The Reborn Princess Has Turned Evil

Chapter 170 Delaying time

"Your Highness's meaning is clear to me, and so is His Majesty's." Zhang Zhiji cupped his hands towards the sky to show his respect to Emperor Jing.

"His Majesty is merciful and, out of consideration for his brotherly bond with the Prince, has specially dispatched his subordinates to clear up this case."

Prince Qing remained expressionless, secretly wishing he could kill Zhang Zhiji on the spot and immediately rebel.

"Therefore, I urge Your Highness and Your Highness to bring out the Seven-Colored Gemstone Hairpin bestowed by the late Emperor to clear your name of any suspicion," Zhang Zhiji added.

His words were impeccable, and Prince Qing had no choice but to instruct his consort to fetch the hairpin, saying, "Please trouble my beloved consort to bring out the hairpin, lest someone cause trouble here."

Princess Qing was terrified, but she pretended to be calm and said, "I will go right away."

"Rou'er will accompany Mother." Jing Rou seemed to sense something was amiss and stepped forward to take Consort Qingzhu's hand, saying this.

Zhang Zhiji did not urge them, but respectfully said, "Thank you for your trouble, Your Highness and Princess."

……

Emperor Jing could neither hide nor wanted to hide the fact that Consort Yu had been murdered. Now, not only the harem but also the other foreign princes knew about it.

Swords clashing and intrigue raging were compulsory courses for the princes; they had all grown up treading on blades and stained with blood. Therefore, the princes of different surnames tacitly avoided mentioning this, focusing instead on their studies.

Chi Wenyuan looked at the princes below him, seemingly lost in thought.

……

In the Empress Dowager's palace.

When the Empress Dowager learned that Prince Qing had been imprisoned, she smashed several glass cups in anger. She sent people to invite Emperor Jing several times, but he avoided seeing her each time, citing matters of state.

"Your Majesty, you've really grown wings!" The Empress Dowager was furious; she was genuinely livid with anger.

Su Rong quickly went to persuade her, "Your Majesty, please calm down. Things have come to this point. Perhaps Your Majesty should think of another way."

"His Majesty refuses to see me, what can I do?" The Empress Dowager slammed her hand on the table several times in anger, clearly furious.

Su Rong gave a wink to her personal palace servants, who then discreetly withdrew.

"Empress Dowager," Su Rong said in a fawning and humble tone, "since we have no solution within the palace, why not seek a way to survive outside the palace?"

"Outside the palace?" The Empress Dowager asked, somewhat puzzled. "You old hag, just say what you have to say."

Su Rong leaned down and whispered something in the Empress Dowager's ear, and a smile slowly appeared on the Empress Dowager's lips.

……

As autumn arrives and the nights grow colder, dusk soon falls and the sky gradually darkens.

After waiting for an unknown amount of time, Princess Qing and Jing Rou went to retrieve the hairpin, but no one came for a long time.

Zhang Zhiji was not in a hurry; he simply sat quietly on the mahogany chair and waited. It was Prince Qing who, however, was somewhat impatient and occasionally glanced out the door.

"Something terrible has happened!" came anxious shouts from outside the door.

Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw that it was Jing Rou who was calling out. She was holding up her skirt and her face was pale.

"Rou'er, what's wrong?" Prince Qing stepped forward and asked, then looked behind her and, seeing no one, added, "Why are you the only one who came back? Where is your mother?"

As soon as Jing Rou spoke, tears streamed down her face. "Mother has fallen from the attic! Father, please come with me to see her."

"What!" Prince Qing's expression changed drastically, and he immediately rushed towards the pavilion.

Zhang Zhiji was also surprised and immediately stood up from his chair.

"grown ups!"

Seeing Prince Qing leave, Wang Qi, one of Zhang Zhiji's subordinates, couldn't help but remind him.

"No need!" Zhang Zhiji waved his hand.

After all, Emperor Jing ordered the princes to be confined to their residences, but did not restrict their freedom, and they did not leave the residences. Besides, as for an old fox like Prince Qing, only they themselves probably know the truth of the matter.

After thinking for a moment, Zhang Zhiji instructed Wang Qi, "Princess Qing is pregnant, which is a matter of great importance. Quickly send someone to inform His Majesty."

"Yes."

The Princess's Room.

"My beloved consort?!" Prince Qing thought something had really happened to his consort and rushed anxiously into the inner chamber, only to find Princess Qing lying quietly on the bed.

Prince Qing sat on the bed and held Princess Qing's hand, his voice anxious, "Ting'er, don't scare me!"

"Your Highness." It wasn't until the imperial physician spoke that Prince Qing noticed there was another person standing beside him.

"Your Highness, please rest assured. The Princess Consort is simply weak and has been eating irregularly, which is why she fainted. She is not seriously ill."

After hearing the physician's words, Prince Qing finally breathed a sigh of relief. "How is the baby in her womb? Is there anything wrong?"

Although the physician kept his head down, he glanced at Jing Rou and continued, "Your Highness, rest assured, mother and child are safe. This servant has already given the Princess Consort some ginseng slices, but the Princess Consort is weak and will probably have to sleep through the night."

"One night?" Prince Qing's voice was filled with anger, but he was also helpless and could only tell the royal physician to prepare the medicine first.

Now, only Prince Qing, Jing Rou, and Princess Qing, who was lying down, remained in the room.

It was rare for Prince Qing to be angry with Jing Rou. He questioned her, "What exactly happened?"

After carefully checking that no one was eavesdropping, Jing Rou spoke in a low voice, "Father, don't worry."

At the same time, Princess Qing, who was still unconscious on the bed, suddenly opened her eyes.

"This is..." Prince Qing's voice was filled with confusion, but he immediately understood what was going on and went to help Princess Qing. "Is the hairpin lost?"

"Your Highness, it's my fault." Princess Qing's tone was full of self-reproach.

When Princess Qing saw the gold hairpin in Zhang Zhiji's hand, she was uneasy but still wanted to take a gamble. When she and Jing Rou went to the pavilion, the hairpin was indeed gone.

In a moment of quick thinking, Princess Qing summoned the royal physician and feigned fainting to buy time. The plan was to simply tell everyone that only Princess Qing knew the location of the Seven-Colored Sparrow Hairpin, thus preventing them from doing anything.

Upon hearing this, Prince Qing realized that someone had done it deliberately. He lowered his voice and asked, "Gone? How could the hairpin be gone?"

“Father, you may not know this, but after the fire in the accounting office last time, for safety reasons, Mother put some of the jewelry in the attic, including this gold hairpin.”

"But it's strange, when my mother and I went up to the attic to look for it, everything was fine, except for that seven-colored golden hairpin with a sparrow on it," Jingrou quickly explained upon seeing this.

The culprit for the fire in the accounting office last time was never found. Prince Qing rubbed his forehead, realizing it was deliberately caused. He had too many enemies and didn't know where to begin.

"That person could enter and leave the palace and easily steal the hairpin; I'm afraid..."

"Does Your Highness suspect someone from the palace?"

No sooner had Princess Qing finished speaking than there was a knock on the door. "Your Highness, I have brought the imperial physician."