Pei Yusheng calmed himself down as the irritated look on his face softened. “Brother, I know you have nothing to do with it. I should have a sharper eye,” he bowed to Pei Luo’an and said.

Pei Luo’an patted his shoulder with a bitter smile on his face, “I really appreciate your trust. You know…who I love the most…in my life. My dear is gone… She took away all my love…”

Pei Luo’an turned his head away with tears forming in his eyes and wiped them with a hanky. Then his gaze fell on the coffin in the center, full of sorrow that everyone could see.

“Brother, I’m so sorry for your loss. The Crown Princess died for saving your life. If she knew how heartbroken you are, she would be upset too in the underworld,” Pei Yusheng comforted him.

“I know… But I…I lost the love of my life forever…” Tears flowed down Pei Luo’an’s cheeks. He clenched his hanky, his body trembling in grieve.

Pei Yusheng hurriedly walked up to steady him, “Brother, you have to take care of your health and have more rest. The Crown Princess wouldn’t want to see you like this.”

“I’m just too sad,” Pei Luo’an nodded. He wiped his tears, let out a deep sigh, and put on a desperate look on his face. “If it weren’t for Father and Mother, I would leave the world with her.”

“Brother, Father and Mother always know you are a filial son…” Pei Yusheng added.

Seeing them turn back to their usual, friendly attitude was a relief for Princess Changyu. She signaled her husband with a glance and backed out with her family. Afterward, her husband and her son went to the outer yard, while Princess Changyu went to the inner yard with her daughter, Infanta Xiangrong.

Princess Changyu wanted a talk with Ji Youran to remind her to beware of Qu Qiuyan. Usually, a woman like Qu Qiuyan wouldn’t be worth so much effort, nor did Princess Changyu care if the Crown Prince liked her or not. However, everyone knew the relationship between Qu Qiuyan and Lord Jing. If the Crown Prince was involved, especially during the Crown Princess’s funeral, that would be a big scandal about the imperial family.

Princess Changyu was not a meddlesome person, but she didn’t want to get involved in the trouble. She and her family were the only people witnessing the whole thing, and they would surely keep it a secret. However, walls always have ears. If rumors spread out later, both the Crown Prince and Lord Jing would blame her family. She would rather talk to Ji Youran directly about it first.

Then it would be up to Ji Youran for the next step, which had nothing to do with her anymore.

While heading to the inner yard, Princess Changyu and her daughter saw a large group of people walking over. The leading person was Ji Youran. If it weren’t for those servants of the Eastern Palace around her, Princess Changyu couldn’t even recognize her since she wore a veil to cover her face.

“Your Royal Highness,” seeing Princess Changyu, Ji Youran hurriedly went up to curtsy to her.

Princess Changyu let Ji Youran up at once. She frowned at her face, “What happened?”

She remembered Ji Youran looked fine when she entered the Eastern Palace. But right now, it seemed that something was wrong.

“My face suddenly became swollen. I don’t know if I touched something weird,” Ji Youran said with her head lowered.

“Have you seen an Imperial Doctor?” Princess Changyu twisted her brows more. At the Crown Princess’s funeral, Ji Youran was the only master in charge of the inner yard of the Eastern Palace. How could she receive guests with her face swollen?

“I’ve seen a doctor. He said this is an allergic reaction caused by the sap of a particular herb.” Ji Youran said, feeling aggrieved, “I don’t know if this is someone’s revenge, but only the Fourth Lady from the Qu Family touched my face today. I’m here to ask her about it.”

“Third Lady Qu?” Princess Changyu misheard her and asked in shock.

“Not her. Fourth Lady Qu, the Crown Princess’s cousin. I know she is a poor girl, so I cried while holding her in my arms. At that time, she used her sleeve to wipe my tears. I didn’t expect… Who would’ve known…my face…” Ji Youran wished she could shatter Qu Moying into pieces right now.

Not only Qu Moying, but Qu Qiuyan was also a shameless girl. She even wanted to make friends with them before, and it turned out that they were totally not worth it.

Ji Youran couldn’t believe Qu Moying wiped her tears on purpose to disfigure her face. The Imperial Doctor said it would take a few days for her face to fully recover, and her old wound opened up and might even get worse. Feeling the sting from her face, Ji Youran couldn’t be more furious.

As for Qu Qiuyan, Ji Youran had heard everything she did from her maid. The Crown Prince and Qu Qiuyan acted intimately in the Crown Princess’s altar room, and the Crown Prince even wiped Qu Qiuyan’s tears. It must be Qu Qiuyan who took the initiative and seduced the Crown Prince. Ji Youran wouldn’t go easy on her.

After Ji Hanyue’s death, Ji Youran was finally closer to the position of the Crown Princess. She couldn’t allow Qu Qiuyan, who came out of nowhere, to stand in her way.

She spent so much effort getting rid of Ji Hanyue and her family. If Qu Qiuyan dared to affect her plan, Ji Youran would dare ruin her name and make her die miserably.

She rushed over because she planned to force the Crown Prince to punish Qu Qiuyan and prove his innocence.

Even Ji Hanyue was no match for her, let alone a vice minister’s daughter.

“Fourth Lady Qu is in a coma. An Imperial Doctor is treating her right now,” said Princess Changyu.

