My sister became the empress, but I'm still growing vegetables and raising chickens

Chapter 359 The Jiang Family Gossip

Zhao Ning was momentarily stunned, not knowing who this woman from the Jiang family was.

It was the maidservant who reminded her: "Princess, it should be the Jiang family, the adoptive parents of Prince Ning."

"So it's you." Zhao Ning, unaware of your identities, simply nodded in acknowledgment.

This move displeased Jiang's parents. They considered themselves to be the adoptive parents of Prince Ning, so they looked at Zhao Ning with a critical eye, feeling that this daughter-in-law did not bow to them, but only nodded.

There was really no instruction.

Sister-in-law Jiang smiled and said, "I am Prince Ning's eldest sister-in-law, and these are my parents-in-law, who are Prince Ning's parents."

Zhao Ning thought to himself, "The parents of Prince Ning are the old Prince Ning and his wife. Prince Ning is a member of the royal family, so even if they raised him, they cannot be called his parents."

As for the eldest sister-in-law, that's even more absurd.

But she didn't say it aloud, and simply nodded: "What a coincidence. You're here to buy rouge too?"

Jiang's mother applied rouge to her face and felt she looked several years younger. However, she had suffered greatly in the past, working hard year after year, and even after two years of recuperation, her skin's dark yellow complexion and wrinkles hadn't improved much.

Now, their faces are painted deathly white, like white powder floating on their skin, and then they're covered with pink rouge. How can they look like real people?

Zhao Ning simply couldn't bear to look.

Unaware of her own ignorance, Jiang's mother simply smiled and looked Zhao Ning up and down, praising, "The county princess is indeed exceptionally beautiful; my family is truly blessed."

Sister-in-law Jiang knew some of the rules of wealthy families. Seeing that Zhao Ning was not happy, she quickly tugged at her mother-in-law's sleeve: "Mother-in-law, he is now His Highness Prince Ning. You cannot call him by his old name."

Then Jiang's mother said, "Yes, yes, look at my mouth, I always talk nonsense. I mean, the county princess and Prince Ning are truly a match made in heaven."

Zhao Ning did not like Prince Ning, so he only gave a polite reply.

Sister-in-law Jiang said, "Speaking of which, His Highness Prince Ning was on a case recently and happened to go to Mahe Village, where we used to live."

Zhao Ning couldn't join the conversation, only focusing on looking at the rouge. She casually pointed to a few and said, "I just happened to come across these rouges, and they look alright, so I'll give them to you."

The word "bestow" almost made Jiang's mother lose her temper, and she was so angry that her face turned red.

Of course, even though her face was very red from applying so much rouge, no one could tell that she had applied too much rouge.

"Thank you, County Princess." Seeing Zhao Ning about to leave, Sister-in-law Jiang hurriedly thanked her with a smile and said, "There was another girl before who chased after Prince Ning all the way to the village. Tsk tsk tsk, she was really shameless."

If those words truly made Zhao Ning turn around curiously, she might think, "There's actually such a thing?"

Sister-in-law Jiang nodded: "Yes, that girl admires His Highness Prince Ning, but she doesn't know her status or how she is worthy of him. She is not even a fraction as good as you, Princess."

Zhao Ning's mind raced, and she quickly asked, "Do you know which family's daughter she is?"

Sister-in-law Jiang hurriedly said, "She seems to be the daughter of a marquis, named... named Si Mutong."

"Si Mutong? The second young lady of the Marquis of Anle's mansion?"

Seeing that she knew, Sister-in-law Jiang nodded and replied, "Yes, yes, that's her. Oh dear, Your Highness, you really don't know, that second young lady of the Si family, in order to pursue His Highness Prince Ning, she went to great lengths, relentlessly pursuing him, even chasing him to the village several times, and even cooking for him herself..."

She kept rambling on and on, trying to explain how much Si Mutong admired Prince Ning.

Zhao Ning's thoughts drifted far away.

