Chapter 342

Chapter 342 Ji Youran Had No Dowry

Ji Hanyue’s memorial tablet was placed in a yard that was not close to the main yard of Crown Prince’s Mansion.

It was the Empress’ idea and also Pei Luo’an’s idea. There would be a new Crown Princess in Eastern Palace in the future, and the past Crown Princess’ memorial tablet might make the future Crown Princess uncomfortable if it was placed too close to the main yard.

Ji Youran was currently in charge of Eastern Palace. She was actually not willing to set up such a place to pay respects to Ji Hanyue even if the place was small and remote.

However, she had to do as Pei Luo’an requested. He wanted to gain a good reputation by making use of Ji Hanyue. If he appeared to be affectionate to Ji Hanyue, the officials would trust him more. Therefore, a small mourning hall was set up.

Although the mourning hall was small, it was quite exquisite. Two Taoist nuns with good reputations were invited from Qingyun Temple to take care of the mourning hall.

Ji Youran went to take a simple look at the mourning hall when it was just built, and she hadn’t been there since then.

Seeing Pei Luo’an and Ji Youran coming together, the two beautiful Taoist nuns came over to greet them.

One of the Taoist nuns placed three incense sticks in front of the memorial tablet in the middle. Then, she sensibly left with the other Taoist nun. Only Pei Luo’an, one of his trusted men, and Ji Youran were left in the mourning hall.

Pei Luo’an’s face darkened as he looked at the memorial tablet in the middle. He became gloomy and looked at the memorial tablet in a daze. After a long while, he sighed softly and muttered to himself, “Hanyue, you asked for it. If you were loyal to me, it would not have turned out like this…”

“Your Highness, don’t be sad. Hanyue… lost her head at that time…” Ji Youran knew the inside story the best. Seeing Pei Luo’an’s expression, she hurriedly comforted him in a soft voice, just in the same old way as when Pei Luo’an was displeased with what Ji Hanyue did back then.

However, her gentleness made Pei Luo’an feel sick now.

Things had changed. It was really difficult for him to believe that Ji Youran had no selfish motives at all.

“You can leave first. I want to talk to Hanyue alone.” Pei Luo’an waved his hand.

“Your Highness, let me accompany you. I will be worried if you stay here alone. Moreover, I also want to be with Hanyue for a while.” Afraid that Pei Luo’an would drive her away, Ji Youran mentioned Ji Hanyue again.

Hearing that, Pei Luo’an frowned but did not drive her away. He only went forward and took three incense sticks, lit them, and then inserted them into the incense burner. He bowed deeply to the memorial tablet in front of him with a frown.

He couldn’t describe his feelings.

If it was in the past, he wouldn’t feel anything wrong, and he wouldn’t think that he had done anything wrong. After all, Ji Hanyue disappointed him first, and Ji Yongming was not sensible. Since Ji Yongming refused to give in, he acted ruthlessly. It was just a woman, and he could afford to lose her.

Did he regret it now?

Not really. But he felt that it was a pity.

If things hadn’t been like that at that time, Ji Hanyue would have already married him and become the real Crown Princess, and there wouldn’t have been so many things involved…

The mourning hall was quiet for a long time.

After a long while, Pei Luo’an asked, “Have you returned Hanyue’s dowry?”

“Yes. Madam Duan and my Second Brother can deal with them now. However, Madam Duan used to be just a concubine, and my Second Brother was young. I asked my mother to help them in case they didn’t know what to do after suddenly getting so much money and shops.”

Thinking of what Xiao had told her, Ji Youran quickly responded to Pei Luo’an.

Xiao wanted to intervene in the first branch’s affairs, but she had no proper reason to intervene. Old Lady Ji insisted on returning everything to the first branch. Although Ji Youran had kept a lot of Ji Hanyue’s dowry items in secret, the items she had returned were still an enormous wealth because Ji Hanyue had too many dowry items, which made Ji Youran and Xiao jealous.

“That’s the matter of Hanyue’s branch. It has nothing to do with you. You’d better tell your mother not to intervene.” Pei Luo’an said unhappily. Although he did not care about this kind of thing, it did not mean that he was ignorant.

Ji Youran was unreconciled and said boldly, “Your Highness, since I have returned them to Earl Ling’an’s Mansion, my maternal family will take care of them. I can’t control my mother.”

Pei Luo’an glanced sideways at her and sneered, “If your mother does so, you will lose your position as Side Princess.”

“Your Highness!” Ji Youran was shocked and fell to her knees with a sad look, “Your Highness, did you say so because I didn’t do well?”

“You’ve done quite well. But you should not be too greedy. You don’t have any dowry, but so what? As long as I’m alive, you won’t starve.”

Pei Luo’an said unhappily.

Ji Youran was both angry and resentful, but she had no choice but to lower her head, “Yes, I understand.”

Of course, she was not short of food. However, she was short of money. She needed money. She wanted to use the money to hire some people for her own use to deal with Pei Luo’an’s concubines and the other women.

To deal with them, she needed quite a lot of money.

