Unparalleled Beauty

Chapter C033

Meanwhile, Mei Wuxia was still putting on an act, pretending to search for Wushuang. Mei Chang and Mei E were also extremely anxious. The matter had even reached Mei Zong and Cao shi, and Chen Yueyi was also helping in the search.

At this moment, someone arrived, saying that Third Miss had already boarded the carriage and was waiting for them to return.

The three hurriedly went to where the carriages were parked. Wushuang was not in the Marquis Changyang's carriage, but in a completely black, two-horse carriage.

Mei Wuxia recognized whose carriage it was. That time at the manor, Prince Wei had ridden in this kind of carriage.

When they arrived, Mei Zong was already there, with Cao shi standing beside him.

Mei Zong stood respectfully before the carriage. A servant-like person in front of him said, "His Highness came to offer birthday greetings and happened to encounter Third Miss of your esteemed mansion in the garden. Third Miss sprained her ankle and injured her hand. Seeing that she had no servants from your mansion by her side, His Highness took it upon himself to bring her for medical treatment."

Mei Zong's face showed shame. Wushuang was injured, yet had no servants by her side, indicating their negligence. Their negligence had actually been witnessed by Prince Wei.

However, Prince Wei did not speak from inside the carriage, only sending a servant out to deal with them, which indicated that Prince Wei did not want to speak with them. Therefore, he dared not say anything more.

Soon, the black carriage moved off ahead.

Mei Zong, not daring to say more, hurriedly spurred his horse to follow. Behind him was the Marquis Changyang's carriage, the procession heading towards the Marquis Changyang's mansion in a grand manner.

Inside the carriage, Wushuang had already awakened, her face showing shame.

Prince Wei stated that the matter was now settled. The person who had struck that man was Commandery Princess Minghui. He told her not to interfere in other matters and to be careful of her eldest sister.

Because, according to what Prince Wei knew, her eldest sister was the mastermind behind everything, but Commandery Princess Minghui was foolish and had been used.

Thinking about how troublesome the Marquis Changyang's mansion was, Prince Wei's face showed a look of contemplation.

Wushuang, however, misunderstood, thinking that Prince Wei felt she was too useless, that she needed him to intervene in such matters. She thought about how she had not been vigilant before and had almost fallen into a trap. Although she had knocked out the shizi of Marquis Wuxiang and escaped, she had only suffered some injuries and had not been harmed. However, the aftermath was extremely troublesome, and it was all thanks to Prince Wei that things were settled.

Now, the two of them were not yet married, and she had already caused him so much trouble. She wondered if he would despise her.

"You…"

"Your Highness, I was wrong," she said, lowering her head, her face full of shame.

Prince Wei was surprised, not knowing why she would say this, but then he understood her meaning. He had already felt that there were too many troublesome people around her and had intended to teach her a thing or two. Therefore, he went along with it and asked, "Where were you wrong?"

"I was not vigilant. When the servant said that Second Sister had fallen, I should have verified it before going. Even if I could not find someone to verify it, I should have found someone to accompany me."

Prince Wei nodded and said, "There is a rule in the palace that when palace servants walk in the palace, they must be in pairs and not walk alone. This is not only to prevent palace servants from being bribed to do evil, but also to guard against being harmed. With two people together, even if something happens, they can help each other and provide mutual testimony."

Wushuang said pitifully, "Actually, I had already realized something was wrong when I got there and did not go inside. I did not expect that the maid would push me from behind. After I fell, she locked the door, which caused that situation."

Prince Wei glanced at her. Her small face looked pitiful, and then he looked at her hand, which was wrapped like a rice dumpling. He thought that she had suffered a great loss and could not bear to pick at her faults any longer.

"Next time you go out, you must bring people with you."

"Actually, I wanted to bring a maid, but since none of my sisters brought maids, I didn't want to be the only one."

In fact, Wushuang was speaking euphemistically. For families like them who were visiting as guests, there was a tacit rule not to bring too many servants. Just imagine, if a family were to bring seven or eight people, each with a pile of maids and grannies, how could the host's mansion accommodate them? Furthermore, it would look chaotic.

Of course, it was not that they did not bring any servants at all. Bringing one or two was enough. The other servants would wait outside and would not go in.

Like this time, the Marquis Changyang's mansion had sent Mei Zong and his wife, two young masters, and three misses. Apart from Mei Zong and Cao shi each having a servant, only Mei Ying and Mei Xiong had a capable family servant with them. The misses, however, had no one by their side. Firstly, they were in the inner quarters, where nothing would happen. Secondly, Mei Wuxia and Chen Yueyi had always been on good terms and were familiar with the place, so they did not need servants.

