Chapter 95 – A Chance Given By Princess Changyu
Chapter 95 A Chance Given by Princess Changyu
Qu Qiuyan looked extremely alluring inside this pure white altar room.
Her watery eyes showed the charm that only women had, matching well with her blushing cheeks and soft, red lips. Even her coquettish voice sounded as smooth as silk. Once she called him, Pei Luo’an was distracted by her alluring expression and froze on his spot. Seeing her face, he totally forgot his real intention – reminding her to go accompany Qu Moying.
Pei Luo’an had met many beautiful women, but Qu Qiuyan’s coquettish appearance was such a conflict against the solemn, plain environment, which gave him a shock.
“Your Royal Highness?” seeing the Crown Prince staring at her blankly, Qu Qiuyan blushed more and called him coquettishly again with her face red as a rose.
“Are you…the Third Lady of the Qu Family?” Pei Luo’an avoided her gaze subconsciously and asked.
“Yes, my father is the Vice Minister of Works,” Qu Qiuyan answered him in a soft voice.
“Your Royal Highness, Your Royal Highness… I…I have…some…some bad news…” A maid rushed inside, and the expression on her face changed immediately as she saw the Crown Prince and Qu Qiuyan. She stepped back hurriedly and stared at them in shock.
In her eyes, the Crown Prince was gazing at Qu Qiuyan affectionately while the latter almost leaned on him with a shy look on her face. Their bodies were abnormally close to each other’s, and the atmosphere was subtly strange without any people around.
The maid walking in worked for Ji Youran. After she had a clear look at them, she ran away at once, as quickly as she came inside.
Even though Pei Luo’an wanted to stop her, he didn’t have time to do so. He frowned and was about to say something when Pei Yusheng took Princess Changyu and her family inside. The group of people noticed the weird position of Pei Luo’an and Qu Qiuyan immediately.
For a moment, the room fell into dead silence. People all looked at each other, not knowing what to say.
Pei Yusheng pulled a long face. Many people knew his relationship with Qu Qiuyan, but what did Pei Luo’an mean by doing this?
Princess Changyu was the emperor’s younger sister, the former emperor’s fifth child. Born as a royal, she was a brilliant woman and immediately grasped the situation. She stepped forward and curtsied to the Crown Prince as if she didn’t notice the strange atmosphere inside at all.
“Your Royal Highness, is the paper money running out?”
One of Qu Qiuyan and Qu Moying’s duties was burning the paper money while kneeling next to the fire basin. Qu Moying almost used all the paper money in her pile while Qu Qiuyan, lost in her own thoughts, didn’t pay much attention to it. There was still a big pile of paper money next to her, clearly showing that she didn’t do her job well.
The paper money was just an excuse that Princess Changyu came up with to give the Crown Prince a chance to explain himself. People all knew these two brothers, the Crown Prince and Lord Jing, were competing against each other for the throne. Still, it was inappropriate that they started an argument in public, especially in this altar room in front of Princess Changyu.
If it really happened, the emperor might even blame it on her.
So, she hurriedly gave the Crown Prince an excuse to get out of trouble.
“Fourth Lady Qu suddenly passed out, so I want to ask Third Lady Qu to go check on her,” said Pei Luo’an as he regained the usual look on his face and strolled toward his chair.
“Fourth Lady Qu passed out? How’s she right now?” Princess Changyu cast a sarcastic glance at Qu Qiuyan, whose face was red as a rose. Clearly, Qu Qiuyan wanted to hook up with the Crown Prince. Born in the imperial family, Princess Changyu had seen many maids working in the palace trying to seduce her father or brothers. Right now, Qu Qiuyan had the exact same look as those shameless maids.
Showing a shy and coquettish face, all these women wanted to climb up and gain more power by seducing the royal males.
However, what Qu Qiuyan did was even more disgusting. She was so shameless that she tried to hook up with the Crown Prince in the Crown Princess’s altar room when her own sister was in a coma. Moreover, she was involved with Lord Jing too.
Princess Changyu knew Qu Qiuyan because of the rumors about Lord Jing. Otherwise, she wouldn’t pay any attention to an ordinary lady like Qu Qiuyan.
Princess Changyu asked Qu Qiuyan, but Qu Qiuyan didn’t care about Qu Moying, nor did she ever ask about Qu Moying’s situation. Questioned by Princess Changyu, Qu Qiuyan panicked immediately. She lowered her head and said, “Your…Your Royal Highness, I have stayed in the altar room this whole time and haven’t got time to check on my younger sister.”
“Third Lady Qu, you spend all your time here accompanying the Crown Prince and don’t even have time to ask about your own sister. That’s very respectable!” Princess Changyu chuckled. The disdain and sarcasm in her tone pulled Qu Qiuyan back to reality immediately. Qu Qiuyan quickly looked up and explained with tears in her eyes, “Your Royal Highness, it was not that I didn’t want to go. I didn’t leave because I hadn’t heard any news from her…”
“So you don’t need to check on your sister since you haven’t heard any news about her. I see. Nothing is more important than the Crown Princess!” as Princess Changyu walked further in, she said to Qu Qiuyan in a flat tone.
The maid following her hurriedly passed her some incense sticks. Princess Changyu held them respectfully in her hands, bowed to the altar with her husband, Marquis Jingyang, and her children, and put them on the altar.
“Your Royal Highness, I…” Qu Qiuyan was so anxious that she almost cried out. Princess Changyu’s words were very sharp. It sounded like she was talking about both the Crown Princess’s coffin lying in the middle of the room and the position of the Crown Princess.
