Chapter 83: Elegant Gathering
Every tenth day of the month was the day for the Ping Le Women’s Society’s gathering.
Upon hearing that Princess Ping Le had returned to her mansion, Xue Yueying quickly composed herself and hurried over.
No matter how the Princess treated her, she couldn’t lose this powerful patron…
As she was leaving, she happened to see someone from the Zhao family delivering a betrothal letter. Madam Chun was busy arranging things, and the mansion was bustling with activity. Thinking of her own Eighth Sister, and then glancing at the shy and timid Gu Ruoyi, she couldn’t help but feel even more disdain for her.
A young lady from a Marquis’s mansion had her engagement broken, and was to marry the son of a Doctor from the Imperial Academy…
What was there to be proud of for this young girl?
She arrived at Ping Le Square with this subtle dissatisfaction. Many Madams and Young Ladies from the society were already there.
But at first glance, there seemed to be fewer people than usual.
Xue Yueying went to Luan Feng Pavilion as usual. Lu Xi, Xie Weilan, and others had already arrived.
They had clearly also heard the news of Ping Le’s return to her mansion from the palace and had come to join the fun.
As soon as everyone sat down and had chatted for a few sentences, the shouts of an eunuch could be heard from outside.
“Your Highness Princess Ping Le has arrived—”
Ping Le always made a grand entrance whenever she went out.
Even when compared to a Prince, she was in no way inferior.
Whenever she came to the Women’s Society, everyone had to respectfully greet her.
Several young ladies quickly rose to “receive her,” but Ping Le was in very low spirits today. She looked as if she hadn’t slept well after a night of “exhaustion.” Even with thick cosmetics on her face, it was difficult to hide her pale, sickly appearance.
“Everyone rise. Sit!”
Those who could sit in Luan Feng Pavilion and converse with Ping Le were the Princess’s confidantes.
The young ladies vied to speak, inquiring with concern about the Princess’s health.
Ping Le said lightly, “No need to worry. It was just that I caught a chill that day and was angered by that wretched woman, causing liver qi stagnation, which led to my fainting for a while. Later, I gradually recovered with the medicinal soup from the Imperial Physician, and there were no major issues. My Imperial Father, pitying my weak constitution, insisted on keeping me in the palace to recuperate.”
Her expression was cold, clearly not wanting to mention that incident.
It also had a sense of “protesting too much.”
The others then stopped asking and continued to chat about everyday matters.
Xue Yueying sat at the end, listening, her heart filled with anxiety.
Last time, at the entrance of the Princess’s mansion, she had been driven away by an enraged Ping Le…
This time, she had shamelessly returned, and she was afraid of making a fool of herself and being humiliated by the Princess again.
Unexpectedly, Ping Le merely glanced at her indifferently, as if that incident had never happened, and asked weakly, “Hearing you all chatting so lively just now, what were you discussing?”
Lu Xi and Xie Weilan exchanged a glance.
“Replying to Your Highness, Sister Xie and I heard on the way here that a fisherman had caught a large fish and was selling it in the market. Who would have thought that when the fish was cut open on the spot, human hands and hair were found inside! The constables from Jingzhao Prefecture have already rushed over…”
Ping Le’s expression was indifferent, “Jingzhao Prefecture has so many murder cases every day, it’s nothing surprising.”
Lu Xi then said timidly, “This humble one is timid and was frightened. I didn’t dare to linger for half a moment…”
Ping Le raised her eyelids, clearly not very interested in the matter. She frowned and looked at everyone.
“Third Madam Yao is not at the society. You should re-elect a person in charge.”
This Third Madam Yao was Yao Minjun, the sister of Yao Wei.
Previously, she was in charge of the society, handling daily affairs, and profited greatly from managing everything inside and out.
Now that the Yao family had this incident, Yao Minjun was also taken away by the officials, which was a slap in the face for Ping Le. Yet, she had to pretend to be indifferent, as if it were a simple matter of replacing a manager.
Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent.
