Chapter 249: One Link After Another

The Fourth Prince left with a sullen face. After the door closed again, Tang Ning turned around and asked, "Brother, will the Fourth Prince believe our obvious provocation?"

Xiao Yan said: "No."

Tang Ning frowned: "Then why did brother say those things..." Since he knew it wouldn't happen, why did he deliberately try to sow discord between the Queen and the Fourth Prince?

Xiao Yan said, "What I want is for him not to believe it."

Tang Ning was confused by what he said.

Xiao Yan laughed: "Only if he doesn't believe it will he enter the palace."

Tang Ning tilted his head: "Brother, do you want the Fourth Prince to meet the Queen?"

"No, just let him enter the palace."

Tang Ning's mind became even more confused after hearing this. Xiao Yan was only smiling and had no intention of explaining anything further. She could only ask, "Will he agree to investigate the Lu family?"

"meeting."

Tang Ning frowned. Although she cooperated with Xiao Yan to provoke the Fourth Prince, the Fourth Prince was not a fool.

If someone else said this, the Fourth Prince might believe it without a doubt, but Xiao Yan had been in a life-and-death struggle with the Lu family for a long time, and she also had quite a grudge against the Lu family. If they suddenly came to the Fourth Prince, anyone would suspect that they were using him. How could the Fourth Prince have no doubts?

Besides, that is his maternal family and the Fourth Prince’s greatest support in the court. How could he destroy the Lu family with his own hands?

Seeing the little girl thinking with a bitter face, Xiao Yan did not rush to explain to her. He just picked up the teacup, skimmed off the foam on it, looked at her and said with a smile.

"Would you like to make a bet with me? I bet he'll be back in less than half an hour."

Tang Ning was instantly alert: "No gambling!"

She stared at Xiao Yan, her eyes wide as she held the cup in her hand. "I'm not stupid for making a bet with you, brother."

Xiao Yan laughed: "So alert?"

Tang Ning glanced at him and thought, "Nonsense! This man is so cunning! He always thinks ten steps ahead before he takes one step. All the things she knows are "stolen" from him. If she tries to show off her skills in front of him, she will only end up hurting herself."

"Brother must have made some backup plan somewhere else, forcing the Fourth Prince to come back to look for you. I'm not that stupid!"

Xiao Yan couldn't help laughing when he heard her mumbling softly, then shook his head and sighed, "Little Haitang is not easy to fool."

Tang Ning rolled her eyes at him.

Xiao Yan teased her: "Do you want to know why the Fourth Prince came back?"

"In no mood!"

Tang Ning took the white jade lotus cake and took a big bite. She would not be fooled. Every time her brother spoke like this, she would be teased by him.

"I think for myself!"

…

After coming out of Hengting Pavilion, the Fourth Prince had a very ugly look on his face, both because of the Lu family's troubles and because of Xiao Yan.

"Your Highness, will Xiao Yan really help you?" Cheng Ping, the personal attendant of the Fourth Prince, asked in a low voice.

"He helped me?" The Fourth Prince sneered, "Don't you know who Xiao Yan is?"

How could someone who is so cruel and ruthless, and has climbed to a high position by any means necessary, interfere in the affairs between the princes just for the sake of so-called favors?

"Xiao Yan may have really told my mother about the Lu family, but it wasn't for the so-called favor of Song Tangning. He wanted my mother to take action against the Lu family so that he could reap the benefits. I don't know why my mother didn't take action, so he wanted to borrow my help."

The Fourth Prince was a little impulsive, but he was not a naive young man who grew up in a wealthy family. He couldn't understand why the Queen had concealed the matter of the Lu family and Prince Cheng from him, but he never doubted Queen Lu's love for him.

He is the Queen Mother's only son and all she can rely on. No matter what she thinks, she will never help outsiders to harm him.

"Then Your Highness just now..."

"If I hadn't pretended to have a rift with my mother, letting Xiao Yan think he had succeeded in sowing discord, how would I have known his intentions today?"

"Then over there, Your Majesty...could it be Xiao Yan as well?"

The Fourth Prince shook his head: "I think what Father said is true."

Xiao Yan does things to the end, but he is extremely loyal to his father. Moreover, it is too easy to expose the falsification of the imperial edict, and Xiao Yan will never hand such a handle into his hands.

The affair between Prince Cheng and the Lu family must be true, and Xie Yin is probably also a Lu family member. My father asked him to investigate this matter because he wanted to make the Lu family suffer the most painful pain and betrayal by their closest relatives. He also wanted to sever his relationship with the Lu family and cut off his and his mother's greatest support in the court...

