Chapter 1207 - Chapter 1207 Shao Jie’er Is Suspicious
Chapter 1207 Shao Jie’er Is Suspicious
The fire in Commandery Prince Qing’s Mansion was put out, and Chu Qing was only slightly injured, not seriously injured. He had inexplicably suffered such an unexpected disaster. He suppressed his anger and overturned a table with hatred. He glared at the guard in front of him and said, “What the h.e.l.l happened? Who did this?”
“Your Highness, this is very strange. I don’t know what happened either. Those people mixed in with the neighbors who put out the fire. They were wearing ordinary clothes. When they entered the mansion, they took off their clothes and searched the rooms one by one. It seemed that they were looking for something. They were coming for our mansion.”
The guard reported carefully.
“They were coming for me?” Chu Qing’s face was livid. His secrets could not be revealed. Who suspected him?
When he thought of this, his face darkened. Who discovered his secrets?
The Emperor? It was impossible. If it was the Emperor, he would take action directly and would not investigate Chu Qing’s mansion secretly. If it was not the Emperor, it would be Prince Yue, Prince Zhou, Prince Chen, Prince Xin, or Prince Cheng.
Of course, it was also possible that it was Prime Minister Zhang or Prime Minister Wen who were cunning. Chu Qing didn’t know what tricks they would play. There was one thing that was certain, that was, someone must be secretly suspecting him, and that was why they would do this.
Chu Qing gnashed his teeth and said, “Go and find out who is related.” He had been working hard for so many years, not merely for his t.i.tle of Commandery Prince Qing. It was not the right time yet, and he would eliminate any possibility of exposure.
“Yes, Your Highness.” The guard took the order and left.
It was quiet in the study. Chu Qing thought carefully about what went wrong and which step he had taken to get suspicious.
Since he appeared in front of everyone, he had always been weak. Compared with those people, he was not eye-catching at all. How could anyone try to harm him? Did he expose something?
“You need to investigate whether there is a spy among the newcomers in the mansion!” A middle-aged beautiful woman came out from behind the screen. She had no one serve her, and her face was equally serious.
She had a beautiful face. Even if she looked old, one could tell that she was a rare beauty when she was young. Her hair was tied up with a hairpin, which was not gorgeous. Compared with other women, her hair was too short and looked a little weird. At most, it reached her shoulders.
Chu Qing stood up and said, “Mother!”
Consort Dowager Qing nodded, came over, and sat down with a frown. She looked outstanding at first glance, but after careful observation, one would find that she appeared a bit old. Chu Qing was young, and she was Consort Dowager Qing. She was not supposed to look so old, but in the past few years in the Yuhui Nunnery, she had worked hard and spent countless efforts, which caused her to look older than her peers.
However, since Consort Dowager Qing came out of the Yuhui Nunnery, she had basically refused to meet guests and had been staying in the mansion. It was said that she was too embarra.s.sed to meet people with her short hair, so she refused all the people who invited her.
At first, some people had invited her, but after they repeatedly got rejected by her, no one came to invite her.
Originally, people invited her just for the sake of Chu Qing. They also did it to find out about Chu Qing’s background. Since Consort Dowager Qing didn’t appreciate it, this matter was left unsettled.
Everyone thought that Consort Dowager Qing, who had lived in the Yuhui Nunnery for a long time, must be a quiet person. In addition, her hair had just grown, which was a bit too short. It was indecent after all, so it was not strange for her to not receive guests.
No one expected that Consort Dowager Qing was unusual. She didn’t want to meet guests just because she lived in seclusion and didn’t want to arouse others’ suspicion, nor did she want others to find out Chu Qing’s background.
Sometimes, it was easier for women to find out what men couldn’t find out when they chatted.
“Mother, do you think there is a spy among the newcomers in our mansion?” Chu Qing frowned slightly, picked up the cup in front of him, and drank the liquor in one go.
Consort Dowager Qing said coldly, “Most of your former servants have been reviewed, so it’s basically impossible for any of them to betray you. You’ve been safe for so many years. It can be seen that these people are reliable. But recently, there are some new servants in the mansion, and these people are very suspicious.”
“Don’t worry. I will investigate them one by one.” Chu Qing nodded. This matter really needed to be investigated carefully.
Consort Dowager Qing squinted at Chu Qing and said, “The first one that needs to be investigated should be Shao Jie’er.”
“Shao Jie’er? I don’t think she’s a spy.” Chu Qing hesitated for a moment. Before Shao Jie’er entered the mansion, he didn’t like her very much and even hated her. But after entering Commandery Prince Qing’s Mansion, Shao Jie’er had always been flattering him. Now there was no proper female master in his mansion, and Consort Dowager Qing didn’t manage the trivial things. Shao Jie’er appeared to be very considerate.
There were other women in Chu Qing’s mansion, but how could these women compare with Shao Jie’er?
Shao Jie’er’s appearance was inferior to that of the four sisters of Marquis Xing’s Mansion, but compared with other women, she was still very good-looking. In addition, she carefully flattered Chu Qing and tried her best to please him. Her behavior was also in line with fine etiquette, which made Chu Qing very satisfied and even liked her a little.
This was why Chu Qing was hesitating. He didn’t think there was anything wrong with Shao Jie’er.
“Qing, don’t forget that Shao Jie’er didn’t want to marry you before. Can you guarantee that she loves you wholeheartedly now?” Consort Dowager Qing said unhappily.
