Chapter 1284 - 1284 Increasingly Intense Obsession
Chapter 1284 Increasingly Intense Obsession
“Princess Yue!” Seeing Zhang Qilan, Infanta Yuan’an was also very surprised. She restrained the anger in her eyes and raised her smiling face. “I didn’t expect to see you here. Why don’t we sit and talk?”
With a decent smile, Zhang Qilan pointed to the private room nearby and said, “Come in and have a seat?”
“Okay, let’s spend some time together!” Infanta Yuan’an nodded.
The two of them entered the private room hand in hand. The private room’s door was closed, isolating them from the curious gazes of pa.s.sersby outside. Some knew Infanta Yuan’an, while others heard someone calling Princess Yue. For a time, the scene set off a storm of speculation.
Prince Yue and Prince Zhou were widely known as the two leading compet.i.tors for the throne. It was astonis.h.i.+ng that Princess Yue and Princess Zhou would sit and chat intimately like best friends.
In the private room, they sat down. A servant girl asked the shop-boy to change the tea and bring some fresh pastries. Then, she retreated to both sides.
“Princess Yue, did you meet anyone here just now?” When Infanta Yuan’an entered the door, the table hadn’t yet been cleaned. There, she saw two used teacups and some leftover pastries. Just now, Zhang Qilan went out. It seemed she was sending a guest out. Recalling such a scene, Infanta Yuan’an couldn’t help guessing the guest’s ident.i.ty. Princess Yue personally saw the guest off. Who would have such an honor?
Zhang Qilan deliberately walked with the person to the door. Who was so close to her?
Qin Yiyan only brought one servant girl with her. On her way out, she encountered Infanta Yuan’an. But because Infanta Yuan’an didn’t know Qin Yiyan, she didn’t think much of it and only knew she seemed to have pa.s.sed by a Young Madam.
“A Miss, my good friend.” Zhang Qilan said vaguely.
“From which family? I’m most familiar with the Misses in the capital city. Which one has such a good relations.h.i.+p with you?” Infanta Yuan’an inquired about the news calmly.
“She isn’t very famous and just has a connection with my family. We happened to meet and talked for a while,” Zhang Qilan answered with a light smile.
A Miss connected to Prime Minister Zhang’s Mansion but not from an eminent ill.u.s.trious family. It was quite normal that Infanta Yuan’an didn’t recognize her. Zhang Qilan didn’t want to tell Infanta Yuan’an about her private affairs. Her att.i.tude was perfectly understandable.
The two families were only in harmony on the surface.
Considering the past event, their current ident.i.ties and positions, it was impossible for them to be honest. Instead, they should be always on guard against each other.
“Infanta Yuan’an, were you angry just now? Did you come here because you were in a rage with anyone?” Zhang Qilan ended the previous topic and looked up at Infanta Yuan’an, not neglecting the details of her expression.
Infanta Yuan’an’s face suddenly fell, but soon she smiled. “Something was wrong. I was quite annoyed when dealing with an affair in my mansion. So, I ran out to relax and came across you!”
The Prince Zhou’s Mansion had many women. Most of them were endowed with a t.i.tle by the Palace. Surely, they wouldn’t submit themselves to all Infanta Yuan’an’s wishes. Although Infanta Yuan’an had a n.o.ble and superior status, the others were difficult to deal with. Moreover, the incident about Qi Rongzhi just happened.
“Prince Zhou should handle the situation very well. After all, you are his legal wife!” Zhang Qilan said placidly, with a trace of a smile on her face.
But in the eyes of Infanta Yuan’an, her smile was full of sarcasm.
She put down the teacup in her hand and said, “That’s true, but… Qi Rongzhi, do you know about her?”
Infanta Yuan’an seemed to be a little hesitant when mentioning this. She looked at Zhang Qilan but held back the words which sprang to her lips.
“Consort Qi, I know her. We attended the Pageant together.” Zhang Qilan nodded. Beyond that, she heard Qi Rongzhi run into trouble in Prince Zhou’s Mansion. She was said to have had an affair with someone and even implicated her mansion. Notably, it was Infanta Yuan’an who took some people and caught her.
“Consort Qi was a poor wretch, and so is Prince Yue… Since he liked her, he could have asked the Empress for her. Anyway, our Prince didn’t like Consort Qi that much. You know, he received so many consorts and concubines. How could he care about the most inconspicuous Consort Qi?” Infanta Yuan’an sighed.
She knew Zhang Qilan was obsessively jealous — Zhang Qilan could even frame up her close friends out of groundless envy. And this time, she had solid evidence to prove the scandal.
“Our Prince has nothing to do with Consort Qi. Princess Zhou, you must have made a mistake!” Zhang Qilan said with her face darkening. She lowered her voice when she mentioned “Princess Zhou”. With this, she reminded Infanta Yuan’an that they were of the same status. Moreover, on careful inspection, Zhang Qilan, as Princess Yue, had a higher position.
“Don’t you know about it?” Infanta Yuan’an was not angry. Instead, she raised her eyebrows and looked at Zhang Qilan up and down with sympathy in her eyes. She shook her head and said, “Well, I was talking nonsense. Don’t take it seriously.”
Hearing her words, Zhang Qilan was somewhat convinced.
She did know something about Qi Rongzhi, but not much. An accident about Prince Zhou’s consort happened in Prince Zhou’s Mansion. She had little to do with Qi Rongzhi, who was not a virtuous daughter of an eminent family. They had just met a few times and were not very familiar with each other. She and her Eldest Brother were said to have secretly discussed how to scheme against Prince Zhou’s Mansion. Then, Prince Zhou’s Mansion lamely involved Prince Yue’s Mansion in this event, trying to provoke the Emperor to anger.
