Chapter 1166 The Last Affection

The rough old maid, fat and sturdy, got real physical strength. It did not take her much effort to bring a thin man over. Furtively, she pushed the door open. Before she could see everything inside clearly, she received a head-on blow. Her body went limp, and she almost fell to the ground. Fortunately, she reacted quickly. Throwing away the man, she held on to the doorframe.

In the room, Yujie stood vigilantly before Shao Wanru, clasping a door bar. She didn’t use much strength for fear of hitting the person to death. She just wanted to knock out whoever came inside. Unexpectedly, the old maid was so sturdy that she didn’t knock her out with a stick.

Seeing the situation in the room clearly, the old maid felt her head reeling. Pointing at Yujie and Shao Wanru, who was behind Yujie, she stammered, “You… you two…”

Yujie held the wooden stick tightly and threatened with a sneer, “How dare you plot against Her Highness? You’re so audacious and rebellious. The guards will come soon and execute all your family members.”

The old maid didn’t expect that they would put her whole family to death. She was just an old maid with great strength doing heavy manual labor. Among all women in the inner court of Prime Minister Zhang’s Mansion, she was the strongest, but she was a person with a very limited outlook. Hearing that her whole family would be killed, she went limp and fell to the ground, trembling. At this time, she was too dreadful to say a word. How could she do anything bad against Shao Wanru?

“If you want to live, come over with the man!” Shao Wanru said, her cold eyes on the old maid.

After saying that, she walked past the old maid shrinking with fear. Yujie harshly urged the trembling old maid, “Hurry up!”

Hearing that she might survive, the old maid finally gathered some strength. The servant had fallen in a faint. When she hurriedly pulled the servant lying unconscious on the floor, she stumbled and almost fell to the ground.

Yujie had to reach out to help her. Only then did the old maid manage to pull the servant up again. She staggered to the wing room next door.

The old maid regretted it. She should not have listened to her Miss. To get the cheque, she followed her master and made a big mistake. It turned out that they were plotting against Princess Chen. Before this, the old maid only knew that her master had loathed a woman and wanted to teach her a lesson. Thus, she took this matter lightly.

After all, her master would be Princess Yue. So what if she targeted a lady from another mansion? The old maid had thought it was not a big deal, but she didn’t expect their target to be Princess Chen.

She was Prince Chen’s legal wife! Even an ignorant old maid like her knew that something big would happen.

Her legs became weak and sore, and she dragged the man to the next door…

Shao Wanru entered the wing room first. Seeing Shao Wanru coming in, Zhang Qilan, lying on the bed, and Qing’er reacted entirely differently.

Zhang Qilan looked as if she had seen a ghost. According to her speculation, Shao Wanru must have fainted at this time. How could she appear here? Qing’er, not surprised at all, retreated aside and stood behind Shao Wanru.

“Why… why are you here?” Zhang Qilan’s voice was nervously high-pitched.

“I had always thought that you were upright. It had never occurred to me that you would be so hostile to me even before marrying into the Prince Yue’s Mansion. Worse still, you are eager to ruin me.” Shao Wanru looked at Zhang Qilan calmly. She had lamented about the unexpected loss of their friendship. At this time, her heart was as calm as still water. She spoke very matter-of-factly as if she were talking about someone else’s business.

Only the darkness at the bottom of her eyes showed she was not utterly untouched.

“Your Highness… What do you mean?” Zhang Qilan tried her best to compose herself, pretending to be calm.

Although she didn’t know what had happened, she was sure something terrible had happened. Of course, she wouldn’t admit her guilt at this time.

“Miss Zhang, are you unwilling to admit it? You’ve been frank and outspoken, but it seems you faked it. You deserve the title of Princess Yue. You must have planned such a scheme for a long time. I don’t understand it. Why are you so determined to plot against me?”

Shao Wanru raised her eyebrows and asked.

“You…”

“Don’t deny it in such a hurry. Since I said so, I must have evidence.” Shao Wanru interrupted Zhang Qilan.

At this moment, the door opened, and Yujie appeared at the door. Behind her was a rough old maid dragging and pulling a man in with difficulty.

It took Zhang Qilan a great deal of effort to remain calm. Instantly, she went into a mad panic, her face changing dramatically.

“Which mansion does this old maid come from? Miss Zhang, you don’t need me to inquire about it, do you? You may want to hear the evidence of this old maid. I plan to send the two people to the outer court. How about we let Prince Yue judge this matter?” Shao Wanru asked, arching her eyebrows.

Her words pierced Zhang Qilan’s heart like a sharp thorn.

No. Actually, this thorn had existed in her heart for a long time. It was there when she heard some rumors about Shao Wanru and Chu Liuyue. This time, Shao Wanru just shook it roughly and hurt her.

“Shao Wanru, are you sure that Prince Yue will help you? I’ll be Prince Yue’s legal wife. Do you think he will go against me for you?” Zhang Qilan shouted all of a sudden. Her voice was shrill and penetrating, which shocked the servant girl who had just arrived at the courtyard gate. She nearly dropped the two cups of boiling tea in her hands.

The noise came from her master’s room. Realizing this, the servant girl got very anxious. In a few strides, she walked to the door and pushed it open. When she saw the scene in the room, she was stunned. “Shouldn’t Princess Chen be in the main room? “Why is she in my master’s place? My Miss seems to be at a disadvantage?”

