good season

Before they knew it, the day of the grand banquet at Princess Jiayi's residence arrived.

The venue was chosen to be Yunzhongyuan, and of course, this grand event was named the Chrysanthemum Appreciation Banquet.

Besides the various famous chrysanthemums that can be seen everywhere in the garden, a chrysanthemum mountain has also been piled up in the garden early on, and even every dish is related to chrysanthemums.

Zhao Shiqing came with Wan Ruyi, and their arrival caused quite a stir.

Although she had already been officially appointed, apart from the few important figures present that day, not only the various mansions in the capital, but also most of the imperial family members had never seen this legendary Princess Jiabao.

Guessing that Princess Jiabao and her daughter would attend the chrysanthemum appreciation banquet, the old ladies and wives of each household repeatedly instructed their daughters-in-law and daughters before leaving home that no matter how vulgar the princess, who grew up among the common people, was, they should not show the slightest disdain.

This is the eldest daughter of the retired emperor. Regardless of whether she will be favored in the future, at least for now, both the retired emperor and the emperor value her.

As for Princess Zhao Shiqing of Nanyang, the old ladies and wives of each family also gave her some instructions.

This is the second young lady of the Liang Prince's Mansion. Her manners and etiquette are impeccable. However, most people in the capital have heard that she has been a nun since childhood.

However, it now seems that the rumors are unreliable. This person probably did not formally become a nun, but was just a lay disciple like Princess Jiarou.

However, the ladies were still worried that their younger generation might not know their place and might inadvertently utter the words "Taoist nun," thus offending someone.

However, as soon as the mother and daughter appeared, Princess Jiayi, the Princess Consort of Prince Fu, and Lady Yu, the wife of the Duke of Wei, rushed to greet them, acting as warmly as if they were a family.

Thus, everyone knew that the rumors of the two princesses wanting to marry each other were true.

Moreover, the Princess Consort of Prince Fu proudly told everyone, "Speaking of which, the Princess is actually my second son's senior sister. They studied under the same female master and are fellow disciples."

This is to tell everyone that there is no such thing as a Taoist nun; she has only become a disciple, not a nun!

Zhao Shiqing was surrounded by a group of elderly ladies. Normally, she would have slipped away long ago, but not today. She had to stay by her godmother's side and deal with these ladies on her behalf.

She also met the Third Prince's Consort Feng Jiahe and Princess Huixin, but only briefly. Although the two were of noble status, they were too young and did not belong to the circle of these ladies.

Therefore, Zhao Shiqing simply exchanged greetings with them.

Where Zhao Shiqing couldn't see, Princess Huixin withdrew her gaze and suppressed the disdain that lingered on her lips.

She was just an adopted daughter, but she tried to seduce Xiao Zhen because she was somewhat pretty.

Princess Huixin recalled the lithe figure in front of the candy shop, and a ruthless glint flashed in her eyes.

"Princess, mind your manners." A cold voice came from beside her, pulling Princess Huixin back to reality.

This is Granny Ding, who was also sent by Consort Qiao to accompany her to the banquet.

"Has Young Master Xiao arrived?" she asked softly.

Ding Mama said coldly, "Young Master Xiao came with Princess Jiayi and is currently with the heir of the Duke of Dingguo."

Princess Huixin was about to ask another question when she suddenly heard a woman's voice coming from behind the flower wall: "Are you telling the truth? That Fan Qiuyun cheated on Young Master Qiao before she was even married?"

“Of course it’s true. Fan Qiuyun has already left the palace and is now living in the Qiao family’s villa, waiting to get married. Think about it, Fan Qiuyun comes from a prestigious family and is a female official. If she hadn’t done something shameful and dared not show her face, how could she have moved into the Qiao family’s villa before even getting married? I’ve heard that the Fan family is very wealthy and can easily afford a house in the capital. I even suspect that the Fan family doesn’t know anything about her marriage to the Qiao family,” another woman said.

The woman who had spoken earlier was clearly angry; her voice was trembling. "That Fan Qiuyun is shameless! She's a female official! Wait, isn't she in the palace? How did she get pregnant?"

Another woman laughed and said, "Who knows? Although she is a female official, she is still in the palace. It's unlikely that she got pregnant from having an affair with a eunuch."

This was practically an open statement: the child in Fan Qiuyun's belly was most likely the emperor's.

Female officials were not palace maids, and even the emperor could not freely favor them.

The woman continued, "Although this matter will be criticized, given his status, if he wanted to, giving Fan Qiuyun and the child in her womb a formal status would be just a matter of a word."

