The Villainous Consort (GL) - Chapter 46

“What do you mean? Make yourself clear! What do you mean by ‘you can see’… You’re talking nonsense…” the Grand Elder growled, his voice a mixture of alarm and fury. He had spent his entire life believing in the restoration of the former dynasty; hearing such a prophecy was unbearable.

Qi Yu shook her head. Claiming she could “see” the future was indeed nonsense, but saying these people would fail was the absolute truth—after all, it was written in the book. This group was destined to be executed.

Seeing her silence, the Grand Elder suppressed his anger and spoke coaxingly, “Young Master, you must be joking. Don’t speak out of spite. Once the country is restored, you will be the Grand Princess, above tens of thousands. You must assist Qi De well; he is your biological brother, the true dragon, the…”

The Grand Elder continued to drone on.

Qi Yu didn’t want to listen anymore. Qi Yu (To Give)… Qi De (To Get)? One to give, one to get. How disgusting.

She turned around and walked toward the corner, where she saw the master and servant pair eavesdropping quite openly.

Qi Yu froze, then explained awkwardly, “I was just bluffing him for fun. I can’t actually see anything. My ‘ability’ is hit-or-miss. You didn’t actually believe me, did you?”

The Eldest Princess looked at her and remained silent, simply shaking her head.

Han Shui, however, nodded vigorously. “Yes, we didn’t believe you at all.”

Qi Yu: “…” So, did they believe me or not?

And besides, these two had zero integrity. What happened to “not listening”?

Back above ground, the three of them remained silent as they walked into the study in the rear courtyard. Once the servants brought out the cold tea, the Princess spoke with a faint, knowing smile.

“Does the Prince Consort truly not want it?”

“Want what?” Qi Yu looked up blankly.

The Princess’s smile didn’t fade. “To be a Princess, to have all this glory and wealth. People are greedy; who can truly treat all of this as passing clouds?”

Qi Yu let out a light laugh. “If I said I wanted it, would you give it to me?”

She was a common person, too. Who doesn’t like power and wealth? But in this life, liking something is one thing; spending a lifetime scheming for it is another. She truly didn’t want to waste her short, singular life on external possessions.

Some things are nice to have, but if you don’t have them, it’s fine. One must learn to be content and know what they truly want.

The Princess’s expression turned serious. “I cannot give it to you now because I do not have it. But if I truly own this world in the future, it wouldn’t be impossible to share it equally with you.”

“I’m not interested. When the time comes, a divorce letter from the Princess will be enough.” Qi Yu picked up her teacup and took a few sips.

The cold tea of summer had a refreshing, slightly detached fragrance. It was very thirst-quenching.

Beside them, Han Shui’s mouth twitched. Mistress is too generous—sharing the world? Where is your logic? And this Prince Consort is so pretentious—not interested? Just a divorce letter? Where is your conscience?

The Princess fell silent. For some reason, if someone else had said those words, she wouldn’t have believed them. But when this person said them, she believed.

Imperial power and wealth couldn’t compare to a letter of divorce.

She also thought of the line from the dungeon: “I only kept Nanny Li in my heart; I only considered her family.”

The Princess felt a tightening in her chest. She opened her mouth, wanting to ask: ‘What am I in your heart?’

But she couldn’t ask. She was afraid the answer would be even more disappointing. Better not to ask.

After a moment of silence, Qi Yu set down her cup. “Will the Grand Elder be kept locked up like this? What if he seeks death?”

The old man likely wouldn’t say anything useful anyway. She only asked because she didn’t know what else to say.

“If he wants to die, let him. But human nature usually leans toward living,” the Princess said coldly.

Han Shui chimed in, “That old man is very afraid of death. He eats every bit of his steamed buns. If he really wanted to die, he would have met the King of Hell long ago.”

“That makes sense. Haha, I was overthinking it.” Qi Yu went back to drinking her tea.

The room went quiet again. The Princess looked Qi Yu up and down. “Does the Prince Consort truly have the ability to see through the world? Even if it’s hit-or-miss, it’s extremely rare. You seemed very certain when you spoke to the Grand Elder.”

“Cough…” Qi Yu almost choked. Why are we back on this?

She didn’t have foresight. She was certain they would fail because it was in the book. And if destiny were fixed… she would be torn apart by horses, and the Princess would be executed by a thousand cuts. Neither of them was destined for a good end.

But things were different now. The female lead was inseparable from Chu Chanyi; the plot had changed long ago.

Qi Yu looked at the Princess. She didn’t believe in that destiny. If it existed, she would change it.

“I had a vague premonition once. The Grand Elder and his people should fail. But you, Princess… you won’t.”

You must succeed, or we both die.

Unfortunately, the book focused on the male and female leads, recording the struggles of the Second Prince and Ai Ye. It wasn’t very useful for them.

