Chapter 497 Forming Alliances
Qiao Qinghe naturally noticed the change in Li Jingyue's attitude and the obvious wariness in her eyes.
But she continued, "Sixth Princess, haven't you ever thought about why Consort Xian and His Highness the Crown Prince insisted on marrying you to Lu Ming?"
Li Jingyue pondered for a moment and replied, "Lu Ming is talented and highly regarded by the Crown Prince, so he wants to win people's hearts through marriage."
"As for my mother, she has always treated my elder brother, the Crown Prince, as her own son. Therefore, she rarely refuses my elder brother's opinions."
Qiao Qinghe smiled, but her smile was full of bitterness and pity.
"What are you laughing at, Madam? Did I say something wrong?" Li Jingyue looked at Qiao Qinghe with a gloomy expression. She always felt that Qiao Qinghe's smile was extremely irritating, as if she were telling some huge joke.
Qiao Qinghe sighed, then said in a deep voice, "Does the Sixth Princess know that Lu Ming's grandfather was a Grand Secretary more than ten years ago, a highly respected official in the court?"
Li Jingyue was puzzled: "Of course I know about the Lu family's affairs. But so what?"
"Does the Sixth Princess know that your mother, Consort Xian, is the daughter of Grand Secretary Lu and Lu Ming's aunt?"
"How is this possible?" Li Jingyue exclaimed in shock. "My mother's surname is clearly Zhao, and my maternal grandfather is Grand Secretary Zhao!"
Qiao Qinghe continued to press, "Then it's not surprising, Sixth Princess, that Grand Secretary Zhao and even the Zhao family rarely interact with your mother. It's almost as if they'd never speak to each other again."
Li Jingyue's expression stiffened, and then Qiao Qinghe continued, "Grand Secretary Zhao was Grand Secretary Lu's mentor. He felt guilty towards Grand Secretary Lu for being forced to resign. So when your mother came to him, he allowed her to appear in the public eye as a daughter of the Zhao family. Later, he asked the Emperor for his grace to send your mother into the palace."
A storm raged in Li Jingyue's heart.
If that's the case, then her mother and her maternal grandparents' family would be guilty of deceiving the emperor!
However, this also explains why her mother insisted on her marrying Lu Ming.
Lu Ming was first rejected by the Marquis of Xuanping's family, which could be attributed to the Marquis of Xuanping's family being materialistic and prejudiced against the poor.
Li Sanqi, who was betrothed to him after he became the top scholar in the imperial examination, refused to marry him no matter what and tried to break off the engagement.
If Lu Ming cannot marry a princess, his reputation and future will likely be affected.
Therefore, Lu Ming's mother, who was Lu Ming's aunt, used her as a substitute and as a stepping stone to salvage Lu Ming's reputation.
Before Li Jingyue could feel sad, she suddenly remembered something and abruptly turned to look at the maid not far away.
Did the maids hear what they just said?
Will these words reach the ears of the Emperor?
Li Jingyue's face instantly turned extremely ugly.
She looked at Qiao Qinghe with a mixture of shock, disbelief, and hurt in her eyes, "Madam, did you do this on purpose?"
"Did you deliberately approach me, deliberately expose these things, and deliberately try to get my father to punish my mother and maternal grandparents?"
Qiao Qinghe looked at Li Jingyue with a complicated expression. "Sixth Princess, if I may remind you, just now at the entrance of the Jiang residence, the Lady of Enping and I were about to leave. It was you who pulled us in."
"If anyone is deliberately approaching us, it should be you who deliberately approached us."
Li Jingyue's lips twitched; she had actually forgotten about this.
Ignoring Li Jingyue's embarrassment, Qiao Qinghe continued with a startling statement: "You don't need to worry that these words will reach the Emperor's ears."
"Because His Majesty already knew about these things."
"Not only that, but I even learned about these things from His Majesty himself."
