Chapter 323: Ominous (Part 1)

Sun Wei's expression was quite serious.

Sun Qiao was startled by her and asked hurriedly, "Sister, have I done anything bad?"

"Don't panic," Sun Wei said, "Think carefully first. Tell me how you and the prince met, how many times you met, and what you talked about. Tell me everything."

Sun Qiao did not dare to be careless and recounted his memories of his past interactions with Sima Jun one by one.

Sun Wei then realized that it was Sima Jun's idea for Sun Qiao to participate in the Winter Solstice competition. Therefore, his choosing Sun Qiao during the competition was definitely not as accidental as it seemed.

"Sister?" Sun Qiao looked at her from the side.

"You said you and the prince met near the house in Chunzhi Lane?"

"That's right," Sun Qiao said. "The prince said he originally went to the Yu Mansion to see Master Yu, but didn't meet him. I heard that Master Yu often went to his villa in Chunzhi Lane to accommodate our family, so I went there to look for him. And so, my master and I met by chance."

wrong.

Sun Wei felt that this matter was strange.

Sima Jun and Yu Yi didn't actually have much contact. If he hadn't been able to find Yu Yi, he could have simply left a visiting card and asked him to meet at another time. Why would he have gone to Yu Yi's villa in person to look for him?

"Then when we meet next time, will you look for the prince, or will the prince look for you?"

"I went to see the Crown Prince," Sun Qiao said. "The Crown Prince said he would take me in as his disciple if I placed in the top three in the competition. But I didn't have any martial arts skills that were impressive... so I asked him if he could teach me archery."

Sun Wei: “…”

She blushed when she heard such a shameless request, and it was hard for Sima Jun to tolerate it.

"And then? Did the prince agree?" Sun Wei asked.

"Of course not. The prince told me to figure it out on my own."

"So you learned the archery skill yourself?"

Sun Qiao shook his head. "Later, when I was practicing in the training grounds, I met a ranger. He said he had a liking for me and taught me a few moves. I followed his methods and indeed, I improved a lot."

"Ranger?" Sun Wei never believed in such unexpected fate. "What's the Ranger's name?"

"He didn't want to say, and I didn't delve into it."

That's even weirder.

"What does he look like?" Sun Wei asked.

"He always wore a bamboo hat, thinking he was ugly and afraid to scare me, so I never got a good look at him," Sun Qiao said. "But his voice sounded very young, and his skin was fair, so he must be a young man."

Sun Wei thought for a moment and asked, "Have you seen Captain Yin Wenyin, who is beside the Crown Prince? Do you think that man resembles him?"

"Not at all," Sun Qiao said. "He's even shorter than Captain Yin."

As he spoke, he asked in surprise, "Sister, do you suspect that the Ranger was arranged by the Crown Prince?"

Sun Wei has no evidence, just speculation.

She didn't want Sun Qiao to reveal her true identity to Sima Jun, so she said, "What are you suspicious of? I just want to know what that person looks like, so I'm comparing him to Captain Yin. Don't take it too seriously."

Sun Qiao said, "Sister, Master Yu also asked this question."

Sun Wei was stunned: "When did Master Yu ask this?"

"Just after I became his disciple, Master Yu suddenly came to my house to find me and asked why the prince had suddenly accepted me as his disciple. Then, the questions he asked were very similar to my sister's." Sun Qiao looked at her suspiciously, "Sister, has something happened?"

"It's okay." Sun Wei touched his head, his mind full of thoughts.

She recalled that when Sima Jun accepted Sun Qiao as his apprentice, she had also had her suspicions. However, because Sima Jun had expressed admiration for Sun Qiao in his words, and she was reluctant to meet Sun Qiao, she had no way of investigating the matter and just brushed it off.

Unexpectedly, there are so many causes and effects behind this.

Could it be that Sima Jun really noticed something?

What did Yu Yi notice?

The next morning, Sun Wei asked Aju to deliver a letter to Yu's house, preparing to meet Yu Yi.

But not long after the post was sent out, Aju came back with Cao Song by her side.

"Princess," Cao Song said rather awkwardly, "The Crown Prince has ordered that the gates of the mansion remain closed today, and no one is allowed to enter or leave. The same applies to Princess."

Sun Wei was stunned for a moment, then laughed out loud.

"Did the prince tell me the reason?"

Cao Song replied respectfully, "The Crown Prince left the capital yesterday on some business. Before he left, he told me that the capital has been in turmoil recently and if anything were to happen, he would be unable to intervene. Therefore, I have no choice but to ask the princess to stay at home. He will be back in two days."

"I'll stay?" Sun Wei sneered, "But I'm not the one who needs to recuperate."

Cao Song was speechless and could only smile apologetically, but he refused to give in.

Sun Wei took a deep breath and suppressed the anger in his heart.

She knew that Cao Song was just a messenger and had nothing to do with him, so she stopped making things difficult for him.

"The Crown Prince is getting married tomorrow. Have all the gifts on the gift list been delivered to the East Palace?" she asked.

"Don't worry, Princess. It was delivered yesterday. There is no lack of etiquette." Cao Song replied, "Princess, there is no need to go in person. Just wait for the prince to return."

Sun Wei did not comment and asked him to leave.

Ah Ru listened from the side and couldn't help but feel strange: "The prince went out before, but he never confined the princess to the house. What did the princess and the prince talk about yesterday?"

Yesterday's conversation between Sun Wei and Sima Jun was privately held in the study, so Aju had no way of knowing about it.

Sun Wei didn't say anything.

Sima Jun didn't let her leave the house because of the woman in Tangyuan, or because of something else?

After yesterday's conversation with Sun Qiao, Sun Wei felt vaguely uneasy.

But her first concern was Sun Qiao's safety.

If anything goes wrong, Sun Qiao must be sent to a safe place.

She asked Aju: "The gates are locked now, can you find a way out?"

A'ru was unsure: "This palace is heavily guarded. I have never tried it. If the princess has an urgent matter, I can give it a try."

A'ru finally climbed over the wall and escaped without any problems. Sun Wei wasn't worried about A'ru being caught. She was Sun Wei's personal servant, known to everyone in the mansion, so even if she was caught, it wouldn't matter.

An hour later, Aju came back, but she was captured by Cao Song.

Cao Song looked embarrassed. "Princess, you shouldn't have ordered A'ru to go out. The prince has issued an order that anyone who leaves without permission will be punished with a stick. What should I do?"

Sun Wei's face turned cold. "I just want to eat the grilled fish and sweet-scented osmanthus wine from the East Market. Since the gate is closed, can't I ask Aju to buy them back? When the prince comes back, the attendant can tell him to come and beat me with a stick."

Cao Song naturally didn't dare, so he just said, "Forget it this time. If the princess wants to eat anything, you can tell me and I will do it."

Sun Wei agreed dejectedly and sent Cao Song away.

After waiting for Cao Song to leave, A'ru stepped forward and said, "The princess asked me to go to Yongfu Pavilion to look for Shopkeeper Chen, but the people at Yongfu Pavilion said that Shopkeeper Chen had gone to the foreign countries in the south to purchase goods and would not be back for a while."

Sun Wei couldn't help but frown.

She had agreed with Chen Mao to meet in Jiankang during the Lunar New Year. Even if he was delayed by Lu Xian's lover, being late was understandable, but breaking the appointment would be strange. She knew Chen Mao was a man of his word and would not do this without reason.

"Is there any letter addressed to me in Yongfu Pavilion?"

Aju replied: "I asked, no."

That's even weirder.