Harem Daily Life

Chapter 1061 I see you're making things difficult for me

He Qian looked at Jing Hou's gloomy face and said calmly, "When I met Gu Yuanyuan on the street, I just thought she looked a lot like Empress Tao. I thought it was a life at stake, so I saved her on a whim. My sister and I wanted to continue shopping, and since my brother-in-law was there, I left the rest of the matter to him. But I never expected that my brother-in-law would actually..."

After saying that, she glanced at Jing Yuwei and sighed, "It's not that I'm criticizing you, sister, but how come you can't even manage your husband? You let those two get together in such a muddled way."

Jing Yuwei choked. How could she control a man who was lustful and had such a stunningly beautiful face?

Lord Jing looked at his good-for-nothing daughter: "You can't control your concubine, and you can't control your husband either. You, as the head of the household, really have no ability at all."

Jing Yuwei lowered her head: "It's no use saying all this now. It doesn't matter whether Gu Yuanyuan lives or dies, but Zhou Chen is my husband. I can't... I can't just watch him die too!"

Marquis Jing was furious at his daughter's lack of self-control. He glared at her fiercely, then looked at the Fourth Princess and softened his tone: "Your Highness just said that you saved her out of a moment of pity. I wonder if Your Highness could plead with His Majesty? As for the Gu family, His Majesty can deal with them as he sees fit, but Zhou Chen must be brought back. We can't let Yuwei become a widow at such a young age, can we?"

Marquis Jing didn't have much affection for Zhou Chen. The main reason was that the Zhou family had many businesses, and Zhou Chen was their only son. If he were to die, the businesses would also be lost.

Jing Yuwei thought the same as him: with Zhou Chen around, he could at least support her for the rest of her life.

Both of them looked at He Qian, who smiled, but the smile didn't reach her eyes.

"I'll reluctantly inquire about this matter. If it's just about offending the Empress Dowager, it might not be a big deal. But if it involves other things... Lord Marquis, although I am a princess, I can't do everything."

As soon as He Qian left the study of the Marquis of Jing, her face turned cold.

Upon returning to her courtyard, she had the door closed and, in a fit of anger, smashed all the teaware on the table.

"Who exactly leaked the information? How did Father's men find Gu Yuanyuan so quickly?"

Granny Li sighed and stepped forward, saying, "Princess, please calm down. The truth will out. We should have killed her when she came to Yanzhou..." Granny Li made a throat-slitting gesture.

He Qian plopped down, her face ashen. "The Zhou family has many businesses. I just wanted to... have Gu Yuanyuan help me out and get some benefits from it." Her greed made her indecisive, and she fantasized about taking advantage of the Zhou family.

Li Mama said, "Fortunately, the princess insisted on her death because that face showed mercy. Gu Yuanyuan didn't know that the princess was the one who had been controlling her all along. Now we can still get away."

What Granny Li didn't know was that Gu Yuanyuan was clever and had already found out He Qian's identity, but she had been pretending not to know.

"Where is the Prince Consort? Why hasn't he been seen all morning?" Jing Mubai was called out early in the morning and hasn't returned yet. He Qian is now in a state of turmoil and can't find anyone to talk to.

Jing Mubai was in the know, so she had to inform him beforehand.

Granny Li frowned and said, "The prince consort left the mansion in a hurry and didn't say where he went. Should I go and inquire again?"

At this moment, Jing Mubai felt cold all over. After learning that the people he sent to capture Gu Yuanyuan had been kidnapped, he led his men to search many places but to no avail. On the way back, he learned that Zhou Chen had been captured by a group of guards. He had a bad feeling and hurriedly returned to the mansion, where he saw He Qian preparing to go out.

"Where is the princess going?" Jing Mubai asked hurriedly.

He Qian rolled her eyes at him: "Go see Father Emperor. Zhou Chen has been captured by Father Emperor's men. The Marquis asked me to go and try to save Zhou Chen's life."

Jing Mubai followed her into the carriage, his face extremely grim: "I told you not to play with fire, and now that things have escalated, what are we going to do?"

He Qian glared at him: "If you don't tell, who will know that I instructed Gu Yuanyuan to do those things? You better watch your mouth, otherwise, you can pretend to be sick and not go to the banquet today."

Jing Mubai felt guilty. He had sent people to arrest Gu Yuanyuan last night, and now his men had also disappeared. It was hard to guarantee that His Majesty's men wouldn't pry something out of those people.

He closed his eyes, a sense of powerlessness welled up inside him, and his heart sank to the bottom.

The two arrived at the mansion before the banquet. He Linzhang sneered and told them to come in.

His gaze swept over Jing Mubai, carrying an intense aura of power. Jing Mubai nearly lost his footing.

"Father, I came early because my sister-in-law's husband has been arrested. I wanted to ask if Zhou Chen had offended you in some way, which is why..."

He Linzhang glanced at her indifferently: "You are the daughter-in-law of the Jing family, yet you don't know what Zhou Chen has done wrong?"

He Qian trembled slightly when she was asked that question.

"You must know about Gu Yuanyuan, right? Zhou Chen's mistress. Don't tell Father that you didn't know she existed?"

He Linzhang's eyes were scrutinizing, and He Qian clenched her fists: "It was my fault. I was too soft-hearted back then and thought that Gu Yuanyuan looked very much like the Empress, so I saved her life. Later, she was taken into Zhou Chen's room, and I... didn't ask any questions."

He Linzhang sneered and glanced at Jing Mubai: "So, you're just kind-hearted and save people, nothing more?"

"I……"

"Think carefully before you reply."

He Linzhang's voice was extremely cold. Before this, he had never suspected that his daughter would harbor any intention to harm him. If the person captured last night hadn't been sent by Jing Mubai, he wouldn't have even connected it to He Qian.

He Qian bit her lip: "Your subject truly acted out of kindness in saving people, and hopes that Your Majesty will understand."

Seeing that she stubbornly denied it, He Linzhang's eyes turned extremely cold.

"Jing Mubai, do you know your crime?"

He Linzhang glanced over, and Jing Mubai immediately knelt down: "I...I..." He was indeed guilty, guilty for not persuading the princess, and wrong for not silencing Gu Yuanyuan immediately.

He Qian's face turned pale: "Father, the Prince Consort knows nothing. Please don't make things difficult for him."

"Hmph, making things difficult? I think you're the one making things difficult for me!" After saying that, He Linzhang glared coldly at He Qian: "I always thought that under Consort Liang's tutelage, you wouldn't be as despicable as your birth mother and aunt. I never expected that you would have learned all their despicable traits perfectly."

"You say you first met Gu Yuanyuan in Yanzhou? You say you asked Jing Yuwei to take Gu Yuanyuan in out of kindness? Ha, do you think I'm a fool? He Qian, how could you have become like this?"

He Linzhang grabbed the confessions from the table and threw them directly at He Qian's face: "Look at these! These are all testimonies, testimonies of your scheming against me and the Empress! You really are your father's good daughter!"

He Qian trembled all over as she picked up the papers from the ground one by one. Seeing the testimonies—some from Gu Yuanyuan, some from Zhou Chen, and some from the guards—she looked at Jing Mubai in disbelief: "Why did you go to all this trouble? Why did you send people to kill and silence them?"