Chapter 250 Who Would Be Willing to Be A p.a.w.n If He Could Be the Master?
“If Marquess Qin was really seriously ill, it would be a foregone conclusion that Prince of Zhou would become the crown prince. But what about us?” Gu E’nuo waved their entourages back a long way, looking straight into the eyes of Princess Changping, and asked in a deep voice, “I have badly offended Aunt Changping, so what will happen to me is clear then. And you… Kuang Shihan owes what he has to the Empress Dowager, but even if the Empress Dowager married Aunt Xingkang to him, he has never been amenable to her these years.”
What Kuang Shihan returned did not satisfy Empress Dowager Gu, but for the sake of the overall situation, the Empress Dowager not only overlooked it, but even intended to marry Princess Changping, who she had personally raised up, to his only son, Kuang Qingwu. However, when she didn’t need Kuang Shihan anymore for the overall situation, she would get even with him certainly!
By then, Princess Changping, as a daughter-in-law of the Kuang Family, would not get a great ending even if she remarried and the Empress Dowager let her go as her husband died then. Besides, it was hard to say what kind of person she would remarry!
However, it was impossible to make Princess Changping listen to Gu E’nuo for what she said. Princess Changping frowned and said unhappily, “The third brother will be the crown prince sooner or later. Are you making mischief deliberately? Grandmother raised me, and I should repay her!”
Gu E’nuo sighed, “Sooner or later? Will it be the same for ‘sooner’ and ‘later’?”
Changping and Gu E’nuo were both slick-minded people. Naturally, she understood what she meant. After Empress Dowager Gu took over the power, she would definitely not allow the Kuang Family to reign supreme. If it happened early and Princess Changping just got married at that time, she wouldn’t have time to get familiar with her husband’s family, let alone cultivating her own power. If the Empress Dowager wanted to wipe out the Kuang Family, she would have to thank her for her not handling her!
If it happened late and Princess Changping had got some power and could help the Empress Dowager, she would have the confidence to have a say in the affairs of her remarriage or the distribution of power.
Princess Changping kept silent for a long time, and whispered, “You really want to die for holding back at this time?”
Although she said so, Gu E’nuo knew that she had weakened. Descendants of royal families like them who were talented, beautiful, pretentious, and n.o.ble would not willing to be just a p.a.w.n if they could be the masters.
Being a p.a.w.n was at risk of being abandoned at any time!
How could they be willing?
“Of course, we won’t do that blatantly!” After Changping was tentatively persuaded, Gu E’nuo sighed in relief, swept her hair on the temples, and whispered in a low voice, “Anyway, only the stalemate will do good to us!”
“The Empress Dowager hates people living on her while helping others secretly most. Are you sure we two can fool her?” Changping said in a deep voice, “In case of being discovered, then…”
“How come there are only two of us?” Gu E’nuo sneered, “Although my brother respects my sister-in-law, he isn’t so respectful of her that he will give the position of the Empress in the future to the Tang Family!”
The position of the Empress! How did the Gu Family get developed? Because they had Empress Dowager Gu!
Empress Dowager Gu was about to become a great-grandmother, so how could the Gu Family not plan for their rich and n.o.ble lives in the future? If there could be another Empress in their family, how would they give the chance to the Tang Family?
Princess Changping’s complexion eased slightly, “With the support of Prince’s Mansion of Guangyang, it deserves consideration… But it should be in moderation. If we gave the Empress the chance to bring about an upswing after doing that, it would be a joke!” The reasons why she was on Gu E’nuo’s side were that Gu E’nuo was so scheming that they could help each other and Prince’s Mansion of Guangyang was powerful.
Since Gu E’nuo weighed both things up, Princess Changping convinced more.
“What we should do now is to confirm how serious Marquess Qin’s illness really is.” In the midsummer, even though the mountain wind was blowing, Gu E’nuo still felt sweat-drenched after standing in the shade of flowers to talk to Changping. She took her handkerchief from her sleeves to wipe the sweat and whispered, “If he is fine, then we don’t have to worry about it for the time being! I’m just afraid he is really sick, and the Empress can hardly support it alone then…”
Gu E’nuo was born on the Empress Dowager’s side, and she never had thought that one day she would worry about the health of her biggest political enemy. But she didn’t know that her thoughts were explained to Xin Fubing and Zhuang Man by Qiu Yelan at this time, “What the Empress Dowager’s party can get is not the most important thing for Gu E’nuo. The most important thing for her is what she can get personally! Since she could entrap Prince of Yan and Princess of Yan last year, how could she not consider for herself this time?”
Zhuang Man asked happily, “So, Gu E’nuo will work for us then?”
“How is it possible? She just wants to use us to keep her future!” Xin Fubing sneered, “Although her future is just the moon in the water and the flower in the mirror!”
Qiu Yelan pushed Whitey which was close to her skirt towards Xin Fubing, and said nonchalantly, “Cousin Xin is right. What Gu E’nuo hopes most is that we can survive for some time even if we lose. It’s better if we can impose some pressure on Empress Dowager Gu in the middle so that she would not dare to change the wife of Prince of Zhou… After all, Tang Xinqiong is backed by Princess Changping, and Gu E’nuo is also protected by Prince’s Mansion of Guangyang! If we don’t show any obvious signs of failure, how could Empress Dowager Gu back and fill and offend Prince’s Mansion of Guangyang?”
