Mad Queen Leaves the Palace

Chapter 110 The Farce at the Princess's Residence

In the bustling, vibrant capital city, stands a magnificent mansion—the Princess's Mansion. Today, this mansion is adorned with lanterns and decorations, filled with joyous celebration, for today should be the birthday of Princess Tai'an.

Princess Tai'an is the elder sister of the current Emperor Yan Zhen, born of the same mother! Time flies like an arrow, and in the blink of an eye, she is now over sixty and approaching the age of sixty. Yet, even so, time seems to have left few marks on her; she remains energetic and radiant, her former charm undiminished.

On this momentous occasion of the princess's sixtieth birthday, the entire princess's residence was brightly decorated, filled with joy and a peaceful atmosphere. Everyone in the residence was busy preparing for this grand celebration.

For this grand birthday celebration, the Princess's residence hosted a lavish banquet, inviting numerous guests to commemorate the occasion. The responsibility of organizing this grand feast fell to Qin Shixun, the eldest grandson of Princess Tai'an and the heir apparent to the Prince of the County. Speaking of this heir apparent, Qin Shixun was renowned throughout the capital. Admittedly, some considered him a spoiled brat, but he differed from those unruly and wicked young men. At most, he enjoyed playing with crickets and occasionally listening to tunes; to date, he had not committed any shocking or excessive acts.

Back in the day, Qin Shixun used to hang out with Yan Nanhui, practically his lackey. However, Yan Nanhui was merely feigning a playboy persona; his true intentions and thoughts were largely unknown. Qin Shixun, on the other hand, was a genuine playboy, obsessed with games like cockfighting and dog racing. Even so, he was kind-hearted by nature and never abused his status to oppress the common people or cause any major trouble.

However, taking advantage of his grandmother's sixtieth birthday celebration, this Prince Qin sent out invitations far and wide. Due to the sheer number of invitations, Ye Lanyi had to spend a fortune and pull strings to finally obtain a precious invitation to the grand event.

In fact, in the bustling and prosperous capital city, banquets of all shapes and sizes abound, as numerous as the stars in the night sky. However, behind these seemingly glamorous banquets, their purposes can be roughly divided into two categories. One is simply to use this social occasion to build connections, curry favor with the powerful, and thus expand one's family or personal network to pave the way for future development. The other purpose is carefully planned by wives with children of marriageable age, who hope to take this opportunity to choose suitable spouses for their children.

However, in this seemingly calm but actually turbulent capital city, rife with intrigue and vying for attention, amidst the lavish banquet where daughters of prominent families showcased their beauty and talents, an unexpected and shocking event occurred. It turned out that the eldest grandson of the revered Princess Tai'an, Prince Qin, had secretly slipped away to a secluded, quiet house beside the garden while the guests were enjoying the delicious food, and engaged in a clandestine affair!

The reason for their capture was utterly absurd! It turned out that Ye Lanyi's personal maidservant had rushed to the front yard in a panic, shouting at the top of her lungs, "Oh no! My young lady has disappeared in the garden!" This shout was quite alarming, as it happened to be overheard by Princess Tai'an who was passing by.

Upon hearing that someone had gone missing in her residence, Princess Tai'an was outraged. She immediately ordered her servants to search for the missing person. Sure enough, as soon as the news spread, the young masters and ladies of the manor, all eager for a good look and harboring their own schemes, rushed to offer their help.

These people, on the surface, seem genuinely kind-hearted and want to help find the missing Ye Lanyi, but in reality, they each have their own ulterior motives. Some genuinely want to help and do someone a favor; but most are plotting to take this opportunity to strike up a conversation with someone they like and get closer to them.

And so, a large group of people followed the panicked maidservant, running around the vast garden. Before long, they spotted Ye Lanyi in a rather secluded courtyard in the northwest corner of the garden. However, something even more surprising happened—accompanying Ye Lanyi was none other than the princess's grandson, Prince Qin!

Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that Ye Lanyi's outer garment had been removed at some point and was now hanging loosely around her waist, leaving her with only a thin overcoat. As for the Prince Qin, his belt was undone, and his once neatly arranged outer garment was now wide open.

Even the most experienced and knowledgeable matrons were stunned by the scene. They exchanged bewildered glances, pondering to themselves: if these two were secretly meeting, why weren't they fully clothed? But if it was just a private rendezvous, why were they both found unconscious? What secrets and hidden circumstances were concealed here? A strange silence fell over the entire scene…

After a while, it was still the Qin heir's mother—the Princess Consort—who ordered the servants to wake up the two unconscious people.

When Ye Lanyi slowly awoke, she groggily opened her eyes, and upon seeing her surroundings, her face paled instantly. Her face was filled with terror, her body trembling, and she insisted that she had been forcibly abducted here, claiming she knew nothing of what had happened afterward. Having said this, Ye Lanyi covered her face and wept bitterly, tears streaming down her face like a burst dam.

At the same time, Qin Shixun finally came to his senses. He looked around blankly, his face full of confusion and astonishment, clearly still reeling from the sudden turn of events. Faced with such a chaotic situation, he opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a complete sentence for a long time.