“What? She’s in a coma? Why?” Ji Youran was stunned for a second and then asked in shock.

“Not only Fourth Lady Qu but also Third Lady Qu is there. The ladies from the Qu Family both seem quite weak, and they are treated by the doctor together. Princess Ji, go take a look!” Princess Changyu pointed in a direction behind. Someone had already told her the private room’s location, but it was not her responsibility to check on the two ladies.

Then she strolled outside with her daughter. She would leave everything to Ji Youran and get away from the trouble as far as possible.

“Mother, does Princess Ji know about what Third Lady Qu did?” after Ji Youran left hurriedly, Infanta Xiangrong, who had been quiet for the whole time, watched Ji Youran’s back and asked curiously.

“Of course, she knows.” Princess Changyu curled up her lips in disdain and started to educate her daughter, “Beware of Princess Ji. She could climb up to her current position not only because the Crown Princess wanted her to.”

“Mother, do you mean she married into the Eastern Palace, not because of the Crown Princess but the Crown Prince?” Infanta Xiangrong strode to catch up with her mother and asked in a low voice.

“That woman is not stupid.” Princess Changyu said, “The Crown Prince had been deeply in love with the Crown Princess. He even rejected all the women who wanted to marry him as his wife for her. However, after the accident on his wedding day, Ji Youran married him immediately as his second wife. Now that the Crown Princess is dead, Princess Ji becomes the only official wife the Crown Prince has.”

Growing up in the imperial palace, Princess Changyu knew well about schemes and conspiracies. Even she found the whole situation very suspicious, no matter how simple it looked on the surface. No one expected Ji Youran could marry into the Eastern Palace before the Crown Princess’s wedding. Clearly, Ji Youran was the biggest winner in the game.

At that time, Ji Youran had already missed the best age to get married. However, Princess Changyu never heard any news about her family looking for a suitable husband for her. It meant Ji Youran and the Crown Prince’s secret relationship probably started a long time ago and was hidden from Ji Hanyue, the Crown Princess.

Princess Changyu had met Ji Hanyue before. No matter from appearance, temperament, and competence, Ji Hanyue was a qualified Crown Princess in her eyes. Moreover, the Crown Prince had been in love with Ji Hanyue for many years, so she became the acknowledged Crown Princess long ago. Princess Changyu didn’t think their relationship was faked since she could tell the affection in the Crown Prince’s eyes when he was with Ji Hanyue. Even though Ji Hanyue was with Ji Youran when she met the Crown Prince, he would never cast a single glance at Ji Youran.

However, Ji Hanyue ended up losing her life, and Ji Youran became the biggest winner.

“That woman wants to become the Crown Princess?” Infanta Xiangrong blinked her eyes as she figured it out.

“She probably started to want that position since long ago. Unfortunately, a fake one is still a fake one, no matter what she does. You cannot falsify the truth nor verify lies,” Princess Changyu said disdainfully.

“Will the Crown Prince promote her as the Crown Princess?” Infanta Xiangrong didn’t fully understand her mother’s words and asked in confusion, “Isn’t she the only woman who won the Crown Prince’s heart in the Eastern Palace?”

“The only woman who won the Crown Prince’s heart? She is just his second wife. Even if it was the Crown Princess, the empress wouldn’t…” Princess Changyu suddenly paused as she realized her words were inappropriate here. “Alright, let’s help them receive the guests. Ji Youran probably can’t show up in public for a while.”

Ji Youran’s face must look pretty horrible, or she wouldn’t wear a veil to hide it.

“What? Second Madam Qu put the sap of an herb that could cause allergic reactions on Fourth Lady Qu’s mourning clothes and made her faint in the Crown Princess’s altar room with her whole body red and swollen? Yu is such a cunning woman!”

“For real?”

“It’s true! Even Princess Ji is a victim. I heard because Fourth Lady Qu didn’t know there was a poisonous thing on her clothes, she helped Princess Ji wipe her tears and made Princess Ji’s face swollen too.”

“That’s…That’s…outrageous!”

“It’s not the first time Yu did this kind of thing! She almost made Fourth Lady Qu lose her sight permanently before. Maybe the former Second Madam Qu’s death was designed by Yu as well. She was just a concubine before and finally climbed up to her current position because the former Second Madam Qu died of dystocia after giving birth to Fourth Lady Qu.”

“True! That sounds totally possible. Right, I also heard Yu’s niece became Young Master Yongning’s concubine after she made Fourth Lady Qu lose her engagement. Does she want to walk down the exact same path as her aunt?”

“Probably. I can’t believe Yu is such a malicious woman! So cunning! How come she even dares to be here? Sitting with her in the same room makes me feel disgusted…”

…

Talking with some madams, Yu didn’t pay attention to the spreading gossips. She even felt confused seeing them leaving one by one. Right now, she was still immersed in the complacent feeling because of Ji Youran’s different attitude toward the Qu Family. Everyone changed their opinion of her. Even some madams from aristocratic families approached her proactively, which had never happened before.

However, the madams, who were talking to her, all left soon, and even the rest all moved to the seats far away from her. The madams were discussing something while pointing at her, but they stopped talking immediately after she looked at them. Yu was not a stupid woman and immediately smelled something wrong. Something must’ve happened.

Alerted, her whole body tightened up as she clenched the hanky in her hand nervously…