Chapter 131: Volume 1, Chapter 131: Conspiracy

Rong Ling Shan became particularly animated at this topic—she had made a point of gathering information—and said, "I hear the Qi Wang Fu is in chaos right now. Yun Shizhuang wasn't too willing to be the Princess Consort Qi to begin with, but provoked by Rong Dai like that, and with Chancellor Yun pressuring Prince Qi, the two still consummated their marriage. After consummation, though, Yun Shizhuang's position as Princess Consort Qi became fully legitimate. Rong Dai is only a side consort—Prince Qi used to protect her quite a bit—but with Chancellor Yun interfering, Rong Dai's life in the manor isn't easy now. I hear Yun Shizhuang makes her run through the rules every single day, and Prince Qi can't exactly stay locked inside the manor gates guarding her."

Rong Luoge was amused. "Truly, evildoers are tormented by their own kind. Those two are evenly matched—six of one and half a dozen of the other."

"Rong Dai has finally met her match. At last, someone can keep her in check," Rong Ling Shan said viciously. She truly loathed Rong Dai's hypocritical manner. During the days she lived in the manor, Rong Dai had constantly sowed discord in front of their father just like that. She wished she could beat her to death with a single blow.

Rong Luoge thought about it and agreed. Yun Shizhuang had always been the type to incite others to charge to the front while she stirred up trouble from behind. Now that she had entered the Qi Wang Fu with no little pawns to charge into battle for her, she could only do it herself.

The two of them were truly a pair of white lotuses blooming side by side. With Han Yifeng caught between these two women, he was truly caught in a dilemma, hard-pressed at every turn.

Unless Han Yifeng could harden his heart to suppress Rong Dai, or harden his heart to cold-shoulder Yun Shizhuang, otherwise, as long as he couldn't bear to give up his fondness for Rong Dai and couldn't bear to lose Chancellor Yun's support, there would be no peace in the Qi Wang Fu.

Quite interesting, really.

Come to think of it, the Dong Gong was much better off. When the Emperor sent women in, so be it—but Han Xinglan simply tossed them all into the Eastern Hall and was done with it.

Moreover, neither Han Xinglan nor Rong Luoge could be certain that all these women sent in were on the Crown Prince's side. What if there were enemy spies among them?

So, handling them coldly was actually the most appropriate approach.

Rong Ling Shan watched her eldest sister's happy expression and felt happy herself. They were only glad when Rong Dai wasn't doing well.

"Eldest Sister, do you think Di Yue Nu will come back?" Rong Ling Shan asked. She certainly didn't want her to come back—as soon as she returned, the household would have no peace. It was truly insufferable.

"Hard to say." Rong Luoge couldn't be certain either. After all, Han Xinglan's people hadn't found her. The more time passed, the longer they had been fleeing, and the greater the likelihood they would return to Qingxuan.

Especially now that the Emperor was eyeing Han Xinglan covetously, Han Xinglan couldn't devote his full effort to pursuing them.

"True enough. I just hope she doesn't come back," Rong Ling Shan said, somewhat deflated. "Eldest Sister, I heard that Lady Ming and General Ming are going to reconcile."

Rong Luoge nearly choked. "Reconcile?"

Rong Ling Shan nodded. "Yes, Ming Yuhua married Xiao Shen, and Commander Xiao is now at the height of his power. I heard Mother say that His Majesty has even given him the duty of guarding the palace. He's truly the man of the moment—every day, who knows how many people line up outside Commander Xiao's residence waiting for a chance to see him. Now that Ming Yuhua has become the Commander's lady, they say it's for her sake that they want to reconcile."

Rong Luoge: …

That was truly ugly to watch. She just couldn't understand what Ming Zan was trying to achieve with this whole charade. A great general like him would never do something pointless—there had to be an ulterior motive. But what was he after?

"Aside from reconciling, are there any other moves?" Rong Luoge asked.

Rong Ling Shan thought for a moment before saying, "It seems that the mistress on the side is also going to be entered into the family genealogy, which counts as acknowledging her entry into the family. However, she won't be living in the manor itself—I heard she's being sent to a farmstead."

"A farmstead? Which farmstead?"

"They say General Ming, to please Lady Ming, arranged for Liu Yuniang and her son to go to the Ming family's most remote farmstead. It's way up north—practically at the border."

Rong Luoge's expression sharpened, and suddenly she understood something.

Liu Yuniang entering the manor wasn't anything major—how could it have escalated to the point of the couple divorcing?

It seemed to be about sending Liu Yuniang away legitimately. But if the goal was simply to send her away, they could have just quietly shipped her off—yet Liu Yuniang's existence was discovered by Ming Yuhua.

So the matter had to be blown up.

After going around in a big circle, ultimately sending Liu Yuniang north was to make it easy to contact Di Yue Nu, wasn't it?

So when Di Yue Nu had managed to escape smoothly back then, it seemed the Ming family had lent no small amount of help. That made sense.

No wonder Han Xinglan couldn't catch them for a while after they left the city. With Ming Zan secretly assisting, it was indeed not easy to catch them.

Rong Luoge finally figured this out and looked at Rong Ling Shan. "Thanks to you today. I'll thank you properly later, but I need to hurry back right now."

This news had to be told to Han Xinglan urgently. If Liu Yuniang had already headed north, that meant there was a way to contact Di Yue Nu. As long as they kept a close watch on Liu Yuniang, they might be able to follow the vine to the melon and catch Di Yue Nu.

"Eldest Sister, go attend to your business. I'll head home too. Eldest Brother has been doing quite well in the Imperial Dragon Guard lately. Mother said she'd like to invite you for a meal when you're free."

"We'll talk about it when there's time. I'm afraid it won't work right now."

Rong Ling Shan quickly nodded. "No worries, we can talk about it whenever you're free."

Rong Luoge nodded in agreement. "Alright."

This wasn't anything major either. Chu Ke had now boarded her ship, so they were on the same side. Even if they couldn't completely bury the hatchet, they could at least coexist peacefully.

Rong Luoge hurried back to the Dong Gong. Han Xinglan wasn't there. She thought for a moment, then called Yuan Bao over and wrote a letter to hand to him. "Deliver this letter to His Highness."

Yuan Bao quickly took the letter. "Yes. Does the Good Lady have any other instructions?"

Rong Luoge thought about it and shook her head. She and Han Xinglan had an unspoken understanding; there was no need for extra words.

Yuan Bao immediately took his leave, saddled a horse, and exited the Dong Gong.

Rong Luoge didn't sit idle either. She had someone deliver a message to Liu Yingying, but Liu Yingying was currently attending the Emperor at a Daoist temple, so the news couldn't come back quickly. She could only wait patiently.

Besides that, Rong Luoge also thought of Song Huixi and Lady Song, but she couldn't attend to them right now and could only set them aside for later.

"Good Lady." Rong Xin walked in quickly. "Silan, from Noble Consort Liu's side, sent word. She said that today Consort Ming went to see His Majesty, and the Noble Consort overheard Consort Ming asking His Majesty to permit General Ming to inspect the borders."

Rong Luoge's expression changed slightly. "Inspect the borders?"

"Yes, that is exactly what Silan said." Rong Xin nodded immediately. "Afraid of being discovered, Silan didn't dare linger. She delivered the message and left right away."

Great generals inspecting the borders was a tradition of the Owl Nation, but not just any general had such a privilege.

Consort Ming asking His Majesty to allow Ming Zan to inspect the borders, combined with Liu Yuniang having been sent north to the Ming family's farmstead earlier, gave Rong Luoge a bad feeling.