While Changping Princess was badgering Empress Dowager Gu to ask for a benefit for her daughter, Princess Changping went back to her palace and got her clothes changed. Just when she sat in front of the dresser, a maid came in to report, “Princess Shou’an is here.”
“Invite her to have a cup of tea in the side palace hall. Tell her that I just came back and would be there after cleaning up,” Princess Changping wasn’t surprised.
She instructed. She cleaned herself up and arrived in the side palace hall. She saw Gu E’nuo sitting on the right side. There was a cat with a glossy coat on her lap. The cat’s water blue eyes were big, round and bright. It lovingly laid there and looked around quietly. It looked so adorable.
“Oh. What makes you bring “Yuan Bao” here?” Princess Changping knew that Gu E’nuo loved the Persian cat very much. She even did the cat’s daily grooming herself. Because the Persian cat was afraid of strangers. It was very wary of and estranged from people expect Gu E’nuo. To avoid scaring it, Gu E’nuo didn’t let others see it easily. There weren’t so many servants in the side palace hall of Changping’s place. But with the servants Gu E’nuo brought herself, there were at least dozens of people there. “Yuan Bao” was already clinging to its owner’s dress and refused to let go.
Gu E’nuo said while gently rubbing the cat to make it relax, “I spent two days outside when I went for an outing. It didn’t see me at home and got so worried that it refused to eat and drink. When I went back, it looked much thinner! So, I don’t dare to leave it at home this time I come to the palace. I got the Empress Dowager’s permission to bring it here… It’s a strange place for it. It won’t be at ease unless it stays with me.”
After sitting down on the main seat on the left side, Princess Changping chuckled, “My ‘Pinger’ is naughty. I don’t know where it is now. After it gets back, let it play with ‘Yuan Bao’. ‘Yuan Bao’ maybe not so scared.”
“That may work.” Gu E’nuo nodded, “‘Yuan Bao’ is all good except that it’s too scared of strangers… You went to deliver the invitation. How did it go?”
“I happened to see that Persian cat. It’s really the same age as ‘Pinger’. Its name is Whitey. Really tacky! It deserves a better name!” Princess Changping sneered, “Qiu wanted to cover for Ling Zui. She said that it was a gift from others. And then she hurried to talk to Xin Fubing to keep me from asking more questions…”
Gu E’nuo said lazily, “I still suggest you not to go after Ling Zui. Although he is not a Young Prince, he is Aunt Maode’s sweetheart. If you mess with him, Aunt Maode will hold a grudge against you! She and her husband are always neutral. At this crucial moment, we should win them over instead of offending them. It’s better to tell her what happened. She will find a way to compensate you in exchange for your letting Ling Zui off the hook!”
“I also planned to do so. But Qiu is really detestable.” Prince Changping said with a sneer, “I tried to probe just now. She talked back to me without holding back… If I hadn’t been afraid of the Empress, I’d have kicked her ass!”
“When you marry Kuang Qingwu, the Empress will have nothing over you. You’ll have your chance to seek revenge.” Gu E’nuo comforted, “You know all about the Kuang Family. I guarantee that Kuang Qingwu will agree to go after her… Especially her brother, the one who still calls himself Ruan Qingyan!”
Princess Changping sighed, “You and the third brother haven’t had you guys’ wedding ceremony yet. I don’t know when my turn will be… Enough about me. Let’s talk about Xin Fubing. She looks terrible. But she doesn’t look sick. If she were sick, she couldn’t come into the palace! And she seems distracted. I wonder what’s wrong with her?”
Gu E’nuo was also surprised, “It’s said that she is the wife the Empress chooses for the Seventh Prince. Considering her origin, now she is about to have such a bright future. She should be very reserved, if not beaming with joy… How could she look terrible?” On second thought, she thought, “It’s either that she isn’t happy about this marriage, or she is not optimistic about the Seventh Prince’s future?”
“Isn’t there the news this morning saying that something happened to Marquess Qin during their family dinner yesterday?” Princess Changping was enlightened. Her voice trembled slightly, “Is it? Otherwise, the Seventh Prince seemed quite certain that he would be the Crown Prince!”
