Chapter 856 Go to Piaoyun Courtyard and Ask for Help

No matter how much she was fond of Prince Chen, she had forgotten it all now in such a panic.

Shao Caihuan also found that she had underestimated it—thinking that with such a good chance, she would have made it as she had wished.

She hadn’t expected it would end up this way. The third branch might even lose their lives.

Third Madam asked her to dry the tears and ordered her old maid to accompany Shao Caihuan to Piaoyun Courtyard to see Shao Wanru.

In Piaoyun Courtyard, Shao Wanru, frowning, was thinking of what had happened today. “It is odd. Very uncommon!”

Why did Zhao family present a pastry recipe? Moreover, everyone in the kitchen thought the pastry was good and none of them had an objection. It was really strange.

If there was something wrong with the pastries and she was to blame, then who would benefit from it? It was destined that Third Madam could not do everything in person due to her weak health. Did any of those unmarried Misses in the mansion want to intervene in the affairs?

Shao Jie’er? Unlikely! Anyway, she was just a daughter of a concubine, who was totally unqualified to do that, especially under the situation where there were so many legitimate daughters in the mansion.

Shao Caihuan? Given her current situation, it seemed that she couldn’t even though she had such an intention. Shao Wanru tended to believe that she, as a woman who was disfigured, would devote herself to repairing her face rather than think of such a big plot.

Shao Cailing? Less possible!

So who had secretly plotted against her? It couldn’t be Zhao Xiran, the new member who had just entered the mansion, could it?

Although Shao Wanru thought it unlikely, she decided to keep it in her heart for the time being. She was more cautious rather than being suspicious. In her last life, she died like a dog and even had no idea who had killed her. If she didn’t keep in caution in her second life, she might end up in the same way again.

“Miss, Third Miss comes to see you! She is crying,” Qu Le came in and reported in a hurry.

Shao Wanru thought for a second and nodded, “Let her come in!”

Qu Le went to lead Shao Caihuan in. Shao Wanru’s eyes flashed with a trace of suspicion, “She might come for what had happened today, at such time.”

Shao Caihuan’s behavior today had indicated that she must have something to do with what had happened in the outer court.

Yujie lifted the curtain at the door for Shao Caihuan, who walked in and was crying, and put it down after she had been inside. Shao Wanru stood up and said with a mild voice, “Third Sister, please sit down!”

Anyway, Shao Caihuan was her third cousin.

“Fifth Sister, please help me and my mother!” Shao Caihuan knelt with her two knees down.

Shao Wanru nimbly turned around and avoided facing her kneeling, and she frowned and said with displeasure, “What do you mean, Third Sister? You are my elder sister and the Third Miss of Duke Xing’s Mansion. How can you kneel to me? If someone sees it, they will misunderstand that I am bullying you! Third Sister, just tell me what you want. You don’t need to kneel.”

Shao Wanru was angry so her words were a little bit harsh.

Shao Caihuan knew that she couldn’t infuriate Shao Wanru anymore at this time. So she stopped crying and Qu Le came to help her up. She stood up, wiped off her tears, and said, “Fifth Sister, I promise I meant no harm. I just ordered a servant to serve the princes with some drink of high alcohol concentration! Not much but a little! And it wouldn’t get anyone too drunk except for Prince Chen… But I thought that he would be fine after taking a nap!”

“Third Sister, do you have a grudge against Prince Chen? So you want to hurt him?” Shao Wanru asked in a cold voice.

“No…” Shao Caihuan still wanted to justify herself.

“Then, why do you want to get him drunk, Third Sister?” Shao Wanru questioned her, not leaving her much time to hesitate.

“I… I… planned to…” Shao Caihuan stammered. It was difficult for her, an unmarried Miss, to say out her disgraceful plot, especially with Shao Wanru’s two servant girls in the same room. For a moment, she blushed with shame and guilt.

“Third Sister, you’d better make it clear to me now. It is beyond my ability to guess it. If Empress Dowager in the palace knows what you have done to Prince Chen, I am afraid that you may not even have time to explain a word!”

Shao Wanru’s long eyelashes fluttered, and her eyes became colder and colder. Her delicate face seemed to be covered with frost.

Though Shao Wanru was a few years younger than Shao Caihuan, her imposing manner at this time made the latter shocked and scared. With her lips trembling, she gritted her teeth and confessed, “Fifth Sister, I am sorry. I want to marry Prince Chen… but it was not I who came out with the ‘alcohol’ idea. It was Zhao Xiran who abetted me to do that. And it seemed that the drink was drugged by others. Otherwise, the two princes wouldn’t get drunk and fight against each other, even if they drank it all!”

With the instruction from Third Madam before, and coupled with Shao Wanru’s warning just now, Shao Caihuan no longer dared to hide anything. Regardless of her shame, she told the truth.

“Our eldest sister-in-law?” Shao Wanru narrowed her eyes and looked at Shao Caihuan, who didn’t understand her tone.

Thinking that Shao Wanru was not convinced, Shao Caihuan became anxious and explained again, “It’s true. Do you remember on that day when Prince Chen come to our mansion, Old Madam of Minister Zhao’s Mansion and Zhao Xiran were also here?”

Third Madam had made Shao Caihuan realize that she must have fallen into Zhao Xiran’s trap. So she hated Zhao Xiran very much and of course, said everything relevant to Zhao. Afraid that Shao Wanru didn’t believe her, she particularly pointed out the time and place that could be linked to her foe.

