Ask the Nine Ministers

Chapter 83 Gathering
The tenth day of every month is the day for the Pingle Women's Society to gather.

When Xue Yueying heard that Princess Pingle had returned to her mansion, she hurried over.

No matter how the princess treats her, she cannot lose this big tree...

When she was going out, she happened to see the Zhao family sending someone to deliver the engagement letter. Madam Chun was busy making arrangements, and the mansion was bustling with activity. She thought of her eighth sister, and then glanced at the shy sister-in-law Gu Ruoyi, and she couldn't help but feel even more disgusted with her.

The girl from the Marquis's Mansion was broken off from engagement and married to the son of a doctor from the Guangwen Academy...

What is this little girl so proud of?
She arrived at Pinglefang with this subtle dissatisfaction, and many ladies and girls from the community were there.

But at first glance, there were fewer people than usual.

Xue Yueying went to Luanfeng Pavilion as usual. Lu Xi, Xie Weilan and others had already arrived.

They had obviously heard the news that Pingle had left the palace and returned home, so they came to join in the fun.

Just as everyone sat down and chatted for a few words, they heard the eunuchs' shouts from outside.

"His Highness Pingle has arrived——"

Pingle always travels in great style.

Even compared with the prince, he is not inferior.

Whenever she goes to the Women's Society, everyone must pay her respects.

Several women quickly stood up to "welcome the emperor", but Pingle was in very bad spirits today. He looked "tired" from not having slept well all night. Even with thick makeup on his face, it was difficult to hide his pale and sickly look.

"Everyone, stand up. Sit down!"

Those who can sit in the Luanfeng Pavilion and talk to Pingle about stories are all the princess's confidants.

Several girls spoke up one after another, asking about the princess' health with concern.

Ping Le said calmly, "Don't worry. I just caught a cold that day, and that bitch got angry, which caused liver depression and qi stagnation, so I was unconscious for a while. Later, I took the imperial physician's medicine and slowly adjusted myself, and now I'm fine. It was my father who pitied my frail body and insisted that I stay in the palace to recuperate."

She looked cold and obviously didn't want to mention that matter.

It also seems like there's something fishy going on here.

Everyone stopped asking questions and continued talking about family matters.

Xue Yueying sat at the last seat and listened, feeling uneasy.

Last time at the gate of the princess's mansion, she was chased away by the furious Ping Le...

She was so shameless that she came again this time, fearing she would make a fool of herself and be humiliated by the princess again.

Unexpectedly, Ping Le just glanced at her indifferently, as if nothing had happened, and asked weakly: "I heard you guys were talking excitedly just now, what were you talking about?"

Lu Xi and Xie Weilan looked at each other.

"To answer the princess' question, Sister Xie and I heard on our way here that a fisherman had caught a big fish and was selling it at the market. Who could have imagined that when the fish was cut open, there were human hands and hair in its belly! The officials from Jingzhao Prefecture have already rushed over..."

Ping Le's face was indifferent. "I don't know how many murders happen in Jingzhao Prefecture every day. It's not surprising."

Lu Xi said timidly again: "I am a timid woman. I was so scared that I didn't dare to stay for a moment..."

Pingle raised his eyelids, obviously not very concerned about this matter. He frowned and looked at everyone.

"Mrs. Yao San is not in the club, so you should elect a new person to take charge."

This Miss Yao San is Yao Wei’s younger sister Yao Minjun.

In the past, she was in charge of the community, doing some daily chores. She was in charge of everything inside and outside and made a lot of money.

Now that this incident happened to the Yao family, Yao Minjun was also taken away by the officials, which was a slap in Pingle's face. However, she had to pretend to be indifferent, as if it was just an ordinary replacement of a person in charge.

After hearing this, everyone remained silent.

No one cared about the ending of Miss Yao San anymore.

Xue Yueying hesitated for a moment, then moved forward with a proper smile on her face.

"I do want to share the princess' worries, but I don't know if the princess will dislike me for being so clumsy while pregnant..."

Princess Pingle glanced at her belly.

"Until we find a suitable candidate, you can take over Miss Yao San's job for the time being. If there is anything you don't understand, go back and find Hong Xing, she will guide you."

Xue Yueying was overjoyed.

Pingle has always been proud and arrogant, and anyone who dislikes her will never have a good ending.

She didn't say anything, but she might not be willing to forgive her in her heart.

But if she is given the power to run the Women's Club, it means that she is still treated as one of our own.

Xue Yueying immediately pretended to be grateful and shed tears, "Your Highness is magnanimous and does not hold it against me. I will do my best to serve you like a dog and a horse..."

Princess Pingle raised the corners of her mouth slightly, revealing a cold smile.

"We are all women in the harem, why are you talking about those trivial things? Don't cause trouble for me like Gu Jie and Yao Wei did, and I will be grateful..."

Everyone's heart was startled.

The atmosphere was stagnant and gloomy in Luanfeng Pavilion.

Things did not end after the Yao family was imprisoned.

When a family is broken up and loved ones are dead, the desperate person will naturally do something desperate.

On the day when he was imprisoned, the Minister of Internal Affairs Yao Hong asked someone to plead with the princess, but was ignored. Then he started to bite randomly like a mad dog. In the prison, he bit his finger, used it as a pen, and wrote a blood letter on the wall, swearing that it was Princess Pingle who secretly instructed him to commit those heinous crimes.

He also claimed that in order to prevent being framed by Princess Pingle, he had already collected the hard evidence of the princess's crime and hid it in a very secret place. If he unfortunately died, his disciples would make the evidence public...

Xie Yanzhan, the Dali Temple Minister who tried the case, was troubled by this matter.