Seeing that she was so obedient, Pei Luo’an looked less stern. He raised his hand, indicating for her to get up. “When you entered the mansion, you were in a tricky situation. Now, you are saying that you have no dowry, but I don’t mind. Anyway, everyone knows that you don’t have any dowry.”

Ji Youran was ashamed and hateful.

Originally, although she could not compare with Ji Hanyue, she could have dowry with her identity as a wife-born daughter of Earl Ling’an’s Mansion. However, she entered Crown Prince’s Mansion in an urgent situation to “take care of” Ji Hanyue, and her mother asked her to occupy Ji Hanyue’s dowry, so she didn’t have her own dowry.

Therefore, despite being a lady from Earl Ling’an’s Mansion, she had no dowry in the end.

Those princesses and ladies had secretly mocked her because she entered Crown Prince’s Mansion without any dowry, which was really shameful. She couldn’t compare with even a lady of an ordinary family.

Ji Youran had heard these mocking words several times. Some people said them in secret, but some laughed at her openly. Every time she heard these words, she comforted herself that it was no big deal. Ji Hanyue’s dowry was hers. She did not lack dowry, nor was her dowry inferior to those people. How many people in the capital could have a dowry more valuable than that of Ji Hanyue?

However, ever since the incident with the dowry shops, Ji Youran felt even more shameful among the imperial members.

How could she have no dowry? Dowry was the lifeline of a married woman!

“Your Highness…” Ji Youran felt wronged and looked at Pei Luo’an with tears in her eyes.

However, Pei Luo’an’s gaze was not on her. He looked at the memorial tablet in the middle gloomily. After a long while, he said, “Do you think that I misjudged the situation back then? Could it be that I mistakenly thought Hanyue and Pei Yusheng were secretly talking to each other because of my angle of view?”

The hatred in Ji Youran’s heart surged. Her fingers twitched and pressed against the ground. The ground was very cold, but she did not feel it at all. She only felt that the blood in her body was almost boiling.

What did Pei Luo’an mean by this? Did he blame her for letting him see that scene? Did he think that she did it on purpose?

The boiling blood slowly calmed down and then became cold. If the Crown Prince knew the truth, he would definitely not spare her.

At that time, Ji Hanyue was framed and fell asleep on the stone table. It was the same for Pei Yusheng. From the place where Pei Luo’an “accidentally” passed by, he saw that the two of them seemed to be whispering to each other.

Ji Youran answered, “Your Highness, maybe we really misunderstood them.”

She had to answer like this.

The mourning hall quieted down. After a long while, Pei Luo’an said flatly, “Get up. Let’s go!”

After that, he turned around and left.

Ji Youran hurriedly got up and turned to look at the memorial tablet in the middle. She sneered. When Ji Hanyue was alive, she enjoyed everything. Did she still want to occupy Pei Luo’an after she was dead? However, she was dead, and she could do nothing even if she still occupied Pei Luo’an.

Right now, she could use the dead Ji Hanyue to probe into Pei Luo’an’s mind and fight with Liu Jingyu, who wanted to enter Crown Prince’s Mansion and be the future Crown Princess.

Thinking of this, Ji Youran smiled gently. She turned around and chased after Pei Luo’an. She still had to talk to him about what had happened tonight. She had to make the matter big, and it would be best if she could have County Lady Jingyu involved in it. Pei Luo’an had previously expressed his deep affection for Ji Hanyue. The Empress had not given the order for him to marry Liu Jingyu yet, but Pei Luo’an had already hung Love Lanterns with her. It was not wise for him to do this!

Didn’t Pei Luo’an want people to think that he was a man of deep affection and loyalty? Didn’t he want to portray himself as a grateful person?

On the next morning, Qu Moying got up and knew what had happened in the mansion.

She knew what had happened to Qu Xuexin and Qu Qiuyan.

She heard that Lord Jing came to the mansion last night with Qu Qiuyan. He talked with Qu Zhizhen in the study for a while before leaving.

As for the matter of Qu Xuexin, because of Lord Jing’s intervention, it was not such a big deal. Lord Jing said it was a small matter and Eastern Palace’s Princess Ji was only accidentally injured. Qu Mansion’s people were asked to send a gift to Crown Prince’s Mansion as an apology. Lord Jing would personally explain this matter to the Crown Prince.

In the Old Lady’s opinion, this matter had been resolved perfectly.

After hearing the story from the Old Lady, Qu Moying thought for a while and knew that this matter was not simple. Lord Jing must have come to Qu Mansion for Qu Qiuyan. It seemed that it was a certainty that Qu Qiuyan would enter Lord Jing Mansion. However, it seemed that Qu Qiuyan would not enter Lord Jing Mansion with a high position, which was why Lord Jing talked to Qu Zhizhen.

How could Ji Youran concede since Qu Qiuyan would not have a high position? Recently, Ji Youran had been living a depressing life. Last night, Qu Xuexin got in her line of fire.

Since such a matter that could manifest her identity as Side Princess happened at such a time, how could Ji Youran not make use of it?

The Old Lady was a bit too optimistic.

However, Qu Moying was happy to see this. She was happy to see a dog-eat-dog show…