Chapter 361: Another Turbulence in the Court
Hearing this, the old lady laughed happily, and then the grandfather and grandson started chatting affectionately.

After a while, Fang Mama reminded, "Old Madam, the Master should also be ready. Don't miss the time!"

At this time the old lady also reacted. She was so happy just now that Minglan had not even completed the last procedure!

"Yes, go and greet me first, then come over and have a good talk with me!"

There is no way, rules are rules. No matter how much Minglan wants to stay in Shou'an Hall and spend more time with the old lady, she has to go and pay her respects first, otherwise it would be considered unruly and ignorant of etiquette.

When Lin Hao and Minglan arrived at Weiruixuan, they found that the eldest lady's assistant was accompanied by an old woman with a ferocious face.

Lin Hao naturally recognized this woman. She was the Aunt Kang who couldn't stand others doing well and was always making trouble.

However, Lin Hao was too lazy to pay attention to her. He and Minglan then greeted Sheng Hong and Madam Wang. After the formalities, Madam Wang smiled brightly and said:

"My Lord, my Minglan didn't cause you any trouble, did she?"

Lin Hao looked at the well-behaved Minglan, then said with a smile:

"Minglan is well-educated, gentle and virtuous. How could she possibly cause trouble?"

"That's good!" Then the lady said with a smile:

"Minglan is married now, but our Rulan is still single! If the prince has any suitable candidate, you may as well help to arrange it!"

Damn it, someone is trying to steal my cabbage! This was Lin Hao's first reaction.

But then he realized that because of his intervention, he had repeatedly helped promote the Sheng family, allowing Sheng Hong to be promoted to the fifth rank at this time. Seeing that he could go further, Sheng Hong would naturally not easily invest in Wen Yanjing, a commoner.

Besides, in the original plot, the eldest lady looked down on the Wen family, and she will not agree now!
What's more, Minglan, a concubine's daughter, married the Prince of Yan and became the princess.

But her own daughter had no husband, so naturally she wanted to use her connections to find a better husband for Rulan!

Lin Hao quite likes Rulan, who is a bit arrogant but simple-minded. Naturally, he doesn't want this tender cabbage to be eaten by other pigs!

"no problem!"

Lin Hao took charge and said:

"I just don't know what kind of young talent Fifth Sister likes. From royal relatives to nobles, as long as Fifth Sister likes someone, I will take care of him as her brother-in-law!"

At this time, Sheng Hong looked at Lin Hao with some surprise, and hesitated whether he should tell Lin Hao what he was thinking. He thought about finding an opportunity to test Lin Hao's thoughts later!

However, when Madam Wang heard what Lin Hao meant, her eyes immediately lit up, and she asked in disbelief:
"Is what my dear son-in-law said true?"

"Can the royal family, relatives, nobles and other noble families be chosen at will?"

At this time, Lin Hao smiled and said, "For things like this, it is naturally inconvenient for me to show up. I will ask Minglan to go out and take a look when the time comes!"

Haha! How can you choose whatever you want? That's a nice thought. Who dares to snatch the fat meat in my bowl from me?
Aunt Kang, who was standing by, immediately became interested when she heard this, but she looked down on the royal family.

Instead, she has her eyes on Prince Lin Hao. If she gives her daughter Kang Yuner to Lin Hao as a concubine, then wouldn't their Kang family become prosperous!
At that time, I can give my daughter some ideas, then find a way to kill Minglan, and then let her daughter become a princess. Wouldn't that be ~!

At this time, the housekeeper next to the old lady came over and said that the old lady wanted to lecture the sixth girl.

The old lady wanted to give a lecture, and Madam Wang naturally couldn't stop her, so Minglan followed Mama Fang to Shou'an Hall.

After Minglan left, Sheng Hong said to Lin Hao:
"My dear son-in-law! Since it's still early before the Homecoming Banquet, how about we go to the study and have a chat!"

"Of course I'd love to have that!" Lin Hao said calmly.

At this time, only Madam Wang and Aunt Kang were left in the main hall. Aunt Kang's mind became active again, and then she said:

"Sister! As your elder sister, I want to congratulate you. Among all the girls in your Sheng family, the most promising one is the sixth girl who married the prince!"

Aunt Kang spoke to Madam Wang in a pretentious tone. She had no good intention in saying this. On the one hand, she was laying the foundation for what she was going to say next, and on the other hand, she was also trying to sow discord!
After all, Minglan, a concubine's daughter, actually married the prince and became the legal wife of Prince Yan. All the good things were taken by the Sheng family. She would feel uncomfortable if she didn't provoke Madam Wang!
Sure enough, Aunt Kang's words touched upon Madam Wang's sore spot. Just when she was about to say something, she suddenly stopped!
Madam Wang was just slow to react, she was not really stupid. Sheng Hong had analyzed the situation for her before.

