Chapter 255
Chapter 255
Lady Qin rolled her eyes. She wanted to know, which of the Prince's words had made her mistakenly think the person he was referring to wasn't Zhou Huilan?
But rather, Prince An?
However, since he didn't want her to speak out of turn, she was more than happy to keep quiet.
It wasn't her daughter who had been thrown into prison after all.
At this moment, Lady Qin was even feeling a bit of schadenfreude, wondering if their Prince could manage to pull the girl out.
If he couldn't, that would be quite a spectacle.
After all, the Prince of Zhennan did dote on this Zhou Huilan to some extent.
"What time do you think this is, to still be preoccupied with petty jealousy?" The Prince of Zhennan snapped impatiently at Side Consort Ru beside him.
"What exactly happened?" The Prince of Zhennan then frowned and turned to Lady Qin, asking.
He thought to himself, it truly takes a noble lady from a prestigious family like Lady Qin to uphold the dignity of the Prince's household. Not like Side Consort Ru, who, when faced with trouble, only knows how to cry and make a scene, her words utterly useless.
Thinking this, the Prince of Zhennan sighed.
When Side Consort Ru had accused her of framing Zhou Huilan earlier, Lady Qin had already decided not to speak. After all, this matter didn't concern her much.
Even if the Prince of Zhennan's household were to be affected, that girl was the daughter of a side consort, not raised under her own care from childhood.
Others wouldn't overly blame her for any problems.
However, now that the Prince of Zhennan had spoken, she couldn't not answer. But she certainly wouldn't let Side Consort Ru off easily.
"Your Highness, just now, Sister accused your consort of framing Huilan. Perhaps it's better for your consort not to involve herself in this matter!" Lady Qin said, taking a delicate sip of tea.
Yet, the slight upward curve of Lady Qin's lips revealed her rather good mood at this moment. After all, hadn't Side Consort Ru, afraid of being upstaged, deliberately accused her of disliking Zhou Huilan and being unable to bear seeing her do well?
Well, she would let Side Consort Ru see whether she truly couldn't bear to see her do well or not.
"Sister, I didn't mean that!" Side Consort Ru was filled with regret. Earlier, she shouldn't have taken advantage of the Prince's presence, thinking he would back her up, and disregarded Lady Qin. Now look what happened.
Not only could she not save Huilan, but the Prince was also starting to think she was making trouble.
"Your Highness, regarding this matter, your consort should, in principle, avoid any appearance of impropriety. After all, I am not Huilan's mother. Some words, if spoken, might make it seem like your consort cannot tolerate Huilan, and I also fear Sister might think your consort is meddling." Lady Qin paid no heed to the plea in Side Consort Ru's eyes, instead speaking with an air of righteous duty.
She even felt like suggesting these two go out and discuss how to save their precious daughter themselves.
However, she didn't dare voice that thought.
"Enough! This is not the time for you to be willful. Side Consort Ru, you should understand your position clearly. Do not presume upon my favor to disrespect the principal consort!" The Prince of Zhennan said with great impatience.
He even rebuked Side Consort Ru for failing to show respect to the principal consort.
Side Consort Ru's face turned extremely unpleasant, but at this moment, she didn't dare utter another word.
After all, she was still counting on the Prince to rescue her daughter as quickly as possible.
But the current situation outside was something she had no way of having anyone investigate. Even if Lady Qin's people had found out everything clearly, they wouldn't tell her.
For Zhou Huilan's sake, Side Consort Ru could only swallow today's humiliation.
Hearing the Prince of Zhennan's words, Lady Qin was very satisfied. Not just today, but from now on, Side Consort Ru would not dare show the slightest disrespect to her, the principal consort.
"Your consort had people make inquiries. Huilan went to Prince An's mansion herself, demanding three thousand taels of silver in compensation from Prince An. That is what angered Prince An into having her taken to prison." As Lady Qin said this, she looked at Side Consort Ru with a gaze full of mockery, thinking to herself, who would have thought that Side Consort Ru, for all her own glamour, actually kept her daughter short on funds.
Extorting money all the way to Prince An's mansion.
Hearing this, the Prince of Zhennan drew a sharp breath, then turned his angry gaze to Side Consort Ru beside him, roaring, "Have you been shortchanging her on spending money?"
Looking at the lavish jewels adorning Side Consort Ru's own hair, all these years he had never skimped on their allowances. And now, her daughter had to pull this stunt.
If this got out, where would he put his old face?
"Your Highness, that's absolutely impossible! Your consort has never shortchanged Huilan's allowance. How could she possibly go to Prince An's mansion to extort money? There must be some misunderstanding here!" Side Consort Ru said, tears welling in her eyes as she looked at the Prince of Zhennan, then glanced towards Lady Qin.
Lady Qin's intention to slander her daughter was all too obvious.
"There is indeed a reason," Lady Qin said, unhurried.
"What reason?" The Prince of Zhennan looked at Lady Qin with displeasure, as if questioning why she didn't say everything at once.
"Your consort also found out that the reason Huilan demanded monetary compensation was because she claimed the young heir of Prince An's mansion had knocked into and injured her, and this was the compensation. Prince An's mansion had their resident Doctor Zhang examine her for injuries, but Huilan declared that Doctor Zhang was not qualified to treat her, insisting that only a royal physician from the palace would do." Lady Qin paid no mind to the knife-like look the Prince of Zhennan shot her.
Instead, she spoke with great composure.
After all, she knew very well that their Prince, having spent years in Wuyang City, though his prestige was widespread, also carried many old injuries.
His return this time was precisely because he wanted Doctor Zhang to examine him.
Now, his precious daughter had personally ruined this opportunity. Presumably, the Prince of Zhennan would be even more furious than she was.
"Wretched girl!" Upon hearing this, the Prince of Zhennan was furious.
Here he was, on one side, trying every possible way to have someone treat his ailments, and there she was, saying 'not qualified'?
And even wanting a royal physician? Did she really think she was that important?
Besides, how old is the young heir of Prince An's mansion?
She had followed him in Wuyang City for years. While she wasn't trained into a peerless master, she was certainly not some weakling who couldn't tie up a chicken. It was impossible for a mere child's bump to injure her!
"Your Highness, please save Huilan! There must be some misunderstanding here. Huilan is the most well-behaved girl; how could she possibly extort money from others?" Seeing the Prince of Zhennan so angry, Side Consort Ru worriedly knelt before him, pleading.
In her eyes, Zhou Huilan simply couldn't have done such an outrageous thing.
After all, she truly hadn't kept her short on funds.
Moreover, she had plans for Zhou Huilan to meet potential marriage matches here in the capital.
If this matter were confirmed, how could Zhou Huilan possibly secure a good match in the capital?
"Save her? How do you expect me to save her? With my head? Do you believe that by tomorrow morning, those censors in court might be impeaching me for failing to properly educate my daughter, allowing a woman of my household to go to Prince An's mansion demanding money?"
The Prince of Zhennan felt utterly wretched just imagining such a scene.
"Your Highness, last time, because of Fenghua's incident, Prince An already held a poor opinion of our household. At that time, your consort maneuvered for a long time before Prince An agreed not to pursue the matter with you. Now, with this happening..." Lady Qin trailed off here, not continuing, but instead looked towards Side Consort Ru.