Chapter 50: How Was She Supposed to Endure This?
She had found the Yao family sisters displeasing from the start. At first it was Yao Moxin, then it was Yao Suluan, and now there was a Yao Mowan. No matter how hard she worked, she always seemed to lose to them. She couldn't accept it!
"Wait… Let me think…" Duan Zirou wiped away her tears. Something seemed to suddenly occur to her and she took out a bag of perfume to hand to Duan Xiaoyan.
"Why are you giving me this?" asked Duan Xiaoyan.
"Flick some of this on your clothes and head over to Pure Flowers Palace with this scent. If… If Zixiao really had visited Pure Flowers Palace, when he gets back to the residence, this scent will definitely be on his clothes!" said Duan Zirou calmly.
"Don't worry, Older Sister. No matter what happens, Xiaoyan will always be on Older Sister's side!" Duan Xiaoyan sprinkled some of the perfume on her collar. Just as she was about to leave, Duan Zirou pulled her back again.
"I'm scared…" When Duan Xiaoyan saw the tears in Duan Zirou's eyes, she patted her shoulder comfortingly. She understood why her older sister was scared. It was the worst to find out that the feelings you thought were more solid than gold turned out to be your own delusion. If Ye Zixiao really was having an affair with Yao Suluan, how was her older sister supposed to endure it?
"It's fine. Qiao Ling, help her into the bedroom to rest and look after her carefully," instructed Duan Xiaoyan, then she turned and left Intoxicating Fragrance Residence.
Later that night, there was a charming scene in Pure Flowers Palace. After a round of making love, Yao Suluan leaned into Ye Zixiao's chest as she softly traced his perfect jawline.
"Nurse Sun, Eunuch Zheng, and Yun Er were all Yao Moxin's personal servants before she gave birth. It's strange enough that Yao Moxin ended up dying of difficult birth, but they had died as well?" Ye Zixiao rubbed Yao Suluan's snow-white shoulder gently as he remarked this lightly. However, his tone was filled with curiosity.
"They hadn't looked after the empress well enough, so isn't enough to count as a crime?" Just because she had bet everything on Ye Zixiao didn't mean that she would reveal all of her secrets. She didn't dare to be too careless especially since this particular secret was related to her own chances of survival.
"So Ye Hongyi had given the decree for them to be killed? If it was due to their failure in carrying out their duties, shouldn't he have just openly killed them instead of doing it in secret? Had you not dug them out, no one would've ever found out that they were already dead." Ye Zixiao naturally noticed that Yao Suluan was beating about the bush.
"Prince should be grateful that His Majesty had done this. If he hadn't, what could we have used to arouse Ye Junqing's suspicions? After this incident, Ye Junqing will definitely want to look into the true cause of Yao Moxin's death and as soon as he makes any suspicious moves, His Majesty will definitely go after him!" Yao Suluan's lips curled as shrewd light flickered in her eyes.
"Yao Moxin's true cause of death?" Ye Zixiao caught and repeated this important phrase.
"Noble Lady Duan from Intoxicating Fragrance Residence visited today. Even though she didn't really say much, she seemed a little off. Everyone knows that Noble Lady Duan is Luminescent Princess's younger sister. What do you think she came to Suluan's palace for?" Yao Suluan saw that Ye Zixiao was trying to dig more information out of her, so she changed the topic.
"Noble Lady Duan visited… It was probably a normal visit from a fellow concubine. It's probably nothing much." Ye Zixiao retrained the surprise in his eyes and shifted over to lie down on his back as he contemplated this.
"Suluan wants to ask Prince one little thing. In here, is Duan Zirou more important or Suluan more important?" Yao Suluan leaned over and traced circles on Ye Zixiao's chest.
"Of course Suluan is more important! With a beauty at one's side, a man is twice as strong!" Ye Zixiao pulled Yao Suluan over and sank his fingers into her hair to slowly stroke her head.
"If one day, Luminescent Princess discovers our relationship, would Prince kill her to silence her?" asked Yao Suluan softly. In the next instant, she felt a sharp pain from her scalp.
