Chapter 281 – You Are Just A Concubine!
Chapter 281 You Are Just a Concubine!
Because of some people’s intentional efforts in spreading the news, everyone in the capital was talking about the case soon.
The case was that Crown Prince’s Mansion occupied the ex-Crown Princess’ dowry. They first occupied the ex-Crown Princess’ dowry shop and then the ex-Crown Princess’ mother’s dowry shop. They even changed the shop names. This case was undoubtedly true, and Yue’s Gold Pavilion was the evidence.
Many people knew about this. Before knowing this, many people who knew about Yue’s Gold Pavilion were discussing whether the shop’s owner had changed or not. Otherwise, why was its name changed?
Now, many people knew that the shop belonged to the ex-Crown Princess. They knew that the ex-Crown Princess’ birth mother’s surname was Yue. Therefore, Yue’s Gold Pavilion was really the ex-Crown Princess’ dowry. They heard that the ex-Crown Princess did not die of illness, but she died to save the Crown Prince. However, the Crown Prince embezzled her dowry, which made people angry and doubt the Crown Prince’s moral character.
Two people under Yu Dong spread rumors about the topic first, but many other people soon began to talk about it. It was spreading so fast that they were really surprised. They left immediately according to the order and reported to Yu Dong.
As for what would happen next, many people naturally did not want to see the Crown Prince having a good time. Many people wanted to stir up trouble, and the timing was perfect.
When the news reached Pei Luo’an’s ears, he was drinking tea with Pei Yuanjun, who had come today to check on the security of Eastern Palace. Compared with Lord Jing, the Crown Prince was certainly more important.
Pei Luo’an’s people walked over to him and whispered a few words. After that, his expression changed greatly.
“If you have something to deal with, you can go on with your own business. I’ll leave after taking a quick look.” Pei Yuanjun gracefully put down the teacup with a faint smile on his handsome face. He narrowed his eyes and looked quite calm.
“Uncle Yun, please wait a moment. I will be back soon.” Pei Luo’an stood up and bowed to Pei Yuanjun. He really couldn’t wait any longer to deal with this matter.
Pei Yuanjun waved his hand and said, “Crown Prince, do as you please.”
Pei Luo’an turned around and strode away.
Pei Yuanjun smiled and said to Ji Hai, “Go and find out what happened.”
“Yes, I’ll go and take a look.” Ji Hai understood and turned to leave with two guards.
After leaving the living room, Pei Luo’an headed straight for Ji Youran’s yard.
Seeing Pei Luo’an returning with a darkened face, the servants in Ji Youran’s yard knelt down in fear.
Ji Youran was resting with her eyes closed in the room. She didn’t look good either. What the old maid told her before made her shocked and angry.
Hearing the noise from the door again, she opened her eyes impatiently and saw Pei Luo’an’s furious and almost distorted face. Before she could react, she was slapped in the face heavily. She covered her face with her hand, and tears immediately flowed out of her eyes. She said with a trembling voice, “Your Highness… you… you…”
“Return all Hanyue’s dowry to Earl Ling’an’s Mansion.” Pei Luo’an said angrily, glaring at Ji Youran coldly. He really didn’t know these things, and he didn’t care about such a trifle, but now it caused such a big scandal.
It was not a bad idea to keep Ji Hanyue’s dowry in Crown Prince’s Mansion, but on condition that nobody knew about it.
Ji Youran was slapped so hard that her head was buzzing. She even lost her usual cleverness and stammered, “Your… Your Highness… I… I don’t understand…”
“Return all Hanyue’s dowry to Ji Mansion immediately! Do it now! Do you want me to say it twice? You are just a Side Princess who entered the mansion in a hurry to serve Hanyue. How can you have any dowry? Moreover, the shop’s name started with ‘Yue’. Ji Youran, do you think everyone else is a fool?” Pei Luo’an was furious.
Thinking about the possible consequences of this matter, he was so angry that he wanted to give Ji Youran a few more slaps.
Many officials would definitely submit reports to criticize him in court tomorrow. If he didn’t deal with it now, it would be difficult for him to defend himself in court tomorrow.
Ji Youran felt dizzy and blurted out, “Your… Your Highness, didn’t you let me handle all her affairs?” Then, she saw Pei Luo’an’s handsome face almost twisted. She immediately knelt down on the bed, lowered her head, and cried uncontrollably. She apologized, “Your Highness… I was wrong. I will deal with it right away.”
“She was the Crown Princess, and you are just a concubine, but you actually wanted to occupy her dowry. Ji Youran, how shameless and greedy you are! Ji Youran, because of this, your life as my Side Princess has come to an end.” Pei Luo’an said coldly, glaring at Ji Youran.
“Your Highness, Your Highness, please spare me. I will deal with it immediately.” Ji Youran trembled all over, crying and begging for mercy.
“Behave yourself. Deal with it now.” Pei Luo’an flicked his sleeves and turned to leave.
Behind him, Ji Youran cried and fell on the bed.
Seeing Pei Luo’an leave, two maids came over to comfort Ji Youran with trepidation.
“Your Grace, please don’t cry. His Highness must have heard something against you, so he said this. His Highness has always doted on you.”
“Your Grace, someone must have said something in front of His Highness to deliberately alienate you from His Highness.”
