Chapter 71: Breaking off the engagement is just the first step in her plan to destroy the Mu family...
A quarter of an hour later, they arrived at the Imperial Garden.
Countless noble ladies had already gathered here. They sat upright in their respective seats, their heads tilted, whispering to those beside them. Sitting in the middle, clad in a bright phoenix robe and with a calm and dignified expression, was the Queen.
She glanced at Mu Xingchen and the other two, but before she could say anything, a girl standing next to her in a light yellow dress covered her face and jokingly said, "Oh, Sister Lin is late."
Mu Lin quickly walked forward, bowed to the Queen, and respectfully apologized, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I and my sisters are late."
"Greetings to Her Majesty the Queen." Mu Xingchen lowered his head and saluted with Mu Qinxin behind him.
The Queen nodded and said gently, "It's alright, stand up." She then fixed her gaze on Mu Xingchen and said slowly, "That person behind you is the eldest daughter of the Mu family, right?"
Mu Xingchen smiled and said, "In reply to your Majesty, it is this humble servant."
The Queen nodded and said in a slow, somewhat serious tone, "Yan'er has let you down by canceling the engagement. Tell me what reward you would like, and I will compensate you."
Mu Xingchen immediately covered her mouth in surprise and asked, "My Lady, is anything possible?"
The Queen's eyes darkened, and she said majestically, "Of course."
Mu Lin frowned and whispered, "Mu Qing, stop talking nonsense!"
The Empress was already displeased with Mu Qing's outburst over the broken engagement. The incident involving Li Yan's mistress had reached the upper court because of Mu Qing's misconduct. She had caused Prince Yan to lose face among the court officials and earn him a severe reprimand from the Emperor. The Empress's public reward today was primarily due to the Emperor's preceptor's consideration and to prevent further criticism.
But this reward is not so easy to receive.
Unexpectedly, the next second, Mu Xingchen shouted loudly, "Then please allow me to cancel my engagement with General Xiao."
The Imperial Garden fell silent in an instant, and the Queen's face almost collapsed.
"What did you say?" She narrowed her eyes and asked oppressively.
Mu Xingchen continued to smile and said, "Didn't the Queen want to reward me? I don't want to marry General Xiao. Since this marriage is only possible because of the cancellation of Prince Yan's marriage, why don't you compensate me by breaking off the engagement?"
The Queen almost couldn't hold her breath. She narrowed her eyes and asked in a pressing tone, "You don't like General Xiao?"
Everyone could see, both openly and secretly, that the Queen did not want to grant the broken engagement. An ordinary person would have given up, but Mu Xingchen was stubborn and said something shocking the next second.
"Of course I don't like him. As everyone knows, General Xiao is bloodthirsty and cruel. Which noble lady in Kyoto would want to marry him?" After saying that, she looked at the noble ladies around her and asked, "Are you willing to marry him? Are you willing to marry him?" The Imperial Garden suddenly fell silent. "Is there anyone willing to marry him?" Mu Xingchen said coldly.
"Mu Qing!" Mu Lin said angrily, "Stop messing around!"
Mu Xingchen said innocently, "What am I doing? I'm just telling the truth. Besides, isn't the Queen going to reward me?"
The queen was suddenly unable to breathe. She had never seen such a fool who had no sense of propriety in her entire life. She had never really thought of rewarding her from the beginning. She couldn't even see this. She was truly the most foolish of fools!
Unexpectedly, the next second Mu Xingchen continued, "Could it be that the Queen doesn't actually want to reward me?" She looked extremely aggrieved as she spoke.
"How dare you!" the nanny beside her shouted, "How could the Queen lie to you with her words of honor?"
After hearing this, the queen's face became even uglier. This sentence was like putting her on the fire. If she didn't fulfill the reward, she would be breaking her promise. But if she fulfilled the reward, she would be offending Xiao Su openly. Xiao Su had hundreds of thousands of soldiers in his hands.
"Your Majesty is so kind. In that case, please help me cancel the engagement." Mu Xingchen smiled.
At this moment, the girl in goose yellow clothes next to the queen spoke.
She angrily said, "Mu Qing, you are a useless piece of shit with no cultivation. Being able to marry General Xiao is already a blessing earned in your previous life. How dare you be so picky? You should know that General Xiao's cultivation and talent are comparable to Prince Yan's. Your father felt sorry for you and canceled Prince Yan's marriage, so he made up another good marriage for you. How dare you be so ungrateful and slander your fiancé in public!"
Mu Xingchen blinked her big eyes and asked, "Is this the sister? From what she said, she seems to admire General Xiao very much. If that's the case, why don't you marry General Xiao?"
"You!" Her face flushed with anger. "You are so shameless! This is your marriage, what does it have to do with me?"
Mu Xingchen said calmly: "Oh, you also know that it has nothing to do with you. Since it has nothing to do with you, why not just hang yourself!"
"You! You!" She looked at Mu Lin and said angrily, "Sister Lin, is this the character of your elder sister? Not only is she a waste, but her character is also so bad!"
Mu Lin had a headache and said, "Please forgive me, Zi Yu, my elder sister is indeed..." After saying that, she held her forehead with her hand, looking anxious and helpless.
