In the main hall of a small side courtyard in the inner palace of the Duke of Song Dynasty in Chang'an City, a young woman in her thirties was picking and choosing with a happy face. The table was filled with all kinds of exquisite jewelry.

There are many large and small boxes on the ground, the lids have been opened, and the contents are either gold, silver or silk. Counting these items alone, they are worth at least tens of thousands of dollars.

"Madam, your nephew is really generous. He has given you tens of thousands of dollars as a gift, and this is just for you. I heard that he also gave a huge gift to the Duke of Guo. Unfortunately, it was ignored by the country.

Your Majesty, please go back." The maids next to the young woman also said excitedly. The lady received such a heavy gift, and they, the servants, also received a lot of rewards, and they were all grateful to the prince.

"Of course, my mother-in-law is a dignified Wang family in Taiyuan. I hugged Wang Kuang when he was a child. He came to see my aunt, so it is appropriate to give him something like this." The lady also looked happy.

, not only because she received such a heavy gift, but also because her mother-in-law’s family was so generous, and she, a daughter who married outside, also had face.

"By the way, did Wen Xin send someone to call? Why haven't you come yet?" The eldest lady suddenly remembered something and asked the maid beside her.

"We've sent someone to call her. I guess Miss Wen Xin went to Aunt Zhou's place on the third young master's side, so the journey is a little longer." The maid replied.

"Oh~, this girl Wen Xin is really lucky. She actually married His Highness Prince Liang. Now no one in the entire Chang'an City knows Li Liuyang's name. It's really enviable. Why is this girl Wen Qing not so good?

Where's your luck?" The eldest lady suddenly sighed and said with regret on her face.

"Look what you said, no matter how well Miss Wen Xin marries, isn't she still your daughter in name?"

Although the maid next to the eldest lady is not old, she is very good at talking. One sentence made the eldest lady's face look much better, but soon the eldest lady's face darkened again, and she said to herself: "Although these words are like this

He said, Wen Xin is my daughter in name, but her biological mother is still Aunt Zhou after all, and from the bottom of my heart I am closer to my biological mother."

This eldest lady is the wife of Xiao Yu's eldest son, who was born in the Wang family of Taiyuan. Unfortunately, Xiao Yu's eldest son died of illness a few years ago, leaving only Mrs. Wang and a daughter, Wen Qing, to inherit the family business.

There are no descendants left, so now Xiao Rui, the second in line, has become the eldest son of the Xiao family, the one who married Li Min’s sister, Princess Xiangcheng. Last time Li Shimin ordered Xiao Yu to send Xiao Wenxin

Adopted to the eldest son, who is now Mrs. Wang, she is now Xiao Wenxin's nominal mother.

While Mrs. Wang was thinking about something, she saw the bead curtain outside lifted up, and two girls of similar age walked in with their maids, one after the other.

"Ah? Mother, who sent so many gifts?" As soon as the round-faced girl in front came in, she immediately noticed the various gifts around Mrs. Wang. She rushed up with a cheer and threw herself on the table to pick and choose.

Looking for the jewelry she likes, of course she is Mrs. Wang’s biological daughter Xiao Wenqing.

The girl at the back was extremely beautiful. She just glanced at the gifts, then bowed to Mrs. Wang with a calm face and said, "Wen Xin pays homage to mother!" This girl was none other than Li Min's fiancée, Xiao Wenxin.

"Wen Xin, please get up quickly!" Mrs. Wang ignored her own daughter, but stepped forward to pull Xiao Wenxin up very affectionately, "Didn't I say it last time, we don't need to be so polite between mother and daughter?

There is no need to salute every time you see me, look at your sister Wenqing, she never knows what it means to be polite." Mrs. Wang smiled and pulled Xiao Wenxin to sit down and said.

"What mother taught us is that Wenxin will pay attention to it in the future." Although Xiao Wenxin agreed, her speech and behavior were still full of etiquette.

"Oh, you girl~" Mrs. Wang had no choice but to point to the jewelry on the table and said, "Wen Xin, my nephew from my natal family sent a lot of gifts today. These jewelry are also exquisitely made. You

Pick a few to take home!”

"Thank you, mother!" Xiao Wenxin couldn't refuse the mother's gift to her daughter, but she didn't throw herself on the table and pick and choose like her sister Wen Qing did. She just picked up a jasper hairpin and said, "Wen Xin

It’s picked.”

"You girl..." Mrs. Wang was also a little angry, but thinking of Xiao Wenxin's indifferent temperament, the anger in her heart subsided. She sighed and said, "Oh~, with your temperament, I would have known you would be like this."

