Chapter 574 Turning Black into White
Li Sanqi exclaimed happily, "I knew Consort Hui was a reasonable person!"
Then he said to Qiao Qinghe, "Madam, don't worry, Consort Hui will give you an explanation."
Qiao Qinghe smiled but didn't say anything.
Consort Liu truly lived up to her reputation as someone who had been in the harem for over twenty years!
Despite holding the rank of a concubine and having given birth to a prince, she managed to remain hidden from the public eye, living peacefully until now, despite the favor and power of Consort Zhao and the Empress. It wasn't until the third prince began to rise to prominence in the last two years that she started to step into the public eye.
Tsk tsk, he's definitely not someone to be trifled with.
From their first meeting, Consort Liu Hui had remained an observer. Although she did not add fuel to the fire when the Liu family was pressuring her, she also showed no intention of helping them.
It was clearly a case of letting things take their course, leaving the outcome to her and the Liu family to decide whether the east wind or the west wind prevailed.
But now, judging from the tone of her words, it's clear that she's already siding with her.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have said he would severely punish Consort Liu.
Therefore, it is still necessary to ask someone to come and help.
Sure enough, in just a few words from Li Sanqi, Consort Liu switched sides.
The Liu family members all had different expressions upon hearing Li Sanqi and Consort Liu's words.
Madam Liu frowned, a hint of worry in her expression.
Consort Liu looked anxiously at Consort Liu Hui, then at Old Madam Liu, her eyes filled with pleading for help.
Grandma Liu frowned slightly. However, that was all; she remained calm and unconcerned.
When Consort Liu pleaded for help, she merely glanced at her indifferently and made no further reaction.
Before long, the group entered the reception hall of the Prince Qi's mansion.
Consort Liu and the Crown Princess, being of the highest status, sat in the main seats.
Li Sanqi and Li Jingyue should have sat in the seats to their left and right.
However, from the moment they entered, Qiao Qinghe and her group stood on opposite sides of the Liu family, clearly separated from each other.
The Liu family members took the lead and stood on the left, while Qiao Qinghe and the others quietly moved closer to the right.
Neither side took their seats, but waited for the two princesses, Madam Zheng, and Madam Yuan to take their seats first.
As a result, Li Sanqi and Li Jingyue both sat on the right side.
Madam Zheng and Madam Yuan also sat on the right.
The meaning of "several people" is self-evident.
The Crown Princess looked at Qiao Qinghe and smiled.
Consort Liu also gave Qiao Qinghe a deep look, a smile on her lips, but her expression remained indifferent.
However, the faces of the four women—Old Madam Liu, Second Madam Liu, First Madam Liu, and Concubine Liu—were as black as the bottom of a pot.
Even though Mrs. Liu had expected this, she still felt a deep sense of powerlessness.
She really underestimated Old Lady Qiao!
Originally, we wanted to suppress the Qiao family's momentum, but it seems that's not possible for the time being.
Li Sanqi and the other three took their seats, and Qiao Qinghe also sat down in the seat below Madam Zheng.
However, after Qiao Qinghe sat down, there was only one chair left on her right.
Su Rongrong glanced at Yu Huanzhen, and considering that she was closer to the Qiao family, she immediately offered to let Huanzhen sit down.
Where would I dare to sit?
Although she was a daughter of a marquis, she was far inferior to the wife of the Earl of Enping.
Moreover, she secretly considered herself Qiao Qinghe's maid, so naturally she wouldn't compete with Su Rongrong for her position.
He hurriedly helped Su Rongrong to her seat.
The scene of the two pushing and shoving each other naturally caught the attention of everyone.
Before anyone could react, Qiao Qinghe beckoned to Wei Jia, who was standing to the side, "Come here."
Wei Jia obediently stepped forward.
"If they don't want to sit, you can sit here," Qiao Qinghe gestured.
Wei Jia knew that Qiao Qinghe was flattering her. Without any hesitation, she quickly sat down in the last seat on the right in front of everyone.
