Volume 3 Chapter 39

Chapter 39: The Crafty Consort and the Poor Princess

"Yao Mowan, you're truly sinister! You're the mother of a nation! You don't lack in those things at all, so why did you set up this princess!?" Xia Furong's hands were clenched and veins visibly pulsed on her forehead.

"It can't be called a setup. Mowan only wishes to make a trade with Princess." Yao Mowan lifted her brows as she said this seriously.

"What trade?" Xia Furong looked towards Yao Mowan with confusion.

"As long as Princess cancels the peace marriage, not only will Mowan return those pearls and scales to you, Mowan will even give ten times the value of those items as thanks." Yao Mowan got straight to the point.

"You… You don't wish for the esteemed prince to marry this princess? Why? It couldn't be that you… Yao Mowan! You truly have no shame!" shouted Xia Furong in sudden realization.

"Doesn't everyone possess a heart that loves beauty? And with how soft and tender the esteemed prince looks, who wouldn't want to take a bite? There's nothing wrong with Mowan doing this. Of course, Princess, you can refuse this offer. However, you should think through things well. Those items total up to at least a thousand taels of gold. Mowan wonders if Bactria has enough in its treasury to return this amount to Feng Yihan." Yao Mowan looked towards Xia Furong with a cold smile.

"You! Yao Mowan! This princess won't drop this matter just like this!" Xia Furong didn't know what to say, so she could only stomp angrily out of Guan Osprey Palace. Behind her, Ah Bi made sure to pick the garment up from the ground before running after her master.

It was only after Xia Furong left that Yao Mowan looked towards the bedroom.

"They're all gone. Prince, do you still plan to stay in there?" Right after Yao Mowan said that, the bedroom door parted slightly and Ye Junqing walked out, his face flushed.

"What do you mean by this prince is soft and tender!? You're the soft and tender one!" Ye Junqing clearly harbored a lot of objections towards this description.

"There's no need for Prince to say it, Mowan of course knows that she's soft and tender." Yao Mowan tapped her soft pink cheek as she replied proudly.

"Are you sure that Xia Furong would propose canceling the marriage to His Majesty just to avoid financial losses?" Ye Junqing paid no attention to her and just continued asking his questions.

"Unless she can get the money, otherwise there's no other path that she can take," replied Yao Mowan in a confident tone.

"What if she's able to get the money?" Ye Junqing looked towards Yao Mowan worriedly.

"Then let's discuss after she gets the money," said Yao Mowan lightly as she set Fluffy down. Ye Junqing took a deep breath, then looked towards Yao Mowan seriously.

"This prince has already written a letter to Yan Nansheng. It's best if you can keep your end of the promise!" Ye Junqing knew what Yao Mowan wanted to know.

"Don't worry, Prince, no matter what, there's no way this empress would joke with something as important as your marriage." Yao Mowan walked to Ye Junqing with a faint smile. Suddenly, she reached out curiously to poke Ye Junqing's cheek.

"What are you doing?" Ye Junqing abruptly jumped up and backed away while looking at Yao Mowan in alarm.

"Prince truly is soft and tender!" Yao Mowan nodded solemnly. Ye Junqing was left completely frozen.

That night, in Harmony Palace, Xia Furong was in the middle of taking out her anger on Ah Bi and Ah Zi when she suddenly heard a soft voice come from outside.

"That Yao Mowan truly has ability, to actually anger the usually conserved honored princess to this extent." Xia Furong looked over upon hearing this voice to find that a woman dressed in luxurious garments had appeared inside Harmony Palace with a brocade pouch in her hand.

"Who are you? What have you come here for?" Xia Furong was slightly startled and finally lowered her half-raised hand. As of now, Ah Zi and Ah Bi's faces were already completely swollen.

"This one is great Chu's Noble Consort Li. Princess can just call me Suluan, as for why this consort has come to Harmony Palace…" Yao Suluan deliberately held off on this answer and walked gracefully to the table before casually setting down the pouch. She pressed the pouch open slightly and a silver light shot out.

"This is?" Xia Furong looked toward Yao Suluan questioningly.