!”

After Mrs. Wang finished speaking, she reached for a box and selected a dozen of the most exquisite jewelry. Some of them were snatched from her daughter Wen Qing's hands, causing Xiao Wenqing to shout dissatisfied.

Mrs. Wang put the box into Xiao Wenxin's hand and said, "Wen Xin, since we are destined to be mother and daughter, I sincerely treat you as my own daughter. From now on, whatever Wen Qing has, you will be indispensable."

Xiao Wenxin was about to refuse, but Mrs. Wang rushed to say: "I know you don't like these jewelry and other things, but as the daughter of the Xiao family, you can't go out without something that takes advantage of your identity. You must collect these things."

Down."

"This..." Xiao Wenxin hesitated for a moment. As the daughter of the Xiao family, she really couldn't lose the face of her family. Xiao Wenxin could not care about herself, but she couldn't care about the feelings of her parents and family. Thinking of this, Xiao Wenxin bowed her heart and said: "My mother still wants to

"My daughter is so considerate, but her daughter is willful, so Wen Xin accepted these things."

"That's right, this is the daughter of the Xiao family who knows the general idea and etiquette!" Seeing Xiao Wenxin accept it, Mrs. Wang said with a smile, and then helped Xiao Wenxin pick out a few pieces of silk and satin in plain and elegant colors, and asked her to go back and make a few more.

Xiao Wenxin also accepted the new clothes one by one. Then Mrs. Wang took Xiao Wenxin and talked to her heart for a while before letting her go.

After Xiao Wenxin left, Mrs. Wang picked two more boxes of gifts to be delivered to Xiao Wenxin's biological mother, Aunt Zhou. Xiao Wenqing saw that the gifts sent by her cousin suddenly decreased by nearly one-half, and her mother specially picked the most expensive ones.

Xiao Wenxin even let Xiao Wenxin take away the jewelry she liked. She couldn't help but feel a little dissatisfied. She took Mrs. Wang's hand and said coquettishly: "Mother, you let Wenxin take away those good jewelry, who is the right one?"

Your biological daughter?"

"Go, go, go~, what do you girl know? Wen Xin is the Princess Liang appointed by His Majesty, and now that Prince Liang is getting more and more favored, this girl Wen Xin has a bright future. I, my nominal mother, cannot treat her badly.

Marry someone else." Mrs. Wang gave her daughter a sweet hit on the head, and then said with some envy and regret, "If you can marry into a family like King Liang in the future, then your mother will feel at ease."

"Mom, how can I have Wen Xin's good luck? Otherwise, I would dress up and go out one day, and then seduce a prince and tease him?" Xiao Wenqing said with a heartless smile.

"How come you, girl, are so careless in what you say?" Mrs. Wang straightened her face and lectured, "Although Wen Xin has an indifferent temperament, please don't say these words in front of her, otherwise she will remember them.

There will be no good fruit to eat in the future.”

"I know, you are serious too!" Xiao Wenqing was dissatisfied with her mother's teachings and muttered in a low voice. Then she rolled her eyes and asked Mrs. Wang: "Mom, you just gave Wen Xin jewelry, but why did you leave the watch?

Are you sharing the gifts that my cousin sent to Aunt Zhou? We don’t have much money from our family. In the past, I had to save up for several months just to sell a piece of jewelry. These things that my cousin sent me will make us rich for a long time.

What’s the time?”

After hearing her daughter's complaint, Mrs. Wang couldn't help but smile bitterly. Her father-in-law Xiao Yu came from a prominent family. Although the Xiao family in Lanling was not as good as the five surnames and Qi Wang, it was still one of the most powerful families in the Tang Dynasty. Moreover, the former Empress Xiao of the Sui Dynasty was Xiao Yu.

The two had a very good relationship. The former Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty also treated Xiao Yu very kindly and rewarded him with a lot of land. It is said that the Xiao family should have a lot of money. But since Xiao Yu returned to the Tang Dynasty and became the Duke of Song Dynasty,

, but he distributed the land returned by his great ancestor to his clan members, leaving only an ancestral temple for himself. He was also an upright and upright official and never accepted gifts. The family only relied on the salary of the Duke and the output of Hezhi Tian to support his family.

However, life in the Duke's mansion is very tight, even worse than that of some ordinary wealthy households in Chang'an. His daughter usually has to think twice before buying a piece of jewelry. Is it any wonder that she was so excited when she saw so many gifts just now?

Although her life was miserable, Mrs. Wang had her own plans. After waving her hands for everyone to leave, she said to Xiao Wenqing: "Oh, I know that I have wronged you on weekdays, but Aunt Zhou is...

