The Male Lead's Harem Belongs to Me (GL) - Chapter 9

Not long after, the maid returned with the news, “It’s the Princess and Lady Gu. They’re admiring the flowers in the Lotus Pavilion.”

Admiring flowers? Chang Qianjiao frowned. What kind of flowers could they be admiring to laugh so loudly? Trumpet flowers?

She turned to her servant and said, “Lead the way, let’s go admire the lotus flowers today.”

Her servant hesitated, looking at her young mistress, but in the end, she nodded and led the way.

The closer they got to the Lotus Pavilion, the clearer the two laughter sounds became. When Chang Qianjiao was still a distance away from the pavilion, she was stopped by a palace maid, Chun Zhu: “Lady Chang, the Princess said that if you want to come in, you can, but these servants must stay outside with us.”

Chang Qianjiao’s beautiful eyes turned slightly, and she stopped her maid, saying, “I’ll go in by myself.”

Inside the Lotus Pavilion, Jiang Han and Gu Hanyun were having a great time and hadn’t noticed anyone coming. So when Chang Qianjiao arrived at the Lotus Pavilion, what she saw were two women who had completely lost their composure.

The usually dignified Princess was hugging the quiet Lady Gu from behind, bending down to pull her hand and aim at the lake, while Gu Hanyun was holding a thin stone in her hand.

After listening to Jiang Han’s instructions, Gu Hanyun had excitedly tried it herself, and soon, the thin stone flew out, like a dragonfly, making a few ripples on the water’s surface before sinking.

Gu Hanyun counted the times: one, two, three, four. Suddenly, she jumped up and turned around to hug Jiang Han, laughing happily, “Yay! Princess, I skipped four times this time!”

Jiang Han patted her back with satisfaction, “Not bad, you learned so quickly.”

Chang Qianjiao’s eyes widened. She couldn’t believe that the two people in front of her were the people she knew. Moreover, she remembered that the relationship between Gu Hanyun and the Princess had always been bad.

Well, that wasn’t entirely true. The Princess had never gotten along well with any of the concubines, because in her eyes, they were all competing with her for the Prince’s affection. But what was going on with this scene in front of her?

While Chang Qianjiao was puzzled, Gu Hanyun saw her. She immediately let go of Jiang Han, her little face turned bright red, and she smiled awkwardly at Chang Qianjiao, “Sister Chang, you’re here to admire the flowers too?”

As soon as Jiang Han turned around, she saw another beautiful woman in red. She secretly clicked her tongue. The Prince was really blessed. Look at these concubines, each one was as beautiful as a flower. Gu Hanyun was lively and spirited, while Chang Qianjiao was bright and charming. And she remembered that there was another concubine named Yu who didn’t go out much and had a very quiet personality. She had met her once, and she was also a great beauty.

To be honest, she was starting to envy Qi Ze a bit.

The original story mainly talked about the love-hate relationship between Liu Shuwei and Qi Ze. As for the concubines in the palace, their appearance and personality were only mentioned briefly, so Jiang Han didn’t know much about them.

Chang Qianjiao looked at Gu Hanyun, whose face was flushed, and felt a little uncomfortable. She simply nodded and then bowed to Jiang Han, “I was passing by and disturbed Princess’s good mood. I’ll take my leave now.”

Chang Qianjiao was also the daughter of an official, and her father’s rank was not low, so she was usually willful and capricious. However, unlike the original owner, who was only willful when it came to Qi Ze and had always cultivated a dignified image in public, Chang Qianjiao’s willfulness was more like petulance.

Jiang Han thought about this and quickly called out to her, “Since you’re here, why don’t you join us and admire the flowers?”

Since the Princess had already said so, Chang Qianjiao naturally had no reason to refuse. So, she nodded reluctantly and sat down with the two of them around the round stone table in the Lotus Pavilion. However, what made Chang Qianjiao feel slightly relieved was that Jiang Han and Gu Hanyun didn’t play with the stones anymore.

After playing for so long, both of them were a little tired. Gu Hanyun was so hungry that she reached out to grab a snack, but Jiang Han slapped her hand down.

“What’s wrong?” Gu Hanyun pouted. “Can’t I even have a snack?”

Jiang Han glanced at her hand, “You’ve just been playing with stones, and your hands haven’t been washed yet. If you eat the snacks now, you’re guaranteed to have a stomachache tonight.”

Gu Hanyun glanced at the water in the pond and then at the railing of the pavilion, saying, “I can’t reach the water to wash my hands, but I’m really hungry.”

Jiang Han sighed, then gave Gu Hanyun a look, and then glanced at Chang Qianjiao’s white and tender fingers. Gu Hanyun looked at Chang Qianjiao’s hands as if she understood, and the two of them looked up at Chang Qianjiao together.

Chang Qianjiao: “…..”

A moment later, Gu Hanyun opened her mouth wide and said “ah”, taking a bite of the snack that Chang Qianjiao handed over. She squinted her eyes and mumbled, “Thank you, Sister Chang.”

Chang Qianjiao twitched the corner of her mouth, politely saying, “You’re welcome,” and then somewhat skillfully picked up a piece of pastry and fed it to Jiang Han’s mouth. Jiang Han also took a bite and smiled with narrowed eyes, “Thank you, Sister Chang.”

Chang Qianjiao: “…..” I feel like I’m taking care of two children, what’s going on?

