Shao Yanru calmed herself down and gritted her teeth secretly. However, she forced a smile, leaned forward, and said softly, “Thank you, Fifth Sister. I’m fine now!”

Seeing Shao Yanru’s face get tense from smiling, Shao Wanru suddenly showed a smile that was inexplicably dazzling and disagreeable in Shao Yanru’s eyes. She even sensed a trace of shyness in Shao Wanru’s smile which made Shao Wanru look like those Misses from aristocratic families who would like to talk about Chu Liuyue but refrained.

In the past, when she saw this kind of Misses, she was extremely disdainful of them and even considered herself superior to them. Chu Liuyue was an unattainable dream to them, but he was very close to her. As long as she nodded her approval, she could marry Chu Liuyue.

But at the sight of Shao Wanru’s smile at the moment, she almost failed to maintain her stiff smile.

“Fifth Sister, you seem to be joyful?” She involuntarily blurted it out, “It’s hard to say who will be chosen by Prince Yue and marry into Prince Yue’s Mansion in the end. Don’t you think it’s too early to feel joyful now?”

“Eldest Sister, why do you say that? I’m glad to know you’re fine. But why do you talk about this? Prince Yue’s Mansion? Are you so eager to marry into Prince Yue’s Mansion?” Shao Wanru raised her eyebrows and said provocatively.

Shao Yanru, who failed to maintain her composure, pulled a corner of her quilt and said sullenly, “Fifth Sister, what are you talking about? We are here to attend the consort selection. We can’t decide whether we will be selected nor whom we are going to marry. What do you mean by saying this? Have you forgotten the instructions for unmarried girls?”

Shao Wanru sneered in her heart. Shao Yanru was so angry from the embarrassment that she just wanted to suppress her and said those words without thinking. “What you said sounds weird. It was you who mentioned which of us would marry into Prince Yue’s Mansion. Since it’s neither something we can decide nor something we can talk about, why did you say that?” Shao Wanru said unhurriedly.

“You…” Shao Yanru said in rage and wanted to point at Shao Wanru, but she was interrupted by Shao Wanru, “Eldest Sister, we both know what has happened between us. Why bother to pretend to be close sisters? Third Sister, who tried to maintain a good relationship with you, ended up being poisoned. If I do the same thing, who knows what will happen to me! If you’ll excuse me, I’m going back.”

After that, she turned around and was about to leave.

Overwhelmed by rage, Shao Yanru picked up a cushion beside her and threw it at Shao Wanru, while saying with hatred, “Shao Wanru, you are also a Miss of our Duke Xing’s Mansion. How can you say something like that? Why did you blame me for Third Sister’s being poisoned? I didn’t know what happened nor that someone intended to set us up!”

Even at this time, Shao Yanru was still very cautious and didn’t reveal anything about that matter.

Yujie grabbed the cushion thrown at them, glanced coldly at Shao Yanru, who was lying on the bed, and pursed her lips tightly. If it were not for her master’s prohibition, she would have even thrown the cushion back.

Shao Wanru smiled slightly and said, “Eldest Sister, you were supposed to trap me, weren’t you? I heard that His Majesty has been making a secret investigation. Ordinary people have no access to the mixed poison from the Xu State. Vice Minister Wang may not be able to keep the secret!”

The angrier Shao Yanru was, the calmer she was.

Although Shao Caihuan’s case didn’t ruin Shao Yanru’s reputation, it was enough to make her the focus of attention. Moreover, her gentleness and refined manners were not the reason for the attention she drew as usual.

It became a thorn in Shao Yanru’s flesh which was hard to pull out. Thinking of this, she got increasingly upset and lost her mind.

Shao Wanru left after finishing her words, leaving Shao Yanru, who was panting heavily on the bed, alone.

After Shao Wanru left, Shao Yanru became increasingly sullen. She gnashed her teeth with hatred and suddenly waved her hand. All the tea cups and the teapot on the table beside the bed fell to the ground with a loud cracking sound.

Shuqi dropped to her knees in fear.

It was strangely quiet in the room. With her forehead covered with cold sweat, Shuqi thought it had been a long time since the First Miss got so furious!

“Shao Wanru… I will definitely make her end up in the dirtiest and most indecent place!” Shao Yanru said through clenched teeth, and her voice sounded particularly clear in the quiet room.

Sensing the profound hatred in her voice, Shuqi, who was kneeling on the ground, shivered unconsciously, prostrated herself, and did not dare to move.

After a long while, she heard the voice of Shao Yanru, who had calmed herself down again. “Go to find Prince Yue now and ask him why he didn’t come in just now.”

She was in a difficult situation in the Chuxiu Palace now. The few Misses, who had been her friends, were on guard every time they met her, which put her in a very passive position. That was the reason why she did this today.

She didn’t expect that Chu Liuyue would avoid staying with her alone. After instructing someone and Shuqi to bring her back, he just waited in the pavilion outside the door. The more unexpected thing was that Chu Liuyue blocked Shao Wanru’s way. They had no connection at all. Why did Chu Liuyue stop Shao Wanru?

Thinking of Shao Wanru’s delicate and gorgeous face, Shao Yanru felt so jealous that she could not swallow her hatred for Shao Wanru.

Since when did Chu Liuyue have connections with Shao Wanru? What did they say in the pavilion just now? Why did Chu Liuyue, who had always been calm, stop Shao Wanru? Why did he avoid staying with her alone while staying with Shao Wanru alone? Could it be that he took a fancy to Shao Wanru?

