Chapter 1167 - Chapter 1167 Open a Window for Princess Chen
Chapter 1167 Open a Window for Princess Chen
“I feel tired after the long walk. Let’s go in and have a rest.” Princess Yuyan walked toward the courtyard with Infanta Yuan’an. A large group of servant girls flocked around them and poured into the courtyard. This spectacular scene was in line with her status as a princess.
“Thank you for this. I happen to be tired of walking!” Infanta Yuan’an pressed her temples with a handkerchief and said with a smile.
The two of them went to the main room together with a trace of smugness in their eyes.
Zhang Qilan thought her plot was cleverly executed, unknown to gods or ghosts. But in fact, everything had been in the grasp of Infanta Yuan’an and Princess Yuyan.
When Shao Wanru met with a mishap, Zhang Qilan would have to take all the blame. Even if Zhang Qilan had ten thousand mouths, she couldn’t explain it clearly. They had spoiled some tricks of Zhang Qilan. Even if some people investigated it, they could only trace everything back to Zhang Qilan.
Shao Wanru’s reputation would be ruined, and Zhang Qilan would take the blame. When they suffered, the two positions of Princess Yue and Princess Chen would be vacant. At that time, Princess Yuyan could marry anyone she wanted.
The door of the main room was tightly closed.
“Why is the room closed?” Infanta Yuan’an looked at the tightly closed door and asked in confusion, “Could anyone be resting inside?”
“Let’s see which Miss is inside!” Princess Yuyan said, not very surprised that the door was closed tightly. When Zhang Qilan brought Shao Wanru in just now, Princess Yuyan’s servants did not dare to follow them too closely for fear of being discovered. After some time, they saw the rough old maid carry a man into the courtyard door.
Then, Yujie and Zhang Qilan’s maid left, but they didn’t see Zhang Qilan and Shao Wanru walk out.
Thus, they were sure that something must have happened, but they didn’t know how serious this matter became.
Zhang Qilan had nursed jealousy against Shao Wanru. After they inflamed the situation, Zhang Qilan was on the verge of exploding with rage. In addition, she told Zhang Qilan that Prince Yue and Princess Chen would come. The implication in her words would make Zhang Qilan want to take action. Therefore, Zhang Qilan must have come prepared today.
Princess Chen was in poor health and lived in the seclusion of her home. Now that Prince Chen had returned to the mansion, no one dared to ask for an insult in his mansion. Such a rare chance must not be missed. How could Zhang Qilan not be well prepared?
On purpose, they let Zhang Qilan see Chu Liuyue and Shao Wanru together.
Whether Zhang Qilan saw it or not, she would take action today. Nevertheless, this scene could provoke Zhang Qilan into being more ruthless and vicious.
However, not all things happened according to their plan. Prince Yue was supposed to lose control of himself and take Shao Wanru into his arms on the spot. Unexpectedly, the two of them separated peacefully.
They had planned to stimulate Zhang Qilan directly with this scene. In that case, she would confirm all the doubts in her heart and firmly believe that Chu Liuyue and Shao Wanru had an affair. As soon as her secrets were exposed, Zhang Qilan would lose all sense of reason and expose their affair. Even if she had never succeeded in harming Shao Wanru, Shao Wanru would never get a chance to start over again because of this.
Even though the Emperor couldn’t do anything to Chu Liuyue, he could kill Shao Wanru, a troublemaker. There were many ways to make a person disappear silently.
As for Zhang Qilan, could she escape the publishment after being found scheming against Shao Wanru?
The current situation showed that there were people in the room. The door was closed, which meant that something was not right.
Princess Yuyan and Infanta Yuan’an smiled knowingly. They were the most innocent passers-by and had just encountered this matter.
A servant girl went forward to knock on the door. At first, she knocked gently. Then she knocked hard. After a long while, Yujie came to open the door.
The door opened a crack. When Yujie saw Princess Yuyan and Infanta Yuan’an standing outside, her face changed greatly. In a panic, she tried to close the door.
A palace maid beside Princess Yuyan stepped forward and held the door open.
“Why didn’t you salute our princess when you saw her?” The palace maid rebuked.
“Greetings, Your Highness.” Yujie had to bow her head and salute while trying to keep them outside of the door.
Infanta Yuan’an looked through the crack of the door but didn’t see anyone. Thinking that they should be in the inner room, she stepped forward to push the door open.
“Your Highness, Her Highness is resting in the inner room!” Yujie reported hurriedly.
Infanta Yuan’an put down her hand and asked with concern, “Is your master not feeling well? Does she need a doctor?”
“My Lady is a little uncomfortable. She should be fine now!” Yujie explained anxiously. Her flustered response made them more suspicious. Nine times out of ten, something happened to Shao Wanru.
Infanta Yuan’an was complacent. There were three princesses for the three princes: Zhang Qilan, who would be Princess Yue, Shao Wanru, who was the present Princess Chen, and she. At last, she would be the only one who deserved the noble title. For this reason, the Empress Dowager and the Emperor would think highly of her and the Prince Zhou’s Mansion. The Emperor favored Consort Lan, but so what? Prince Chen couldn’t even manage his inner court well. How could he well handle the affairs of the imperial court?
She was eager to go in and see what would happen to Shao Wanru.
“Since Princess Chen is fine, let’s go in and have a look!” Infanta Yuan’an invited Princess Yuyan.
“Okay!” Princess Yuyan happily agreed.
