Chapter 130: Avoiding Suspicion Cui Shi did not know how to avoid suspicion, but the prince hated being with her...
A few palace maids and nannies made a few sarcastic remarks, but out of concern for Concubine Shu and the second prince Xiao Ze, they did not dare to stay and watch Cui Linghui make a fool of herself, and left in a hurry.
Cui Linghui's face turned red and white, half of his cheek was swollen, his hair was messy and he looked extremely embarrassed.
Especially, thinking that she was in such a miserable state, while her stepsister Cui Lingyan was staying in the Empress Dowager's palace and was favored by the Empress Dowager, Cui Linghui felt even more uncomfortable.
She was most afraid of being laughed at and living a life inferior to others. In her rebirth, she bravely chose to turn down the marriage with Lu Bingzhi, and later attached herself to the second prince Xiao Ze, all in order to live a better life than others and not end up like in her previous life.
But she did so much, but still became a joke. In the eyes of those palace maids and nannies, she was probably not even worthy of carrying shoes for her stepsister Cui Lingyan.
Cui Linghui lay on the ground for a long time without getting up. It was unknown how long it had been before he heard footsteps.
She raised her head, saw who it was, and was stunned for a moment.
The person who came was none other than Lu Bingzhi, whom she had been unwilling to marry but had to marry in her previous life.
A servant followed behind him, observing his words. Seeing her in such a state of disgrace, Cui Linghui wished she could find a hole in the ground to crawl into.
She lowered her head slightly, not daring to imagine how disdainful and contemptuous Lu Bingzhi looked at her at this moment. She felt that he must be laughing at her in his heart for not wanting this marriage in the first place, and now she ended up in this situation and had such a hard time in the palace.
Lu Bingzhi's gaze was calm. He didn't even linger on Cui Linghui for a moment and walked straight past her.
Cui Linghui noticed his movements and subconsciously raised her head, choking with sobs as she called out, "Prince!"
When she shouted this, she realized how much regret she had in her heart. She regretted giving up such a good marriage to Cui Lingyan, but ended up in this situation now.
But she couldn't say this, nor did she dare to say it, and she was too embarrassed to say it out loud.
Her eyes were red, and her face was filled with loneliness and embarrassment. She said to Lu Bingzhi, "I accidentally fell. Please do me a favor, my lord. Send someone to tell my maid Yulan to come and pick me up."
As soon as she finished speaking, Lu Bingzhi didn't even look at her and walked straight forward.
Guan Yan, standing behind him, slowed down a few paces. Seeing Cui Linghui about to speak, he looked at her with a hint of sarcasm: "Everyone in the capital knows that Miss Cui's maid Yulan is already sleeping with the Second Prince. How come Yulan is so loyal and protective of her master that even after climbing up the social ladder, she can still serve Miss Cui as her mistress as before?"
"The young lady is now the Second Prince's concubine. If she has any difficulties in the palace, she should find someone to ask His Royal Highness the Second Prince for help. How can she ask our Crown Prince? The young lady doesn't care about her own reputation, but our Crown Prince is afraid of being misunderstood by the Young Madam."
Guanyan had never liked Cui Linghui, the legitimate daughter of the Ningshou Marquis. When she was still the prince's fiancée, he always felt that Cui was arrogant and did not take him, a servant, seriously. She was also proud of her status when treating the prince well, and felt that it was natural for her to marry into the Weiguo Duke's Mansion and become the prince's wife.
At that time, Guan Yan had to endure it no matter how unhappy he was. But now that Cui entered the palace and became only a small concubine beside the second prince Xiao Ze, there were some things he couldn't help but want to say.
Furthermore, Cui's words were truly ridiculous. Everyone in the palace knew that the Crown Prince and the Second Prince were at odds. If she, the Second Prince's concubine, approached the Crown Prince for help, who knew how the outside world would interpret it if word got out.
Cui did not know how to avoid suspicion, but the prince hated to have anything to do with her, his former fiancée.
Cui Linghui's face was burning until Guanyan walked away.
She knew that she and Lu Bingzhi should avoid suspicion now, and she also guessed that Lu Bingzhi would definitely not have the slightest pity for her. She said this just to test whether Lu Bingzhi still had any sympathy for her, his ex-fiancée.
She regretted asking that question the moment she opened her mouth, feeling she was bringing shame upon herself. As expected, she shouldn't have had even the slightest bit of delusion.
