Bingye stayed.
Mrs. Feng had personally come to receive Chu Yue. She did not care about her buying a servant, but just thought that it was no wonder why Shanhu had stolen her money. She did not even check whether the girl had a clean criminal record before she decided to be a good person and keep her.
Mrs. Feng just let Chu Yue do whatever she wanted. She said nothing so the imperial consort could find another excuse to not go back. She did not want any accidents to happen.
When they returned to Prince Qin's mansion, the imperial consort would not be able to make the decisions anymore.
At noon of the second day, they reached Prince Qin's mansion.
"Why aren't we going through the main door?" Hupo was the first to feel displeased.
"When we left, we went through the back door. Right now, after we returned, we naturally have to go through the back door as well. Are we supposed to cause a huge ruckus that everyone learns about it? Either way, it's not something that is shameless."
The one who came out to receive the group was Mrs. Yang.
She was the old maid who had led the group which sent Chu Yue to Shangqing Temple.
After hearing her, Hupo became incredibly angry. "How dare you say these words?!"
"Please get out of the carriage. We have already finished putting your abode in order. Besides, it was the secondary consort who took the initiative to bring you back. Please remember her kindness," Mrs. Yang said.
Chu Yue stepped out of the carriage. Hupo, thus, did not have the time to get angry and quickly went to hold Chu Yue, but Bingye was faster than her.
"Bingye, slap her," Chu Yue said faintly after she stepped out of the carriage.
Slap!
Bingye spun around and slapped Mrs. Yang so hard that she staggered.
This unforeseen circumstance was something no one had expected. Even Mrs. Yang, who was hit, was stunned. When she registered what had happened to her, she looked like she was about to commit murder.
"How dare you hit me?"
"Again," Chu Yue said faintly.
Slap!
Bingye attacked resolutely. She backhanded her, and her slap sent Mrs. Yang to the ground.
The others then finally reacted to the situation. Mrs. Feng could not help but say angrily, "Imperial Consort, what is the meaning of this?"
"What is it? Am I not allowed to punish a servant who is trying to browbeat me because of the authority given to her by her master? No matter how unfavored I am, I am still Prince Qin's imperial consort. Even when the secondary consort sees me, she has to be polite to me. This servant is nothing," Chu Yue said faintly with a flick of her sleeve.
"I'm going to…"
Mrs. Yang was brought to her feet with the help of a few maids. She wanted to pounce on Bingye and hit her, but before she could finish speaking, Mrs. Feng shouted at her to stop. "Do you still have the audacity to be rude? Stand down!"
Mrs. Yang's status was not as high as Mrs. Feng's. Even though she was so angry that she trembled, when she heard this, she did not dare to act wilfully. She suppressed her anger while she moved to the side.
Mrs. Feng cast Chu Yue a glance before she said, "Imperial Consort, this way, please."
Chu Yue did not want to continue causing a ruckus and demand that the secondary consort as well as the others come out to receive her. After all, she was still a "criminal".
She let things slide after teaching the servants a lesson.
She brought Hupo and Bingye into the mansion.
The compound Chu Yue stayed in was known as Biqiu Compound. It was not a place fit for the imperial consort, but since she was not favored, she could only stay in the remote area.
However, Chu Yue did not mind it. She only looked at the name of the compound and said to Bingye, "Tomorrow, let's change Biqiu Compound to Qiuyue Garden."
"Understood." Bingye nodded.
Hupo was still very worked up. Right now, the three of them were the only ones in Qiuyue Garden, so she could not help but ask, "How did you find the courage to hit her just now?"
"The imperial consort asked me to," Bingye said.
Hupo was very happy. "Do your job well. The imperial consort will never mistreat her own people."
"Understood." Bingye nodded.
They did not even wait for a day. Bingye went to someone in the mansion on the day itself and changed the plate of Biqiu Compound. It was renamed to Qiuyue Garden.
Qiuyue Garden had been cleaned up, but clearly, the people who cleaned it did not put a lot of effort into it. Hence, the entire compound needed to be cleaned again.
When Secondary Consort Li heard about Chu Yue hitting her old maid before she even came in, she laughed in her heart. Was she trying to show her might?
But before Secondary Consort Li could go and meet Chu Yue, Mrs. Feng came over with a report. "Secondary Consort, someone came from that side and said that she asked you to go over."
"I should indeed go and visit the imperial consort."
Secondary Consort Li smiled coldly. She should let Chu Yue know that even though she brought her back, she did not do it for her to be the master of the house!
When Secondary Consort Li arrived, Chu Yue was sitting in her garden, eating grapes. After she saw the guest, she only cast her a faint glance.
Secondary Consort Li bowed in a simple gesture of politeness. "Greetings, Imperial Consort."
Chu Yue looked at her and said, "Secondary Consort, you're too polite. You're showing far too much politeness by bowing to me, who is unfavored."
It was only at this moment that Secondary Consort Li truly looked at the imperial consort.
What she saw left her stunned. Imperial consort had only light makeup, but she seemed like a painting. While sitting in her position, she was a beauty that caught everyone's attention.
Secondary Consort Li had not known that the imperial consort was this beautiful.
If she had remained a virgin, Secondary Consort Li would have definitely treated her as a huge enemy, but now, no matter how beautiful she was, it was useless.
She was unchaste, so even if she was beautiful, she could not cause a major change in the mansion.
Once Secondary Consort Li snapped out of her daze, she smiled and said, "Sister, your beauty stunned me."
"We'll talk about our seniority in the mansion later. Summon the people who were in charge of cleaning my compound here and flog them before we talk about anything else," Chu Yue said.
Secondary Consort Li smiled. "Did they not clean your compound thoroughly? I had people check it. If you still think that it's not clean, then it is only right that I ask them here to be flogged."
She had personally asked people to check whether the place was clean, but when the imperial consort came back, she said that it was not clean, and she even wanted to flog the servants as punishment. If she did this, she would definitely leave behind an impression that she was harsh and unkind.
Chu Yue was not in the mood to indulge her. She just waved her hand to send away Mrs. Feng, Hupo, Bingye, and the others. Hupo and Bingye left, but Mrs. Feng cast a glance at the secondary consort. When she saw that the secondary consort had no opinion about this, she left.
It was only at that moment that Chu Yue smiled and looked at Secondary Consort Li. "Sister, enough with all these schemes against me. Just treat me well, and I'll let you do whatever you want in the house. I don't like managing the duties of the mansion, but if I don't live a good life here, then when someone new comes in, you might not be able to enjoy a good life anymore."
Secondary Consort Li's smile turned a little stiff. "Sister, what are you saying?"
"You know my secret, but that won't be enough to threaten me. After all, I know what you want to do. That's why, it'll be better if we remain on good terms. What do you think, Sister?" Chu Yue asked with a smile.
Secondary Consort Li held her breath. She did not expect that someone would actually dare to mention that they had done something like that, and the woman even shamelessly turned the tables around to threaten her!
Secondary Consort Li had actually been planning to use it to cause trouble for her! She would not just sit around helplessly while the right to make decisions ended up in Chu Yue's hands.
"Have you ever thought about what His Highness will do if he learns about it—"
Before she could even finish speaking, Chu Yue interrupted her. "It's fine even if he knows. Would he tell the public that his wife cheated on him? If a third person learns about this, the first person the prince will punish will be you. After all, I'm not going to spread this everywhere."