After Shao Caihuan finished her words, Shao Wanru pondered for a moment and nodded, indicating that to some extent she agreed with Shao Caihuan. The latter breathed a sigh of relief, but she became nervous again as soon as hearing Shao Wanru’s next words.

“Third Sister, though I believe in you, others must think it as the plot of you or your mother. If they also know that your purpose was to seduce Prince Chen, I am afraid that no men will get married to you in the future, so will it happen to Fourth Sister. And your mother will suffer a lot from Grandma!” Shao Wanru said calmly.

On hearing her words, Shao Caihuan felt helpless and her face was as pale as snow. That was what she was most scared about and also the reason why she did not dare to accuse Zhao Xiran without evidence.

Zhao Xiran would not lose anything if she was accused, because every word she said to Shao Caihuan that night just sounded like advice. In addition, Shao Caihuan didn’t want it public that she had a crush on her future brother-in-law!

She wouldn’t tell even her biological grandma. She had always known her grandma would be partial to Shao Hua’an all the time.

Her mother might even be sent out to repent for the blame that she didn’t teach her children well.

Shao Caihuan was not a scheming person and she had been in a panic at this time. She asked Shao Wanru for help with her hands and feet trembling, “Fifth Sister, what should we do now? What… what should we do?”

Her brain was blank now. She just wanted to get away from the trouble together with her parents and sister.

There was an old saying that to be in the king’s company is tantamount to living with a tiger, and even in the company of a prince like Prince Chen was the same. Now Shao Caihuan would rather marry into an ordinary family to seek peace for a lifetime. Stuck in such a dilemma, she wanted no more dreamy happiness and love but harmony and peace.

“Third Sister, do you promise you did not instruct someone to drug the drink?” Shao Wanru asked. After all, it was true that the drink was mixed with something.

Shao Caihuan gave the order of serving the drink. But who gave the instruction of drugging it? Zhao Xiran? It seemed to be impossible. Even Zhao Xiran could arrange a few of her servants in the mansion, it was unlikely for her to plant an agent to drug the drink. Since Shao Caihuan did it with ulterior motives, the person who sent the drink was probably either her henchmen or Third Madam’s.

And such a trustworthy henchman couldn’t be bribed by Zhao Xiran.

“I promise I didn’t do that, Fifth Sister! Although it’s my wishful thinking, I didn’t dare to put something harmful into the drink. It is known to everyone that Prince Chen is in poor health. If something terrible happened to him because of the drink with drugs, the whole Duke Xing’s Mansion would be sentenced to death. No matter how much I love him, I was not daring to drug him!” Shao Caihuan wiped her tears and shook her head.

It was true that she was too timid to do such a thing. All she wanted was nothing but to help Prince Chen rest after he was drunk.

Then they would lie on the bed together with her clothes torn in pieces by herself, waiting to be caught by others.

As a matter of course, she would be taken as his woman. Since she would be just a co-consort, Shao Caihuan didn’t mind at all that her reputation had been slightly damaged at that time. Anyway, Prince Chen was the descendant of the royal family.

As Shao Caihuan shook her head and denied it, Shao Wanru blinked her eyes, concealing the deep doubts in them. “It was firmly certain that the drink was drugged, which was based on Shao Caihuan’s order. If it was not the person from our mansion, it could also be…”

“Help me, Fifth Sister! Tell Prince Chen about it. And I… I won’t dare to do it again. I won’t do it again!” Shao Caihuan pleaded.

“Third Sister, I don’t know how the matter will be settled yet. I haven’t gone out since I returned to Piaoyun Courtyard. I don’t know what Grandma and Second Uncle think of it,” Shao Wanru shook her head and said. She couldn’t make the decision on how to deal with the matter. She was just the unmarried Fifth Miss of Duke Xing’s Mansion who didn’t have much power.

“Then… then what should I do? I… I didn’t do it on purpose… and I didn’t do anything else. Second Uncle plans to send all the servants to the palace to be interrogated by the Emperor. Fifth Sister, what should I do? What should I do?” said Shao Caihuan who looked at Shao Wanru with desperation.

“The Emperor will interrogate all the servants?” Shao Wanru was shocked.

“Yes, I heard that all of them will be sent to the imperial palace.” Shao Caihuan said with tears. She was in a panic at the moment and only hoped that Shao Wanru could give her a hand.

“Third Sister, did you serve the drink with a proper reason? Are you sure that your service was reasonable in other’s eyes?” Shao Wanru asked with a calm look.

“Yes, yes, of course! My mother asked a servant to send some good spirits to the three princes, and that was all they had known. Even if the drink sender was my mother’s servant girl, she would just think that my mother wanted to please the princes,” Shao Caihuan recalled her memory and illustrated with logic.

“If that was the case, Third Sister, you don’t have to be worried. Anyway, you and Third Aunt didn’t know that the drink was drugged. Third Aunt has just taken charge of the inner court, so some people may want to avenge the third branch for the former master!” Shao Wanru hinted to Shao Caihuan.

When it came to the so-called former master, most people would naturally think of Madam Jiang of the second branch. However, Madam Jiang was not in the mansion anymore, so it was less likely to be her. Was there anyone else of the second branch who could be regarded as the old master?

Who was it that wanted to seize control of the household?

But what confused Shao Wanru most now was the reason why Zhao Xiran, as a newly married woman, was so aggressive. Even if she wanted to seize power, it was not the right time to do it…

Was Zhao Xiran so eager to manage the inner court?