In the high palace, the Sixth Princess sat there and looked coldly at the two palace maids who curled up on the floor. She couldn’t help feeling angry. She pressed the table with her hand, with a trace of oppressing coldness. Her rosy lips curved slightly. “Who did you tell that I would leave the palace today?”
She had just left the palace when Hu Qianyue followed her. The Sixth Princess did not believe that there would be such a coincidence. Hu Qianyue’s people could not stay at the palace gate all day long. Furthermore, she had left the palace secretly and had used an ordinary palace maid’s token. Then how could she be discovered so quickly?
Only a few people in her palace knew that she had sneaked out of the palace, and these two palace maids were the ones of them.
The two palace maids had already been scared into a ball and collapsed on the ground. Others might not know what kind of person the Sixth Princess was, but they were very clear that she was not as gentle and harmless as she looked. If they were to say who they were really afraid of in the palace, it would be the Sixth Princess in front of them.
“Your Highness, I didn’t… I… I just went out to bring your lunch today… I didn’t say anything to anyone.” A palace maid named Yuxiang knelt on the left. She gritted her teeth and forced herself to finish her words. Since the Sixth Princess had sneaked out of the palace, Yuxiang had to pretend that her mistress would eat lunch and thus she brought it into the palace. She was the palace maid who went to get lunch.
The one kneeling on the right was Zuishuang. As Yuxiang was the first to speak and distanced herself from this matter, she saw that the Sixth Princess’s gaze was as cold as a viper’s and landed on her. She got anxious. “Your Highness… I didn’t talk to anyone about you. I, I just took your order and… told Imperial n.o.ble Consort Wen that you were ill and didn’t come to pay her respects. As for the rest… I didn’t dare to say anything!”
“That is to say, both of you are innocent!” the Sixth Princess said in a deep voice. She did not rebuke them, but it made them even more frightened. They could not help trembling.
“Well, since both of you think that you are innocent, I can’t do anything to you, can I?” The Sixth Princess suddenly put on a smile on her gloomy face, and her lips curved slightly. Before the two palace maids could come to themselves, she suddenly said softly, “Then you go to the Flower Hall together!”
Her voice was very gentle, and the smile on her face was as gentle as usual. At this time, she looked as if she really wanted to let go of the two palace maids in front of her. The Flower Hall, what a beautiful name! However, the hall was as horrible as h.e.l.l even though it had such a charming name. The two palace maids were so scared that their hands and feet convulsed and they almost fainted.
The Flower Hall sounded like a hall where flowers were planted. As an unmarried princess, it was normal for the Sixth Princess to take care of flowers. No one would think that something was wrong with it. Therefore, the flowers in the Sixth Princess’s Flower Hall were very beautiful. Every spring, when the flowers were in full bloom, the flowers here were more beautiful than anywhere else.
The people in the palace all said that the Sixth Princess was capable of growing flowers, and she usually took good care of them. If the other princesses wanted to see the flowers in her Flower Hall, they had to make an appointment with the Sixth Princess in advance. Otherwise, if they came directly, the Sixth Princess would refuse them on the ground that the flowers and plants were not well prepared.
Gradually, everyone in the palace knew that the Sixth Princess really loved flowers.
Only the people around the Sixth Princess knew that the Flower Hall was not just for growing flowers. It was also where the Sixth Princess practiced her medical skills. The medical skills the Sixth Princess learned were different from what Bai Yihao had learned. She had chosen a different path that divided along familiar lines. Imperial n.o.ble Consort Wen had spent a lot of effort to get the rare book from the Southern Barbarian Lands.
The Sixth Princess had been secretly learning medicine, and it had been four or five years!
The book from the Southern Barbarian Lands was very strange. This book focused on the treatment and control of unusual diseases, and its content was completely different from that of ordinary medical theories. The most important thing was that it could cure disfigured faces. If one’s appearance was destroyed, the Sixth Princess could restore seventy or eighty percent of the patient’s appearance with her skillful technique.
However, the Sixth Princess got the skillful technique through countless times of training.
As there was no one in the palace who had been disfigured, she ordered people to knock out some palace maids and send them to her Flower Hall secretly. First, she would scratch their faces with a knife, and then she would treat them. In the first few years, she had never succeeded, but gradually her medical skills were improved. One or two people could regain some of their looks.
But no matter whether the Sixth Princess had cured their faces or not, they all became the flower fertilizer in the Flower Hall in the end!
The Flower Hall was not a hall full of blooming flowers, but a purgatory for killing people!
“Your Highness, Your Highness, it’s not me. It’s her. She told someone. I saw her talking to an old maidservant of Consort Su’s palace last time. She must have told someone else.” Zuishuang cried out loudly, pushed away two palace maids who came to pull her, and shouted at the Sixth Princess.
“Consort Su?”
“Yes, yes… I saw it clearly. She was from Consort Su’s palace. I also inquired about it later. I heard that she was a nanny in Consort Su’s palace, and Consort Su very much trusts her. Your Highness, if you don’t believe me, you can go and investigate if Yuxiang had a conversation with the people of Consort Su’s palace today.”
At this time, Zuishuang only wanted herself to be fine. Thinking of the horror of the Flower Hall and the screams that were covered in the night, she felt scared out of her wits. She didn’t want to go to the Flower Hall. She didn’t want to die. She didn’t want to die there for no reason.
“Somebody, go and investigate it!” The Sixth Princess waved her hand, and a group of people who came up to pull Zuishuang retreated.
“Sixth Princess, it’s not me. It’s really not me. I… I also saw something. I also saw something. She, she and a palace maid in the Empress Dowager’s palace are good friends. A few days ago, they went to the garden to pick flowers and walked a long way together, talking and laughing.”
