Chapter 254: Miscarriage
Jiang Ruanxi didn’t want to listen to her ravings, nor did she want to deal with her matters, pretending not to hear and continuing to walk forward.
“Ling Lin, I told you to stop—are you deaf? You murderer, you gave me safflower to harm my child. I didn’t expect your heart to be so vicious, poisoning my child out of jealousy because I’m pregnant. When the Crown Prince returns, I will definitely make him stand up for me.”
Jiang Ruanxi stopped in her tracks, her eyes full of frost.
She turned around, her gaze like ice, and said to Wan Qing word by word, “Repeat what you just said.”
Wan Qing, who had been arrogantly shouting, saw Jiang Ruanxi’s current appearance and was immediately frightened into silence.
It was the first time she had seen Jiang Ruanxi like this.
Previously, relying on Wei Chang’s favor, she hadn’t taken Jiang Ruanxi seriously at all.
In her heart, she had always thought Jiang Ruanxi was just a country girl who only became the Crown Princess because of Grand Tutor Ling.
Moreover, after she became pregnant later, she paid even less attention to her.
And ever since she entered the manor, she had seemed weak and easy to bully.
Now this Jiang Ruanxi, like a devil from hell, made her heart shudder, and she didn’t dare say another word.
Jiang Ruanxi came before her, looking down at her.
“This palace is jealous of you and gave you safflower—are you pig-brained? Would this palace give you safflower on this palace’s own turf?”
Jiang Ruanxi’s deep emanation of majestic deterrence, plus her words—though scolding her—made Wan Qing no longer dare to be arrogant, and her heart slowly calmed down.
But thinking of her own child, not knowing if it could be preserved, and if not, whether she herself could survive.
Anger surged to her head again.
“It was right after I came to your palace that I started bleeding. If it wasn’t you who did it, who else? Stop pretending.”
“You came uninvited on your own, how could this palace prepare it in advance for you?” Jiang Ruanxi retorted rhetorically.
Wan Qing was stunned, realizing it was true.
She and Sun Tina had come to the door without being summoned by Jiang Ruanxi, so she hadn’t known they were coming.
Suddenly, she thought of how Jiang Ruanxi had made them sit far away from her—perhaps she had known they would come, so she prepared it in advance, and since Jiang Ruanxi herself was pregnant, she placed it near where they sat.
This way, it wouldn’t harm her own child, but could make hers unviable.
Thinking of this possibility, Wan Qing’s anger clouded her mind.
“You prepared it in advance. Otherwise, why did you make me and Sun Tina sit in that spot?”
With her saying that, Jiang Ruanxi seemed to remember something.
“Didn’t you smell a scent at the time?”
Wan Qing was stumped by her words. “What?”
“You really didn’t smell it?” Jiang Ruanxi asked again.
Wan Qing recalled that when she entered, she had smelled a medicinal scent, and later a floral fragrance, which she thought was perfume on Sun Tina or Jiang Ruanxi’s clothing.
She hadn’t paid much attention.
Thinking that she was questioning Jiang Ruanxi, yet now she was changing the subject to clear her name, Wan Qing grew even angrier.
“Ling Lin, stop pretending. Do you think this will clear your relationship? You harm a prince—I will report you to the Empress and the Empress Dowager.”
“Then go ahead!” Jiang Ruanxi sat casually on the table, unconcerned.
Feeling she had spoken a bit much, she poured herself a cup of tea, took a sip, then propped her chin and stared at Wan Qing with a half-smile.
Her unusual behavior made Wan Qing very uneasy, and she stammered, “W-what are you looking at?”
Jiang Ruanxi placed her right hand on the table, tapping it up and down repeatedly, silently watching her.
Wan Qing wondered if she was hallucinating, but Jiang Ruanxi now gave her the feeling of a street thug, with none of her former timidity.
It made her heart shudder.
Having enjoyed Wan Qing’s change enough, Jiang Ruanxi stopped her hand movement and smiled, saying, “Wan Qing, you usually seem so arrogant, but I didn’t expect your brain to be so slow?”
Insulted, Wan Qing exploded and glared furiously. “Who are you calling slow? You’re the slow one—your whole family is slow!”
Jiang Ruanxi made a tsk-tsk sound.
“Getting angry so quickly? You care so much about your child—how about we make a deal?”
“What?” Wan Qing felt today’s Jiang Ruanxi was strange, but thinking she was changing the subject, she glared at her. “You think changing the subject will make me let you off…”
“Your child isn’t the Crown Prince’s, is it?” Before she could finish, Jiang Ruanxi suddenly said.
Panic flashed in Wan Qing’s eyes, but she quickly composed herself.
“W-what nonsense are you spouting? My child is of course the Crown Prince’s.”
Jiang Ruanxi didn’t miss the panic in her eyes.
Thinking of the information Yushui had investigated about Wan Qing, Jiang Ruanxi directly exposed her.
“Back at Wan Manor, you and a scholar lodging in your home had secretly fallen for each other, but your family’s mistress, to make you come to the Crown Prince’s Manor, threatened your concubine’s life, so you had no choice but to come to the Crown Prince’s Manor for your concubine’s sake. Isn’t that right?”
The more Jiang Ruanxi said, the more panicked Wan Qing’s eyes became, and she denied it without hesitation. “No, don’t talk nonsense.”
“If not, why are you so excited?”
“I…”
“As long as you cooperate with me, I can ensure you and your child’s safety, help you find the culprit who harmed your child, and let you be with your child’s father without obstruction. How about it?”
Before she could finish, Jiang Ruanxi interrupted her.
This time, Wan Qing didn’t fly into a rage and immediately fell silent.
Her gaze fixed steadily on her.
But her hand gripping the cup was clenched tightly, sweat soaking her entire palm.
She hadn’t expected Jiang Ruanxi to have investigated everything about her.
Some things no one had ever known, yet she had uncovered them.
It seemed she had underestimated this woman, Jiang Ruanxi, before.
“What are you saying? I don’t understand. Our Wan Manor was grateful for the chance to serve the Crown Prince loyally, so I came to the Crown Prince’s Manor. As for what you said, it’s all slander. Ling Lin, I didn’t expect you to be so vicious, fabricating such baseless charges against me just to clear your name.”
“Is that so? Think it over carefully. When you figure it out, come find this palace. But don’t take too long, or the child in your belly won’t be able to wait.” Jiang Ruanxi reminded her with a half-smile.
But to Wan Qing, these words were a threat.
“Ling Lin, you…”
“Ah~, this palace is tired. Take good care of yourself and your child.”
Jiang Ruanxi yawned and walked toward the door.
Repeatedly provoked and threatened, Wan Qing angrily stepped forward to teach her a lesson, but Jiang Ruanxi seemed to have eyes in the back of her head.
