Regent Prince Mansion, main hall of the Purple Bamboo Pavilion.
Rong Ling sat gracefully by the carved purple sandalwood table, reading a book. At this moment, he was less sinister and cold than before, appearing increasingly beautiful like a crafted jade, every gesture resembling a masterful artwork, yet inadvertently exuding a natural and intimidating presence that deterred others from approaching.
Feng Qing glanced at him and stood properly at the lower position.
The main hall remained quiet for a while until the man at the upper seat spoke with a cold voice, "Have you thought of a way to prove yourself?"
Feng Qing quickly looked up at Rong Ling; just on the way here, she did think of a way to prove herself.
"Prince, my dowry can prove that what I say is true."
Rong Ling's phoenix eyes narrowed slightly, his gaze emanating a frosty coldness.
"Prince, open my dowry, and you will know."
Madam of the current Marquis Jing'an Mansion is Feng Yao's biological mother. This woman was originally the old Madam of the Marquis Mansion's niece. When the Lin Family wasn't thriving, she was brought into the Marquis Mansion as a noble concubine. Later, the Lin Family prospered, and Feng Yao's uncle achieved military success, earning the title of Grade Four General Pingxi.
The old Madam of the Marquis Mansion then decided to elevate Feng Yao's biological mother from concubine to wife, making her the current Madam of the Marquis Mansion.
However, this Madam had a difficult time at her maternal home and was always frugal.
This time, she was aware of the switch in the bridal sedan. Such a person wouldn't prepare a good dowry for Feng Qing.
So, as long as Rong Ling opens the dowry, it will be clear. If the Feng Family was unaware of the switch, the dowry should be filled with good things, after all, Feng Yao is the Madam's biological daughter.
Conversely, if the dowry is filled with poor items, it indicates their awareness that it was Feng Qing marrying into the Regent Prince Mansion, not Feng Yao.
In the main hall, Regent King Rong Ling's gaze suddenly grew dark.
"Nan Feng, where is the Princess Consort's dowry?"
Nan Feng's face also looked grim at this time; if this was indeed orchestrated by the Emperor and the Feng Family, it was truly outrageous.
"Reporting to the Prince, it's in the side room of the Purple Bamboo Pavilion."
Rong Ling sneered with a sharp, bloodthirsty smile: "Open it, I would like to see just how little the Feng Family values me."
"Yes, Prince."
Nan Feng turned and left, Rong Ling also stood up, flicking his robe, and stepped out. Feng Qing followed closely behind, and the group quickly moved to the west side room, where the dowry prepared by the Marquis Jing'an Mansion was opened.
For this grand wedding, the Marquis Jing'an Mansion prepared one hundred and eight trays of dowry for the Empress marrying into the palace, and eighty-eight trays for the Princess Consort marrying into the Regent Prince Mansion.
Judging purely by the number of dowry trays, there seems to be no issue, as a Princess Consort naturally cannot compare to an Empress.
However, for the insightful, a mere glance reveals the truth within.
The dowry brought into the Regent Prince Mansion was mostly superficial, looking impressive but not truly valuable. Especially among the eighty-eight trays of dowry, the dowry silver was only five thousand taels in silver notes.
Rong Ling just glanced briefly and his expression turned cold, his deep, phoenix eyes emitting an icy chill.
He curled his lips into a faint smile, repeatedly saying the word "good."
"Good, good, good, truly excellent."
Not far away, Feng Qing, who was also busy examining the dowry, suddenly bent down to take out a few books from a chest, looking towards Rong Ling.
"Prince, please look, these are some medical books. My mother was the daughter of the National Academy Sacrificial Officer, my grandmother hailed from an apricot forest family, so my mother also knew some medical skills. These are medical books from my maternal family."
"The Madam of the Marquis Jing'an Mansion thought these medical books were worthless, so she included them to make up the numbers, not realizing that this precisely revealed that the people of the Marquis Jing'an Mansion knew it was me marrying into the Regent Prince Mansion."