Chapter 191 - 190: Pragmatism
Could it be Mu Lianhui instead of Princess Yunhua?
Princess Nanyan thought of this too, her eyes dimming as she pressed her lips together.
Du Yunluo instinctively tightened her grip on Snow Clothes’ reins, turned her head to look into Snow Clothes’ clear eyes, and gently shook her head, saying, "If Lady were to make a move, she would target Snow Clothes, not Caiwei."
In their past lives and this one, both Nanyan and Du Yunluo had dealings with Mu Lianhui—one as a love rival and stepmother, the other as a sister-in-law and a stumbling block. Over decades, even the many things that were hard to understand initially became clear after another lifetime, hence both knew Mu Lianhui’s character through and through.
Mu Lianhui has her own ideas when she does things. She is very practical; whether it’s scheming or harming others, she has her purposes in it.
Even with hatred in her heart, Mu Lianhui never does anything useless.
In Guoning Temple, Mu Lianhui could act against Princess Nanyan just because of a few words from Princess Yunhua, but times have changed. At that time, Nanyan’s marriage to Li Luan was not yet decided, and Mu Lianhui’s actions could yield some results.
Now that Li Luan has married Nanyan, should Mu Lianhui act against Princess Nanyan, there would be no gain except to vent.
By contrast, only by targeting Du Yunluo would Mu Lianhui remain true to her initial intent.
Choosing between the two, if Mu Lianhui were to make a move, she would certainly make an article out of Snow Clothes.
Caiwei’s abnormal movement alerted Du Yunluo, hence she dared not lend Snow Clothes to Princess Nanyan.
Princess Nanyan raised her voice to call over a palace maid, gave a few instructions, and the maid quickly fetched an eunuch.
"Have a careful look at Snow Clothes," said Princess Nanyan.
In the palace, anyone smart enough wouldn’t gossip. The eunuch simply did his job, inspecting Snow Clothes thoroughly.
Snow Clothes was docile, allowing the eunuch to lift its four legs one by one to examine them.
After examining, the eunuch pointed at the right hind leg, saying, "The horseshoe has a missing nail. If it starts running, it could come loose. If you wish to ride it, ma’am, let me have someone nail the horseshoe again."
Princess Nanyan didn’t comment, asking the palace maid to give some reward money to the eunuch.
Du Yunluo reached out to straighten Snow Clothes’ mane, feeling a sense of clarity in her mind.
Although Mu Lianxiao was from a military family, he wasn’t the type to be careless. Snow Clothes was his carefully selected gift for Du Yunluo. Even if he was rushing to De’an, he would have certainly instructed Yun Qi to check it thoroughly. It’s improbable that the horseshoe would come loose right after arriving.
From the start in the Capital to the hunting ground, all the horses were taken care of together; any tampering must have happened during this time.
A missing nail on the horseshoe isn’t something that can be noticed at a glance.
If Du Yunluo were to trot on Snow Clothes, it wouldn’t be a problem. But if Princess Yunhua suddenly whipped its rear, Snow Clothes would dash off, the horseshoe coming loose, losing balance, and as a novice rider, Du Yunluo would definitely suffer.
At that moment, in the chaos, who would pay attention to the horseshoe’s condition? Outsiders would think Du Yunluo’s skills were lacking, and the sudden speed of Snow Clothes caused her to fall.
This method was simple to execute and hard to trace back.
With Mu Lianxiao absent at the hunting ground, even if someone thought to check the horseshoe later, it would be impossible to follow the trail.
This tactic resembled the Mu Lianhui Du Yunluo had known in the past; her boldness and recklessness at Wangmei Garden and Guoning Temple were surprising to Du Yunluo.
Princess Nanyan let out a sigh of relief. Fortunately, Du Yunluo noticed. If not, she might have ridden Snow Clothes to save Huang Jie, only to have herself endangered as well.
"But if it wasn’t the Princess or the Lady, then what’s up with Caiwei?" Princess Nanyan murmured.
The two hadn’t figured it out yet when the sound of hooves approached.
Du Yunluo looked up to see Princess Yunhua riding back, followed shortly by Mu Lianhui not far behind.
"What happened?" Princess Yunhua stopped beside Princess Nanyan, looking down at them condescendingly, "I heard Caiwei got spooked?"
Princess Nanyan replied, "Yes, I lent Caiwei to Huang Jie, Caiwei got spooked, but fortunately her brother came in time, otherwise she might have been injured."
Princess Yunhua sniffed disdainfully, "Huang Jie? Her lousy riding, even Caiwei couldn’t tolerate it?"
Du Yunluo lowered her gaze; the Princess’s assumption was quite natural because Huang Jie’s poor riding skills made everyone think the problem was with Huang Jie, especially since Caiwei was an exceptionally mild-mannered horse.
This preconceived notion would lead everyone to believe the same if Du Yunluo fell off Snow Clothes—blaming her lack of skill.
With this thought in mind, Du Yunluo discreetly glanced at Mu Lianhui.
Mu Lianhui was short of breath from riding, her cheeks flushed, her gaze directed afar, seemingly not listening to the conversation between Princess Yunhua and Nanyan.
Princess Nanyan shook her head, saying, "Caiwei’s temperament is excellent, and Huang Jie’s riding isn’t good, but not so bad that she couldn’t stroll leisurely on Caiwei. I feel Caiwei is really anxious today."
Princess Yunhua raised an eyebrow, dismounted, and called over an eunuch to lead away the horse, striding off in her riding boots: "Anxious? Did anyone check?"
"Not checked."
Upon hearing this, Princess Yunhua stopped, turned, and gave Princess Nanyan a glance: "You’ve got quite the nerve. I’ve been thinking these past two days, your luck is really good. If it weren’t for Huang Jie standing in the way, you’d be the one who fell."
These words were spoken sarcastically, with "luck" bitten out sharply.
Du Yunluo knew that this referred to how Princess Nanyan evaded trouble at Guoning Temple by playing chess in her room. Du Yunluo saw the Princess glare at Mu Lianhui, but she seemed oblivious.
When Princess Yunhua decides to investigate, those beneath her wouldn’t dare to shirk the task.
Soon after they settled in the tent, an eunuch arrived carrying a small handful of horse grass.
"This servant has a sharp nose and smelled a faint scent of alcohol in Caiwei’s breath, so I went searching at the pile of horse grass and found this small handful."
Princess Yunhua had Suiyu take the horse grass, and after sniffing it, Suiyu nodded at the Princess: "Princess, it does smell of alcohol."
Du Yunluo and Princess Nanyan exchanged a glance.
Qin Shubao’s horse, Hulei Bo, was obsessed with alcohol, but Caiwei was different. Its mild nature meant any contact with alcohol made it anxious. With a skilled rider, it wouldn’t matter, but with Huang Jie, who was barely competent, the horse got spooked.
Judging by Caiwei’s condition, it seemed it hadn’t consumed much. It might have been due to time constraints that whoever tampered didn’t manage to make Caiwei eat all of it, leaving the remainder mixed with other horse grass.
If not for this sharp-nosed eunuch, the truth might have stayed hidden.
"Now that we know what’s going on," Princess Yunhua stood up, walked a few indifferent steps, then suddenly raised her foot, kicking against the small table with her riding boot, causing a noisy clatter as fruit plates, water kettles, and tea cups scattered to the floor, "Go investigate thoroughly!"
The eunuch responded with stutters, hurriedly exiting.
The tea cups rolled a couple of times, finally stopping at Mu Lianhui’s feet.
Princess Yunhua gazed coldly at her, her eyes like arrows.