The two of them came here for Shao Wanru. How could a servant girl stop them from entering? Moreover, the servant girl looked flustered and even dared to stop them. Something terrible must have happened inside. Even when they made such a scene here, nobody was stirring in the room.
“Your Highness and Your Grace, Her Highness is resting.” Yujie stepped forward to stop them again.
“We’re here to see Princess Chen. If she is in bad condition, I’ll call a doctor over right away,” Princess Yuyan asked mildly.
Infanta Yuan’an frowned and said unhappily, “You’re just a humble servant girl. How could you block our way? Have you done anything bad to your master?”
“Your Grace, I didn’t!”
“Then get out of the way. Let us see how Princess Chen is doing!” Infanta Yuan’an said with a severe look and winked at the two servant girls beside her. The two servant girls understood it and went forward to pull Yujie away.
Seeing them take action, Yujie struggled and shouted, “Your Highness, Your Grace, Her Highness is indeed resting. She is not feeling well and has just rested in bed for a while.”
“Nonsense!” Princess Yuyan’s face darkened. Since she had gone through these polite formalities, she would not give Shao Wanru, who was inside, more time to hide.
Two more palace maids came over and pulled Yujie aside, and the group entered the room.
Princess Yuyan and Infanta Yuan’an didn’t let these servant girls and palace maids wait outside. Instead, they swarmed into the inner room with them. Princess Yuyan and Infanta Yuan’an wanted more people to see Shao Wanru in a miserable situation inside. With so many witnesses, it would be increasingly hard for Shao Wanru to vindicate herself.
The curtain of the inner room was lifted, and a large group of people came in. But when they saw the beauty lying back against the pillows on the bed, Princess Yuyan and Infanta Yuan’an were stunned.
Shao Wanru sat quietly on the bed with her black hair hanging down on her shoulders — it seemed she had just woken up. But unlike her delicate and exceedingly attractive appearance, her eyes were steely with a chill in them. She just looked at Infanta Yuan’an and Princess Yuyan quietly. After a long while, she raised the corners of her red lips and said, “Princess Yuyan, why did you bring such a large group of people here?”
It had never occurred to Princess Yuyan that Shao Wanru would sit there safe and sound!
“Where is that male servant? “How could I not see him?”
She glanced around the room. Instantly, she found that there seemed to be someone in the shadow behind the large bed. Her eyes lit up. Shao Wanru must have hidden the man in the shadow behind the bed curtain.
“I heard you were not feeling well, so I came here to see you,” Princess Yuyan said as she walked inside. Instead of walking up to Shao Wanru, she looked behind the curtain.
“Princess Yuyan, what are you looking for?” Shao Wanru kept her eyes on Princess Yuyan. Under her gaze, Princess Yuyan felt quite uncomfortable and stopped. Infanta Yuan’an had repeatedly reminded her to be careful about Princess Chen and not to underestimate her.
It seemed that it was true. How could she remain calm at this critical time? When their eyes met, she didn’t flinch a little. Instead, Princess Yuyan was beginning to feel alarmed. It seemed her clear watery eyes could see through her mind. Feeling a little uneasy, she stopped walking.
For some reason, she had a feeling that she had to be more careful at this time.
The imperial harem of the Xu State was not peaceful, either. Her mother had always told her to be cautious. Even when her mother had a matter well in hand, she would still proceed at a measured pace. Mainly because of this, her mother managed to obtain much progress and forced the Empress to pay a lot of effort into protecting herself.
Although she was sure of success, she still needed to be careful. After all, most of the information she knew about Princess Chen came from Infanta Yuan’an. Princess Yuyan would not naively think that Infanta Yuan’an had told her everything without reservation.
“Nothing. I just want to open a window for you. It’s too stuffy inside!” With a slightly strange look, Princess Yuyan stopped and replied with a smile.
This reason sounded very far-fetched.
Shao Wanru’s calm eyes looked steadily into Princess Yuyan’s as she said with a smile, “If you and Infanta Yuan’an have nothing else to do, please wait outside. I’ll come out after washing up.”
“The air in this room is indeed stuffy. I’ll open a window for you.” Seeing Princess Yuyan stand still, Infanta Yuan’an was very anxious. With the excuse of Princess Yuyan, she took a few steps forward and leaned forward to see the back of the bed curtain.
But the window was not behind the curtain. It was on the right side of the bed.
Shao Wanru leaned back, her eyes calm and cold, and asked, “Infanta Yuan’an, what’s your purpose? Why do you go behind my curtain? Do you think someone else is in the room? How do you know it?”
“Even at such a critical moment, she still looks so calm. If she is not too dull to see the danger, she must be sure she is safe.”
“Infanta…” Princess Yuyan had a bad hunch, and her face changed dramatically. It was too late for her to ask Infanta Yuan’an to come back. There, Infanta Yuan’an pulled open the bed curtain.
The figure behind the bed curtain moved. It was Qing’er, the servant girl. She came out from behind the bed curtain and bowed to them. Then she turned to Shao Wanru, who was lying on the bed, and said, “My Lady, I found your hairpin!”
There was an exquisite hairpin in her hand. It seemed to be what Shao Wanru had worn before she came in.
Princess Yuyan and Infanta Yuan’an’s faces changed color.
Subconsciously, Infanta Yuan’an took a few steps around the edge of a bed. In disbelief, she poked her head out to check the situation. Only Shao Wanru and her two servant girls were in this room. How could it be?
When the gauze curtain was raised, she saw no one behind the bed…