Chapter 18

“What are you doing, friend?!”

Lady Liang, as well as Zhang Yuying, both had emotions surging within them like a mighty river.

We said we’d see what happens in the future, mostly out of anger. You mean you’re going to deal with him, no ifs, ands, or buts?!

You have to understand, that’s a royal prince, the current Emperor’s own son!

Lady Liang’s tongue was tied, her mind racing. Finally, she grabbed the maniac’s sleeve, pulling her closer, then held her hand, her voice lowered again and again, asking, “Are the people you hired reliable? If not, leave Beijing  for a while and lay low.”

Qiao Ling looked at her with a hint of surprise.

Liang Batian was angered by her gaze, “What are you looking at me like that for? You think I’ll be scared and quickly distance myself from you?!”

What kind of person would I be then!

“That’s not it,” Qiao Ling looked down at the hand Lady Liang was holding, and whispered, “I just think our current posture is a bit too intimate, Mother-in-law.”

Lady Liang: “…”

Lady Liang felt like she had a fly in her mouth. She immediately let go of her hand and returned to her original seated position.

Qiao Ling chuckled twice. She didn’t pick up on the “leave the to avoid limelight” part. Instead, she whispered, her voice full of excitement, “Mother-in-law, let’s discuss some serious business! I’m going to the banquet too. You have to take me! Yuying is going too! Eat a lot, eat whatever you like! Hehehe!!!”

Lady Liang: “…”

Zhang Yuying: “…”

Lady Liang’s mind was still in a mess.

On the one hand, she thought, this Qiao Ling seems unusual. She said she’s the daughter of a minor official from the south, but her speech and mannerisms seem rather suspicious.

On the other hand, she worried, who did she find to do this?

Is it reliable?

Wait—reliability might not be the key point. Who would dare to take a job like this in the Divine Divine Capital  of god, to kill a prince?!

If this person gets caught…

It’s best to arrange for this maniac to leave and lay low!

Because of this incident, the grand full moon banquet for the future heir of the Marquis of Huai’an’s mansion quickly ended. The guests didn’t even get to eat, and they all rushed home.

The Prince of Lu’s mansion had such a major incident. The Prince of Lu might even be dead. The Emperor has lost his son, and you’re still celebrating with a grand feast. Is that appropriate?

Compared to the other guests who were anxious and uneasy, Lady Liang’s heart was beating even faster. Almost as soon as they left the Marquis of Huai’an’s mansion, she immediately sent people to investigate the news from the Prince of Lu’s mansion.

This wasn’t unusual. Other families were doing the same.

Wealthy families often lived close to each other. Because of the incident at the Prince of Lu’s mansion, the district was now under curfew, and the carriage was slow.

By the time the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law slowly returned to the Duke of Yue’s mansion, it was half an hour later. Qiao Ling didn’t rush back to her own courtyard. Instead, she went to Lady Liang’s residence with her.

After arriving, Lady Liang sat down with a heavy heart. Qiao Ling, on the other hand, acted as if nothing had happened. She directed people to serve tea and urged them to set the table, “I’m starving. Just bring anything to fill my stomach!”

Lady Liang was still thinking about today’s events, and she didn’t even bother to give her a white look. Seeing this, the servants followed her orders and quickly went to prepare.

Soon, someone brought over several cold and hot dishes: ham and chicken stew, roasted wild boar meat, cold water celery, sliced crucian carp, steaming mutton flatbread, a pot of Mulberry wine, and a few fruits.

The maid brought over a basin of water. Qiao Ling got up and washed her hands quickly, then turned back and persuaded, “Mother-in-law, even if you’re happy, you still have to eat!”

Lady Liang: “…”

Lady Liang finally had the energy to roll her eyes at her.

Qiao Ling laughed: “That roll of the eyes is truly authentic!”

She sat back down at the dining table and urged, “Come on, come on, at least eat a little.”

Lady Liang let out a sigh and finally got up to wash her hands. At this moment, someone came from outside. It was the person she had sent out to gather information earlier.

Lady Liang wiped her hands with a handkerchief, then dismissed her few trusted aides, leaving only this person, and asked, “How is it?”

The aide said, “At the time of the incident, the Prince Lu was alone on the top floor, so he was seriously injured. His life is not in danger.”