Now that she has become Xiao Ze's concubine, how could she dare to think about Lu Bingzhi, the prince of Weiguo?
It turned out that what she didn't want in her previous life became what she couldn't get in this life. So what was the point of her rebirth? Was it just to watch her stepsister Cui Lingyan enjoy the glory and snatch everything that was rightfully hers?
She forced herself to stand up, looked at Lu Bingzhi's back for a long time, then turned around and walked away step by step.
When Cui Linghui returned to the side hall where he lived, he did not see Yulan coming out to greet him.
As soon as I entered the room, I saw Yulan sitting in front of her dressing table with several exquisitely crafted gold filigree hairpins at her side. Yulan was fiddling with one of the hairpins in her hair with a smile on her face. There was no trace of the humbleness of a maid at all.
When Cui Linghui saw this scene, he was filled with anger. He wanted to go up and pull Yulan up and slap her hard a few times to let her know what respect and inferiority meant.
Yulan sensed someone behind her and saw Cui Linghui returning in the mirror. She was slightly stunned, then quickly stood up and said with a smile, "Didn't the master go with Concubine Shu to pay respects to the Empress Dowager? How come you're back so soon?
As Yulan spoke, she noticed Cui Linghui's swollen cheek, the fingerprints on it particularly visible. She had a suspicion in her mind: since Concubine Shu had lost her position as Imperial Concubine, it wouldn't be easy to please her. These past few days, Cui Linghui had been cautious, acting like a humble maid. While this had earned her some leniency, it ultimately only made her more looked down upon.
As Concubine Shu became more and more angry, she naturally no longer cared about Cui Linghui's identity as the legitimate daughter of the Ningshou Marquis's Mansion, and she started to attack without hesitation.
She felt that her master was really stupid. How could she gain the respect of others when she was so low in the mud?
At this point, if Cui Linghui was proud of her status as the legitimate daughter of the Marquis's Mansion, Concubine Shu might still have some concerns. However, by lowering herself like this, all she got in return was contempt and disdain, which made people feel that Cui Linghui could humiliate her at will.
Suppressing these thoughts in her heart, Yulan restrained the smile on her face. As if she had just noticed the injury on Cui Linghui's face, she said with a bit of worry and distress: "Miss, didn't you go to pay your respects to the Empress Dowager? Why did you come back with a wound on your cheek? Is the Empress Dowager dissatisfied with you and asked someone to punish you?"
Seeing Cui Linghui's grim expression, she tried to probe again: "Or is it that Concubine Shu is making things difficult for me again?"
Cui Linghui didn't answer, but her eyes fell on the pieces of jewelry on the dressing table.
Yulan followed her gaze and said with a smile, "This is the jewelry that the Second Prince gave to me. I know my status and would never dare to touch anything that belongs to me. Please don't misunderstand me."
Without waiting for Cui Linghui to speak, she continued, "Young lady, you must be tired after just returning from the Cining Palace. You should rest well. I just received the jewelry sent by His Highness and thought of making some snacks for His Highness. If His Highness likes them and is willing to protect us, it would be a great honor."
As Yulan spoke, she walked forward and put the jewelry on the dressing table into the box, bowed to Cui Linghui, turned around and walked away.
Cui Linghui kept a gloomy face until she left, then he took a few steps forward and knocked over everything on the dressing table.
The jewelry box fell to the ground, and the hairpins and beads inside fell to the ground. The pearls scattered and rolled several times to the corner.
A palace maid wearing a turquoise jacket who was standing in the corridor heard the noise in the room and walked in. Seeing the jewelry scattered on the ground, her heart skipped a beat. She wanted to speak to calm her master's anger but did not dare to step forward.
She originally did the cleaning work, and was only sent by the housekeeper to serve Cui Linghui in recent days.
Although it has only been a few days, I know what this woman's status was before she entered the palace. Now that she is His Highness's concubine, her situation in the palace is not very good.
Even her own maid, Yulan, was sent to the Second Prince's bed, but in return he only stayed in her room for one day.
Now, Yulan is more favored than Cui Linghui, the master. Although she has no official status, she is given a separate room and a maid is sent to serve her.
According to her, since Yulan had become the Second Prince's wife, she didn't need to come to this room to serve. But Yulan still pretended to be loyal and came here frequently, and I didn't know if she was deliberately trying to disgust Cui Linghui.
