Chapter 37 Chapter 37 Rumors

Wu Tianyue rode quickly to the Prince's residence. Hearing that the Prince had half a day off today and was studying in the study, he went to the study.

The Crown Prince was engrossed in studying a recent article written by a prominent scholar in the court when he heard someone outside say, "The Crown Prince has arrived."

Just as he put down the book and was about to invite someone in, he saw Wu Tianyue walk in rashly. Thinking of what he had just heard, the prince laughed and teased him, "How come you have time to come? Didn't the emperor's uncle punish you?"

"My father is still in the palace discussing matters with His Majesty, and he won't be able to come out for a while." Wu Tianyue shrugged, "Besides, I'm not living at home right now."

The prince had long been accustomed to this behavior. He smiled and shook his head, then asked, "I heard from your teacher that you have been slacking off in your studies lately?"

"With Mother and you keeping such a close eye on me, I can't afford to slack off. I've just been a little tired these past few days, so my progress has been a bit slow." Wu Tianyue cursed the Master and Wu Wuyu for being like snitches. He said with a look of grievance, "You've got food here, but I haven't even had lunch yet."

“…” The prince had never been able to deal with this tough guy, and there was indeed more to do during the festival, so he didn’t say much and ordered people to prepare food.

Wu Tianyue only had breakfast in the morning and had some snacks at Princess Zhongshun's place at noon. After that, he kept running outside. He was very hungry. When the food was served, he started to eat it ravenously.

The prince disapproved of his lack of manners, but was afraid that talking to him while he was eating might make him choke. Furthermore, as the ancients often said: "Don't talk while eating, and don't talk while sleeping," so he endured it and waited until he finished eating before saying, "Chewing slowly and thoroughly is the key to good health."

"I'm just too hungry today. I'm not usually like this." Wu Tianyue perfunctorily said, rinsed his mouth, sat down on the chair next to the Crown Prince, and asked mysteriously: "Your Highness, you and the Crown Princess have such a good relationship. Is there any secret?"

"What's the secret?" The prince was very confused.

"I heard you only met once or twice before you got married. How did you make her fall in love with you?"

"Why should I fall in love with her? The Crown Princess and I were married by our parents' orders and the matchmaker's words. Naturally, we should treat each other with respect. She has given me children and is filial to my parents. I respect and love her and have entrusted the palace to her, just like an ordinary couple."

Why is it different from what others say about being inseparable? Wu Tianyue was very confused and asked, "How do you comfort the Crown Princess when she is angry?"

"The Crown Princess is dignified and graceful, and knows how to act appropriately. Why would she be angry?"

"The Crown Princess wasn't angry when you were intimate with other women?"

"I don't have many women around me. The concubines in the house were all selected by the Crown Princess herself. Naturally, she won't be dissatisfied."

Although Wu Tianyue knew that this seemed to be the normal way for all couples to get along, including the Zhongshun King and his wife, he still felt something was wrong. A person only has one heart. If he gave it to his wife, it would mean that he had no room for others. So why take a concubine? Is this fair to the concubine and the wife?

But he also knew that his idea was not accepted by the world. If he said it out loud, he would probably have to listen to the prince's long explanation. So he kept silent and thought about who to ask for advice next. Then he heard the prince say, "Why are you asking me these questions instead of studying and writing articles?"

"Just asking." Wu Tianyue saw that he was asking himself to study hard eight out of ten times, so he stood up and was about to leave. "I'll go back first. You can read slowly."

"Wait a minute." The prince stopped him, "Now that you're here, let me check how your studies have been going these days."

Wu Tianyue failed to escape and was tested with a bitter face. After being told to study hard, he wrote an article for the prince to review. They did not return to the Grand View Garden until they had dinner together in the evening.

He walked into the yard listlessly. Lan Ye saw that he was very depressed, so she came forward to help him wash his face and asked with concern, "Master, have you had dinner yet?"

"I ate it at the Crown Prince's Mansion." Wu Tianyue lay down on the bed. Perhaps he was too tired from using his brain, and his stomach felt a little empty. He said to Lan Ye, "Bring up the food if you have any left. I'll have some more."

"Of course I've kept it." Lan Ye answered with a smile and went downstairs to serve the food.

Not long after, she came with a few maids carrying food boxes. As she set the dishes, she said, "Master Bao was beaten today. When can you find time to go and see him?"

"Why was he beaten?" Wu Tianyue was very puzzled. Hadn't Baoyu been inexplicably sad lately? Wasn't he happy only when playing with his sisters and the maids? How could he have time to go out and cause trouble?

"I don't know." Lan Ye shook her head. "I only heard that the chief official from the palace came and after he left, Baoyu was beaten by Jia Yuanwailang."

"Just send someone to deliver the medicine." When Wu Tianyue heard that it was someone from the mansion, he knew what was going on. He thought it was Qi Guan's business, so it had nothing to do with him.

Wu Tianyue sat down at the table and quickly finished his meal. Then he yawned and sat on the chair, watching the maids clear the dishes while thinking about the man around him who had a good reputation among the women.

Before I could figure out what was going on, I felt so sleepy that I got up and went back to the inner room to sleep.

The next morning, Wu Tianyue got up early as usual to practice martial arts, and then went to class. After finishing his homework at noon, he had it checked by the teacher and was allowed to go back and rest.

Just as he was about to take a break after dinner, he heard the little girls gathered in the corridor to gossip. Wu Tianyue found their indignant looks a little funny, so he secretly hid under the window in the house and listened.

