Liu Jingyu had already heard the noise outside and came to the door.
After calming down, she watched the eunuch lift the curtain, and a gentle smile appeared on her face. She suppressed her irritation. She couldn't push the prince away. She had to do it the same way as before...
But when she thought that this man was the one who indirectly harmed her offspring, she felt a surge of anger in her heart. If the prince and Ji Youran had not been involved in an affair for a long time, she would never have been harmed by Ji Youran.
Ji Hanyue was really useless. She didn't even notice that Ji Youran was having an affair with the prince right under her nose... Ji Hanyue deserved to die...
Liu Jingyu bowed, Pei Luoan gave her a little help, and the two of them went in and sat down.
Pei Luoan picked up the tea that Liu Jingyu poured, took a sip, and put it down with a frown: "Crown Princess, you have to step in to handle this matter."
"Me? Your Highness... What can I say?" Liu Jingyu asked blankly.
"It's better for you to come forward than for me to do it. There has to be an explanation for Ji Youran's matter." Pei Luoan said.
"What...what's the explanation?" Liu Jingyu felt uneasy, and the handkerchief in his hand was twisted into a knot.
Pei Luoan sighed, reached out and held her hand, his eyes softened, and there was affection in his eyes: "Jingyu, I'm sorry for this matter. In the future... I will compensate you. I swear here that I will never let you down. No matter how far we go, I will share the glory with you. In the future... everything I have will be passed on to the offspring you give birth to, and I will never let you down."
"Your Highness, you... why are you saying this?" Liu Jingyu couldn't sit still anymore and stood up suddenly.
Pei Luoan let out a deep breath, pulled Liu Jingyu to sit down, still holding Liu Jingyu's hand tightly, with some sadness in his eyes: "Regarding Ji Youran's matter, my father has repeatedly reprimanded me and asked me to finish the matter as soon as possible. This time I must find something, otherwise I will lose the clue again."
Pei Luoan had a terrible headache. In just a few days, he felt that he had aged a lot.
Every time I saw my father, I was either scolded or about to be scolded.
He was so rebuked that he hardly dared to go to the palace.
Pei Yusheng had ridiculed him a lot in the past few days, and he showed a concerned expression when he saw him. Although the other ministers seemed respectful, they were too respectful and not close enough to him. The few who had a good relationship with him before became more respectful when they saw him, and were no longer like before.
Pei Luoan knew very well what this meant.
He could hardly control the irritation in his heart, but he had to suppress it. He had been spending the past few days just to celebrate the New Year. Ji Youran's affairs seemed to be all Ji Youran's business, but the unspoken words had unpleasant meanings.
Pei Luoan was afraid that things would get worse if things were delayed any longer. Not only would he have a hard time explaining to his father, but he would completely lose the emperor's favor. A prince who lost the emperor's favor would find it difficult to keep his position.
His position was already shaky, and now it looked even more tilted...
"You...what do you want?" Liu Jingyu's voice trembled and his face turned pale immediately. Although his hand was held tightly by Pei Luoan, he could not sense any warmth.
"Ji Youran committed suicide on the grounds that... she didn't do her best and was punished by you, so she couldn't get over it!" Pei Luoan patted Liu Jingyu's white and tender hands gently, his eyes full of affection, "Jingyu, don't worry, you have been wronged this time, I will always remember it."
Liu Jingyu's whole body was cold, and at this moment even his breathing was slow.
Heavy.
This was to push Ji Youran's affairs onto her. Ji Youran was demoted to a lady, but now people outside were saying that she was a concubine. Plus, her original identity was not ordinary. She was the daughter of the Ling Anbo Mansion. If she admitted to this, Ji Youran would be equivalent to dying in her hands.
Even if Ji Youran committed a thousand crimes, it was not her turn to force a concubine to death.
Even if the matter is resolved, it will haunt you and you won't be able to get rid of it. You will even be branded as "cruel" in history.
To be more specific, can her position as Crown Princess really withstand this
"Your Highness... It's not that I don't want to. I've already said that Concubine Ji committed suicide out of fear of punishment. Now saying it's my fault will make people think it's even more unbelievable." Liu Jingyu said slowly, her beautiful eyes full of tears, holding Pei Luoan with her backhand, "Your Highness, if you want me to take the blame, it's fine, but this method is not feasible, and it will even make people think that Your Highness is deliberately shirking responsibility."
Pei Luoan's brows were knotted, he knew this was the truth, but now he was desperate and had to try any possible means to distance himself from him, even if it had little effect.
"Ji Youran's matter involves too many people. It will make people feel that the safety of our Eastern Palace is compromised. They may even think that a woman... I cannot let anyone criticize my reputation. We should tell the outside world that Ji Youran stayed in the palace because of the former Crown Princess, but was never favored. However, she was the only female member in the palace at that time, so she should be in charge of the Eastern Palace's affairs temporarily."
