13 Chapter 13

It was obvious who was unsettled by the favouritism the princess showed and who wasn't, for one that woman who had the main character halo was unsettled even though she tried to hide it. It occurred to Liu Jilian that the cold arrogant Prince wouldn't just fall for a mere noble lady, that woman has a lot of secrets behind her and must be really amazing. It wouldn't be surprising if she was a talented martial artist or was in charge of a group of talentless people, the options were endless but it got her excited to fight this Mary Sue looking character head-on.

"So what does your family think of my brother?"

"My father is willing to support me but I fear he may change his mind if the prince keeps pursuing the young lady" Her eyes glanced at the beauty on one side of the ballroom being served by her personal maid. The princess scoffed in disdain, clearly annoyed at the girl, Jilian did not really know who she was except she was a noble lady, she didn't even know her name.

"Let' not talk about this anymore, I naturally have my ways of dealing with that woman" Smiling, she nodded, she really did not want to be the one to attack that woman considering she did not know who was backing her up, ultimately if her plans didn't work it wasn't the worst thing in the world, she had a plan B at least. She could guess that the prince would not agree to her engagement and if she was stupid she was forcing herself on him and enter his house as a concubine, considering his position as a crowned prince he would most likely not give the emperor any face and directly reject the proposal, if he did that then it would give her a way out, she wouldn't force someone who didn't want her, she wasn't that desperate. A man like that will be fiercely loyal to his female lead, if he rejects her she will let him go and sink her claws into someone else.

As for who that person is, she is still waiting for him to reveal himself.

She laughed softly, she was truly boy crazy.

"What are you laughing at?" Her heart shook, she was completely unaware that she was lost in her own mind while the princess was watching her.

"I was just considering what to do if the crowned prince rejects my proposal, I have to think of a way to keep my reputation and not become the woman he didn't want" She wasn't afraid of telling the princess her thoughts, she was also a woman that society looked down upon because she had a child outside of wedlock. The princess stared at Liu Jilian with understanding, if she tried to force her brother he would take it out on this little girl, she sighed.

"I understand your worries, do not worry, I will talk to my brother, if he absolutely doesn't want it then I will not force him so you won't suffer."

"Thank you, princess."

Having a handsome man like the crowned prince would be nice but it wasn't worth her pride and dignity.

The peacefulness was interrupted by a loud scream coming from the pond, Jilian instantly knew what happened, getting up quickly, she and the princess quickly stood up and went towards the area, the empress was behind them but she was slow to react.

As expected, someone was pushed into the pond and the mary sue-like-character was there trying to frantically save her with a stick, she had seen this in a novel so many times that she knew what had happened. The first option was that the girl in the pond tried to push the mary sue character but was pushed instead and the mary sue looking character was pretending to want to save her to portray her innocence. The other option was that the girl threw herself into the pond to frame the mary-sue looking character.

The second was unlikely since the weather was rather chilly, so what was going on was most likely the first.

"What exactly is going on here!?" The empress had arrived, "Stop standing around! quickly save her!" she said pointing at the maids, Jilian felt herself caught at a crossroad, if she takes the sinking girl's side she'll be openly going against the mary sue looking character, but if she says nothing she would be a basic bystander.

The girl was saved and immediately carried into the palace to be treated by a doctor, looking at her pale shivering body made people really pity her, the mary-sue looking character now looked calmed in contrast to her previous frantic demeanour of wanting to save a life. Her eyes were glued to the floor, her dress was a mess and she looked rather pitiful. The maid in charge of the young girl who had been carried away kowtowed in front the empress, her body was shaking with fear, "This servant requests for justice for the young miss who was purposely harmed!"

Justice for the young miss? everyone turned to look at the mary-sue like character who didn't react to that accusation.

" Shen Yuan Yu, what exactly is the meaning of this?"

Oh, her name was Shen yuan yu?

"This servant was clearly trying to save the young miss, how could I be that I am suddenly the one who wants to harm her?"

"You are just trying to cover your crimes!"

"Hold your tongue!" The person who spoke was Jilian, "Is that how you were trained to speak to your masters?" Everyone's eyes were now on her, honestly, she had no interest in getting involved but she could not let this mary-sue, Shen yu, take the spotlight all the time, it was irritating to watch her.

"This servant asks for forgiveness!" The servant was quick to repent, which was smart, Jilian turned to the empress and princess and bowed "Your majesty, please allow this servant to ask a few questions."

"Suit yourself" The empress had no previous opinion on this Liu Jilina and was interested in what she planned to do. Jilian stood and turned to the servant, there was complete silence as she questioned them.

"You, you said that lady Shen pushed your lady and then attempted to dave her under pretence, is that right? Please keep in mind that the empress is here, refrain from lying."

"Yes, young miss!"

"How come you didn't go and save her?"

"This servant was told to wait a while away by master"

"Why is that?"

"This servant is unsure."

Jilian was aware of the reason why, she naturally wanted to push Shen yu but did not want Shen yu's maids to testify against her, but she did not have a reason to send away Shen yu's maid and had to send away all the maids under the pretence that she wanted to talk privately with Shen yu. But others didn't know that, they merely thought to themselves, if the young lady wanted to push Shen yu wouldn't she want to keep her maids around for evidence?

"Thank you for your honesty, Lady Shen, please I hope you do not mind my questions..." Shen yu raised her cold eyes to meet Jilian's eyes, they were also cold. "Why did you not call for someone to save the young miss when she fell in?"

The natural response to someone falling in was to jump in and save them or to call for help, but she did neither, instead, she found a stick and attempted to give her something to hold on. She was meant to be a weak young lady, so why would she try and save her instead of getting help? It didn't add up.

"I assumed the screams would attract enough people so I focused on saving the young miss." Those screams were by the personal servant who was still kowtowing, she would not have seen the young miss until a few seconds later, Jilian sighed in her heart, but she didn't push it so she didn't seem unfair.

"So you tried to drag her out with a stick? Lady Shen yu do you practice martial arts?" if she answered yes then Jilian would know about her martial arts prowess but if she replied no it would be suspicious that she tried to "save" her when she is aware that she didn't have the strength to do so.

"I-"

"What is going on here?"

Perfect timing, Jilian turned to see the emperor being escorted by her father, the crowned prince and another man with a resemblance to the crowned prince, she assumed they were related in one way or the other. Jilian and the rest of the noble ladies kowtowed to the emperor whose eyes were glued on Jilian.

It was not long for him to get a comprehensive report of what was going on and he's eyes travelled to Shen yu who still remained calm in the situation, he wasn't stupid, he had a harem and was also aware of petty tricks women played, he was rather impressed by the way Jilina took over the situation.

"Lady shen, is there anything you have to say for yourself?"

Anything she said would only bring her more trouble so the only thing she could do was admit it was an accident. "Your majesty, I believe it is just women playing around" Jilina saw the crowned prince sticking up for her and scoffed in her heart, women playing around? if his darling Shen yu was the one who had fallen in would it still be just women playing around. The emperor glanced at him but didn't say anything, he had to give the crowned prince some face, "You may dismiss, Lady Liu, please follow me"

Liu Jilian looked at her father whose expression was unreadable but she followed after him quietly, the empress and the princess were left behind, as well as the crowned prince who wanted to make sure his darling was ok.

Jilian smirked, it was really fun to frustrate Shen yu's plans.

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