“Your Excellency, this is a kind of perfumed powder that is very warm in nature. It has a nourishing effect that improves one’s looks and moisturizes one’s skin when used externally, and it is quite effective for anti-aging and relieving fatigue to be taken orally.” Dr. Chen replied with his hands folded.
“That’s all?” Qin Zhi glanced at the peaceful expression on Qin Yunuan’s face to seek for affirmation again.
Dr. Chen nodded and replied, “That’s all.”
Now, those who were surprised became Qin Yunzhuang and Qin Linfeng. They both stole a look at Qin Yunuan’s look and were more perturbed and anxious in mind when seeing that instead of showing any trace of astonishment, the look on Qin Yunuan’s face was like she had everything in her expectation.
To be frank, Qin Yunuan did have prepared herself for this result. For one thing, Qin Yunzhuang had kept the whole as a secret. For another thing, what nurse Gui said was false statements as Qin Yunuan had no time to talk over the plan with her, as she had just hurried back to the mansion of Grand Commandant. But the medicine powder was really Hehuan Powder, which was stealthily handed over by Qin Yunuan to nurse Gui. As Qin Yunzhuang was still the Grand Miss and her marriage with Prince Ray was not canceled, Qin Yunuan did not mean to reveal her true colors under the disguise because Qin Zhi would definitely try his best to protect her no matter what the purpose was.
It was easy to explain why the final test result of Dr. Chen was not in line with the real fact. In Qin Yunuan’s eyes, either Qin Zhi had a secret agreement with Dr. Chen, or Butler Xie might have replaced the real paper packet of medicine powder with a fake one. It was heard that Dr. Chen was a stick-in-the-mud, so it was more likely that the second assumption was true.
With a glance at the serious and upright look on Qin Zhi’s face, Qin Yunuan could not help but sneer. The Qin family were all good at acting, and Qin Yunuan herself was no exception. Putting on a show of surprise, she covered her mouth with her eyes wide-open, as if she could not accept this unexpected result, “How come, Dr. Chen? Is there any chance that you made a mistake?”
Dr. Chen cupped his hand to Qin Yunuan and said in a firm tone, “Infanta Ping, during my 40-year practice of medicines, I have never made any mistake in identification test for those simple drugs.”
“So, this is the Hehuan Powder that your said could kill people?” Speaking in a more energetic way, Qin Linfeng challenged Qin Yunuan for Qin Yunzhuang while raising his arm to protect her behind him like a protective mother hen.
Before Qin Yunuan spoke, Nurse Gui, who was kneeling on the ground, suddenly hugged Qin Yunuan’s ankle and shouted, “Third Miss, it wasn’t me. I swear!”
Qin Yunuan only cast a cold glance at her. She surely knew when it started to go wrong. All nurse Gui had been thought about was to save her daughter from the brothel, so, she would not have dared to act the contrary.
Qin Zhi narrowed his eyes and looked at Qin Yunzhuang. He had tried to suppress this matter, because Yunzhuang’s future and reputation, as well as that of the mansion of Grand Commandant, could be ruined if Hehuan Powder was involved.
He opened his mouth, but what he said disgusted Qin Yunuan a lot. “Yunzhuang, I know you had taken pains to make those arrangements. But it was due to your lack of consideration that had led to misunderstandings. You need to apologize to Yunuan.” It stood to reason that Qin Yunzhuang had to make an apology to Qin Yunuan even though she was the lineal descent. After all, Qin Yunuan was now Infanta Ping with official grade.
Qin Yunzhuang froze for a moment and then took the turn at once. Since father had got her out of the fix and saved her from embarrassment, she’d better followed his instruction. With a blank face, she said in a calm tone, “Sis, I was….”
Qin Zhi wanted Qin Yunzhuang to apologize to get her out, and Qin Yunzhuang also wanted to let it go. However, neither of them asked what Qin Yunuan thought. So, before Qin Yunzhuang finished, she cut in, “No need. You’d better worry about another thing instead, sis.”
Qin Zhi and Qin Yunzhuang both looked puzzled. Seeing that, Qin Yunuan suddenly smiled and looked at Leng Changxi. Their hands were holding tightly all the time.
The faint smile on Qin Yunuan’s face made Qin Yunzhuang chilled.
“This medicine powder was found in your room by nurse Gui. Those found on the bridal veil had already been sent into the Royal Palace before I came out. Right now, I think it should have arrived at the gate of the palace.”
“What!” Qin Zhi almost jumped up. He could hardly believe what he had heard. When did this obedient concubine’s daughter become so reckless? She had not consulted him for such a big thing!
“Father, did I do anything wrong?” Qin Yunuan blinked her eyes that were clear and bright as if they could talk, “My bridal veil was bestowed by Queen Mother. So, I should surely let her know about this thing.”
