Chapter 180: Chapter 180 - A Rift that Couldn’t be Amended

Noble Consort Cui flared up immediately. The grudge between her and Daiguo Grand Princess had remained for years, so she didn’t need to show respect as she did for Jinguo Grand Princess. On the spot she thumped on the desk and rose, thundering, “Your Highness, no matter how muddle-headed the Side Concubine of the Crown Prince is, it is not acceptable to charge her with anything randomly! As a grand princess, you are a senior and noble lady. Yet, you are kicking a junior when she is down. If this leaks out, aren’t you afraid that people will laugh at the royal family’s demeanor?”

“Don’t put on such a grieved face in front to me!” Daiguo Grand Princess was always egotistical. Of course she couldn’t stand Noble Consort Cui’s attitude!

She flapped her wide sleeves, saying disdainfully, “Are you talking about the royal family’s demeanor with me? Let’s talk about the rules for concubines. It is well known that Dowager Consort of Hengshan is a senior of the imperial clan with a high virtue and a glorious name. Even Mother has to be polite to her. Since she claimed that Xubai’s wife holds no grudge against your niece, there must be no enmity between them! In this case, as your niece is not insane, why does she try every means to doom Xubai’s wife to death?”

Daiguo Grand Princess snorted, “The reason lies in the close relationship between Xubai’s wife and the Crown Princess!”

She turned around to look at Jinguo Grand Princess who seemed to be absorbed in thinking, “Jinguo, think about this. If it is found that there is something wrong with the Diyi (official wear of a titled lady) of Xubai’s wife, everyone will believe that she is the one to have conspired against Side Concubine Cui.”

However, Song Yixiao was a legitimate wife of a duke while Cui Jianlian was a side concubine of the Crown Prince. Since these two noble ladies held no grudge against each other and communicated little, why did Song Yixiao do this?

“By then someone must step forward and remind us of the closeness between Xubai’s wife and the Crown Princess. Recently, the Crown Princess has spent so much effort in taking care of Side Concubine Cui that even Mother has inquired about her health!” Daiguo Grand Princess sneered. “If we insist that Xubai’s wife has conspired against Side Concubine Cui, how can we not suspect that the Crown Princess’s care for Side Concubine Cui is merely pretense and that she wants to eradicate Side Concubine Cui by asking Xubai’s wife to implement the plot out of jealousy?”

“You are slinging mud!” Noble Consort Cui thumped on the desk and rose. “If Jianlian really bribed the maid in Duke of Yan’s mansion into mess with Lady of Yan’s clothes, why didn’t we find it?”

Song Yixiao looked at her in the eye and explained calmly, “Six days ago, I went to the birthday feast of Her Highness the Princess Yushan and fell into the snow carelessly. My Diyi was mostly wet, so I surely had to wash it. Unfortunately, it has been raining and snowing these days. Due to the special materials and embroidery of Diyi, it is hard to dry the Diyi off. It still touched a bit moist this morning. Hence, the suit of Diyi I’m wearing today is borrowed!”

“Exactly!” Noble Consort Cui said immediately. “Since Lady of Yan’s Diyi has not been dry by this morning, how can her maid not know about this? How can she mess around with that suit of Diyi?”

Daiguo Grand Princess glanced at the Noble Consort. “It happens to prove that the testimony of Side Concubine Cui’s maid is true. The maid bribed by Side Concubine Cui is senior in the backyard of Duke of Yan’s mansion and has a chance to do something to the Diyi, but she is not a close maid of Xubai’s wife. Side Concubine Cui doesn’t know about this.”

Then she looked away from the startled Noble Consort and continued inducing, “In this way, Xubai’s wife and the Crown Princess will be utterly discredited! Even Zhongling, the legitimate eldest son of the Crown Prince, will be implicated. Maybe he won’t be abandoned by the Crown Prince and His Majesty, but his future will surely be gloomy! On the contrary, as to Side Concubine Cui, although she loses a pair of twins, she is still young and the aborticide was taken by herself. How can she not make sure that the aborticide won’t hurt her health? After recuperating for a few years, she can still have babies again. The Crown Prince likes her. If she gets rid of the Crown Princess and Zhongling, who else will be the new crown princess but her?”