The Empress Dowager’s clique and the Empress’s clique were always neck and neck. However, the Empress’s clique had the upper hand in the fight for the Crown Prince for months. Because the Seventh Prince was better than Prince of Zhou.
Although Prince of Zhou made great arrangements for the summer holiday this time, the summer holiday just began. The ghost-writers of the Empress Dowager’s clique hadn’t had time to build a glorious image of Prince of Zhou. So, the Empress’s clique still had the upper hand so far.
However, as the candidate for the future Crown Princess, Xin Fubing wasn’t happy about her bright future. Instead, she looked terrible… Who would believe that nothing was going on?
If she hadn’t heard the news about something happening to Marquess Qin last night, Gu E’nuo would figure out the truth immediately. But the timing of the news was so coincidental. Gu E’nuo couldn’t help wondering, “Marquess Qin isn’t just the rock of the Jiang Family. He is also the reason for the Empress’s bossiness! Although Jiang Tianchi still has the Northern Army, his influence and prestige are nothing compared to Marquess Qin’s! Especially, Marquess Qin and Sir Jibei have been focusing on helping their nephew Jiang Tianao for all these years in consideration of their older brother. They have been willing to suppress their own sons! Their behavior caused a lot of conflict among their children.”
“Marquess Qin can handle this kind of conflict when he is around. If something happens to him, Sir Jibei may not be able to handle it all by himself. First, Sir Jibei had been in Beijing for a long time. His influence in Jing City is nothing compared to Marquess Qin’s. Second, Sir Jibei’s perspective and shrewdness are also nothing compared to Marquess Qin’s. He has been following Marquess Qin’s instructions for all these years…”
“Anyway, once something happens to Marquess Qin, even the tide is in the Seventh Prince’s favor now, the future situation is unpredictable! If the Empress can’t pacify her clique who are panic because of Marquess Qin’s condition, the Empress Dowager’s clique will conquer without a fight!”
“If it is true, then it’s not strange that Xin Fubing pined overnight after hearing the news. Didn’t Jiang Qiyun lose her composure and burst into tears in public when she heard that Prince of Qi was disqualified from competing for the Crown Prince? She and her mother made a scene in front of the Empress and tried to break off the engagement.”
“However, even Changping heard the news, the Empress Dowager must have heard it before her! But when I visited the Empress Dowager just now, she didn’t seem to take this news seriously. She didn’t even mention it… Is it false? Or Marquess Qin’s illness is nothing serious which won’t affect the current situation?”
“No, no… It’s such a big deal. The Empress Dowager won’t believe it so easily. But suspicion crept into her mind… She didn’t mention it because she wanted to wait and see if she could get more evidences! Otherwise, why did she summon me, Tang Xinqiong and even Aunt Changping to the palace in the early morning? The person who was sent to our two families to deliver the Empress Dowager’s decree must have sent another message to my father and Tang Zimo!”
“The important thing is that Xin Fubing is just a girl in her teens. She may be able to pretend to cry or to be vulnerable. How is it possible to make her pine so quickly if she isn’t so worried? So, it may be true. Or even she gets fooled?”
One thought after another floated through Gu E’nuo’s mind. The more she speculated, the more she felt that Marquess Qin might be sick for real. And his condition must be bad.
However, instead of feeling surprised and happy, she was so scared, “I disqualified Prince of Qi and Prince of Yan from competing for the Crown Prince by using the earthquake’s matter. Not only had I greatly offended Aunt Changping, but I had made the Empress Dowager wary of me… Thank god that things are under control. Prince of Zhou is incapable. The Empress Dowager allowed me to be his wife after consideration! But it was because Prince of Zhou couldn’t get the upper hand in the competition between him and the Seventh Prince!”
However, if Marquess Qin was dying, the Empress’s clique would be leaderless and in disarray. Then Prince of Zhou didn’t need a shrewd wife to help him become the Crown Prince. In that case, how was she qualified to be the future Crown Princess?
