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Since Qu Moying didn’t seem to agree, Ji Youran had to hold back her rage and stop forcing her. With that faked smile, she asked more about daily life in the Qu’s Mansion, especially expressing her anger toward Second Madam Qu while saying that she would help Qu Moying show them justice.

When it came to Yu, Ji Youran indeed was irritated by her.

She didn’t care if Yu wanted to scheme her step-daughter or not, but when Ji Youran herself was involved, that became a different story.

Her old wound almost healed before, but now it worsened and kept hurting. The Imperial Doctor said it wouldn’t recover soon and could fester. Consequently, the scar would get bigger and harder to entirely remove.

Thinking of her wound, Ji Youran wished she could kill everyone in the Qu Family.

However, with the Crown Prince sitting behind, she needed to hold her temper and patiently build a good relationship with Fourth Lady Qu. Suppressing the anxiety, she squeezed out a more gentle smile.

While she kept trying to show her kindness, Qu Moying had been frigid the whole time. Till the end, their relationship hadn’t improved at all.

Ji Youran asked her servants to walk Qu Moying back. After Qu Moying left, Ji Youran walked behind the screen while Pei Luo’an was still sitting there, with a sullen face. He threw a displeased glare at her when she walked in, obviously blaming her for being useless.

“Your Royal Highness, I don’t think Fourth Lady Qu likes me.” Holding a grievance, Ji Youran curtsied to him and looked at him with those pitiful watery eyes.

Qu Moying became the one to be blamed for the frigid scene within a few words.

“Have a seat first,” Pei Luo’an said coldly.

She sat down obediently and then cast a glance at him again, who was deep in thoughts with his head lowered. A guess came across her mind. She said in a soft voice, “Your Royal Highness, do you have any…interest in Fourth Lady Qu? If you do, I won’t be opposed.”

She said it while totally standing in Pei Luo’an’s shoes, not showing any jealousy, anger, or desire to compete for her husband against another woman. Her calmness and elegance perfectly fit the role of a big family’s hostess.

“It’s not like that. Don’t overthink about it.” Pei Luo’an shook his head. Since it was about Pei Yuanjun, he didn’t want to talk too much about it, even with Ji Youran.

He then stood up and walked outside. After a few steps, he suddenly stopped and turned around, “The matter about Xian’er is over. She will stay in the Crown Princess’s alter room for the next half yeat to guard her coffin. Don’t meddle in it again and cause any other trouble.”

Ji Youran was obediently following behind to walk him out. Hearing his words, she immediately answered in a low voice, “Yes, Your Royal Highness.”

Meanwhile, hatred was boiling in her heart. If she knew that low-life woman would do things like this, she would’ve gotten rid of her long ago. She couldn’t believe the trap she set for Ming Xian’er became a blessing for her. The Crown Prince’s little toy doll somehow managed to climb up and became his real concubine.

Ji Youran wondered who gave her this idea to help her get out of trouble this time.

The Crown Prince’s words were a warning but also an insult. For Ji Youran, who whole-heartedly saw herself as the Crown Princess, she couldn’t accept this failure. Watching Pei Luo’an leaving, her eyes were filled with maliciousness.

“Your Royal Highness, what should we do now?” standing next to her, Shui Ning asked with caution.

“Send a message to Mother and tell her that we will carry out her plan,” Ji Youran’s voice was ice cold. Then she turned around to walk inside…

In the main hall of the royal palace, the Imperial Censors stood out of line and made their speech one by one, all complaining about Qu Zhizhen, the Vice Minister of Works.

Qu Zhizhen took his day off, so Qu Zhilin came to the royal palace alone today. But right now, he didn’t even dare to raise his head to look at his fellow Imperial Censors. He knew better than anyone about his younger brother’s family issue. Qu Zhizhen pampering his concubine over his wife was indeed the truth.

After showing no respect for the Crown Princess and the royal family, Yu really had her lesson this time.

When the emperor hit the ceiling and was about to order a thorough investigation, Qu Zhilin finally stood out and passed his younger brother’s report to the emperor. A eunuch took the report from Qu Zhilin and handed it to the emperor, who glanced over it and uttered a snort. “Yu has been in a coma, heavily sick. This woman surely chooses the best time to fall ill.”

In his report, Qu Zhizhen described the scene how Yu’s poor son and daughter wailed in front of their unconscious mother’s bed and begged the emperor for his mercy. He claimed that even after Yu recovered from her illness, she would stay in the family temple and spend the rest of her life with Buddha. All the family affairs she managed before had been handed over to other people. The only reason why he didn’t deprive her of her position as his wife was for his children.

Yu’s matter wouldn’t cause such a big scene if it didn’t occur at the Crown Princess’s funeral. After all, it was the Qu Family’s internal affair, not as serious as murder. Satisfied enough with Qu Zhizhen’s solution, the emperor put an end to it. He sent his eunuch to the Qu’s Mansion to give Qu Zhizhen a lecture and imposed a one-year-salary fine on him.

After the brief drama of his minister’s family issue, the emperor quickly moved on to other subjects and ended the morning meeting. Then he brought some crucial officials to the imperial study for a further discussion.

When Pei Yuanjun arrived at the royal palace, he directly headed to the imperial study.

Seeing Pei Yuanjun entering the room, those dignitaries stood up to bow to him and sat back down.

The emperor was wearing a long face. His subordinates mentioned an argument between the Crown Prince’s women that disturbed the Crown Princess’s altar room.

It was clearly a dishonored matter, but the officials didn’t dare tell the emperor about the details. All his questions thrown at them only got some ambiguous answers.

Seeing Pei Yuanjun walking in, the emperor asked directly, “A Crown Prince’s concubine made a scene in front of the Crown Princess’s altar room yesterday?”