She was not familiar with the two of them, and it was rare for her to feed them both. After feeding them both, Chang Qianjiao took out a handkerchief and wiped her fingers, her gaze wandering over the lotus flowers outside the pavilion.

She felt that everything that was happening now was a bit magical. The Princess and Lady Gu were playing skip stones, and she had just personally fed them snacks. She wondered where things had gone wrong. A few days ago, when she had gone with the other two to greet the Princess, the Princess had still been dignified and cold. How had she become like this now?

Even more surprising to her was that after eating, Jiang Han suddenly leaned closer to them mysteriously and said, “I have some gossip here, do you want to hear it?” Jiang Han had at least read the entire novel, so she knew some of the gossip about the people in the book. And the best way to bring girls closer together was naturally to gossip.

After she said this, Gu Hanyun immediately leaned over, her eyes shining with a strange light, “What gossip?”

Chang Qianjiao also came back to her senses and looked at Jiang Han’s mysterious look, and she couldn’t help but be curious. She also leaned over.

Jiang Han saw that both of them had leaned over, so she looked around cautiously and leaned closer, saying, “Do you know He Buwei, the Minister of Rites?”

Gu Hanyun nodded quickly and said, “I know,” and Chang Qianjiao also nodded. Wasn’t He Buwei her father’s good friend? What gossip did he have?

Jiang Han rolled her eyes and said, “I heard this gossip from someone else. He Buwei, the Minister of Rites, was just a poor scholar before. He took the exam for many years but was only a jinshi. Later, one year, he accidentally became sworn brothers with a fellow jinshi. The two of them took the exam together, and in the end, the other jinshi passed, but he failed. Coincidentally, the other jinshi’s family had an urgent matter, so he asked him to tell the official in charge of delivering the list for him. And guess what happened next?”

“So he took the place of his friend?” Gu Hanyun asked.

Jiang Han looked at her approvingly, “That’s right. Not only did he take the place of his friend, but he also passed the imperial examination with luck and became an official. As for his friend, he was deceived by him and imprisoned at home, never to be free again.”

“Ah,” Gu Hanyun frowned, “So he’s such a treacherous and selfish person? His friend is so pitiful.”

“It’s really pitiful,” Jiang Han sighed, “Because he didn’t recognize people and ended up being imprisoned.”

“But, Your Highness,” Gu Hanyun suddenly said, “This sounds like a secret. How do you know so clearly?”

Jiang Han lied without blinking, “Because that scholar has a relative who knows my father’s distant cousin’s second uncle’s brother’s younger brother. So that scholar’s relative wanted to seek justice with my father’s help, but they didn’t have any evidence, so the matter just ended there.”

As the two were talking, Chang Qianjiao on the side had a changing expression. He Buwei actually had such a past? Although the credibility was low, the Princess wouldn’t lie to them about such a thing. If He Buwei was really that kind of person, then wouldn’t her father be in danger?

Chang Qianjiao’s expression changed suddenly. She stood up and said, “I still have some things to do, so I’ll take my leave. Thank you, Princess, for your hospitality today.”

Jiang Han nodded, not understanding. Chang Qianjiao left quickly as if the wind was beneath her feet.

Jiang Han and Gu Hanyun looked at each other. Jiang Han said, “It’s not early, we should go back.”

Gu Hanyun said, “Okay, shall we come to admire the flowers again next time?”

Jiang Han smiled, “Of course.”

••••

After parting ways, Jiang Han returned to her own courtyard and learned that Liu Shuwei had come to see her twice that afternoon, but she was not there.

Jiang Han was curious about why Liu Shuwei had come to see her, and then she thought about how it was dinner time, so she wondered if she could go to Liu Shuwei’s place for dinner. As soon as she thought about it, she changed her clothes and went to Liu Shuwei’s courtyard.

When she arrived, Liu Shuwei was having dinner. Seeing Jiang Han, she quickly asked someone to add another set of tableware.

Jiang Han sat down beside Liu Shuwei and smiled, “Sister, what were you looking for me for this afternoon?”

Liu Shuwei’s eyes moved slightly, she dismissed the servants around her, and then said to Jiang Han, “Nothing, I decided to go back home tomorrow.” She was still brooding over what Jiang Han had said to her last time. If the Liu family had really done something, then she would definitely have to stop it. As for going to find Jiang Han to talk to her about this matter, she didn’t know why, but she subconsciously wanted to talk to her.

Jiang Han nodded, feeling like she had forgotten something. The female lead is going home? Going home, going home?!

Jiang Han suddenly opened her eyes wide. She remembered a major event that happened the night before Liu Shuwei wanted to go home in the original book! Jiang Han’s hair stood on end and she got goosebumps all over.

She immediately got up and opened the window in the room, then deliberately messed up the dressing table in front of the window, pulled Liu Shuwei up, and dragged her into the closet.

Liu Shuwei was bewildered by Jiang Han’s series of actions and was about to speak out when Jiang Han covered her mouth.

Almost in the next second, a shout from the guards rang out in the mansion: “Alarm! The enemy is attacking!”

In an instant, the mansion was in chaos. In the darkness, countless torches appeared out of nowhere, accompanied by the screams of maidservants and the shouts of guards. Everything was suddenly in turmoil.

Liu Shuwei listened to the commotion outside and felt her heart pounding. What was happening? Why had someone suddenly broken into the mansion? And why did the Princess seem to know about this in advance?

Author’s Note: I’m not being lazy, woo woo, I’m just trying to catch up with the rankings (a big pig cries).