Everyone present lowered their heads. Not a single person dared to make a sound.
She let out another laugh. Her voice was coquettish, but Min Feiyan could sense the horror in it.
She stared blankly at Mo Qinghuan. "What do you mean?"
The smile on Mo Qinghuan's face deepened. She tilted her head and played with her fingernails. "Princess Rui, you know, this is no small matter. I really don't know what to do."
She looked up at Min Feiyan. "If it were some other matter, I could leave it to our prince to handle privately. But today's matter is different. After all, it involves the emperor's eldest grandson. Who dares to be careless? Don't you think so?"
Min Feiyan staggered a few steps backward. Zhi'er quickly supported her from behind.
She forced a smile at the corner of her mouth and walked up to Leng Nier with difficulty.
At this moment, Leng Nier didn't dare to let Min Feiyan get close. So she took a few steps and hid behind Mo Qinghuan.
Seeing this, Min Feiyan knew that even if she said something soft now, it probably wouldn't work.
But no matter what, she still didn't want this matter to reach the emperor's ears.
So, even though she knew it might be useless, she still forced herself to suppress the jealousy in her heart and spoke.
"Nier, we sisters - in - law have had a good relationship for so many years, right? I believe you can understand my difficulties, right? Look, your child is fine now. Please, just consider it a plea from your sister - in - law. Let's not tell the emperor about today's matter, okay?"
Leng Nier sneered after hearing this. Min Feiyan didn't expect her to react like this. Her heart sank immediately.
"Sister - in - law, do you think I'm a pushover? Like a cat or a dog that can be bullied at will?" After saying that, she looked at Mo Qinghuan, hoping that Mo Qinghuan would report this matter to the emperor.
Mo Qinghuan immediately saw Leng Nier's intention, so she also sneered.
"Nier, do you think we should tell the emperor or just let it go?"
Leng Nier didn't expect Mo Qinghuan to throw the question back to her. She was stunned for a moment.
Gu Qinglan saw the situation getting tense and stepped forward to smooth things over.
"Second sister - in - law, please don't blame me for being talkative. After all, you and the eldest sister - in - law are family. The eldest and second cousins are brothers born from the same mother. If..."
A loud slap sounded. A resounding slap landed on Gu Qinglan's face.
Leng Nier couldn't stand it anymore and slapped Gu Qinglan.
"What do you mean by 'after all'?" She stared at Gu Qinglan with a fierce look in her eyes.
It was a look that no one present had ever seen before.
"You..." Gu Qinglan covered half of her face and stared at Leng Nier, biting her lips tightly. "Second sister - in - law, you actually hit me!"
Leng Nier laughed, with a look of disdain on her face.
"Qinglan, this slap is to teach you some manners. Yes, although you are the two highnesses' cousin, but now your eldest sister - in - law, the regent princess and I are discussing something. You shouldn't interrupt, do you understand?"
Gu Qinglan nodded and took a step back.
Min Feiyan let out a couple of laughs. "Look, little sister - in - law is so imposing. It's only been a month since you returned to the palace, and you're so different from before."
Leng Nier didn't give in either. "Yes, if I were still the same as before on the mountain, I might not even know how I died if someone swallowed me up."
She let out a long sigh and shook her head helplessly.
"Sister - in - law, I'm a bit tired. I'll take my leave first. As for how to handle today's matter, after all, it happened in your mansion. I'll leave it all up to you, sister - in - law."
She curtsied and was about to leave.
But Mo Qinghuan reached out and pressed her hand. "I suddenly think what Miss Gu said might be right. The second princess is fine now. The one who got hurt is Lady Zhao Yiyi of the Ning family. How about this," she looked at Min Feiyan, "the emperor is busy with state affairs every day. In my opinion, we'd better not bother him. How about, Princess Rui, you spend some money to avoid this disaster? What do you think?"
Before Min Feiyan could answer, she looked at Leng Nier again. "I wonder if the second princess will mind if I say so?"
Leng Nier twitched the corner of her mouth, and her breathing obviously quickened.
The maid behind her held her arm and secretly exerted force to remind her.
She quickly adjusted her emotions and expression, and said to Mo Qinghuan with a smile, "I'll follow your instructions, sister - in - law. Since you think this is an appropriate way to handle it, then so be it."
Min Feiyan let out a sigh of relief, but she was still a bit worried. She was worried that Mo Qinghuan would ask for an exorbitant amount of money. The Prince of Rui had his salary deducted. If he knew about this, he would surely be even more angry. Their relationship as husband and wife would be even more precarious.
Seeing Min Feiyan in a daze, Mo Qinghuan guessed that she must be worried about how much silver she would have to pay.
"Princess Rui, you tell me, how much money do you think you should spend to avoid this disaster?"
Min Feiyan forced a couple of laughs. "This... I'm not quite sure..."
The smile on Mo Qinghuan's face suddenly froze. Her expression at this moment was rather terrifying.
"Not sure... Hehe, if the child couldn't be saved, what should be compensated is a life. I wonder how much silver Princess Rui thinks a life is worth?"
"Oh, I almost forgot to settle the previous score with Princess Rui. Princess Rui seemed to cut Lady Zhao Yiyi's arm with a knife last time. Is there such a thing?"
She pretended to forget, but in fact, she remembered it clearly.
From that scheming feast to today, she had seen every detail clearly.
"This... this... Sister - in - law, I really don't understand. Please enlighten me."
Mo Qinghuan laughed. She took a step forward and walked up to Min Feiyan. She whispered in her ear, "In my eyes, a life is very valuable. My medicinal materials are all of the best quality, and the timing is rare. Princess Rui should still remember that I saved your life, right?"
Min Feiyan didn't know why she suddenly brought up the favor of saving her life, but she had a bad feeling in her heart. She always felt that this woman, Mo Qinghuan, seemed to know everything.
"Oh, right. I almost forgot to tell you. Your body was originally not suitable for raising a child. So no matter how your child was lost, it would never be able to come into this world. And you, your body is already weak. If you don't rest properly during the confinement, you may have even less chance in the future..."
Hearing this, Min Feiyan almost fell to the ground. Fortunately, Zhi'er was quick - witted and helped her sit down in front of the low table.
She looked up at Mo Qinghuan. "Sister - in - law, you saved my life. You must have a way to help me nourish my body and let me have a child of my own, right?"
Mo Qinghuan turned around and looked down at her condescendingly. "Everyone, please go back. I've lost the mood for today's tea party."
Jinghua heard Mo Qinghuan's voice and silently withdrew the guards.
Everyone left quickly. Only Min Feiyan and Mo Qinghuan were left on the scene.
Mo Qinghuan sneered. "Princess Rui, I'm not a saint. I won't save a poisonous snake only to be bitten by it in the future. Dan'er, see the guest out."
"Oh, right. Don't forget to send some compensation to the General Ningyuan's mansion. After all, it was you who chose to settle this privately."