Chapter 1165 - Chapter 1165 “Something Happened” to Zhang Qilan?
Chapter 1165 “Something Happened” to Zhang Qilan?
Zhang Qilan was eating the pastries, but her attention was all on Shao Wanru. When Shao Wanru sent the pastry to her lips, Zhang Qilan unconsciously clenched her fists on her knees and concentrated on the corner of her mouth. Then she saw the dessert stop at Shao Wanru’s lips.
“Why won’t you eat it? It’s delicious,” she urged subconsciously.
“I was in poor health, so the doctor told me to eat less sticky food. They won’t digest easily when I am lying in bed!” Shao Wanru explained softly. Looking at the pastry in her hand, she looked a little complicated.
It was a pity that Zhang Qilan couldn’t see through the complex situation. Shao Wanru seemed sentimental and even sad.
Zhang Qilan clenched her fists gently, thinking she must have misread her expression. How could Shao Wanru have so many feelings about a piece of pastry? Zhang Qilan felt she must have misunderstood her.
Her attention shifted back to the pastry. She clearly remembered she had sprinkled the drug over the top of this piece in Shao Wanru’s hands. When Zhang Qilan saw Shao Wanru take another snack without the drug powder, she was anxious and pushed the plate forward. By doing so, she successfully let Shao Wanru take the drugged one.
“It has a very pleasant flavor. Have a taste. Don’t eat too much!” Zhang Qilan advised considerately.
Shao Wanru glanced at her thoughtfully. This time, she didn’t hesitate and took a bite.
“Gee? What’s that?” Yujie suddenly pointed somewhere behind Zhang Qilan. involuntarily, Zhang Qilan turned around and looked in the direction Yujie was pointing at. It was the bamboo grove. “I seemed to have seen someone there. It was a man, and he was looking at us!”
Everyone looked over but didn’t find anything. Seeing this, Yujie explained with embarrassment.
“Was there anyone over there?” Zhang Qilan frowned and suddenly remembered what Infanta Yuan’an had told her: the outer court for men was not far away from where they were.
Only two Xu State princesses lived in this place, and there was no male master. Therefore, the boundary between the outer and inner courts was not obvious and not protected by guards.
Recently, Princess Yuyan had been close to Infanta Yuan’an, so some of the information revealed by Infanta Yuan’an was accurate.
Infanta Yuan’an told her not to go too far in this direction. Some handymen and guards from the Xu State lived in the outer court, helping the two princesses deal with some ordinary affairs and protecting their safety.
“Could it be that someone from the outer court has entered?” Zhang Qilan’s eyes twinkled. She turned to look at Shao Wanru and saw her eating the pastry. Then, she put aside the dessert in her hand to drink the tea.
She looked down and found a corner of the pastry was gone. The missing part was not large, but she had added enough drug powder. Seeing this, Zhang Qilan finally breathed a sigh of relief in her heart.
“This is the inner court of the two princesses. How could a man appear here? She must have made a mistake!” Zhang Qilan smiled and said.
Shao Wanru put down the teacup in her hand and nodded. “Maybe her eyes deceived her. The swaying bamboo shadow over there looks like a cyan robe.”
Hearing the words of the two masters, Yujie lowered her head in embarrassment and said, “Well… maybe!”
“Do you think the pollen here is too much?” Zhang Qilan reached out to touch her head and asked, knitting her thin eyebrows.
“It seems so.” Shao Wanru narrowed her eyes slightly. No one could see the coldness in her eyes. She had regarded Zhang Qilan as a trustworthy friend, but now it seemed she was wrong.
In fact, since Zhang Qilan was appointed Princess Yue, they were destined to be enemies.
There was no trace of Zhang Qilan in the memory of her previous life. However, Shao Wanru met her in the Yuhui Nunnery in this life by chance. But at this moment, Shao Wanru could only lament the ever-changing affairs of the world.
She was sure that Zhang Qilan wanted to drug her. She would have fallen into the trap if she hadn’t been on guard against Zhang Qilan.
As for the drug, Zhang Qilan must have brought it with her as early as when she entered this place. That was to say, Zhang Qilan had been hostile to her long ago. She hadn’t yet done anything against her only because she had no good reason.
Now, she seemed to have found a valid reason.
Did the change happen just now?
Shao Wanru immediately resolved the doubts that had puzzled her. Zhang Qilan must have seen Chu Liuyue with her just now. And she knew someone was plotting against them.
Shao Wanru was not surprised by it and took this matter lightly. Princess Yuyan of the Xu State was not easy to deal with. In addition, Infanta Yuan’an was very active among these people. Shao Wanru knew they would bring her trouble, no matter what.
However, Zhang Qilan’s reaction upset her. She had sincerely taken Zhang Qilan as a friend. However, Zhang Qilan took out the long-prepared powder to plot against her. The drug powder was in Zhang Qilan’s hands before she came here today. She must have harbored malice against her for a long time, no matter whether she saw Chu Liuyue and her today.
Though a little sad and depressed, Shao Wanru let out a long sigh of relief. Their friendship ended today.
When they met again, Zhang Qilan would be Princess Yue while she was Princess Chen. They were destined to be opponents.
