Chapter 1171 Is Secondary Consort Shao Dead?

The Emperor delivered another imperial edict to Consort of Virtue and Consort Ming. He asked Consort of Virtue to choose three noble ladies to marry into the Prince Zhou’s Mansion with Prince Zhou’s consort, who had been engaged to him.

That was to say, on Prince Zhou’s wedding day, he would marry five ladies in total: one legal wife, two consorts, and two concubines.

On the wedding day, Prince Zhou could feel free to spend the wedding night with any bride. He didn’t need to do everything according to the predetermined schedule: consorts and concubines should marry into the mansion one month after the legal wife moved to the mansion.

The legal wife, consorts, and concubines would marry together. It would be a crowning humiliation for the legal wife.

Later on, the royal family would even recognize the status of the eldest son of a concubine. The Emperor gave Infanta Yuan’an a hard slap in the face for what had happened. Even if Infanta Yuan’an was unconscious and her life seemed in danger, the Emperor punished her severely.

At the end of the Emperor’s edict, he said if something serious happened to Infanta Yuan’an, Consort of Virtue and Consort Ming should pick up another noble lady from a prestigious family and let her marry into the Prince Zhou’s Mansion. The lady must be quiet and virtuous. Anyone lack of manners with bad intentions would not be allowed to marry Prince Zhou, no matter how outstanding her appearance or family was.

The intent of these words was crystal clear — the Emperor stripped Infanta Yuan’an of her dignity. If Infanta Yuan’an died, so be it. They could choose another lady to be Princess Zhou. But even if she recovered, she would suffer in the following days.

Infanta Yuan’an would marry on the same day as those consorts and concubines, who were all selected noble ladies from eminent families. Their status might not be inferior to that of Infanta Yuan’an. If Prince Zhou favored any of them, Infanta Yuan’an would be degraded to an insignificant place, though she was the legal wife.

Since the Emperor issued such a decree, he must loathe Infanta Yuan’an.

Meanwhile, the Emperor appeased Zhang Qilan and Shao Wanru, rewarding them with many things. Even Consort of Virtue and Consort Ming gave them awards. Then they were sent back to their mansions.

Zhang Qilan and Shao Wanru, who were in safety despite the storm, were the last to leave. When coming out of the Consort of Virtue’s place, Zhang Qilan looked at Shao Wanru. It seemed she wished to speak but stopped on a second thought.

Shao Wanru walked past her calmly with indifferent eyes. Ever since Zhang Qilan was obsessed with the idea of hurting her, they became enemies. It was meaningless to find out if it was a misunderstanding!

Shao Wanru was a loner by nature. Never would she waste a trace of affection on someone who had framed her.

The two of them met, passed by, and gradually drifted apart. They might have been fated to be together at a certain point. But once they missed the opportunity, they would draw further apart.

A palace maid walked past Shao Wanru in a hurry. It seemed she was going to report to the Consort of Virtue.

Shao Wanru stood still and turned to look at a place not far behind the palace maid — a familiar figure stood there with her hands down. Her eyes narrowed fractionally. “She is Mo Yan, Shao Yanru’s maid. Was it Shao Yanru?”

Not long after she returned to the mansion, Chu Liuchen came back. When he entered the door and saw Shao Wanru’s face, he asked worriedly, “How about I let Qi Jue check on your health?”

“I’m fine. I didn’t eat the pastries. Yujie pointed somewhere and made Zhang Qilan turn her head. By that chance, I put the poisonous pastry in my sleeves.” Shao Wanru had changed her clothes and explained with a smile. At that time, she had begun to suspect Zhang Qilan, so how could she eat the pastry she sent?

Though Shao Wanru knew some medicinal materials, she would not dare to try the poisonous pastry herself. Who knew what Zhang Qilan had put in the pastries? The fragrance of the pastries was so strong that she couldn’t distinguish different kinds of smells. Now she congratulated herself privately for not trying the pastry. Zhang Qilan’s drug powder was highly poisonous. Not only would it make her dizzy for a moment, but it might also impair her fertility.

