I Was Supposed to Be the Villainous Consort

It had been a chaotic day. Song Yunzhao saw how exhausted they all were, so after watching the medical woman finish the bandaging, she didn’t rush to ask questions. She would let them get a good night’s sleep first.

The senior madam had intended to take Ye Xi with her, but Ye Xi didn’t want to leave, so Yunzhao let her stay.

She walked the madam out and said, "Aunt, this incident was clearly premeditated. I believe it was aimed at the marriage alliance between the Wang and Ji families."

The madam thought so too. She said softly, "Madam Ji was never particularly enthusiastic about this marriage in the first place. I think it’s imperative that we inform her about what happened."

Great minds think alike.

Although they had no proof yet, the sequence of events—from Wang Yunhua and Yao Roujia joining them, to reaching the boundary line, and finally to the horse swap and stampede—made it clear this was no accident.

And among all the people involved, not many had a motive.

’No matter what’s lurking in these murky waters,’ Yunzhao thought, ’I’ll stir them up first. I’ll take whatever I can catch, and we’ll go from there!’

Few people slept soundly that night. While the injured girls in Song Yunzhao’s tent slept peacefully, she herself felt little urge to sleep.

「Early the next morning」

She woke early. Seeing that the others were still asleep, she quietly got up, went outside to wash up, and then called Anshun over to ask some questions.

"Has an Imperial Physician been sent to Duke Qin?"

"Yes. Manager Meng personally escorted one over."

Song Yunzhao nodded. He was different from the others. They all had family to look after them, but Cao Jitong had inherited his title at a young age with few people to rely on. His older sister was married, his widowed mother had remained in the capital, and he had no family here at the traveling palace to care for him.

As one of the imperial concubines, Yunzhao naturally couldn’t get too involved. Simply asking after him was sufficient.

"However," Anshun added, "I heard that by the time Manager Meng escorted the Imperial Physician over, Princess Zhenbei had already sent someone to look after Duke Qin."

Song Yunzhao raised an eyebrow. ’Cao Jitong was injured saving He Lan Yun. How very thoughtful of Princess Zhenbei.’

After learning from Anshun what the various families had been up to last night, Song Yunzhao returned to her tent. He Lan Yun and the other girls were already up and had washed. Upon seeing her enter, the lively chatter in the tent instantly died down.

Song Yunzhao hmphed, walked in, sat down, and scanned the room. "Well now," she said slowly. "Look how capable you’ve all become. Taking life and death so lightly. Ready to fight at the drop of a hat! I’m so impressed with you all!"

The three girls were left speechless.

’Even Song Zhaoyi scolds in her own unique style.’

He Lan Yun coughed lightly and looked at Song Yunzhao. "We know we were impulsive," she said. "And we’ve already paid the price. Can you please stop scolding us now?"

Xie Linlang quickly nodded in agreement. ’A grim-faced Song Yunzhao is kind of terrifying.’

Song Yexi breathed a sigh of relief. ’Finally, someone else to share the blame.’

Song Yunzhao looked at the three girls. He Lan Yun had a scrape on her face. Though He Lan Yun herself didn’t seem to mind, Yunzhao couldn’t stand the sight of it. ’She’s not even married yet. I hope this doesn’t affect her future.’

He Lan Yun was about to say something, but seeing Song Yunzhao’s eyes turn red as she stared at her face, she quickly spoke up. "The Imperial Physician said it’s nothing serious, just a little scrape. It’ll heal in six months, and by next year, you won’t even see it."

"Let’s see if you’re still so nonchalant when you can’t find a husband!" Song Yunzhao retorted.

He Lan Yun was taken aback, then retorted stubbornly, "Why wouldn’t I be able to get married? A tiny imperfection is no big deal."

Upon hearing this, Xie Linlang glanced at He Lan Yun. She remembered the figure of Duke Qin as he swooped in to save them. ’Not to be arrogant,’ she thought, ’but my own face is quite pretty. I might not be as stunningly beautiful as Yunzhao, but I’m definitely not someone people would just ignore.’

