Chapter 1261

Chapter 1261 Meeting Zhao Xiran Again

His words made Consort Dowager Qing silent. After a long time, she said slowly, “Qing’er, you are the weakest compared with others. Now you have offended Commandery Prince Cheng. The more help you can get, the better…”

“Mother, set your heart at rest. I know what you are thinking and have kept a low profile according to your suggestion. We didn’t attack Commandery Prince Cheng on our initiative. I don’t know what Commandery Prince Cheng was thinking. How could he brazenly ask me to be his shield? It is reasonable for us to fight back. Otherwise, he will mistakenly think he can bully us at will.”

Chu Qing analyzed in a low voice.

Speaking of this matter, he also had a headache. Somehow, he had provoked Commandery Prince Cheng, who tried to blame him for Shao Jing’s mistake. After that, Chu Qing dropped a hint and fanned the fire to fight back. Unexpectedly, it involved Commandery Prince Cheng, who was then grounded.

The two families became enemies.

Initially, he only wanted to look on at their trouble with indifference and reap the benefits from their life-and-death struggles.

It was not his original intention to get involved and confront Commandery Prince Cheng at this time. He was confused even until now. It seemed strange that Commandery Prince Cheng found him. Commandery Prince Cheng targeted him. Was he out of his mind? Besides, “ghosts” appeared in his mansion.

It was evident that Commandery Prince Cheng was venting his anger on him.

“It’s best if you can think in this way. We’d better not stand up to Commandery Prince Cheng. No matter what, he can’t have a huge impact on the overall situation. Instead, you must be cautious when dealing with Prince Yue, Prince Zhou, and Prince Chen.” Consort Dowager Qing warned.

“Mother, trust me. I know what to do.” Chu Qing said. “Chu Liuyue and Chu Liuzhou are well-matched in strength. They have been fighting secretly for a long time. Some of our subordinates have sneaked in. They will provoke fights at the right time so that our side can benefit from it. As for Chu Liuchen…” Consort Dowager Qing sneered and said, “Just like you, he is also the deceased emperor’s son. Does he think he stands a better chance of success?”

Consort Dowager Qing said sarcastically, “When you ascend the throne in the future, you don’t have to keep him alive. An invalid like him might as well die early. What’s the point of sparing his life? His presence will not build up your reputation.”

Recalling the exceedingly beautiful woman, Consort Dowager Qing felt a surge of anger. Her attractive appearance was also one in a million. She had thought that after entering the Palace, she would be eminent above all other women in the imperial harem. Unexpectedly, the previous empress was even more striking than her. As such, she could only get a little love from the deceased emperor.

Fortunately, the deceased emperor began to dislike the previous empress. That was why she got her chance.

“He is much better now and might be a strong opponent.” Chu Qing said. Consort Dowager Qing could only learn about Chu Liuchen through rumors and hearsay about him. Unlike her, Chu Qing had direct contact with Chu Liuchen, whose manner made Chu Qing very uncomfortable. Whenever Chu Qing faced Chu Liuchen, he felt he had been seen through.

“He won’t recover. It’s not easy to remove the poison from him. Particularly, the poison has stayed in his body for so many years. Even if he is still alive, it must have severely damaged him.” Consort Dowager Qing said in smug satisfaction.

Chu Qing’s heart skipped a beat. “Mother, who poisoned him?”

“It was the Empress, or, more precisely, we did it through her hand. Our people presented the poison on purpose. No one could track us down, even if a survey was carried out. There was more than one person behind it!” Consort Dowager Qing said smugly.

Back then, she had controlled many people. The previous emperor trusted Consort Dowager Qing very much for some time later. Consort Dowager Qing believed she would take the previous empress’s place if the deceased emperor could hold on for a little longer. Then, her son would become the heir apparent. Thinking of this, she felt a little depressed. After all, time waits for no person.

If it hadn’t been for the early death of the deceased emperor, her plan would have been achieved a long time ago, and there wouldn’t be fierce competition among the few princes.

“Weren’t the Empress afraid of being discovered?” This was the first time Chu Qing had known the cause of Chu Liuchen’s illness. It was not that Chu Liuchen was born with poison but that the Empress had poisoned the previous empress.

Back then, the Empress was merely a consort, yet she dared to poison the previous empress!

“Well, these things happened long ago and are not very relevant to you. You just need to be careful. Don’t take reckless actions in the Yuhui Nunnery. That’s all for the time being.” Consort Dowager Qing shook her hand and didn’t want to mention this topic again. She had already made an indiscreet remark.

“I know! Then should Qiuyi bring Shao Jie’er back tomorrow?” Chu Qing asked.

“Let Mo Qiuyi do it. Since she intends to help you put your inner court in order, she has made the right choice. After Shao Jie’er comes back, don’t treat her well. She is just a concubine who must be kept in the mansion.” Consort Dowager Qing thought for a while and said.

In the past, Shao Jie’er had the support of the Marquis Xing’s Mansion. Even if she was merely a concubine’s daughter, it was improper for them to treat her harshly for the sake of Shao Jing. But now, they didn’t have to worry about this. Consort Dowager Qing had decided that Shao Jie’er should be brought back. Even if she died, she should die in the Commandery Prince Qing’s Mansion so as not to cause any trouble in the future.

In Consort Dowager Qing’s eyes, Shao Jie’er was already dead, but she wouldn’t take her life so soon. Instead, Consort Dowager Qing would keep Shao Jie’er in the mansion for a period before murdering her.

“Okay, I’ll do as you say!” Chu Qing said meekly.