When she came back, she asked Qi Jue to test it. She was unsure about this because Qi Jue said Doctor Qiu might have developed this medicine, and some details had not yet been confirmed.

This reminded Shao Wanru of Doctor Qiu. He worked for Shao Yanru first and had something to do with the Mansion of the Prime Minister. Then, when he served Prince Zhou, he even treated the wounds on Infanta Yuan’an’s face. After that, he entered the Palace, probably with some ulterior motives.

She spotted Moyan there just now. In Shao Wanru’s eyes, Mo Yan must be there for a reason.

“I’m going to change my clothes!” Nothing serious had happened to Shao Wanru. Seeing that she looked fine, Chu Liuchen said.

Shao Wanru raised her nose and got a sniff of the air. Abruptly, her face changed, and she stood up to pull Chu Liuchen’s robe, asking with deep concern, “Are you hurt?”

“How could it be? It’s not my blood but two palace maids’.” Since Shao Wanru looked so alarmed, Chu Liuchen knew he couldn’t hide it from her. Thus, he pulled a corner of his sleeve and explained with a smile.

There were bloodstains on his wide sleeves.

“Are you all right?”

“Nothing serious. Don’t worry. When I arrived at the palace gate, I saw a few people coming out. I was so angry that I asked someone to kill them,” Chu Liuchen said carelessly.

“Who did you kill?”

“Princess Yuyan’s two palace maids. Their blood splashed on Zhang Qilan’s imperial sedan chair, and she collapsed to the ground on the spot. She seemed so timid. How could she have the courage to plot against you?” Chu Liuchen said disdainfully with an icy voice.

Princess Yuyan passed out and was carried out of the Palace. Although Zhang Qilan was behind, she walked quickly. They almost reached the palace gate at the same time. However, Chu Liuchen did not return from the side door this time. Instead, he went to the palace gate and slayed two palace maids of Princess Yuyan on the spot. Zhang Qilan, who had just walked out of the palace sedan chair, was so scared that she crumpled down onto the ground.

“Your Highness, any imperial censor seeing this will lodge a complaint with His Majesty against you,” Shao Wanru said worriedly. Thinking that Chu Liuchen helped her vent her anger, she felt a touch of sweetness in her heart. However, she was still a little worried.

Of course, she didn’t believe he had met them by chance. How could they come across Chu Liuchen? He could never run into them at the palace gate if he intended to avoid them.

“What’s there to be afraid of? No one will mention it. Both Chu Liuyue and Chu Liuzhou will be reluctant to embroil themselves in this matter. As for Chu Qing, he has no right to object at all.” Chu Liuchen’s lips curled up slightly. If he pursued this case further, Princess Yuyan would have to offer up her life as penance for her crime. Infanta Yuan’an would be severely punished. As for Zhang Qilan, she was also not innocent.

No one in the imperial court was willing to expose this matter.

Hearing his words, Shao Wanru breathed a sigh of relief. She pushed him into the room and helped him change into a pale pinkish-purple long robe. Then she took off his golden crown tied up high and casually put her hair up with a hair ribbon. After that, he felt much more relaxed and comfortable.

“What about Miss Qin?” Shao Wanru asked softly while tying the waistband for Chu Liuchen.

“Why bother your head about such trifles? She will give me everything. Don’t worry!” Chu Liuchen comforted Shao Wanru. After thinking for a while, he added, “You don’t have to worry about Consort Lan. If she looks for you, just show her some respect. But if she makes things difficult for you, put the blame on me and ignore her!”

“But she is an elder, after all!” Shao Wanru said tentatively.

Chu Liuchen gave a cold snort and said with a gloomy face, “You don’t have to worry about it. Leave her alone.”

He sounded neither happy nor angry. There was only a hint of aloofness in his words.

Shao Wanru reached out to hold his waist with distress and snuggled up in his arms. “I know what to do!”

