Chapter 154

Chapter 154 Putting on an Act when Crown Princess’s Coffin Passed By

Inside the mourning hall, the Crown Prince, Pei Luo’an, was crying on a large chair. He looked haggard, and his face was obviously sickly. His eyes were red and swollen, and his gaze, all this while, was on the coffin in the middle. His reluctance to part with his love was obvious.

Beside him were Second Prince, Lord Jing—Pei Yusheng, Third Prince, Lord Wei—Pei Qingmin, and Fourth Prince, Lord Yan—Pei Yanxun.

Lord Wei was not in good health. Even though he was an adult, when other Princes were attending hearings, he only occasionally went there, and from time to time, he would get seriously ill. The Emperor only turned a blind eye to his condition. Lord Wei’s birth mother was Consort Zhu, and she was not very favored in the palace. In addition, Lord Wei was not in good health, so it was unlikely that he had a chance to fight for power.

Since there was no possibility of fighting for power, the Crown Prince had always been concerned about him. Now, the Crown Prince also allowed him to sit on a chair at the side and asked someone to take care of him carefully. The Crown Prince was so afraid that this weak brother of his would fall ill again.

The Fourth Prince, Lord Yan, Pei Yanxun, had a lower status. Rumors had it that his birth mother was just an ordinary palace maid. When she gave birth to Lord Yan, she did not have a title. Later, she died of dystocia, but there was another saying that Lord Yan’s birth mother was a guilty palace maid. Therefore, after giving birth to Lord Yan, she did not have a title, either. Later, she died of depression when Lord Yan was still young.

These rumors came from the palace. Ordinary people had no way to verify it, but one thing was certain. Lord Yan’s birth mother had a low status and had died early.

Lord Yan had been lonely since he was young. The Emperor sent him to Lord Yun Mansion, where he asked his old Uncle Yun, Lord Yun, to take care of the boy. When Lord Yan grew up, he returned to the palace with Pei Yuanjun. When Lord Yan was young, he always followed Pei Yuanjun around. Speaking of which, Lord Yan was slightly older than Lord Yun, Pei Yuanjun, but his seniority was lower than the latter.

Because he grew up together with Pei Yuanjun, their relationship was also different from the others.

Later, when he grew up, a mansion was bestowed on him and he officially became Lord Yan.

Lord Yan grew up with Pei Yuanjun, and Lord Yun Mansion’s family advocated martial arts. Thus, Lord Yan learned martial arts when he was a child. It could be said that he was the most skilled in martial arts among the Princes.

He no longer had a pale and thin appearance as he used to be when he was a child. Standing next to the Crown Prince, he had a dignified expression and a bit of a fierce aura of a soldier, which made him look mighty.

He had followed Pei Yuanjun to the battlefield several times.

At this time, he and Lord Jing stood behind the Crown Prince’s chair and spoke in a low voice. Their voices were not loud, and their faces looked a little heavy.

It was at this time that Ji Youran and Qu Moying arrived. Behind Ji Youran, Qu Moying looked up at the coffin that was being put down. There was no trace of ripples in her eyes. She quietly watched the large coffin that symbolized the Crown Princess being put down.

There were cries in the mourning hall.

Ji Youran had begun to wipe her tears as she knelt down. No matter how powerful she was in Eastern Palace, she had no choice but to kneel at this time and face the coffin of the main wife as a concubine.

Qu Moying also knelt. She was the Crown Princess’ cousin, and her status was much lower. This was also the reason why Ji Youran asked Qu Moying to accompany herself.

They were both close to the Crown Princess and lower-ranked, so they had to kneel down to greet the deceased Crown Princess.

Both of them had a maid with them, each of whom fell to their knees as well.

After the coffin had been put down, the Crown Prince held the hand of a little eunuch beside him and stood up with a slight tremble. Lord Wei, who also had a pale face, also stood up with a eunuch by his side. He bore his illness and strived to make his way here because today was the Crown Princess’s funeral.

“Third brother, just sit.” Pei Luo’an saw it and whispered to him.

“Crown Prince, it’s fine. I’m fine, but you… be careful.” Lord Wei, Pei Qingmin, advised in a low voice, his expression gentle.

He was good-looking, but he looked a little delicate. Fortunately, his appearance was outstanding. It was just that he looked a little sick and weak.

“Be careful yourself… I can’t care for you now…” Pei Luo’an looked up at the coffin, his eyes red again, and his voice choked.

“Please accept my sincere condolences, Crown Prince. Although Crown Princess is gone, she did it for you, big brother. If you stay so sad, Crown Princess will not be able to rest in peace in the underworld.” Pei Qingmin advised in a low voice. His eyes were also slightly red. His personality was originally softer than the other brothers. At this time, he was sincerely advising the Crown Prince.

“I know… but I…” Pei Luo’an was speechless. Tears welled up in his eyes, and he hurriedly turned his head to wipe them away.

Ji Youran, who was kneeling on the ground, saw the scene in front of her. She lowered her head slightly to hide the jealousy on her face. When Ji Hanyue was alive, she could not compete with Ji Youran. Now that she was dead, how could she compete with Ji Youran?

In order to cover up her thoughts just now, Ji Youran picked up the handkerchief and started sobbing.

The maid kneeling behind Ji Youran was next to Qu Moying. She gently pushed Qu Moying, indicating that the latter should go and comfort Ji Youran.

Yu Dong was also kneeling on the ground. He moved forward and pushed the maid to one side, separating the maid and Qu Moying. Then, he gave the maid a death stare.

