Liang Jingting saw his mother, the consort, acting so impulsively and quickly held her back, his face creased in distress. "Ah, ah, Mother, Mother, please spare your son.
The plan is far from concrete, so please don't rush."
"What do you mean, the plan is far from concrete? You've already invited someone over for a look. Don't you like her?
If you don't like her, why invite her home?
Aren't you ruining the girl's reputation?
Hey, you little brat, are you trying to be like your father and bring home ten or eight daughters-in-law?
I'm telling you, I only acknowledge one daughter-in-law.
If you dare to have concubines or bed warmers, I, I won't acknowledge you anymore..."
Princess Consort Xiang hailed from the great Meng clan of Liaodong, a prestigious family whose ancestors had guarded Liaodong for generations.
They had always been loyal to the Great Liang Dynasty.
Thus, for many generations, the Meng clan of Liaodong had intermarried with imperial princes.
The Meng women were capable of fighting on the battlefield from a young age; they possessed fiery tempers and straightforward personalities.
They liked what they liked and disliked what they disliked.
Prince Xiang could do nothing about her.
It was because of her that he dared not take concubines in the rear courtyard.
However, before marrying her, he had already taken a bed warmer to help him during his formative years, and by accident, she gave birth to a daughter.
That daughter was none other than the legitimate eldest daughter of Prince Xiang's manor, Princess Pingning, who was now Princess Ning.
As Consort Meng had just married into Prince Xiang's manor, and her marriage to Prince Xiang was a blind one, her temperament was not as gentle as that of the women in the capital when they first got along.
She was even less so than the secondary consort Liu Rufang, who hailed from Jiangnan.
Consequently, her relationship with Prince Xiang was very poor.
When their legitimate eldest daughter had an accident, they were like fire and water.
Prince Xiang thus doted on Madam Liu, and after having a legitimate daughter and an eldest son with Consort Meng, he had another son with her.
For certain reasons, he was conferred the title of secondary consort.
This was Liang Jingyu, the second son of Prince Xiang's manor.
Although he was a year younger than Liang Jingting, at twenty years old.
He was already married and had children, having fathered two sons and one daughter, both legitimate and illegitimate.
Therefore, there was a rumor outside that if the legitimate eldest son of Prince Xiang's manor could not shed his reputation for being a wife-killer and remained unmarried and childless for a long time.
Then the position of heir apparent might be abdicated in his favor.
Liang Jingting himself did not care much.
He had already harmed four girls, and he had no one he liked before.
If he didn't get married, he didn't get married.
Playing by himself was more worry-free and enjoyable.
However, all his thoughts changed after he met Shen Mingzhu.
He recalled the scene of the first time he saw her.
The setting sun shone through the gaps in the window onto her, her goose-yellow skirt illuminated by the sunlight, and her body was gilded with a layer of golden light, as if she were a fairy who had descended to the mortal world.
From that moment on, he was smitten.
But he was worried about his reputation as a wife-killer, so he dared not confess or do anything; he could only watch her quietly.
It wasn't until yesterday, when she was being bullied and he helped her out of trouble.
Only then did he dare to know that, at some point, he had already liked her so much.
He couldn't bear to see anyone make her suffer or bully her.
He cared about her so much.
But he still dared not face his feelings for her.
He did not want to harm her.
He recounted his journey of falling in love with Shen Mingzhu to Princess Consort Xiang.
Princess Consort Xiang was deeply moved.
She immediately took off her jade bangle and threw it at Liang Jingting. "Take it, take it and go with the Grand Princess to propose marriage.
I'm telling you, don't say you won't go. It's not common in the capital for men to personally go and propose.
In Liaodong, however, it is popular.
If a man personally goes to propose, it means he is deeply in love with the girl and is determined to be devoted to her."
"Oh dear... Mother..." Liang Jingting fumbled to catch the bangle thrown by Princess Consort Xiang. This was a flawless imperial green jade bangle worth a fortune.
Did his unreliable mother just throw it like that, not afraid he wouldn't catch it?
He sighed and said,
"Mother, you, you can't just listen to half of what I say and jump to conclusions. I haven't finished speaking yet."
He recounted how he had hinted to Shen Yun, and Shen Yun had directly hinted back at him.
Shen Yun's previous words clearly indicated his disdain for his age.
He disliked that he was a wife-killer, so he deliberately said that Shen Mingzhu was already engaged.
He believed her!
He had investigated all of this.
Since the Shen family came to the capital, they had always been well-behaved.
They rarely interacted with the powerful figures in the court.
Only the Grand Princess and the Duke of Yu's manor, with whom they had close ties.
Everything else was superficial courtesy.
Nor had any matchmaker mentioned that the Shen family had sought them for marriage.
Therefore, he concluded that Shen Yun simply disdained him.
He felt somewhat offended.
But he did not want to blame him.
After all, Shen Yun was not wrong.
"You rascal, ah, have you forgotten what I told you last time?
Master Yuan Hui has already told me.
Your marriage line is tied. The fact that you haven't married yet is not because you kill your wives, but because someone is deliberately targeting you behind the scenes."
Liang Jingting's eyes lit up. When he went to Master Yuan Hui yesterday, the old master had said the same thing.
But soon his expression dimmed, and he said,
"One or two are deliberately targeting me, but three or four?"
What enmity or grievance did those girls have with them? They could have come for him.
Why should they bully perfectly good girls?
"Then I really can't get married!" Especially when facing Shen Mingzhu, whom he liked.
As soon as he revealed his intention to marry her, wouldn't the perpetrator behind the scenes strike again?
So whether it was the fate of killing wives or someone acting behind the scenes.
He seemed even less able to get involved with Mingzhu.
His heart felt a sense of fragmentation.
"Foolish boy, why don't you find the person who harmed you behind the scenes?
Before, you didn't like the official ladies your father found, didn't want to get married, and didn't investigate this matter, so fine.
Now that you have someone you like and want to get married, why are you still sitting idle? Just do it!"
Liang Jingting repeated the last sentence of Princess Consort Xiang with his finger, his brow furrowed.
"Just do it...
That's four words, isn't it!"
"Get out of here, you foolish boy. Just one word: do it!" Princess Consort Xiang was furious.
Seeing that she was about to kick Liang Jingting,
Liang Jingting scrambled away in a panic.
As he left, he thought that although his mother was formidable in her demeanor.
Her words were not wrong.
He had felt before that someone wanted to harm him.
But at that time, he really had no interest in getting married.
He was even happy that those people intervened and obstructed his marriage.
Since he wasn't the one who did it, he didn't have to be involved in any karma.
As for the outside rumors that if he remained childless at thirty, he would have to cede the position of Prince Xiang's heir apparent to his half-brother.
That was also fine with him.
He was not very keen on power and status.
He liked reading military books and studying strategy.
He also enjoyed archery. His dream was to go to the battlefield like his maternal grandfather and uncles, to protect the country and defend the borders.
A true man's ambition lies in all directions!
Uh, I've wandered off.
Now, I still need to think about how to get the woman I like into the manor!
No, it should be about how to find those vermin hiding in the shadows.
Crush and stomp on them one by one.
So that they can no longer threaten the person he likes.
And prevent him from marrying and having several children with his beloved Mingzhu...
Sigh, I've wandered off again.
Liang Jingting couldn't help but pat the back of his head, bringing his thoughts back on track.
The conversation in the main courtyard was not secret.
The arrival of Shen Yun and others was also open and aboveboard.
There was nothing that could not be told to outsiders.
Therefore, it quickly reached Madam Liu, the secondary consort in the side courtyard of Prince Xiang's manor.