Thinking of this, Shao Yanru became sullener. Chu Liuyue was the perfect candidate for her husband. Compared with Chu Liuzhou, the legitimate son of the Empress, she liked Chu Liuyue more.

Stealing a glance at Shao Yanru’s gloomy face, Shuqi did not dare to say anything else and hurried out. In fact, Shao Yanru should neither get so furious at this time nor send her to chase Prince Yue. Not to mention that Prince Yue might have left the Chuxiu Palace at this time, even if she caught up with him, he was unlikely to come back because of Shao Yanru’s words.

With so many people in the imperial palace, if it was discovered that Shao Yanru sent her maid to chase Prince Yue, it would give an impression that Shao Yanru wanted to attach herself to Prince Yue. However, Shao Yanru also had a close relationship with Prince Zhou. If Shao Yanru exposed her close relationship with Prince Yue, it would mess things up!

However, Shuqi did not dare to persuade her master to drop the idea. Her master was obviously so furious that she even wanted to kill the Fifth Miss. Her master, who was obviously not to be trifled with, nursed a profound hatred in her heart at this moment. If her master took it out on her, she would not be able to bear it, so she could only accept her master’s instruction without a murmur.

As Shuqi chased Prince Yue in a hurry, she didn’t notice that Shao Wanru and her maid were watching her at the door of the inner room.

“Miss, Shuqi goes out to chase Prince Yue as expected!” Yujie said. Judging from Shuqi’s anxious and flurried look, she could tell Shuqi was obviously going after someone.

Shao Wanru nodded slightly.

“Even if she goes after Prince Yue now, he has already left. Could she make Prince Yue come back?” Yujie asked curiously. She really felt strange. It was useless for Shuqi to go after Prince Yue in such a hurry, and it might even annoy him.

She saw clearly that Prince Yue obviously didn’t want to be associated with the First Miss. He didn’t even enter the room and acted more like a stranger.

Although Prince Yue seemed to be very affectionate to the First Miss when talking about her and asked Shao Wanru to take care of her, only Shao Wanru, Yujie and Shuqi, the First Miss’s maid, had heard his words besides the eunuch following him, and none of them would spread what they had heard.

Now there were plenty of people seeing Shuqi go after Prince Yue.

“Shao Yanru is panic-stricken!” Shao Wanru said with a smile, turned around, and walked slowly into the room.

Shao Yanru panicked because of being isolated by the other candidates, so she wanted to take advantage of Chu Liuyue’s power. However, Chu Liuyue’s unwillingness to support her and what Shao Wanru said made Shao Yanru feel threatened so that she was eager to attach herself to Chu Liuyue.

Overwhelmed by these negative emotions, Shao Yanru would take missteps successively. Shao Wanru thought she should give another push at this time. After Shao Caihuan was poisoned, Shao Yanru did not dare to deal with her for the time being.

If the other two Misses of Duke Xing’s Mansion got into trouble one after the other, and both cases seemed to have something to do with Shao Yanru, she wouldn’t be able to absolve herself from the blame, but Chu Liuyue was in a different situation…

As Shao Wanru thought, she stopped, suddenly smiled cunningly, turned around and suggested, “Let’s go out for a walk!”

After saying that, she went out. Yujie followed her with a confused look back to the pavilion where they had been just now.

The pavilion was diagonally opposite Shao Yanru’s room and should be facing Shao Caihuan’s room. At this time, the sun was sinking in the west, and the sky was full of splendid clouds.

The pavilion was in a good location with one side against the wall and the other side next to a rockery, which kept out the wind and allowed the sunlight to shine into the pavilion. It was a good place to spend some time in winter.

Shao Wanru had never been to this pavilion before today. At this time, she narrowed her eyes to glance at the clouds in the western sky and then asked Yujie to fetch a cushion. After wiping the fence, she sat down. Yujie specially went to fetch a pot of tea and some pastries.

When Shuqi came back with sweat all over her face, she saw Shao Wanru sitting leisurely in the pavilion, drinking tea and eating pastries, and talking with Yujie with her face wreathed in smiles in a low voice. Yujie seemed to be teasing her, and she hit Yujie with her handkerchief while smiling shyly.

Yujie took two steps back with a smile and said in a louder voice, “Miss, I don’t dare to talk nonsense anymore. Please spare me!”

Seeing Shao Wanru’s smile and hearing them talk in a low voice, Shuqi connected these with what she had seen a moment ago and Prince Yue’s attitude, and then clenched her fists, turned around to get in the room, and closed the door behind her.

In the room, Shao Yanru looked behind Shuqi with expectation. When she found no one behind Shuqi, she lowered her eyes, but was still unwilling to give up and asked, “When will Prince Yue come?”

“Miss, Prince Yue said that if you feel uncomfortable, you should send for an imperial physician. It’s inappropriate for him to meddle in the affairs of the Chuxiu Palace as a prince. Although he has a close relationship with the Eldest Young Master, he can’t take extra care of you because of the Eldest Young Master.” Shuqi didn’t dare to hide the truth. Thinking of Prince Yue’s cold eyes just now, she felt bitter.

She did not dare to ask if Prince Yue had ceased to be faithful to the First Miss, but she thought so!

Not only Prince Yue’s attitude but also the Fifth Miss’s acts just now made her think so…