Theory

When Xiao Yuan woke up, it was already the following morning. Princess Qing Le had paid a visit first thing in the morning. She had quickly went over to the old madam’s quarters and said hello before rushing over to the Ling Long pavilion.

Upon seeing the bruise on Xiao Yuan’s face, she was filled with a seething rage. Yesterday, she had drank too much so she hadn’t seen the bruise clearly, but now she could see it clearly.

“Third cousin has done it now! He actually had the audacity to hit you this badly. How could he?”

Qing Le was an easily excited person. “This is not acceptable. I’m going to go to the palace and get my uncle to judge this.”

Xiao Yuan was worried that she would do something rash and rushed to stop Qing Le.

“It’s fine. It already doesn’t hurt. It’s only a bit swollen. So for the moment, I won’t be able to go out and see people. Furthermore, haven’t I already taught him a lesson yesterday?”

Qing Le decided it was best to just sit down. At the mention of Lian Jiye falling into the water, she clapped her hands. “Little Ninth. You’re incredible. You definitely did teach him a lesson!”

Xiao Yuan was somewhat apprehensive. She certainly didn’t have the guts to actually push Lian Jiye into the water.

“Look at me. Once I’m nervous, I forget all about serious matters.” Qing Le held a hand over her mouth and said quietly, “Early this morning, the Pure Consort flew into a terrible rage and severely punished Third Cousin. Pitiful him had to suffer getting hit by a plank of wood three times shortly after waking up. My guess is that he won’t be able to get up out of bed for a month.”

When Xiao Yuan heard this, a large smile spread on her face and she started rolling around on her bed. She happily waved her fists up and down. “Serves him right!”

The two of them quickly formed into a ball and curled on the bed as they laughed together.

“Miss Ninth, Miss Fifth would like you to pay her a visit.”

The maidservant outside of the door shouted.

Xiao Yuan brows furrowed. Qing Le took the lead in responding, “Miss Ninth has no time. Didn’t she see that this Princess is here? She has the nerve to come over!”

The maidservant trembled. She was somewhat embarrassed and nervous but plucked up the courage to say, “Miss Fifth says she has some private family matters to discuss with Miss Ninth. She will only say it this one time.”

Qing Le was so angry, she started laughing. Just as she opening her mouth to say something, Xiao Yuan grabbed onto Qing Le and stopped her, “As a matter of fact, I would be interested in seeing what she can say. If I am upright in my actions, I have nothing to fear. It’s not like I’ve done anything wrong, why should I be scared of her?”

When Qing Le heard this, she got out of bed and put on her shoes, “Let’s go. I want to go hear what she has to say.”

The maid servant’s face revealed her feeling of awkwardness. Without waiting for her to consider it, Xiao Yuan brought Qing Le over to Xiao Ruo’s courtyard.

As soon as one foot had stepped into the courtyard, a heavy smell of medicine floated over. Xiao Wan tightly furrowed her brows as she suspiciously looked inside.

“It’s fine. With me here as a witness, she wouldn’t dare to act recklessly!”

Qing Le said consolingly. Xiao Yuan smirked and stepped inside.

“Miss Fifth. Miss Ninth has arrived.”

Just as Xiao Yuan got close, she heard a maidservant shout the sentence.

Xiao Yuan held a handkerchief under her nose. A heavy fish smell floated over. It was enough to make someone want to throw up. Suddenly, an old woman walked out, carrying a basin of bloody water before hurrying away.

Xiao Yuan was taken aback. Luckily, Qing Le had pulled her away in time as the old woman in her rush had almost spilled some of the water. Judging by her expression, she seemed flustered.

“Miss Ninth. This servant didn’t mean to.”

Xiao Yuan angrily commanded her, “Carry it away quickly, it’s bad luck!”

“Yes, yes!” The old woman hastily nodded her head and pushed it away.

Xiao Yuan’s expression slightly changed and she patted her chest. She looked inside again. Xiao Ruo was biting onto a handkerchief. She was in so much pain that her entire body was covered in a sheen of sweat. Her small face had turned paperwhite.

Xiao Ruo unexpectedly saw Xiao Yuan and a deep hatred rushed forth inside her. She relaxed her lips, which upturned into a mocking smile. Despite how weak her body was, she forcefully spoke.

