Staring at An Jiu's large, clear eyes that seemed to see through everything, Yun Lan felt that her schemes were almost completely exposed.
She thought An Jiu would lash out in front of San Niang, but An Jiu didn't mention a word about what happened in the Stele Forest.
It seemed like she had put it down lightly, but Yunlan felt that there was still a thunderous force hidden behind it.
Now that things have come to this, what should she do?
Luoyue Pavilion.
Upon receiving the news from Consort Li, Lady Li was so angry that she smashed the famille rose teacup in her hand. The noise startled Dongge, who was about to fall asleep, and he cried. It took two wet nurses a few words of comfort before he calmed down.
"What's wrong, Auntie?" a long-faced, dignified-looking woman asked from outside the curtain.
Li then came to her senses.
"It's nothing, I just slipped and broke a teacup." Madam Li forced a smile and said to Xiao Cui, "Hurry up and clean up these broken pieces."
How could she forget that the two maids serving the Princess Consort were still around? Any inappropriate behavior she made would be reported to the Princess Consort! The Princess Consort wasn't as easily fooled as Third Sister…
As Zhang Mama's footsteps faded into the distance, Li finally breathed a long sigh of relief, but her brows furrowed even more deeply.
She looked at Xiao Cui, frowned, and asked, "Did Consort Li really say that?"
"This servant wouldn't dare to speak carelessly," Xiao Cui quickly lowered her voice and said, "The second young master of the Feng family originally intended to go up to the Stele Forest from the north slope, so he could carry Ninth Miss down and have intimate contact, which would also allow more people to see—"
Li's eyes were practically spitting fire; she wanted to curse. "That idiot! Who gave him permission to act so recklessly! We agreed that all we had to do was let someone see him arguing with An Jiu and then take An Jiu's purse. He's utterly stupid!"
It turned out that Consort Li had asked the Feng family, who had some connection with her maternal family, to handle this matter. The second young master of the Feng family had a notorious reputation for womanizing, and the Feng family was not a prominent or powerful family, so no respectable girl wanted to marry into it.
If he could marry An Jiu, it would be killing two birds with one stone.
"Young Master Feng didn't watch the path carefully, and the north slope was slippery, so he accidentally tumbled down," Xiao Cui said, forcing a smile. "Young Master Feng endured the pain alone, not daring to let anyone know... Although he didn't succeed, he didn't let the matter slip, so it certainly can't be blamed on you and the concubine..."
"Do you expect me to give him credit for messing things up?!" Madam Li's face was dark and gloomy, as if it could drip water. "What did Consort Li say?"
Xiao Cui glanced at Madam Li secretly and saw that she looked unwell. She gritted her teeth and said, "Consort Li said that if it doesn't work out this time, then so be it. It seems that this is the will of Heaven. Please be patient and calm down."
Fate? What kind of fate is this! Madam Li was filled with resentment. It was clearly her fault for choosing the wrong person and for her incompetence, yet she still talked about fate? Be patient? How long should she endure it? Until An Jiu became a concubine and gave birth to a son born out of wedlock?
She can't wait that long!
A vicious glint flashed in Li's eyes.
This time, things went wrong, and they failed to deal with An Jiu. An Jiu is clever; she might have sensed something was amiss. It will be much harder to harm An Jiu later!
"How is Yunlan doing?" Madam Li asked resentfully. "Has An Jiu noticed anything unusual about her?"
Xiao Cui shook her head.
"The Fourth Miss said everything went smoothly. She led the Ninth Miss to the place, but didn't see her. She was also very worried, but she couldn't stay too long, or the Ninth Miss would become suspicious."
Li clenched the handkerchief in her hand.
"I understand, you may leave now." Madam Li tried her best to keep her voice calm. "I need to be alone."
Knowing that Li was angry, Xiao Cui dared not disobey. She could only squat down and pick up the broken pieces of porcelain with a handkerchief before quietly leaving.
An Jiu escaped another disaster!
Li was seething with hatred, yet utterly helpless. If she failed once, where would she find such a good opportunity again? An Jiu was likely becoming wary—
However, even if An Jiu had doubts about what happened today, there was no way to verify them. All the doubts could only remain doubts.
How could she get An Jiu to leave the Prince's mansion as soon as possible? Madam Li was as anxious as if she were being fried in oil and boiled in water. If this went on for too long, even if Yun Shen and An Jiu were not related, in the eyes of outsiders, it would confirm her status as a concubine.
Lady Li paced back and forth in the room, feeling agitated. One moment she was annoyed by Feng Er's inefficiency, and the next she was annoyed by Consort Li's lack of concern for her affairs.
If An Jiu really can't leave... that's alright, she has her own ways of controlling An Jiu. A maniacal smile flashed in Li's eyes. She could treat An Jiu the same way she treated An San Niang—
She wasn't worried about Consort Li's lack of cooperation; Consort Li had long been on her side. If things turned sour, it would benefit no one.
Little did she know that her unusual behavior had been observed by Zhang's mother, who had returned.
Through the gap in the beaded curtain, she saw Li's face, full of resentment and viciousness, before she silently retreated.
******
"After Yunlan returned, she indeed sent someone to find Consort Li?" Upon hearing Huaping's words, Anran quickly stood up and said, "A strange woman also came to pay her respects to Consort Li?"
Hua Ping nodded hurriedly.
“Although we can’t find out anything about their courtyard,” Huaping smiled, “we’ll have to resort to a clumsy method.”
Huaping's clumsy method was to find a few maids who did cleaning and sweeping, and have the maids from San Niang's household go to them under the pretense of playing with them to find out who had come by.
Sure enough, they figured out some of the tricks of the trade.
"The most important thing is that it works," An Ran said approvingly.
"Even so, we can only guess that there's something going on between Consort Li, Aunt Li, and Miss Lan; we can't expose their malicious intentions." Hua Ping's face showed no joy; she said worriedly, "Miss, you've probably been frightened for nothing!"
After learning that Anran had seen the strange man, Huaping had a bad feeling. As the head maid of the Third Madam, she had heard and seen a lot of the shady dealings in the inner quarters. She was afraid that Madam Li and Consort Li were going to join forces to ruin the Ninth Miss's reputation.
She was trembling with anger, but couldn't bring herself to tell Ninth Miss the truth. Ninth Miss, not expecting this, was less furious. Fortunately, by divine intervention, Ninth Miss didn't fall for their trap.
An Ran was not as angry as she had imagined.
"It's alright, thankfully the worst didn't happen." An Ran comforted her instead, "Right now, the angrier ones are probably not me, but them."