“Silence! Watch your behavior in the Crown Princess’s altar room!” after Princess Changyu put the incense sticks into the burner, she scolded Qu Qiuyan sternly. Then she turned around and looked at the Crown Prince, “Your Royal Highness, the Third Lady of the Qu Family made noise in the Crown Princess’s altar room out of no reason. Shouldn’t you ask her to leave as a punishment?”
Hearing about the punishment, Qu Qiuyan cried quietly in fear. Then she turned around and stared at Pei Luo’an pitifully. Seeing her reaction, Pei Yusheng’s eyes darkened as he exuded an aura of anger.
“Let her leave!” Pei Luo’an rubbed the middle part between his brows and said in annoyance.
He was totally innocent and had no interest in Qu Qiuyan at all. He was just stunned by her appearance and expression that looked totally out of place in the altar room. He admitted that he was amazed for a moment, but only for a moment.
Qu Qiuyan was a pretty woman, but the Crown Prince had seen many beautiful women. The deceased Crown Princess was much more stunning than Qu Qiuyan, and even Ji Youran was as pretty as Qu Qiuyan. Moreover, he knew Pei Yusheng wanted to marry Qu Qiuyan. His ego as the Crown Prince wouldn’t allow him to compete against Pei Yusheng for a mere woman.
Knowing Princess Changyu was giving him a chance to explain that he had nothing to do with Qu Qiuyan, Pei Luo’an naturally would make the most of her words.
“Alright. Someone! Come to drive Third Lady Qu away. Let her kneel outside of the yard and have some fresh air to clear her thoughts,” hearing the Crown Prince’s words, Princess Changyu immediately gave her order in a cold voice.
Two old maids showed up at once, held Qu Qiuyan’s arms, and started to pull her toward outside.
“Your Royal Highness, Your Royal Highness…” In fear, Qu Qiuyan struggled hard, staring pitifully at Pei Luo’an with tears in her eyes. Many people attended the funeral today. If they saw her kneeling outside, she could never show up in public again.
She only thought her best bet was to beg the Crown Prince since he was the owner of the Eastern Palace and the most dignified and powerful person present. Unfortunately, she didn’t realize that her behavior even confirmed her secret relationship with the Crown Prince. In Lord Jing’s eyes, she was literally showing the affection between her and the Crown Prince in front of him.
Lord Jing’s face turned even paler in rage. He couldn’t believe Qu Qiuyan was such a shameless woman, who implied her feelings for him many times in front of him and tried to seduce Pei Luo’an in the Crown Princess’s altar room behind his back. Did she really think he was blind?
After Old Lady Qu’s birthday banquet, everyone knew that Qu Qiuyan would marry Lord Jing. Right now, her behavior was nothing different than cheating on him in public. Although only Princess Changyu and her family witnessed it, Lord Jing still felt he had lost his face.
Lord Jing walked up to Qu Qiuyan and kicked at her hard all of a sudden.
Seeing Pei Yusheng walking over, Qu Qiuyan thought he was going to save her. Thrilled, she wailed, “Your Royal Highness, please help me. Your Royal Highness…”
At the next second, a sharp pain came from her chest. After the kick, she threw out blood and lost consciousness immediately.
No one expected Pei Yusheng to kick a woman in public. The two old maids fell to the ground together with Qu Qiuyan. For a moment, the whole room was silent.
“Alright. Since then, take Third Lady Qu to a doctor. How come the ladies from the Qu Family are so weak, and both passed out here?” Princess Changyu reacted quickly as an explicable expression showed up on her face.
Seeing Pei Yusheng’s reaction, Princess Changyu realized she had made an inappropriate decision. Since everyone knew the relationship between Qu Qiuyan and Pei Yusheng, if Qu Qiuyan was pulled outside and ordered to kneel in public, it would be a big shame on Pei Yusheng too. Princess Changyu only tried to stop the two brothers from arguing and teach this shameless lady a good lesson. Yet, she forgot to consider Pei Yusheng’s ego.
It was her fault for making the scene even worse, so she had to calm it down quickly.
The Crown Prince was an important character, but Lord Jing couldn’t be underestimated either. Even the empress had to show some respect for Lord Jing’s mother, Noble Consort He, who had occupied the emperor’s heart for so many years.
Princess Changyu’s words pulled Pei Luo’an back to reality. He rubbed his forehead, feeling more and more annoyed. “Someone, take Third Lady Qu to Fourth Lady Qu’s room and let the doctor treat them together.”
Fortunately, there was no outsider here, and only Princess Changyu and her family saw it. Otherwise, if rumors about the imperial brothers competing against each other for a woman spread out, both Pei Yusheng’s and his names would be ruined.
His messy situation hadn’t been settled yet. Now getting involved with Third Lady Qu was truly troublesome for him.
Third Lady Qu was obviously a slutty woman. Now, Pei Luo’an was convinced that Qu Qiuyan was trying to seduce him. Otherwise, why would she dress up and act so coquettishly at a funeral?
His younger brother Lord Jing must’ve hooked up with Third Lady Qu a long time ago. No wonder Pei Yusheng was so angry that he even kicked her. If Ji Youran acted intimately with Pei Yusheng, he would be even angrier. However, Pei Luo’an believed that Ji Youran was not this kind of shameless woman.
After Qu Qiuyan was moved away, the altar room fell into dead silence again.
Pei Luo’an cleared his throat in embarrassment and turned to Pei Yusheng, “Yusheng, about what happened…”
