Nonsense! She’s Not a Bad Woman! - Chapter 85

Qiao Wanyan only smiled faintly without saying a word. Deep down, the Crown Prince staying behind to accompany her back to the capital did not move her in the slightest.

Back then, he had used the excuse of searching for scar-removing ointment in the Valley of the Apothecary to accompany her. Now that they were returning to the capital, naturally, he had to return as well. This was nothing more than completing the act.

As for his so-called “giving up on escorting Qiao Yihuan and choosing to accompany her instead”—pretty words were cheap.

Did he really think she would be touched and grateful?

Qiao Wanyan lowered her gaze, quietly eating her osmanthus cakes. She had always been vengeful by nature. Misunderstood, neglected, and forced to back down by the Crown Prince—she would return every grievance in the future.

She would make sure that once he fell for her, she would abandon him for another man. She would make sure he, too, suffered the cold indifference born of misunderstanding!

Suddenly, the sharp sound of horse hooves shattered the calm outside the carriage. A moment later, a man’s anxious voice rang out.

“Your Highness! On Miss Qiao’s journey back to the capital, she encountered the Tenth Princess. The princess was ambushed and pursued. We were barely able to protect Her Highness and Miss Qiao, but now we’re trapped. I risked my life to break out and report!”

Qiao Wanyan frowned. The Tenth Princess?

Wasn’t she far away in her fiefdom?

Why would she suddenly return to the capital?

This wasn’t in the original story either. The tale only mentioned that the Tenth Princess died suddenly a few years after marriage. Because her mother’s rank was low and she wasn’t favored, her remains weren’t even sent back to the imperial mausoleum but were buried hastily in her fief.

She glanced at He Zhiyu’s worried expression and knew that she couldn’t stop him even if she tried. So, she tactfully spoke up, urging him to hurry and save them.

“Wanyan, Gu will leave Jingyuan here to protect you. Since my imperial sister has returned without warning and was ambushed, Gu must personally go.”

“Your Highness, please take care. I’ll be waiting for you at my elder sister’s country estate.”

He Zhiyu nodded, ordering Jingyuan to take the official road back with the carriage. Then, with only a handful of guards, he spurred his horse into the shortcut path.

He remembered Yihuan’s words—return to the capital quickly—so he chose the faster route.

Once he was gone, Qiao Wanyan frowned in deep thought. This development is completely different from the story. Could it be that my presence has already triggered a chain of changes?

“Second Miss.” Jingyuan’s voice suddenly sounded, and at the same time, the carriage slowed to a halt.

Qiao Wanyan pulled back from her thoughts. “What is it?”

Jingyuan gestured to the roadside ahead, where a young man lay unconscious. Judging by his appearance, he seemed to be a scholar not yet past his youth.

“Second Miss, there’s a man lying by the road. He seems to have fainted. He’s not dead yet, but in this weather, if we leave him, he’ll be gone soon.”

Qiao Wanyan tucked back a loose strand of hair by her temple, her tone languid. “Well, isn’t that unfortunate.”

Jingyuan fell silent, waiting for her to say more. But even after a long while, she offered no further instructions.

Jingyuan: “…”

Seriously? Just moments ago, when His Highness was around, Second Miss spoke with such gentle understanding. And now that he’s gone, she won’t even bother to keep up the act?

Does she think I know too well what her true nature is, so there’s no need to pretend in front of me?

Doesn’t she fear I’ll report this to the Crown Prince?

Jingyuan sighed inwardly. Just as he was about to urge the horses forward, he noticed the young man stirring faintly, trying but failing to sit up.

In a weak, hoarse voice, the scholar pleaded, “Please… please save me, young master. I… I am a disciple of Minister Qiao…”

Jingyuan froze. Minister Qiao? Isn’t that Second Miss’s father?

With a creak, the carriage window slid open. A peerlessly beautiful face, flawless as carved jade, appeared within.

Qiao Wanyan glanced at the man, but her mind drew a complete blank—no trace of recognition at all.

Her father had countless students. As Minister of Revenue and the head of a great aristocratic clan, he naturally attracted followers.

The so-called aristocratic families thrived by monopolizing knowledge. For a poor scholar who wished to climb the ladder of the imperial examinations, having connections often meant seeking apprenticeship under such clans in exchange for access to books and teachings.

She had seen several of her father’s most favored disciples, yet this man before her didn’t match any of the faces in her memory.

Closing the carriage door, she seemed to have looked merely out of curiosity. Even if she had seen him before, she had no intention of saving him.

The man spoke again: “I am Minister Qiao’s student. My name is Xu Shujian. I beg the young lady to take pity and save me.”

“Stop the carriage!” Qiao Wanyan ordered.

The horses halted at once. Ziyuan asked in surprise, “Miss, what’s wrong?”

Qiao Wanyan’s expression shifted slightly. Xu Shujian… she had seen this name before—in a storybook.

Though the mention had been brief, it was enough.

This man was a poor scholar who had once stunned the county examinations, taking first place. Her father had taken notice and recruited him, eventually bringing him to the capital as one of his most prized disciples.

Xu Shujian had not disappointed. Later, he placed first in the provincial exams, and in the palace examinations he achieved third place, the title of Tanhua.

He should have been the Zhuangyuan, the champion, but that year in the palace exam, his looks were deemed too outstanding, and so he was deliberately placed third.

Otherwise, with his talent, the top title would have been as easy as reaching into his pocket.

Qiao Wanyan had never cared about people irrelevant to her life. She remembered this character only because her father had liked him so much—so much that he had even shown a trace of respect she could not understand.

Later, her father had even hinted that she should give up her infatuation with the Crown Prince and marry Xu Shujian instead. Unfortunately, she had refused and thrown such a tantrum that her father never brought it up again.

After being rescued, Xu Shujian of course could not sit in the young lady’s carriage. He was placed instead on a cart full of butterfly grass, sitting to one side opposite the driver.

Qiao Wanyan did not return directly to the capital. Instead, she went straight to one of the estates outside the city.

Inside the manor, Madam Wu was berating the servants furiously.

“Did you even bother to tell Yihuan that I was sick? Do you old hags think you can ignore me? My daughter will one day be the Crown Princess, and that will make me the Crown Prince’s mother-in-law! How dare you blind fools treat me with such disdain!”

One of the old nursemaids quickly explained, “Madam, I went to the residence some time ago and reported that you were gravely ill. The people there said the young lady was not home, so I bribed someone to pass the message along to the Apothecary Valley. I don’t know if the young lady has received the news or not…”

Madam Wu snorted coldly. “You don’t know? The Qiao family pays you a monthly allowance so you can tell me you don’t know? I’ve caught a chill and am on the verge of death, and this is how you perfunctorily brush me off? Do you look down on me?”

She seethed with anger, while the two nursemaids, long used to her temper, said nothing more.

Ever since being cast off here by Lord Minister Qiao, Madam Wu had restrained herself at first. But as the years passed, her true nature had emerged.

The deep-rooted inferiority and resentment in her bones spilled out, and the servants bore the brunt of it. What a miserable fate.

Just then, Jingyuan—who had been following the Second Miss—was about to enter, when he heard the familiar voice inside, cursing viciously.

He had often come under His Highness’s orders to deliver things to the elder young lady’s concubine-born mother. Every time, Madam Wu had been polite, even overly warm, leaving him at a loss for how to respond.

But now… this?