“Zhang Qilan, I’ll only tell you the truth once and for all. Prince Yue has nothing to do with me. I ask you to let him judge who is right because I want him to make detailed inquiries about this matter!” Shao Wanru said earnestly.

Zhang Qilan was taken aback. Much to her surprise, Shao Wanru didn’t intend to expose this matter.

Shao Wanru looked up and said, “Miss Zhang, I brought the people here, and I’ve also told you my sincere words. It’s time we wrote off all our past affections.”

She let Zhang Qilan off today because they had been close friends. Now their friendship was gone forever.

“If you and Prince Yue hadn’t kept a dubious relationship, I wouldn’t have got into such a mess!” Zhang Qilan’s gloomy voice came from behind.

Shao Wanru suddenly stopped at the door. After a brief pause, she abruptly turned around and said with intense eyes, “Miss Zhang, since you want to make everything clear, I won’t hide it from you, lest you fall into someone’s trap and drag me down. Miss Zhang, tell me when Prince Yue got involved with me. Let’s make it clear today so that you won’t feel wronged.”

“You… If there is nothing between you and Prince Yue, why would Prince Yue ask the Empress to let you marry him?” Zhang Qilan blushed and defended herself.

“Did Prince Yue ask to marry me?” Shao Wanru was stunned. She didn’t know about it.

“See? Since we have decided to be frank, why do you hide it?” Zhang Qilan sneered.

“Honestly, I have no idea about this, but I wonder who told you that. No one without ulterior motives would reveal this to you. Besides, even if Prince Yue wanted to marry me, so what? If he wants to marry someone, he must have something with the woman. Is that what is in your mind? You’re going to be Princess Yue. Does it mean you have begun a close relationship with him long ago?”

Shao Wanru laughed scornfully, and her eyes looked icy.

It was the first time she had known about this rumor, and she felt even more disappointed. Zhang Qilan had suspected her for a long time, but she had never revealed anything in front of her.

Their so-called friendship might have soured as early as when Zhang Qilan heard these words.

Shao Wanru thought she and Zhang Qilan were close friends, but she knew she was wrong. If Zhang Qilan treated her as a friend and heard this kind of thing, she would ask her about it in the first place.

However, Zhang Qilan had never talked about it to her. Instead, she carefully hid her evil intentions, waiting for a suitable opportunity to give her a hard time. Just like this time, if anyone found out she was lying on the bed with a servant, she might not even stay alive.

She was Princess Chen, and she was framed. But so what? This scandal brought disgrace to the royal family. The whole capital city would be buzzing with the news. Even if Chu Liuchen wanted to protect her, the Empress Dowager and the Emperor would not allow him to do so. She might luckily survive that crisis, but it was impossible for her to keep her position as Princess Chen. She would be either demoted to a consort or sent back to the Marquis Xing’s Mansion.

It seemed a simple trick, but for a woman, it was a fatal and overwhelming disaster more vicious than a murder.

“You…” The deepest evil thoughts in Zhang Qilan’s heart were exposed. She was ashamed and annoyed. “You have been intimate with Prince Yue just now. What shameful things did you do behind the rockery? You have harmed Prince Chen and me even before the incident in this courtyard!”

Zhang Qilan was guilty. As she spoke, she became angry from shame.

“Let’s not talk about the past, but what happened at the rockery must be true. Do you think I can tolerate you at this time?”

The scene she saw was like a fishbone getting stuck in her throat. It had been difficult for her to say it, but now she blurted it out.

After saying that, she resentfully looked at Shao Wanru with an evil eye.

“Zhang Qilan, frankly, you don’t have to use these high-sounding excuses. You must have planned to plot against me long ago. After all, you have arranged for these people to deal with me and have kept the drug powder with you. Don’t tell me that Infanta Yuan’an or the two princesses prepared all this. As for other things, you must have already set up a way out,” Shao Wanru said.

Her words were aggressive, forcing Zhang Qilan to face the embarrassment in her heart.

“Just now, I was with Prince Yue because he heard you asked him to come over. However, when he arrived there, he saw me instead of you. I think Prince Yue will ask you in person later. Miss Zhang, you can listen to his explanation. As for me, please stay away from me in the future,” Shao Wanru said.

Then, with a note of sarcasm in her eyes, she glanced at Zhang Qilan, the trembling old maid with great strength, and the fainted man. “Miss Zhang, you’d better find a good reason to make this mess clear. Infanta Yuan’an and the two princesses may be here soon.”

“What… what do you mean?” Zhang Qilan, terrified, asked anxiously.

“Nothing serious. It’s just that you will have to explain the current situation. Otherwise, I’m afraid I’ll tell others the whole story exactly as it happened. Your reputation will be ruined at that time, and your father will be implicated. As for the position of Princess Yue, you may have to give it up to another woman. Since you are willing to give it away, there will always be someone ready to accept it!”

Shao Wanru said.

After that, she walked out and went back to the main room. Her two maids followed her closely to guard her. When she entered, she went straight into the inner room and sat on the bed in the middle.

“My Lady…” Yujie said.

“Let’s just listen quietly!” Shao Wanru waved her hand and motioned for her to stop talking, pricking up his ears. Some people had arrived outside…

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