Who knew that trouble would occur in the place where it was least likely to happen?

Prince Wei thought for a moment and said, "The imperial decree for the betrothal will be issued in a couple of days. In the future, when you go out, bring a few more maids."

Clearly, Prince Wei had grasped the essence; Wushuang, due to her insufficient status and lowly position, dared not bring a maidservant. In the future, bearing the title of future Princess Consort Wei, even if she brought ten maidservants, it was likely no one would dare utter a word.

As she spoke these words, they had arrived, the carriage stopping before the main gate of Marquis Changyang's mansion.

Mei Zong, having ridden ahead, had already arranged everything. Not only were there people to greet them at the gate, but Wushuang's maidservants had also been summoned.

"Your Highness..." Mei Zong stood before the carriage, intending to invite Prince Wei to alight and enter the mansion. Even a cup of tea would be an infinite honor for Marquis Changyang's mansion.

However, Prince Wei paid him no heed, instead speaking to Wushuang, who was being helped down from the carriage by her maidservant, "Keep your hands away from water these next few days, and apply the medicated wine daily." Only after this did he say to Mei Zong, "This Prince has other matters and must make a trip to the palace."

***

Prince Wei's carriage departed, yet the hearts of the people of Marquis Changyang's mansion standing outside the gate were in turmoil. His Highness Prince Wei had personally escorted Third Miss back! The implications within this were far too numerous.

And the most tumultuous of all was Mei Wuxia. She suddenly realized who was the master behind that pair of large hands.

It was none other than Prince Wei.

Prince Wei was present at the estate that time, and Prince Wei was present this time as well. Although she did not know what Prince Wei had done this time, he was able to accurately discern that Commandery Princess Minghui was behind it and even made her suffer the consequences. Clearly, Prince Wei knew much about what was happening behind the scenes. Did he also know of her involvement?

Unlike the tempest raging in Mei Wuxia's heart, Mei Zong was thinking that it seemed a joyous occasion was approaching for the family. It was just unfortunate that Prince Wei had witnessed Third Miss's injury. It was truly too careless, what a mess this had become.

After turning and entering, he spoke to Cao shi, blaming her for being too negligent of Wushuang.

Cao shi, however, was both shocked and bitter. She knew of her daughter's plans, so this time, she had deliberately not released anyone, not even those by Wuxia's side. But how could she let her husband know of such matters? Furthermore, her heart was in utter chaos at the moment, and she surprisingly did not argue with Mei Zong.

Leaving aside Marquis Changyang's mansion, on the other side, Marquis Xuanping, after seeing all the guests off, did not relax.

Some matters could not be judged by their surface. Such a major incident had occurred in the mansion today, disrupting the birthday banquet was secondary. What was more worrying was the potential crisis lurking behind it.

The Marquis Wuxiang's lineage was undoubtedly under Prince Qin, yet Marquis Xuanping's mansion appeared neutral on the surface, but in reality, it always followed the lead of their in-laws, Duke Zhao's mansion, and Duke Zhao's mansion had dealings with Prince Jin. This matter was known to almost no one, and only Marquis Xuanping of the Chen family was aware of it.

Now that such an incident had occurred to the shizi of Marquis Wuxiang's mansion in Marquis Xuanping's mansion, there was no lack of discerning people in this world. Sun Shixian said that Commandery Princess Minghui had injured him, which was clearly taking advantage of the situation. It was possible that this whole thing was designed by him, or perhaps he was set up by someone else, and he was only implicating Commandery Princess Minghui to cover it up.

Regardless, the matter had now occurred, and it had occurred in Marquis Xuanping's mansion. And judging by the looks of it, Marquis Wuxiang's mansion would most likely not let Commandery Princess Minghui off, and the most likely outcome was that Commandery Princess Minghui would marry Sun Shixian to smooth things over.

Looking at the result, it was Prince Qin's people who had benefited. With the Empress Dowager as his support, Prince Qin was not to be compared to his former self. What would Prince Jin think?

Prince Jin would not consider the other matters within it, he would only think that since the incident occurred in your mansion, was it that Marquis Xuanping's mansion and Duke Zhao's mansion were of two minds, acting as fence-sitters, which was why they had so completely accommodated Sun Shixian?