No one bothered to inquire about Third Madam Yao’s fate anymore.
Xue Yueying hesitated for a moment, a polite smile on her face, and moved forward.
“This humble one is willing to share the Princess’s worries, but I don’t know if Your Highness would mind that I am currently pregnant and clumsy with my work…”
Princess Ping Le glanced at her abdomen.
“Until a suitable person is found, you will temporarily take over Third Madam Yao’s duties. If there is anything you don’t understand, find Hong Xing later, and she will guide you.”
Xue Yueying was overjoyed.
Ping Le had always been arrogant, and those who displeased her never ended well.
She might not say anything, but she might not forgive her in her heart.
However, if she were given the authority to manage the Women’s Society, it meant she was still considered one of her own.
Xue Yueying immediately put on a look of tearful gratitude, “Your Highness the Princess is magnanimous and does not hold grudges against this humble one. I will certainly do my best to serve Your Highness with all my might…”
Princess Ping Le’s lips curved slightly, revealing a cold smile.
“We are all women of the inner chambers, why speak of serving like dogs and horses? As long as you don’t cause trouble for this Palace like Gu Jie and Yao Wei, I will be grateful to Buddha…”
Everyone’s hearts tightened.
The atmosphere became stagnant, and Luan Feng Pavilion was somber.
After the Yao family was imprisoned, the matter did not end there.
With their family ruined, they would naturally lash out in desperation.
Assistant Minister of the Interior Yao Hong, on the day of his imprisonment, had tried to beg for mercy from the Princess through someone, but received no response. He then began to bite and claw like a mad dog, making wild accusations.
In prison, he bit his finger and used it as a brush, writing a blood letter on the wall with his own blood, solemnly claiming that Princess Ping Le had secretly instructed him to commit those heinous crimes.
He also declared that to prevent being framed by Princess Ping Le, he had already compiled ironclad evidence of the Princess’s crimes and hidden it in a very secret place. If he were to die unfortunately, his disciples would make that evidence public…
Xie Yanzhan, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review who was handling the case, was greatly troubled by this matter.
He privately found Princess Ping Le and informed her of the situation.
Ping Le had no choice but to ask him to stall the case and find a way to stabilize Yao Hong.
This Xie Yanzhan was Xie Weilan’s father.
Therefore, Xie Weilan was the most aware of this matter and deeply understood the root cause of Princess Ping Le’s distress.
She sighed softly, “Recently, I don’t know what evil spirits we’ve offended. Third Master You is missing, Second Master Yao is like a cripple, Fifth Young Master Gu is still in prison, and we are all facing troubles and living in constant fear…”
This group of people had played together since childhood.
They were very familiar with each other.
It was one thing for one person to have an accident, but now that misfortunes were happening one after another, it was inevitable that they would feel alarmed.
Lu Xi also chimed in, “Who can say otherwise? You Zhimu, a living person, just vanished into thin air. Jingzhao Prefecture has searched for so long with no clues. Yao Wei’s accident was even more bizarre; after being scratched by a cat, he fell into a cesspool and almost drowned. Jingzhao Prefecture has investigated and investigated, but there’s still no explanation…”
Ping Le shook her head slightly and snorted.
“What can those good-for-nothings accomplish?”
Lu Xi dared not say another word upon hearing this.
Currently, the Prince, Princess Ping Le’s Imperial Brother, was overseeing Jingzhao.
No matter how arrogant Princess Ping Le was, she had previously shown considerable respect to Prince Duan.
Now that she didn’t even put Prince Duan in her eyes, it was clearly because Prince Duan intended to take Xue Liu into his mansion, and she harbored resentment towards her brother.
Seeing this, Xue Yueying secretly glanced at Princess Ping Le and, gathering her courage, said, “Your Highness, is there a possibility that all of this is Xue Liu’s scheme?”
Ping Le’s face couldn’t hide her mockery, “Just her? Does she have that much capability?”