What! She was going to report it to the Queen Mother! Qin Zhi couldn’t let this thing drift anymore. For him, nothing was more important than his reputation and honor. His achievement was founded on Dou Family, but after the Dou Family came down, he got rid of them right away.
“That’s nonsense, Yunuan!” Qin Zhi did not dare to overreact as Leng Changxi was still there. But still, he couldn’t hold back his anger but said this.
“Father-in-law, that was not Nuan’s fault. It was me who advised her to send it to the Royal Palace.” Leng Changxi touched the edge of the black mask with his bamboo-like fingers. His voice was calm and vibrant that revealed his love for her.
As Leng Changxi had been silent for a long time, those words attracted the attention of everyone including Dou Meishuang who was sitting in the corner. Leng Changxi took a cold glance at Qin Yunzhuang without showing a trace of mercy or kindness even though she was Qin Yunuan’s sister. In his eyes, she was just a buffoon who tried to take things away from Yunuan by force every day. He should be clearer than Yunuan about what she had done in secret.
“After all, everyone has to pay for what they did.” Leng Changxi said to Qin Yunzhuang specifically.
Qin Yunzhuang’s pupils suddenly enlarged. To pay? What would she pay? Tomorrow, she would marry Prince Ray. The empress had promised her to the status as his legal wife, and from then on, she would be the wife of the third prince Sima Ray. But if Queen Mother knew about this thing…God! If that happened, the dreamed life of wealth and rank and her hope to grind Qin Yunuan beneath her heel would burst like a bubble.
Qin Linfeng was still thinking about it, but Qin Yunzhuang had been frightened by the overwhelming fear in her heart. Suddenly, she hugged Qin Yunuan’s thigh and started to beg her for the first time, “Oh sister, it was all my fault! Don’t do this to me. If you sent the evidence to the Royal Palace, my life and my future would be totally ruined. I don’t wanna die!”
“So you admit it?” Qin Yunuan looked down at Qin Yunzhuang who was hugging her and begging like a maggot. Never had she been so low and embarrassed all her life. Just as Qin Yunuan had expected, people would sell their dignity and anything needed for life and wealth.
Qin Yunzhuang couldn’t care about anything else. The rouge on her face was messed up by tears. “If I admit it, would you not send the evidence to the Royal Palace?”
“Didn’t you hear what I said?” Qin Yunuan smiled. The faint smile showed that she was able to control the overall situation. “It is on the way.”
Looking at the stiff face of Qin Yunzhuang, Leng Changxi followed up at the right time, “But, my shadow guards may be able to stop it before it is sent to Queen Mother’s palace.”
Those words rekindled Qin Yunzhuang’s hope.
There were unknown emotions in Qin Yunzhuang’s eyes that were flickering with hope and worry. She gritted her teeth after a scared glance at Qin Zhi and said, “That’s right. I did that.” But she got excited and defended herself all of a sudden, “But I didn’t do it wrong. I’m the first lineal daughter of you, and my mother is also the lineal descendant of the Dou Family. But father, why did you help Yunuan out every time? I can understand now as she is now the dignified Infanta Ping. But what about the past？Never had you helped my brother and me once! You always protected this concubine’s daughter. You said that I was your sweetheart, and you would always get me out no matter what I did. You lied!”
Qin Yunzhuang had never changed her spoiled temperament. In her eyes, she was the genuine daughter of Qin Zhi, while others, like Qin Yunuan or Qin Yuwan, were just minor roles in the family. Qin Zhi should always take care of her and think for her all the time. So, for a long time, she had been disturbed by the imbalance between imagination and real-life and felt wronged.
But those “wronged” experience of Qin Yunzhuang seemed like a joke in Qin Zhi’s eyes. Hadn’t he done enough for her?
“Yunzhuang, you are so irrational.” Qin Zhi tried so hard to cover her, but in the end, she was the one who confessed everything.
Qin Yunzhuang smiled bitterly, turning her head to Qin Yunuan, and said, “I know you hate me, sister. Now, I just beg you to give me a way out.”
The dreamy gaze of Qin Yunuan revealed that she might be thinking about some past things. That day, her mother met with a tragic death and passed away on the bed without closing her eyes.
“Have you ever thought of giving my mother a way out?” Those few words burst all the bubbles of Qin Yunzhuang. Did she mean…
“I…” Qin Yunzhuang was like a prisoner waiting for her trial. All her honors and status in the future were dependent on Qin Yunuan’s words.
“Unless you return all the dowry and things left behind by my mother that had been taken away by Dou. I mean everything.” Qin Yunuan knew that there was an extremely important thing among them.
