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“Do you really think it’s feasible?” sitting in his study room, the Crown Prince asked his advisors with a sullen face.

They were the only people in the room, and all the eunuchs serving them stayed outside the yard gate, not daring to move closer at all.

“Your Royal Highness, this is the only option. If His Majesty finds out you are the one behind it, that will be very troublesome.” One of his advisors shook his head, frowning, “What you did was a bit careless, Your Royal Highness.”

“Your Royal Highness, I agree with him. Lord Yun is such an evil and arrogant man. Your Royal Highness, you didn’t get rid of him this time. If you continue to try it, he will cause you trouble. But after we announced the Crown Princess’s death, everyone thinks you will be occupied by the sorrow, and they won’t suspect you at all. People know that the assassination was designed by someone from the royal family. Except for you, the only suspicious people left were Lord Jing, Lord Wei, and even…”

The advisor stopped talking and pointed at the sky, implying the emperor.

Lord Wei was the emperor’s third son, who had been sickly since he was a child and rarely showed up in public. But his innocence hadn’t been proved yet since the last person who won the game of throne could be someone that people ignored initially.

As for the emperor, who favored Pei Yuanjun a lot, no one could tell if his favor was out of appreciation or the fear for Pei Yuanjun’s military power.

As long as the emperor was not stupid, he wouldn’t allow Pei Yuanjun to become even more powerful than himself.

“So, the Crown Princess has died. But what about Earl Ling’an’s family?” the Crown Prince suddenly changed the topic and asked coldly. He looked pale and haggard, but there was a trace of annoyance in his eyes.

“Since the Crown Princess’s death has been announced already, we can tell people about Earl Ling’an’s death soon before more troubles find you. Since you have married Princess Ji, her father, the Second Master of the Ji Family can be the next Earl Ling’an. Then, things will gradually calm down, Your Royal Highness,” another advisor suggested.

Hearing his proposal, the other advisors nodded at him and glanced at each other with an affirmative look.

The deaths of the Crown Princess and Earl Ling’an were two hot potatoes in their hands, making them flustered every time they thought of them. Who would’ve known that the Crown Princess died right after she married into the Eastern Palace? It happened so fast that even the Crown Prince was forced to make a choice. They had to make up a story to block the news, saying that the Crown Princess was heavily injured for protecting the Crown Prince.

And Earl Ling’an vomited blood and became severely sick because of worrying too much about his dear daughter.

As for the Crown Princess’s younger sister, she suddenly died of sickness. They had to bury her hurriedly to not affect the Crown Princess’s wedding.

If people knew these things happened simultaneously, the Crown Prince would become the first one to blame. So, he had to use a lie to cover the truth.

But people in the study right now all knew that the Crown Princess was forced to enter the Linyuan Pavilion and killed herself long ago.

Regarding how Earl Ling’an died, it was even a bigger secret they had to take to the grave…

Feeling the vessels near his temples were bulging, Pei Luo’an lowered his head and rubbed his temples. For a moment, the whole room fell into dead silence, with gloominess lingering in the air.

Suddenly, ten steps away from the door, a little eunuch reported with a timid voice, “Your Royal Highness, Princess Ji is here to serve you some snacks made by herself.”

Behind the little eunuch quietly stood Ji Youran in an elegant dress. Her hair was tied in a delicate bun, decorated by two phoenix-head hairpins. The round pearls on her hairpins swung with her slight movement, making her beauty even more eye-catching. She looked into the study affectionately with a gentle smile on her face, yet she didn’t enter rudely.

The Crown Prince pressed his lips into a straight line and then said, “I’m not hungry. Just let her leave!”

The little eunuch glanced at Ji Youran behind him nervously.

Ji Youran twisted her eyebrows into a slight frown, feeling a bit embarrassed. She was not the first wife of the Crown Prince, but as his second wife, the only rightful woman in the Eastern Palace, her life couldn’t be better right now. Everyone treated her as the only princess here and showed a lot of respect for her.

Pei Luo’an treated her well and was very considerate of her. Sometimes, he even stared at her blankly, with tenderness in his eyes that everyone could tell. He even protected her from those maids’ provocation who used to sleep with him. Since then, Ji Youran’s life in the Eastern Palace had been peaceful and pleasing.

Whenever she came to the Crown Prince’s study, she always obeyed the rules and never entered rudely, but the Crown Prince always let her in. Even if he was with his advisors, he would ask them to wait aside first. This was the first time that she was rejected by the Crown Prince. She was so embarrassed that she even felt the little eunuch was looking at her with sarcasm.

The gentle smile froze on her face.

After a while, she forced a smile again, curtsied to the study door, and said softly to the little eunuch, “Since His Royal Highness is occupied right now, I won’t bother him. If he feels hungry later, you can help me serve him these snacks.”

Then she asked the maid behind her to pass the food basket to the little eunuch and left, perfectly showing her grace and good manners.

Hearing the conversation at the door, the stern look on Pei Luo’an’s face softened a bit as he was pleased by Ji Youran’s elegant manner.

“Let’s do as you said and announce Earl Ling’an’s death soon. Then I will request an imperial edict from His Majesty to name Ji Yong’an, Princess Ji’s father, as the next Earl Ling’an,” Pei Luo’an made up his mind and said.

“It can’t be better.”