But Fan Qiuyun was sent out of the palace and found the honest Second Young Master Qiao. Tsk tsk tsk, there's only one reason: someone doesn't want that person to know about this.

The woman opposite exclaimed, then suddenly realized, "So that's how it is! What a vicious scheme!"

Princess Huixin, on the other side of the flower wall, understood at that moment.

If Consort Qiao wanted to secure the Third Prince's position, she could not allow any more princes to be born in the palace. Moreover, Fan Qiuyun was not only young and beautiful, but also a talented woman with some fame. Not only would she take away the Emperor's favor from Consort Qiao, but her son would also affect the Third Prince.

Therefore, when Consort Qiao learned that Fan Qiuyun was pregnant, she concealed the matter and sent her out of the mansion to have her nephew take over. In this way, even if the emperor found out about it one day, he would pretend not to know for the sake of his reputation.

Princess Huixin was flustered and confused. She never expected Fan Qiuyun to be so bold as to climb into the emperor's bed right under Consort Qiao's nose.

Meanwhile, Wu Yanyan on the other side of the flower wall was trembling with anger. Who was Young Master Qiao?

That was her ideal man!
She knew that a marriage between the Wu and Qiao families was impossible, so she accepted her fate!
What you can't have is always the best.

In Wu Yanyan's heart, Young Master Qiao was as sacred and inviolable as a god.

But now, that bitch Fan Qiuyun actually deceived Young Master Qiao like he was a fool, trampling on his dignity.

This is intolerable, absolutely intolerable!
Wu Yanyan had no heart to appreciate chrysanthemums anymore, nor did she care to curry favor with the newly appointed Princess of Nanyang. She had only one thought in her mind: how to expose Fan Qiuyun's sinister intentions.

Since the child belongs to the emperor, then return to the palace. Either the mother and child will die, or the mother will be taken away and the child left behind.

Of course, if the emperor couldn't bear to part with the beauty, he could take her in; with three thousand beauties in the palace, one more wouldn't make a difference.

In short, Young Master Qiao absolutely cannot be cuckolded, much less be taken advantage of.

Wu Yanyan thought of her father, Imperial Censor Wu, but since it concerned the inner palace, her father would not impeach her without solid evidence.

what else can we do?

Wu Yanyan was extremely anxious.

Meanwhile, her best friend, who had just been gossiping with her, had already arrived in front of the Third Prince's Consort, Feng Jiahe.

She nodded slightly, and Feng Jiahe knew that the matter was settled.

Since Princess Qingchuan married far away, Feng Jiahe had no one to rely on. With the Fourth Prince completely losing power, the Third Prince's position became more secure, and more and more young ladies wanted to get close to Feng Jiahe.

For example, the woman in front of her was one of them. She thought that through this incident, she could become a favorite of the Third Prince, and like the Princess of Qingchuan, she would help her father and brothers, and even get a good marriage.

She now wishes she could rip out her heart, though of course she can't, but she can betray Wu Yanyan.

Feng Jiahe concealed the mockery in her eyes. She was just the second daughter of a fourth-rank official. If it weren't for her best friend Wu Yanyan, Feng Jiahe would have no idea that she existed.

She can betray her childhood best friend, and she can betray others one day.

Feng Jiahe won't use her. After this, we'll find a reason to get rid of her.

Wu Yanyan went to find her mother and told her that she was not feeling well and wanted to return home early.

Madam Wu came with her two daughters-in-law and a daughter. As an imperial censor, it was inevitable that she would offend people. Madam Wu also wanted to take this opportunity to repair her relationship with the ladies of various households.

Seeing that her daughter was about to leave, she asked her daughter-in-law to speak to the old woman beside the princess and apologize on her behalf.

The young lady's early departure went unnoticed. Wu Yanyan hurriedly left Yunzhong Garden but did not return directly to her residence.

She's always been bold, especially when she's angry.

She hired more than a dozen women to catch the adulterers at the Qiao family's villa!

The Qiao family did not come from a high social standing. Although one of their members was an imperial concubine, none of their nephews or nieces held prominent positions in the court and they kept a low profile.

Even this villa wasn't built as an official residence; on the surface, it looks like an ordinary house.

The Qiao family were not natives of the capital. When relatives from other places came to the capital, they were arranged to stay here. When there were no relatives, only the family of servants lived in the house.

Therefore, even the neighbors around did not know that the Qiao in the Qiao residence was the same Qiao as the Consort Qiao.

Wu Yanyan is in love with the second young master Qiao. She accidentally learns that the Qiao family has a villa here, so she often stops here, hoping to bump into the second young master Qiao.

