Defend Someone from Injustice

Liu Qingwu was stunned. Her falling tears resembled pearls cascading off of a snapped necklace and it seemed like nothing would stop her from sobbing.

“Sister Yuan…”

Xiao Yuan looked up and glanced at Liu Qingwu. She wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry when she saw that Liu Qingwu was crying until she was gasping for breath.

“Sister Liu, this illness definitely needs to be cured. It won’t be good if any the treatment is delayed any longer.”

Qing Le’s shoulders were shaking from her efforts to hold back her laughter. Xiao Yuan sure did have a smart mouth.
Liu Qingwu shook her head and looked terribly anxious. It was evident that she couldn’t hold back her tears. Earlier, in order to make her crying look more realistic, she had rubbed her handkerchief in garlic juice. So when she dabbed the handkerchief near her eyes, she would start crying uncontrollably.

Princess Jin Shu looked over at Liu Qingwu with a face filled with worry. “Wu’Er, are you alright? How about I invite the imperial physician to come take a look?”

Liu Qingwu felt a searing anger and shook her head. “Mother, Wu’Er really is fine. It really has nothing to do with the Princess. Please don’t misunderstand.”

Liu Qingwu can see a hint of displeasure flash by in Princess Jin Shu’s eyes and couldn’t help but feel anxious.

Qing Le humphed and obstinately turned her head away so she wouldn’t be looking at Liu Qingwu, the disappointment.

“Wu’Er, it’s fine. Don’t say good things about her on her behalf. Hasn’t she mistreated you quite often?” Princess Jin Shu nonchalantly said.

Qing Le sneered and grabbed onto Xiao Yuan’s arm, wanting to leave.

Xiao Yuan paused, turned her head and said to Liu Qingwu, “Sister Liu, you better not ignore this illness. According to the book, this illness is unlucky and will bring misfortune to the entire manor. Don’t forget to go see the physician!”

“You!”

Liu Qingwu wiped at the corner of her eyes but to no avail. Her tears were like a waterfall and flowed without stop. She loathed Xiao Yuan and strongly desired to rip off her mouth. She was both furious and helpless.

As for Xiao Yuan, the women surrounding them believed her words to be most likely true. Liu Qingwu was unlucky. Her mother passed away when she was born. Her family had had mishaps occurring one after another. It might just be because of Liu Qingwu.

The sound of the crowd’s discussion grew louder and made Liu Qingwu terribly nervous. “Mother, it’s not like that. Wu’Er has never gotten any illness. Sister Xiao is talking nonsense.”

At this, the old madam’s expression soured. “Miss Liu, Little Ninth has a passion for reading medical textbooks and she bears no ill will towards Miss Liu so why would she falsely accuse Miss Liu? If Miss Liu feels like she has been treated wrongly, she should say it out loud and let everyone here help her reason things out.”

Liu Qingwu was speechless. She glanced at the old madam. The old madam had developed a reputation in the capital as someone who was fiercely protective of her grandchildren. This meant Liu Qingwu was a fool for daring to insult Xiao Yuan in front of the old madam.

Princess Jin Shu pushed aside Liu Qingwu’s hand, which had been absent mindedly fiddling with her pearl hairpin. Liu Qingwu was shocked.

“Mother…”

“The miss is not feeling well. Why don’t you withdraw first? ”

Princess Jin Shu wasn’t stupid. For the moment, she didn’t want to incur the audience’s rage. Today was supposed to be a happy occasion. Liu’s sobbing really did have an air of bad luck to it. She faced Liu Qingwu and gave her a look.

Liu Qingwu pitifully bit her lip. “Wu’Er will take her leave then.”

Liu Qingwu unhappily walked away, with her hands tightly curled into fists. She had miscalculated and things had unexpectedly turned out like this. For the moment, she was both regretful and furious.

“This child. Perhaps she was too excited. Normally she’s never like this. It’s her first time coming to the capital and she’s still quite young. She might not be accustomed to things yet. Come, come. Let’s go see an opera.”

Princess Jin Shu didn’t forget to exonerate Liu Qingwu in case the noblewoman had the wrong impression of her.

“In the few years that I haven’t seen her, Miss Xiao Ninth has grown ever more beautiful. The old madam is very lucky to have such a granddaughter.”