Consort Dowager Qing was very satisfied with his response, and her eyes softened. “Shao Jie’er is an unchaste woman. When you become the Emperor, you can have any beauty you want. Don’t bother about such a woman.”

“Mother, you’re right!” Chu Qing lowered his head to hide the displeasure in his eyes.

As a Prince and the son of the deceased emperor, he would ascend the throne. If he needed to complete each step with his mother’s support, how could he occupy a dominant position to rule over the vast territory?

But he knew Consort Dowager Qing was doing this for his good. Although he felt slightly discouraged, he understood his mother’s good intentions. Thus, he accepted her kind suggestions.

After chatting with Consort Dowager Qing for a while, he returned to rest…

Shao Wanru informed Chu Liuchen early the following day and went out with a few people. This time, she was going to meet Zhao Xiran.

After Zhao Xiran and Shao Hua’an came out of the Marquis Xing’s Mansion, they didn’t move to the Minister Zhao’s Mansion. Instead, they went straight to a courtyard that belonged to the Minister Zhao’s Mansion and lived there with Shao Jie’er.

The courtyard was very remote, and the carriage finally arrived after several turns.

It was a tiny courtyard with its door tightly closed. Yujie went forward to knock on the door. After a long time, someone finally came to open the door — it was Qiu Yue, Zhao Xiran’s servant girl. Seeing her, Yujie was slightly stunned.

“Is First Young Madam inside?” Yujie asked.

“Yes, First Young Madam is here… Please stay here for a while, Your highness. I’ll ask her to come right away!” Qiu Yue came to her senses and said excitedly.

She turned around and ran inside. After a while, she led Zhao Xiran here.

Zhao Xiran was plainly dressed and looked much thinner. She bowed deeply to Shao Wanru and said, “Greetings, Your highness.”

“You’re welcome, Sister Zhao.” Shao Wanru said softly, “Is it okay for you to live here?”

She raised her head and looked around. This place was surrounded by courtyards of the same size. These small courtyards of dense population were tightly packed. There were people of all sorts, and the environment was not very good.

“Thank you for your concern, Your highness. I’m fine!” Zhao Xiran said with a wry smile.

No one had expected the change. Zhao Xiran used to be the First Young Madam of the Marquis Xing’s Mansion, but now she was just a Young Madam of an ordinary family. There had been infinite possibilities for her, but she had lost them all. Even her father had given up on her. What else could she complain about?

Now when she saw Shao Wanru again, her expression looked very complicated.

Qiu Yue invited Shao Wanru to sit in the room and served tea.

“Why do you call upon me, Your highness?” Zhao Xiran asked.

“I’m here to see you and my Eldest Brother,” Shao Wanru said. Then, she asked Yujie and Qing’er to bring over the gifts. Looking at the few bolts of bright cloth on the table, Zhao Xiran showed an increasingly bitter smile.

In the past, though she had not become the most powerful Madam of the Marquis Xing’s Mansion, everything in the mansion was under her control. She had seen all kinds of good things, but now she possessed nothing after being driven out of the mansion.

In fact, some of her dowries were still in the mansion, but she was too ashamed to ask for them.

Shao Jing had committed such a dreadful crime. If they were not from the same mansion, their property must have been confiscated, and even the whole family would have been exterminated. Now only Shao Jing would pay with his life for his murderous actions. It should be the idea of Shao Wanru and Shao Yuanhao. From this point of view, Zhao Xiran had no hatred for Shao Wanru and even felt a little guilty.

She had suspected Shao Jing for a long time. That day, her father asked her to marry into the Marquis Xing’s Mansion because he suspected that Shao Jing had a few pieces of script and paintings. Astonishingly, Shao Jing murdered his brother and imprisoned his sister-in-law. She was caught up in it and had only herself to blame.

In the past few days, Zhao Xiran had been thinking a lot. Gradually, she was consciously aware of how wrong she had been before. Everything, including her head-on blow at Shao Wanru, was a mistake.

Her biggest mistake was that she had never figured out its consequences. She had thought the biggest problem was that Shao Jing secretly got some information from the former heir of a duke and found a few scripts and paintings.

After a series of mistakes, she ended up like this.

Her father disappointed her the most. He had been obedient to her in every matter. When the Marquis Xing’s Mansion got a crushing blow, she chose to go home. But to her great surprise, her father drove her out again, giving her only a small courtyard to live in.

Girls obey their fathers before marriage, then their husbands after marriage. Sure enough, even her father was taking advantage of her. In the past, she felt that her father thought highly of her, a brilliant woman no inferior to men. But what about the truth? Her father cheated her into believing she was relieving his worries and helping him! And this cost her all the happiness of her life.

But what could be more important than his daughter’s happiness? After all, she was just a girl spending most of her time in the inner court and had a superficial knowledge of the real world. But what about her father? Was her father, a minister, really as ignorant as her?

Her father had praised her for being equally capable of those successful men. Thinking back on this, she felt it was almost a joke. Falling into such an inferior position, Zhao Xiran figured out many things, like she was just her father’s pawn. Although she was worthless to him, he might have a chance to take advantage of her, right?

That was her father’s idea. He had coaxed her into doing many things for him. Now that things had come to this point, her father was no longer willing to protect her. He pushed her back to her miserable life. After all, a married daughter is just like water that has been poured.

“Is someone at home?” Suddenly, there was a heavy knock on the door outside the courtyard. The knock was so loud that even people in the room could hear it. It sounded like this visitor had evil intent.