Just like today, the master came back in a mess and got angry again when he saw Yulan.
Cui Linghui's chest rose and fell a few times. He suppressed his temper and then ordered in a deep voice: "Pack your things and bring a bottle of medicine."
She thought for a moment and then instructed, "Also, you've been in the palace for quite a few years, so you must have connections. Leave the palace for me and take a message to the old lady at the Zhenguo Mansion, asking Grandmother to find me some fertility-enhancing drugs. Even if they're strong, bring them back to me."
The palace maid was named Xi Que. The Ministry of Internal Affairs sent her here because they thought her name had a good meaning and wanted to choose a nice name to dilute the bad luck of the Cui family.
Xi Que also knew that the mistress had caught a cold from the fall, making it difficult for her to conceive. Furthermore, the prince visited Yulan's chamber more often than the mistress's. And now, with the prince getting married next month and moving out of the palace to establish a residence outside, marrying Zheng, the legitimate daughter of the Kangshou Marquisate, as his principal wife, Cui's life would be even more difficult with the presence of a mistress.
Therefore, even though she felt that this method was not appropriate, she also knew that if she could find a way to get pregnant earlier, it would be a way out.
After all, His Highness has no children yet. If she is pregnant, it will be a happy event regardless of whether the child is legitimate or illegitimate.
Even if she could only give birth to a daughter after ten months of pregnancy, this daughter would help to stabilize her position in the prince's mansion. It is better than being bullied and looked down upon like this, and even being overshadowed by the maid who used to serve her.
Thinking of this, Xi Que responded with a yes, first went to get the medicine for Cui Linghui, then squatted down and picked up the jewelry that had fallen on the ground.
Cui Linghui took the medicine back to the inner room and sat on the bed. Only then did she uncontrollably start to cry.
Listening to the sobbing sounds coming from the inner room, Xi Que sighed softly and tiptoed out.
Inside the side hall
Qin'er, the maidservant who served Yulan, lowered her voice and said to her, "Master, why did you offend Cui? After all, Cui still has the Ningshou Marquisate behind her. If she were to rise to power one day and win the favor of His Highness, how would you cope with that?"
"Besides, the Master is able to serve His Highness thanks to Cui's intercession. It was through Qiu Ning that the Master was able to serve His Highness. The Master and Cui can support each other in this palace. Why would you offend them and make a fool of yourself?"
Yulan remained unmoved by her words and said calmly, "You don't know Cui's character. How could she have seen a former maid like me enjoying His Highness's favor? She treated me as a chess piece, but even if I were a chess piece, how could I rely on her in her current situation? Instead of relying on her, I should spend more time with Qiu Ning. After all, Qiu Ning has been a supporter of mine. Moreover, Qiu Ning has served His Highness for many years and understands His Highness's temper better than Cui."
Qin Er heard her say this and nodded, "My master is right. I just hope that His Highness will get married next month. I hope the mistress won't be a jealous and intolerant person when she gets married."
Yulan shook her head. "From what I've heard, Zheng is a calm and generous woman, and shouldn't be jealous. Besides, Your Highness is a noble person, so how could she be so jealous as to meddle in His Highness's affairs?"
Qin'er hummed a sigh of relief and continued, "I heard that Prince Lu and his wife went to the palace to pay their respects to the Empress Dowager today. It's said that Concubine Shu was bringing Concubine Cui to pay her respects and they happened to meet. The Empress Dowager didn't treat Concubine Cui well, so Concubine Shu couldn't hold back and slapped her in the face as soon as she left the Cining Palace. That's why she came back so embarrassed and alone."
"Speaking of which, since the Empress lost her position as Imperial Concubine, her temper has become increasingly irritable. Master, please be more careful and don't anger the Concubine Shu."
Yulan listened to her words, placed the jewelry box in her hand on the dressing table, and said with some emotion: "Nowadays, in terms of respectability, who can compare with the third lady? I'm afraid that when the eldest lady sees the third lady today, she will be jealous and unable to sleep."
"Come to think of it, she gave up such a good marriage to the third young lady for nothing. Now the third young lady is so popular and favored by the Crown Prince, and she also has face in front of the Queen Mother. They are sisters, one in heaven and the other in hell. The eldest young lady may not say it, but I wonder how much regret she must be feeling in her heart."
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