Princess Jin Shu praised Xiao Yuan to the old madam’s face.

The old madam smiled. “Princess, you flatter me. This old body thinks that the Princess who is dignified and cultured would be the cutest.”

The old madam may have said so, but inside her heart, she looked down on Princess Jin Shu more and more.

Not only the old madam, the noble women below also hadhave the same thoughts. However because of those two, they did not dare to express their thoughts and could only keep quiet.

Princess Jin Shu’s face colour changed slightly. She smiled awkwardly and pretended that she did not understand anything.

Some madam sensed that the atmosphere was not right and quickly diverged the topic, giving Princess Jin Shu some face. They said some easy-going words to coax her, making Princess Jin Shu so happy that she kept on smiling.

“The Prince consort is handsome and refined, he is dignified and gives out an air of elegance. Just look at the Princess’s eyes, let’s not mention how gentle it was.”

“Not only that, the Princess is very lucky. Once the Prince consort return back to the capital, he will definitely receive the Emperor’s attention.”

The madams got together to please Princess Jin Shu. It couldn’t be helped, she was the Empress dowager daughter and couldn’t be offended. If you hated it, then just turn your head. It’s better than offending them. However, if you manage to have it in both ways, then you would be highly favoured.

The side was soon filled with laughter, which immediately dimmed the unhappiness mood it had before and nobody mentioned it.

While on the other side, Qing Le brought Xiao Yuan back to her room in a huff, and tears started to flow down. Xiao Yuan was also unhappy. “Why are you crying? The more she continues, all the more you shouldn’t give in. You are the Princess, don’t tell me that you are scared?”
Qing Le wiped away her tears after hearing this, she sneered. “This Princess would be scared of her? What a joke! It was only because I was careless that some sand got into my eyes due to the wind.”

Xiao Yuan slightly smiled, but she didn’t exposed Qing Le’s lie. “Now that is correct. What kind of thing is she? Making you this angry. It’s not worthwhile for you tire yourself because of her. Look at that person in my house, I don’t even bother getting angry.”

Qing Le laughed and her heart warmed. “What you did is correct. I should punish her severely because she does not deserve any sympathy. Mother couldn’t control me, so she paid attention to Liu Qingwu instead. Today was supposed to be her chance to appear in public and earn a good reputation. Hehe, maybe she will cry again.”

Qing Le’s tears dried as quickly as they came. Xiao Yuan smiled. “She just an illegitimate born who can’t even be counted as anything worthy. What could she make of herself? If it wasn’t because of the Princess, no one would be willing to marry her into their family as a high-ranked concubine.”

Qing Le nodded. “Correct, recently a merchant from the capital came. Even my elder cousin brother wanted to matchmake them together and mother also intends to get her married to that merchant!”

Bang!

The tea in Xiao Yuan’s hands shook for a moment, spilling a large amount not a small amount. Qing Le looked at her puzzled.

“I did not hold it properly for a moment. But the words you said just now, are they true?”

Qing Le nodded earnestly.

Xiao Yuan’s body went stiff and she constantly scolded that person a few times in her heart. He had just returned to the capital and was already missed by someone. And it was such a bad love interest. Xiao Yuan felt disgusted just thinking about it and disliked Liu Qingwu more and more.

Zhao Zun coincidentally stood near the wall and heard some movements suddenly. He couldn’t help but move closer to take a look. Xiao Yuan’s small face was somewhat unnatural, looking listless. Suddenly, Zhao Zun was over the moon. The corners of his mouth hooked up with a touch of joy.

Zhao Qi wiped his sweat. What was wrong with his family’s master? He’s angry one moment then foolishly smiling at the wall the next moment.

“My lady, an imperial decree has arrived from the palace. The Princess has requested you to receive it.”

At this moment, a maidservant was standing outside the door.

Qing Le was startled for a moment and looked at Xiao Yuan. Xiao Yuan waved her hands. “You should go. There’s so many people making noise that it’s a headache. I will hide here to rest for a while. You should come back early. And don’t call anyone to come and disturb me.”

“Okay, I will be back in a moment.” Qing Le nodded and quickly left with her maidservant.

Editor: Leebebi

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