As soon as Qiao Xiuyu returned to her bedchamber in the Southern Chen palace, she heard Lu Shuangyi's voice coming from outside.
"Where did your prince go today?" Lu Shuangyi's usually clear and sweet voice was sharp and somewhat sarcastic. "I waited for him all day!"
Qiao Xiuyu frowned, a hint of displeasure flashing in her eyes: "What's going on? Didn't I tell you not to let her get close to me?"
Eleven sighed: "Young Master, she is the most favored person in the palace, and there's nothing we can do to stop her."
Qiao Xiuyu sneered, "The most favored? That's not necessarily true."
He had been in Southern Chen for seven or eight months. He didn't know Emperor Chen perfectly, but he knew him to a great extent. Emperor Chen was, in the end, a selfish and self-serving person. Princess Lu Shuangyi was only "pampered" by him, but by no means "loved" by him.
That being said, Qiao Xiuyu really disliked Lu Shuangyi, such a vicious and cunning woman, and he disliked her bullying others by taking advantage of her power. Although it was difficult for her to bully him, Qiao Xiuyu was observant and had long noticed that the maids around Lu Shuangyi had all had wounds of various sizes.
“If she wants to wait, let her wait.” Qiao Xiuyu’s eyes were cold. “Today I caught a cold and should not receive guests, lest I pass on my illness to the pampered Third Princess of Southern Chen.”
Eleven hurriedly went out to give a reply.
Lu Shuangyi's eyes turned red with anger, and she immediately wanted to kick Eleven, but the latter easily dodged it. Eleven sneered, "Third Prince, you have to consider the owner before you beat a dog. I am not a cat or dog that you can kill at will."
After saying that, he gave a perfectly impeccable bow and said rather perfunctorily, "Your Highness should leave quickly. If you disturb the young master, I cannot bear the consequences."
Lu Shuangyi really couldn't take her anger out on Eleven—although Eleven was nominally Qiao Zhuo's servant, he was more like a study companion. If she killed Eleven, Qiao Zhuo would definitely never speak to her again.
Thinking this, Lu Shuangyi glared fiercely at Eleven: "You just wait."
Eleven didn't even bother to glance at her, simply cupping his hands and saying, "Your Highness, please take care."
Lu Shuangyi left angrily, and after returning to her bedroom, she became angrier and angrier, smashing a lot of things.
Seeing this, the palace maid Hongye, who was standing not far away, had a flash in her eyes. She then personally cleaned up all the scattered tea set fragments and vase shards. Just as she was about to leave, Lu Shuangyi called her back.
"I didn't order you to clean up, yet you, you lowly servant, dared to do it on your own?" Lu Shuangyi said, raising her hand to slap Hongye, her face contorted with rage. "Go kneel on the broken pieces for me for three hours, not a moment less."
Hongye's expression changed. She was about to plead for mercy, but then she remembered something and swallowed her words. She silently left the bedchamber, went to the main entrance of the palace, and knelt on the fragments that had just gathered together.
Lu Shuangyi left quickly, while Hongye remained kneeling on the spot, her eyes dark and unreadable. She clenched her fists, lost in thought, a struggle flashing in her eyes.
"Sister Hongye?" A sweet female voice rang out, "Oh, Sister Hongye, are you alright?"
Hongye looked up and forced a smile: "It's Yanyu."
Yan Yu nodded, then looked around and, seeing that no one was around, quickly took off the knee pads she was wearing and put them into Hong Ye's hand.
Hongye looked at Yanyu with some surprise. Yanyu scratched her head shyly and subtly reminded her, "Consort Shu has a bad temper. Sometimes this thing has many other uses besides keeping warm."
Hongye was somewhat moved. She slowly tucked the knee pads into her sleeve and said, "Thank you."
Yan Yu shook her head and looked at her with concern: "Consort Shu urgently needs a dish. Sister Hongye, please take good care of yourself. I'll go and get busy now."
With that, she hurriedly left the palace gate.
As soon as she turned around, the coquettishness and worry on Yan Yu's face disappeared. She walked expressionlessly to the imperial kitchen and ordered a serving of bird's nest.
While waiting, she chatted with several cooks; Yan Yu's gaze swept over a plump cook, then she curled the corners of her lips: "Recently, Her Majesty has been particularly fond of using bird's nest, which must be hard on you all."
Everyone in the imperial kitchen hurriedly said, "We dare not," but the plump cook's eyes flashed, as if she was thinking about something.
Yan Yu subtly caught the emotions in the fat cook's eyes, a slight smile playing on her lips, before taking the bird's nest and leaving the imperial kitchen.
...
Shang Shaoyan sat on the swing in the courtyard. It was already time for dinner, and Shang Yunlan had sent people to urge her several times.
"Don't worry, brother. I'll go find him as soon as I get the news." Shang Shaoyan rubbed his temples, looking a bit annoyed. "Honestly, why isn't he usually this proactive? All he does is eat all day..."
"I've caught you talking bad about me!" Shang Yunlan poked her head out from the courtyard gate, her eyes filled with resentment. "I kindly invited you to eat, how could you be so ungrateful?"
Shang Shaoyan was speechless: "...Didn't you say you had important news? Didn't you tell me to wait in the yard? What, are you teasing me?"
Shang Yunlan choked for a moment, then left reluctantly.
Shang Shaoyan rolled his eyes, and just then, Yingge walked in, her steps hurried.
Shang Shaoyan suddenly realized—so the important news Shang Yunlan mentioned came from the palace.
Shang Shaoyan dismissed everyone, including Granny Li and Bai Lu: "Why the rush?"
Yingge knelt on the ground and bowed, then smiled at Shang Shaoyan: "What I am about to say may anger the county princess, so please do not punish me later."
Shang Shaoyan had always thought Yingge was clever and endearing, and upon hearing this, he smiled and said, "How could I bear to punish you? Tell me."
Yingge then said, "Yanyu has been getting very close to Hongye, the head maid of the Third Princess, these past few days. Once, after Hongye was punished by the Third Princess, she developed a fever, and Yanyu took care of her personally. She heard Hongye say many things she shouldn't have said."
Shang Shaoyan asked Yan Yu to approach Hongye because, as far as she knew, Hongye and Qin Ye were from the same place and were both descendants of disgraced officials. It would be more appropriate to approach Hongye, who had some connection with him but was not very familiar with him, rather than rashly contacting Qin Ye.
Yingge paused, then lowered her voice: "Hongye said... she once saw Lord Qin cover Consort Zhao with a blanket and secretly kiss her forehead."
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