Chapter 31 Chapter 31 After Xue Fenglin returned to Beijing, he didn’t…
Besides, after Xue Fenglin returned to Beijing, he did not go back to the Xue family first, but went to Shuiyunju, a brothel in the suburbs of Beijing.
This brothel is different from the vulgar ones on Lion Street and is very elegant. Even the prostitutes there were mostly wives of officials who had been convicted of crimes. They were all proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting, which attracted many high-ranking officials in the capital.
In order to conceal their tracks, Liu Chong and his group of guards separated from the second prince before they reached the capital. And Shuiyunju was the meeting place they had told him about.
Xue Fenglin was led by a beautiful woman to a small building in the backyard of Shuiyunju.
This small building was built in the middle of an artificial lake, with lotus flowers planted on both sides of the lake.
It was early autumn now, and the lotus flowers on the lake had long since withered, leaving only a few lotus pods and lotus leaves reaching to the sky.
Xue Fenglin walked across the corridor bridge and entered the cottage, where he saw a man sitting at the desk and another person leaning against the chaise longue.
"Fenglin, you're finally back." When the young man on the chaise longue saw Xue Fenglin coming in, he immediately stood up, ran two steps forward, and patted him on the shoulder heavily.
Xue Fenglin glared at him and ignored him. Instead, he bowed to the man sitting behind the desk and said, "Second Prince, long time no see. This time, thanks to you for sending Lord Liu and the others to pick me up, Fenglin is grateful. I wonder if the capital is doing well recently?"
"Except for your Xue Mansion which was in a panic for a few days due to the disappearance of the Crown Prince, there is nothing else wrong in the capital." The Second Prince Jin Yunxin said with a smile, and asked Xue Fenglin to sit down casually without being restrained.
"I heard that you injured your leg. Is it healed now?" Jin Yunxin asked again.
"Not fully recovered yet." Xue Fenglin said quickly: "Thank you for your concern, Second Prince. It's nothing serious. It's just a broken bone. It will be fine after a few days of rest."
"The imperial physician Hu in the palace is the best at orthopedics, and he is also an expert at treating injuries and sprains. I'll send him to see you later, and tell others that he is treating Lord Ye." Jin Yunxin comforted him.
"Then I would like to thank the Second Prince on behalf of my father and Fenglin! This glass is for you." The young man at the side hurriedly took the initiative to thank him, and then picked up the wine glass on the table and drank it all in one gulp.
Jin Yunxin then shook his head helplessly, showing a sincere smile on his face and said: "Ye Chen, you are smart. You know how to please me now."
"Nonsense! Given our friendship, do I need to try to please you? Don't slander me. I'm obviously sincerely grateful!" Ye Chen spoke without restraint.
But seeing Jin Yunxin was laughing out loud and really enjoying it, the atmosphere in the cottage became more relaxed.
After an hour, Jin Yunxin left through the back door and quietly left Shuiyunju without anyone noticing.
Only Xue Fenglin and Ye Chen were left in the small building. Ye Chen said to Xue Fenglin with some anger: "You have been missing for such a long time, and you didn't even write a letter to me to pick you up. My parents were worried and couldn't sleep at night."
"I'm sorry for making my uncle and aunt worry. Anyway, I will go to your house to treat my leg injury soon, so I can visit them at this time." Xue Fenglin said to Ye Chen.
Ye Chen is the only son of the Ye family and the cousin of Xue Fenglin. Xue Fenglin's mother, Ye, is his aunt.
Because they are of similar age, they have been playing together since childhood. But later, the Ye family sent Ye Chen to be the second prince's study companion, so his opportunities to meet Xue Fenglin became much less.
Although the Second Prince's men went to pick up Xue Fenglin when he returned to Beijing this time, it was actually because of Ye Chen.
It is said that because Old Marquis Xue had never been close to Ye and Xue Fenglin, he had been closer to Ye's family since he was a child.
The old marquis was closer to the Grand Prince's party, so Xue Fenglin's identity was somewhat awkward.
As the eldest son of a marquisate, Xue Fenglin used to be a tough nut to crack. Regardless of whether it is the party of the Grand His Majesty or the party of the Second Prince, he has always kept his distance from them.
But this time he was ambushed near Yunshui Village. Those people were very skilled and it was obvious that they were not ordinary thieves.
Xue Fenglin thought about it and felt that this was not something that a woman like Bai could do alone.
Bai's elder brother, Bai Yan, has always been a close confidant of the Grand Prince.
If he died, Xue Fengli would become the new prince, and the entire mansion would fall under the influence of the Grand Prince, which would be more beneficial to the Grand Prince.
After realizing this, Xue Fenglin could no longer remain neutral as before, but chose to side with the Ye family and sided with the Second Prince.
That was why he asked someone to pass a message to Ye Chen, indirectly revealing his intention to surrender. There was a follow-up report that the Second Prince sent people to Yunshui Village to pick someone up.
"You are usually steady and collected. Why did you go to Lezhou alone this time? You are not really going to see that country boy, are you?" Ye Chen couldn't help but ask curiously.
Xue Fenglin glared at him and said, "Don't talk nonsense about this matter anymore. I was in trouble near Yunshui Village this time, and it was thanks to Brother Chen who saved me. Otherwise, how could I stand here in one piece?"
