Chapter 182 - 182: Contribution
Madam Zhang was lying on the soft couch when she saw a servant girl barging in. She wanted to scold her, but when she heard that the matter was related to Liu Shimei, she asked, “What is it?”
This time, she suffered a great loss by taking the blame for Liu Yan’er.
Although it ended with the Grand Chancellor being beaten, everyone knew about it. The Grand Chancellor’s Wife did not know where to put her face!
After returning from the Supreme Court, Liu Fuyun had grounded her feet and ordered not to leave the West Courtyard for three months. She was depressed and did not feel comfortable even for a day.
In this situation, even if she was allowed to go out, she could not go! She had to wait for the news to blow over before going out. That way, it would not be so embarrassing!
The servant girl replied, “1 heard from the steward that someone from the palace came. It seems to be the most favored Eunuch Long An, so I went to ask around. I heard that the Empress had called the Eldest Young Miss to stay in the palace for a short time. Madam, what do you think of this matter?”
The girl in front of him was called Xia He. She had never been favored by Madam Zhang, mainly because she was too beautiful!
Madam Zhang and Liu Yan’er were the same. None of the maids around them were good-looking.
Madam Zhang was worried that Liu Fuyun would take a fancy to the beautiful servant girl beside her, and that the addition of concubines in the residence would affect her status. Liu Yan’er was jealous of people who were prettier than her. Having Liu Shimei in the residence already made her very angry!
Thus, Xia He could not appear in front of her Master.
This time, she had finally seized the opportunity!
As expected, Madam Zhang sat up and asked seriously, “Then Liu Shimei went?”
Before Xia He could reply, she muttered to herself, “What does the Empress mean by this?”
Originally, the Empress had wanted Liu Shimei to be the Crown Princess Consort. Now that Liu Shimei had become King Dun Yu’s Princess Consort, there was naturally no possibility of her becoming the Crown Princess Consort!
But the Empress’s actions were too puzzling.
“This servant does not know,” Xia He replied. “This servant quietly followed Eldest Young Miss and heard Mo’er mention it. 1 have an idea in my heart, but 1 don’t know if 1 should say it.”
“Please speak.” With someone coming up with an idea, Madam Zhang did not care if Xia He was good-looking or not. Now that she could not move, as long as someone could help her make Liu Shimei suffer, she would accept it!
Xia He lowered her head and said, “This servant heard what Mo’er said. King Dun Yu is very mindful of the existence of His Highness the Crown Prince. Previously, I heard that His Highness the Crown Prince is very fond of Eldest Young Miss. Then…”
Madam Zhang narrowed her eyes at her and asked, “Do you think that you can use King Dun Yu to embarrass Liu Shimei?”
She did not think that the bad-tempered King Dun Yu would be of any use!
However, Xia He did not mean this. Instead, she said, “Have you forgotten that Princess Ping’an is deeply in love with the Crown Prince?”
Liu Yan’er had become one of the candidates for the Crown Prince Consort, and there were three other competitors. How could Madam Zhang not study the three young ladies thoroughly?
Although the other two were both talented and good-looking, with strong backgrounds, they could not be underestimated. But Princess Ping’an was the most troublesome one!
The reason was that Princess Ping’an, Yu Wanqing, had been in love with Crown Prince Huangfu He for a long time. In the past, Liu Shimei had also been targeted by Yu Wanqing because of this.
If it was just a relationship of interest, it would be easy to get rid of it, but this involved feelings. No one knew how many irrational things a woman would do without caring about the family’s interests!
Now…
Madam Zhang understood the point that Xia He was trying to make!
She changed her listless appearance and perked up, saying, “You’re right! Princess Ping’an has never been polite when she attacks. Now that we can’t touch Liu Shimei, why don’t we let someone else do it!”
Now that she had a direction, her brain worked very well. “Xia He, right? If you can arouse Princess Ping’an’s hatred toward Liu Shimei, you will definitely benefit!”
Now that she was worried about losing favor, she still felt that… If she had to rope in a concubine, she might as well nurture her as one of her own!
Xia He immediately replied, “Yes, this servant will not fail you!”