Yuxiang also freaked out at this moment. She also knew something about the Flower Hall. When she heard that Zuishuang put all the blame on her, she looked at her in horror. What she felt was not ordinary fear, worry, shock… After a while, she came to her senses, threw herself on Zuishuang and grabbed her. Her fingernails had dug deep into Zuishuang’s flesh, as if she was biting her tightly and didn’t let her go.
Zuishuang did not expect that Yuxiang would pounce on her, and she fell to the ground. As one of her arms was pinched by Yuxiang, she could not help screaming in pain. She gave Yuxiang a backhand slap and did not forget to defend herself. “Sixth Princess… I have nothing to do with that palace maid. It was not like what Yuxiang said. Yuxiang wanted to frame me…”
As Zuishuang was still talking, Yuxiang was unwilling to let her go. She grabbed and pulled Zuishuang harder, and the two of them scuffled with each other in the hall.
“Somebody, drag them into the Flower Hall together.” The Sixth Princess stood up and walked inside. Her voice was so light that no one could tell her emotions. The two palace maids who were engaged in a fierce fight did not hear her clearly, but the two personal palace maids standing behind the Sixth Princess had already heard it clearly. They knew that the Sixth Princess was going to kill them. They immediately walked over, and each picked one up. Then they skillfully struck the back of their heads.
Seeing that the two palace maids pa.s.sed out silently, the two of them respectively dragged one to the Flower Hall behind.
No one noticed a dark figure gliding silently across a branch near the Flower Hall…
The Sixth Princess was furious. When she was mad, she might kill someone. Also as a princess, Princess Caifeng was calm. Ever since Hu Qianyue fell ill, Princess Caifeng seemed to harbor no grudge and have gotten along well with Hu Qianyue. After leaving King Xuan’s Manor, Princess Caifeng often visited Hu Qianyue whenever she was free.
Just like today, as she saw Hu Qianyue sitting there in a daze, Princess Caifeng stepped forward and asked with concern, “Qianyue, what happened? Do you need my help?”
“Many thanks, Your Highness. It’s just that I’m a little tired.” Hu Qianyue’s eyes were blank, and her voice was so faint that Princess Caifeng could barely hear it.
“Since you’re tired, you have to take good care of yourself. I heard that King Yan’s Manor has prepared betrothal gifts and is ready to carry you into the manor early. You must take care of yourself well. What medicinal herbs do you need? I’ll tell Elder brother. From now on, you’ll be the second consort of King Yan’s Manor. I’m Consort Ning. We should help each other in the future.”
Princess Caifeng sat next to Hu Qianyue gently. She looked at her with concern and worry in her eyes, as if she really had a good relationship with Hu Qianyue and they had never hated each other before.
It sounded like she was persuading Hu Qianyue, but in fact, it was like a dagger thrust into Hu Qianyue’s heart. She was going to become Feng Yulei’s second consort. If it were not for the fact that Caifeng and the shameless Feng Yulei had an affair, she would not have to take the blame for Caifeng, and her cousin would not have to marry the Sixth Princess.
However, all of this had been ruined by that b*tch, Princess Caifeng. How could she not hate her? How could she not blame her…?
“Don’t worry, Your Highness. I will only be a second consort. I need your help. How is the gift you prepared? Soon, the Sixth Princess will leave the Qin Kingdom. If you want to make a good relationship with the Sixth Princess, you need to hurry up. After some time, the Third Prince will welcome her in person. The whole country will be busy preparing for the marriage, and you and the Sixth Princess may not even be able to see each other.”
Hu Qianyue said softly, raising her pale, bloodless face. She was no longer as sharp and harsh as before.
Princess Caifeng was very satisfied with her reaction. She smiled and said, “Don’t worry. I’ve already prepared the gift. I’m sure it will satisfy the Sixth Princess. But shouldn’t the Sixth Princess try to please us? She’s going to marry into our place.”
This matter was brought up casually by Hu Qianyue. In order to please the Sixth Princess in front of Hu Qianyue, Princess Caifeng had thought of a way to prepare it. In short, she had stolen Hu Qianyue’s idea. Previously, she had been schemed against by Hu Qianyue, and then Crown Prince Xieyue reminded her. Now Princess Caifeng felt uncomfortable to see Hu Qianyue.
Now that she looked weak and pale, Princess Caifeng was very willing to see it. As for pleasing the Sixth Princess, she wouldn’t allow her to do it. She would do it herself.
“Your Highness, you’re wrong. When a woman gets married, she has to depend on her husband’s family on the surface. But if she really doesn’t have the support of her parents’ family, can she really own that position all the time? Just like Consort Yan, if she hasn’t had the power of Mingguo Manor behind her, at the last palace banquet, the Emperor of the Qin Kingdom would have agreed to…”
Hu Qianyue did not finish her words, but Princess Caifeng understood what she meant. When she thought that she had almost become King Yan’s second consort, a surge of anger rose in her heart.
“The Southern Barbarian Lands are strong, so you and I will have a stable life in the Qin Kingdom. If the Sixth Princess has a firm foothold in the Southern Barbarian Lands in the future, she might one day be in power. My family and your mother’s family are all in the Southern Barbarian Lands, so we might hope that the Sixth Princess will help them then. If we are now on good terms with the Sixth Princess, then we’ll be well-prepared.”
Hu Qianyue explained in a soft voice!
Princess Caifeng had understood. Even though her mother used to be just a little palace maid, she naturally had a complicated family.
“Don’t worry. The gift has been prepared. You should take good care of yourself. Don’t worry too much. I won’t disturb you anymore. I’ll go first.” After saying that, Princess Caifeng stood up with satisfaction, turned around, and left triumphantly with her maidservants.
Behind her, Hu Qianyue’s gentle eyes became gloomy, bloodthirsty and vicious, as if she wanted to destroy everything…