The Grand Princess sneered, “By then, as the new Crown Princess, she will be protected by the Noble Consort, loved by the Crown Prince and served by servants. Of course her future son will be the legitimate son of the Crown Prince then! In that case, even if all the descendants of the Cui Family are spendthrifts, they will have unlimited wealth and power!”

She thundered, “Cui, do you dare to say this is not the plot of your family?”

With her face full of astonishment, Song Yixiao watched how Noble Consort Cui refuted hysterically and, yet she was still calm and peaceful inside her heart, thinking to herself, “The topic should not be directed to Lu Guanlun now, right? After all, Aunt Daiguo has made such a speculation.”

Perhaps Prince of Zhao fought for the throne because he couldn’t succeed to the throne even as the legitimate son of the Empress. However, as to Daiguo Grand Princess, if she didn’t engage in the fight for the throne, she wouldn’t come to a good end for sure!

Moreover, due to her rash character, Song Yixiao knew that as long as she provided a reason to attack Noble Consort Cui or the Cui Family, Daiguo Grand Princess would definitely charge forward without hesitation!

Once she speculated that the Side Concubine conspired against the Crown Princess by hurting her own babies, Empress Su would surely join her!

After all, a side concubine of the Crown Prince, who was a daughter of the Cui Family, dared to covet the position of the Crown Princess; would Noble Consort Cui, whose son remained the Crown Prince for years, also aim at the Palace of Weiyang for a long time?

On what ground did the Crown Prince, who had half of the Cui Family’s blood and also loved Side Concubine Cui, not help these two women?

Song Yixiao could even imagine that Empress Su would plead with Emperor Xianjia tonight for granting her request of burying her and Prince of Zhao alive when he passed away one day!

“Instead of staying alive to be the thorn of the Crown Prince and suffer the bad reputation, why don’t you let me and Prince of Zhao perish with you so that we three can still be together in the netherworld and the Crown Prince won’t feel troubled in future?”

Since Emperor Xianjia allowed Prince of Zhao to work in court, obviously he was somewhat affectionate about the Empress and her son. If he heard that, regardless of his love for the Crown Prince, how could he not feel sad?

The Crown Prince’s biggest support was Emperor Xianjia. If Emperor Xianjia changed his mind, the Crown Prince’s consequence was imaginable!

Song Yixiao could think of these intricate connections. How could Noble Consort Cui not?

Anyway, as a woman who had served Emperor Xianjia since the previous dynasty, even faced with Daiguo Grand Princess’s potent interrogation, Noble Consort Cui was rather calm and still lifted her hand to adjust her hair. “Your Highness has said so much as if those things had really happened, but I must ask you a question too. Hypothetically, what you said is true. You know, Lady of Yan and Duke of Yan are a loving young couple. Lady of Yan herself has been a first-rank titled lady with the highest ranking among the outer titled ladies. In this case, why does she work for the Crown Princess?”

She looked at Jinguo Grand Princess and her daughter. “Let’s put aside Lady of Yan’s natal family! But after the incidence happened today, Her Highness Jinguo Grand Princess rushed here at once with Commandery Princess Qingjiang, which indicates that they must attach importance to Lady of Yan! I dare say that even if Lady of Yan is convicted of conspiring against Jianlian, Her Highness the Grand Princess will fight for her to the end! Therefore, I’m sure that the Grand Princess must feel like raising the question I just asked! But who can answer this question?”

Daiguo Grand Princess frowned and said, “Xubai’s wife is still young. Inevitably, she may be too innocent…”

“Being young equals innocence?” Jinguo Grand Princess said casually, “Back then, Qingjiang selected her just because of her prudence, calmness and sensibility! Daiguo, don’t evaluate my daughter-in-law with Nanzhang as the benchmark! Not every mother is like you, who only pampers her children without teaching them to be reasonable and sensible!”

Daiguo Grand Princess sensed that Jinguo Grand Princess was defending for Noble Consort Cui, so she thought for a while and instantly felt that she had played a stupid move by responding to the Noble Consort’s argument.