Ye Zixiao realized that he had messed up and immediately flipped over to press Yao Suluan down below him.
"No matter who it is, if they block this prince's path to the throne, then they deserve to die!" declared Ye Zixiao fiercely. However, in his heart, he was asking himself, if such an event really occurred, would he kill Zirou?
"Those who are a hindrance die, but what about those who are an aid?" Yao Suluan's hands were pinned above her head by Ye Zixiao but she remained unconcerned and looked towards him seductively.
"They'll be rewarded of course!" Ye Zixiao leaned down and there was another round of sweet torment. The man plundered while the woman responded softly withe desire. As a breeze passed by and lifted the canopy slightly, their entangled figures came into full view.
The days that followed continued to be normal. Soon, midsummer passed and the weather became much more refreshing. Yao Mowan sat on the swing to enjoy the refreshing coolness of the autumn breeze.
"Your Highness, news has come from the prime minister's residence that Madame and that Wu Zicheng had stolen almost half of the Yao Residence's family property and ran off with Boan!" Liu Xing's news caused Yao Mowan's heart to jump slightly in excitement. Li Qingqing has finally made a move!
"How's Father?" What Yao Mowan cared about was Yao Zhenting's reaction.
"The lord is outraged and had passed out on the spot. As of now, he's searching frantically for them. This servant heard that he didn't even bother to attend court this morning," reported Liu Xing.
"Li Qingqing had taken away the one thing he cared about most in this lifetime, how can he possibly remain calm? Let's just wait. Even if Father has to search the entirety of great Chu, he'll get Li Qingqing back. Remember, once Father finds Li Qingqing, tell this consort right away. This consort must watch this show in person," instructed Yao Mowan. The show would only be brilliant if she was present. Yao Zhenting, no matter what this consort did, it was because you deserve it.
Once Liu Xing withdrew, Yin Xue appeared by Yao Mowan's side like a phantom. Yao Mowan had already gotten used to Yin Xue's tendency to appear this way.
"Master, Duan Zirou has gone to visit Pure Flowers Palace," reported Yin Xue. After the plan in Intoxicating Fragrance Residence had succeeded, Yao Mowan had instructed for Yin Xue to pay close attention to Duan Zirou's whereabouts. She hadn't expected for Duan Zirou to have found evidence in just a few days.
"Visit Luminescent Prince's residence, then meet up with this consort in the willow forest outside Pure Flowers Palace." It was better to enjoy things with a crowd than enjoy things on your own. How could she let Ye Zixiao miss such an interesting confrontation?
Once Yin Xue withdrew, Yao Mowan fixed her lapels a little. Just as she was about to leave Guan Osprey Palace, Ye Junqing blocked her way.
"Yao Mowan, this prince needs to talk to you about something!" After a few days of mulling over things restlessly, Ye Junqing finally managed to link everything together and got some answers.
"Is it important? If it's not, please say it later. Mowan has a pressing matter to attend to right now." Yao Mowan walked past Ye Junqing to head out.
"Of course it's important! In reality, there's one thing that this prince hasn't told you about. Before this prince started investigating Nurse Sun and the others, this prince had seen a palace maid in the side wing of where the cold palace was once located!" Ye Junqing thought that his words would provoke Yao Mowan's interest and it did.
Yao Mowan abruptly turned around and looked towards Ye Junqing in shock.
"No matter how starved Prince is, you still can't look for a palace maid! Strictly speaking, all of the women in this palace belongs to His Majesty, how could Prince dip a finger in this pie!?" Yao Mowan's words caused Ye Junqing's forehead to be covered with black lines.
"This prince is talking about something serious!" Ye Junqing heaved a sigh. Had his head been kicked by a donkey? If not, why did he come here to negotiate with this demon? When his thoughts reached this point, he made to turn around and leave, but Yao Mowan pulled him back.
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Credits: Translated by Chiyomira
[Chiyomira's Corner]
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Lol, this is pretty late, but when I first finally got this site going, I was going to give a warning to Celestial fans not to use the $1 pledge to read ahead, because it ends on an awful cliffhanger. I… forgot.