He found Princess Pingle in private and told her about this.

Pingle had no choice but to ask him to put the case on hold and find a way to stabilize Yao Hong.

This Xie Yanzhan is Xie Weilan's father.

Therefore, Xie Weilan knew the most about the matter and was well aware of the root cause of Princess Pingle's distress.

She sighed softly, "I don't know what evil spirits we have run into recently. Third Master You is missing, Second Master Yao is like a cripple, and Fifth Master Gu is still in prison. Things are not going well for the rest of us, and we are always worried..."

This group of people have been playing together since they were young.

They are very familiar with each other.

It would be fine if something happened to one person, but now that accidents are happening one after another, it is inevitable that they will feel panic.

Lu Xi also agreed, "Who says it's not true? You Zhimu, a living person, just disappeared out of thin air. Jingzhao Prefecture has been searching for him for so long but still has no clue. Yao Wei's accident was even more bizarre. He was scratched by a cat and fell into a manure pit, nearly drowning. Jingzhao Prefecture has been investigating and investigating, but still has no explanation..."

Pingle shook his head slightly and snorted.

"What can you expect from those good-for-nothings?"

After hearing this, Lu Xi dared not say anything.

The one in charge of Jingzhao now is Princess Pingle’s brother, Prince Duan.

No matter how arrogant Pingle was, she used to be quite respectful to Prince Duan.

Now Prince Duan doesn't even take him seriously. It is obvious that he is resentful towards his brother because Prince Duan wants to take Xue Liu into the mansion.

Seeing this, Xue Yueying secretly glanced at Princess Pingle and said boldly, "Your Highness, do you think there is a possibility that all this is Xue Liu's conspiracy?"

Ping Le couldn't hide the mockery on his face, "Just her? Can she be so capable?"

Xue Yueying said: "During those days, I was detained in the Ministry of Justice. I had nothing to do, so I carefully sorted out what had happened recently. Let me tell you, and you can listen to it and see if it makes sense..."

Everyone turned their eyes to her.

Xue Yueying pressed the corners of her mouth with a handkerchief and cleared her throat.

"This Xue Liu had bad intentions from the beginning. She somehow got the Crown Prince's secret help and designed to make Princess Duan fall in love with her. As soon as she returned to the capital, she stirred up trouble in the Xue family and framed me and Gu Lang. Then, she pretended to be on good terms with my second sister and used my second sister to get evidence of the Internal Affairs Minister's cheating in the imperial examination. She then handed it over to Censor Zhou, who was worried about his nephew's imperial examination..."

"She planned it out step by step. First, she wanted to harm Yao Wei, and then destroy the Yao family. When Yao Hong is desperate, he will start to make random accusations and maybe even produce some evidence... In my opinion, she is not going to deal with one person, but... all of us."

Xue Yueying held her lower abdomen with both hands, her eyes slightly narrowed, and her expression was very gloomy.

Seeing this, the women couldn't help but hold their breath and look at each other.

Xue Yueying slowly looked towards Pingle, "If that's true, then Xue Liu came back for revenge..."

After that, she deepened her tone, "She is determined to marry into Prince Duan's mansion, and she must have some ulterior motives. Princess, we should be prepared early..."

Pingle's expression changed again and again.

Finally, he squeezed out a sneer from between his teeth.

"Then let her come! This princess wants to see whether a poor concubine like her can defeat the princess of the dynasty, or whether this princess will play with her like she did to the dog before!"

She uttered the last few words almost with gritted teeth, her clenched fists trembling slightly, and her knuckles turning white from the force, showing that her hatred for Xue Liu had penetrated deep into her bones.

Seeing this, Xue Yueying secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"With Her Royal Highness the Princess in charge, we have nothing to fear."

Ping Le suppressed his anger and asked Xue Yueying calmly, "On the twelfth day, when will Xue Liu's bridal sedan leave?"

Xue Yueying had already found out everything, and when she heard it, she said, "It's at 15:00. It's not a formal wedding, but the palace made it a little more lively for the sake of Princess Duan. Prince Duan will not come to pick her up in person, and she will be sent to Prince Duan's palace in a sedan chair and the matter is over..."

Ping Le smiled and said, "It happens to be my brother's birthday, so I want to go and celebrate it too."

Lu Xi asked: "What plans does your Highness have?"

Pingle nodded lightly and said nothing more.

Xue Yueying said: "I have a solution..."

Ping Le narrowed his eyes slightly, curled his lips and sneered, "Do you have any better ideas?"

Xue Yueying's face was slightly embarrassed. "Since You Zhimu's whereabouts are unknown, why not send someone to pretend to be him and... quietly eliminate Xue Liu in his name!"

Pingle waved his hands, and just as he was about to speak, he suddenly choked and coughed, his cheeks inexplicably flushed, and he drank a few sips of tea to suppress his emotions. There was a strange panting tone in his voice, and he didn't sit as straight as before.

"There have been many incidents in the capital recently. I have to be more restrained, so as to avoid being blamed by my father, which will be a bad ending. Let her be proud for a few days..."

Xue Yueying said: "There is no need for the princess to do it herself. She can find some wandering knights. As long as they are paid enough, they will be willing to work for her. However, Xue Liu has come back from the Old Mausoleum Swamp. He must know a lot of people from all walks of life. It is possible that he will have connections with those people. We need to be cautious with manpower..."

She suffered a great loss, but she also learned a lesson.

Pingle was not feeling well and did not have much energy.

After hearing what Xue Yueying said, hatred surged in my heart again.

"Marrying comfortably? That's really too good for her. I have to teach her a lesson..."

Second update, come at dinner time~~