Chapter 211 Sowing Discord Secretly
“The Grand Prince?” Qin Yunuan tried shouting at Sima Ray. He seemed to be pondering intently, so he did not respond to Qin Yunuan. Qin Yunuan walked closer and said in a louder voice, “Grand Prince?”
Sima Ruo shuddered suddenly. He looked frightened when he saw the abrupt appearance of Qin Yunuan.
“Grand Prince, what’s the matter with you?” Qin Yunuan felt so confused about the response of Sima Ruo, “The Fourth Prince of North Di let me collect the recent news of Saichun. But this time, I entered the Royal Palace and heard that the Grand Prince’s Wife had stayed at her chamber for many days. Today, you looked out of mind. Grand Prince, is there anything happening to you?”
“Nothing!” Sima Ruo answered without any doubt. But her eyes were so carotic, “Everything is fine. Everything!”
Qin Yunuan walked closer again, “Listen. Half a month ago, Grand Prince’s Wife gave birth to a baby, the Grandson of the emperor, but why do people in the palace have never seen this baby?”
Sima Ruo stunned, and his eyes expressed an inenarrable sorrow. He sneered bitterly, “All are the retribution. I, Sima Ray, have a clear conscience all the time. But last time, it was I that failed to report the fact and wanted to gain the interest. Finally, god found my sin.”
“If there were really the retribution, Sima Ray would not become so aggressive.” Qin Yunuan shook her head, “Retribution is from the god. It was random. I would like to revenge by myself.”
Sima Ruo glimpsed at Qin Yunuan slowly, “You are right. Saichun did give birth to a boy, but he was dead the next day. And then my mother came to check and found that someone played a trick on the nipple of the wet nurse. The person smeared the moist poisonous toxicant on her nipple. The baby was so cute with a pink face and would smile when he looked at me. He was like Saichun with his profound eyes. But in the end, he was dead just after he came to this world for only two days.”
“But the outside did not know the news at all,” Qin Yunuan looked at Sima Ruo calmly and said, “And even yesterday, people outside the Royal Palace heard that the baby was so smart and clever.”
“Yes,” Sima Ruo smiled bitterly, “Because that was not my baby. My mother just found a boy to replace my unique son. I knew who killed my son, but I could do nothing. Sai Chun refused to have meals for three days. She was in her recovery period and got weaker day by day. I am afraid that someday she will demise, and I will pass away too.”
“But Imperial Concubine Yun can live well.” Qin Yunuan broke in the words of Sima Ruo. Imperial Concubine Yun was way stronger than Qin Yunuan estimated, and besides, more awful, “And she forced you to live hard and pretended that nothing had happened. She wanted you to pretend that that boy was your son, just like Empress Chen before, who regarded Sima Ray as a tool. The boy will become the tool of Imperial Concubine Yun totally, which helps you to gain the position of the Prince, namely, the emperor in the future.”
“I have never thought that I will become the emperor.” Sima Ruo should shout loudly, “I don’t know what the benefit of becoming the emperor is. I have given up many things I love. It’s unworthy, unworthy.”
“It should be worthy when Imperial Concubine Yun feels it is worthy.” Having experienced the issue last time, Qin Yunuan had changed her attitude to Sima Ruo. She had no longer paid thick sympathy to him. He was poor, lamentable and cowardly. “Grand Prince, you should ponder how to protect the people around you, instead of repenting and dismaying. This time it was the baby who died, but Saichun likely died next time, instead of Imperial Concubine Yun. I just came to ask the recent condition of Prince Saichun. Now I know it, so I’m off.”
Qin Yunuan quit without hesitation. Leng Shuang followed Qin Yunuan and asked until they went out of the courtyard, “Third Young Madam, you are about to tell the recent condition of Prince Saichun to the Fourth Prince of North Di?”
Qin Yunuan raised the top right corner of her mouth slightly, “I will do that if I want to provoke a war between Qi and North Di again. But once the war is started, I will gain no benefit. Saichun and Wanyan Su were only half-blooded. He let me investigate the recent condition of Prince Saichun so I can start the third route. He just wants to know the information about the royal family, so I should just tell him what he wants to know. There is no need and right for him to know more.”
Right. Now Qin Yunuan and Wanyan Su had started more than one trade route between North Di and Qi. Except for Luguan, a new shortcut channel was also launched behind Yeren Valley. The goods Qin Yunuan sent to North Di were far more than those clothes and cloths.
North Di lacked refined grains, so she purchased the redundant grains from the regions south of the River and sent them to North Di. The royal families were fond of spices, so she collected spices and sold them in North Di at a higher price. Merchants should obey no set form when doing business.
Now the assets of Qin Yunuan could not be comparable to the national treasury but to the Fourth Families. Of course, all were run underground. And even Leng Changxi only knew that his little hedgehog was an excellent money-maker, but he did not know how much she had earned, and he would not ask her about that.
Qin Yunuan returned to the feast, and then Imperial Concubine Yun looked at her with malicious eyes. Qin Yunuan saw that Sun Baozhen looked very frightened and guilty suddenly, and then she almost knew what happened roughly.
