Chapter 204 A Clash of Titans
As everyone was wondering, Li Sanqi said sternly, "When Madam Qiao hosted a banquet, Old Madam Wu came uninvited to cause trouble. It must have been instigated by Madam Liu!"
"I'm not saying this to be mean, but Mrs. Liu is too short-sighted. She can't stand seeing others have good things."
"So what if Madam Qiao got a hot spring? You're just jealous and envious."
"They couldn't get it when they went to ask for it before, so now they're instigating Old Madam Wu to cause trouble."
"Not only did they disrupt Madam Qiao's banquet, they also displeased the Crown Princess."
"The Crown Princess is carrying the blood of the royal family!"
"If anything happens to the child in the Crown Princess's womb, my elder brother, the Crown Prince, will definitely not let your Wu family off the hook!"
These words made everyone seem thoughtful.
It sounds like it makes a lot of sense, but something just doesn't feel right.
Before anyone could react, Li Sanqi loudly ordered the female official beside the Crown Princess, "What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and send the Crown Princess back!"
"The Crown Princess is currently in the process of resting during her pregnancy. How can she leave the residence at will? If she gets hurt, I'd like to see how many heads you have to pay for it!"
The female officials serving the Crown Princess were appointed by the Empress, so naturally they would not disobey Li Sanqi's orders.
Besides, she had already tried to dissuade the Crown Princess from going out today when she suddenly insisted on doing so. She just couldn't persuade her otherwise.
Upon hearing Li Sanqi's words, the female official quickly stepped forward to help the Crown Princess, saying, "Your Highness is in good health, we should go back as soon as possible."
The Crown Princess trembled with rage and slapped the female official across the face, demanding, "Whose servant are you?"
The female official dared not say anything more and stepped aside.
The Crown Princess then glared fiercely at Li Sanqi, "Seventh Princess, are you determined to support Min Qiao Shi?"
With such blatant favoritism towards Min Qiaoshi and public humiliation of her family, does Li Sanqi still consider her her sister-in-law?
Li Sanqi looked at the Crown Princess with surprise, "Sister-in-law, your words are rather biased. How could I be favoring anyone? I'm just speaking out of principle, not personal ties!"
The Crown Princess retorted sarcastically, "It was clearly my grandmother and third aunt who were beaten, so how come in your mouth it's me, Min Qiao Shi, who suffered injustice?"
Li Sanqi chuckled and said, "If Madam Liu hadn't brought Old Madam Wu here to cause trouble, would this have happened today? In the end, they were the ones who actively came looking for a beating!"
The Crown Princess was speechless, about to retort. But Li Sanqi waved his hand impatiently and said, "Alright, sister-in-law, don't waste your breath. Let's hurry up and leave with the two from the Wu family."
"Honestly, the Wu family ruined a perfectly good banquet for someone else."
With that, he stopped paying attention to the Crown Princess.
The Crown Princess was so angry that she felt dizzy, but fortunately, a female official helped her up in time.
Before the lady-in-law could call for the imperial physician, Li Sanqi frowned and said sarcastically, "Sister-in-law, you should go home and pretend to faint again, so people won't misunderstand. People who don't know better will think that Madam Qiao did something to you."
The Crown Princess could only force herself to stay awake even if she wanted to faint.
She glared fiercely at Li Sanqi, gripped the female official's hand tightly, and left through gritted teeth.
Seeing this, Wu's mother and daughter-in-law could only glare at Min Qiaoshi unwillingly before quickly catching up with the Crown Princess.
Even after the group left, the atmosphere in the room did not lighten.
Soon, someone made an excuse to leave.
Others also started leaving one after another.
Madam Min did not try to stop them, and readily had her maid send them away.
Before long, only Madam Zheng and Li Sanqi remained of the guests who had come to the gathering.
Li Sanqi was somewhat indignant: "What do these people mean? Are they all afraid of the Crown Princess?"
After saying that, she looked at Madam Min Qiao with some embarrassment, "I've disrupted the Grand Madam's banquet, won't the Grand Madam be angry?"
