Chapter 692 The Evil in Human Nature: Jealousy
The following year, Yue Niang, who stayed in the Prince's Mansion, began to plan for herself step by step.
However, no matter how much she wanted to do it, Yue Niang was ultimately just a young lady living in the royal palace.
Her biggest move was simply to subtly inquire about the appearance of the man the Princess Qingyang liked when she was with her, taking advantage of her young age, and steer the conversation toward Liu Xinming.
"Then, does the princess have a man she likes?"
Yue Niang looked at Princess Qingyang with an innocent, naive, and curious expression. Princess Qingyang blushed deeply at Yue Niang's question. She put down her brush, pretended to be embarrassed and annoyed, and said to Yue Niang with a shy tone, "How old are you, little lady? You're already worrying about me."
"Well, Moon Maiden, you're so young, yet you already have such thoughts."
"Sister, dear sister, what does Yue Niang have in mind?"
"It's because so many men have come to see my sister these past few days, I couldn't keep up with them all, so I asked her out of curiosity."
Yue Niang sat down beside Princess Qingyang, cupped her hands in a gesture of apology, and then picked up the teapot on the table to pour Princess Qingyang a cup of tea.
"Princess, you are so magnanimous. Please drink this cup of tea as an apology and show some mercy to Yue Niang."
Princess Qingyang was just teasing Yue Niang. Seeing her like this, she took the teacup, took a sip, put it down, picked up the pastries on the plate, ate a couple of bites, and when she saw that Yue Niang was still staring at her with her round eyes, she put down the pastries and swallowed her words.
"...How would I know?"
It was just that my mother told me which man was good and that I should keep an eye out for him, so I just picked the one that looked the best to me.
Even when meeting men, it's always in full view of others; how can you really understand anything then?
Princess Qingyang looked at the bright sunlight streaming through the window and said, "Actually, it doesn't matter. I am a princess, I am the ruler, and my husband is subordinate to me. No matter who my husband is, I can live a good life, and that's enough."
Yue Niang was stunned. She had never imagined that Princess Qingyang would think this way!
With a hint of caution and feigned nonchalance, Yue Niang asked softly, "Does the princess have a good opinion of Liu Silang from the Duke of Xing's family?"
Princess Qingyang did not reply to Yue Niang's words immediately. Instead, she thought for a moment before saying, "Oh, you mean that handsome young man from the Liu family?"
"It's alright, though. Even though she didn't make the list of beauties in Chang'an, she's still passable."
Yue Niang had thought Liu Xinming was an excellent man, and Liu Xinming's manner clearly showed that he was flattering and coaxing Princess Qingyang. "Such a good husband as Liu Lang, how can the princess be so indifferent to him!"
At this moment, Yue Niang's feeling is probably that the person I want to kneel down and look up to is just an ordinary person in your eyes, so ordinary that you don't care at all.
After heartbreak comes anger, and then jealousy arises.
Actually, if you think about it carefully, you can understand why Yue Niang did this.
From Yue Niang's perspective, it's like this: I see him as a handsome young man, as bright as the moon, but you see him as just an ordinary man who's no different from anyone else.
While it's not quite to the point of treating them like trash, the difference is still quite significant.
On the surface, Yue Niang was angry that Princess Qingyang didn't care about Liu Xinming at all. Rather, it was Yue Niang who was angry that her own background and abilities couldn't make her as indifferent as Princess Qingyang.
In reality, this is just the impotent rage of the weak.
Anger and jealousy, once sparked, can ignite like a wildfire.
Even a grown-up person cannot calmly face their own heart, let alone a young girl like Yue Niang who is only thirteen or fourteen years old.
So, on the day when Yue Niang went to the outskirts of the country to play with Princess Qingyang during the Dragon Boat Festival, a musician who played music in the village approached her. She hesitated for only a few moments before following him to a secluded place.
This musician was found in Pingkang Ward by the steward of Princess Qingyang's villa. The musician, who called herself Ling'er, took out a purse from her sleeve and handed it to Yue Niang.
Yue Niang remained cautious and did not reach out to take it. Instead, she looked up and stared at Ling'er with a suspicious expression.
"Haha, haha," Ling'er's low, clear laughter rang out, "Your Excellency is becoming cautious now. When I summoned you, you didn't hesitate for long."
Ling'er approached Yue Niang, grabbed her hand, and stuffed the purse into her hand.
"Don't worry, my esteemed guest, it's just some incense, but it's the kind of incense that will embarrass you."
"If a nobleman finds an opportunity to light it at the princess's residence, he can certainly get what he wants."
After saying this, Ling'er smiled at Yue Niang and turned to leave the changing room, leaving Yue Niang alone, staring blankly at the purse lying in her palm.
For a moment, Yue Niang's mind was filled with thoughts like, "How could you harm the princess? The princess kept you in Chang'an out of consideration for our kinship, and treated you so well. How could you be so ungrateful?"
A moment later, she said, "The way the princess treated Liu Lang wasn't poison, it was just a fragrant tea that made him look bad."
No one will find out!
If the plan is well-planned, you'll be able to marry into the Liu family as you wish!
Yes, what Ling'er meant by "making a fool of oneself" was actually a scented tea laced with aphrodisiacs, designed to make people lose their senses and stimulate their desires.
Yue Niang's plan was to drug Princess Qingyang in small amounts multiple times, and then seize the opportunity when Liu Xinming came to visit, so that she could succeed in one fell swoop. She would also stay at the scene and marry Liu Xinming as a concubine along with Princess Qingyang.
The jealousy in her heart made Yue Niang deliberately ignore the irrationality in this situation. For example, why did this musician Ling'er come to her door when she had her own little scheme?
Is this medicated scented tea really just going to embarrass people?
Did Ling'er return this sachet to someone else?
After carefully putting away the purse, Yue Niang patted her cheek and pretended nothing had happened as she returned to her room to listen to the female storyteller's tale with Princess Qingyang and the others.
When Yue Niang returned to the palace, she dismissed the maids serving her in her room, took out a small piece of incense from her purse, lit it in the incense burner, and a sweet floral fragrance wafted out.
When Yue Niang saw that it was indeed a scented tea, she quickly put it out.
Later, things became simpler.
Princess Qingyang was completely unguarded with her younger cousin from her maternal family. In fact, because Yueniang was several years younger than Princess Qingyang, Princess Qingyang took good care of Yueniang in daily life.
Therefore, it would be incredibly easy for Yue Niang to change the incense at Princess Qingyang's residence.
Moreover, whenever Yue Niang went to the villa in the suburbs with Princess Qingyang, Ling'er would find an opportunity to find her and continuously provide her with medicated sachets.
Thus, after three or four months, by the time the physicians in the Prince's mansion checked Princess Qingyang's pulse and discovered something was wrong, it was already too late.
As for Yue Niang herself getting poisoned, it was simply because she was always present when incense was lit, so it was inevitable that she would inhale the incense.
It can only be said that harming others ultimately harms oneself.
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