“Of course Mistress won’t fail,” Han Shui interjected, glaring at Qi Yu. “As if she’d lose to that ‘garlic-headed’ Second Prince.”

The Princess remained silent. In truth, she didn’t have that much confidence. For years, for the sake of her remaining sibling bond and not to distress her father, she had hidden her talents and endured. Now, she relied only on the Emperor’s trust and the choices of loyal ministers.

But people are unreliable. Especially ministers—while many are good, the instinct to seek benefit and avoid harm is human. If the Second Prince promised power, the majority might become the minority.

She, however, stubbornly followed the words of her mentor and father: no forming factions, prioritizing the country and the people. Aside from the guards raised by the Manor, she had no other leverage.

The Second Prince was different. Over the years, he had recruited the “fence-sitters” of the Censorate, as well as the Minister of Rites (from a branch of the Li family) and the Minister of Works. Two of the Six Ministries were already in his pocket.

The good news was that she always listened to her mentor, and her mentor would always choose her. Everyone knew the Eldest Princess’s first teacher was the current head of the Li family, the man in charge of the Ministry of Personnel: Li Futang. He was the most popular candidate to succeed as Prime Minister.

The Li family was the capital’s greatest century-old clan. Their motto was to be “selfless and for the people.” As long as they remained impartial, the Emperor trusted them most. But in any large forest, there are all kinds of birds—like Li Guangbai and Li Chuanlian, who abandoned the family motto to join the Second Prince.

“Have you ever met Prime Minister Chu?” The Princess glanced at Qi Yu.

If Chu Yuan also favored her, then with the head of all officials and the head of the Six Ministries on her side, the result would be obvious.

“I haven’t… I think.” Qi Yu wasn’t sure. Given the close relationship between Chu Chanyi and the original host, she should have visited the Prime Minister’s Manor. But for a long time, they usually met at Lou Shang Lou. Chu Chanyi had visited the National Teacher’s Manor and the Princess’s Manor, but Qi Yu had never been to the Prime Minister’s house.

“I haven’t… I think”? What kind of answer is that? Don’t you know if you’ve met someone?

The Princess said leisurely, “As Miss Chu’s good friend, since she is currently in a difficult position, the Prince Consort should go pay a visit.”

Qi Yu’s expression turned solemn. “I’ve never dealt with Prime Minister Chu. What if I fail to win him over? Perhaps the Princess should go with me; two people have a better chance.”

The Princess laughed brilliantly. “Given Prime Minister Chu’s character, he isn’t someone who can be ‘won over’ by others.”

“Then you mean…” Qi Yu was confused.

“Lately, you can visit the Manor to see Miss Chu often. No need to avoid suspicion. Only one thing,” the Princess’s eyes held a hint of a smile. “I want you to—absolutely not—try to win over Prime Minister Chu.”

Qi Yu was baffled again. What does that mean? Absolutely not win him over? Did I hear that right?!

After lunch, Qi Yu arrived at the Prime Minister’s Manor in a daze.

Though the Prince Consort held no official rank, she was royalty. Prime Minister Chu granted her an audience, but it was just a brief exchange of greetings before he left.

However, Chu Chanyi’s father, Chu Yan, invited Qi Yu to a private courtyard.

Fifteen minutes later, Qi Yu sat at a stone table, looking at the chessboard and then at the white-haired, white-bearded Chu Yan. She had come to see her friend; why was she being interrogated by the father? She hadn’t even seen Chanyi or Ai Ye yet.

“Senior, I don’t know how to play chess,” Qi Yu said cautiously.

Chu Yan looked up. He didn’t want to play chess either. “The Emperor has a son and a daughter, so the love between the Princess and the Prince Consort is a happy occasion. But this old man only has one daughter, Chanyi. If she stays with a woman, not only will her bloodline end, but who will take care of her when she is old?”

Qi Yu understood. The senior couldn’t get through to Chanyi, so he was trying to convince the best friend.

“Senior, you’ve probably said all this to Chanyi, right?”

Chu Yan sighed. “I’ve talked until my mouth is dry, but it’s useless. She knows I love her, so she won’t budge. She insists on spending her life with that Xidao Princess. Sigh…”

Thinking of Ai Ye made him angry. Last time, he had even knelt down and begged her to leave his daughter. Instead, that Princess—having no shame—knelt right back down with her forehead to the ground, begging him not to break them apart. It was infuriating.

Qi Yu looked at Chu Yan meaningfully. “Chanyi is only acting this way because she knows you truly love her. Isn’t that the only thing she can rely on?”

She believed this great scholar would understand. If one truly loves their child, how can they ignore their child’s wishes and force them to be with someone they don’t love? Some people claim to love their children, but they actually only love their own reputation.

She gambled that Chu Yan wasn’t that kind of person. She gambled that he truly wanted his daughter to be happy.