Princess Manor.
Yongjia looked at the soup in her hands, somewhat hesitant. “Liu Momo, do you think Aning will like this?”
Having nothing to do today, she recalled her shortcomings toward her daughter and, seeing the hot weather, personally entered the kitchen to prepare pear soup for her.
But she had never set foot in a kitchen before; even this rock sugar and snow pear soup was made under Liu Momo’s guidance.
Liu Momo smiled and said, “Since you made it with your own hands, the young lady will like it. How could she not understand your motherly love?”
Hearing this, Yongjia also smiled.
Her daughter was becoming more sensible day by day, and their mother-daughter relationship was harmonious—life couldn’t be better.
She brought the pear soup and headed to the West Courtyard.
But Liu Momo spotted a familiar figure. “Your Highness, isn’t that Chunlan over there?”
Yongjia glanced sideways and saw a maidservant peeking furtively by the back gate, as if waiting for something.
She frowned. Seeing this, Liu Momo stepped forward. “Chunlan, why aren’t you attending to your mistress? What are you doing here?”
Chunlan seemed startled. Upon seeing Yongjia, she immediately knelt down. “Your Highness, please forgive me! The young lady… she…”
“You foolish servant, why are you stammering? What happened to the young lady?” Liu Momo scolded.
But Chunlan didn’t dare lift her head and appeared to be trembling.
“What’s wrong with Aning?” Yongjia asked anxiously.
Chunlan spoke uneasily, “The mistress went to the academy to see Xiao Jiu.”
Yongjia frowned.
She was considering returning first to wait until Aning came back, but Chunlan trembled and said, “The mistress said you forbade her from interacting with Xiao Jiu and ordered me to wait here, fearing you would find out and get angry.”
Yongjia paused mid-step and looked at the person kneeling on the ground. “Afraid I would get angry?”
“Yes,” Chunlan kowtowed again. “Your Highness, please forgive me! I tried to dissuade her, but the young lady is still young and playful, so she sneaked out behind your back.”
Yongjia exchanged a glance with Liu Momo.
Aning had asked for permission during her morning greetings to let the Ninth Prince stay at the academy.
She had agreed.
So there was no need for Aning to sneak out and fear being discovered.
Yet she hadn’t told her maid the truth and instead claimed that Yongjia had forbidden their interaction.
This indicated that she didn’t trust this maid.
But Chunlan had grown up with Aning. What could have happened to make Aning distrust her?
Yongjia’s gaze turned cold.
Having come from the palace, she had experienced countless schemes and knew well the troubles a disloyal servant could bring to their master.
Recalling Chunlan’s words carefully, they seemed like an apology, but every sentence was meant to sow discord between her and Aning.
Yongjia narrowed her eyes.
This servant could not be kept.
But she didn’t show it, deciding to wait until Aning returned before making a decision.
Yongjia said coldly, “She actually dared to sneak out behind my back? When she returns, tell her to come see me immediately!”
With that, she walked away quickly, as if very angry.
Only after she left did Chunlan breathe a sigh of relief.
She had deliberately lingered here to be discovered by Her Highness.
Fortunately, Her Highness didn’t disappoint her efforts. Now, when the young lady returned, they were sure to have a big argument, disrupting the household peace.
By then, when Her Highness left for the Buddhist hall, the Imperial Son-in-Law would be in charge of the manor again.
She was already seventeen—well past the age for marriage discussions.
With the princess often absent from the manor, aligning with the Imperial Son-in-Law was far more advantageous than anyone else.
Not long after, when Zhao Qingning returned to the manor, Chunlan anxiously informed her that the princess had summoned her and was likely angry.
She immediately headed to the main residence, with Chunlan continuing to stir up discord along the way.
“Miss, His Highness has just returned to the manor and has been strict with you, but it’s for your own good. Although she has been away from home for a long time, she always cares for you. Please do not conflict with His Highness.”
Qiuhua frowned, noticing her mistress’s increasingly cold expression. Thinking it was Chunlan’s poor choice of words, she quickly stopped her.
Zhao Qingning entered the main courtyard while they waited outside.
“Mother, I’m back.”
She stepped inside, speaking affectionately.
Yongjia’s gaze softened immediately upon seeing her. When Zhao Qingning presented the bracelet she had bought for her, it moved Yongjia deeply.
During this warm mother-daughter moment, Liu Momo brought in pear soup: “Miss, please try this. His Highness made it personally.”
Zhao Qingning’s eyes sparkled as she drank the pear soup in one go, praising it enthusiastically.
Yongjia was delighted, wiping the fine sweat from her forehead: “The weather is getting hotter, you should return earlier.”
Putting down the handkerchief, she continued: “What’s the matter with Chunlan in your room?”
Zhao Qingning set down her bowl and met Yongjia’s inquiring gaze: “Tell mother the truth, what has she done to displease you?”
