Early the next morning, Yi Zhici was woken up by Zhong Yi's loud voice.
"How could our county princess do such a thing? You've got the wrong person if you're trying to frame someone! Don't think that just because your princess is a guest, our county princess has to keep swallowing her anger and giving in to you. Don't push it too far!"
"Heh, although Princess Lian Qingping is a princess, with a seemingly higher title than our county princess, she actually doesn't even have a fief. She's not even as good as an ordinary county princess, let alone our county princess who is the favorite of the marquis. How can she be so self - deluded?"
Yes, Princess Lian Qingping was out of favor.
Her full name was Lian Qingping, without a title, which meant she had no fief, no regular stipend, and no power. Although the title of princess was higher than that of a county princess, a princess without a fief was actually lower in status than a county princess.
Yi Zhici opened her eyes. Hearing that something was wrong, she quickly got up. Although Zhong Yi was usually hot - tempered, she always knew her limits. Yi Zhici dragged her tired body out of the tent.
The morning sun wasn't very bright, but for Yi Zhici, who had just woken up, it was still too much. She had to shield her eyes with her hand and walked to Zhong Yi's side.
"What's going on?"
Seeing Yi Zhici come out, Zhong Yi quickly put down the plate in her hand and supported her. "It's okay, County Princess. They're just looking for trouble." She was obviously angry.
Yi Zhici said, "Is it the maid of Princess Lian Qingping?"
"Yeah."
The maid was a favorite of Lian Qingping. Her name was Wen Huan. Seeing Yi Zhici come out, she changed her previous sharp and mean expression and respectfully said, "Greetings to Princess Yuyang."
Yi Zhici nodded. "What brings you here so early in the morning?"
Wen Huan lowered her head even more. "County Princess, our princess lost a pair of jade bracelets yesterday. We've been looking for them all day but still haven't found them."
"Oh, since you're so incompetent at handling things, what are you doing here to show off? Hard to believe you're here to borrow people from me to look for the bracelets?" Yi Zhici tilted her head. Then she pretended to be regretful. "What a pity. I don't have enough people here either. Why don't you go to the County Princess of the Northwest and borrow some? She has a lot of maids. It should be no problem for her to lend you some."
Zhong Yi couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Wen Huan rolled her eyes while keeping her head down. "County Princess, what I mean is that someone saw you wearing our princess's bracelet yesterday. I think the county princess might have taken it by mistake, so I'm here to ask for it back."
Zhong Yi couldn't hold back again. "Nonsense! When did Princess Lian Qingping's bracelet ever end up with our county princess? Don't slander us!"
Yi Zhici found it quite interesting. "What bracelet? I don't even wear my own bracelets. Why would I wear Princess Lian Qingping's?"
Wen Huan said, "It's a dark - green bracelet made of the finest Kunshan blood jade. And it's on your wrist right now."
Yi Zhici rolled her eyes and was about to retort, but she felt a rather heavy weight on her wrist. She lifted her wrist to take a look.
Sure enough, there was a bracelet on her left wrist.
It was dark - green, giving off a faint green glow.
Yi Zhici started to have a headache. She usually didn't like to wear any jewelry, thinking those things were useless and would slow her down, especially since she wasn't good at martial arts in the first place. She was even too lazy to put on hairpins with too many pearls and emeralds.
But where on earth did this bracelet come from?
Could it be that she was different from usual after getting drunk?
Wen Huan smiled, with more contempt in her eyes. "County Princess, you can't keep denying the existence of the bracelet, can you?"
Yi Zhici sneered. "You say it's hers and it is? Isn't it proper for me, the county princess, to own a bracelet made of Kunshan blood jade?"
"I wouldn't dare, County Princess. It's just that our princess just lost a bracelet, and now there's an identical one on the county princess's wrist. It really gives me a headache."
Yi Zhici tried hard to recall but couldn't figure out how the bracelet had ended up on her wrist. So she continued to act tough. "I say this isn't Lian Qingping's. Are you going to just dump any blame on me? And it's really too much of a coincidence that you knew I had an extra bracelet on my wrist when I was still asleep early this morning!"
Wen Huan lowered her head even more. "County Princess, I saw it on your wrist last night. At that time, the princess hadn't thought about looking for the bracelet yet. In that case, I'll go back and ask our princess. Since the county princess wants it, I'm sure the princess will give it to you."
This was really a ruthless move. Regardless of whether the bracelet was really Lian Qingping's or not, after Wen Huan made such a scene here today, the onlookers wouldn't have the time to think carefully. They would only think that Yi Zhici had taken a fancy to Lian Qingping's bracelet and forcefully taken it without returning it.
If she gave the bracelet to Wen Huan, it would seem as if she had stolen Lian Qingping's bracelet and was now returning it in a sorry state. She would be in a dilemma and would only end up looking bad no matter what.
Yi Zhici's image would surely take a nosedive.
Lian Qingping's image of being pitiful, generous, and polite would be deeply engraved in people's hearts from now on.
She really knew how to play her cards!