After Mistakenly Provoking The Soft, Unhinged Princess O - Chapter 9

At noon, Yu Qingci and Yan Lingshu went together to the front hall for lunch.

With a table full of delicious dishes before her, Yu Qingci had no heart to think about all sorts of messy things. Her foodie nature performed steadily as she focused seriously on tasting every single dish, and after each one, she even gave Yan Lingshu her thoughts on it.

Qinhe followed along with her introductions and served the dishes accordingly. Seeing her own princess eat a little more, she immediately felt comforted.

She had originally thought this consort had only come to make trouble. Unexpectedly, she still had some use.

The Yu Estate had always observed the rule of speaking neither while eating nor while sleeping. Yu Xiao could not stand hearing others talk too much, but she forcibly endured it without flaring up.

The Fifth Princess clearly did not dislike Yu Qingci’s chatter. At a time like this, saying too much would do no good.

After lunch was finished, Yu Qingci rose to take her leave, but Yu Xiao stopped her.

“I have something to ask you.” As Yu Xiao spoke, she walked outside.

Yu Qingci followed her out. She had only just stood still when she heard Yu Xiao ask, “You intend to punish Madam Zhu?”

This was the Yu Estate. Whether it was her carrying Yan Lingshu back to her courtyard or her intending to punish Madam Zhu and her daughter, naturally none of the news could be hidden from Yu Xiao.

Yu Qingci had long expected this question. With a cold expression, she asked in return, “Does Mother think I should not deal with her?”

“It is not that you should not deal with her. It is that you should have dealt with her long ago.” Yu Xiao ignored the questioning tone in her voice and sighed. “All these years, you argued with me endlessly in order to protect Madam Zhu. Now, you have finally come to your senses. Before, you even made a scene and refused to marry. Now that you are married, I see that your relationship with the Fifth Princess is not bad either…”

“Mother means to say that you had foresight all along and made the best plans for me, is that right?” Yu Qingci suddenly interrupted Yu Xiao.

Yu Xiao frowned. “What else are you dissatisfied with…”

“What could I possibly be dissatisfied with?” Yu Qingci looked at Yu Xiao, a faint mockery in her eyes. “I only want to ask Mother: when Madam Zhu was misleading me, when I was uneasy and afraid, when I racked my brains trying to please you, what were you doing? And when exactly did you discover that something was wrong with Madam Zhu?”

She was only a nursemaid. If they had noticed something was wrong earlier, they could simply have replaced her in time.

But unfortunately, Yu Xiao realized it too late, as if Yu Qingci had grown overnight into a temperament she disliked.

She was always asking Yu Qingci, “How did you become like this?”

Yes. How had she become like this? When had she become like this?

Clearly, at the very beginning, she had wanted to be close to her mother and close to her family. Why, in the end, had they become enemies who viewed each other with hostility?

Yu Xiao instinctively wanted to argue, wanted to bring out that set of excuses she always used. But in a certain instant, it was as if she saw deep sorrow and disappointment in Yu Qingci’s eyes.

“This daughter spoke out of turn. I hope Mother will not take offense.” Yu Qingci lowered her eyes, hiding all her emotions. “Her Highness is unwell and urgently needs to return to the residence. This daughter takes her leave.”

After saying this, Yu Qingci turned and left without waiting for Yu Xiao to speak.

She walked extremely quickly, so quickly that it seemed as if she were trying to flee from something.

Only after sitting inside the carriage back to the princess’s residence did Yu Qingci slowly come back to herself—she did not seem to have been questioning Yu Xiao. Rather, across space and time, she had been questioning her original family.

Clearly, her original plan had been to build a good relationship with Yu Xiao. She had not expected it to turn into this.

Yu Qingci sighed very softly.

She lifted her head and looked at Yan Lingshu.

Yan Lingshu was lowering her head and flipping through the booklet in her hand, as if Yu Qingci did not exist.

They clearly concealed things from each other and had countless secrets between them, yet the more Yu Qingci looked, the more she felt that she still liked staying together with Yan Lingshu.

She looked too intently, so intently that the other person had no choice but to lift her eyes and look at her, a hint of confusion showing in her expression.

A smile rippled through Yu Qingci’s eyes. She suddenly moved a little closer and said very seriously, “Your Highness, do you know? I really, really like…”

She deliberately drew out her tone, then finished the second half of the sentence with a beaming smile. “Staying together with you.”

Starlight seemed to shine brilliantly in the girl’s eyes. When she looked at Yan Lingshu, her gaze was focused and joyful.

Yan Lingshu’s lashes fluttered. She lowered her head, avoiding those bright, sparkling phoenix eyes of the Qianyuan, and said calmly, “Qingci, do not speak nonsense.”

Hearing her cold words, the smile in Yu Qingci’s eyes deepened.

It seemed Yan Lingshu had gone against her persona too many times today. Now she no longer even had the interest to pretend.

And that was exactly what Yu Qingci liked. There was no need to guess, no need to hope. She was very certain that Yan Lingshu disliked her, and she did not need Yan Lingshu’s liking either.

She only needed Yan Lingshu to know that she was useful.

The simpler the goal, the lighter one felt in both body and mind.

People were at their freest only when they had no emotional demands.

Yu Qingci felt that she had thought it through clearly, and her mood became even more comfortable.

When Yan Lingshu lifted her eyes again, she saw only Yu Qingci leisurely sprawled by the window, looking outside. The Qianyuan seemed completely untroubled, as if last night’s temporary mark had not affected her at all.

Yet today in the corridor, her scent pheromones had clearly lost control once.

“Your Highness, Physician Qin has arrived.” As soon as they returned to the princess’s residence, a maidservant came to report.

Yu Qingci left of her own accord. “I will go handle the matter with the storeroom first. If Your Highness needs anything, just have someone call me.”

One morning was enough time for Xiaxi to sort through the items in the private storeroom. Everything missing had been written down on a list and handed to Yu Qingci.

Yu Qingci looked at that thin single-page list and clicked her tongue lightly.

How could the things Madam Zhu and her daughter had embezzled over more than ten years possibly amount to only this thin page? Most likely, the ledger had also been tampered with. Zhuling was simply not as experienced as her mother in handling matters, which was why she had exposed the flaw.

“Consort, how should Zhuling be dealt with?” Xiaxi asked from the side.

Yu Qingci tossed the sheet of paper aside. “There is no rush. Wait another two days.”

In order to save her daughter, Madam Zhu would definitely put all her effort into taking out everything she could produce.

Yu Qingci could not bring herself to casually end another person’s life.

As long as they no longer caused trouble, Yu Qingci still wanted to leave them a path to survival.

“Oh, right.” Yu Qingci stood and instructed, “Go find someone to ask around and see where Aunt Tan is living now. Once you find her, remember to report to me immediately.”

Hearing this, Xiaxi looked slightly surprised. However, she did not ask anything and lowered her head in assent.

At the same time, inside the bedchamber.

Qin Shuang withdrew the pulse pillow. Under Qinhe’s worried gaze, she said the words they least wanted to hear. “Her Highness’s headache is different from before. In my opinion, she likely needs the consort’s scent pheromones to soothe it.”