My husband, who abandoned his father and kept his son, actually wants me to be his concubine.

Chapter 55 Taking Wan Niang as a Concubine

Rong Yi looked at Lu Xiao with a sinister gaze and explained in a cold voice, "That was just something your cousin said in anger, and someone with ulterior motives took it seriously. Your cousin and I had Zhang'er because we were in love. It wasn't some male concubine or gigolo who used someone else to have a child."

Lu Xiao listened to Rong Yi's explanation and slowly nodded and chuckled, "Yes, you are not my cousin's male concubine who was brought in to have a child."

Rong Yi frowned slightly as he listened to Lu Xiao's meaningful tone, and glared at Lu Jinshi, who was gloating.

The lunch was a feast of delicious dishes. The chef at Rong Yi's residence came from the palace, so the food was naturally excellent.

However, Princess Yongjia did not have much of an appetite.

Lu Jinshi could only whisper to persuade her, "Princess, please eat a little something. We still need to go to the palace later. If you don't eat anything, it won't stop you."

Princess Yongjia could only eat a little, but not much, because Lu Xiao's occasional glances made it difficult for her to swallow.

After lunch, the rain stopped and the sky gradually cleared up.

Lu Jinshi and Rong Yi then accompanied Princess Yongjia to the palace to request an audience with His Majesty.

In the Zichen Palace.

Emperor Huiyuan had just finished lunch with Consort Rong.

When Consort Rong saw Rong Yi, Lu Jinshi, and Princess Yongjia arrive, she said, "Why have the three of you come to the palace together today? Oh, Princess, what's wrong?"

Princess Yongjia knelt on the ground with tears in her eyes and said, "Father, Consort Rong, I want to divorce my husband."

Emperor Huiyuan looked at Princess Yongjia kneeling on the ground in a deep voice and said, "You and your husband have known each other since childhood, a childhood sweetheart relationship. How can you just break it off like this?"

Princess Yongjia lowered her eyes and wept, saying, "My husband has been keeping a mistress behind my back, and they have a daughter together. He even misunderstood me because of his mistress. My mind is made up, and I will definitely divorce my husband!"

Emperor Huiyuan was furious and said, "Is this true? How dare the Imperial Son-in-Law act so recklessly? Guards, summon the Duke of Zhenguo and his wife to an audience with the Imperial Son-in-Law."

"Yes." The eunuch beside Emperor Huiyuan bowed repeatedly in response.

Consort Rong was also furious when she heard this, saying, "How could the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion raise such a young man? The daughter of the imperial family married him, and he actually secretly kept a mistress outside. He really doesn't respect His Majesty. Yongjia, don't cry. Your father will definitely seek justice for you in this matter."

Rong Shuang stepped forward to help Princess Yongjia up, led her to sit down to the side, and used a silk handkerchief to wipe away Princess Yongjia's tears.

Princess Yongjia continued to shed tears.

Seeing his only daughter crying so miserably, Emperor Huiyuan was filled with anger. "Yongjia, your father will definitely seek justice for you."

Princess Yongjia cried and said, "It is my fault that I cannot bear children, but my husband should never have done that. He should never have kept a mistress outside without my knowledge. He could have discussed the matter of taking a concubine with me instead of deceiving me. If it weren't for my seventh brother and Jinshi who happened to see it, I would still be kept in the dark."

Consort Rong glanced at Rong Yi and said, "After you learned about this, didn't you teach Consort Yuan a lesson on behalf of your elder sister?"

“I disciplined him,” Rong Yi said. “But the Imperial Consort is truly clueless. Yesterday morning, my elder sister and Jinshi went to see that concubine. My elder sister couldn’t bear what the concubine said and turned to leave without telling her to get up. The concubine knelt for three hours, resulting in a stillbirth. Who would have thought that Yuan Jie would blame my elder sister for this?” Consort Rong frowned and said, “Is that so? How can you blame Yongjia for the stillbirth? Yongjia only didn’t tell the concubine to get up. How can you blame Yongjia for the stillbirth?”

