Chapter 962 Another Accident, Admit It or Not?
“Your Highness, I intended to pull the falling hair for Infanta Yuan’an, but she turned her head sideways in a panic and b.u.mped into my fingertips!” Shao Wanru answered calmly.
“You...” Infanta Yuan’an was fuming with rage.
“Infanta Yuan’an, don’t be afraid. I will not hit you in front of the Empress!” Shao Wanru said with a smile.
“It’s totally an accident brought about by Infanta Yuan’an. Your Highness, are you going to punish me for such an accident?” Shao Wanru turned around and said softly to the Empress.
The Empress’s face darkened. She got so angry that she wanted to smash the cup in her hand, but she had to restrain herself. If what had happened before was an accident, what had happened now was also indeed an accident.
She had previously determined that what Infanta Yuan’an had said was just an accident. Now she couldn’t say what Shao Wanru did just now was not an accident. It was true that Infanta Yuan’an got her face scratched because she turned her head sideways in a panic.
Infanta Yuan’an was not smart. The Empress was not sure whether Infanta Yuan’an would be helpful or troublesome to her son in the future. If she had known this, she would have chosen her daughter-in-law more carefully at that time. Maybe there had been a more suitable one.
Infanta Yuan’an’s behavior made the Empress angry; now she could not say what Shao Wanru did just now was not an accident.
The hall fell silent, and the Empress looked coldly at Shao Wanru with a hint of anger.
Infanta Yuan’an involuntarily grasped the hem of her dress tightly and bit her lip. She felt panicky. It was obviously not an accident, but she did not have anything to prove it.
She shared the same view of the Empress; if what had happened before was an “accident”, then what happened just now could also be taken as an “accident”, unless the previous one was not an accident.
After a long while, the Empress said slowly, “Since it was an accident, don’t let it affect your harmonious relations.h.i.+p. You two should be friendly with each other in the future!”
“We should do as you say!” Shao Wanru said with a slight smile and agreed with the Empress extremely gently. A palace maid came over to help her stand up and sit down beside the Empress.
After witnessing what happened just now, the Empress would not really think that Shao Wanru was meek.
Infanta Yuan’an was unwilling to give up. The Empress stopped both of them, which meant that she was sure Yuan’an had bad intentions. Besides, it also meant that Yuan’an’s brother had been hit for nothing.
Since he got hit, someone must be punished.
“Your Highness... my second brother is wronged!” Infanta Yuan’an said. She did not get up and looked at the Empress with tears in her eyes. Her eyes were full of expectation.
She couldn’t lose in the first confrontation with Shao Wanru.
“Infanta Yuan’an, are you saying that there was nothing wrong about what your second brother had done and said?” Shao Wanru knew that Infanta Yuan’an would not submit so she responded by asking her with a slight smile.
And then she turned to the Empress and said, “Your Highness, Third Young Master Wen was also there at that time. If you want to know how Second Young Master Qu had defamed Prince Chen’s Mansion in his words, you can invite him into the palace and inquire him!”
“He defamed Prince Chen’s Mansion?” The Empress was surprised and wanted to slap Infanta Yuan’an’s face hard.
“That sickly child is beloved by the Emperor and the Empress Dowager; how could he defame him?
“It’s alright if this matter only concerns Shao Wanru, but if it actually involves Chu Liuchen, not to mention the Empress Dowager, even the Emperor would blame me.
“Infanta Yuan’an is said to have a good fortune, but would this daughter-in-law actually be helpful to my son?” the Empress thought to herself.
“Well, that’s it. Second Young Master Qu offended others, so he should be punished!” the Empress said.
She knew very well that she could not be biased at this time.
“Your Highness, he’s my second brother!” Infanta Yuan’an couldn’t believe what the Empress said and cried out sadly, with tears falling down her face.
She was Prince Zhou’s wife. If her second brother lost face, Prince Zhou would also lose face.
Infanta Yuan’an reminded the Empress that this matter also concerned Prince Zhou’s dignity.
“How dare you! Even if the prince breaks the law, he will be punished!” the Empress said harshly, with her face darkened. She disliked this insensible daughter-in-law!
This matter was obviously a bad thing, and Infanta Yuan’an was so stupid to try to get Prince Zhou involved. She lacked the grace of a future empress; on the contrary, she looked like one of those imperial concubines who came to her and cried that they were wronged.
Every time that happened, the Empress looked down at them with a condescending att.i.tude. Even if they were imperial concubines, they were still concubines. All they could do was crying.
However, she had chosen Infanta Yuan’an for her son as the Princess, who would become the future Crown Princess and the future Empress. How could she lose her grace like this? She wasn’t compared to Princess Chen.
By their looks, Princess Chen was younger and meeker, but she was acting reasonably and gracefully like a princess, while Infanta Yuan’an looked like a concubine.
Comparing the two, she found the difference was obvious. The Empress was unhappy.
“Your Highness, bad news, bad news!” A eunuch ran in hurriedly, sweating profusely.