"This is a top-quality night pearl. Regardless of whether it's the quality or color, they're all of the highest quality." Yao Suluan took out a night pearl and arrogantly waved it in front of Xia Furong, but unexpectedly, Xia Furong suddenly snatched the pearl out of her hand and threw it to the ground.

"Pei! This crap is nothing! Hasn't Yao Mowan, that swindler, had enough of tricking this princess? She actually sent another person to trick me!? Get out!" Xia Furong had researched everyone in the palace of Chu before she came, so she knew that this Yao Suluan who called herself Noble Consort Li was Yao Mowan's older sister. She was already irritated with herself for having believed Yao Mowan. If she decided to believe Yao Suluan this time, then she was dumber than a pig!

Yao Suluan was speechless. Her lips twitched as black lines appeared on her forehead.

"Princess has misunderstood. Suluan and that Yao Mowan have irreconcilable differences, so why would Suluan ever help her? Princess, if you don't believe, you can examine them carefully. Regardless of whether it's that night pearl or the gold strands in this pouch, they're all genuine articles." Yao Suluan forced herself to remain calm and explain, but inwardly she had already insulted this ignorant person over a hundred times.

"Do you think this princess would believe you just because you say that they're real?" said Xia Furong with lifted brows. However, since Yao Suluan looked sincere enough, she couldn't stop herself from taking one of the gold strands and putting it in her mouth.

"What does Princess think?" When Yao Suluan saw Xia Furong's method of checking the gold, she inwardly sighed that Bactria was seriously unbelievably poor. A grand princess actually didn't have the ability to tell the purity of gold by sight.

"It's passable… But what did you bring these things for?" Since the gold strand seemed real, Xia Furong decided to trust Yao Suluan for the time being.

"Of course it's to send charcoal during snowy weather. Suluan knows that Princess has suffered at Yao Mowan's hand, so Suluan has specially come to offer these in hopes of helping you out of your predicament." Ever since Yao Mowan hinted for her to leave the imperial palace that day, Yao Suluan had started planning ways to make that happen.

The sky was high and the road was long. As long as she got out of the imperial palace, she wouldn't be controlled by Ye Hongyi anymore. At that time, with the valuables she had accumulated over the years, she could make a completely new life for herself! As for the dream of empress, she had finally woken up from it.

"What do you want this princess to do?" Xia Furong wasn't that dumb. She immediately got to the point.

"As long as Princess takes Suluan along when leaving the imperial city, Suluan will be forever grateful." Yao Suluan also straightforwardly revealed what she had come for.

"A grand noble consort of Chu actually has to be this sneaky to leave the palace?" Xia Furong clearly didn't believe her.

"This matter is a long story. Suluan does not have any other wishes. If Princess can help Suluan leave this imperial city, then all of this will belong to you. If you don't agree…" As Yao Suluan spoke, she reached out to take the gold strand from Xia Furong's hand.

"Deal!" Xia Furong immediately snatch the brocade pouch from the table. Yao Suluan inwardly celebrated the fact that Xia Furong didn't reject this request.

"It's already quite late, so Suluan won't disturb Princess's rest any longer." Yao Suluan didn't want to stay in Harmony Palace too long since it was so close to Guan Osprey Palace.

"Oh right, there was something this princess wanted to ask you. Does that Yao Mowan like the esteemed prince?" Xia Furong's question was so straightforward that Yao Suluan was taken aback for a moment.

"This… How should Suluan put this? In any case, the situation is as you've seen." Yao Suluan didn't deliberately add more oil to the fire because her current goal was to leave the palace. She didn't want any side issues to arise.

"Then what about the esteemed prince? Does the esteemed prince also like Yao Mowan?" Xia Furong looked toward Yao Suluan as she pressed for answers.

"Someone like the esteemed prince naturally wouldn't like someone like her who only knows how to dress herself up! There's no need for Princess to worry." Yao Suluan purposefully reassured Xia Furong even though she found this a pity. Ye Junqing's good looks were going to be wasted if he ended up going to someone this cheap.

"I got it, you can go!" Xia Furong only half-believed Yao Suluan's words and she dismissed her coldly with no trace of respect. Yao Suluan also had no intentions of bickering with her, so she turned and left to return to Pure Flowers Palace.

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Credits: Translated by Chiyomira

[Chiyomira's Corner]

Enjoy~