Chapter 89 – Wring The Last Bit Of Value From The Crown Princess
Chapter 89 Wring the Last Bit of Value From the Crown Princess
The news of the Crown Princess’s death also spread to the Qianyue House while Qu Moying was enjoying her reading time. Looking at Yu Dong, who was still panting from running, the book in her hand suddenly dropped to the ground, making a thud.
“My lady, what’s wrong?” Her reaction was a bit unexpected for Yu Dong, but then he remembered Qu Moying was the Crown Princess’s cousin, although she never met her in person. Hurriedly, he comforted her, “My lady, don’t be too upset. The Crown Princess had been unwell for a long time. It would happen sooner or later…”
Yu Dong couldn’t finish his words because he saw tears flowing down Qu Moying’s cheeks. Since he started to work for Fourth Lady Qu, they had been through a lot together, but he had never seen her crying!
“My lady, I’m sorry for your loss!” Yu Chun said worriedly as she and Yu Dong looked at each other, feeling a bit flustered.
Unlike Yu Dong, she used to see her master shedding tears quietly when they were still in the village. But after they came back to the Qu’s Mansion, the Fourth Lady seemed to become a totally different person. She was confident and brilliant, no longer the weak, introverted lady who didn’t like talking and hid everything in her heart.
Yu Chun felt very happy about her master’s change.
But right now, seeing her crying, Yu Chun thought of the old Fourth Lady who had been very helpless.
“I’m not feeling sad for her. I think life is much more painful than death.” Qu Moying stood up and walked to the window. She looked at the sky with tears still on her face, but her soft lips curled to a cold smile. The Crown Princess had finally “died!” Pei Luo’an chose a good time to announce it after such a long waiting.
When she heard that someone tried to assassinate Pei Yuanjun, she had already thought about it.
The Crown Princess’s death was meant to happen since the real Ji Hanyue had died long ago. It was not told to the public because she had just married into the Eastern Palace at that time, and Pei Luo’an didn’t want anyone to suspect him.
So, it was kept a secret to protect Pei Luo’an’s name!
They announced it now, again, to help Pei Luo’an get out of trouble. Since Pei Luo’an was deeply in love with the Crown Princess, everyone would think he was too sad to have anything to do with the assassin and wouldn’t suspect him at all. That was truly thoughtful of him!
Who would have thought that her death could be used to prove Pei Luo’an’s innocence? He didn’t stop until he wrung the last bit of value from her.
Pei Luo’an, Ji Youran… When she thought of these two people, a trace of ruthlessness appeared in her eyes, making her look as cold as a devil from hell. Since she was reborn, it was time to let them pay her back.
“My lady…”
Yu Dong was about to say something but got interrupted by Qu Moying. “As the Crown Princess’s cousin, I can attend the Crown Princess’s funeral, right?”
“Yes. Not only you, my lady, but the whole Qu Family also need to go. Any family related to the Eastern Palace should attend the Crown Princess’s funeral,” Yu Dong nodded. He was pretty familiar with all the etiquette.
“My lady, I can help you prepare the mourning clothes,” Yu Chun suggested politely since her embroidery was not bad.
“Alright!” Qu Moying nodded at her.
“My lady, shouldn’t your mourning clothes be provided by your family? Why do you need to prepare it by yourself? Moreover, you are not the only one who needs to visit the Eastern Palace. Every master in this mansion should go with you. How can they let you do the preparation work alone?” Yu Dong asked in confusion. In his opinion, Yu was responsible for all the preparation.
“They will prepare those, of course. But it would be better that we make some by ourselves.” Qu Moying turned to glance at Yu Dong, her eyes looking cold. She sat back down on her chair with the usual calm look on her face, and the weakness she just showed was already far gone. Right now, she was Qu Moying, not Ji Hanyue anymore, who was murdered miserably and wrung the last bit of value from.
“My lady, do you mean that woman and her daughter will do something to harm you?” Clever as Yu Dong, he immediately understood Qu Moying’s implication and pointed at Yu’s yard.
Qu Moying slightly nodded at him and then added, “Yu Dong, I need you to go visit my cousin, the vice minister of the Dali Temple. Help me ask him when he will go to the Crown Princess’s funeral. I want him to go mourn for the Crown Princess at the same time with the Ji Family.”
Yue Wenhan, the Vice Minister of the Dali Temple, was both Qu Moying and Ji Hanyue’s cousin. He would definitely attend the Crown Princess’s funeral.
She wanted to meet Yue Wenhan first and then take the chance to meet the Ji Family with him together. After she was reborn, she had never met anyone from her original family except for Ji Youran.
Now she had the perfect occasion to meet them all at one time and think about the next step. Qu Moying didn’t believe no one in the Ji Family knew that her father and sister had died long ago. But if they knew about it, who could be the one helping Pei Luo’an secretly? She didn’t think Ji Yong’an, Ji Youran’s father, had the power to block every information about her father by himself.
Now that the Crown Princess’s death was announced, how would her family, the Ji Family, react to it?
In the imperial study where the emperor had meetings with others, the emperor just heard about his daughter-in-law’s death, his face looking pale. He had been sick for a long time, and right now, he seemed even more fatigued than usual because of the bad news.
He just knew about the assassination of Pei Yuanjun, which was a shock for the emperor. Thanks to a noble lady who accidentally passed by and screamed for help, Pei Yuanjun luckily survived. Now, the death of the Crown Princess gave him a bigger mental blow.