Suddenly everyone shook their heads, with mocking expressions on their faces, and some even covered their faces and laughed secretly.
Mu Qinxin curled her lips at the side, then turned around and added fuel to the fire, "Big sister doesn't like General Xiao, is it because she still has feelings for Prince Yan?"
Mu Xingchen's smile froze instantly. She squeezed out two tears, covered her face with her sleeves and sobbed, "Third sister, you understand me. Before I had Prince Yan's pearls and jade, I really... looked down on General Xiao."
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone couldn't hold back and burst out laughing.
A loser looks down on Xiao Su and uses Prince Yan to drag down General Xiao. If this news gets out, Xiao Su will definitely lose all face.
The queen's face turned even darker. She slowly clenched her hands under her sleeves, and her eyes were full of coldness.
"Shut up, big sister, how can you be so rude in front of the Queen?" Mu Lin scolded coldly.
Mu Qinxin immediately advised: "Yes, big sister, although General Xiao is not as good as Prince Yan, he is also a dragon among men."
Mu Xingchen once again asked in a fatal tone: "Then why don't you get married?"
Suddenly the Imperial Garden fell silent again.
Mu Ziyu said again: "Humph, you are indeed a useless person who has no one to teach you. It's okay that you can't practice, but you can even say such things. Sister Lin, when you go back, you must ask the Imperial Master to discipline you strictly."
Mu Lin said with embarrassment: "This... Big sister's temper, ah... I'm afraid even father can't do anything about it." She hesitated to speak, looking helpless.
Everyone was shocked again.
Mu Xingchen sneered. What a good argument to clear the Imperial Teacher of all blame.
She immediately turned around and said to Mu Lin in shock, "How could you say that, second sister? It's obvious that you are deliberately pushing me to my death. I still remember what my father said in the study that day. He wanted me to marry General Xiao's mansion to win over General Xiao's military power, and then let you, second sister, marry Prince Yan. In this way, Prince Yan and Xiao Su will be in-laws, and the military power in the future will also belong to Yan..."
"Shut up!" The Queen angrily slammed the tables and chairs. She suddenly stood up and pointed at Mu Xingchen and shouted angrily, "Mu Qing! You're so bold!"
Mu Xingchen said innocently, "What's wrong, Your Majesty? I just repeated what my father said. How did I make Your Majesty angry?" After that, Mu Xingchen pretended to widen her eyes and covered her mouth, apologizing, "Oh, it's all my stupidity. I shouldn't have said it, I really shouldn't have said it! This is a secret! If Your Majesty really doesn't want me to cancel the engagement, then forget it. For the sake of my father and Yan..."
Seeing that she was about to bring up Prince Yan again, the Queen immediately shouted angrily: "Shut up! Shut up for me!"
Mu Xingchen immediately closed his mouth.
At this moment, the eyes of the noble ladies around were bulging with fear. They wished they had never heard these words. Some of the timid ones even buried their heads.
The Queen gasped, holding her forehead with one hand, her face livid. She turned her head and glared at Aunt Gui beside her. Aunt Gui's heart suddenly turned cold. She glanced at Aunt Jia beside her thoughtfully, while Jia Momo smiled, neither surprised nor angry.
"Mother...Mother..." Nanny Gui stepped forward and whispered tremblingly in the Queen's ear, "Things...things have come to this point. If word of this were to reach His Majesty, and if Your Majesty refuses to fulfill her grace and allow her to break off the engagement, I'm afraid His Majesty would become suspicious."
The Empress clenched her fists. Didn't she know? The Emperor had long suspected the Imperial Tutor's House and Yan'er of colluding for personal gain. They'd been acting like this for so long, even going so far as to publicly embroil them, precisely to dispel the Emperor's suspicions. If these rumors reached the Emperor's ears, not only would their efforts be ruined, but they would also be in big trouble. Now, not only was Mu Qing's marriage in jeopardy, but even Mu Lin's was in jeopardy...
The corners of the queen's mouth became more and more stiff. After a while, her expression softened and she sighed helplessly, "Forget it, Mu Qing, since you don't like General Xiao, I will allow you to cancel the engagement, but those crazy words just now..." After that, she looked at the noble ladies around her.
Mu Xingchen immediately laughed and said, "What did your servant say just now? Your servant didn't say anything. Did you hear anything just now?" After saying this, she also looked around at the noble ladies around her. Suddenly, everyone's faces were frightened and they quickly stated to the queen, "Your servant didn't hear anything."
The Queen nodded in satisfaction. "The Emperor has been very worried lately. Please don't let these crazy words reach his ears."
Everyone said in unison: "We understand."
The Queen sighed and slowly stood up. "Well, you guys go have fun. I'm tired, so I'll leave first." She looked at Mu Xingchen and said, "I will have someone personally deliver the imperial decree to the Mu Mansion later."
Mu Xingchen smiled and said, "Thank you, Madam."
Sending her to the Mu Mansion was nothing more than wanting Mu Qi to deal with her, but what was she afraid of? Her conversation today was enough to frighten Mu Qi for a while, and it was also enough to plant a thorn in the emperor's heart.
This was just the first step in her plan to destroy the Mu family.
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