Chapter 749 Who Is Behind the Scenes
“Fortunately, it is not contagious. When I saw your face just now, I really thought it was contagious. The Nanny in charge and the maids were scared back, and even the imperial physician was cautious, but Big Sister was holding you tightly. Now she is feeding you the decoction herself. She is so kind!” Shao Wanru smiled with a trace of fear.
She was the youngest of the sisters, and the look of fear on her face made her quite adorable. It was less bright but more childish than before as if she were really scared.
Shao Caihuan was first attracted by her looks, and then suddenly turned her head, looked at Shao Yanru furiously, gritted her teeth, and said bitterly, “Big Sister, why are you so kind to me now?!”
She had red blisters all over her body inexplicably, which was painful and itchy, and even she herself didn’t know if it was contagious. The imperial physician was very careful before he diagnosed her. How could Shao Yanru be so kind to her so suddenly? It was strange that she wasn’t intimidated by the fact that it might be contagious and had taken the initiative to take care of her.
Outsiders might think that Shao Yanru was such a dignified, decent and loving sister who would protect her sisters regardless of whether she would hurt herself or not.
Shao Caihuan was from Duke Xing’s Mansion. The third branch had always been suppressed by the second branch. Among the sisters of Duke Xing’s Mansion, Shao Yanru was the most aggressive one. No one dared to mess with her. They knew well that she was very cruel and hypocritical. She had two faces.
If it were really contagious, Shao Yanru would not have gotten near her at all, let alone crying with Shao Caihuan in her arms or even taking care of her personally — unless she knew that it wasn’t contagious. But how could she have known it if she didn’t partic.i.p.ate in it?
It was normal for other people to avoid her. Only Shao Yanru was abnormal. She must be the one who had tried to hurt her. As for why she had done that, Shao Caihuan immediately thought of the reason— the domestic affairs of Duke Xing’s Mansion were managed by her mother now.
She was so angry that her fingers trembled slightly. Excited, Shao Caihuan had forgotten her mother’s instructions and slapped Shao Yanru hard in the face. The fact that she might be disfigured was more than she could mentally bear. Anyway, she finally vented her anger.
“Shao Yanru, you b.i.t.c.h, how…how dare you to hurt me? I’m going to ruin your face. I’ll see how you could seduce men in the future.”
Shao Yanru had been vacillating between Prince Yue and Prince Zhou. Shao Caihuan had learned it from her mother. The matter was related to which camp the entire Xinggong Mansion would belong to. The third branch had naturally partic.i.p.ated in the discussion. In fact, it was not only Shao Yanru’s personal choice. But Shao Caihuan couldn’t care less about it now. She raised her hand to grab Shao Yanru’s bun and pulled her over.
Shao Yanru hadn’t expected that Shao Caihuan would suddenly go crazy. She was caught off guard and her scalp hurt.
Shuqi hurried over to pull Shao Caihuan’s hand, but Shao Caihuan believed that she had been targeted by Shao Yanru. So she refused to let go. She was desperately trying to stretch out her other hand to scratch Shao Yanru’s face. However, her hand was held tightly by Shuqi, who was preventing her from touching Shao Yanru.
Shao Yanru took advantage of the opportunity when Shuqi was pulling Shao Caihuan, and slammed the back of Shao Caihuan’s other hand severely. Shao Caihuan felt a sharp pain and her hand relaxed. Shao Yanru staggered off the edge of the bed and fell to the ground in embarra.s.sment.
“What’s the matter?” There was too loud a fight inside, so the Nanny in charge walked in. As soon as she walked in, she found Shao Caihuan struggling on the bed and trying to pounce on Shao Yanru. When she saw Shao Yanru’s messy hair, the slap mark on her fair face, and her dirty clothes after she fell onto the ground covered with water, she was immediately furious.
“Nanny, she is the one who hurt me. Please do me justice!” Shao Caihuan calmed down a bit and cried loudly to the Nanny in charge.
She was staring at Shao Yanru angrily. If it weren’t for Shuqi who had pulled her hard, she would have already pounced on Shao Yanru and scratched her face. It would be impossible for her to draft anymore now, so she wanted Shao Yanru to go down with her!
Shao Yanru had not expected such a change. She had wanted to dispel Shao Caihuan’s suspicion, yet she failed and had been attacked by Shao Caihuan. However, it was not the right time to argue with Shao Caihuan now. She looked at Shao Caihuan with tears in her eyes, “Third Sister…what…what are you doing? Why are you behaving like this all of a sudden?… Is it impossible that you…”
Shao Yanru winced timidly when she said this. She was implying that Shao Caihuan couldn’t stand such a heavy blow, and had gone mad all of a sudden. The Nanny in charge looked at Shao Yanru, and then at Shao Caihuan, who was madly about to jump at Shao Yanru. Now Shao Caihuan really looked like a mad woman. With her red blisters, she was too swollen to look beautiful anymore. It seemed that she had really gone crazy.
