The peerless and dark princess

Chapter 171 Before Marriage

After Chu Wange had appeased Zuo Ci that day, she got busy. After all, Zuo Yunxin's wedding was three days away. As the mistress of Prince Heng's mansion, without her mother-in-law to help her, she had no choice but to do everything herself. Fortunately, she had Nanny Chen, the "general manager." Nanny Chen had always been by her grandmother Jiang's side, so she was well-versed in such matters and would naturally oversee the arrangements.

Nanny Chen directed everyone busily, arranging various matters in an orderly manner. Meanwhile, Zuo Ci personally went to the house on Fulin Street to pick up Zuo Yunxin's adoptive parents, Aunt Ying and Uncle Luo, as well as her brother Luo Cheng. That house was the same courtyard where Zuo Yunxin had lived when she returned to the capital from southern Xinjiang. Later, when she returned to the palace, Zuo Ci made the decision to give the house to Aunt Ying and her family of three. The house was registered in Luo Cheng's name and the official record was kept.

Now, the Luo residence was home to more than just the three of them. Luo Cheng had already married, even before Zuo Ci and Wange's wedding banquet. Zuo Ci had given him the house on Fulin Street as a wedding gift, along with many other valuable gifts. Luo Cheng worked for Zuo Ci, and had plenty of money. But after Uncle Luo and Aunt Ying returned to Beijing with Zuo Yunxin, they'd settled in the Fulin Street house. Living there for so long had become second nature, so they continued to live there.

Luo Cheng's wife was none other than Caiyu, the woman who had followed Qiao Yan to the Shangshu Mansion disguised as a maid. Her real name was Liang Caiwei. Liang Caiwei had just given birth a few months earlier and was still recovering. She planned to wait until Zuo Yunxin's wedding day before going to the palace to celebrate.

"Madame Chen, thank goodness you're here!" Li Kuan, the palace's chief steward, couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat. He'd never been married before, and the marriages of his own prince Zuo Ci and princess Chu Wange were arranged by people sent from the palace. This was Zuo Yunxin's wedding, and it was his first time seeing a young woman riding in a sedan chair. Thanks to Madame Chen, the princess's assistant, overseeing the overall situation, the wedding was handled in an orderly manner.

After hearing Li Kuan's words, Nanny Chen smiled faintly and said, "Steward Li, you're too polite. We're all doing this for the palace. To ensure the princess's glorious wedding, we have to put in a lot of effort. You just focus on the heavy lifting, and I'll take care of the finer details."

"That's natural. How can you, Nanny Chen, do such heavy work? If you need me for anything, just tell me directly. The princess will do whatever you say regarding the princess's marriage." Li Kuanhan said with a smile.

Nanny Chen naturally knew that Princess Chu Wange had spoken. She and Li Kuan were both in the palace, and mutual respect was expected. Furthermore, he, the chief steward, was a close confidant of Prince Zuo Ci, while she was merely the old nanny in Young Master Chu Haolin's chambers. It was only because Princess Chu Wange's chambers only had four maids—Yihua, Shiqi, Amei, and Qingzhu—and no maids, that she was considered the nanny, barely categorized as one of the Princess's household members.

"Sister-in-law, getting married is so troublesome." Zuo Yun couldn't help but feel a headache. Looking at the long dowry list, she couldn't help but feel a little scared, and even lost interest in reading it. Forgive her, a woman who only knows how to make medicine and poison. Let her run a business like those shops. She will definitely lose a lot of money.

"Of course not. You're marrying Baili Ziyu anyway, so he'll take care of the shops." Chu Wange knew Zuo Yunxin was completely absorbed in studying medicine and poisons, but thankfully, Baili Ziyu was a capable manager. Besides, most of her brother Zuo Ci's shops had always been managed by Baili Ziyu. Now, it was simply a matter of helping his brother-in-law manage them, and now it was just helping his wife. What was the big difference? The biggest difference was that the money earned would go to his wife, not his brother-in-law.

"But why should I watch it?" Zuo Yunxin was very confused. Since her brother Zi Yu was in charge of everything, why did she need to keep an eye on it?

"Then you have to check where your shops are, so you don't end up paying for them when you enter your own shop." Chu Wange asked her to look through the shop contracts, hoping to get a count of where her shops were located. This sister-in-law often went out to look for herbs, so it was natural for her to spend money. So, several of the shops had been given to her as a dowry.

"But I really don't want to see it." There was some resentment in Zuo Yunxin's tone, his brows slightly furrowed, and his eyes were full of resistance to the long dowry list.

"Alright, if you don't want to watch, then don't. With Baili around, nothing's going to happen anyway." Seeing that Zuo Yunxin genuinely had no interest in those things, Chu Wange stopped forcing her. Baili Ziyu was still part of her family, after all. Not to mention that he was her brother-in-law, just because he was someone Zuo Ci trusted deeply, he definitely wouldn't treat Zuo Yunxin badly. With that in mind, whether Zuo Yunxin knew the details of the dowry didn't seem that important.

"Sister-in-law is still the best." Zuo Yunxin smiled instantly when she heard that she didn't have to look at the dowry list anymore. God knows this dowry list is much more difficult to understand than those prescriptions for medicine and poison. The densely packed items on it made her dizzy.

"But I'll have Ah Mei keep the contract for Baili. But Chunyu, you have to know the dowry list." Chu Wange turned her gaze to Chunyu, the maid who stood upright beside her, with a slightly serious expression. "If the princess doesn't want to know, then you have to know it clearly. When you send the dowry on the wedding day, you have to let her know clearly what is included in the dowry. Don't leave out a single thing. Don't be disrespectful."

Chunyu quickly bowed and replied, "Yes, Princess, I'll make a note of it."

Chu Wange had come to see Zuo Yunxin today to familiarize her with matters related to the dowry. In reality, she was merely following Nanny Chen's instructions. When she first married into the palace, there was no one to guide her through the formalities of marriage. Her nominal father, Mu Heng, had long been sentenced to death for his crimes, and her mother, Chu Wanran, had passed away early, leaving her no choice but to marry into the Yanwang Mansion's maternal family. As for her grandmother, Jiang, she hadn't even made an appearance at such a crucial moment.

The hidden truth, hidden deep within, was that her true father was Emperor Chen Yu. This secret of her origin could never be made public; if it were revealed, it would stain the imperial annals with an indelible stain. After all, her mother, Chu Wanran, became pregnant out of wedlock, lost her chastity, married a high-ranking official, and later bore him a child. If such a situation were to become known, how would the court officials view the emperor? They would undoubtedly discuss it privately, and it would likely cause considerable uproar in the imperial court.