Xue Yueying said, “During those days, I was detained at the Ministry of Justice. With nothing to do, I carefully sorted out the recent events. Let me tell you, and you can listen and see if there’s any truth to it…”
Everyone turned their gaze to her.
Xue Yueying pressed her lips with a handkerchief and cleared her throat.
“This Xue Liu had malicious intentions from the start. For some reason, she received secret assistance from the Crown Prince and schemed to be favored by the Princess Consort Duan. As soon as she returned to the capital, she caused trouble in the Xue family, framing me and Young Master Gu. Afterward, she pretended to befriend my second sister and used my second sister to obtain evidence of the Assistant Minister of the Interior’s corruption in the imperial examinations, which she then handed over to Censor Zhou, who was troubled by his nephew’s examination matters…”
“She meticulously planned step by step. First, she harmed Yao Wei, then caused the Yao family’s ruin. Yao Hong, driven to desperation, would lash out wildly, perhaps even producing some evidence… In my humble opinion, she is not targeting one person, but… all of us.”
Xue Yueying placed her hands on her abdomen, her eyes narrowed slightly, her expression very sinister.
Seeing this, the other ladies couldn’t help but hold their breath and exchange glances.
Xue Yueying slowly looked at Ping Le, “If this is truly the case, then Xue Liu has returned for revenge…”
After speaking, she deepened her tone, “Her sole aim is to marry into Prince Duan’s mansion, she must have a motive. Princess, we must prepare for defense early…”
Ping Le’s expression changed repeatedly.
Finally, she let out a cold laugh from between her teeth.
“Then let her come! This Princess wants to see if a fallen concubine’s daughter like her can contend with a reigning Princess, or if this Princess will play with her in the palm of her hand like she did to a dog back then!”
The last few words were almost gritted out, her clenched fists trembling slightly, her knuckles turning white from the force, showing that her hatred for Xue Liu ran bone-deep.
Seeing this, Xue Yueying secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
“With Your Highness the Princess taking charge, we have nothing to fear.”
Ping Le suppressed her anger and asked Xue Yueying in a low voice, “On the twelfth, when does Xue Liu’s bridal sedan chair depart?”
Xue Yueying had already inquired clearly and replied, “One quarter past the hour of You. It’s not a proper wedding, just that the mansion is making it a bit lively out of respect for the Princess Consort Duan. Prince Duan will not personally escort the bride; a single sedan chair will take her to Prince Duan’s Mansion, and that will be that…”
Ping Le pursed her lips and smiled, “It happens to be Imperial Brother’s birthday, and this Princess will also go to celebrate.”
Lu Xi asked, “Does Your Highness have any plans?”
Ping Le hummed softly, saying no more.
Xue Yueying said, “This humble one has a method…”
Ping Le’s eyes narrowed slightly, and she smiled coldly, “You still have a good method?”
Xue Yueying showed a hint of shyness, “Since You Zhimu is missing, why not send someone to impersonate him and, in his name… quietly eliminate Xue Liu!”
Ping Le waved her hand, about to speak, when she suddenly began to cough uncontrollably, her cheeks inexplicably flushing red. She drank a few sips of tea to calm herself, her voice carrying a strange panting sound, and she no longer sat as upright as before.
“There have been frequent incidents in the capital recently. This Princess must be more restrained, lest Imperial Father blame me and it be difficult to resolve. Let her be smug for a few more days…”
Xue Yueying said, “Your Highness doesn’t need to act personally. Find some knights-errant from the Martial World. As long as they are paid enough, they will be willing to risk their lives. However, since Xue Liu has returned from Old Mausoleum Swamp, she is bound to know many people from all walks of life, and it’s possible she might have connections with them. We must be cautious with personnel…”
Having suffered a great loss, she had also learned a lesson.
Ping Le’s body was not feeling well and she lacked much energy.
Hearing Xue Yueying’s words, hatred surged in her heart again.
“To marry comfortably? That would indeed be too easy for her. This Princess must show her a bit of what she’s made of…”
Second watch, dinner will be served~ Mo~
