Chapter 1633: She Doesn't Understand
Chapter 1633: She Doesn’t Understand
How was he going to explain this?
Could it be that he had to claim it was an evil creature? That would be inauspicious!
The Fourth Prince could not help but scold the Fourth Princess Consort.
The Fourth Princess Consort felt wronged. How was she supposed to know that this would happen? If she had known, she would not have attended the banquet that day.
Sure enough, the Emperor had heard the news too. He even sent a young eunuch to the fourth prince’s mansion to investigate.
The fourth prince was scared out of his wits. He insisted that he didn’t know what was going on either. It must be that this crabapple tree was good-looking, energetic, and overnourished. It bloomed just like that.
… This wasn’t a sudden bloom. There were flower buds on the tree to begin with, but they weren’t conspicuous. No one paid attention, so they naturally neglected it. Then, because of the warm weather, they all bloomed at once…
There were all kinds of strange things in the world!
The fourth prince even suggested that it was indeed rare to see a crabapple tree bloom so well at this time. Why not have someone carefully dig it out and send it to the palace so that Father could admire it?
The young eunuch did not dare to make this decision and went back to report in detail.
The Emperor didn’t want the tree. He said that it wasn’t easy for the crabapple tree to grow so big. He would keep it for himself.
Seeing that his father had no intention of blaming him for this, the Fourth Prince heaved a sigh of relief.
While the Fourth Prince heaved a sigh of relief, the Crown Prince felt very uncomfortable.
An auspicious sign? What kind of auspicious sign did his Fourth Brother want? Was he not even going to hide it?
Although many people said that this matter was too strange and most likely not a good thing, the Crown Prince was more inclined to believe it.
However, there were still individuals who insisted that this was an auspicious sign!
This matter lodged like a thorn in his heart, causing him profound unease and discomfort.
Prompted by a reminder, the Crown Prince suddenly recollected that Qiao Xuan was the one who had rescued the peony flowers in the court. Perhaps she possessed more knowledge about such matters than anyone else. Consequently, he urged Princess Consort to dispatch someone to consult Qiao Xuan.
Princess Consort, though displeased, did not dare to rebuff the Crown Prince’s request, so she sent Auntie Liang on the errand.
Auntie Fu expressed her desire to go, but Princess Consort declined.
She couldn’t fathom why Auntie Fu persistently tried to convince her that she had misunderstood Ms. Qiao. She refused to heed her advice and harbored no inclination to entertain any positive remarks about Ms. Qiao.
Auntie Liang adopted a much more agreeable attitude this time. Bearing the Crown Prince’s mission in mind, she recognized Qiao Xuan’s reputed temperament and refrained from putting on airs.
After all, even if Qiao Xuan became the target of the Crown Prince and Princess Consort’s disdain, it wouldn’t bode well for Auntie Liang.
Qiao Xuan hadn’t anticipated a visit from the East Palace for such a matter.
Wasn’t this an exaggeration?
Although Qiao Xuan expressed her surprise, she couldn’t explain why, so she offered her apologies.
Auntie Liang displayed no surprise; Qiao Xuan knew about peony flowers, but expecting her to be an expert on all flowers would be unreasonable.
Smiling, Auntie Liang advised, “In that case, I’ll convey this message to you. Moreover, it’s best to keep this knowledge to yourself. Disclosing it may lead to unwarranted speculation and complications. What are your thoughts, Madam Shao?”
She wanted her to remain discreet.
Qiao Xuan nodded. “Certainly!”
Auntie Liang departed satisfied.
When the Fourth Princess Consort extended an invitation to Qiao Xuan for the banquet, and when Princess Consort organized the event, she didn’t want to exclude Qiao Xuan, so she invited her as well.
Qiao Xuan found herself spending another day in the Crown Prince’s Mansion.