Unexpectedly, this gossip was related to himself. It was said that Baoyu was beaten this time because Wu Tianyue ordered the chief historian of Prince Zhongshun's Palace to ask Baoyu about Qi Guan's escape. In addition, Baochai's brother Xue Pan was jealous when he saw that Qi Guan was on good terms with Baoyu, so he instigated others to provoke Jia Zheng. Jia Huan also told Jia Zheng about Jin Chuan'er jumping into the well, so Jia Zheng beat Baoyu in anger.

Wu Tianyue was surprised that he could be involved in this matter, so he asked someone in to ask in detail. He found out that these gossips had been circulating in the Jia Mansion last night. He was furious. A real man should be responsible for his actions. Even if I knew that the two of them were good friends, I would not bother to tell others. Besides, I didn't even know that they knew each other.

Then she thought that Daiyu and Baoyu grew up together, and even if they had no romantic feelings for each other, they must have a brother-sister relationship. This rumor came from Baoyu's courtyard, and it sounded very convincing. She was just planning to please her, but what if she believed the rumor and blamed herself?

Wu Tianyue already felt that he had no chance, and if this happened again, wouldn't there be even less hope?

Thinking of this, he became a little overwhelmed and no longer cared about his face. He got up and went to Qingxi Garden.

When the people in Baoyu's courtyard saw him coming, they may have felt a little guilty and dodged and did not dare to step forward to stop him.

Wu Tianyue entered the inner room as if he were in an empty place. He ignored the rules and questioned Baoyu from the bedside: "I never knew you were familiar with Qi Guan in my house. Why do you think I said it?"

Baoyu was frightened by his aggressive approach and lay on the bed, mumbling, "I never said that."

Wu Tianyue snorted coldly: "You didn't say that this mansion would spread like wildfire? People outside are saying that you were beaten this time and I was the culprit."

"Maybe... maybe someone else misunderstood."

"Who is the other person? Who misunderstood? How did it happen? Is there any evidence?" Wu Tianyue asked Baoyu a series of questions that stumped him.

Seeing him so aggressive, Baoyu's face flushed crimson. Perhaps frightened, Xiren stepped forward and said, "Sir, there's no need to pressure our master. He's been bedridden ever since he was beaten. How could he possibly know? It must be someone following him making random guesses."

"Who guessed it?" Wu Tianyue snorted coldly, "Does he have evidence to prove that it was me who said it? Call him over."

Seeing how angry he was, Qingwen, who was serving in the outer room, pulled Lan Ye, whom she knew well, to ask him about it. When Lan Ye came, she had already sent someone to look for Daiyu, so she was not in a hurry and told her what had happened.

When Qingwen learned that the rumor came from her own courtyard, but she was unaware of it, she was so angry that she started to curse. The maids in the courtyard dared not say a word after hearing her words.

She cursed to her heart's content, and when she heard Wu Tianyue's disbelief in Baoyu's words, she said, "Even I don't know about this, so Baoyu certainly doesn't know about it either." As she said that, she was about to go in and explain to Wu Tianyue on behalf of Baoyu.

Wu Tianyue was angry and Qingwen had a bad temper. If they disagreed and started arguing, the matter would be even more difficult to resolve, so Lan Ye held her back tightly.

Baoyu's maids, such as Musk Moon, were also terrified. Wu Tianyue was usually a humble person, and the people in his courtyard were also very friendly. Even if there were any frictions, they never cared. Today's incident was so frightening that they wanted to go out and report to Lady Jia in a panic.

Coincidentally, there was a girl named Yuchen'er today. She was the sister of Jinchuan'er who jumped into the well that day. She usually served beside Lady Wang and was ordered to bring lotus soup to Baoyu today. After hearing these words, she figured out the cause and effect. She felt a little gloating over Baoyu's misfortune. There were also people she didn't dare to offend. She also thought that she was here today. If she let these people go out and make a fuss, Lady Wang would probably be blamed if Lady Jia knew about it, and she would definitely be the one to be angered.

Thinking of this, he hurriedly stopped the person who was about to leave and advised, "Baoyu is not in the right in this matter. Even if Madam comes, he has to apologize to the prince. If the matter gets out of hand and the master finds out, Baoyu will definitely give him another beating."

When the maids heard this, they stopped and didn't know what to do, like headless flies.

Yu Chen'er overheard the conversation between Wu Tianyue and Xiren and said hurriedly, "Why don't you bring the servant who said that here? The prince will find the source, ask him about it clearly, apologize and punish him, and then the matter will be over and Baoyu will no longer be implicated."

After hearing this, Qingwen thought it made sense, and she rushed out and ordered the little maid to call in the servant named Mingyan who often followed Baoyu.

Not long after, a handsome young man came in with his head lowered and his legs shaking. No one looked at him, but urged him to go in quickly.

"Greetings, Prince." Perhaps someone had informed him, as Mingyan trembled as he came in, he knelt down and begged for mercy, "Prince, spare my life."

"I don't want your life." Wu Tianyue sneered, "You just need to explain why you guessed it was me. If there's no reason, then you're slandering me out of thin air."

Mingyan didn't dare to speak, and could only kowtow and beg for mercy.

Wu Tianyue was impatient and ordered someone to pull him up. Just as he was about to speak, he heard someone reply, "Miss Lin is here."

Before he could finish his words, Daiyu came in and asked, "Why are you showing off here?"

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The author has something to say: Thanks to the little angels "Waiting for the Flowers to Bloom" and "Picking up the Light" for irrigating the nutrient solution~