Chapter 156: The flavor of suffering in silence (2/2)

Everything had already happened. Zhangsun Che’s aphrodisiac had been cured and he himself was ignorant of anything that had occurred. No matter how much Murong Wanru suffered, she still wouldn’t dare expose Princess Changping as the mastermind. In other words, there was no evidence to prove things contrary.

“Then how did Wanru lose consciousness? How did she end up in my rooms? Wasn’t she at the banquet? Changping, she should’ve told you something before she left, right?” Han Yunxi tossed out questions even though she already knew the answers.

These words stirred complications within Grand Concubine Yi’s anger. She was a seasoned veteran of court intrigue, so she’d seen all sorts of devious plots and tricks. Originally, she still held suspicions towards Han Yunxi, but hearing her words made her feel much more relieved.

“At that time, everyone was pairing off in twos and threes. I didn’t pay attention to her either. I only remember hearing her say she was worried about you and wanted to go have a look,” Princess Changping said hastily.

Eunuch Li paused for a second before adding, “Grand Imperial Concubine, Zhangsun Che was so drunk that he had no awareness of his actions. As to how and why Miss Wanru was in the room, that’s a question best left for herself.”

Grand Concubine Yi’s glare at Zhangsun Che was like an incisive knife. She’d rather they could gouge his heart out! The three members of the Zhangsun family kept silent, not even daring to lift their heads. Marquis Pingbei might come from a powerful and influential family, but he was nothing in Grand Concubine Yi’s eyes. Even as Marquis Pingbei was seized with terror, he couldn’t help the sliver of joy in his heart. Thank goodness his unfilial son had taken advantage of Murong Wanru instead of Qin Wangfei. Otherwise, even if they avoided imprisonment in jail, their relatives definitely wouldn’t escape punishment!

The silence in the room dragged on and on before Grand Concubine Yi finally asked, “Wanru, just how did you enter your sister-in-law’s room? And how did you lose consciousness?” Her words shocked the people present. Nobody expected Murong Wanru to be here as well. Only, where was she?

Murong Wanru was hiding behind a large folding screen, huddled up and trembling as her teary eyes flashed with sinister resentment. She only remembered seeing Han Yunxi in the little flower garden by the house, but not anything afterwards. She wasn’t sure why she’d lost consciousness, or how she ended up in that room. Of course, she knew that everything had to be related to Han Yunxi, but she couldn’t say that now!

As soon as she brought up Han Yunxi, that woman’s personality would insure that everything was investigated thoroughly. The fact that Han Yunxi could even leave the room that day meant that she already knew what was going on! If she investigated enough to reveal the truth, then wouldn’t she become even more of a laughingstock? By the time that happened, Marquis Pingbei’s household might even come back to bite her in revenge!

Even Princess Changping would have difficulty saving her own skin, much less hers. Right now, she was tasting the flavor of suffering in silence. She felt wronged, regretful, unreconciled, resentful, ashamed, frightened, and all sorts of other negative emotions mixed into one big mess. She hated Han Yunxi completely, because if it wasn’t for her, she wouldn’t have fallen to this state. Her future…was gone!

Thinking up to here, Murong Wanru bit tightly on a corner of her robes, but still couldn’t muffle the sounds of her crying. Hearing the noise coming from behind Grand Concubine Yi, everyone else realized where she was hiding.

Grand Concubine Yi was already annoyed, but hearing this made her even more wrathful. She couldn’t help but roar, “What are you crying about?! Speak! You disgraceful thing!”

Being yelled at only made Murong Wanru’s tears fall like rain down her face. Her grievance was so great that she even considered dying. But in the end, she still had to answer. She wasn’t content with dying just like this!

“Mufei, I…sobsob, I was going to see sister-in-law, but no one answered when I knocked on the door. So I pushed it open a bit, but…who knew that the door wasn’t locked? I went inside, but…sobsob…that beast frightened me so much I fainted. What happened afterwards, I…sobsobsob…” Before Murong Wanru could finish, she burst into tears and ran away.

No one answered when she knocked, the door was unlocked so she went inside, both of these fit Han Yunxi’s story about leaving the room for the toilet perfectly. All of the stories from various people all matched up without any inconsistencies. The crucial point was that Murong Wanru had explained how she got inside and fainted. The person concerned wouldn’t tell lies about herself, would she?

In the end, there was still a conclusion to the whole thing, and Zhangsun Che was still the chief offender!

As Murong Wanru’s sobs faded away, Grand Concubine Yi sat with her hand propping up her head, breathing heavily from rage. The beginning and end of the whole situation had been thoroughly explained, so now it was time to hold people responsible.

Han Yunxi kept silent as she raised her cup of tea.

Grand Concubine Yi shot her a glance with furrowed brows before speaking icily, “Changping, take your cur of a servant and scram back to the palace. Tell your muhou that she has to give me an explanation!”

Leaving aside Changping, even the empress dreaded Grand Concubine Yi. The empress had authorized Princess Changping to host the Plum Blossom Meet, while Eunuch Li was one of the empress’s people. Of course she had to be the one to handle matters.

“Yes, yes! Changping understands!” Princess Changping ran off like a streak of smoke. Compared to this grandmother-ranked Grand Concubine Yi, dealing with her mother was much easier! Once she left, there was only Marquis Pingbei’s family in the hall.

Han Yunxi’s lips curled up into an indolent smile. She knew that this family of three was the true cause of Grand Concubine Yi’s headaches.

-o-

[1] Zhangsun Zhongde (长孙仲德) – Zhangsun is a two-character surname. Zhong is a character for ‘second, middle,’ such as the second son of a family, De means ‘virtue, moral character.’

[2] Lady Xue (薛夫人) – Xue is just a surname.