The emperor always felt pitiful for the Crown Princess. That poor girl had known the Crown Prince since they were kids, and their engagement had been confirmed long ago. The Crown Prince was a few years older than her and had been waiting for her to grow up and marry him. He even didn’t marry any other concubines and only had some maids to sleep with, and he did it all for the Crown Princess. Even the emperor, the Crown Prince’s father, was touched by his love for Ji Hanyue.
The emperor had approved their relationship and felt happy for their marriage. Yet, he never expected someone tried to assassinate the Crown Prince on their wedding day. Because the Crown Princess protected her husband from the killer, she was severely injured. She had barely recovered and been wandering near death’s door, even though they used much medicine on her. Now, she finally couldn’t hold it anymore.
Before, the Crown Prince invited the Crown Princess’s cousin over to the Eastern Palace to care for his wife and even married her as his second wife. It was said that the Crown Princess proposed it herself, and the Crown Prince disagreed initially. But seeing his feeble wife, who was still trying to consider for her family, the Crown Prince finally agreed while crying beside her bed.
Then, her cousin became the only woman the Crown Prince officially married except the Crown Princess.
No matter how much the Crown Prince had done, the Crown Princess still passed away. Witnessing a young family member’s death, the emperor felt very upset. However, he was not shocked since the Crown Prince had told him many times about the Crown Princess’s severe conditions. Compared to this, the emperor was angrier about the attempted assassination of Pei Yuanjun.
Looking at Pei Yuanjun, sitting in the big chair next to him, the emperor let out a quiet sigh and rubbed his brow.
The emperor had not been in good health conditions for a while. Because of the medicine he took every day, he still had the energy to finish his job. However, he left all the military work to Pei Yuanjun and asked him to help protect his empire.
How could he not be angry when knowing that someone tried to kill Pei Yuanjun secretly?
“Yuanjun, you really can’t find any clue?” the emperor asked him again and then threw a glance at Yu Chengyu, the Minister of Justice.
“Not at all. All the men sent to kill me were ready to die. Even those who survived and were caught alive all ate poison and committed suicide. Your Majesty, don’t worry about it. I’m still alive. This is not the first time that someone has tried to kill me,” Pei Yuanjun said casually with a lazy look on his face. He didn’t seem like a person who had just been through a fierce fight and almost lost his life.
When he half-closed those pretty downturned eyes, he looked particularly elegant and noble!
Seeing Pei Yuanjun talking about the assassination so carelessly, the emperor felt even more furious. Although no specific clues were found, the emperor had his own guess. He knew better than anyone that his sons had started to compete for the throne because of his sickness. Even the Crown Prince had made some moves secretly, making the emperor displeased.
“We can’t go easy on the culprit. The Ministry of Justice should implement a thorough investigation. I can’t believe that killers sneaked into the Dabei Temple.” Then the emperor suddenly paused and started to cough quietly. His chief eunuch immediately handed him a cup of warm water. The emperor took a sip, calmed himself down, and continued, “Check every suspicious person.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I will start to do it immediately.” The Minister of Justice kept nodding at the emperor. After he walked out of the imperial study, he realized the clothes on his back were soaked by his cold sweat. Everyone knew that the assassination was arranged by one of the emperor’s sons. The investigation job was just a hot potato, but he had to hold it since he was the Minister of Justice.
Whoever attempted to kill Lord Yun should be very confident in his own power. Minister Yu felt exhausted already, stuck in the middle of two big forces.
Lord Yun was someone he couldn’t afford to offend! If Lord Yun was irritated and took his own revenge, the whole empire would be in danger.
Minister Yu inwardly complained about the person who dared to assassinate Lord Yun. He looked up and let out a sigh. The sky looked dark, and it was about to rain soon. He still needed to rush to the Eastern Palace and check on the situation there since it was his duty to keep the Crown Prince safe. If anything wrong happened there, he would lose his job immediately.
The Crown Prince had had a tough time before. First, someone tried to kill him on his wedding day. The Crown Prince turned out to be safe, but the Crown Princess was heavily injured for protecting him. Then, a fire was set in the Eastern Palace and burned down the tallest house there, which lit up half of the capital and shocked everyone in the city.
The two cases in the Eastern Palace hadn’t been solved yet, which was a big headache for the Minister of Justice. Thinking about it, he shook his head and walked down the stairs. Suddenly, he noticed a group of people walking over from a distance. In the middle was a beautiful woman in a white dress, surrounded by many maids and eunuchs. The Minister of Justice hurriedly stepped aside and lowered his head respectfully.
The woman was Noble Consort He, who he had met several times before. Although Noble Consort He was not young anymore, the emperor still liked her a lot. Sometimes, she would go to the imperial study to give the emperor some pastries he liked, and the emperor would always take the food she sent.
“Your Grace, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” Minister Yu bowed to her as she walked closer.
“Same, Minister Yu. Is His Majesty having some rest right now?” Noble Consort He stopped and asked softly, showing her gentle personality.
“Lord Yun is still inside talking with His Majesty,” Minister Yu told her honestly.
Noble Consort He slightly frowned and then gave him a smile, “Since then, I will just wait outside.” Then she walked up the stairs in an elegant, graceful manner. Those eunuchs and maids following her were all well-behaved, walking quietly with their heads lowered.
After Noble Consort He left, Minister Yu started to walk toward the outside again, feeling pity for Lord Jing, her son. Noble Consort He was an elegant, kind woman favored by the emperor, and her son was a talented young man suitable for taking the throne. However, the Crown Prince so happened to be born by the empress and older than him…
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