Hearing the surrounding chatter, Liao Zhiyan’s originally pale face turned even more colorless, her pearly teeth biting down on her snow-white lips as tears fell in quick succession, her eyes brimming with grievance, helplessness, despair, and confusion... She looked like a delicate flower tormented by frost, exceedingly pitiful and fragile.
Unfortunately, most of the people present no longer felt any sympathy for her and looked at her with disgust, as if she were something dirty.
"Sister, the Crown Princess Consort says it’s time to return to the mansion," Hai Tang said indifferently. "With such an incident, the Empress Dowager and the Empress must be worried sick by now. They might have already arrived at the Crown Prince Mansion. The Empress Dowager is advanced in years, and if she gets angry, the consequences will be unthinkable, and the Emperor will certainly be furious like thunder."
What seemed to be words of persuasion to Sister Jin were enough to make Liao Zhiyan and Wet Nurse Zhou tremble uncontrollably, not knowing how they would be dealt with if this reached the Empress Dowager and Empress, especially the Emperor.
The crowd caught on. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
The Empress Dowager and the Empress had always been extremely fond of the Crown Princess Consort. If they learned of the matter, they would undoubtedly support her, and the Emperor, who was most dutiful toward the Empress Dowager, would not spare Liao Zhiyan if the Empress Dowager was angered.
Did Liao Zhiyan not know that the Crown Princess Consort was not only the treasured jewel of the Crown Prince but also dearly spoiled by both the Empress Dowager and the Empress? To intercept the Crown Princess Consort on the street and demand an explanation, especially when she was with child, was Liao Zhiyan naive or simply foolish?
Casting a cold glance at Liao Zhiyan and her maidservant, Sister Jin instructed Hong Ling to set off back to the mansion before turning and re-entering the carriage.
Without waiting for Lv Luo to step forward, Liao Zhiyan and her maidservant prudently backed away, and the onlookers willingly moved to the side of the road, allowing the carriage to head toward the Crown Prince Mansion.
Everyone dispersed.
"What do you all think of Liao Zhiyan?" Yang Mengchen asked Sister Jin and the others.
Sister Jin shook her head: "I can’t make anything of her, but this woman is no simple character. Better to deal with her sooner rather than later, Crown Princess Consort."
Dealing with her meant eliminating trouble. If they allowed the situation to drag on, it could lead to unexpected complications.
"Wende said he would handle it." Trust was the most important thing between a husband and wife; Yang Mengchen trusted Long Xuanmo.
"This woman has martial arts skills, and they’re not weak," Hai Tang said with a grave and stern expression. "Hong Ling hit her with that whip very hard, but she didn’t even blink an eye. I saw very clearly that she cleverly deflected some of Hong Ling’s force, making the injury seem severe when in reality she wasn’t hurt to the bone."
The others tensed up.
With a faint smile playing on her lips, Yang Mengchen noted Hai Tang had only guessed that Liao Zhiyan had martial arts skills after seeing her actions, whereas she herself had recognized them immediately. Even though she was weakened from being with child and couldn’t discern Liao Zhiyan’s thoughts, she could still perceive other things.
She gave Hai Tang a meaningful glance discreetly; Hai Tang then casually stretched her hand out the window, gesturing in a certain direction.
"Miss..."
The onlookers had left, and Wet Nurse Zhou, supporting Liao Zhiyan, opened her mouth to speak but ultimately said nothing.
Liao Zhiyan, however, kept her gaze fixed on the receding carriage, her eyes shimmering with bone-deep jealousy and resentment, and briefly, a fierce killing intent, which she swiftly concealed before returning with Wet Nurse Zhou’s help to the inn.
A dozen men dressed in plain clothes followed at a discreet distance.
Entering the inn’s room, Liao Zhiyan glanced at Mo Lan and Mu Zhu, still passed out beside the table, and her lips curled into a mocking sneer.
Sitting on the bed, she waited for Wet Nurse Zhou to finish dressing her wounds, then suddenly struck Wet Nurse Zhou on the back of the neck, causing her to collapse instantly, her eyes closed. Without giving her another look, Liao Zhiyan called out firmly, "Come out!"
"We are here to serve the Princess!" The dozen men appeared and knelt before Liao Zhiyan, revealing themselves to be the ones who had been following.
At this moment, Liao Zhiyan’s face no longer showed any trace of the earlier fragility and pity; instead, it was replaced with a sinister coldness. Her every word and action exuded an enchanting allure, yet within that allure, there was an indescribable chill.