Since Chu Liuchen didn’t care, she didn’t have to compromise out of consideration for the general interest. If Consort Lan was sincerely kind to them, she would not make things awkward for her. However, if Consort Lan wanted to plot something else that might threaten Chu Liuchen, Shao Wanru didn’t mind getting rid of Qin Yiyan, who collected information for Consort Lan in their mansion.

It was not that she didn’t dare to deal with Qin Yiyan, but she had to consider Chu Liuchen’s feelings.

The Second Princess of the Xu State would marry Commandery Prince Qing. As the news came out, many people felt relieved. Princess Yuyan was going to marry Chu Qing, who had had an ambiguous relationship with her. She was supposed to marry Chu Qing in the first place.

However, some well-informed people revealed that Princess Yuyan wanted to marry Prince Yue. They had feelings for each other. Unfortunately, she and Commandery Prince Qing had been engaged to be married, and their relationship even got the blessing from Xu State King. Thus, she could not change her mind.

These words sounded reasonable, as if Princess Yuyan had no choice but to marry Commandery Prince Qing eventually.

In private, many people despised Princess Yuyan from the Xu State, regarding her as a promiscuous woman. She took a fancy to a prince while thinking about another prince. To the general public, she was shameless and degenerate to the extreme.

How could any woman be capable of doing such an immoral thing?

Later, it was said that the Second Princess of the Xu State would marry Commandery Prince Qing, but she would be demoted to a consort. Many people applauded the decision, which was a great satisfaction to them.

If not for her noble and high status, such a woman like her should has been drowned in a pig cage.

They secretly despised this Xu State princess.

Three more noble ladies were bestowed on Prince Zhou, who would marry into the Prince Zhou’s Mansion together in a gorgeous way. This was a piece of surprising news to many people. After the shock, they curiously inquired about what had happened in the two foreign princesses’ courtyard. That day, a large group entered the Palace before the banquet began.

They were three princes, a princess, two future princesses, and two foreign princesses.

After they entered the Palace, Princess Yuyan was punished. Also, Infanta Yuan’an was penalized. Needless to say, Infanta Yuan’an and Princess Yuyan must have done something seriously wrong together. However, they couldn’t find out the details.

Later, at the palace gate, Prince Chen killed two palace maids in a towering rage and scared Prime Minister Zhang’s daughter unconsciousness on the ground. Since it happened at the palace gate, many people had witnessed it, so it was impossible to keep it a secret.

As for this matter, many people secretly guessed what had happened. Under normal circumstances, Prime Minister Zhang and Prince Yue would not tolerate it, even if the Emperor did nothing to punish Prince Chen. However, no one impeached Prince Chen the next day. There must be another inside story behind this matter. Perhaps, Miss Zhang, who was about to become Princess Yue, was also involved. Anyway, the whole case looked muddled and unclear.

Female seniors and elders in many mansions like Zhang Qilan, who had always been kind and adorable. After this incident, even Zhang Qilan aroused many people’s suspicion.

Whoever got involved in this kind of thing would fall on hard times.

However, no one doubted Prince Chen and Princess Chen. No matter how the others looked at this matter, the Prince Chen’s Mansion was on the right side.

Another piece of news came from the Palace: Secondary Consort Shao died!

Many people were not surprised when hearing the news of her death, but some found it hard to believe. Shao Yanru had moved into the Palace not long ago. Though banished to the Cold Palace, she wouldn’t have died in such a short time.

When Shao Wanru received the message about her death, she was also stunned. Yet, she felt things would not be so simple. In her previous life, Shao Yanru managed to hook up with Chu Liuyue even after she married into the Palace. So, how could she be so useless? Recently, misfortunes happened one after another in the Palace. The Empress was left out in the cold, and Consort of Virtue and Consort Ming were not in a fit and proper position to handle affairs in the Palace. Moreover, she was an unfavored concubine. After entering the Palace, she had only offended the Empress.

Consort Lan was high in the Emperor’s favor, but she remained calm and peaceful. Only the Emperor would visit her place from time to time. Since guards were outside her door, no other imperial consorts could enter her residence. Then, who murdered Secondary Consort Shao?

Did she die of a sudden illness? But this sounded so unreal, like a joke…

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