Chapter 286 Sowing discord
The prince's guess turned out to be correct. He and Qianhuan had just sat down in the private room of Zuixianju when the emperor's spies had already returned to the palace to report their whereabouts to the emperor.
"Your Majesty, the Crown Prince and Princess Jingrou sat in the General's Mansion for two cups of tea before leaving. They then went to Zuixianju for dinner together."
"It seems that it is a coincidence that the prince would go to the general's mansion."
"Reporting to Your Majesty, the Crown Prince did not plan to go to Qian Mansion today. You agreed to cancel the engagement in the court today. The Crown Prince originally wanted to tell Princess Jingrou the good news, but it happened that Princess Jingrou wanted to go to Qian Mansion to give a gift, so the Crown Prince went with her."
"I understand, please leave."
"Yes."
When the emperor received the news that the prince went to Qian Mansion, he attached great importance to it and asked spies to closely monitor Qian Mansion's every move.
Now that he knew that the prince had only gone to Qian Mansion by chance, the emperor felt relieved.
These two are the two most important generals of their Dayuan. In today's peaceful and prosperous times, the emperor does not want them to get too close.
At the Prince's Mansion, Zhao Yanran had already learned the news that the Young Master and Qianhuan had returned to Beijing, and her people had also heard that Qianhuan had gone to the Qian Mansion today to give gifts.
Zhao Yanran then instructed her maid Bizhu, "Bizhu, hurry up and help me dress up. As her sister-in-law, it's time for me to go to the palace to see my sister-in-law."
"Yes, ma'am."
In the palace, the Ninth Princess and her sister-in-law Zhao Yanran were chatting happily.
As they were talking, Zhao Yanran turned the topic to the Young Master, and then the master and servant sang in unison and told the story of Commander Qian saving Qianhuan.
Bizhu added fuel to the fire, "This Commander Qian is not the first time that he has rescued County Lady Jingrou. This is the third time. Miss, could it be that Commander Qian has fallen in love with County Lady Jingrou?"
When the Ninth Princess heard that her beloved man had saved other women time and time again, her face was obviously unhappy.
Zhao Yanran knew very well that the Ninth Princess was in love with Commander Qian, so she deliberately scolded Bizhu, "You girl, stop talking nonsense. Princess Jingrou is the Crown Prince's woman, how could she be related to Commander Qian?"
The Ninth Princess agreed deeply when she heard this. She nodded and said, "Yes, everyone in the capital knows that cousin Yu likes Princess Jingrou. How could Commander Qian fall in love with someone else's woman?"
Bizhu said seriously, "Princess, young lady, you don't know this. Some women are just beautiful and unlucky. They are naturally restless. This Princess Jingrou not only made the prince obsessed with her, but I heard that even the young Marquis of Pingyang likes her very much. For her, he did not hesitate to disobey the princess and even canceled his marriage with Miss Wei. This Commander Qian is a heroic young man, so it is normal for him to be bewitched by her. Otherwise, why would Commander Qian save that woman again and again?"
Zhao Yanran echoed, "Well, Bizhu, what you said seems to make sense. A girl from the countryside has never learned any etiquette, morality, or shame. It's not impossible for her to be affectionate with men just because she has a good appearance."
As soon as Zhao Yanran finished speaking, the Ninth Princess's expression changed suddenly. She had admired Commander Qian for a long time, but because she was a princess, she could not decide her own marriage, so she had never expressed her feelings to Commander Qian.
How could the Ninth Princess feel comfortable when she heard that the man she loved might have fallen in love with another woman?
She said indignantly, "I hate women who have no regard for propriety, righteousness, integrity, and are fickle. If I get the chance, I will teach her a lesson."
Seeing that the Ninth Princess was angry, Zhao Yanran quickly added fuel to the fire, "Shiyao, you are right, that kind of woman deserves to be punished, teach her a lesson, maybe she will behave herself."
The Ninth Princess frowned and said, "But, Cousin Yu usually protects her so tightly that he even used his military merits to ask the Emperor to cancel the engagement for her. It's hard for us to find an opportunity to take action."
"Shiyao, if there is no chance, we can find one ourselves. Your birthday will be coming soon. Then you can send out invitations to invite more people to the palace to play, and invite Princess Jingrou to the palace as well. Wouldn't it be easy to take action then?"
The Ninth Princess nodded in agreement, "Well, this is a good idea." Then she said hesitantly, "But Cousin Yu cares so much about that woman. If we teach her a lesson, I'm afraid he won't let it go."
"Shiyao, when the time comes, let's plan carefully so that the prince won't find out that it was us who did it. Besides, we're just teaching her a lesson, and she won't be killed."
The Ninth Princess was a bit soft-hearted, so she nodded and agreed, "Okay, sister-in-law, I'll listen to you."
Seeing that her goal had been achieved, Zhao Yanran stood up and said goodbye, "Shiyao, it's getting late, I'll go back home first, I'll come to play with you another day."
The Ninth Princess replied absentmindedly, "Okay, I'll let Haitang take you to the palace gate."
"No need. I am very familiar with the roads in this palace. Just let Haitang stay by your side and serve you well."
Seeing this, the Ninth Princess did not say anything more. After the others left the palace, after a long while, the Ninth Princess calmed down a little and said to Haitang, "Haitang, go outside the palace and ask for information to see if this is true."
"Yes, princess."
Not long after, Haitang told the princess the news she had found out, "Princess, what the Crown Princess said is true. Commander Qian did save County Lady Jingrou and even brought people to her maternal grandparents' home to celebrate her birthday. Commander Qian did save County Lady Jingrou for the third time. Today, Prince An accompanied County Lady Jingrou to visit the Qian residence to thank Commander Qian for saving her life."
The Ninth Princess asked uncertainly, "Haitang, do you think that Princess Jingrou is a woman who flirts with men? Will Commander Qian fall in love with her?"
"Whether Commander Qian likes her or not, I really don't know, but according to the information we have gathered, Commander Qian has indeed helped County Lady Jingrou several times. County Lady Jingrou is stunningly beautiful, and the young Marquis of Pingyang did have feelings for her, but the prince got there first. A woman like this is indeed capable of making all men fall for her."
After hearing this, the Ninth Princess felt a sense of crisis. Although she knew that the Crown Prince liked County Lady Jingrou, she was also afraid that Commander Qian would fall in love with her, so she became more determined to teach Qianhuan a lesson.
Although the Ninth Princess was spoiled to the point of being lawless, she was still relatively kind by nature. If it weren't for Zhao Yanran's instigation, she would not have thought of dealing with Qianhuan.