“Go and find out what happened.” Ji Youran wiped her face and said with hatred. She did not want to be a concubine. She wanted to be the Crown Princess and the future Empress.
The Crown Prince’s words almost stabbed her in the heart, but she had to endure it.
“Yes, I will go now.” The maid, Shui Ning, said hurriedly and ran out. Xie Feng helped Ji Youran stand up and wash up. Although Ji Youran’s injury had not healed yet, she had to get up and deal with this matter first.
Shui Ning quickly got the news. It was said that the shop that had just changed its name was the source of the trouble. Ji Youran was angry and aggrieved. When she was about to change this shop’s name, she asked Pei Luo’an. At that time, he was in a good mood and helped her pick a name for the shop.
Even though she was aggrieved, she did not dare to explain to Pei Luo’an because it would only make him angry. She applied some ice on her face and asked someone to take out Ji Hanyue’s dowry list. She did not have time to collect the belongings on the list, but she could return the deeds immediately, so she brought them and headed to Earl Ling’an’s Mansion.
Just as she left to deal with this matter, the rumors outside had changed again.
It was said that not only did the Crown Prince occupy the ex-Crown Princess’ dowry, but he also fell for Minister Liu’s daughter, County Lady Jingyu, not long after the ex-Crown Princess died. It was said County Lady Jingyu was now waiting to be the future Crown Princess.
This news spread faster than the previous news. Later, people even said that County Lady Jingyu wanted to keep the ex-Crown Princess’ dowry because she was going to marry the Crown Prince, so the Crown Prince was unwilling to return the ex-Crown Princess’ dowry.
Someone said that he saw County Lady Jingyu at the ex-Crown Princess’ funeral, but she didn’t worship the ex-Crown Princess, which made her appear more suspicious. There was no female master in Crown Prince’s Mansion’s backyard at that time, and the only Side Princess was not qualified to invite her over. Then, why did she appear at the funeral?
Could it be that she had met the Crown Prince privately on the day of the ex-Crown Princess’ funeral? If this was the case, the two of them were not just having an affair. People even suspected that the Crown Prince’s so-called deep love for the ex-Crown Princess was all faked and he might have secretly been dating County Lady Jingyu for a long time. If so, the ex-Crown Princess’ death might not be an accident.
Some rumors were spread like this. Moreover, because some things were really true, the more they were spread, the more convincing they became. In the end, many people believed that the matter of the Crown Prince’s Mansion’s dowry was definitely related to County Lady Jingyu, who was about to become the Crown Princess.
They thought the Crown Prince’s moral character didn’t fit in with his reputation, and County Lady Jingyu was a mean person.
Of course, some people had a wait-and-see attitude. They didn’t think it was true. They had never heard that County Lady Jingyu was going to marry the Crown Prince, but they had heard that County Lady Jingyu was going to marry Lord Jing and become Princess Jing.
But no matter what, the rumor was widely spread. Not only ordinary people but also aristocratic families had heard about it.
Liu Jingyu’s elegant room was now in a mess. The ground was covered with fragments of porcelain bottles. The maids knelt on the ground, not daring to care about the fragments. They trembled and did not dare to move, fearing that they would piss Liu Jingyu off again.
Liu Jingyu, who was standing in the middle of the fragments, was so angry that her beautiful face was livid, and her eyes were gloomy.
“Madam is here!” An old maid suddenly said from outside the door.
“Yu, why are you so angry?” A middle-aged woman walked in. She was in luxurious clothes and wore valuable jewelry. She resembled Liu Jingyu and was very beautiful.
She glanced at the fragments on the ground and ordered coldly, “Clean up the ground. What a mess!”
“Yes, madam!” The maids got up one by one, ignoring the wounds on their knees that had been pierced by the broken porcelain, and cleaned the ground up together.
“Yu, come in.” The woman held Liu Jingyu’s hand, entered the inner room, and sat down on the chair in the middle.
She was Minister Liu’s wife and Duke Qi’s only wife-born daughter, Qi Xiejiao.
“Mother.” Liu Jingyu stood still with tears in her eyes.
Mrs. Liu took her hand again and pulled her to sit down. She said gently, “Alright, tell me what happened. Whom did you offend recently?”
“Mother, I don’t know!” Tears streamed down Liu Jingyu’s face.
“There must be someone who wants to deal with you or the Crown Prince.” Mrs. Liu said slowly and seriously.
“Mother, I know that someone wants to deal with me, but I don’t know who it is. If I find out who is behind this, I won’t let her off.” Liu Jingyu said hatefully, wiping her unstoppable tears.
“What’s the use of you talking big here?” Mrs. Liu reached out and patted her back.
“Mother, who is it that wants to deal with me?” Liu Jingyu wiped away her tears and bit her lower lip. Her gaze was cold.
Mrs. Liu asked, “I heard that you are dealing with Fourth Lady Qu. Is that true?”
Liu Jingyu asked in realization, “Is Qu Moying dealing with me?”
Mrs. Liu smiled and said, “I don’t know, but it might be the case. I heard that the matter of Crown Prince’s Mansion was stirred up because Fourth Lady Qu’s shop was next to the shop in question, and the two shops’ people got into a fight.”