Cheng Ping's face showed some worry: "What should His Highness do now? Should he go to the Lu family?"

"Don't go to the Lu family first."

For a moment, he was unsure about how to treat the Lu family. He was reluctant to destroy the Lu family, but he did not dare to go against his father's wishes.

The Fourth Prince pondered for a moment before saying, "Go into the palace first and see the Queen Mother."

He had to find out what his mother's plan was.

Cheng Ping nodded and said nothing more. He just drove the carriage over and took the Fourth Prince into the palace.

The closest street to the palace from Hengting Pavilion was Feng'an Street. The carriage went all the way to the downtown area. There were more and more people around, and vendors occupied both sides. Occasionally, pedestrians blocked the road, and the carriage was forced to slow down.

"What's going on?" The Fourth Prince lifted the curtain.

Cheng Ping whispered, "There's a market up ahead. It's a market day today, so there are quite a lot of people."

"Take another route."

"yes."

The Fourth Prince looked a little irritated. Just as he was about to lower the curtain, he suddenly saw two figures from the corner of his eye. He froze for a moment and quickly patted the wall of the carriage: "Wait!"

"Your Highness?"

Cheng Ping hurriedly grabbed the reins and turned around to ask, when he saw his master looking into the distance with a very grim expression. When he followed the Fourth Prince's gaze, he was immediately shocked.

"Second Prince..."

The Second Prince had previously had an argument with them, and left after being humiliated by Xiao Yan. I thought he had gone back home, but I didn't expect to see him here.

The Second Prince is fine, but the person beside him...

Cheng Ping couldn't help but widen his eyes: "Your Highness, why is Lord Feng with the Second Prince?"

That’s Feng Qiuli, the head of the Feng family.

The aristocratic families have been supporting the Fourth Prince over the years. Even if the Lu family falls, there are still several other families. But now the head of the Feng family is with the Second Prince. Cheng Ping feels uneasy. Did the aristocratic families betray the prince, or did the Feng family find another master?

Seeing the Second Prince and Feng Qiuli enter the Treasure Pavilion across the street together, Cheng Ping asked in a low voice, "Your Highness, would you like me to go and take a look?"

The Fourth Prince tightened his grip on the carriage curtain and was about to speak when he saw a familiar figure appear outside the Treasure Pavilion.

The person was wearing ordinary maid's clothes, which were a bit loose and could not cover her slender figure. She lowered her head and walked to the front of the Treasure Pavilion. She first looked around and then walked in quickly.

The curtain in the Fourth Prince's hand was torn apart with a loud "crash", and the veins on the back of his hand bulged.

Cheng Ping opened his mouth wide: "Aunt Bai?!"

This wasn't the beauty His Highness had recently taken into his chambers. Because of her gentle disposition, her unwillingness to compete, and her considerable talent, she had recently earned His Highness's favor. However, she had disguised herself as a servant, sneaking around, and even entered the Treasure Pavilion with the Second Prince and Feng Qiuli...

Cheng Ping's face turned pale.

Aunt Bai didn't stay in the Treasure Pavilion for long. After she came out, she lowered her head, walked around the busy city and entered the alley. She had a faint smile on her face and a brocade box in her hand. She was obviously in a good mood, but when she turned around the end of the alley and looked up, all the smiles on her face froze instantly.

A cup of tea later, Aunt Bai, covered in blood, was carried unconscious onto the carriage.

The Fourth Prince looked at the bloodstains dragged out from the carriage with an extremely gloomy expression, and found it even more ridiculous.

Lu family.

It’s actually the Lu family!

He originally thought that Aunt Bai was the second son's spy and that the Feng family had betrayed him, but he never imagined that she was actually Lu Chongyuan's person. She was a woman from the Lu family who changed her name and sneaked into his house. She was not there to be monitored or to please him, but just wanted to get a royal person with Lu family blood.

While Lu Chongyuan was trying to contact the Second Prince, hoping to find a way out for the Lu family, he also had someone give him medicine, hoping to preserve his bloodline and, after giving birth to a child, to leave the son behind...

The Lu family had already given up on him! !

The fourth prince felt extremely chilled, and even the bright sunshine outside could not dispel the chill from his body.

"Your Highness..." Cheng Ping's face was full of worry.

The Fourth Prince's eyes were filled with murderous intent: "Return to Hengting Pavilion and see Xiao Yan!"

He and Song Tangning have an appointment and should not have left yet.