“Infanta Ping, you are such a noble lady. You can join and leave the feast casually. We know that you gain much love from the Queen Mother, but others may believe that you disgraced me by your high rank.”
Imperial Concubine Yun was a concubine of the first-grade of rank, but Qin Yunuan was just the fifth-grade of rank. It seemed that Imperial Concubine Yun would rebuke Qin Yunuan. As usual, the noble maidens who got drunk could quit if they dispatched a maidservant to report to the hostess concubine secretly. But now for no reason, Imperial Concubine Yun lost her temper heavily.
Sun Baozhen said suddenly, “Don’t be angry, Imperial Concubine. A good mood helps a healthy body. Infanta Ping is too young to do that rude behavior. It’s my fault. I should not have told you that remissly, or Imperial Concubine and Infanta won’t get unhappy now.”
Remissly? Or Sun Baozhen told Imperial Concubine more things exaggeratedly.
Qin Yunuan stood up and gave a salute to Imperial Concubine Yun, “Queen Mother summoned me to go to her palace. I have dispatched my close maidservant to report to you, Imperial Concubine Yun.”
“Humph,” Imperial Concubine Yun sneered, “I know you dispatched your maidservant to report to me. But to my surprise, you are double-dealing. You respect me publicly, but you think I am not comparable to Queen Mother at all. You believe that you have accompanied me for so long as an infanta, which was a gift to me. And you even rebuked me that I insulted the national dignity because I summoned those foreign dancing girls. Tell me, did you report those bad things about me to Queen Mother?”
Qin Yunuan answered at once, “Imperial Concubine, no. I have never said that kind of words, and I have never thought that.” Qin Yunuan said and then glimpsed at Sun Baozhen calmly.
Sun Baozhen said immediately, “All are my faults. I should not say those words.”
“It’s not your fault.” Now Imperial Concubine Yun was over outrageous, “The faults are from someone who is over arrogant.”
Sun Baozhen lowered her head and sighed. Qin Yunuan felt very disgusted at her because she pretended to be so guilty. According to the daily behavior of Sun Baozhen in the Prince Mansion, Qin Yunuan could almost guess what she had said. Humph, this woman was able to catch people’s mental points. She could say some words which seemed to focus on nothing but distracted the topic into a dead end. Sun Baozhen was like a spark that could light a big string of firecrackers. She just provoked something lightly, and then she could gain benefit without getting involved in the dispute.
At this moment, a close imperial maidservant of Imperial Concubine Yun reported something to her. Suddenly, Imperial Concubine Yun turned gloomier. This beautiful lady frowned, and the fire seemed to break out from her eyes.
“Qin Yunuan, how dare you tell a lie to me! You did not go to the palace of Queen Mother just now.”
Qin Yunuan did not get panic. She knew that she was monitored by someone after she went out of the courtyard, “I knew well if I went there just now.”
“You know well?” Imperial Concubine Yun mocked, “I think you don’t know what kind of punishment you will suffer because you transmitted a fake imperial decree. Your title of infanta will be deprived, and further, you will be exiled to some bloody places.”
Imperial Concubine Yun exaggerated the thing. Both Queen Mother and the Old Madam concentrated on rules and family status very much. In the opinion of Queen Mother, it was an unforgivable behavior to transmit a fake imperial decree. But if Queen Mother had already known it?
Qin Yunuan smiled slightly, “Thanks for your warning, Imperial Concubine Yun. I know it well, but I think someone does not know the punishment of spreading rumors.” Qin Yunuan said while looking at Sun Baozhen. Sun Baozhen got stunned and suddenly said with tears, “What do you mean? Yunuan. Do you think it was I who provoke disputes underground? Do you think it was I who framed you?”
Bah, didn’t you?
At this moment, some older imperial maidservants came outside the feast and asked to come in. They looked familiar, so Imperial Concubine Yun recognized easily that they were the Grand Maidservants in the palace of Queen Mother just after a few glances.
“Sorry for bothering your good mood, my imperial concubine,” The imperial maidservant gave a salute politely, “Infanta Ping visited the palace of Queen Mother and forgot to take her handkerchief. Queen Mother found that the delicate handkerchief seemed to come from the embroidering of Infanta Ping. She dispatched me to send it here deliberately and let me ask Infanta Ping if infanta could embroider another one for her.”
Both Imperial Concubine Yun and Sun Baozhen got stunned, especially Imperial Concubine Yun. The outrageous imperial concubine, who was always emotional, suddenly turned embarrassed and got beyond belief.
“Thanks, Sister Jinzhi, for sending the handkerchief back to me by yourself.” Qin Yunuan took the handkerchief with a smile and said, “Sister, please report to Queen Mother that if she likes it, I will embroider four handkerchiefs with the patterns of four seasons.”
Jinzhi squatted slightly to give a salute to Qin Yunuan, and said happily, “Queen Mother would likely to fancy your embroidering, Infanta Ping.”