She had certainly heard many rumors about the second young lady of the Si family in Kyoto. Some were good, some were bad, but she didn't find them offensive.

Aside from the first time, when she was reprimanded by the Second Miss for speaking ill of Prince Ning to Gui Yuan in private, which was quite embarrassing, she later felt that the Second Miss was genuine and quite to her liking.

I've heard that His Highness Prince Ning greatly admires this second young lady of the Si family.

She hadn't thought of anything else before because the second young lady of the Si family had been married before and had a daughter; she was a widow.

This would make him somewhat unsuitable for Prince Ning.

But when it comes to matters of the heart, who can say for sure?

She suddenly remembered that day when she asked Prince Ning if he had ever had someone he liked. Prince Ning answered no, but there was a hint of reminiscence in his eyes. Was he thinking of someone?

Who is he thinking of? Is it the second young lady of the Si family?

Is it that he's afraid to admit it, or that he hasn't even realized his own feelings?

Zhao Ning was overjoyed, feeling that she had grasped the Prince of Ning's thoughts. If the Prince of Ning truly liked the second young lady of the Si family, she would definitely try to bring them together.

Then we'll find a way to annul her engagement. Anyway, her uncle, the Emperor, dotes on Prince Ning and is only forcing her to marry him because he's afraid Prince Ning won't find a suitable woman. If Prince Ning finds someone he likes, her uncle will definitely grant his wish.

But what if Prince Ning doesn't like the second young lady of the Si family?

Zhao Ning's changing expression, in Sister-in-law Jiang's eyes, was that he was planning how to resolve the troublesome matter of Si Mutong.

Therefore, after Zhao Ning left, Sister-in-law Jiang happily said to her parents-in-law, "This matter has a chance. In my opinion, the county princess is interested."

"Really?" Father Jiang was overjoyed and no longer cared about the county princess's disrespect for her elders.

Meanwhile, Jiang's mother, with her eyes darting around, claimed all the rouge and face powder on the table for herself.

The shopkeeper asked her for money, and she answered him defiantly.

"That lady just now was a county princess from the Princess's residence. Didn't you hear her say that these were gifts from her?"

The shopkeeper said, "But she didn't pay or take anything. If you want to take it, you'll naturally have to pay."

Madam Jiang protested, "She promised to deliver it, so why didn't you collect the money? I don't care, I must take these. Do you know who I am? My surname is Jiang, and I am the foster mother of Prince Ning. How dare you be disrespectful to me?"

The shopkeeper was furious and wanted to have Jiang's mother beaten up, but he didn't dare to do anything reckless because of the name of Prince Ning.

In the end, they could only send someone to the princess's residence to inquire.

Fortunately, Zhao Ning remembered this matter but didn't mind. She turned around and asked her maid to send the silver notes to the shop.

Before long, it was time for the winter banquet, held at the royal villa, which was attended by the ladies, young masters, and young ladies of various mansions.

Every year, the winter banquet is hosted by either the princess or the queen, and this year is no exception, with the Queen Consort and the eldest princess hosting the banquet together.

Because of her daughter's marriage, Princess He was depressed for a long time and basically did not attend banquets for more than a year. But after her daughter returned home for a month, she saw that her son-in-law was a good man and her daughter was becoming more and more quiet, so she felt happy and was willing to go out and about.

Now, seeing Zhao Ning, Princess He was very happy and beckoned her forward: "I haven't seen Ningning for a while, Ningning has become much more beautiful."

A ruby ​​hairpin was placed in Zhao Ning's hair.

Zhao Ning said shyly, "The princess has given me so many pieces of jewelry, I can't possibly wear them all."

Princess Crane smiled and said, "It was originally intended to be given to you. You are young and have a good complexion, so you should wear something like this. It looks very nice."

Feng Zizhou arrived as well, came over to greet him, and, having probably not seen Zhao Ning for a long time, asked, "Zhao Ning, are you feeling better?"

When Zhao Ning saw him, she was still a little awkward and turned her head away, saying, "It's all better now."