"From what you said? Are you really going to marry him?" Ye Chen was shocked and asked quickly: "Saving his life is one thing, but if you are a prince, marrying a country boy, wouldn't that be exactly what your stepmother wants?"
"I won't marry him, and he doesn't want to marry me either." Xue Fenglin said with a gloomy face, "But I will definitely repay you for saving my life. Chen Ge'er is an upright person, so don't keep calling him a country boy, which is quite disrespectful to him."
Ye Chen then calmed down, looked at Xue Fenglin's face and said, "I've never seen you so attentive to any boy or girl before. As long as you don't marry him, everything else is fine. Otherwise, my parents will definitely be the first to disagree!"
"Isn't he already dead? How can he come back?" Inside the Xue residence, Bai threw the glass teacup in her hand with a snap, and it fell to the ground and shattered.
She was shaking with anger. I didn't expect that the position of the crown prince that Li'er was about to get would be lost like this!
"At that time, we traced his blood all the way to the edge of the cliff, and he was bitten by a poisonous snake. Logically, he should have no chance of survival." Bai Yan said, "But since the body was not found, the Ye family used this as an excuse to refuse to allow Li'er to be crowned as the crown prince, saying that they had to wait at least three years."
"Who would have thought that this guy was so lucky that he could come back like this?"
The two were talking in the room when there were two knocks on the door. Then, Bai's trusted maid Qiongzhu whispered, "Madam, the Marquis heard about the eldest young master's return to Beijing and rushed back. But the eldest young master went to the Ye family first, and the Marquis is angry now."
Although Xue Fenglin was the crown prince, the servants around Bai privately called him the eldest young master instead of the crown prince in order to please her.
"Forget it, now that things have come to this, we can only make new plans." After hearing Qiongzhu's reminder, Bai immediately restrained her expression and said to Bai Yan, "Brother, I will go to the Marquis first. You should go back first."
"But after what happened this time, the bastard will definitely be more cautious. I'm afraid it will be difficult for him to do it again."
Bai Yan said, "The Yan family is in charge of the guards in the capital. He is a member of the Second Prince's party. As long as Xue Fenglin stays in the capital, we can't do anything. We can only think of other countermeasures."
"What about the engagement we talked about last time?" Bai asked again.
"The marriage with that country boy?" Bai Yan thought for a moment and said, "This is a breakthrough. Although it won't cost Xue Fenglin his life, marrying such a country boy will be enough to make him lose face."
"Without the support of the Yue family, he would have a hard time getting into the government, which would be very beneficial to Li'er's future."
"Okay! Then let's start with him!" Bai bit her lip, a hint of ruthlessness flashing in her eyes.
She changed her clothes, put on her makeup, and put on a gorgeous head of pearls and jade.
Although she is over 40 years old, her face is well maintained. Not only does she not look old, but she also has a mature charm.
When Lord Xue saw Bai, he was dazzled by her beautiful face.
Ye was also very beautiful, but her temper was too fierce. Ever since he took Bai as his concubine, she has been speaking coldly to him and would often go back to her parents' home to live. No matter how beautiful his appearance was, it was worn away by her.
However, Bai was gentle and kind, and was obedient to him in everything.
Bai walked up to him and poured him a cup of his favorite Mingqian Biluochun tea. Then she said softly, "My Lord, what's wrong? It's a good thing that Lin'er has been found. Why are you angry?"
When Lord Xue mentioned this guy, he became extremely angry. The dignified prince of the Xue family has been missing for a whole month for no reason.
After finally returning home, he didn't go back home to report safety first, but ran directly to his uncle's house. He is such an ungrateful person!
Since Ye's death, the relationship between the Ye family and the Xue family has become increasingly worse. The two families belonged to different camps and had never gotten along well with each other.
Lord Xue felt that Xue Fenglin was not of the same mind as himself, and secretly resented Ye for corrupting him. So he said, "This bastard is really outrageous! The first thing he did when he came back was to run to his uncle's house. How could he take me, his father, seriously?"
After listening to Lord Xue's complaints, Bai's eyes rolled and she sneered in her heart. Then he said softly, "My Lord, don't be angry. It's because my sister often brought him back to her parents' home when she was alive. He naturally had a better relationship with the Ye family. It's not his fault."
"Now that Lin'er is back, the most urgent thing to do is to sort out his previous engagement."
"Although my sister was engaged to the son of Duke Shen before she died, the Duke Shen's mansion has fallen. That son is just a country boy after all. How can he be worthy of Lin'er's status as the crown prince?"
Having said this, she paused deliberately, and then looked at Lord Xue's expression, and he was indeed even angrier.
Because Bai asked someone to spread the news, everyone in the capital knew that Xue Fenglin had such an old engagement.
Those court officials who had already been at odds with Marquis Xue immediately seized the opportunity and vigorously impeached Marquis Xue in the court, accusing him of being a poor parent and of not respecting his deceased mother's wishes. Lord Xue was really overwhelmed.
"It was his mother who did this herself. She was attracted by the power of the Shen family and was close to Madam Shen, so she was smart enough to arrange this marriage privately." Lord Xue angrily slammed the table and said, "Now he wants to find a good marriage? He doesn't care about how I, as a father, and the Xue family are scolded by those old officials?"
"No matter what he thinks, since this young man from the Shen family has already been chosen, he must be married back home. This will also shut up those people and let the world see that our Xue family is not a group that is greedy for power and profit!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
