Chapter 1292 - 1292 Great Elder Princess Showed Weakness
Chapter 1292 Great Elder Princess Showed Weakness
Shao Wanru didn’t agree to the request of Madam of Prime Minister Zhang. But at last, she accepted the letter she brought over.
Madam of Prime Minister Zhang left while sobbing, but she knew there was nothing she could do about it. It was her daughter who caused the trouble. At this time, nothing could be done when Princess Chen was unwilling to forgive her.
Besides, her daughter had said Princess Chen shouldn’t be blamed for this. Therefore, Madam of Prime Minister Zhang hated Infanta Yuan’an and Ruiping Great Elder Princess more…
The letter placed on the table was opened. It was about Zhang Qilan’s experience during these days. She was first suspicious. Then, evil intentions gradually occupied her mind. Secrets revealed by this letter were more than she had provided. In it, Zhang Qilan clearly stated every event in Princess Yuyan’s courtyard.
In the end, she especially mentioned Princess Yuyan and asked Shao Wanru to watch out for Princess Yuyan and Commandery Prince Qing.
Infanta Yuan’an gave the Changxing Grass to Zhang Qilan and repeatedly said she found it herself. But Zhang Qilan still felt the Changxing Grass had something to do with Princess Yuyan and the Commandery Prince Qing’s Mansion.
After reading the letter, Shao Wanru paused and sighed. She was reluctant to see Zhang Qilan and didn’t know what to say to her. Making Chu Liuchen spare her life was the best she could do to help Zhang Qilan. Shao Wanru didn’t have a tender heart. In the past, she wholeheartedly wanted to make friends with Zhang Qilan. However, Zhang Qilan never stopped scheming against her. How could Shao Wanru forgive her?
Zhang Qilan was not stupid after all. At this critical moment, she realized others were using her as a pawn, an abandoned one now.
“My Lady, it’s getting late.” Qiu’er came in with a cup of tea and reminded her in a low voice.
Chu Liuchen specially sent Qiu’er and Dong’er to serve Shao Wanru. They were both good at martial arts. Although Yujie didn’t break her hands and feet, she had many scratches. At this time, she could only lie down and rest. It was good for the two servant girls to fill the vacancy.
“Go and ask Nanny Wei to come over!” Shao Wanru nodded and ordered, putting the letter under the pillow. When Madam of Prime Minister Zhang was in the room just now, a servant girl came and reported that Empress Dowager had sent Nanny Wei over. At this time, she was still waiting in the wing room.
“Yes!” Dong’er answered and left. Before long, Nanny Wei entered the inner room with a big smile. Shao Wanru lay propped against the soft pillows.
“Greetings, Your Highness.” Nanny Wei stepped forward and was about to bow.
“Nanny Wei, you don’t need to stand on ceremony here. Qiu’er!” Shao Wanru said softly.
Qiu’er hurried forward to pull Nanny Wei up before she bent down. Then, she helped her sit down on a brocade stool nearby.
Nanny Wei observed Shao Wanru’s expression and asked, “Her Majesty asked me to come and see you. How is your condition after such a thing happened?”
“I’m fine,” Shao Wanru said and tried to get up. However, her face immediately changed a little, and she gave a choked cry. She must have accidentally pulled a wound.
She was indeed wounded, though her injury was not very serious. After she rolled on the ground several times, she got a few scratches on her back and arms. This morning, Chu Liuchen applied medicine to her wounds again.
“Lie still, Your Highness. I’m here to check on you on behalf of the Empress Dowager. Also, Ruiping Great Elder Princess sent you a gift to apologize,” Nanny Wei said with a grin.
“A gift for apologizing?” Shao Wanru, stunned to hear that, looked at Nanny Wei in surprise.
“Well, it’s also the idea of the Empress Dowager. The cause of this matter is Infanta Yuan’an. I heard it was mainly because of the conflict between you and Infanta Yuan’an. Prince Chen had broken Second Young Master Qu’s arm. Do you still remember it?” Nanny Wei reminded her.
“So what?” Shao Wanru’s face suddenly fell. She had understood what Ruiping Great Elder Princess meant. Such a serious incident happened. But to her great surprise, Ruiping Great Elder Princess described it as a private clash between Infanta Yuan’an and her. “So, Prince Chen should take the blame?”
When it came to the previous incident, both Shao Wanru and Infanta Yuan’an had made some mistakes, but Chu Liuchen resorted to violence in the dispute.
“How could it be Prince Chen’s fault? The Empress Dowager doesn’t want you and Prince Chen to be too hard on Infanta Yuan’an. She is a poor lady in such a pitiful condition now. She won’t get better. Ruiping Great Elder Princess doesn’t know anything about this,” Nanny Wei hurriedly shook her head and explained.
Shao Wanru let her eyes settle upon Nanny Wei’s face. Nanny Wei was all smiles with a fresh complexion. Anyway, she didn’t seem to be lying. All of a sudden, her eyes turned penetrating.
Shao Wanru knew the Empress Dowager had always been very protective toward Chu Liuchen. Thus, she firmly believed Empress Dowager would not blame Chu Liuchen and would never let anyone criticize him at this time.
But according to Ruiping Great Elder Princess, Chu Liuchen was the cause of this matter, wasn’t he?
Of course, in her eyes, Shao Wanru was also one of the causes.
At the very start, she hadn’t had a dispute with Infanta Yuan’an, which alerted people in the Palace. As a result, Chu Liuchen learned about it and broke Second Young Master Qu’s arm. If none of these things had ever happened, Infanta Yuan’an wouldn’t have held a grudge and made such a big scene.
