Chapter 514: Queen Mother! Don’t listen to her excuses! It’s her!
Five days passed in a flash. One day, Lan Xiyue was lazily leaning on the couch, twisting a page of the storybook with her fingertips. She was so engrossed in reading that she didn't even notice a few strands of hair sliding down her cheek.
The door curtain rustled softly, and Chu Xia walked in briskly, a look of joy on her face. "Princess, An Yi just sent back word that the prince and his men are back! The carriage just entered the city gate!"
Upon hearing this, Lan Xiyue raised her long eyelashes slightly, moved her eyes away from the storybook, and casually placed the book on the small table beside her.
"You're back?" There was a hint of understanding in her tone. "You said you would be back in three days, but you're two days late. I guess it's because the snow on the road made it difficult to travel." She thought to herself that the empress dowager would return directly to the palace, and Mo Liyuan must be too busy to escort his mother back to Cining Palace.
Thinking of this, the slight ripples in her heart subsided again, and she reached out to pick up the fascinating storybook again.
Chu Xia was stunned when she saw her reaction, and called out in confusion: "Princess...?"
"Hmm?" Lan Xiyue raised her eyes, raised her eyebrows slightly, and asked inquiringly.
Chu Xia pursed her lips and whispered, "This servant... This servant thought you would go to the gate to greet me."
Lan Xiyue's lips curved into a faint smile. "Silly girl, Mo Liyuan must be escorting the Queen Mother back to the Cining Palace to settle down first. Who should I go to welcome? Besides..."
She paused, her smile tinged with a hint of sarcasm. "The Empress Dowager has just recovered. If she saw my face at the palace gate, I'm sure she'd be so angry that she'd become seriously ill again. Wouldn't that be my fault?"
When Chu Xia heard this, her face changed slightly and she immediately fell silent.
Now everyone in the palace knew that the Queen Mother disliked the Princess, and what she said was indeed reasonable. She didn't dare say anything more, for fear of making the Princess unhappy. She could only bow silently and retreat quietly.
The warm room was quiet again, with only the occasional sound of pages turning. Duoduo no longer wanted to play with her, as he went out to play with his brother all day. Sigh! She didn't want to be a light bulb, and was very bored. She could only read storybooks to pass the time. Lan Xiyue was immersed in the world of storybooks again, unaware of the passage of time.
After an unknown amount of time, the door to the warm room was suddenly pushed open with great force! The heavy door hit the wall with a loud "bang", instantly breaking the silence in the room.
The Queen Mother, surrounded by palace maids, rushed in with a sullen face, carrying a lingering chill and thunderous rage.
Her well-maintained hand pointed directly at Lan Xiyue, who hadn't yet risen from the couch. Her voice rose in anger, piercing and sharp: "Yuan'er! Is this what you keep saying? Your beloved princess worked tirelessly day and night to refine medicinal powder for the refugees in the capital, and that's why she was 'too busy to come and pick me up?! What a 'too busy to come'!"
Lan Xiyue was startled by this sudden change, and the notebook in her hand fell to the ground with a "click".
Alarm bells rang in her heart: This old empress dowager hadn't returned to her Cining Palace, but had come straight to the prince's palace to demand vengeance the moment she returned to the capital! She didn't dare show even the slightest hint of disrespect, and quickly stood up. Without even waiting for Mo Liyuan, whose face was as sullen as water and who was following closely behind the empress dowager, to explain, she knelt down and bowed, her voice clear and respectful: "Your Highness, I didn't know you were returning to the capital today, and I couldn't come to greet you. I beg your forgiveness."
Her eyes wandered, naturally pointing to the herbs and medicine grinders spread out on the table on the other side of the warm room. "Just now... my daughter-in-law has been refining medicine for a long time and is exhausted. So she took a break and read some books to relieve her fatigue."
At this time, a palace maid slowly entered pushing a wheelchair.
Sitting in the wheelchair was Princess Wenshu, her legs wrapped in a thick blanket, her face pale and full of resentment.
Her lips moved slightly, as if she was about to escalate the accusation immediately.
However, as soon as she raised her eyes, she met Mo Liyuan's gaze.
That gaze was as cold as a thousand-year-old pond, as sharp as a knife blade, carrying an undisguised warning and oppression, instantly freezing the words on Princess Wenshu's lips in her throat. She felt a chill run down her spine, her blood seemed to freeze, and she subconsciously shrank her neck, shuddering in fear.
The Queen Mother saw all of this and was even more furious. She snorted loudly and didn't believe Lan Xiyue's words at all: "Lan Xiyue! I was really wrong in the past. I actually thought you were a good person! Do you think I will believe your words? Do you think I am a three-year-old child?"
The Queen Mother grew increasingly furious as she spoke, her spearhead suddenly shifting to another accusation, her finger nearly poking Lan Xiyue in the face. "How dare you! Wen Shu is the dignified Princess of Dongyao Kingdom, and how dare you hurt her like this?! How sinister are your thoughts!"
Lan Xiyue blinked, revealing an expression of utter innocence and confusion, but her tone was clear and steady, "Your Majesty the Queen Mother is wrong. You are truly wrongly accusing me. What has the eldest princess's injury got to do with me? What happened that day was clearly the eldest princess's own carelessness. Her legs were temporarily... well, inconvenient, and she fell to the ground. I cannot bear this crime, and I absolutely dare not bear the blame."
Princess Wenshu, who was frightened by Mo Liyuan's pressure for a moment, now had the support of the Queen Mother, and her resentment finally overwhelmed her fear.
She ignored Mo Liyuan's gaze that could freeze a person to death, and cried shrilly: "Mother! Don't listen to her excuses! It's her! It's Lan Xiyue who is secretly making trouble! She is the one who harmed me! The imperial physician said that my legs won't recover in half a year! These six months... These six months, I will be trapped in this damn wheelchair! Mother, you have to make the decision for me!" Her voice was shrill, filled with deep hatred, trying to arouse all the empress dowager's pity and anger.
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