For a moment, the room was filled with Ye Lanyi's sobbing and Qin Shixun's helpless silence, making the atmosphere extremely awkward.

Ultimately, it was the experienced and decisive Lady of the Prince who broke the deadlock. She first ordered everyone to continue their meal in the front courtyard, then dismissed the servants and maids who were not involved in the matter, leaving only a few trusted confidants present. Subsequently, she had Qin Shixun temporarily taken to a nearby room to await further instructions.

When only the Princess Consort and Ye Lanyi remained at the scene, the Princess Consort slowly spoke, "Miss Ye, in my opinion, today's events are perhaps just a misunderstanding. You know, when we barged in just now, my son's clothes were perfectly intact. Furthermore, I heard from your maid that you were kidnapped within my Prince's residence. But if you insist that this is not a misunderstanding, then why don't we report this matter directly to the Prefect of the Capital and ask them to come and investigate thoroughly?"

Ye Lanyi stood there quietly, her head bowed, like a silent statue. However, if anyone else were to catch a glimpse of her face, they would surely find that her beautiful features were already consumed by resentment and anger.

Today's events were all part of Ye Lanyi's meticulously planned scheme. She cleverly orchestrated a plot, intending to drug Yan Linfeng and successfully luring him here. She thought things would unfold as she had envisioned, but who could have predicted that it wouldn't be Yan Linfeng who appeared here, but rather the Prince's heir—that detestable playboy, Qin Shixun!

Back then, in Ye Lanyi's eyes, Qin Shixun was nothing more than a nobody, not even worthy of carrying her shoes. Now, things are even worse; rumors about her plagiarism have spread rapidly throughout the capital. When she saw that the person who arrived was Qin Shixun, besides shock, she felt a profound sense of helpless resignation.

So, as everyone entered the courtyard, Ye Lanyi began to weep. She sobbed as she recounted how she had been knocked unconscious, completely unaware of how she had ended up in this courtyard. At first, her cries were quite loud, but as time passed, perhaps from crying for too long, or perhaps realizing that further weeping was futile, Ye Lanyi gradually stopped crying loudly and began to sob softly. Her slightly trembling shoulders revealed the unspeakable pain and grievance deep within her heart.

However, the Princess Consort was no ordinary woman. Her husband, Prince Qin Zhiyuan, was the Emperor's own nephew! Although nominally a nephew, he was actually nearly the same age as Yan Zhen. Because of this, Yan Zhen's relationship with Qin Zhiyuan was actually closer than his relationship with Princess Tai'an.

Relying on his special kinship with the emperor's uncle, Qin Zhiyuan acted with utter recklessness, taking concubines one after another, and his so-called confidantes were countless. He even once competed with the head of the Ye family, a wealthy merchant family, for a woman, causing quite a stir. And what happened in the end? The emperor not only didn't punish him, but instead severely punished the head of the Ye family. Only after Consort Ye pleaded on his behalf did Emperor Yan Zhen pardon Ye Zijian.

Let's talk about the principal wife of the Prince of Qin. She was fully aware of all the shady and shameful things that happened in the inner quarters.

Today, Ye Lanyi's maid acted very strangely. She didn't care about the occasion at all and went straight to the front yard to shout that her young mistress was missing, claiming that she had disappeared in the garden.

This matter is suspicious in itself. Logically speaking, one should first report to their master in such a situation. If Ye Lanyi's aunt was not present at the time, then it would be reasonable to quietly explain the situation to her, who is in charge of the inner quarters.

Unless this maid has a deep-seated hatred for Ye Lanyi, the only explanation is that this was all a farce they staged themselves.

Furthermore, the way the maid found Ye Lanyi was truly bizarre. It turned out that it was because Ye Lanyi was wearing an extremely eye-catching cloak today. Leaving aside the cloak's precious material, the sheer amount of gold powder applied to it was enough to draw attention. What young lady would act like this? To recklessly smear so much gold powder on a cloak! Applying gold powder to clothing is either for performance, or for concubines in brothels or palaces vying for favor. Today, this niece of the Imperial Concubine Ye has certainly broadened the Princess's horizons.

The most astonishing thing, however, was what happened next. When everyone arrived, they found that Ye Lanyi's clothes had already been removed, but her young master's clothes were almost all intact. Except for the belt, which was inexplicably discarded to the side, even the outer garment was untouched. Even more bizarrely, according to Qin Shixun, he had drunk too much and wanted to go out to the garden for some fresh air. Unexpectedly, when he reached the garden and ran to a large tree to relieve himself, he was suddenly attacked from behind and instantly fainted. When he regained consciousness, he saw a group of people gathered around him, and Ye Lanyi crying pitifully beside him.

Just then, Ye Lanyi clutched the silk handkerchief tightly in her hand, and her sobs gradually subsided. After all, this act of feigned crying had taken a toll on her energy; she felt weak all over and was panting heavily. Hearing what the Princess Consort said, she inwardly cried out in alarm, knowing that today's matter was unlikely to end well. However, since things had come to this point, further words were useless, so she simply kept silent and slowly stood up. The maid beside her quickly stepped forward, carefully supporting her mistress's arm, afraid that she might lose her balance and fall to the ground.