This time, Li Jingyue was completely unsettled. "This, how is this possible? Father Emperor knew Mother's true identity all along? How is this possible?"
If that's really the case, why didn't the Emperor punish the Mother?
Qiao Qinghe guessed that Emperor Xiaozhao hadn't exposed the matter before perhaps because he felt it was unnecessary. In any case, a childless concubine couldn't cause much trouble.
As for now, it's even more important to keep Consort Zhao alive for other purposes.
After a long while, Li Jingyue finally recovered from her shock. She calmed her racing heart and asked, "If everything is as the old lady said, then what role did the Crown Prince play in the Lu family's affairs?"
Although Qiao Qinghe had some suspicions, since it concerned the Crown Prince, she felt it was best to stop there.
So he shrugged and said helplessly, "I don't know about that."
After thinking for a moment, Qiao Qinghe added, "I told the Sixth Princess this only to let her know that His Highness the Crown Prince, Consort Xian, and Lu Ming might be plotting something."
"If the Sixth Princess cannot distance herself from them and remain untainted, then she must find a way to make a living for herself."
Li Jingyue froze, slowly raised her eyes to look at Qiao Qinghe, and asked in a hoarse voice, "Just like the old lady?"
The crimes committed by the Min family, which were publicly announced when they were raided and exterminated, were too numerous to count.
However, the old lady, who had been the matriarch of the Min family for decades, survived unharmed and even lived a carefree and unrestrained life.
What kind of vision and strategy must it have taken to get to where we are today?
Can she do it?
Just then, Qiao Qinghe suddenly spoke up: "Sixth Princess, a tree dies when transplanted, but a person thrives. It's time for the Sixth Princess to make some changes."
"How about we start by getting rid of this sickly reputation that he's had since childhood?"
Li Jingyue's lips twitched. What had the old lady discovered?
Qiao Qinghe smiled and said, "Everyone says that the Sixth Princess has been frail and sickly since childhood. When I first met her, I also thought that the Sixth Princess was sickly and weak."
"But I noticed that when the Sixth Princess spoke, she had a strong voice. Even after speaking for so long, her breathing remained long and powerful, without any coughing or weakness."
"As for the pale complexion beneath the rouge... it's probably just from white powder, isn't it?"
Li Jingyue smiled awkwardly, "I was indeed sickly for a few years when I was a child, but I gradually recovered. However, I found that faking illness could keep me from going out and reduce trouble. Over time, I got used to it."
"I've been pretending for over ten years, and now you suddenly want me to get better? That might be a bit difficult."
Qiao Qinghe hesitated for a moment, then said, "I wonder, Sixth Princess, have you ever heard of Doctor Mu Jinmu?"
Li Jingyue thought for a moment, then asked uncertainly, "Is the old lady referring to the doctor who detoxified Madam Zheng of the Duke of Jin's mansion?"
Qiao Qinghe nodded, "Yes. It's her. Everyone in the capital knows she's a highly skilled doctor, but it's very difficult to get her to come."
"But she is a legendary doctor I brought back from Jiangnan, and we have a very close relationship."
"Today I had a very pleasant conversation with the Sixth Princess, so it was only natural for me to ask her to treat the Sixth Princess's illness."
"With the hibiscus as a cover, it's no wonder that the Sixth Princess's illness was completely cured."
"What does the Sixth Princess think?"
Li Jingyue nodded. "I think this is excellent. It's just..."
Li Jingyue suddenly looked at Qiao Qinghe with a hint of schadenfreude, "If the old lady asks Doctor Mu to treat my illness, will Seventh Sister throw a tantrum at the old lady when she finds out?"
Qiao Qinghe said firmly, "No."
Li Jingyue looked surprised.
Then Qiao Qinghe continued, "After the Sixth Princess returns to the palace, she might as well go and see the Seventh Princess."
Li Sanqi no longer cares about the petty grudges between him and Li Jingyue.
If Li Sanqi could persuade Li Jingyue to join forces with her...
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