Chapter 426: Chapter 429: Hidden Killing Intent
As luck would have it, on the way to Moon Viewing Pavilion, Hua Manman happened to run into Wen Zhaorong.
The moment Wen Zhaorong saw Hua Manman, she immediately hurried over and greeted her warmly.
"It’s been a while, Princess Consort Zhao. You’re looking as lovely and radiant as ever!"
Hua Manman immediately put on a business-like smile and exchanged a few pleasantries with her.
She wasn’t familiar with Wen Zhaorong at all.
Normally, after a brief exchange of greetings, they would have politely gone their separate ways.
Wen Zhaorong, however, lacked this self-awareness.
She even took the initiative to link arms with Hua Manman, speaking with cloying affection.
"You rarely come to the palace. Why don’t I show you around?"
Hua Manman struggled to pull her arm back. "Thank you for the kind offer, Wen Zhaorong, but I came to the palace this time to see Hua Zhaorong. She should be waiting for me, and I can’t be late. I hope you’ll understand."
As if oblivious to her rejection, Wen Zhaorong’s smile grew even more enthusiastic.
"Is that so? As it happens, I haven’t seen Hua Zhaorong in a while either. Why don’t we go see her together?"
Hua Manman said with difficulty,
"It would naturally be my honor to accompany you, Wen Zhaorong.
But I’m only a guest, so I can’t make decisions on Hua Zhaorong’s behalf.
I don’t know if it’s convenient for Hua Zhaorong to see you right now.
Perhaps you should visit her in a couple of days instead."
The message was already crystal clear: she was being told to get lost.
Yet Wen Zhaorong acted as if she couldn’t understand plain language, insisting on pestering Hua Manman to take her to Moon Viewing Pavilion.
In truth, Wen Zhaorong didn’t want to go this far, but she simply had no other choice.
Recently, she had been racking her brain for excuses to visit Hua Zhaorong, but she was refused every time for various reasons.
Hua Zhaorong rarely went out, and when she did, she was always surrounded by a large entourage.
It was harder for Wen Zhaorong to get close to her than to climb to the heavens.
Today, upon learning that Princess Consort Zhao had entered the palace, Wen Zhaorong had deliberately waited in advance on the only path to Moon Viewing Pavilion, all so the Princess Consort would take her there.
Doctor Liu had said the fetus in her womb was already showing faint signs of a miscarriage.
She didn’t have much time left.
She had to pin the blame for this on Hua Zhaorong before she miscarried.
Although Hua Manman didn’t know what Wen Zhaorong was plotting, she could guess that she was definitely up to no good.
No matter what sweet words Wen Zhaorong used, Hua Manman didn’t take the bait.
「Inside Moon Viewing Pavilion.」
Hua Qingqing had already ordered someone to prepare tea and refreshments.
She knew her little sister loved to eat, so she had specially sent someone to the Imperial Kitchen and paid the chefs to make a variety of exquisite and delicious desserts.
Everything was ready; all that was missing was her little sister’s arrival.
However, she waited and waited, but the person she was expecting never came.
Hua Qingqing felt a little uneasy.
She sent someone to inquire where her little sister was. Had she gotten lost?
The person she sent out returned quickly.
"Reporting to you, Zhaorong, Princess Consort Zhao has been held up by Wen Zhaorong. It seems she won’t be able to get here for a while."
Hua Qingqing’s gaze instantly turned cold.
It wasn’t that she was unaware of Wen Zhaorong’s hostility toward her. She had been deliberately avoiding Wen Zhaorong recently, hoping to prevent a conflict.
But her avoidance hadn’t made the other party give up. Instead, it had made her more audacious.
Wen Zhaorong actually dared to target her little sister!
Xi Xiang asked cautiously,
"Should this servant go and fetch Princess Consort Zhao?"
Hua Qingqing said coolly, "I’ll go see for myself."
She knew very well that Wen Zhaorong was deliberately holding onto her little sister. A little palace maid like Xi Xiang would never be able to pry her away from Wen Zhaorong.
Hua Qingqing summoned a little eunuch and instructed in a low voice,
"Go and bring Doctor Liu here."
"Yes."
Hua Qingqing’s beautiful eyes seemed gentle, but a murderous intent was hidden deep within them.
’Wen Zhaorong, oh, Wen Zhaorong. You refuse the path to heaven and insist on barging through the gates of hell.’
’You must be tired of living!’
As time ticked by, well past the appointed meeting time with Hua Qingqing, Hua Manman grew quite anxious.
She didn’t want to waste any more time on Wen Zhaorong, so she put on a stern face and said, enunciating each word,
"Hua Zhaorong only invited me. If you want to go, you’ll have to send someone to inform her yourself. Stop clinging to me. I can’t help you."
With that, she turned to leave.
But Wen Zhaorong grabbed her again.
Wen Zhaorong said with a beaming smile, "Why are you in such a hurry? I’m not a tiger. It’s not like I’m going to eat you, am I?"
Hua Manman thought, ’You may not be a tiger, but if you really go crazy, you might as well be one that eats people.’
Facing the utterly shameless Wen Zhaorong, Hua Manman took a deep breath and decided to play her trump card.
"If you keep pestering me like this, I’ll have no choice but to ask Prince Zhao to come over."
Wen Zhaorong was startled. "Prince Zhao came to the palace today too?!"
She didn’t dare face that malevolent star, Prince Zhao, head-on and hastily let go.
Hua Manman felt a little like laughing.
’I never expected Prince Zhao’s reputation to be so terrifying. Just mentioning his name was enough to scare the color from her face.’
Just then, the palace maid accompanying Wen Zhaorong suddenly gave a reminder.
"Hua Zhaorong is here!"
Wen Zhaorong immediately turned and saw a group of people walking toward them.
The person in the lead was none other than Hua Zhaorong.
Wen Zhaorong was overjoyed. ’She actually delivered herself right to my doorstep.’
’Talk about searching high and low for something only to find it when you least expect it!’
Wen Zhaorong put on a brilliant smile.
"Ms. Hua, what brings you here all of a sudden?"
Hua Zhaorong replied, "I came to get my little sister. I didn’t expect to run into Sister Wen here. What a coincidence."
She beckoned to Hua Manman, signaling for her to come over.
Hua Manman immediately scampered over.
When she reached Hua Qingqing’s side, Hua Manman suddenly remembered, ’I still have to maintain my brain-dead villainess persona!’
So, she deliberately tilted her nose to the sky and let out a huff.
"It’s not like I don’t know the way. I don’t need you to come get me."
Hua Qingqing gave an indulgent smile. "I was the one who wanted to see my little sister sooner, so I couldn’t wait to come out and get you."
Hua Manman’s cheeks grew a little hot. ’The female lead is way too smooth!’
Even the System’s voice was filled with adoration.
"Our female lead is so good at taking care of people."
Hua Manman turned her face away, pretending she hadn’t heard Hua Qingqing.
’This behavior must seem so rude,’ she thought. ’It perfectly fits my brain-dead persona.’
In Hua Qingqing’s eyes, however, it was just her little sister being shy, which was truly adorable.
Unwilling to be ignored, Wen Zhaorong spoke up to make her presence known.
"Since we’ve met by such a rare coincidence, why don’t we find a place to sit down together for some tea and a chat?"
Hua Qingqing smiled faintly. "I’m sorry, but I have some private matters to discuss with my little sister alone. It wouldn’t be convenient for an outsider to be present. I’m sure you can understand, Sister, right?"
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