Qiao Ling couldn’t help but stand up, her eyebrows furrowed: “What, his life is not in danger?”

Lady Liang clearly saw the words in her eyes: What a useless person, how could they do such a thing!

She suppressed the urge to hold her forehead and inquired about the strange aspects: “Prince Lu always likes to make a grand show of things. Why would he be alone on the top floor at the time of the incident?”

The aide shook his head: “I don’t know that.”

Lady Liang asked again, “Even if the Prince Lu was seriously injured, the mansion’s chief administrator isn’t just there to eat. Why did the news spread so quickly?”

After hearing this, the aide also looked puzzled: “After the incident, the Jinwu Guards and the Divine Divine Divine Capital  patrol guards arrived almost at the same time, but they were stopped by the people from the Prince of Lu’s Mansion. The chief administrator said that it was because the mansion’s tower was been repair for along time.”

Lady Liang listened in silence, pondering for a long time before saying, “It seems like the Prince of Lu doesn’t want to make a big deal out of this.”

The aide agreed: “I think so too.”

Seeing that Lady Liang had no further questions, he bowed and quietly retreated.

Lady Liang looked at Qiao Ling with a strange expression.

Qiao Ling was puzzled and a little angry.

Zhang Yuying observed secretly.

Finally, Lady Liang quietly asked, “What’s going on?”

Qiao Batian had been so confident earlier, but the final result wasn’t satisfactory. She thought she could go to the banquet, but the King of Lu didn’t die.

Thinking about this, she finally looked guilty and dejected: “Well, maybe my connections aren’t as strong as I thought…”

Lady Liang: “…”

There were just too many points to criticize in that statement!

Lady Liang’s lips moved, repeatedly, before finally uttering four words weakly: “Eat, let’s eat…”

This was the first time in Qiao Ling’s life that she had eaten sliced raw fish.

Lady Liang held her chopsticks, sitting at the head with a heavy heart. Qiao Ling used her chopsticks to pick up a piece of fish, curiously examining it.

Then she exclaimed in surprise, “It’s raw!”

Lady Liang glanced at her, not bothering to explain anything to the country bumpkin.

Zhang Yuying stood by the side, and seeing this, she whispered to her, “Sliced raw fish is like this. They choose freshly caught fish, slice it thinly, and take its fresh flavor. You can eat it directly or dip it in sauce.”

Qiao Ling “Oh”, and tried putting a piece in her mouth, chewing it. Her eyes lit up slightly: “The texture is a bit strange, and it’s a little sweet…”

Lady Liang asked curiously, “The maid by your side, she’s known throughout the Divine Divine Capital  for her exquisite slicing skills, thin as a cicada’s wing, you can blow on it and it will move. Don’t you know that?”

Qiao Ling immediately turned her head, looking at Zhang Yuying with a hint of anger.

The latter looked a little helpless: “I didn’t know Madam would be interested in this.”

Qiao Ling’s eyes widened like a cat’s: “Go back and slice some for me to eat!”

Zhang Yuying smiled and said, “Okay, okay.”

Lady Liang looked at Qiao Ling, but put down the chopsticks in her hand: “Qiao Ling.”

She called Qiao Ling’s name seriously, pondering for a moment before finally speaking: “You, you don’t have the word ‘reverence’ in your heart…”

You knew that Zhang Yuying was someone the Prince Lu wanted, and buying her would definitely offend him, but you still did it, because you had no reverence for the Prince of Lu.

I, your mother-in-law, rebuke you, you know that swallowing your pride can temporarily ease the tension, but you didn’t do that, because you have no reverence for me, your mother-in-law.

Similarly, a normal person would be troubled by a royal prince. They would either try to make peace and ease the tension, or seek external support to suppress the Prince Lu. But you thought, this bastard keeps bothering me, I want to kill him!

The Prince of Luis not just the Prince Lu, he is the emperor’s son, a member of the royal family. You have no reverence for the royal family or even the emperor himself.

Qiao Ling instinctively said, “Why should I ‘revere’?”

Lady Liang hesitated, finally sighing softly: “Sigh, you see, that’s the root of the problem.”

Qiao Ling picked up another piece of sliced raw fish and put it in her mouth, chewing, chewing, chewing.