Three Princes in the royal family had married their legal wives. Shockingly, all three of them were involved, and none were in a good situation.
Shao Wanru had been very close to death, and Infanta Yuan’an was almost dead now. And Zhang Qilan seemed to be equally miserable.
Their conflict would be the most shocking news if it weren’t for Prince Zhou’s rebellion.
“Nanny Wei, but it is not within Prince Chen’s power to help you. Ruiping Great Elder Princess should go and plead with the Emperor instead!” Shao Wanru said, staying calm and collected.
“Her Grace began begging His Majesty long ago, and she has knelt before the Imperial Study’s door for a few hours. The Empress Dowager is very distressed to see her suffering like this.” Nanny Wei sighed. “Your Highness, Her Majesty wanted you to go to the Imperial Study and see Ruiping Great Elder Princess. By the way, please help her beg for mercy. You are the victim. If you don’t mind, His Majesty can let go of this matter.”
Shao Wanru sneered. “Sure enough, I’m the victim. The Emperor would certainly let off Ruiping Great Elder Princess if I’m willing to forgive them. But what would others think of Chu Liuchen then?
“In other people’s eyes, he would become an incompetent troublemaker. What is worse, he might be known as a brutal and restless Prince. Such a result would do no good to Chu Liuchen.”
Shao Wanru might not help him with this kind of thing, but she would never be a drag on him.
“Nanny Wei, please report it to Imperial Grandmother. I’m in poor health and can barely move, so I’m afraid I can do nothing to help now.”
Shao Wanru shook her head and said.
“Your Highness…” Nanny Wei tried to persuade her, but Shao Wanru raised her head and stopped her. “I know what you want to say, but that’s beyond my power. If Her Majesty has the urge to do it, she can do it in person!”
After saying that, Shao Wanru slid down a little. Qiu’er stepped forward and removed a thick and soft pillow behind her. This way, her master could lie more comfortably in a lower position. Shao Wanru closed her eyes, her long eyelashes gently falling on her weak, pale face.
With this, she gave Nanny Wei a blunt refusal and motioned for her to go out.
With a little livid face, Nanny Wei tightly pressed her fingers against the cuffs of her sleeves and tried hard to suppress the anger in her heart. She didn’t expect that Shao Wanru would even dare to reject Empress Dowager’s request. In her mind, Shao Wanru would obey Empress Dowager in every way and struggled to go to the Imperial Study despite her illness.
“Your Highness…” Nanny Wei pretended not to understand Shao Wanru’s hint. With an effort, she contained her irritation and raised her voice to call Princess Chen.
“Nanny Wei, please get up. Her Highness is going to rest!” Qiu’er came over and said, pulling Nanny Wei by the sleeve.
“How dare you!” When Nanny Wei was pulled up, she shouted angrily. With a violent wave of her sleeve, she tried to push Qiu’er away. Much to her surprise, Qiu’er had great strength and could drag her a few steps forward. Then, Qiu’er relaxed her grip on Nanny Wei’s sleeve. She reached out, took her arm, and walked out with her. “Nanny, Her Highness is indeed tired out. She hasn’t recovered yet. Please come back next time!”
Her words sounded polite, but her actions were rough — she pulled Nanny Wei straight to the outer room.
“Where did you come from? You are so rude. I come here for the Empress Dowager.” Nanny Wei struggled and bellowed at Qiu’er to stop.
However, Qiu’er didn’t stop walking. She pulled Nanny Wei out of the outer room and didn’t let go of her until they were out of the door.
“Nanny Wei, I’m sorry for my rudeness, but Her Highness is in poor health. Our Prince has ordered us not to let Her Highness get tired,” Qiu’er explained with a panicked look.
Of course, she only looked frightened, but there was no trace of panic in her eyes. At a glance, Nanny Wei knew she just pretended to talk nicely.
Annoyed, Nanny Wei stood still and glared at Qiu’er fiercely. Then she pointed at her and rebuked sharply, “How could a cheap servant girl be so audacious and rude? How bold and ignorant you are to ignore Empress Dowager’s order? What severe punishment do you think you deserve?”
“Nanny Wei, why are you so angry?” A flat voice came from aside.
Nanny Wei turned her head and saw the chief supervisor of Prince Chen’s Mansion coming over with a smile. The anger on her face immediately faded away. The chief supervisor had been the former empress’s servant. How could she not know him?
“Greetings, Nanny Wei.” The chief supervisor came over and gave her a cupped-hand salute with a smile.
“You don’t have to do that,” Nanny Wei said politely, her eyes on the two servants behind him. “Why do you come to the inner court at this time?”
“Just now, our Prince heard that you had come, so he specially asked me to come and have a look. By the way, I was ordered to send some medicinal materials to Her Highness. Since she has been in poor health, my master is very worried about her. I have just picked up these herbs and took them out of the warehouse,” the chief supervisor said with a smile and looked behind Nanny Wei.
Seeing this, Nanny Wei also looked back but didn’t see anyone. Subconsciously, she asked, “What’s the matter?”
“Nothing. Her Majesty knew Princess Chen was injured, but hasn’t she bestowed any favors upon her?” The chief supervisor looked behind Nanny Wei a few more times. It seemed he could hardly believe it. Then he muttered to himself, “It’s impossible. How upset Prince Chen will be if he knows it! No way, I must talk to my master about it.”
With this, the chief supervisor seemed to want to turn around.
“How could there be no reward? It’s just behind me. I walked a little faster and arrived first, and Her Majesty’s reward will be here soon!” Nanny Wei said in a hurry. If Prince Chen went to complain to the Empress Dowager about this, she would be in great trouble…