The maid was baffled. She just hoped that Fourth Lady Qu would step forward and say something because, as a maid, she was not allowed to speak at such a time.

Never did she expect Fourth Lady Qu’s maid would be as insensible as Fourth Lady Qu. Did they think she was up to no good?

Ji Youran’s maid looked back at Yu Dong helplessly, but she did not care anymore about Qu Moying.

Of course, Qu Moying knew about the little exchanges between the two maids. She picked up the handkerchief and gently pressed the corner of her eyes. She could not cry. All she felt was a cold depression inside her chest. It was so heavy that she almost could not breathe. The bloody smell in her throat rolled.

The hand holding the handkerchief tightened, and the sharp nails pierced her palm.

It hurt a lot, but what hurt even more was her heart. Everything in front of her was full of ridicule. The so-called deep love and kindness were all feigned for others to see, and thanks to such pretense, everything was ruined.

How could she not hold resentment?

Her eyes were cold under the eye veil, and her whole body could not help but tremble. Only by tightly holding her hand could she force herself to behave.

Pei Luo’an went forward and lit the incense. He placed it in front of the incense burner in front of the coffin. Not only the incense burner, but also Crown Princess’ funeral processions would all be buried together.

The Crown Prince moved aside. The coffin was then carried by eighteen people and was moved forward.

Ji Youran and Qu Moying knelt at the side. When the coffin passed by them, Qu Moying suddenly cried out, “Cousin!”

Her body went limp and she fell backward.

Yu Dong reacted quickly and hugged Qu Moying, anxiously calling her in a low voice, “My lady, my lady.”

The coffin continued moving forward.

“What is it?” Ji Youran looked at Yu Dong unhappily. She tugged at her clothes that were tightly pressed down and asked in a low voice. She finally remembered she needed to stand up and throw herself at the coffin to cry, but Qu Moying had her skirt pressed down. Qu Moying had fainted at this time, but her knees were still tightly pressing against Ji Youran’s skirt.

The coffin slowly passed by.

“Princess Ji, please ask an Imperial Doctor to come and treat Fourth Lady. She is too sad. And… and she fainted.” Yu Dong cried and begged.

Ji Youran was frustrated and annoyed. She raised her eyes to look at the coffin that almost passed by completely. Her face was livid with anger. It was such a good opportunity just now. If she rushed out and knelt in front of Ji Hanyue’s coffin to cry and then passed out, there would definitely be many people who praised her for their deep sisterhood.

But now, this sisterly love act was actually snatched away by Qu Moying. So if she did the same, people would think that it was a crude imitation.

For a moment, she could not control her face and was glaring at Qu Moying.

The coffin continued to move forward. They were the only two lady Masters on this side. Servants in the other mansions were all kneeling, so she was not afraid of being seen.

“Princess Ji, Crown Princess has always been very good to my lady, and she has always been very grateful. Now that Crown Princess is gone, and so is Earl Ling’an… My lady has been sad every day in the mansion. That’s why… that’s why she can’t bear it all at once now.” Yu Dong wiped away his tears and supported Qu Moying.

The coffin went past them. On the other side, Crown Prince and the others were alarmed by the commotion. They looked up and saw that Ji Youran was a little angry. Right then, Pei Luo’an narrowed his eyes, revealing some displeasure. His face darkened. Last time, when Ji Youran was dealing with the matter of Ming Xian’er, she had lost her composure.

In front of so many people, the case of Ming Xian’er was exposed, and Pei Luo’an had lost face because of this. He even heard the rumor that he was actually not so affectionate to Ji Hanyue. In the past, he said that there was no concubine in Eastern Palace, but only a few palace maids rewarded by the palace, who did not have any status. However, after Ming Xian’er made a scene that day, people knew that Ming Xian’er was a concubine in Eastern Palace.

This made Pei Luo’an very unhappy. He scolded Ji Youran afterward. And now, what did Ji Youran want to do again? Looking at Fourth Lady Qu who fainted in the arms of the maid, he knew that Ji Youran was making trouble again. No wonder Mother repeatedly said that Ji Youran was too petty and was not suitable to be the Princess Consort.

“What’s wrong?” Crown Prince asked in a hoarse voice.

Ji Youran did not expect the coffin to pass so quickly. She immediately sensed something was wrong. She quickly lowered her head and immediately restrained the hatred and anger on her face. “Your Highness, Fourth Lady Qu is not feeling good and has fainted.”

“Since she fainted, just help her to rest.” Pei Luo’an said impatiently. He held the eunuch’s hand and walked out. Since he was “affectionate” to the Crown Princess, how could he not send her out at this time?

Several brothers followed closely.

Although they were also Princes, they could not be compared to Crown Prince.

“Is she the Fourth Lady from Vice Minister Qu’s family?” On the other hand, Lord Yan, Pei Yanxun, seemed to be a little surprised as he stood in front of the ladies and asked curiously in a low voice.

“Yes, my lady is the Fourth Lady from Vice Minister Qu’s family.” Yu Dong hugged Qu Moying and replied.

Pei Yanxun sized up Qu Moying a few times and suddenly said, “It seems that the Fourth Lady is not useless. What a pity, what a pity!”

After saying that, he shook his head and turned around to follow the crowd.

Everyone was surprised at him mentioning “pity”. They did not understand what this Prince was feeling regretful about. Was it a pity because of her eye illness or something else?

Or was there some other hidden meaning?