Lady Liang looked at her helplessly and advised, “When it comes to being a person, it’s best not to be too sharp. If you’re too sharp in your dealings with others, it’s bound to attract unnecessary trouble…”

Qiao Ling was surprised: “I never thought I’d hear such words from your mouth, Mother-in-law!”

Lady Liang: “…”

Lady Liang’s few good words were choked back: “What I say, you just listen! I was sharp before, who was I targeting? You’re sharp now, who are you targeting? Can you compare the two?”

Qiao Ling picked up another piece of sliced raw fish and chewed, chewed, chewed.

Lady Liang was even angrier: “Stop eating! Do you know how big of a crime this would be if it was exposed?!”

Qiao Ling looked at her expression, observing her reaction, and chewed cautiously.

Lady Liang was so angry that she laughed: “If it wasn’t so far, I’d really go to the Qiao family and see what kind of people they are. How could they raise a daughter like you!”

Qiao Ling put the last piece of sliced raw fish in her mouth: “You might not believe this, Mother-in-law, but I’m the most honest in our family…”

Lady Liang sneered, not believing her words: “Finished eating? Get out of here, don’t bother me anymore!”

Knowing that the Prince of Lu was only seriously injured and hadn’t died, Qiao Ling, who had been worried about her connections not being strong enough, and Gongsun Yan, whose mouth had been wide open, closed his mouth.

“How is that possible? He didn’t die?!”

He muttered to himself, feeling uneasy: “My cousin will scold me when she finds out! She can be really fierce when she scolds people!!!”

The fat teahouse owner calmly fanned himself with a palm leaf fan: “He didn’t die, so he didn’t die. There are many unbelievable things in this world.”

Gongsun Yan said curiously, “Could it be that he died, but to avoid causing panic, they released false news?”

The teahouse owner laughed and spread his hands: “How would I know?”

“But,” he pondered, “The Prince of Lu isn’t a particularly important figure in the Divine Divine Capital . Even if he had really died, there’s no need to create such a smokescreen.”

Gongsun Yan said, “So, he really didn’t die.”

The teahouse owner said, “I guess so.”

Gongsun Yan said, “This whole thing is really strange.”

The teahouse owner said, “It is strange.”

Gongsun Yan said, “There’s no reason for him to survive.”

The teahouse owner said, “Indeed, there’s no reason.”

Gongsun Yan said, “Then there must have been something unexpected that happened.”

The teahouse owner said, “Besides that, there’s no other explanation for this.”

“So,” Gongsun Yan scratched his head in distress, “Do you think I should try to let the Divine Divine Capital  know that something is fishy about this, and have the  JingZhao Prefecture or the Imperial Guards investigate?”

The teahouse owner: “…”

The teahouse owner: “You were supposed to kill the Prince Lu, but he didn’t die. Something is fishy about this, so you want the Divine Capital ’s police to investigate for you?”

Gongsun Yan said matter-of-factly, “Strange things in the Divine Divine Capital  are the responsibility of the Divine Capital ’s police. Isn’t that reasonable?”

The teahouse owner burst into laughter: “Hahahaha shut up, you rascal!”

After returning from Lady Liang’s place, Zhang Yuying went back to her room and saw her lady holding a letter, her brows furrowed.

She didn’t go behind Qiao Ling to look at the contents of the letter, but went to pour her a cup of water and handed it to her, then asked with concern, “Madam, what are you frowning about?”

Qiao Ling shook the letter in her hand: “A relative of mine sent me a letter. He’s outside right now. He said he has nowhere to stay and asked if he could come to the mansion.”

For Zhang Yuying, this wasn’t a big deal.

Every wealthy household has relatives they barely know who they take in.

But seeing her lady’s expression, she said, “If you don’t like this relative, then just ignore him…”

Qiao Ling was a little hesitant, saying, “It’s not that I dislike him, it’s just that he’s a little crazy. I’m afraid he’ll upset the people in the mansion.”

Zhang Yuying thought, how crazy could he be?

She readily agreed: “I’ll go and deal with him. I’ll make sure he’s taken care of!”

Qiao Ling was incredibly touched: “Yuying, you’re so kind!”

Zhang Yuying smiled and turned to leave. She was just about to step out of the doorway when her footsteps suddenly stopped.

Her lady’s relative…

A little crazy…

“Huh?”

She broke out in a cold sweat, terrified: “Could it be—wait!!!”