The several requests raised by Lin Hao seemed to be tailor-made for Minglan, while also taking into account the face of their Zhang and Sheng families.

To put it bluntly, Prince Yan has studied in the Sheng family for so many years and has long had his eyes on Minglan. It has nothing to do with her success or failure.

After Mrs. Wang figured this out, she realized that her sister was just envious of her!
Then Madam Wang smiled triumphantly:
"This sixth girl has been well-behaved and sensible since she was young. She is much better than the two older ones, and she is also very pretty. Who doesn't like a pretty and sensible girl? It's natural for her to marry well!"

Aunt Kang: “……!”

Seeing that sowing discord had no effect, she simply stopped pretending and said directly:
"Sister! Look, the King of Yan has become your son-in-law, so I guess your words still carry weight!"

When Madam Wang heard this, she immediately became a little proud of her sister's compliments to her, so she said shamelessly:
"Of course, he is his elder after all!"

Having said that, Aunt Kang directly stated her purpose:
"Before, you promised to let Yuner marry into your family's Changbai, but you later regretted it. Although the plan did not come to fruition, your family later married the daughter of the Duke of Ying, so~!"

When Madam Wang heard this, her face suddenly became extremely embarrassed. She felt that she owed her sister something, so she asked:

"So what?"

Seeing Madam Wang's reaction, Aunt Kang struck while the iron was hot:

"So I was thinking, you can help me connect with Yoona and let her..."

······
On the other side, in Sheng Hong’s study!

"What? My father-in-law wants Rulan to be my concubine!" Oh no! It was like a perfect match. Lin Hao was so damn happy. You brought this upon yourself!

"Why? My dear son-in-law doesn't want to?" Sheng Hong didn't know what Lin Hao was thinking. Seeing Lin Hao's expressionless face, he just thought that Lin Hao didn't want to, so he advised him with some pain:

"My dear son-in-law, Rulan is my legitimate daughter! Marrying her as your concubine will not be a disgrace to you. No matter how you look at it, it is our Sheng family that suffers!"

Lin Hao was holding back his laughter, but he said with a serious face:
"My father-in-law misunderstood. Of course I am willing, but it may take some time!"

"Why is that? Could it be that Minglan doesn't agree~?" Sheng Hong asked with a frown.

Lin Hao smiled and said, "I have already made an agreement with Old Master Yu that after some time, I will take his granddaughter Yu Yanran as my concubine!"

"So when the time comes, Rulan and Yanran will marry here together. This will also make it difficult for my father-in-law in the court!"

From what Lin Hao said, even the granddaughter of Old Master Yu could be his concubine. Then, if Sheng Hong himself married his daughter to Lin Hao, it would not seem so conspicuous!
This made Sheng Hong feel relieved. After all, marrying his own daughter to Lin Hao as a concubine was a bit like currying favor with the superior!
"Haha!" Sheng Hong then said happily: "That's great, great!"

······
At the same time, Minglan was chatting with the old lady in Shou'an Hall about Lin Hao and the affairs of the Duke of Yingguo's Mansion.

After listening to Minglan's words, the old lady said:
"What? So, Xiaodie was brought from Yangzhou by the King of Yan when he came to study in our private school?"

"It seems to be about that time. What's wrong, grandma?" Minglan asked in confusion.

Who is the old lady? She knew what happened to Xiaodie, but she kept silent because of Sheng Hong's career!

Then the old lady asked the people around her to leave, and then asked Minglan in a low voice:
"Lin Qinshuang suddenly gained weight. Is it related to you?"

Minglan's breathing stagnated, and then she said calmly:
"Why did Grandma ask that?"

Although Minglan's abnormal reaction lasted only for a moment, the old lady's expression was very clear. She was the champion of the previous house fight, so how could she not guess Minglan's little thoughts!

"After you said you had met Xiaodie~! I think with King Yan's methods, you should have known the truth a long time ago!"

"Forget it, let's not talk about her!"

Minglan really didn't want to lie to her grandmother, and she was relieved to see that her grandmother had given up on getting to the bottom of the matter!

The old lady shook her head and continued to ask:

"So, the King of Yan actually has three concubines and a two-year-old illegitimate daughter!"

Minglan thought for a moment, then said:

"Strictly speaking, they are not yet your concubines. You have not accepted them before. You said you would wait until my eldest son is born, and then you will officially accept them."