“Ninth Sister, are you finally satisfied?”

When Xiao Yuan heard this, her expression slightly changed. “You’re crazy! What do I have to be satisfied about? Don’t use me as an excuse. These sins were committed by your own hand. Who can you blame?”

“Exactly. Who did Little Ninth provoke? You’re the one who didn’t restrain yourself. You’re the one who had relations with him and you still blame other people? You truly don’t have a sense of honor!”

Qing Le had seen an aunt go through a miscarriage in the past. Judging by Xiao Ruo’s appearance, she had definitely been pregnant and had insisted on dragging in Xiao Yuan to witness the abortion, which made Qing Le furious.

Xiao Ruo was in a daze. Her ears were filled with Qing Le’s ridicule. The rims of her eyes reddened.

She shouted, “What do you understand? If she hadn’t insisted on not letting go and playing hard to get, how else could I have fallen to this degree?”

Qing Le had more she wanted to say but was prevented from doing so by Xiao Yuan. Xiao Yuan started laughing out of anger, “What a laugh. You’re actually putting this on my head? Was I the one who introduced you to Lian Jiye? Or forced you to have a relationship with him? Let’s make it clear that those were your mistakes. Why should I suffer just to satisfy you all?”

“What you’re trying to say is that you’d want me to be a concubine while I give up the position of queen to you? Don’t make me laugh. If you’re looking for someone to blame, look to your own greedy heart and inability to find a responsible man who can protect you.”

Xiao Ruo was besides herself. “Yes. Father loves you. Adores you. It’s obvious you’re the child of his first wife. How can the difference between us be this vast? Furthermore, the Third Prince never liked you in the first place. Little Ninth, you really are too calculating. You’d rather drag on the marriage than give him to me. Don’t you forget, you owe me your life!”

Xiao Ruo was ruthless with her words, scaring the Wet Nurse so much she rushed to cover Xiao Ruo’s mouth.

“Fifth Sister….”

Xiao Yuan was both angry and anxious. “If the reason you wanted to see me today was just to rant at me, forgive me for not wanting to keep you company. Qing Le, let’s go. She’s insane!”

“Little Ninth, what are you scared of!” Xiao Ruo shouted. After losing her child, Xiao Ruo was badly heartbroken. “Third Prince personally said that he never liked you so why do you insist on holding onto him? You’ve already made father and grandmother hate me, and now the position of queen may not even be mine. What else do you want? I’m not like you, who only knows to act like a spoiled child and on the surface appears as if she’s not scheming anything, but in reality, she’s more calculating than anyone else.”

Xiao Yuan was truly furious, “I’m the calculating one? Who was the one who ganged up on me behind my back with my fiance? Who was it again who lied to me about the Buddha’s light and pushed me down the mountain? I was almost eaten alive by wild beasts. I was the stupid one who was naive enough to trust you. You’ve made your bed, now lie in it!”

“Fine! Seeing as how you don’t like the Third Prince, then you better be clear about it. Don’t depend on father’s adoration for you forever. You’ve been a constant annoyance to the Third Prince. As a matter of fact, I would like to see what kind of man can match the Minister Manor’s Miss Ninth!”

Xiao Ruo sneered coldly. Xiao Yuan was the idiot. Xiao Ruo had always believed that Xiao Yuan had been holding back her anger and was playing hard to get, not realizing that the Third Prince hated Xiao Yuan so much he wanted to strangle her. She’ll get her just desserts someday.

Xiao Yuan’s expression changed somewhat. “Then I ask you not to waste time worrying about me. It’d be better if you thought about yourself first!”

“Little Ninth, I’m only asking you. Did you know that I was with child?”

Xiao Ruo saw that she was about to leave and hastily asked her question. There were very few people that knew about her pregnancy, even Fan didn’t know about it. But Xiao Yuan, this idiot found out about it, ruining all of her plans. She had thought about it for awhile and didn’t know how she gave herself away.

Xiao Yuan unhappily gave Xiao Ruo a look. “Naturally, Hong Luan told me, if not her who else could it have been?”

When Xiao Ruo heard this, her hands tightly curled into fists and a hint of hatred flashed across her eyes.

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