Therefore, she was very familiar with this villa.

Knowing the way well, the women found their way here.

These women, marching in a long procession and cursing all the way, attracted a lot of people. When they arrived at the Qiao family's villa, a large crowd of onlookers had already followed behind them.

At this time, besides the family of servants who originally lived here, there was also a nanny and four maids sent by Consort Qiao to keep an eye on Fan Qiuyun.

The servants of that household did not know Fan Qiuyun's true identity and only thought she was a distant relative of the Qiao family. Therefore, when those women barged in, they pointed out Fan Qiuyun's residence.

A moment later, Fan Qiuyun was dragged out of the house. The nanny and maid knew that the visitor was up to no good, but they could not reveal their identities. Especially at this time, they could not bring up Consort Qiao.

Fan Qiuyun was slapped a dozen or twenty times, her cheeks swelling up. The women weren't satisfied and continued to punch and kick her until they saw blood flowing from under her skirt. Only then did they stop, fearing legal trouble, and ran away faster than rabbits.

Wu Yanyan had already changed out of the gorgeous clothes she wore to the banquet. She was dressed in simple clothes and her face was painted with a sallow hue. She hid in the crowd of onlookers and said loudly, "Hey, isn't that the talented Fan? Didn't she go to the palace to become a lady-in-waiting? Why is she here? Hey, why is she bleeding?"

In fact, Fan Qiuyun was not from the capital. She had been in the capital for less than two years, and not many people knew her. The title of "talented woman" was something she created for herself when she was following Lang Yuyu and trying to curry favor with Feng Jiahe.

The common people had never heard of any talented woman named Fan, but they had heard the words "female official"—a female official in the palace!
"She's had a miscarriage! Oh my god, we need to get a doctor right away, or the baby might not survive!"

"But why would a palace lady be here, and caught in adultery?"

Wu Yanyan's pre-arranged people added fuel to the fire, making things worse, until the servants carried the person inside, at which point everyone dispersed.

Fan Qiuyun lost her baby; she miscarried.

The news that the female official was pregnant and hiding in her residence outside the palace, only to be caught in the act of adultery, spread throughout the capital at lightning speed.

Wu Yanyan finally boarded the carriage to return to the mansion. Looking at the Qiao family villa, which was no longer visible, she gritted her teeth.

"Fan Qiuyun, you wretched servant, now that you've lost your child and your reputation is ruined, that person in the palace won't keep you. Just wait to die."

Yes, things have developed to this point, and whether it's the emperor, Consort Qiao, or the Fan family, what they all want to do is kill Fan Qiuyun.

As for the marriage with Young Master Qiao, that obviously doesn't count.

Still not satisfied, Wu Yanyan took another two hundred taels of silver to spread the news even faster and wider.

Wu Yanyan was being used without realizing it, but Fan Qiuyun had already figured out what she didn't know.

Consort Qiao would not reveal her pregnancy; only Consort Qiao and the Third Prince knew about it.

From Consort Qiao's instructions to her, it can be seen that even the Qiao family was kept in the dark about this matter.

Therefore, what happened today was by no means an accident, but rather something that was planned.

Who's behind this? Do we even need to ask?
It's either Consort Qiao, the Third Prince, or a mother and son working together!

Fan Qiuyun's feelings for the Third Prince had vanished the moment she was sent out of the palace.

She entered the palace as a lady-in-waiting for that man, and for that man, she committed adultery in the palace. Yet that man allowed his mother to marry her off to someone else, and now he even wants to kill their child.

That child is evidence of the man's depravity; if he wants to be emperor, he can't leave any incriminating evidence.

Therefore, they, mother and child, had to be sacrificed.

But why?
When Fan Qiuyun heard someone in the crowd reveal her identity, she knew that she could no longer keep it a secret. If her child died, she would die too.

But why?
She was also a young lady from a wealthy family, and she was also pampered from childhood. When she left her hometown, she was aiming to become a princess. Later, when she failed to become the Princess of Liang, she came to the capital, hoping to become a prince's wife.

Fate was unfair to her. In order to eliminate Lang Yuyu, her rival, she ruined Feng Yalan. In order to marry into the prince's mansion, she humbled herself and entered the palace as a lady-in-waiting.

In the end, she gained nothing and even lost her life.

Why? Why?
The doctor advised her to rest in bed and recover from childbirth, but she pretended to be in a bad mood and sent the nanny and maid away. Those people were now panicking and were in a hurry to inform Consort Qiao, so no one paid any attention to Fan Qiuyun.

What can a woman who has just miscarried do? (End of Chapter)