“Are you also not feeling well?” Zhang Qilan looked more and more uncomfortable. She stretched out her hands to clutch her chest and tilted her head. It seemed as if she was going to vomit.
“Miss, Miss, what’s wrong with you?” The servant girl beside her asked anxiously.
“Help me to have a rest over there.” Zhang Qilan looked miserable. Her face paled slightly. She covered her chest in pain and staggered to her feet.
“Yes, I’ll help you over right away!” The servant girl answered and put Zhang Qilan’s hand on her arm.
“I… I feel ill too!” Shao Wanru also stood up.
“Let’s… let’s go there and have a rest.” Zhang Qilan turned around with difficulty and suggested to Shao Wanru. She was overjoyed when seeing Shao Wanru leaning weakly on a servant girl. “This drug is not bad. It worked so well.” Zhang Qilan took the initiative to pretend sickness according to the effect of the drug she had learned.
With this, she would not be blamed when anything terrible happened later.
When the two masters fell ill, their servant girls panicked. In a great hurry, they brought Zhang Qilan and Shao Wanru to the yard nearby. Zhang Qilan asked Shao Wanru to go to the main room, and her servant girl helped her to rest in the wing room.
After the servant girls settled their masters down, Zhang Qilan’s servant girl ran over and said to Yujie and Qing’er, “Perhaps, our masters are allergic to the pollen outside. Could either of you go out and get a doctor?”
There were three servant girls. Two of them were brought by Shao Wanru. So, either Qing’er or Yujie had to go out.
“I’ll go and invite a doctor over!” Yujie said. It was better to leave Qing’er here to take care of Shao Wanru. Though Yujie was stronger, she was not as agile as Qing’er.
“Sister Yujie, go ahead. I’ll guard Her Highness!” Qing’er nodded and said.
Yujie left hurriedly, and the two maids returned to their rooms. As soon as Qing’er entered the room, she heard someone knocking on the door again. Shao Wanru, who was lying on the bed, nodded at her.
Qing’er hurried out again and saw Zhang Qilan’s servant girl standing outside. “Is there anything else?”
“The tea outside has been here for some time. We can get some hot tea for our masters from the tea room. What do you think?” the servant girl asked.
“My Lady is resting here, so I guess I can’t leave,” Qing’er said awkwardly.
“Then I’ll go and get the tea. Would you mind keeping an eye on my master? She vomited just now and felt very uncomfortable,” the servant girl said anxiously. Compared with Shao Wanru, Zhang Qilan looked worse.
“Okay, don’t worry. I’ll take care of her!” Qing’er nodded and said. At this moment, this was the only way.
“Could you come over to have a look at my master? She is in bad condition!” The servant girl said worriedly.
Qing’er had no choice but to follow her. When she entered the room, she saw Zhang Qilan lying feebly on the bed, twitching slightly. She was indeed in a much worse situation than Shao Wanru.
The servant girl got a handkerchief and said, “Sister, please take care of my master. I’ll go to the tea room and find some hot water now. I’ll be back soon. Don’t leave for the time being.”
“But what about my master?” Qing’er was dumbfounded.
“It won’t take long. I’ll be right back. My master appears healthy, but she is very fragile. I’m afraid that something bad will happen to her…” The servant girl cried.
Seeing that she was wasting her time, Qing’er urged, “Go ahead and come back soon.”
“Okay, I will!” The servant girl ran out in a hurry. But when she got outside and looked around, she did not go toward the tea room. Instead, she walked out to the outer court.
There were handymen in the outer courtyard. Her Miss had brought over an old maid doing rough work, who had been waiting there for a long time.
Her Miss had prepared the drug powder and the old maid long ago. Knowing she would meet Princess Chen today, her Miss made a plan. In the carriage, her master said they were well prepared and would succeed. Yet, the servant girl was still afraid when carrying out their plot.
Fortunately, shortly after she went outside, she saw the old maid. Seeing her, the old maid knew it was time to go ahead with their plan. She walked with the servant girl for a while and came to the back of a house. She made a gesture to the servant girl, who then hurriedly hid.
A very thin servant in his thirties came over. The old maid hid in the house corner and watched the man walk past her. Then, she picked up a wooden stick she had prepared and knocked hard on the man’s head. The man was reeling a little and soon fell into a faint.
They succeeded with one strike.
The old maid and the servant girl were delighted and came out from the dark.
The old maid was of great strength. She carried the thin man on her back and followed the servant girl to the yard. As long as she threw the man on Princess Chen’s bed, their task would be completed.
Princess Chen must have fainted, so she would not know who did it.
Their Miss just wanted to ruin Princess Chen’s reputation. Whether she was framed or not, Princess Chen would lose her reputation if she lay in bed with another man. Princess Chen and Prince Yue had an ambiguous relationship, so she deserved to be punished.
Even if others couldn’t see it, this matter would be evidence for their Miss to deal with Princess Chen!
Thinking of this, the servant girl felt she was helping her master vent her anger. It was not a big deal. Eventually, she plucked up enough courage.
When they arrived at the courtyard door, the servant girl fetched hot water from the tea room. Under the guidance of the servant girl, the old maid knew only Princess Chen was in the main room. Thus, with the man on her back, she sneaked into the courtyard and approached the main room. When she pushed the main room’s door, it slowly opened…