Chu Qing waved his hand dismissively and said, “Mother, it was Shao Jing’s fault that he deliberately led Shao Jie’er to have a bad impression of me, so she didn’t want to marry into my mansion. Now things are different since the misunderstanding has been cleared up. You have witnessed how she entered the mansion. She should have done a good job, right?”
“Qing, if a girl wants to achieve her goal, how can she not compromise? Wasn’t I like this back then? I almost made the previous empress resign from her position. If the deceased emperor hadn’t died early, I might have become the Empress at that time. But what exactly happened?”
The corners of Consort Dowager’s mouth twitched, and she said indifferently, “Shao Jie’er is Shao Jing’s daughter, so she is destined not to be on the same side with us. Shao Jing has a close relations.h.i.+p with Prince Cheng, and Shao Yanru used to have an ambiguous relations.h.i.+p with Prince Yue and Prince Zhou, so Marquis Xing’s Mansion will never take our side. Shao Jie’er is just a concubine’s daughter. If Shao Jing asks her to do something, she will do it.”
Her words made Chu Qing fall silent. The corners of his eyes twitched twice, and his eyes darkened. His determination turned into hesitation.
Although he felt that Shao Jie’er was now devoted to him, was considerate of him very much, and even cared more about him than Consort Dowager Qing did, he certainly trusted Consort Dowager most. Thinking of Shao Jie’er’s ident.i.ty and Shao Jing’s secret actions, he almost forgot everything about what Shao Jie’er did in the past. He nodded hard and said, “Mother, don’t worry. I will investigate Shao Jie’er. It’s best if she’s clean. If something goes wrong…”
A trace of gloom flashed across Chu Qing’s eyes. Shao Jie’er was just the daughter of a concubine abandoned by Marquis Xing’s Mansion. It was easy for him to kill her.
Consort Dowager Qing was quite satisfied with Chu Qing’s answer. She nodded and looked a little calmer. “You are going to marry Princess Yuyan soon. Even if Shao Jie’er is clean, you can’t spoil her too much. Qiuyi is your first consort, and she is also loyal to you.”
At the mention of Mo Qiuyi, Chu Qing fell silent again. There was no doubt that Mo Qiuyi was loyal to him. Apart from her, Wei Dahai, who was backing Mo Qiuyi, was also loyal to him. However, as a woman, Mo Qiuyi was not as beautiful as Shao Jie’er at all, nor was she coquettish as Shao Jie’er. In fact, Chu Qing did not like her at all.
This was also the most important reason why he acquiesced in his marriage with Princess Yuyan.
“Qing, Qiuyi is not good-looking, but she is the most suitable one to be your first consort. When you ascend to the throne in the future, you can have all kinds of women. You can choose any beautiful woman in the world.” Consort Dowager Qing knew what Chu Qing meant at a glance. She smiled and comforted him in a soft voice.
Shao Wanru’s figure inexplicably appeared in Chu Qing’s mind. She was exceedingly beautiful and exquisite. Was she the woman he wanted? Thinking of this, he felt eager. When he ascended to the throne, such a peerless beauty would be his.
“Mother, don’t worry. I know what to do.” Chu Qing nodded.
Consort Dowager Qing was very satisfied. She stood up and left. The study was where Chu Qing worked, so it was inconvenient for her to come here often.
The old maids and servant girls who served Consort Dowager Qing were waiting outside the courtyard. When they saw Consort Dowager Qing coming out, they hurried forward to salute and then left with her.
After taking a few steps, they saw two servant girls coming from ahead. One of them was holding a lantern, and the other was holding a hamper. Shao Jie’er was walking in the front.
They happened to meet each other. Shao Jie’er hurried forward to bow and said, “Greetings, Your Highness!”
Consort Dowager Qing stood still and looked Shao Jie’er up and down with a trace of disgust in her eyes. She didn’t like Shao Jie’er. If it weren’t for her son who favored this woman, she would have taken action a long time ago.
“Shao Jing’s daughter will be a disaster for us if we keep her around.”
“What are you doing here?” Consort Dowager Qing asked coldly.
Shao Jie’er took a step back, pointed to the hamper in the hands of the servant girl behind her, and said, “I’m going to see His Highness and send him a midnight snack.”
“With such a big thing happening in the mansion, Qing’er is not in the mood for a snack at this time. You should go back!” Consort Dowager Qing waved her hand as if she was driving away something dirty.
Shao Jie’er felt very wronged, ashamed, and angry, but she did not dare to say anything.
Since she entered Commandery Prince Qing’s Mansion, this Consort Dowager had disliked her very much. From time to time, Consort Dowager Qing would call her over to torture her, but she dared not say anything even though she was angry.
“Yes, Your Highness!” Shao Jie’er said softly. After bowing to Consort Dowager Qing, she turned around and was about to leave.
Consort Dowager Qing suddenly said, “Wait a minute.”
Shao Jie’er had to stop.
“Come with me. Since such a terrifying thing happened, I got so startled that I can’t sleep for the moment. Come and ma.s.sage my legs,” Consort Dowager Qing said.
Shao Jie’er clenched her fists hard in anger and suppressed the anger in her heart. There were so many servants in Commandery Prince Qing’s Mansion, but Consort Dowager Qing didn’t ask them to serve her but preferred to let her serve her. She was really p.i.s.sed.
However, she had to hold back her anger. Shao Jie’er knew her status very well. As soon as she entered the mansion, she was beaten by Consort Dowager Qing with an excuse. Since then, Shao Jie’er had known her status in Commandery Prince Qing’s Mansion, and she had tried her best to please Chu Qing.