Min Qiaoshi was naturally not angry. Instead, she said happily, "I should thank the princess for getting me out of this predicament."
In a way, Li Sanqi was helping her share the burden of the hatred between the Crown Princess and the Wu family.
Of course, she wasn't afraid even if Li Sanqi didn't come.
Anyway, she's just an old woman, who would really kill her?
As for involving the Marquis of Xuanping's mansion or Min Rong... ha, does she care?
Anyway, it's all something the people from the Marquis of Xuanping's mansion owed her in their past lives!
She doesn't feel guilty at all!
Li Sanqi wasn't one to mince words. Seeing that Madam Min was easy to talk to, she smiled and changed the subject, saying, "I think Miss Qiao is quite nice. I'll ask my mother to keep an eye out for suitable people, and if she finds one, I'll ask her to bestow a marriage upon Miss Qiao."
Being granted a marriage by the Empress is a great opportunity to elevate Qiao Yuanyao's status.
Madam Min Qiao naturally wouldn't refuse, and quickly thanked her, "Then thank you very much for your trouble, Seventh Princess. However, could we perhaps choose the suitable candidate ourselves?"
A marriage can be arranged, but the person to be married must not be the Empress.
Li Sanqi was taken aback, then understood, and glared at Min Qiaoshi with annoyance: "How could someone my mother approves of be bad?"
Min Qiaoshi didn't speak, only smiled apologetically.
Li Sanqi wasn't really angry; he just gave a feigned cold "humph." "I'm worried about troubling my mother! Alright, then I'll wait until you've found a suitable match for Miss Qiao, and then I'll ask my mother to grant them a marriage. Is that alright?"
"Thank you very much, Seventh Princess!" Madam Min Qiao said sincerely.
The two talked about the hot spring resort for a while, and after lunch, Li Sanqi and Madam Zheng left.
Meanwhile, after the Crown Princess returned to her residence, she summoned the imperial physician.
After returning home, the Wu family mother-in-law and daughter-in-law also consulted a doctor.
In no time, all three of them fell ill.
News of the three men being mistreated at the Marquis of Xuanping's residence quickly spread.
The Crown Princess was of extraordinary status and pregnant. As soon as the Crown Prince's residence summoned the imperial physician, the palace learned of it.
The Crown Prince, who cherished his Crown Princess dearly, returned to his residence immediately upon hearing the news.
The imperial physician informed us that the Crown Princess's anger and distress had affected the fetus, causing some instability in the pregnancy.
The Crown Prince immediately asked the Crown Princess what had happened.
The Crown Princess looked aggrieved and hesitant, which prompted the Crown Prince to keep asking her questions.
Finally, the Crown Princess tearfully recounted the events at the Xuanping Marquis's residence, emphasizing that Li Sanqi had sided with Min Qiaoshi, ordering her aunt's family members to be beaten and showing her no respect whatsoever.
Finally, she changed the subject, saying that Li Sanqi was young and must have been deceived by Min Qiaoshi, and told the Crown Prince not to make things difficult for Li Sanqi, among other magnanimous remarks. This made the Crown Prince storm out in anger.
After the Crown Princess's complaint, when Li Sanqi returned to the palace, the Crown Prince was already waiting for her in the Empress's palace.
When the female official came to report that the Empress had summoned her, Li Sanqi had no idea what had happened.
When Li Sanqi saw the Crown Prince in the Empress's palace, he didn't notice anything amiss.
It wasn't until the Crown Prince reprimanded her with a dark face and, in front of the Empress, ordered her to personally go to the Crown Prince's residence the next day to apologize to the Crown Princess that Li Sanqi stared wide-eyed in astonishment, questioning the Crown Prince in disbelief whether he knew what had happened.
It was clearly the Wu family who started the trouble first, and then the Crown Princess tried to bully others by taking advantage of her power. She was just trying to uphold justice and quell the incident, so how did it end up being her fault?
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