“Yes, let’s do it this way.”

The advisors nodded at him.

However, one of them added with concern, “Your Royal Highness, we have to keep a close eye on Earl Ling’an’s family these days too. We can’t allow any accident to happen.”

“That’s for sure. Ask the Ji Family when they will attend the Crown Princess’s funeral. After the funeral, we will announce Earl Ling’an’s death,” Pei Luo’an said firmly. This was the best option right now.

After the Crown Princess and Earl Ling’an’s deaths were both announced, he could finally get rid of the two biggest troubles at hand and bury all the dirty things he did forever.

Because of Ji Yongming, all his arrangements for years became in vain, and even Ji Hanyue was involved. If Ji Yongming was willing to give him what he wanted, many unnecessary things could be avoided. He was forced to make these choices, and if Ji Hanyue wanted to blame it on someone, it should be her father.

He wanted to spare her life, but she was too stubborn to accept it and jumped off the Linyuan Pavilion by herself.

His trembling hand accidentally unrolled a painting on his desk, and a part of a fluttering dress showed up on the corner of the paper. Flustered, the Crown Prince rolled it up and threw it into a pot beside hurriedly. When he raised up his head again, it was still the usual gentle, a bit fatigued look on his face.

It was natural that the Crown Prince looked sorrowful and exhausted after the Crown Princess died. Knowing the truth, the advisors couldn’t help but inwardly feel impressed by the Crown Prince’s acting skill. They were almost touched by his “love” for the Crown Princess, but certainly, it was all faked by him.

They all knew that the Crown Prince liked Princess Ji more since he treated her very well and even killed the Crown Princess, who was standing in her way, for her. It seemed that they had to show more respect for Princess Ji when they met her in the future…

Meanwhile, Qu Moying heard from Yue Wenhan that Earl Ling’an’s family would attend the funeral tomorrow. Then she told the Old Lady that she wanted to mourn the Crown Princess on the same day. The Old Lady agreed, thinking it was a suitable date since people closely related to the Crown Princess or the Crown Prince would all go tomorrow.

At night, the manager of the embroidery workshop brought some mourning clothes to Qu Moying’s place.

Granny Miao introduced the manager to Qu Moying.

“Fourth Lady, these mourning clothes are newly made by the embroidery workshop. We are in a hurry, so there are not many choices. We’ve made one set for the Old Lady, the Second Madam, the Third Lady, and you, respectively. The Second Madam told me to let you choose first. Although the Old Lady will show up as the head of the family tomorrow, you are the one actually related to the Crown Princess. So, you have to be more careful about the mourning clothes you will wear than everyone else. We can’t allow any mistake on this,” said the manager with a polite smile on her face.

She was a middle-aged woman in her thirties or forties, apparently good at talking. After finishing her words, she asked the two old maids behind her to put all the clothes they brought on the table in the middle of the room.

“Fourth Lady, please choose the one you want first, and then I will present the rest to the Old Lady.”

“Does Grandmother know I will pick the clothes first?” Qu Moying asked, frowning at her. It was obviously against the rule to let her pick the clothes first.

“Yes, the Old Lady knows. I actually came from the Old Lady’s yard. She said you should pick the clothes first, too. Fourth Lady, since you were not living in the mansion and never picked your own clothes before, the Old Lady wants you to be the first one this time. There’s just one thing I want to inform you. You might notice a fragrance on the clothes because we were using scented candles when we made them,” the manager said beamingly.

Lighting up scented candles on the offering table while making mourning clothes was to show respect for the deceased. Moreover, it was the Crown Princess this time. According to the etiquette, even after Qu Moying picked her clothes, she needed to put them on the offering table and only wear them right before she left for the funeral.

Qu Moying rubbed her forehead, looking exhausted. Then she waved her hand and said, “Any one of them is fine for me.”

“Fourth Lady, I know you feel very upset, but you can’t be careless, especially right now. You should come to pick one set and try it on. Then I can have enough time to make adjustments if needed. The Crown Princess’s funeral will be an important occasion for the Qu Family. The Old Lady asked me to let you pick one set carefully, Fourth Lady,” the manager kept blabbering with enthusiasm.

Qu Moying finally stood up and walked to the table where the four sets of mourning clothes were put on top. Although they were made of sackcloth, the design looked elegant, and the stitch work was exquisite. Each one seemed fine, and she couldn’t find any part that she disliked.

“Fourth Lady, please take your pick first.”

It could be easily told that all four sets were plain mourning clothes made of sackcloth. After Qu Moying took a careful look at them, she found that two sets were made of better cloth. But at first sight, no one would notice such a tiny detail.

It was reasonable that they were made of different cloth since the materials could be from two batches.

Qu Moying’s eyes fell on the two sets made of coarser cloth. As the Crown Princess’s cousin, she should wear rougher clothes to show more respect.

At last, she pointed at the far right set and said to the manager, “I’ll take this one!”

“Okay, I will bring the left three to the Old Lady and let her pick for the Second Madam and the Third Lady.” The manager packed the rest clothes hurriedly and left with the old maids.

After Granny Miao returned from walking them out, she saw Qu Moying sitting next to the table, staring at the clothes. The scene somehow made her feel unsettled. She hurriedly asked, “My lady, is there something wrong with the clothes? Do you want me to call the manager back and switch another set for you?”