"After you married me, you were in charge of the affairs of the Eastern Palace. Ji Youran kept provoking you, and I really didn't like it, so I asked you to look after her. She acted crazy before, saying she was pregnant, but it was later confirmed that it was false, and then she accidentally fell and broke her leg... She has been stirring up trouble in the Eastern Palace. If it weren't for her cousin, the former Crown Princess, I would have sent her out of the palace long ago."
Pei Luoan frowned.
Liu Jingyu could hardly believe her ears. The prince actually pushed the whole thing onto her, saying that she was under his watch and that she had repeatedly provoked her and stirred up trouble in the East Palace. In the end, this was an inner court matter and her own business.
“Your Highness…” Liu Jingyu said in a sad voice, his face pale and his body trembling slightly.
"Jingyu, you are the only one I can trust now. Only you can make me truly believe that Hanyue is gone. There is no Hanyue in this world anymore. Only you are left."
The deep affection in Pei Luoan's eyes was what Liu Jingyu longed for the most before, but now she felt it was so heavy that it was overwhelming her.
"Your Highness..."
"Jingyu, don't worry. I will explain this matter to my father. As for the others... I won't tell them directly, but when the time comes, my mother might ask about it. You should bear with it for now. Even if my mother scolds you, I will protect you and will never let her punish you for it."
Pei Luoan assured.
Liu Jingyu didn't know what to say. He just felt weak all over. He staggered and almost fell.
"Your Highness... How will the Queen reprimand me?"
Pei Luoan pulled her in, helped her sit down on a chair beside him, and comforted her gently: "I will inform the Queen Mother in advance. There are rumors outside that I was bewitched by Ji Youran. If you come forward, you can also clear my name."
"Your Highness... What do you really want to do?"
"Jingyu, I am sorry for what I have done to you. I will remember this for the rest of my life. From now on, I will
I will keep you in my heart, no one else, only you." Pei Luoan stared at Liu Jingyu and said slowly.
"Just do as your Highness says." Liu Jingyu said weakly, closing her eyes tightly. What else could she do now? What else should she do? "Your Highness, if in the future I..."
"Jingyu, no matter what happens to you in the future, you are always the one I keep in my heart. Everything that belongs to me in the future will also belong to you." Pei Luoan looked at her affectionately.
"If...if in the future I...if I don't give birth to a child..."
"Don't worry, everything I have in the future will only belong to you and my child. It has to be like this. Even if you are born late, I will not be in a hurry." Pei Luoan made his "most sincere" promise at this time.
No matter how late the child is born, it can only be Liu Jingyu's.
"Thank you, Your Highness." Liu Jingyu let go of Pei Luoan's hand and bowed deeply...
At this point, this is the biggest benefit she can get, which is better than nothing...
The Queen's decree came very quickly. Almost when Pei Luoan left the yard to deal with things in the study in the outer courtyard, the palace summons had arrived, and Liu Jingyu followed the eunuch who summoned him into the palace.
In the Pepper Room, Liu Jingyu knelt with his head down.
"You are the Crown Prince's principal wife, so you should be more generous and decent, and you must not be negligent or treat her badly. Ji Youran is jealous and has a bad temper. The Crown Prince has talked to you about this before, but you ignored these things and just punished her without trying to find out and solve the problem. How can a principal wife respond like this?"
The Queen glared at Liu Jingyu and spoke slowly.
Although the three concubines sitting next to him didn't say anything and didn't even dare to look at Liu Jingyu, Liu Jingyu still felt deeply ashamed.
Tears welled up in her eyes, and Liu Jingyu bowed her head to admit her fault: "It's... it's my negligence... Your Highness did tell me about Concubine Ji's character and asked me to pay more attention and bear more responsibility. I was negligent for a while... I didn't expect something like this to happen."
"Didn't expect it? You, the Crown Princess, couldn't even think of such a thing, and now there's trouble. One carelessness has caused everything to this extent." The Queen said unceremoniously, "Originally, the Crown Prince entrusted you with this kind of backyard affairs, but look at what it has become now. Now people are criticizing the Crown Prince so much, you... you really are..."
The queen pointed at Liu Jingyu and was so angry that she was speechless.
The so-called criticisms outside were all about Pei Luoan being seduced by women and not even knowing that his official Princess Consort's birth certificate had been replaced, and he knew nothing about what happened afterwards.
The prince ruined the country because of women!
This is the most direct thought triggered by Ji Youran's incident. Regardless of whether Ji Youran is dead or not, the incident happened in the East Palace, next to the prince, and the prince knew nothing about it, which also represents incompetence.
But if the prince knew about this earlier, and even warned Liu Jingyu about it, then it would be her, the crown princess’s business...
The prince used the technique of grafting well.
What's even better is that Pei Luoan went to the palace to plead for Liu Jingyu, kneeling in front of the Queen, asking the Queen to forgive her negligence this time because Liu Jingyu had just entered the Eastern Palace not long ago, and she would definitely not do it again next time. He also said that this matter was his fault, and he didn't explain it clearly at the time, and maybe Liu Jingyu misunderstood...
In a nutshell, the prince is kind and willing to take all the blame, but in fact, it was all Liu Jingyu's fault...