Chapter 117 She Wants to Advance by Retreating

In the middle of the night, Xie Shang returned quietly. A dim candle was lit in the room. Just as he was walking towards the bathroom, Jiang Fenghua poked her head out from under the heated tent and said with a smile, "Your Highness, you're back."

"It's so late, and you're still not asleep."

"I fell asleep, then woke up again, and now I can't fall asleep." She was wearing a snow-white strapless dress with a light gauze overlay, and her long, black hair was draped over her shoulders and chest, making her look like a fairy who had been lost to the mortal world.

She gracefully approached him and said softly, "Your Highness, I will help you!"

Her eyes sparkled like stars, her lips were delicate and luscious, and her charming and exquisite appearance was captivating. He knew she wanted to know the result.

"I'll do it myself. Right now, the ones who can't be tired are you and the baby." Xie Shang put his arm around her slender waist. She was still so thin. He would have to make sure she ate more next time, otherwise how would the baby get enough nutrition?

Jiang Fenghua proactively found him clean pajamas, her face full of flattery, "I'm not tired, and he's very well-behaved." She felt nothing now; she had suffered terribly during her pregnancy in her previous life, so she probably hadn't reached the stage of morning sickness yet.

Xie Shang picked her up and carried her to the bed, then tapped her nose. "Be a good girl and wait for me here."

Only after Xie Shang entered the bathroom did she ask Hongxiu to prepare some food and bring it over.

When Xie Shang came out of the bathroom, he saw some easily digestible food on the table. Jiang Fenghua set out the bowls and chopsticks, then ran to his side and said solicitously, "Your Majesty, I don't want to lie in bed. My body is stiff from lying down. We are both hungry. Please join us for a midnight snack!"

Xie Shang was also a little hungry, so he pulled her to sit at the table. "You want to ask about your older brother, right?"

Jiang Fenghua smiled sweetly and blinked her big eyes, "So why did you fight, big brother?"

Xie Shang knew she hadn't slept because she was anxious, so he didn't want to tease her anymore. He said in a deep voice, "He knows the Li family is very powerful, and small-scale troubles are no match for Li Cheng, nor can they make Li Cheng break off the engagement with the Zhang family. So, in order to expose Li Cheng as a scumbag, he came up with the worst possible solution..."

After hearing this, Jiang Fenghua said, "So Li Cheng really abused the girls in Yichun Pavilion and was caught red-handed in public."

Xie Shang nodded, "I suspect Jiang Jinyan hit Li Cheng to make a big scene, which led to the matter going to the authorities. Unfortunately, the girl who was abused was just a courtesan, and Li Cheng is innocent..."

Jiang Fenghua could only sigh at the state of the world, where there was no such thing as fairness or unfairness. In the eyes of the world, prostitutes were already available to anyone. Even if they were tortured to death in public, no one would speak a word of justice for them. They would only think that it was good that they died, that they had seduced her, and that they had been willing to do so.

The fact that her elder brother had asked the girls at Yichun Pavilion to do this was indeed a desperate measure, and she listened with trepidation, "And then what?"

“Li Cheng has military merits and was once granted an official position. How could your elder brother, a mere assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue, possibly fight against a rogue soldier with powerful backing? He was beaten badly.”

Jiang Fenghua's pupils widened suddenly, and she almost dropped the chopsticks in her hand. "How is he?" Her elder brother's martial arts skills were not weak, so he probably deliberately let Li Cheng beat him.

Xie Shang smiled, "Anyway, she won't die. This matter has escalated from a case of a prostitute being abused to a case of the eldest son of the Jiang family sacrificing himself to save someone but being beaten by the eldest son of the Minister of War."

Jiang Jinyan was quite cunning. He didn't let the incident happen in Yichun Tower. Instead, the courtesan was taken to an ordinary restaurant. Today happened to be the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the restaurant and the streets were crowded.

Jiang Jinyan already holds an official position. If this incident were to occur at Yichun Tower, his charge of soliciting prostitutes as an official would likely be confirmed.

"Does the Zhang family know?" Xie Shang told her not to concern herself with Zhang Yumo's affairs and to leave this to her older brother. So she didn't know if the Zhang family already knew about Li Cheng's character, or even what happened tonight. Wouldn't her older brother have been beaten for nothing?

"Whether she knows or not is unimportant. Since the engagement has been arranged and the betrothal gifts have been exchanged, Zhang Yumo is Li Cheng's fiancée. She is bound to marry Li Cheng. After all, no matter how prestigious the Zhang family is, their glory days are over. Meanwhile, the Li family holds important positions and wields power. This matter is not easy to resolve." A new emperor brings a new court; this is reality.

"Even if your older brother were willing to marry Zhang Yumo now, he would still be branded as someone who stole another man's fiancée, which wouldn't sound good either."

Jiang Fenghua asked, "Even considering Li Cheng's character, can't the engagement still be called off?"

“Of course they can’t, but with me stepping in, this matter will be much easier,” Xie Shang said.

Jiang Fenghua was completely convinced by Xie Shang. He was a prince, and even if Minister Li were present, he would have to give the prince face.

Once political struggles and power struggles are involved, everything becomes easy.

That's the allure of power.

-

At the Jiang residence, Zhang Yumo saw Jiang Jinyan with a bruised and swollen face, and her heart ached even more than his. She wept uncontrollably, saying, "I'm sorry, I've dragged you into this."

"It's alright, they're just visible superficial wounds, nothing serious. I know what I'm doing," Jiang Jinyan quickly reassured her. Fortunately, the Li family agreed to annul the engagement.

"Why are you helping me?" He had already made it clear that he wouldn't like her, but now he was helping her get rid of Li Cheng behind her back. If it weren't for him, they wouldn't know Li Cheng's true colors. A few days ago, Li Cheng was running to the Zhang residence every day, and no one knew that she had such a disgusting fetish.

Jiang Jinyan said calmly, "Now that I know Li Cheng's character, I won't sit idly by. I just didn't expect that in the end, it would be Prince Heng who could help you." In fact, it was power.

He smiled and said, "If I had known that His Highness Prince Heng could get the Li family to annul the engagement, I should have gone to see the Prince sooner, so that I wouldn't have had to go through all this trouble."

Zhang Yumo shook her head. "It wasn't Prince Heng who saved me, it was you." She was very grateful and touched.

She had thought a lot during this time and understood Jiang Fenghua's words more clearly. She should live a good life for her family. Li Cheng saved her that day, and she thought Li Cheng was a good person. She didn't dislike Li Cheng, so she agreed to marry him.

Regardless of his character, even if she agreed, she felt her heart was dead, like a puppet, like an empty shell.

Only then did she realize that marrying someone she didn't love, even if he was a good person, would still cause her pain.

Since Jiang Jinyan doesn't have anyone he likes, does she still have a chance? She wants to find out why he hasn't married at the age of twenty-seven.

She suddenly said, "Young Master Jiang, thank you for thinking of me. I will be very grateful to you, but it is only the gratitude of a friend. Please don't feel guilty. I will no longer want to marry you."

Jiang Jinyan was stunned.

Zhang Yumo continued, "Actually, I had already thought it through before I agreed to the Li family's marriage proposal. Since you don't like me, I won't force you. From now on, let's be friends, okay?"

She intends to retreat in order to advance.