Must give it!"

"Why is this?" Xiao Wenqing is not stupid either. Looking at her mother's face, it seems that there is some hidden secret that she doesn't know about.

"Hmph, do you think that your cousin is so kind-hearted that he gave me these heavy gifts on a special occasion?" Mrs. Wang said with a gloomy look on her face, "Although my mother was born in the Wang family of Taiyuan,

But he is not the eldest son of the Wang family, and he has no contact with Wang Kuang on weekdays. Today he suddenly sent so many gifts, isn't it for your brother-in-law, Prince Liang?"

Thinking of these, Mrs. Wang felt angry. She was born in the Wang family, and she knew very clearly about the affairs of the family. When her husband was still alive, she was the legitimate wife of the eldest son, and she would become the duke in the future.

Madam, the Wang family members also have very close contact with her. During the New Year and festivals, she is constantly receiving gifts, and from time to time, younger generations come to pay their respects. However, since her husband passed away, she has no son, and the title of Song Guogong can only be inherited by her second brother Xiao Rui.

, although Mrs. Wang is still in charge of the internal affairs of the Xiao Mansion and her status in the manor has not changed much, in the eyes of her mother-in-law's family, she is no longer of half use value. In the first few years, she occasionally sent people over to take a look.

She sent some small gifts herself, but in the past few years, no one came, and no greetings were given during the holidays, as if the Wang family had never had a daughter like her.

Since Xiao Wenxin, the future princess, was adopted as her daughter, the Wang clan suddenly became concerned about Mrs. Wang again. Some time ago, no less than ten groups of Wang clan's descendants came to pay their respects. Today, the one who came today was Wang, the eldest son of the Wang clan.

What's more, Mrs. Wang also gave such a heavy gift. Mrs. Wang didn't know the other party's intention. She just wanted to use herself as a nominal mother to please Xiao Wenxin, the quasi-princess, and then gain Li Min's favor. To do so.

Do you know who doesn't know Li Liulang's name now? Not only is he outstanding in literary talent, but the shochu and cement he produces are all very profitable, which has attracted everyone in the Tang Dynasty to rush to buy and invest. And now Li Min is deeply favored by His Majesty, so

A prince with potential, how could the Wang family not try their best to get on this line?

After listening to her mother's story, Xiao Wenqing was also very angry. She raised the jewelry she picked and wanted to throw it to the ground. After all, although she was a little girl, she was also a person of integrity. Such a gift from a snobbish person.

, Xiao Wenqing was really not surprised, but she didn't expect to be held tightly by Mrs. Wang, who had been prepared for it.

Mrs. Wang said with a smile on her face: "You girl has such a strong temper. Although they didn't give me these things specially, it's not that easy to be a mother. These are

The reward they gave us is what we deserve, but you girl really knows how to waste things!"

"Eh~, that's right! These are originally paid for mother's hard work, mother, you should understand clearly!" Xiao Wenqing is also an open-minded person. When she heard what her mother said was reasonable, she immediately became happy again and carefully handled the jewelry in her hands.

Hiding it in his arms, he then pounced on the gift to pick something for himself.

Looking at this heartless daughter, Mrs. Wang was angry and laughing at the same time. With her temperament, she would not be disadvantaged when she got married in the future, but she just thought that the daughter of the Lanling Xiao family was like an uneducated wild girl.

, she couldn't help but have a headache again, it seemed that she had to spend more time to control her temper.

In the side hall of Prince Liang's Mansion, Li Min looked gloomy and tense. Wang Zihao, who was wearing a blue robe, stood with his head lowered and his lips tightly closed without saying a word. Wen'er and Hua'er who were standing next to him were also weighed down by the heavy weight in the hall.

Affected by the atmosphere, I stood there without daring to move.

Li Min walked back and forth a few times, then suddenly took a long breath, stared at Wang Zihao, and slowly uttered three words: "Why?"

Except for the people around him, only Wang Zihao knew about his visit to the Dengxian Tower, and only he, the owner of the Dengxian Tower, could arrange an invisible 'chance encounter' at the Dengxian Tower.

The three words that Li Min asked seemed to be as heavy as a thousand words. They bent Wang Zihao's waist even more. It took him a while to hear his answer: "Your Highness, this matter is all my fault. As for the reason,

, the villain only has one thing to say."

When he said this, Wang Zihao suddenly raised his head, took a step forward with a painful look on his face and said in a deep voice: "The Wang family in the world came out of Taiyuan!"
Chapter completed!