"Cousin... no matter where they are, they are all my father's men. My father is the crown prince, and in the beginning, he was the only legitimate heir. Even if those men are in the capital, they are just following my father's orders to protect you. Do you really think that all this belongs to you?"
Prince Qi Lie was not polite either.
"What do you mean?" Mrs. Liu said with a gloomy face.
"Whatever my cousin means, that's what I mean." Prince Qi Lie said unhappily.
"Do you want to perish with me?" Mrs. Liu threatened.
"If my cousin doesn't care about the Crown Princess, I have nothing to say. I heard that the Crown Princess is not having an easy time in the Eastern Palace now because of the affairs between my cousin and the Liu Mansion. The Crown Princess has been implicated again and again. If she continues to be implicated, she will just be locked up in the Eastern Palace. I have heard that the Crown Prince has deep feelings for the former Crown Princess and is actually unwilling to marry her again."
Prince Qilie sneered.
She is just a useless woman, but she actually thinks she is an indispensable person.
Prince Qi Lie had not originally intended to have such a hostile conversation, but he had no choice but to accept that his cousin did not look like a smart person and actually dared to threaten him.
"Comparing the fact that he was originally from Northern Frontier and had some plans for the Great Zhou Dynasty, or the fact that he was born to a Crown Princess but had the same bloodline as the King of Ni, which one do you think is more surprising, cousin?"
The reason why he was able to go from being an ordinary prince to becoming the second heir to the throne was not only due to the bloodline of the princess mother, but also his scheming.
"What... do you mean?" Madam Liu said sternly, her chest heaving with anger.
"Cousin... can you still speak calmly?" Prince Qi Lie looked at her and suddenly smiled again, "If cousin can still calm down, it means we still have something to talk about. If cousin has this attitude as soon as she comes, we actually have no intention of continuing the conversation."
The strange prince's smile was a little cold.
Madam Liu really wanted to slap the man in front of her twice to let him see who is the master in this area of the capital.
But she couldn't. Not only that, she had to speak nicely. The current situation was not good. Although she was now the biological mother of the Crown Princess, the relationship between them was even greater than before.
She can ignore her daughter, but she cannot ignore herself.
For so many years, she has been waiting for the day when she can become the true master of this dynasty, so she absolutely cannot let things go wrong at this moment.
The current predicament is only temporary. When he can stand up again, this cousin in front of him, even if he is his uncle in the northern border, will have to act according to his wishes.
Now... just temporarily...
He sat down slowly and glanced at the tea stains on the table expressionlessly.
"What do you want to say? You've withdrawn all my people. What should I do if I need to make arrangements?" Although his voice was much calmer, his words were very stiff.
"Someone, come and change the tea." Prince Qilie called the outsiders to come in and clean up.
After the tea was served again, Prince Qilie picked up the teacup in front of him, took a sip, and then slowly put it down. The smile on his face looked much more sincere: "Cousin, this is the tea that Da Zhou gave me. I heard that it is today's tribute tea. It's really good. Cousin, try it."
Mrs. Liu had no appetite for tea at this moment, but she still picked up the teacup, touched it to her lips, and then put it down.
Prince Qi Lie also took a sip and put down the teacup in his hand: "Cousin... It's not what I want to do. It's difficult for me to do it. I can't bring too many people to the capital, for fear of being discovered. I went to the capital with Duke Yu. Duke Yu is very shrewd. I couldn't insert people along the way. After arriving in the capital, there are many things to investigate. I can only use my cousin's manpower."
"Even if you wanted to use my manpower, why did you take them all away?" Madam Liu glared at him.
"I don't want to take everyone away. It's just that something happened to my cousin. My subordinates were already panicking. When they heard that I had entered the capital, they came to me one by one to beg me. I thought I was going to use them anyway, so I agreed to their wishes and moved them to another place, at least it should be safe. The Liu Mansion has become the center of controversy now. Who knows when something bad will happen again?"
Prince Qi Lie shook his head when he said this, "Cousin, I'm not saying anything bad about you, but you've been in the capital for so many years, how come you can't even handle such a small matter? You've made the Liu Mansion look like this, and my cousin's husband is in a bad situation now, and even the Crown Princess is implicated. This... what should I do?"
Madam Liu's chest was filled with anger again. She gritted her teeth and was so angry that she couldn't even speak for a moment.
"Cousin... I'm doing this for your own good. If we hide, others won't be able to find us even if they try to find us. You're not safe around me right now."
Prince Qilie said again.
"I... need to hire someone, what should I do?" Madam Liu only hated that she had no ability now, otherwise she would make sure this cousin knew who was the one in charge in the capital.
