Chapter 249

Having arrived at a consensus with the rest of her family, Chu Xiang was in an excellent mood. Since her family did not have any intentions of dragging her by her feet, her current situation could not be any better. Otherwise, she would have to come up with a plan to get away from their grasp, which would have served as another troublesome factor.

Now that Royal Concubine Qin finally showed herself, there would be people giving all sorts of excuses to come and meet her every day. Since Lee Bohan had passed all authority within the royal palace from his mother to Chu Xiang, she naturally needed to get familiar with everything in the Royal Palace of Qin and earn the respect of all her subordinates. In order to take full control of the affairs within the palace, she went to work immediately.

One had to know that handling the affairs within the Royal Palace of Qin isn’t at all an easy task. But since it was still considered as taking charge of the house, Chu Xiang was not willing to waste too much time on such matters and thus began to groom Zi Yu for the position instead. As the person who was most loyal to Chu Xiang, Zi Yu — despite lacking quick-wittedness — was extremely capable when handling other matters. Very soon, she would become one of the most useful people standing next to Chu Xiang.

Royal Concubine Yu had originally intended to cause trouble for Chu Xiang using her authority within the royal palace, but who knew that Chu Xiang would be able to diffuse any sort of trouble in a calm and composed manner every single time. Furthermore, Chu Xiang had even taken advantage of the opportunity to get rid of her people within the palace. Seeing how Chu Xiang had successfully taken over the royal palace, Royal Concubine Yu began to make things difficult for her with trivial matters. The first time, Chu Xiang didn’t bother much with her. The second time, Chu Xiang ordered someone to call Lee Bohan over for support. The third time, Chu Xiang made up an excuse to not show up anymore.

At this moment, Chu Xiang was the woman whom Lee Bohan adored and loved most. Thus, Royal Concubine Yu simply could not find another opportunity to deal with her. In fact, she had even been angered near death.

One time, Royal Concubine Yu meticulously picked out two palace maids as beautiful as flowers and said to Chu Xiang, “Since you’re usually busy handling the affairs of the royal palace, I’m afraid you’ll end up neglecting Han’er. These two women were specially hand-picked by me. Bring them back so that they can serve Han’er properly.”

Surely, she wouldn’t dare to decline an elder’s gift. Royal Concubine Yu had purposely chosen to do this when they were out on a flower viewing trip with the other officials’ wives so that Chu Xiang would have no way of declining her. Only by doing so could she prevent Chu Xiang from obstructing Lee Bohan from taking in another concubine. She then waited in a calm and composed manner in anticipation of seeing Chu Xiang’s sullen expression and waiting for her to accept her gift.

In contrast to her initial expectations, Chu Xiang replied without even shooting a single at the two palace maids, “I’m afraid that I won’t be able to fulfill Mother’s wish. His Highness had already promised me that he won’t be needing any palace maids to serve her. Everyone by his side had already been replaced with inner court attendants.”

Royal Concubine Yu showed an expression of displeasure. “What do you mean by that? Could it be that you’re really a jealous woman?”

“Why can’t I be one?” Chu Xiang chuckled. “Mother, it’s not like I’m the one insisting against you. It’s just that I cannot trample on His Highness’ sincerity. If Mother continues insisting on sending palace maids over, I’m afraid His Highness will forfeit their lives if he ends up snapping. Thus, I hope Mother will think twice before doing so.”

At that point, Royal Concubine Yu was fuming in rage. “Miss Chu! How dare you!”

Chu Xiang replied, “Mother, how could you say that? I was only speaking the truth. Then, why don’t Mother send people over to His Highness personally? If His Highness ends up accepting your gifts, then I’ll have nothing to say.”

At that moment, Royal Concubine Yu’s face turned slightly pale with a hint of green. Causing such a scene in front of so many people, she could not help but feel exceptionally humiliated. “Y-You! You’re using your flowery words to brainwash Han’er! You better not forget your own status. What qualifications do you have to prevent Han’er from taking in other concubines? I have never come across anyone as shameless as you!”

Breaking off a flower bud and crushing it in her hands, Chu Xiang stood up and looked straight at Royal Concubine Yu. “Since Mother is so displeased, I will no longer stay here as a hindrance in your sight. Mother’s health isn’t doing so well, so you guys better not trouble her too much. Why not take her back earlier to get some rest?”

The few wives of the officials jolted up hastily as they certainly could not afford to offend either of them. Neither daring to leave nor stay here, they felt extremely troubled.

Upon seeing this, Royal Concubine Yu pointed at Chu Xiang and denounced indignantly, “A witch! You’re exactly like a witch!”

Just as Chu Xiang left the place with her servants, her lips curled up into a slight smile as she was satisfied with her new nickname. Surely, she had done much more than Lee Bohan initially asked of her, right?

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