Of course, Qi Rongzhi eventually hanged herself in shame.
Chu Liuyue told her part of the facts, and she also got some information when in the mansion. At that time, she didn’t take this matter seriously. She just asked a few questions and listened to some discussions.
“I heard Consort Qi had an affair with someone! But does it have something to do with Prince Yue?” Zhang Qilan said unblinkingly.
“Consort Qi had an affair with Prince Yue. Don’t you know that?” Infanta Yuan’an looked surprised. “Both Prince Yue and Prince Zhou have been involved in this. Otherwise, His Majesty wouldn’t be angry. After all, a consort is not a big deal.”
Infanta Yuan’an did not go on talking about the details. Afterward, she turned to speak about something else. It seemed that what she had said before was just a casual chat. Sometimes, information revealed inadvertently sounded more authentic.
Zhang Qilan cleverly got back on the topic and mentioned Qi Rongzhi occasionally. The more she listened, the tighter she twisted the handkerchief.
She didn’t believe it at first, but now she sort of believed it. She had concluded in her heart that Chu Liuyue would kindly treat anyone related to Shao Wanru. The same thing happened to the concubine surnamed Yu. Now, the situation of Qi Rongzhi sounded the same. This information sounded reliable to her merely because Qi Rongzhi had grown up with Shao Wanru.
Her handkerchief was almost torn into pieces.
If Shao Wanru knew what Zhang Qilan was thinking, she would sneer at her. How could she know that Chu Liuyue was in deep love with her? More ridiculously, because of his love for Shao Wanru, he would even think highly of those people related to her. In Zhang Qilan’s eyes, he would even fall in love with the women around Shao Wanru. What a jealous woman with an incredible imagination.
Qi Rongzhi had intended to frame up Shao Wanru. It was evidently because she and Chu Liuyue shared the same rotten tastes. They conspired with each other to scheme against others. Unexpectedly, as their plot was discovered, she became Chu Liuyue’s abandoned p.a.w.n.
“It’s getting late. I’m leaving. I want to talk to you next time if there’s any chance.” Infanta Yuan’an felt it was almost time to leave, so she stood up and said goodbye with a smile.
Again, she glanced at Zhang Qilan’s clothes. Covering her mouth corner with a handkerchief, she said, “Princess Yue used to like clothes elegant in style, but now you prefer those bright-colored ones. But I think you looked better in the past. Clothes in gaudy colors like peonies are not suitable for you. Honestly, they better matched Consort Qi in my mansion!”
Qi Rongzhi, with a beautiful face, should be prettier than Zhang Qilan.
Zhang Qilan gritted her teeth but did not show a look of hatred. In her eyes, this could also prove that Qi Rongzhi had an illicit a.s.sociation with Chu Liuyue.
“Princess Yue, I’m leaving now!” Infanta Yuan’an said goodbye again with a smile and left with her people.
Behind her, Zhang Qilan’s peaceful eyes gradually turned cold and gloomy, with traces of blood. They appeared quite scary.
“My Lady!” The servant girl said timidly.
“Let’s go!” Zhang Qilan angrily gnashed her teeth and suppressed the hatred in her heart. She couldn’t suspect Prince Yue because of Infanta Yuan’an’s one-sided statement. Infanta Yuan’an was not trustworthy.
With such an idea in mind, Zhang Qilan returned to the mansion and went to the study first. However, halfway there, she went back to the inner court. She had to check it out by herself first. Otherwise, he would not tell her anything, even if she asked Prince Yue about this.
The incident about Qi Rongzhi had caused quite a stir, but she didn’t find much information inside the mansion. Chu Liuyue forbade people in his mansion to talk about this. Therefore, Zhang Qilan didn’t know much about it. Later, she sent her trusted old maid to Prime Minister Zhang’s Mansion and finally got the information she wanted. Hearing the truth of the matter, Zhang Qilan closed the door of the inner room and sat in it for a whole night.
Chu Liuyue didn’t come that night because he had something else to do.
The next day, he didn’t send anyone to check on her. Similar things had happened a lot. Even since Zhang Qilan married into this mansion, she discovered that she couldn’t even compare with that consort. Of course, that consort also had an outstanding appearance and an impressive family background. It was Chu Liuyue who selected her as the consort. He liked women with a pure but charming appearance.
This consort was not like Shao Wanru. However, Zhang Qilan was in the grip of an obsession and thought that every beauty she met looked like Shao Wanru. Both this consort and Qi Rongzhi were beautiful, so they were somewhat similar to Shao Wanru in her mind. Besides, they all had a certain magnificent charm of the peony, which was renowned as the queen of flowers.
Chu Liuyue liked peonies…
Zhang Qilan was secretly investigating this matter in Prince Yue’s Mansion. Meanwhile, Prince Zhou’s Mansion was not peaceful either. Infanta Yuan’an had even carried surveys outside the mansion. When hearing that Prince Zhou used to have a mistress somewhere outside, she immediately came over to deal with her. However, she was told that the mistress left long ago. She just lived there in the past.
Infanta Yuan’an did not believe it. However, the courtyard was empty, and the woman was no longer there. That place was even no longer belonged to Prince Zhou’s Mansion. She came here but got nothing valuable.
There must be a woman, but she didn’t know where Chu Liuzhou had hidden her. After Infanta Yuan’an successfully provoked Zhang Qilan, she was also tortured by many things. In fact, like Zhang Qilan, she also stubbornly believed that her husband did not like her and that many other women were secretly seducing him.
In this case, they had to hunt this woman down and cut her into pieces.
At this time, a letter was quietly sent to an inconspicuous place. The garden…