Chapter 236: Crown Prince

Someone from the palace came to take away the second daughter, Kou Wan, while Princess Yi'an remained in the Marquis' Mansion. This caused quite a stir in the Marquis of Weiwu's Mansion, and the servants in the mansion secretly guessed that the eldest daughter had fallen out of favor with the Queen Mother.

Although the eldest daughter has the title of princess, she has no actual fiefdom. Once she falls out of favor, this princess will actually be of no use to her. In the future, she may not be better than the second daughter who has won the favor of the empress dowager.

The attitude of the Weiwu Marquisate towards the two girls changed from that day on.

Lin Hao didn't know what happened to Kou Wan after she returned home. He stayed at the Wuxiang Flower Dew Shop until almost noon and left, walking slowly towards the general's mansion.

Although it is early autumn, the heat has not yet dissipated. The sun, without any clouds to block it, is scorching the streets unscrupulously, and the rich fragrance of osmanthus wafting from both sides makes people feel even more stuffy.

Lin Hao looked up at the empty white sky and sighed silently.

You should hold an umbrella for shade.

She walked to the side of the road and stepped on the shade of the trees, and suddenly felt something was wrong.

"Girl?" Seeing Lin Hao stop, Baozhu followed her gaze.

A young man was standing under a nearby osmanthus tree. He looked a little disheveled, and his eyes were as dark as a deep pool with undercurrents.

Du Qing?

Lin Hao raised his eyebrows.

Baozhu immediately stood in front of Lin Hao and looked at Du Qing vigilantly.

"I have something to ask you." Du Qing looked past Baozhu and stared at Lin Hao, his voice hoarse and rapid.

Compared to Baozhu's nervousness, Lin Hao was much calmer: "Here?"

"Is there a place where we can talk?"

Lin Hao thought for a moment and asked, "How about the teahouse not far from the General's Mansion?"

Du Qing nodded quickly: "Okay, let's go our separate ways."

Lin Hao looked at Du Qing deeply.

Being so cautious, it seems that Du Qing has experienced a lot since leaving Jinlin Guard.

She went to the elegant room of the teahouse and waited. Soon Du Qing pushed the door open and walked in.

"Please sit down." Lin Hao pointed across.

Du Qing sat down and looked at Lin Hao with a puzzled look: "Aren't you afraid that I will cause you trouble?"

Lin Hao poured a cup of tea and handed it to him, and glanced at him with watery eyes: "You are in this state, and you still want to cause trouble to me?"

Du Qing paused.

"What do you want from me?" Lin Hao asked calmly.

Du Qing held the teacup in his hand and remained silent for a moment before asking, "Is the person who pretended to be me in your hands?"

Lin Hao tilted his head slightly: "This has nothing to do with you, right?"

Anger flashed in Du Qing's eyes, and his deep voice rose a few notes: "It doesn't matter? Do you know what I've been through since leaving Jinlin Guard?"

Lin Hao put away his nonchalant attitude, holding his teacup and pretending to listen to the story attentively: "Ah, go ahead."

Du Qingmo took a deep breath and suppressed his anger.

He was so foolish that he felt a little grateful to this girl when he left Jinlinwei!

God knows how he got through this period of time.

Chen Mu's people were fine, but even his own people looked at him with suspicion. After the situation became strained, both sides wanted to kill him to eliminate future trouble. After regaining his freedom, not only was he unable to do anything, he was also caught in an endless hunt.

"I just want to know what happened to the person who pretended to be me."

"That's not hard to guess, it's to protect your friend. Your friend is hiding in the house and not going out. That person is using your identity to buy supplies and ensure their survival." Lin Hao took the opportunity to ask, "What's your friend's name?"

Of course she knew what it was called, but she couldn't explain how she knew it.

Du Qing was silent.

"Can't I tell you? But he's already in Jinlinwei prison. Knowing his name doesn't really mean anything, right? Then I'll just call him 'your friend'—"

Gu Xuan

"Chen Mu, his name is Chen Mu."

"What about you?"

Looking at the girl's smiling face, Du Qing was silent for a moment and said, "My name is Du Qing."

When he said the name, he was in a completely desperate mood.

This girl knew his relationship with Chen Mu and knew that he was on Emperor Pingle's side, so there was really no point in hiding a name.

etc!

Du Qing's heart trembled, and a question came to his mind: This girl approached the master, could it be that she knew the master's identity?

The murderous intent flashed by, but was caught by Lin Hao.

"Then Du Qing, do you have anything else to ask?" She looked oblivious and spoke in a relaxed tone.

Du Qing suppressed the anger in his heart.

If you think about it carefully, he never showed up when this girl was dealing with the gentleman, so it is impossible for her to know his relationship with the gentleman.

The moment he convinced himself, his eyes returned to normal: "No more."

Instead, Lin Hao pulled out a scroll from his sleeve and unfolded it bit by bit: "Have you seen this person?"

Du Qing took a quick glance and looked at Lin Hao with a strange look in his eyes: "Who can recognize this?"

"It's the mask he gave to that person." Lin Hao didn't have much hope in the first place, so he rolled up the portrait again while speaking.

After a while of no response, she looked up and asked, "What's wrong?"

Du Qing remained silent.

He was just wondering why this girl was so friendly. Although she was clearly hostile to him, she didn't seem to be on guard against him at all.

Is this stupid?

He suddenly thought of Lin Hao's words that day when he said he would let him go. He thought it was stupid at the time, but later he really let him go. Then, he was hunted by two parties and had no identity to stay in the inn, so he became a stray dog.

It seems like he is the fool...

"Sorry to bother you." Du Qing put down the teacup and stood up to say goodbye.

Lin Hao called Baozhu and whispered a few words to her.

Baozhu chased out: "Wait a minute."

Du Qing stopped and looked at the little maid chasing after him in confusion.

"This is given to you by our girl." Baozhu stuffed a purse into Du Qing's hand.

Du Qing didn't react for a moment and subconsciously refused: "No."

"Keep it. Our girl has rescued many beggars. We don't need you." Baozhu waved her hand, turned around and ran back to the teahouse.

Du Qing slowly lowered his head and looked at the purse in his hand, with only two words remaining in his mind: beggar!

At that moment, he even wanted to ignore the dignity of a spy and chase after the man to curse him, but in the end he gave up after smelling the sour smell on his body.

Lin Hao watched Du Qing walk away from the open window. No matter how he looked at him, he felt that the tense figure looked a bit menacing.

"He accepted it, didn't he?"

"Well, he was embarrassed to accept it at first, but I comforted him by saying that you had rescued many beggars and he didn't need any more, so he accepted it." The little maid had an expression on her face that asked for credit.

Lin Hao was silent for a moment and gently patted Baozhu's shoulder.

This child is really good at comforting people.

After that, the situation calmed down, and soon the day of enthroning the crown prince arrived. There is no need to describe the solemn and complicated ceremony. Amid the congratulations of all the officials and nobles, the King of Wei became the new crown prince.

The emperor's arrival of an heir was not just a family matter, but a national one. Whether genuine or feigned, officials were overjoyed, the streets were decorated with lanterns, and everyone from the court to the people were immersed in the joy of having a crown prince.

Except for Prince Liang's Mansion.

The deposed crown prince could have attended the enthronement ceremony as the Prince of Liang. However, at the instruction of Emperor Tai'an, the officials in charge of the ceremony understood the situation and bypassed the Prince of Liang's mansion. The news did not reach the ears of the Prince of Liang until everything was settled.