Chapter 38: Far-Reaching Deliberation
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If Ji Shulan could be prevented from speaking, or if her words could be turned into a laughingstock, then Ling Moxuan would have no chance to gain yet another advantage.
The corners of Ji Hua’s lips lifted slightly. She already had a plan. Looking at Liu Yiyi, she asked, “Yiyi, how many days are left until this year’s Horse Racing Festival?”
If she remembered correctly, the festival was only a few days away.
Liu Yiyi was startled by her mistress’s sudden change of subject, but she answered seriously all the same.
“Seven days.”
Ji Hua nodded, then crooked a finger.
“Come closer. I have something to whisper to you.”
Liu Yiyi bent down, and Ji Hua leaned toward her ear and spoke in a low voice. “Do this. Find a few people…”
By the time Liu Yiyi had heard everything, her mood had improved considerably.
She had known it!
Her mistress was not the sort to swallow her anger in silence.
“Yes, Miss. I will see it done.”
…
“That is everything that happened, Madam. I believe you should advise Miss. Anything concerning the Crown Prince is no small matter. It would be best if our young lady did not get involved.”
Granny Hu reported the entire incident to Madam Liu Qingmei without omitting a single detail.
After listening carefully, Liu Qingmei frowned slightly and turned to Ji Shulan for confirmation. “Is what Granny Hu said true? Was it really Prince Xuan who sent you to question Ji Hua?”
Ji Shulan noticed that her mother’s tone was off, as though she were somewhat angry.
Yet Ji Shulan did not think she had done anything wrong. She stepped forward, took her mother’s arm, and shook it coquettishly.
“Mother, Prince Xuan cannot conveniently interact with Ji Hua because of his position, so I offered to go and ask her what had happened. Nothing happened to the Crown Prince at the banquet. I was merely asking a few questions, not doing anything. Nothing will come of it.”
“Nonsense!”
Liu Qingmei shook off Ji Shulan’s hand, her tone instantly turning stern.
“Although I dislike that wretched girl too, she was right about this. Men are shameless creatures. The more eagerly you throw yourself at them, the more they look down on you. But that is not even what makes me angriest.”
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“What angers me most is Prince Xuan’s attitude toward you. If he had the slightest respect for you as his future princess consort, he would never have used you as a weapon and urged you to come back and question Ji Hua about the Crown Prince. Does he not have a mouth of his own?”
“The matter concerns the Crown Prince in the first place. If Prince Xuan wants to know what happened, he should ask for himself. Why send you to do it? Ji Hua merely witnessed what happened. Could she possibly know what the Crown Prince was thinking?”
As Liu Qingmei continued, she saw that her daughter seemed to be drifting off again, and her frustration deepened.
Clearly, the silly girl had not taken a word of her warning to heart. But scolding her nonstop probably would not teach her a lasting lesson…
Liu Qingmei could only soften her tone. Taking Ji Shulan’s hand, she said earnestly, “Lan’er, I am doing this for your own good. I have been through this before. You are about to marry, but you are not married yet, are you?”
“You and Prince Xuan are not husband and wife yet. There is not enough affection or trust between you. If you keep throwing yourself at him like this, he will gradually come to look down on you. Surely you do not want to marry Prince Xuan only to spend the rest of your life bowing and scraping before him?”
Ji Shulan could withstand gentleness but not severity. Hearing her mother put it that way, she no longer knew what to say.
“Mother, I know I was wrong. But I simply do not want Prince Xuan to have any chance to interact with Ji Hua. That vile woman is a fox spirit! What if she seduces him?”
Anger flared in Liu Qingmei’s eyes, but it soon faded. She turned to Granny Hu and said, “Granny Hu, go outside for now and close the door behind you.”
Granny Hu could not have been happier to comply.
She could not control this little ancestor’s temper. Since Madam was willing to teach her a lesson personally, Madam could do so.
Granny Hu hurried out and shut the door.
For a time, only Liu Qingmei and her daughter remained in the room.
Liu Qingmei pulled Ji Shulan down beside her and lowered her voice. “Did you reveal anything about your rebirth? I mean, did you tell Prince Xuan?”
Ji Shulan looked up in surprise and immediately replied, “Of course not! Mother, did you not say that no one could know except you?”
At this, Liu Qingmei’s expression eased somewhat.
“That is right. No one but me can know. Even after you are married, you must not tell Prince Xuan. If you want to warn him, you may only do so indirectly.”
“If Prince Xuan asks how you know something, you may say only that you reached the conclusion through your own deductions and analysis. Under no circumstances may you say that you foresaw it in a dream, nor may you tell him that you were reborn. Do you understand?”
Liu Qingmei issued one warning after another, afraid that her unreliable daughter might let the secret slip.
Although Ji Shulan knew that her mother was worried for her, she still felt that the matter was being taken too seriously and could not help asking, “Mother, I am going to marry Prince Xuan and become his princess consort. We will be husband and wife, one family. Is there really any need to hide something like this from him?”
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Fool!
Liu Qingmei gave a cold snort.
“In this regard, you are inferior even to Ji Hua. She understands men far better than you do. Most men are cold and faithless, let alone a man like Prince Xuan, born into the imperial family.”
“Romance means nothing to him. Power is what Prince Xuan values most, and the people who can consolidate that power are what he values second most.”
“If he learned that you had been reborn, he might indeed hold you in higher regard, but he would not love you. And if one day he decided that you had become a threat, what do you think he would do?”
Ji Shulan considered her mother’s words. Her face paled slightly, yet she still refused to think in that direction.
“Mother, if Prince Xuan has my help, then even if he knows I was reborn, he will not do anything to me. I am helping him!”
Liu Qingmei’s expression was icy.
“The secret of your rebirth benefits more than just Prince Xuan. Do you think that if you told him everything, he would be grateful to you? That he would protect you? Dream on! Do you know who can keep a secret most securely in this world? The dead!”
Liu Qingmei did not want to frighten her daughter with such words, but she was speaking the truth. Her grip tightened.
“Lan’er, never trust anyone completely. People change. If you reveal every secret to Prince Xuan, what do you think he will do when you are no longer useful? Will he keep you around and allow you to tell someone else that you were reborn?”
“Do not tell me that you will win his trust. When that time comes, trust will no longer matter. As long as there is even a possibility that you might tell a second person, Prince Xuan will be unable to eat or sleep in peace.”
“So, Lan’er, listen to your mother. You must keep this secret. You must never let a third person learn of it!”
Liu Qingmei had only the best intentions.
She knew that her daughter was simple-minded. Put kindly, she was innocent; put bluntly, she was foolish!
If she told Prince Xuan such a momentous secret, he would seize control of her completely, and she would never meet a good end.
It was best that she say nothing. And if she truly did reveal it, given her daughter’s abilities, she would undoubtedly be controlled by others—without even knowing how she had died.
Only after some time did Ji Shulan realize that what her mother described could indeed happen. Her pretty face had gone pale as she nodded.
“Mother, I—I understand. I will not tell anyone. I will not tell a soul!”
The Imperial Study.
Ling Yuzhao entered the palace together with Gu Zirui, Feng Yueyang, and several others.
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