“Yeah, I heard it was pretty chaotic. Even Princess Ji was forced to show up to make clarifications,” Pei Yuanjun said carelessly. He leaned back on his chair like a lazybones. “Princess Ji and the Crown Prince’s marriage hasn’t been consummated yet, but they can’t keep delaying it. Otherwise, people won’t think of Princess Ji as the Crown Prince’s rightful second wife. On the other hand, although the Crown Prince’s love for the Crown Princess is respectable, he still has the responsibility to continue the bloodline.”

The Crown Prince had shown the wish of mourning for the Crown Princess for a few years, during which he wouldn’t marry any other women. The emperor was the first one to disapprove.

“This is outrageous! He’s the Crown Prince, not just a woman’s loving husband!” A trace of rage showed up on the emperor’s haggard face. He slammed the table with irritation while all the dignitaries fell into silence, staring at the ground. They didn’t dare to express any opinion about the emperor’s own son.

“Your Majesty, you don’t need to be too worried about this. Some beauties can easily solve the problem. When the Crown Princess was sick before, it was inappropriate to do so, but right now, the limitation is gone. After the Crown Princess is buried, you can give the Crown Prince some beauties and then pick the next Crown Princess. The vacancy won’t do any good to the Crown Prince,” said Pei Yuanjun carelessly.

“Yes, that sounds about right,” the emperor kept nodding at him.

“Your Majesty, for nursing her cousin, Princess Ji married into the Eastern Palace and kept her marriage unconsummated. Her effort is respectable too. As for her identity, she is the Ji Family’s daughter, the same as the deceased Crown Princess. The Ji Family has just suffered a great loss because of the Crown Princess’s death. We can’t let General Ji down.”

He Siquan, Minister of Rites, lifted his head and discreetly picked his words. Choosing candidates for the next Crown Princess was part of Ministery of Rites’ work, so he had to express his opinion.

Noble Consort He was his younger sister, favored by the emperor, and he was the Minister of Rites. His words indeed fit his identity.

“Your Majesty, I heard when the Crown Princess asked Princess Ji to marry into the Eastern Palace, she knew Princess Ji’s objection. So, she promised Princess Ji her position of the Crown Princess after she passed away,” another minister looked around and made his statement.

Although it was merely a rumor, it came from the Eastern Palace and was confirmed by the Crown Prince. It was just the Crown Prince didn’t clarify his opinion on it.

Prime Minister Zuo and Prime Minister Xu looked at each other and nodded. They also heard about the rumor before.

“So, does it mean the empire’s Crown Princess has to be a daughter from the Ji Family?” Hearing their words, Pei Yuanjun chuckled. He had a pleasant voice, but it carried a trace of cold sarcasm right now. “Does it mean if the Crown Princess isn’t from the Ji Family, no one else will dare to take the position?”

His words were as sharp as a well-honed blade that could pierce people’s throats any second, sending a cold shiver down everyone’s spine.

He talked as if the Ji Family tried to keep the monopoly on the position of the Crown Princess, which was the biggest scruple for the emperor. But as Ji Yongming’s bloodline was almost cut off, only the other lineage of the Ji Family could possibly have a dangerous ambition.

By the looks of the situation, the remained bloodline of the Ji Family indeed gained many benefits, which seemed quite suspicious.

The ministers all fell into silence. Pei Yuanjun shook his loose sleeves and widely opened his charming but cold downturned eyes. “I heard General Ji is dying because of his two daughters’ deaths. I’m afraid letting his niece take his daughter’s place will truly kill him.”

After all, a niece was not the same as his own daughter. What’s more, it was said that General Ji loved his daughters over anything else. His daughters’ deaths were a tremendous shock for him. Even though the Crown Prince had sent doctors to treat Ji Yongming, there was no cure for mental illness. His situation has been worsening every day.

A while ago, the Crown Prince already told the emperor that Ji Yongming was at the brink of death. After the Crown Princess passed away, his date of death would probably be soon.

Ji Yongming, Earl Ling’an, was one of the only two Level-One Generals in the entire empire, trusted a lot by the emperor.

“We will discuss the candidate for the Crown Princess next time. Since Princess Ji made a scene with a concubine in front of the Crown Princess’s altar room, I don’t think she has the competence to be the next Crown Princess.” The emperor put a conclusion to it with a stern face.

The Minister of Rites still wanted to say something, but hearing the emperor’s words, he had to hold his tongue and lower his head.

Although he hoped the Crown Prince could choose the Ji Family’s daughter as his next Crown Princess, he didn’t want to cause any of the emperor’s suspicion.

Without Ji Yongming, the Ji Family had lost half of its power and influence. Ji Yongming’s niece was not even comparable with his own daughter. If the Crown Prince promoted his second wife to be his first wife, it would benefit Lord Jing greatly. Because Lord Jing wanted to marry Lady Liu, whose father was also a Level-One General but still healthy and had a stable career.

Yet, it was not the time for the Minister of Rites to say anything more.

The discussion was finally over, and the remained issues would be decided after the Crown Princess was buried.

The officials bowed to the emperor and left the room one by one, leaving Pei Yuanjun alone with the emperor. After they all left, the emperor’s stern expression softened as he glanced at Pei Yuanjun. “The Crown Prince will soon marry another wife, but what about you?”

“Your Majesty, I’m not in a hurry,” Pei Yuanjun made a lame excuse, bored by this repeated question. After he returned to the capital, no matter what they were talking about, the emperor would always find a way to mention his marriage, making him feel reluctant.

“You are not young anymore. How come you are not in a hurry? I heard you have a pretty close relationship with Liu Xiangshan’s daughter. How about I grant a marriage for you and her?” amused by the topic, the emperor suggested.