’Back then, Duke Qin had rushed down, bypassed me completely, and gone straight for the County Princess.’ Her eyes shifted, but she decided to say nothing at this moment.

’This isn’t the right time to mention it. It was a classic ’hero saves the damsel’ moment. If he’s truly interested, he’ll come to propose marriage. If there’s no word from Duke Qin, it won’t be too late to sound out the County Princess’s feelings then.’

After breakfast, once everyone was full, they finally began to reconstruct the events of the previous day.

They began to exchange what they knew.

Xie Linlang said to Yunzhao, "Back when we ran into Yao Roujia’s group, I thought the way Wang Yunhua was looking at us was off. I was on my guard from that moment."

Hearing this, He Lan Yun exclaimed in surprise, "Why didn’t you tell me?"

"County Princess, you have a very direct nature and can’t hide your thoughts. If I had told you, I’m afraid you would have just stared at Wang Yunhua the entire time. I kept quiet because I didn’t want to startle the snake."

He Lan Yun fell silent. The comment wasn’t particularly damaging, but it was incredibly insulting. And yet, she couldn’t refute it.

Seeing He Lan Yun fall silent, Song Yexi gently added, "It’s because the County Princess was so transparent that Wang Yunhua and her group let their guard down around us. In that sense, the County Princess made a great contribution."

He Lan Yun shot Song Yexi a look. ’If she weren’t my cousin-in-law, I’d think she was mocking me.’

Song Yunzhao turned to Xie Linlang. "And then? Since you sensed something was amiss, I’m sure you didn’t just stand by."

Song Yunzhao knew Xie Linlang well. She was a person of action, not one to simply sit back and wait for disaster to strike.

Xie Linlang smiled. "When I realized something was wrong, I talked it over with Ye Xi, and we agreed to split up to watch them. Ye Xi went toward Sixth Miss Huang—since Ye Xi married into the Yue Family, Sixth Miss Huang wouldn’t dare be rude to her. I moved to a spot not far behind Wang Yunhua, while the County Princess was being tied up in conversation by Yao Roujia. That’s how the three of us got separated."

At this, Song Yunzhao looked at Xie Linlang and asked, "Why did you focus on Wang Yunhua?"

"That Miss Wang is very odd," she replied. "She was riding with us, yet she kept trying to subtly inquire about the County Princess’s broken engagement with Lord Xiao Ji. It wasn’t blatant, but I still felt something was off."

’I remember that in the book, Xie Linlang becomes Ji Yunting’s concubine,’ Song Yunzhao thought. ’Even as a concubine, she managed to flourish. A woman with those skills must be an expert at reading people and divining their intentions.’

’If she says something is off with Wang Yunhua, then something is definitely off.’

"So, what did you find out?"

"I noticed that right before Sixth Miss Huang’s horse bolted, Miss Wang seemed to casually swap places with the girl beside her. That one move prompted Ye Xi to shift her own position, moving from behind and to the right of Sixth Miss Huang to right beside her. I wanted to warn Ye Xi, so I spurred my horse forward to reach her, but I never imagined the ’accident’ would happen so fast."

Song Yunzhao replayed the scene in her mind. ’Wang Yunhua switched places, which caused Song Yexi to move right next to Huang Mingxiu. Xie Linlang sensed danger and rode forward to warn Song Yexi, but that’s precisely when the horse bolted.’

’Song Yexi was injured first. In her haste to save her, Xie Linlang ended up falling down the slope herself. He Lan Yun was farther away and initially unharmed, but she deliberately went down the slope to rescue Xie Linlang.’

’It was a classic case of the rescuers needing to be rescued, one after another.’

’What surprised me, however, was that Ji Yunting had moved to save Xie Linlang before He Lan Yun even went down the slope.’

’Could it be that Ji Yunting had also spotted Wang Yunhua’s little trick?’