The cousin is beautiful but ruthless.

Chapter 104 Stop fooling around

“A maid in the Marquis’s mansion lied and called me out, claiming to be Xue’er’s maid. I don’t remember what happened halfway there. When I opened my eyes, I was in a side hall with Zhao Jing’er.”

Princess Yongning listened, and it seemed that this had nothing to do with Liang Ruoxue.

She twitched her nose and smelled the lingering scent on Li Jun's clothes.

"What does this smell like?"

Li Jun also took a sniff. He didn't know about the Five-Stone Powder, but he felt that the smell was mixed with the incense on his body, which was a bit strange.

Princess Yongning glanced at it and said, "Change your clothes first while I investigate. If this matter isn't thoroughly investigated, I'm afraid some more mistakes might occur."

Li Jun nodded, changed her clothes, and returned to the main hall.

Liang Ruoxue's face was still very pale. She didn't know whether it was Liang Ruoyan or Shen Hanyu who did it, and could only wait for Li Jun to find out and tell her.

She received a marriage agreement today but also lost face. Those who didn't know the reason might think that the Third Prince treated her with disdain and didn't care about her.

Liang Ruoyan was scolded by Xu Ying, who then guessed that Liang Ruoyan was the one who did Li Jun's thing.

"Have all those people been dealt with?"

Liang Ruoyan lowered her head: "They're all dead. They've never appeared in front of me."

Xu Ying closed her eyes.

"You're really bold, kid, daring to cause trouble in the palace. There's no corner of this palace that the Emperor doesn't know about."

Liang Ruoyan was even more frightened.

"Did you lose everything?"

"It's gone, without leaving a trace."

Xu Ying was slightly satisfied. Now that the Five-Stone Powder had been dealt with, she was at ease and asked Granny Song to clean up again.

"You should have done as I said. Now look what happened, you're not getting any benefit from either side."

Liang Ruoyan was just unwilling, but Liang Ruoxue was also not happy. Liang Ruoxue was petty and narrow-minded, and she would have a lot of trouble with Zhao Jing'er in the future.

Xu Ying was also somewhat troubled, unsure whether she should allow Liang Ruoyan to continue contacting the Crown Prince. The Emperor must know that Liang Ruoyan was behind this, so it was best to keep a low profile.

"Stay here and wait for the banquet to end, then I'll take you back."

Liang Ruoyan became obedient and listened to Xu Ying.

When Granny Song returned from outside, she whispered to Xu Ying, "I went to check everything. I didn't see the bodies of those people, but I disposed of the Five-Stone Powder and the Love Incense."

Xu Ying nodded: "As long as it's cleaned up."

The three of them sat down to see what Li Jiangui's attitude would be.

Lee Geon-gyu returned from the Imperial Study with an unchanged expression.

"I heard that a new group of dancers from the Western Regions have arrived at the Music Hall. Let them come up and make it more lively."

When the Western Region dancers arrived, the music became as dense as drumbeats, which indeed made the place much more lively and dispelled the awkward atmosphere from before.

The weather has gotten much warmer now, and those Western Region dancers are dressed daringly, their faces veiled with gauze, revealing their fair and flat bellies.

The Da Yong dynasty was not considered old-fashioned or conservative, but they had never seen a dancer dressed like this before.

Many people were stunned, including Zhou Yurong.

Xiao Ran slapped him across the face: "Zhou Yurong, isn't one person enough for you? Why are you eyeing another one?"

Fortunately, the music masked the sound, so no one else heard the slap, but Li Jiangui did see it and his eyelids twitched.

Xiao Ran was already seething with anger, and seeing Zhou Yurong like this only fueled her rage.

"What are you doing?" Zhou Yurong frowned and touched her face.

Xiao Ran's temper is getting more and more volatile.

Xiao Ran sneered: "That little bitch Lu Lingyue should really come and see your face. It's utterly shameful. Your eyes are practically hanging off her waist."

Zhou Yurong turned her head away, thinking that Lu Lingyue would never be as unreasonable as Xiao Ran.

"Can't you hear me? I'm talking to you."

Xiao Ran grabbed Zhou Yurong's sleeve.

“Zhou Yurong, don’t forget, you were able to become the Earl of Guangning and have a title in the court all because of me. Without me and my father, where would you get all this glory!”

She talks about this every day. Ever since Lu Lingyue entered the mansion, Zhou Yurong has had to listen to Xiao Ran talk about these things every day.

Unfortunately, what Xiao Ran said wasn't a lie; this was exactly what Zhou Yurong felt most ashamed about.

"Can we talk about it when we get home?"

Zhou Yurong lost interest in watching the dancers and didn't want to pay attention to Xiao Ran, but Xiao Ran's antics only got worse.

"Xiao Ran".

Empress Wang suddenly called out.

Xiao Ran shuddered involuntarily and looked up.

"Xiao Ran, come here and talk to me."

Zhou Yurong breathed a sigh of relief when Empress Wang extended the invitation.

Xiao Ran went over reluctantly.

“Xiao Ran, when your parents passed away, I pitied you and made you suffer all alone, so I tolerated you in everything. But over the years, you have become increasingly unable to control your temper.”

Xiao Ran lowered her head. How could she suppress her temper? When her father was alive, she didn't need to think about anything. She could do whatever she wanted, because someone would always be there to protect her.

Moreover, Zhou Yurong wasn't like this back then. When they first got married, Zhou Yurong said he wouldn't take a concubine, but now he's broken that promise and has repeatedly gone against Lu Lingyue for her sake.

“I know you have resentment in your heart, but today is the Dragon Boat Festival banquet, so you should restrain yourself in front of others. As long as you don’t do anything wrong, you will naturally remain the Lady of Guangning, and no one will be able to take your place.”

Empress Wang spoke coldly, exhausted from trying to persuade her so many times. She didn't want anything to happen because of Li Jun's incident.

Xiao Ran clenched her fist.

"Your Majesty, you don't need to say anything more. No matter how others see my affair with Zhou Yurong, it's all my fault."

Empress Wang looked at her and said, "The Emperor and I both think it was Zhou Yurong's fault, but what you did was also wrong. You took a life. You are a county princess. Even princes are subject to the same laws as commoners. If there is a next time, I will not protect you."

Xiao Ran responded with an "oh".

"Xiao Ran, if you are unhappy, I can grant you a divorce. You can leave as soon as possible. With the status of a county princess, you can live more freely on your own."

Divorce was something Xiao Ran had never considered, despite having argued with Zhou Yurong so many times.

The reason they were able to get married was because Xiao Ran had feelings for Zhou Yurong.

"I don't want a divorce. In this lifetime, Zhou Yurong will never get rid of me!" Xiao Ran's eyes were obsessive and ruthless. Zhou Yurong had gained wealth and status from her and now he wanted to kick her to the curb? There was no such thing as a free lunch.

Seeing Xiao Ran's expression, Empress Wang didn't say anything more and let her go back.

After Xiao Ran left, the Imperial Concubine smiled and said, "The Empress is kind-hearted, meddling in the affairs of the Guangning Marquis's mansion, but it seems that Princess Xiao doesn't appreciate it."

Whether she appreciates it or not is irrelevant. Everyone has to live their own lives. What happens to her in the future is none of my business. I've already repaid the debt I owed to her mother.

The imperial concubine scoffed, thinking that doing such a thankless task would bring her no benefit whatsoever.

Once the Guangning Marquis's family gets involved, they're tainted with scandal, and Xiao Ran, in particular, has an extremely bad temper and character.

Li Jiangui sighed: "It was I who was wrong."