"To think you couldn’t even kill a woman, and to have caused me to be humiliated in the streets like this—it’s simply shameful incompetence!"
The men bowed their heads and admitted their guilt.
One of them, who seemed to be the leader, offered an excuse, "Reporting to Your Highness, those guards are no ordinary men. We nearly got caught, so we dared not act rashly, please Your Highness... Ah..."
Before he could finish speaking, the man let out a low cry and then collapsed on the ground, a thin line on his neck instantly spraying fresh blood, obviously having breathed his last. His eyes were wide open, as if he died with lingering resentment.
"Useless fools! Incapable yourselves, yet full of excuses, truly deserving of death!" Liao Zhiyan pulled out a brocade handkerchief to wipe the fresh blood off her soft sword and wrapped the sword back around her waist. She nonchalantly threw the handkerchief onto the ground and turned her gaze to a man on her left: "From now on, Ah Er will be the leader of the guards. Remember: if you fail again, your fate will be a hundred times more miserable than Ah Da’s!"
"This subordinate swears to accomplish the task entrusted by Your Highness to the death!" Ah Er declared solemnly.
The rest of the men echoed in unison.
Ah Er carefully inquired, "May I ask what Your Highness wishes us to do next?"
"For now, hold your positions. I will assign you tasks myself when necessary," replied Liao Zhiyan, her expression commanding, but seething with anger inside.
She had painstakingly orchestrated today’s play, a mixture of humiliation and a command to the guards to take the opportunity to eliminate that wretched woman, yet she ended up being the one humiliated. The assassination plan failed, and even incited doubts from those foolish onlookers—an utter disgrace to her.
Today’s humiliation, sooner or later, she would make that damn woman pay back double!
After instructing the guards to clean the room and then dismiss themselves, Liao Zhiyan took out a small porcelain bottle and waved it under Wet Nurse Zhou’s nose a few times.
Before long, Wet Nurse Zhou slowly opened her eyes, looking dazedly at Liao Zhiyan squatting by her side, and reached for the sore spot on the back of her neck, "What happened to this old servant?"
"I don’t know what happened; you just fainted while dressing my wound. I called for you, but you wouldn’t wake up," Liao Zhiyan said, lowering her head, her voice filled with a forlorn helplessness. "My parents are gone, and those relatives are eying me like prey. You must take good care of yourself, Nurse. Don’t leave me alone in this world."
"Rest assured, Miss, this old servant will be by your side for the rest of my life." Listening to Liao Zhiyan’s words, Wet Nurse Zhou cast aside any doubts, thought of her Miss’s plight, and while softly comforting her, she felt a surge of sorrow.
Suppressing the disgust in her heart, Liao Zhiyan threw herself into Wet Nurse Zhou’s arms, and where it could not be seen, her eyes flickered with an icy gleam.
About a quarter hour later, Mo Lan and Mu Zhu awoke. They instinctively looked towards the large bed and saw Liao Zhiyan lying with her eyes closed, while Wet Nurse Zhou, with her head tilted, dozed against the bed railing. Everything seemed normal, but both could faintly smell the scent of blood in the room, sensing that something had gone amiss.
After exchanging glances, Mo Lan stayed in the room while Mu Zhu quietly stepped out the door, only to return shortly after. Leaning close to Mo Lan’s ear, she whispered a few words. Both then looked towards Liao Zhiyan, their eyes filled with scorn and disdain.
Meanwhile, Yang Mengchen returned to the Crown Prince Mansion with Sister Jin and several others. Just as she was helping Hai Tang and Mo Mei step out of the carriage, He Junyuan, who had been waiting at the gate, came forward. Seeing that Yang Mengchen was unharmed, he breathed a sigh of relief, "Crown Princess Consort, the Empress Dowager and the Empress have been waiting for a long time."
"I will go see the Royal Grandmother and the Empress right away," Yang Mengchen said as she turned to Hai Tang with a knowing look. It turned out you were right.
Hai Tang was nonchalant, considering the magnitude of the incident, it was not surprising that the Empress Dowager and the Empress had come.
They had barely stepped into the inner courtyard’s sitting room when the Empress Dowager and the Empress approached hurriedly, supporting Yang Mengchen from both sides. They were relieved to see her safe and sound and helped her to take a seat.
"It is all Momo’s fault; he has attracted all this trouble for no reason," the Empress Dowager complained discontentedly. "Once Momo returns, I must teach him a lesson!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