Then she smiled and said, “Noble Consort Cui, don’t ask me either! I am not the one who did those things. How can I answer your question? However, it is under the eyes of so many people that Side Concubine and her maid slandered Xubai’s wife! Lady Nuan’s testimony and the evidence found by the Empress are on the table. You had better think about how to explain to my mother and brother after the feast is over!”

Then she glanced at Song Yixiao with a faint smile. “You are such a lucky dog! But you are ill-fated too! You were splashed with dirty water and now you’ve finally wiped clean. However, the Noble Consort always treats her niece well, or how dare an insignificant side concubine have the Crown Princess fooled? This time, although it is Cui Jianlian who asked for trouble, the Noble Consort will bear a grudge against you from now on! You must fend for yourself then! Haha!”

“Your Highness always knows how to drive a wedge!” No matter how Noble Consort Cui tried to keep herself calm, she was still trembling in fury. “Nonetheless, truth prevails all. If I am really too muddle-headed to confuse truth and falsehood, the Empress Dowager and His Majesty will never allow me to stay in the imperial palace for so many years!”

“Xubai has been raised by Mother. Now that my mother and brother are both alive, of course you cannot do anything against Xubai’s wife. What kind of sweet talks can’t you say?” Daiguo Grand Princess looked at her grinningly and said, “But when you and the Crown Prince are in power, who knows what will happen?”

Then she just flapped her sleeves and left without glancing at Noble Consort Cui’s angry face!

When everyone in the room stayed silent for a while, Noble Consort Cui took a deep breath. Then she ordered her maids to leave and then asked Dowager Consort of Hengshan to return to the feast. When only Jinguo Grand Princess and Song Yixiao were left in the room with her, the Noble Consort raised her hand seriously, saying, “Your Highness, I can swear that I am not that kind of person! Jianlian is my niece indeed but her babies are my grandchildren! If I knew that she would disregard her own children so viciously, I would never let her into the Eastern Palace! I would never resent Lady of Yan for her!”

Her position was only inferior to the Empress. She had been regarded as the future empress since more than ten years ago. Apart from being insulted by Daiguo Grand Princess once, she always lived a decently honorable life.

If she were not pushed to the corner, she would not swear to God in front of two juniors!

However, her action made Daiguo Grand Princess’s words even more trustworthy. Considering the depressed look of Noble Consort Cui, no one could ensure that she wouldn’t rake things up in the future.

Only an oath could never guarantee anything!

Although they both tried to mediate, instigated by Empress Su and Daiguo Grand Princess, a rift still arose!

Moreover, at the moment there seemed to be no reliable solution.

Jinguo Grand Princess stayed silent for a while and then said, “We haven’t met with Lady Nuan. Neither do we know whether what she said is true or not. To be honest, even if Side Concubine Cui is merciless, she is only a girl who is more than ten years old. I don’t believe that she can be that ruthless!”

Noble Consort Cui wanted to say something more but Jinguo Grand Princess had stood up. “That’s more or less all for our conversation. Let’s wait for the result of my mother and His Majesty! Even if the Empress is there, you should know that my mother and His Majesty side with the Crown Prince, I suppose that the conclusion should be the truth.”

However, by now, neither the Empress nor Emperor Xianjia sent anyone to tell them anything. Only Empress Su sent words here. What did that indicate?

The truth was very bad for Cui Jianlian and even the Crown Prince!

Otherwise, why was the task of searching Cui Jianlian’s bedroom handed over to Empress Su?

“Is His Majesty disappointed with the Crown Prince?” Noble Consort Cui didn’t dare to think so but she had to!

For the moment, endless fear welled in her heart!

She didn’t even notice that Jinguo Grand Princess had left with her daughter and daughter-in-law!

When Song Yixiao followed her mother-in-law and sister-in-law back to the main hall, she found that guests were still enjoying themselves. It seemed that nothing had happened at all.

Of course some of the guests still looked at them in confusion and speculation at the sight of them.

However, now it was time that the feast should be over. Hence, after they three sat down, a eunuch came out and read the imperial awarding decree soon.

All expressed their gratitude and took the awards. After seeing the Empress Dowager and the Empress off in respect, they just left.

The minute they got out of the palace, Jinguo Grand Princess ordered Song Yixiao, “Don’t go back to Duke of Yan’s mansion tonight. Come to my place and tell me everything about the whole matter clearly!”