Steward Chen came to report, "I asked that military general, and he said that the person who delivered the message to him was a servant. There were too many servants today, with servants from various families and mansions coming, and it has not yet been found out who it was. However, the servant who came to report to this humble one was questioned, and he said that it was a servant from Fifth Miss Zhao's side who told him that Madam Ma had entered the small building where the shizi of Marquis Wuxiang was staying."

Lanzhi? What does this have to do with Lanzhi? Didn't she come with Commandery Princess Minghui today?

Upon mentioning Commandery Princess Minghui, Marquis Xuanping's mansion immediately thought of the incident today. Could it be that Commandery Princess Minghui had truly set up Sun Shixian? But if Commandery Princess Minghui was truly having a secret rendezvous with Sun Shixian, how could she have sent someone to catch them in the act?

What was all this about?

Marquis Xuanping could not understand for a moment, and his heart was extremely agitated. He said, "Enough, let's not talk about these small matters for now. I will first make a trip to the Duke's mansion."

***

Cining Palace

After returning, Commandery Princess Minghui hid herself in her own bedchamber.

The Empress Dowager, upon receiving the news, was confused. After questioning the palace servants who had accompanied the Commandery Princess out of the palace, she learned of the events that had occurred in Marquis Xuanping's mansion today.

"So, this is because your plan to set someone up failed, and you ended up trapping yourself instead?"

Commandery Princess Minghui only covered her face and cried. She had been like this ever since she returned.

The Empress Dowager shook her head repeatedly, heartbroken, "That Madam of Marquis Wuxiang came to you to vent her anger, why didn't you defend yourself even a little? Even if you had defended yourself a little, it would have been better than you running back to the palace with your head down."

"I was flustered at the time, thinking... thinking... with so many people, and her making such a scene, insisting on holding me responsible for her son, I…"

Very well, the Empress Dowager understood. It was that she was thin-skinned, unable to contend with those brazen married women, coupled with her own guilty conscience.

It was no one's fault, only that she had protected this child too well these past years, making her shallow in scheming, unable to handle matters. The moment something happened, she became utterly lost.

Even so, she still insisted on scheming against others. Unexpectedly, she tried to steal a chicken only to lose the rice used as bait. That Sun Shixian was also shrewd. Why did he latch onto Minghui? Could it be that he was turning the tables?

But that didn't make sense either, because the Empress Dowager learned from her granddaughter that there was another person involved, Prince Wei's fiancée. It was she who injured Sun Shixian and fled. However, this matter was unknown to others. So why didn't Sun Shixian reveal the true culprit, and instead insisted on implicating Minghui?

The Empress Dowager was also somewhat puzzled for a moment. However, not understanding didn't matter. It didn't prevent her from knowing that this matter would not pass easily.

"Grandmother, you must avenge me. It's all that Sun Shixian's fault, and that lowly Mei Wushuang..." Commandery Princess Minghui cried.

Looking at her like this, the Empress Dowager felt deeply disappointed.

Even now, she still hadn't realized the gravity of the situation, thinking that just because she was the Empress Dowager, she could avenge her as she pleased. No wonder she was so frightened that she fled back to the palace the moment someone accused her.

What the Empress Dowager was worried about now was not whether to seek revenge, but that in this situation, the most likely outcome was that Minghui would marry Sun Shixian, smoothing over this matter that was a disgrace to the imperial family.

"That Mei Wushuang, it was clearly she who injured Sun Shixian. Now Sun Shixian is trying to implicate me, Grandmother…"

"You are still blaming irrelevant people even now!" The Empress Dowager did not want to be angry, but she still couldn't restrain herself. "What does it have to do with her? You schemed to ruin someone's reputation, must they not resist? You still haven't realized the seriousness of the matter."

The palace maid, Sulan, advised from the side, "Empress Dowager, please don't be angry. The Commandery Princess is still young..."

"She is young? She is not young at all. She already knows how to harm others. Is she still a young child who knows nothing?" The Empress Dowager shook her head repeatedly.

And the Empress Dowager's performance clearly frightened Commandery Princess Minghui.

"Grandmother…"

Even if the Empress Dowager was heartbroken, what could she do? The child was the child she had raised. She could only suppress her temper and tell her granddaughter the gravity of the situation.

After hearing all this, Commandery Princess Minghui immediately shrieked, "I don't want to marry Sun Shixian, I don't want to... Grandmother, please help me, I don't want to marry him..."

"Now, it only depends on whether the Sun family is willing to let you off. If they are not willing, Sun Shixian will either be critically ill tomorrow, or he will be beaten into a fool, or crippled. Then, we will see what happens."