"If my cousin has anything to do, she must come to me like she did today. How can I go against her wishes? We are blood relatives, and we have suffered the pain of losing a relative. We can't be estranged at this time. What belongs to my cousin is mine. Besides, didn't many people come from Northern Xinjiang in the early days?"
He came from the northern border and was sent by my father to protect this cousin.
They have stayed in the capital for so many years, but in fact, these people have always been my father's people.
Prince Qi Lie thought that this cousin he was meeting for the first time was ridiculous. Did she really think that all these people belonged to her? This was too naive.
"If I need someone, I have to come to you?" Madam Liu took a few deep breaths before suppressing her anger.
"Cousin... This is for the good of all of us. You don't want the Crown Princess to get into trouble again, right? The Crown Princess should get pregnant first. Then, even if the Crown Prince still values the deceased Crown Princess in the future, it doesn't matter. Isn't the most important thing for a woman to have children?"
Prince Qilie spoke kindly.
Madam Liu's face twisted, and she almost slapped the smiling face in front of her. What did she mean by that? Did she think that she was interfering too much? Did she think that she should just have children in the mansion, and that this kind of thing had nothing to do with her? Why had it nothing to do with her? Wasn't there a female emperor in history
Madam Liu is a very arrogant person. She was like this when she was young, and even more so when she grew up.
To her, Liu Borui was nothing more than a tool. How could she have any feelings for a tool!
But no matter how much this tool is not hers, it is still her tool, and she doesn't want others to covet it. Moreover, using this tool to eliminate a potential enemy first, this tool is still very useful.
Before she knew her life experience, Madam Liu was so proud. After knowing her life experience, she felt that she should be even more proud.
Her background and her bloodline were enough to make her look down upon all other women. Even being a princess was nothing. If... she had succeeded, she would at least be a princess, a true princess of the royal family.
Over the years, Madam Liu felt that all the ups and downs were a joke. She seemed to have been hiding behind the scenes, watching others' ups and downs, and in the end, she was nothing.
This feeling is amazing, controlling other people's lives, controlling other people's destinies, and controlling the entire trajectory of events.
This feeling made her addicted, and also made her realize that she could actually go further. Even if she couldn't really ascend to the throne, wouldn't it be better if she could control the person on the throne
But now, after she had been slapped hard in the face by her cousin, she was slapped again by her cousin, which made her realize once again that she had no way of reaching that position.
He took a deep breath and suppressed the rage that was burning in his heart: "Cousin, I need someone right now."
"What's the use, cousin?" Prince Qi Lie smiled, looking very friendly, just as friendly as when they first met. "Cousin, you also know that this is an extraordinary period. Everyone is paying attention to us. It is inconvenient for you to move, and it is also inconvenient for me to move. If it is not necessary, cousin, you should just stay at ease for the time being."
This is a disguised rejection.
Mrs. Liu's face turned blue with anger, but she didn't fight back.
After taking a deep look at Prince Qi Lie, Madam Liu stood up and said, "Since my cousin is having some trouble, I will find a way myself."
Prince Qi Lie also stood up, "What do you want to do, cousin? I can still do the small things."
He didn't really want to break up with Madam Liu. He came to the capital this time originally to seek help from his cousin, but he didn't expect that his cousin's situation would be so bad.
Not only is it bad, it also looks like it might involve many people and things.
Every one of the people sent here is very important, and Prince Qilie is unwilling to sacrifice them in vain.
This cousin disappointed him very much.
His tough attitude just now was also to intimidate this cousin, so that she would not think of something unnecessary and think that she would not say anything, and then make such a fuss now.
If the Crown Princess is in power, if Madam Liu is in power, what does it mean to me now
In the letters that Madam Liu wrote to the Northern Frontier in the past, she always reported good news but never bad news. Prince Qi Lie never imagined that Madam Liu's scenic spot had become such a mess.
If he knew... whether he would come or not is another matter.
"Since you have something to do here, I won't bother you." Madam Liu said coldly, "Since those people are in your hands, it's good, so that if something happens to your cousin, there will be no one to take care of him."
After saying that, he turned and was about to leave.
"Cousin... wait a minute, I have relocated everyone else. Only one place is left. If you need anyone, you can send someone to take a look." Prince Qi Lie didn't really want to offend Madam Liu, so he relaxed his tone and told her about that place.
He added, "If you need help from there, you can use them, but please be careful when you do so. You are not safe right now. Those people were sent here by my father with great effort. There can't be any difference. The capital may be affected. I have some help from myself, so it's best to use them. I am the legitimate daughter of the Duke of Qi, you must not forget this!"
When it came to the last sentence, the implication in Prince Qi Lie's words was very obvious.