in the womb. Three months after the baby girl was born, just as they were about to exchange birth certificates, she died. She was smothered to death in her bed.
His second fiancée was his childhood sweetheart. When they were eight or nine years old, their families had just arranged their marriage when his childhood sweetheart drowned.
Tang Yi's third fiancée was chosen by his family when he was sixteen. The two families met at a temple and were quite satisfied with each other. They exchanged tokens of their affection and agreed that the matchmaker would bring the betrothal letter the next day. On the way home, the girl's horse went mad and overturned the carriage. The girl broke her neck and died on the spot.
The Tang family and these three families are all located in the capital city, and their social standing is not low. Tang Yi is a well-known fiancée killer, and his reputation has spread throughout Cangzhou and the capital city. Everyone knows him.
When the eldest princess learned that the husband her father had chosen for her was Tang Yi, she went to find the empress in tears.
Shen Shixi was speechless after reading Tang Yi's resume. She could understand Li Yuanke's helplessness and the eldest princess's reluctance.
At that time, who wasn't superstitious? Fear was inevitable.
The eldest princess cried, "Your Majesty knows you despise me. I'll go back to the Taoist temple to cultivate myself and live in seclusion from the world from now on. Why curse me in this way? If something were to happen to me, how could Your Majesty's reputation be restored?"
He earned the infamy of driving his own daughter to her death, and he was not far from being known as a tyrant.
Shen Shixi said, "Who told you that Tang Yi has a reputation for bringing misfortune to his wives? Do you believe everything people say? Hejing, if you can't get rid of this habit of believing everything you hear and being henpecked, you'll always be controlled by others and you'll never have a good life."
Xihe was standing nearby. Upon hearing this, she looked up at her mother.
He Jing was also taken aback. Her mother hadn't restricted her from associating with anyone. Recently, she had been in contact with Song Mingyi and Dou Derong. The main reason was that after the two of them, together with Princess Shengping and Yang Tingjiao, had fought with Shen Shiwan in the street, their reputation among the noble ladies in the capital had become very bad.
Unfortunately, they still dreamed of marrying the second prince.
Befriending the eldest princess might give you a chance to meet the second prince.
The eldest princess was also lonely, so she didn't refuse.
The two told the eldest princess about Tang Yi, embellishing the story as they went along, all in an attempt to please her.
Shen Shixi said, "What people see is always just appearances. Can't you use your brain and think about it? There's no such thing as mutual restraint in this world. If he really had that ability, wouldn't your father have used him? Let him kill whoever he doesn't like!"
The eldest princess was bewildered. "Then what happened to him?"
Shen Shixi said, "The Tang family is prominent. His grandfather was a famous general who founded the country and was granted the title of Duke of Lu by his great-grandfather. The title is hereditary and can be passed down. Tang Yi is the eldest son, and if nothing unexpected happens, the title will be his in the future."
His first fiancée was arranged for him by his mother, who died of postpartum hemorrhage during his birth.
His second fiancée was arranged for him by his grandmother, who thought that he had lost his birth mother when he was born and would have no one to support him after he died, so she arranged for her to marry her own niece.
His father's current legal wife was formerly a mistress, and their illegitimate child is only two months younger than Tang Yi. After Tang Yi's birth mother died, his father married the mistress. You can ponder the reasons for that yourself.
Shen Shixi added, "I just got this information myself. My personal guesses are all here. You can check it yourself and see if it confirms my guesses. You can allocate the manpower you need. I will issue an order to have people cooperate with you."
The eldest princess left Qianyuan Palace in a daze. Walking in Yongxiang, she felt like crying. The second prince, now the Prince of Pingyang, came towards her, full of vigor and ambition.
Isn't it only because she relied on her mother that she got to where she is today? But the eldest princess is still so jealous.
"You went to see the Empress Dowager? Don't you want to marry that man who brings bad luck to his wives?" the Second Prince asked, leaning against the wall.
He secretly rolled his eyes at his little eunuch. The prince now takes every opportunity to mock everyone he meets, and his words have become increasingly venomous. Now that he has achieved merit and been granted the title of prince, he's getting all cocky.
Fortunately, he was only a prince.
The eldest princess was furious. "You're the one who brings bad luck to his wives!"
Let's go.
The Second Prince's voice came from behind, "Do you want me to lend you a hand? I know what's going on with the Duke of Lu's mansion."
The eldest princess stopped in her tracks, looking rather pathetic, and turned around with great reluctance.
The main problem is that she didn't understand what her mother said.