After everyone sat down, Su Rongrong and Zhen Huan exchanged a glance, both seeing a tacit understanding in each other's eyes.
The two exchanged a knowing smile, turned around, and stood behind Qiao Qinghe.
Just then, the Crown Princess, who had witnessed the entire event, said with a smile, "Your Highness Consort Hui, how can we make such an honored guest stand?"
Moreover, one is a young lady from a marquis's family, the future Princess Consort of Chu. The other is the wife of the god of war, Earl Enping.
Consort Hui smiled and nodded, and immediately ordered her maid to bring several chairs for Su Rongrong and the others.
This time, not only did Su Rongrong and Zhen Huan get seats, but even Wu Shi managed to snag a chair.
Looking at the huge queue across from her, which wasn't enough to fill all the seats, and then at the empty seats on her side that weren't full, Grandma Liu was filled with resentment, but she still gritted her teeth and made a decision.
Once everyone was seated, the maids and servants of the mansion served fine tea.
Everyone waited for each other to speak, and for a moment, there was an awkward silence.
The Crown Princess greeted Qiao Qinghe with a smile, "I heard that Madam Qiao woke up yesterday afternoon. Is she feeling much better? Did you have a doctor examine her again?"
Qiao Qinghe smiled and replied, "Thank you for your concern, Your Highness. I am much better now."
"Speaking of which, I woke up after a nap and not only was my granddaughter gone, but I couldn't even get through the gates of the Prince Qi's mansion!"
At this point, Li Sanqi immediately perked up. He looked at Consort Liu Hui and reminded her in a coquettish tone, "Your Highness, Consort Hui, you said you would punish them severely."
Consort Liu nodded and looked at Consort Liu, "Consort Liu, did you deliberately have someone stop Old Madam Qiao and her entourage from entering the house?"
Consort Liu quickly stood up, curtsied, and replied respectfully, "Your Majesty is wise. Today, the Liu family has sent people, and Your Majesty rarely leaves the palace, so I had the gates of the mansion closed to prevent anyone from offending Your Majesty."
"But I also instructed the doorman to come in and report immediately if any guests arrive."
"It seems that when Madam Qiao and her party arrived, they found the gate closed and, unable to wait for the gatekeeper to announce their arrival, broke down the gate to enter."
"When I arrived at the gate after hearing the news, I saw that the people brought by Old Madam Qiao had damaged the gate of the Prince's Mansion, and I got into an argument with them."
"Unexpectedly, relying on her status as an elder and the influence of the Enping Earl's Mansion and the Yongning Marquis's Mansion, Old Madam Qiao showed no respect for the Qi Prince's Mansion and had someone slap me in the face in front of everyone."
"Grandmother was also very angry, which is why she argued with Old Madam Qiao."
"Your Majesty witnessed this with your own eyes!"
"If you don't believe me, just look at my face."
As he spoke, he turned his head to show the half of his face with his palm print clearly visible to everyone present.
Everyone looked on with strange expressions.
It's clear that Consort Liu received a rather severe slap on the face.
The key issue isn't the severity of the blow; as the saying goes, you shouldn't hit someone in the face. This Consort Liu was, after all, a consort of the Prince of Qi's household, and she had the Liu family and Consort Hui backing her up.
The fact that Old Madam Qiao dared to slap someone in the face shows that she showed no mercy to the Liu family whatsoever.
No one knows what outrageous thing Consort Liu did to provoke Old Madam Qiao to such a great rage.
Consort Liu Hui nodded as well.
She did indeed witness Qiao Qinghe's men beating Consort Liu.
It is also a fact that the side gate of the Qi Prince's Mansion was damaged.
As for the rest...
She glanced silently at Qiao Qinghe.
Before Qiao Qinghe could speak, Su Rongrong, who was sitting behind her, stood up, glared angrily at Consort Liu, and retorted sharply, "You're turning black into white!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com