“What’s the matter?” the Empress said unhappily. The Phoenix Palace should be regulated. Everyone made such a fuss over everything.
“Prince Chen broke Second Young Master Qu’s arm!” the eunuch said, wiping the cold sweat on his forehead.
“What?” Infanta Yuan’an staggered and almost fainted.
“What’s going on?” the Empress was stunned for a moment and asked anxiously. It gave her a headache. Now, this matter could not be smoothed over.
“Prince Chen came from Prince Chen’s Mansion and met Second Young Master Qu at the Palace gate. He broke Second Young Master Qu’s arm straight away and said that it was a revenge for Princess Chen’s matter!” the eunuch said.
“How, how did Prince Chen know about this?” The Empress hurriedly turned back and look at Shao Wanru.
“Before I entered the Palace, I sent someone to inform Prince Chen. He also knew what had happened when I went shopping for clothes and accessories before. Originally, he wanted to go shopping with me, but there was an emergency, so he told me to go shopping alone and inform him when I came back!” Shao Wanru said in an extremely orderly manner.
There was no trace of panic on her face as if what she said was the truth.
“You... you... how could you be so unkind?” Infanta Yuan’an was very sad and angry. Her idea got her second brother’s hand broken. This was her second brother, who had blood ties with her. Although he was not very capable, he was very nice to her.
“Infanta Yuan’an, you’re wrong. I wasn’t being unkind. All I did was tell Prince Chen about it. I didn’t expect that he would meet Second Young Master Qu. Maybe he agitated Prince Chen again! After all, what he had said not only agitated me but also agitated Prince Chen,” Shao Wanru said like she had no choice.
In a word, Qu Xinghong asked for it himself, and it had nothing to do with anyone else!
Infanta Yuan’an was so angry that she almost gnashed her teeth into pieces. If the Empress wasn’t here, she would uncontrollably pounce on Shao Wanru and scratch her hateful face.
“Does the Emperor know about this?” the Empress ignored them and continued.
“Someone has already reported it to the Emperor and the Empress Dowager!” the eunuch replied.
So the Emperor and the Empress Dowager already knew about it!
The Empress took a deep breath, suppressed the surging anger in her heart, and stood up. “Let’s go to the Empress Dowager’s palace and let her decide on this matter!”
She couldn’t smooth over this matter now, and she shouldn’t. It involved her son, so she needed to act fairly and decently and let Empress Dowager decide.
She was the Empress. She could not be partial toward her son. By doing so, the Emperor and the Empress Dowager would trust her more!
“Yes!” Shao Wanru said softly.
Infanta Yuan’an stood up with the help of a palace maid. She gritted her teeth and followed the Empress.
The group of people headed for Empress Dowager’s Palace of Benevolent Peace.
They arrived at the Palace of Benevolent Peace and asked someone to report to the Empress Dowager. And then the Empress walked in with Infanta Yuan’an and Shao Wanru.
The Empress Dowager sat in a large chair. When she saw them come in, she merely raised her eyes and looked displeased.
After the Empress sat down, Shao Wanru and Infanta Yuan’an knelt down in front of the Empress Dowager. The palace maids did not help them get up, which meant that the Empress Dowager did not forego their formalities.
The Empress Dowager ignored the two who had knelt down and asked the Empress slowly, “Empress, what’s the matter?”
“In fact, it was just an accident. Second Young Master Qu fell down the stairs and almost b.u.mped into Princess Chen, but actually, he didn’t b.u.mp into Princess Chen. Princess Chen asked a servant girl to slap Second Young Master Qu in the face. Infanta Yuan’an and Princess Chen got into a fight and went to the Palace together to seek justice from me. I didn’t expect that Prince Chen hit Second Young Master Qu at the gate of the palace!” the Empress sighed helplessly and briefly reported what had happened.
Shao Wanru lowered her eyebrows, but her eyes were cold. What the Empress had said sounded like that she was the one to blame.
“What she said was very funny. Her words hinted that I and Chu Liuchen were being unreasonable and hit Second Young Master Qu one after another!” Shao Wanru thought to herself.
“Second Young Master Qu is a good-for-nothing, but after all, he is the legitimate grandson of Ruiping Great Elder Princess. It’s really improper that Princess Chen and Prince Chen hit him and broke his arm!” the Empress said and then frowned slightly.
“Princess Chen, is that true?” the Empress Dowager turned to Shao Wanru and asked in a deep voice.
“Your Highness, it’s true. At that time, I was so scared that I thought that someone had deliberately hara.s.sed me in order to make Prince Chen lose face. That was why I asked a servant girl to slap Second Young Master Qu. Whether he did it on purpose or not, it was true that he offended me in that case. If he had b.u.mped into me, I might have to kill myself for being hara.s.sed!” Shao Wanru did not object to the Empress; instead, she responded to her words calmly. She lowered her eyebrows slightly, looking respectful but not weak.
At this moment, she would not be weak, nor would she get Chu Liuchen into trouble!
A broken arm versus a suicide; one could immediately tell which one was more serious...