"Before that, I wasn't even allowed to see them. As for the eldest daughter, the official said it was an accident!"

Upon hearing this, the old lady immediately understood what Lin Hao meant and breathed a sigh of relief.

Without a concubine, there is no status and she can only be considered a mistress. Even if a child is born, he is just an illegitimate child and has no right of inheritance. She cannot even call herself a member of the Zhang family!

And after Minglan comes into the family, he will even wait until the eldest legitimate son is born before taking the woman who follows him into his marriage. This way, there will be no future troubles between the legitimate and illegitimate children!

Then the old lady said, "It seems that your husband treats you well. I feel relieved!"

When Minglan thought of how good Lin Hao was to her, a smile appeared on her face.

However, she then thought about the past three days when she couldn't get up every morning. If Lin Hao hadn't felt sorry for her, she might not have been able to get out of bed!

When the old lady saw Minglan's expression change, she couldn't help asking:

"Is there anything else on Minglan's mind?"

Thinking that her grandmother was not an outsider, Minglan said shyly:
"Actually, I really want you to marry them. Every day, I can't handle your favor!"

Minglan's voice became lower and lower, fortunately the old lady was not deaf!

"Don't even think about it!" The old lady understood what Minglan meant in an instant, but she warned seriously at this moment:
"You must wait until your eldest son is born, otherwise there will be disasters in the future. Before that, no matter how hard it is, you must persevere!"

When Minglan heard this, she was so embarrassed that she didn't know what to do!

The old lady saw Minglan's embarrassment, and then began to advise Minglan on how to manage the household, how to be a good wife, etc.

When it was time for the Homecoming Banquet at noon, everyone gathered together and chatted about some family matters.

But during the meal, Aunt Kang kept giving Madam Wang looks, but Madam Wang's expression changed several times and she never opened her mouth.

Although Minglan was not her biological daughter, she was at least registered under her name, so she was nominally Minglan's biological mother.

As Minglan's stepmother, what kind of thing was it to propose to a prince to take a concubine at Minglan's homecoming banquet?

The problem is that from the Sheng family's perspective, she is the last person to mention taking a concubine for her daughter's husband at this time, and from the Zhang family's perspective, it is not her turn to take a concubine for the Prince of Yan.

At this time, Madam Wang was extremely regretful. Why did she agree to it in such a rush?

Now she is in a dilemma. She should not have agreed to her sister's request earlier!
However, when Aunt Kang saw that Madam Wang had been unwilling to speak up for her about Yoona becoming a concubine, she became unhappy and had a gloomy face. She also made a fuss about Madam Wang.

After the Homecoming Banquet, Lin Hao took Minglan directly back home, and then played some of his favorite little games with Minglan.

Minglan also cooperated very well, which made Lin Hao enjoy the treatment like an emperor and made Lin Hao linger.

······
A few days later, in the imperial palace!
The two queen dowagers and a group of court officials were staring at the Duke of Yingguo and Lin Hao!

Because the Duke of Yingguo left the border, disputes broke out again between the Song Dynasty and the Liao Kingdom. Therefore, the Duke of Yingguo needed to take command and return to the Song-Liao border to stabilize the border situation!
At this time, Queen Mother Cao looked at the ministers and then said to the Duke of Ying:
"Please, Duke Ying, go to the border immediately and guard the Song-Liao border to protect our Song Dynasty!"

"I obey your order!" said the Duke of England without hesitation.

At this time, Zhao Zongquan stepped out and said:
"Your Majesty, the Queen Mother, and the Concubine Dowager, I received news yesterday that wars have broken out again in several prefectures of the Song Dynasty, including Yuzhou, where I was stationed before. Because of my absence, it has also been plunged into rebellion!"

"Originally I wanted to go and pacify the area, but my duty at this time is to protect Your Majesty's safety, so I ask the Queen Mother to select another good general to lead the army to quell the rebellion!"

As soon as Zhao Zongquan finished speaking, all the civil and military officials in the court looked at Lin Hao!

"Prince of Yan~!" Seeing that Lin Hao didn't say anything, the Queen Mother couldn't help but say, "I'm afraid that Prince of Yan will have to personally deal with this local rebellion!"

As soon as Empress Dowager Cao finished speaking, Zhao Zongquan immediately seconded the proposal, "Please ask the Prince of Yan to personally lead the charge and quell the rebellion!"

Then, the civil officials headed by the Duke of Qi in the court followed suit and shouted:
"Please ask the King of Yan to take command and protect our Song Dynasty!"

(End of this chapter)