Zhuang Man curled her lips and said, “In her dreams!” She rolled her eyes, “Why don’t we expose her to Empress Dowager Gu when she comes here to help us? In this way, no matter whether she deals with her…”
“She will be handled certainly!” Xin Fubing did not avoid the Persian cat’s rich fur but hugged Whitey happily, gently stroking its back, and said to Zhuang Man, “You forget that Gu E’nuo is not the only daughter in Prince’s Mansion of Guangyang? Gu Pingting, namely Commandery Princess Jing’an, her younger sister, is qualified to be Princess Zhou as well although she is not as great as Gu E’nuo! If Gu E’nuo misbehaved, why doesn’t the Gu Family change a daughter to be Princess Zhou?”
The last sentence was a mockery of the Tao Family.
“Yes. Prince’s Mansion of Guangyang got developed with the help of Empress Dowager Gu, so they don’t dare to offend her openly!” While Qiu Yelan didn’t want to turn the topic to the Tao Family or Madame Tao Junior, she just considered it as it stood, “Of course, the Empress Dowager does not want to fall out with her natal family, so although Gu E’nuo will think for herself, she does not dare to be caught out by the Empress Dowager so as not to be abandoned by the Prince’s Mansion! As for the rumors, they were bruited after the earthquake last year because it needed a scapegoat, and Prince of Qi and Prince of Yan were the most suitable candidates. Even if Gu E’nuo hadn’t entrapped them, I thought they would have been wronged as well even after the court discussion. She just tried to act first and report afterward rather than killing her teammates.”
Zhuang Man asked anxiously, “That is to say that exposing Gu E’nuo is of no use to the overall situation?”
“Yeah.” Qiu Yelan took the pomegranate that Su He brought up and peeled off a corner, saying, “You don’t have to think too much about the overall situation. Now it is time for the elders to strategize, and we… It isn’t the time for us to be the masters of the family now. We can help them, but we are not the ones to determine the result.”
Her words were actually half true. After all, things were unpredictable in the world, and maybe a small potato could turn things around. While considering the rarity of that and Zhuang Man’s precipitance, Qiu Yelan thought it was better to dampen her enthusiasm. Otherwise, if Cousin Zhuang was so excited and did a disservice, it would be bad.
After hearing what she said, Zhuang Man was really disappointed, “We really can’t help with that? A small favor will be fine too!”
“I want to ask for your help!” Xin Fubing said hurriedly, “I want to practice calligraphy these two days, but I forgot to bring the copybooks from home. Will you go and ask Princess Yongfu for a few copybooks? I want those written by the Duke of Puyang recently… Since the death of old Princess Qin, the Duke of Puyang has always been sick, and there has been no new handwriting for a long time. But as long as he writes, they will definitely be picked by the princesses first!”
Zhuang Man glared at her, “You can find a maid to do that!”
“The copybooks written by the Duke of Puyang, especially the latest ones, are so valuable. How can a maid get them?” Xin Fubing pursed her mouth, “I want to go by myself, but I really felt sick these two days. The sun makes me dizzy. I am afraid that if I had something wrong on the way, you would get hurt because of me!”
Qiu Yelan hurriedly said, “I’ll go and get it for you. What kind of handwriting do you want?”
“Well, sister-in-law, just sit down. I’ll just get some great things from the princess pa.s.singly.” Zhuang Man was active, and she refused Xin Fubing before just to bicker with her. Seeing that Qiu Yelan was about to go, she stood up first, “She hasn’t been here in the past two days. Does she find some interesting things?”
Qiu Yelan smiled upon seeing this, “You will know after you go to find her. Bring some for us if there are really some interesting things!”
After she left, Xin Fubing picked up Whitey and put it on the bed. She ordered all the servants to go out, turned around to pulled Qiu Yelan’s sleeves, and asked in a trembling tone, “Sister-in-law, tell me the truth. How is the second granduncle now?”
“He can take care of things in a few days!” Qiu Yelan knew that she would ask about this since she deliberately sent Zhuang Man away, so she said without hesitation, “If you don’t believe me, you can wait and see!”
Xin Fubing’s long fan-like eyelashes trembled for a moment. Then she pressed her hands on her chest, exhaled for a long time, and smiled bitterly, “How could I suspect you lied to me?”
“To be honest, if grandfather were really sick, how could I accompany you into the Palace?” Qiu Yelan put her hand on her shoulders, walked over to the bed, and sat down with her, saying sincerely, “Since we have such a grudge against the Empress Dowager’s party, either her party or we will die in the end! This time grandfather relapsed. Fortunately, it was not serious. But to prevent grandfather’s health from worsening out of overwork, some things may be canceled or backed down then. But it is just temporary, so don’t worry!”
“It is not a big deal. What I’m afraid is that if the second granduncle were really sick, then the Jiang Family and its in-laws would be over then!” Xin Fubing said with a pale face, “As long as the second granduncle is well, how will I mind being wronged momentarily?”
Her admiring Marquess Qin so much made Qiu Yelan stunned slightly. She always thought that although the core of the Empress’s party was Marquess Qin, without Empress Jiang, there would be no pretense for Marquess Qin to reign. As for political qualifications and prestige, Xue Chang was greater in the court!
So even if Marquess Qin couldn’t take care of things, Empress Jiang couldn’t control the entire party and guarantee most of the fighting power and was at a disadvantage, they could still make the Empress Dowager’s party helpless in a short time. He was only the party chieftain after all!
However, Xin Fubing seemed to think that if Marquess Qin couldn’t handle things then, the Empress’s party would lose certainly!
“I hope this is just your personal opinion. If all the people in the Empress’s party think so, even if Marquess Qin could temporarily suppress his illness to break the rumors and handle things, the people in the Empress’ party would be demoralized.” Looking at the worried look of her former cousin, Qiu Yelan had a bad feeling.