“Aunt Changping is meeting with the Empress Dowager right now!” Cold sweats ran down Gu E’nuo’s forehead at once!
She was well aware of Changping Princess’s influence over the Empress Dowager. Prince of Yan chose Tang Xinyao over her back then. Because he valued Changping Princess as the mother-in-law.
Although Gu E’nuo tricked Prince of Yan and had the chance to become Empress, Empress Dowager Gu promised to let Changping Princess’s another daughter Tang Xinqiong be the senior concubine and demanded her to have her own children after Tang Xinqiong gave birth to Prince of Zhou’s first son… It was obvious that whether from the perspective of check and balance or from the perspective of pacifying Changping Princess, Empress Dowager Gu loved her own daughter and granddaughter more than her!
“If I can’t be the princess… No! Even if I become the princess, as long as the Empress Dowager doesn’t need me and I haven’t built my own force before that, it’s so easy for Aunt Changping to seek revenge! I have to find a way to protect myself!” Gu E’nuo bit her lips tightly and made up her mind immediately!
While she was so nervous, Princess Changping was more and more excited, “I hope Marquess Qin is really dying! Let’s see how the Empress fights grandmother without him! After the third brother takes over the throne, the Empress… Ha!”
One of those two princesses was happy, and the other was sad. Qiu Yelan sent away Chu Chunxiao and asked the servant who took the Persian cat into the palace. When she found out that there was no important message, she was worried, “Princess Shou’an suddenly sent me an invitation. She must be up to something!”
“She just wants to give me a hard time,” Xin Fubing said with a pale face. “I wonder what she is thinking? She is not married yet and is already so eager to do this kind of thing. Qiyun and Tang Xinyao weren’t like this when they just got married!”
Qiu Yelan reminded, “Since they could get Princess Changping to send the invitation, I’m afraid that they are sure they can give you a hard time! You must be prepared!”
“Just need to take measures accordingly. They are not the only ones who use their brains!” Xin Fubing sneered and threw the invitation away, “I just happen to be in a bad mood recently. Even if they didn’t come looking for trouble, I will pick a fight when I’m feeling better. So, it’s just what I wanted!”
Qiu Yelan thought she was indeed the granddaughter of the Jiang Family. Even she was traumatized from love, she was still bellicose. She was too sad to see Qiu Yelan yesterday. Now that Princess Changping sent an invitation, Qiu Yelan didn’t need to encourage her. She was already about to return to her best form!
But it was very good. It was inevitable for Xin Fubing to marry into the royal family. Rather than feeling depressed over hopeless unrequited love, Qiu Yelan would rather see her fight with full energy. So, she encouraged with a smile, “Then you’d better take the time to take care of your body. You’ve lost a lot of weight these days. You look too thin.”
“Alas!” Xin Fubing touched her cheek subconsciously. Didn’t know if she was thinking of Ou Bicheng. She sighed with frustration. After a while, she pulled herself together and said, “I do need to take care of my body… I don’t want to be like Mi Yinyin who is always sick!”
It was the first time recently that she had openly expressed her dislike for Mi Yinyin which indicated that she had moved on. Qiu Yelan was much relieved and said with a smile, “People are born with a physical condition. You are always in good health. Your body won’t become weak unless you torment yourself in every possible way!”
Qiu Yelan was about to tell her the food which was better for her health. A servant suddenly went in and reported nervously, “Lady Qiyun is here!”
“She?” They both stopped smiling. Jiang Qiyun, why was she here?
“Does she come for me?” After a brief moment of surprise, Xin Fubing’s look changed. She knew more about her cousin’s temper than Qiu Yelan. How could Jiang Qiyun watch her become the Empress and do nothing about it after Jiang Qiyun’s dream of being the Empress was shattered?
It was only because Xin Fubing and she were not in the same branch. And they didn’t even have the same grandfather. As a married daughter, Jiang Qiyun didn’t dare to make a scene in Sir Jibei’s Mansion. Otherwise, she would go after Xin Fubing right after she heard the news!
Otherwise, Jiang Qiyun didn’t come to the palace very often. Why was she here right after Xin Fubing arrived?