“Guards…” the Nanny in charge said coldly. She was trying to call someone to gag Shao Caihuan. A lady who could not be drafted and was not the daughter of the main branch of Duke Xing’s Mansion was not important anymore. If Shao Caihuan behaved well, the Nanny in charge would ask the imperial physician to treat her before sending her out of the palace. If she really went crazy, she would just gag her and throw her out of the palace.
“Third Sister, if you continue to do this, Nanny would really think you are crazy, and there is no need to investigate the incident, and you will also be thrown out of the palace.” Shao Wanru raised her eyes and looked calmly at Shao Caihuan.
When the two sisters were fighting, she didn’t come forward. She had just watched them quietly, and a dark light flashed in her eyes. Shao Yanru must have known it, and even this probably was her plan, but was Shao Caihuan really so innocent?
She looked at the bed that was messy because of the fight, and a familiar object was revealed under the pillow. Although it was only a corner, Shao Wanru immediately recognized that it was a protective talisman.
A protective talisman should be always hung on the body, so how could it be only placed on the bed? But since it was placed on the bed, it meant that Shao Caihuan vaguely knew that she would be fine as long as she didn’t wear it.
She had taken great pains and spent a lot of money to get the protective talisman. How could she just put it under the pillow? It was hard to believe what Shao Caihuan had said to her before.
The drug had been put into the two protective talismans together. For the sake of confidentiality, Shao Caihuan certainly didn’t know it. Of course, her protective talisman was as poisonous as Shao Caihuan’s.
w.a.n.g Yuxin must have come over for her, and then tried to take the opportunity to put the incense in her incense burner. She could have been the victim.
However, she hadn’t come back then. w.a.n.g Yuxin should have gone to Shao Yanru’s room. Shao Yanru was afraid of getting into trouble and asked her to go to Shao Caihuan’s room. Then when Shao Wanru came back, Shao Yanru would invite her over and stay in Shao Caihuan’s room. So Shao Yanru would never be blamed for this.
It could be judged that w.a.n.g Yuxin didn’t know that the real planner was Shao Yanru, so when she couldn’t enter her room, she had chosen to go to Shao Caihuan’s room and put the incense sheet in it instead of insisting on putting it in her incense burner.
It was an intricate plan. Everyone knew something more or less, but none of them knew it comprehensively, so that it seemed that the whole thing had nothing to do with the final mastermind. Of course, if it were not for Shao Yanru’s suspicious eagerness to show off her sisterhood with Shao Caihuan, it would not have been discovered by Shao Caihuan.
If it were in the past, even if Shao Caihuan found that Shao Yanru had tried to hurt her, she wouldn’t have dared to do anything to Shao Yanru. But today Shao Caihuan was out of control, and any little suspicion would cause a big scene. Shao Wanru had been waiting for this opportunity.
Shao Wanru took a few steps forward, took Shao Caihuan’s hand from Shuqi’s hand, and warned her. “Third Sister, if you want to avenge yourself or ask for an explanation, you must calm down. We’re in the palace, not Duke Xing’s Mansion!”
Her eyes fell on Shao Caihuan’s face icily, and when Shao Caihuan saw herself in those cold eyes, she couldn’t help s.h.i.+vering and immediately became sober.
She looked at the stern face of the Nanny in charge, and then at Shao Yanru, who was slowly getting up with the help of Shuqi, and suddenly realized something.
She tried to collect herself, and said with tears in her eyes, “Nanny, I thought my…my Big Sister might have colluded with the person who harmed me, so I couldn’t help it…”
With that, she burst into tears. She didn’t yell crazily or rush over to hurt anyone. She was lowering her head, and though others couldn’t see the red blisters on her face, they still felt very sorry for her.
Whether her face would recover or not, Shao Caihuan could no longer be drafted. Thinking of the beautiful face she had seen before, the Nanny in charge could only sigh helplessly. Third Miss Shao had been quite beautiful and had a chance to be selected, but it was impossible now!
“Whether it’s related to your Big Sister or not will have to wait. You should apply the ointment first, and then get up and talk outside!” the Nanny in charge looked at her and said.
She turned and went out.
She was extremely rude, but Shao Caihuan was just a beauty who would never be selected, so the Nanny in charge really didn’t need to care too much. Now she was just looking into it for the sake of Duke Xing’s Mansion.
Seeing the Nanny in charge’s contempt, Shao Caihuan was furious. She slapped on the edge of the bed fiercely, turned her gaze to Shao Yanru, who had just got up from the floor, and vented her anger on her. She gritted her teeth and said, “My good Big Sister, good for you. You’re really playing hard to become a princess.”
Shao Yanru had never been so aggrieved before, but she knew that there was no way to talk some sense into Shao Caihuan at this time. She glanced at Shao Wanru’s face coldly, and after looking her up and down a few times, she suddenly felt that Shao Wanru’s previous words were not accidental. “Did she know something? If so, I should be more careful!” she thought.
Shao Caihuan’s reaction was so violent, and it was something she had not expected. She had to send a message…