Zhao Qingning lowered her eyes, numerous thoughts flashing through her mind in an instant.
If she told the truth, Yongjia would confront Zhao Junyuan recklessly.
The Grand Princess, who held military power, was already the target of public criticism. If this matter escalated without clear evidence of major wrongdoing, Zhao Junyuan would play the victim, and court officials would only condemn Yongjia.
Her father was always skilled at acting and would undoubtedly smear her mother’s reputation.
She didn’t want to see Yongjia troubled by rumors.
This matter required careful planning. Sooner or later, she would tear off Zhao Junyuan’s hypocritical mask and make him universally condemned.
Zhao Qingning raised a smile: “Nothing at all.”
“Then why did you lie to her, saying I forbade you from interacting with the Ninth Prince?”
“I was just teasing her. Didn’t you see how nervous she got? It was quite amusing.”
Zhao Qingning made excuses to brush it off. Yongjia studied her for a moment but detected nothing unusual.
Perhaps her daughter was just being playful and teasing the servants.
But Chunlan was definitely not harmless.
After leaving the main courtyard, Zhao Qingning returned to her quarters.
Chunlan still tried to find out if the mother and daughter had argued but failed to get any information.
As evening approached, Qiuhua was serving Zhao Qingning her meal in the room.
Suddenly, there was commotion outside, followed by Chunlan’s sharp scream: “This servant is innocent, I’ve been wronged! I want to see the young miss… Mph…”
Qiuhua was startled: “Miss, what’s happening?”
But Zhao Qingning remained calm: “We’ll know soon enough.”
Before long, Liu Momo entered and bowed: “Apologies for disturbing you, Miss. The maid Chunlan stole your jade hairpin, committing the grave offense of betraying her master. His Highness ordered her to receive fifty cane strikes and be sold off. His Highness will arrange new attendants for you later.”
Fifty strikes—Chunlan would be crippled if she survived.
Zhao Qingning blinked.
Truly the decisive Grand Princess—the incident occurred at noon, and before evening, Chunlan had been dealt with.
She didn’t think Yongjia had acted wrongly.
She wasn’t a saint who had to tolerate everyone. No one wanted a disloyal servant.
Therefore, she simply nodded and accepted the matter.
Qiuhua turned pale, seeing Liu Momo out.
She looked at Zhao Qingning: “Mistress…”
Zhao Qingning looked up and smiled: “Why are you so afraid? It wasn’t you who stole anything.”
Qiuhua immediately knelt: “This servant will remain loyal and never betray you.”
Not only her, but the servants in the West Courtyard also became instantly vigilant after this incident, fearing they might be implicated.
After all, the gruesome sight of Chunlan’s mangled body was still vivid in their minds.
This method of killing a chicken to scare the monkeys proved highly effective.
Zhao Junyuan only learned of this matter after returning to the residence, but he didn’t think too much of it, merely feeling that Chunlan had been too shortsighted, throwing herself away for a hairpin.
He had considered placing more of his own people in Zhao Qingning’s quarters, but Yongjia’s control was too strict, making it impossible for him to insert anyone, so he had no choice but to temporarily abandon the idea.
That night, everyone in the residence harbored their own thoughts, but the only one who slept well was probably Zhao Qingning herself.
Early the next morning, she wrapped the clothes and hairpins she had bought and headed to the academy.
Upon arriving at the entrance, she went straight to the backyard, intending to surprise Lu Jinghan: “Xiao Jiu, look what I’ve brought you.”
However, as she entered the courtyard, a young eunuch saw her and knelt in panic: “G-greetings, noble lady.”
This in itself wasn’t unusual, but as he spoke, his eyes kept darting fearfully toward a small room not far away.
Zhao Qingning instinctively looked over and noticed that the door to Lu Jinghan’s room was tightly shut.
Usually, when she arrived, he would come out immediately to bow and welcome her.
This wasn’t like him.
Somehow, she had a bad premonition and quickly walked over, pushing the door open: “Xiao Jiu.”
A foul stench assaulted her nostrils, and the floor was covered in bloodstains.
Not far away, a small figure lay on the ground, his clothes torn by sharp objects, revealing wounds deep enough to see bone and curled flesh, some of which had already begun to fester. A wound on his forehead from an impact was still slowly bleeding.
His usually thin hands were swollen from repeated trampling.
His exposed legs were densely covered with scars from burns with lamp wicks.
His face was stained with blood, making it impossible to discern his original appearance.
Zhao Qingning felt as if struck by lightning: “Lu Jinghan!”
She could barely stand, forcing herself to walk over. The person before her had breaths so faint they were almost imperceptible, resembling a corpse.
Tears unconsciously fell from Zhao Qingning’s eyes—she had never witnessed such a scene.
He was just a child who had done nothing wrong. Why did he have to suffer like this?!
Zhao Qingning trembled all over, her voice sharp and commanding: “Fetch a physician! Quickly!”