Soon, the Duke of Zhenguo and his wife, along with Yuan Jie, came to the Zichen Hall to pay their respects.

Upon seeing the three people enter, Emperor Huiyuan immediately berated them, saying, "I married my only beloved daughter to your Yuan family, and this is how you treat the princess?"

The Duke and his wife immediately knelt down and kowtowed.

Lady Yuan, the Duchess of Yuan, hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. It was all caused by my unfilial son. I will severely punish the驸马 (the驸马) according to family law. I hope Your Majesty and the Princess will consider that the驸马 was only acting out of filial piety and calm down."

Lu Jinshi sneered and said, "Filial piety? So which elder forced his child to commit the serious crime of keeping a mistress under the guise of filial piety? The elders of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion are truly well-mannered."

Yuan Jie knelt on the ground and glared at Lu Jinshi, then looked at Princess Yongjia who was crying and said, "It was my fault for keeping a mistress, but Your Highness, even if you can't tolerate Wan Niang, you shouldn't have promised me the night before that you would let Wan Niang keep her child, and then punished Wan Niang so cruelly the next day, causing Wan Niang to give birth to a stillborn child and be heartbroken! How can a princess of the court be so ruthless?"

Princess Yongjia was so angry with Yuan Jie that her hands were trembling. "You...you..."

Seeing that Princess Yongjia was too angry to speak, Lu Jinshi walked up to Yuan Jie and slapped him hard across the face.

Yuan Jie glared at Lu Jinshi and said, "How dare you hit me?"

Lu Jinshi said, "I slapped her on behalf of the princess. Why wouldn't I dare to? Her Highness has never punished Wan Niang, nor has she ever said that Wan Niang couldn't get up after kneeling. It was Wan Niang herself who knelt for three hours and didn't get up. Her bastard child became stillborn. How can you blame Her Highness?"

Yuan Jie said, "Her Highness the Princess didn't tell Wan Niang to get up. How is this any different from deliberate punishment?"

Princess Yongjia looked deeply at Yuan Jie and said, "We have been in love for almost ten years and have been husband and wife for six years. How can I be so untrustworthy in your eyes?"

Yuan Jie looked into Princess Yongjia's eyes and said, "Princess, you already bear the burden of one life, and you must not bear the burden of a second. I have already agreed to take Wan Niang as a concubine, so that Wan Niang will not continue to seek death. I hope that the princess will grant my request."

Princess Yongjia's eyes were filled with disappointment for Yuan Jie. She knelt before Emperor Huiyuan and said, "If Yuan Jie wants to take Wan Niang as a concubine, then I must divorce him."

Emperor Huiyuan frowned and looked at Yuan Jie, saying, "Very well, from this day forward, Yuan Jie will no longer be the imperial son-in-law."

"Your Majesty!" Upon hearing this, the Duke of Zhenguo immediately tried to dissuade him, saying, "I hope Your Majesty will rescind your decree."

The Duchess of Zhenguo slapped Yuan Jie hard across the face. "You unfilial son, hurry up and kowtow to the princess to admit your mistake and beg for her forgiveness. The princess is such a good wife. If you miss out on her, you will definitely regret it in the future!"

Yuan Jie frowned and looked at Princess Yongjia, saying, "Princess, I want to take Wan Niang as a concubine for your sake. If word gets out that you killed Wan Niang's six-month-old child, and then killed Wan Niang herself, you will be burdened with the weight of these two lives, and you will surely be criticized."

Emperor Huiyuan frowned and said, "Stop blaming my princess for the death of your bastard child. As the heir of the Duke of Zhenguo, you cannot distinguish right from wrong, and you are not worthy to inherit the title of the Duke of Zhenguo. From this day forward, Yuan Fei is hereby appointed as the heir of the Duke of Zhenguo. As for Yuan Jie, I will never see you again!"

Upon hearing this, Madam Yuan collapsed to the ground. His Majesty refused to see Yuan Jie again, which meant he was about to ruin Yuan Jie's career.

Madam Yuan was terrified, but she still had to express her gratitude, saying, "Thank you for your mercy, Your Majesty."

(End of this chapter)