Chapter 41: Honestly, I'm not a different person. Is your question stupid?
Jiang Yueying turned slowly, and their eyes met.
Xie Yuting raised his peach blossom eyes and smiled charmingly.
It was so dazed, as if the person with the cold expression just now had never appeared.
The other ministers stared at the scene in front of them in amazement, not knowing what to say. The atmosphere was extremely awkward.
In their eyes, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, who had been dormant for many years, had always been cautious. The secret passage in the study was a secret among secrets. There were usually guards at the door, and secret guards stationed nearby. The secret passage mechanism was built by the master of mechanisms, Zhou Luan, so it was impossible for anyone to break in casually.
What's more, this is Princess Anyi, who married into the Kingdom of Jiang. Shouldn't she be on high alert? How could someone easily find the secret passage?
Even if Princess Anyi knew some martial arts, she couldn't possibly defeat the well-trained guards of the Eastern Palace.
The most important thing is, what did their Crown Prince say just now, the future Queen?
Isn't agreeing to the marriage a temporary solution? Why do you really intend to make her the queen?
After being shocked, several ministers' slow brains finally started to work. There was only one possibility for the Crown Princess to appear here, and that was that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince deliberately let her in!
The ministers who had tasted the truth seemed to understand what was happening and looked at each other in confusion.
After staring at each other for a long time, Jiang Yueying said awkwardly: "I came in to get a cup of tea, and I came in the wrong way..."
“…………”
After saying this, Jiang Yueying wanted to slap herself in the face. It would have been better if she hadn't said anything, as it would have made her look so stupid.
Xie Yuting burst out laughing.
A laugh broke the solemn atmosphere. All the ministers came to see the Crown Princess. They all knew how to read the expressions of the people and immediately said goodbye, leaving the secret room for the couple to talk.
Then Jiang Yueying watched helplessly as a group of people hurriedly left from another exit of the secret passage.
In the blink of an eye, everything disappeared without a trace.
"Huh?" She was stunned again.
Xie Yuting saw what she was thinking and explained, "This secret passage is connected to the ministers' residences. They can come directly to the East Palace from underground."
Jiang Yueying was stunned. She twisted her arm fiercely, raised her head and asked, "Xie Yuting, am I still asleep?"
I might as well have fainted. Everything that happened was so psychedelic, like a dream.
"Just ask whatever you want to ask." Xie Yuting glanced down at the girl's bewildered look and couldn't help but pinch the soft flesh of her cheek.
Jiang Yueying was confused and let him do whatever he wanted. She couldn't grasp any clue and didn't even know where to start.
What on earth is going on...
"Are you the real Xie Yuting?" she asked the first stupid question.
"It's genuine." Xie Yuting took her hand and held it against his chest. "You can check it."
“…” Jiang Yueying’s face flushed red.
He still loves teasing people, it seems he is not impersonating someone else.
"Why are those ministers here?"
"They appear to have no faction in the court and are neutral among the other princes, but in reality, they all work for our Eastern Palace."
Jiang Yueying's eyes widened as she pressed on, "You mean... these people are all princelings? So you've always had your own power, but you've just been pretending to be a playboy all these years?"
After thinking about it carefully, she understood everything. It turned out that Xie Yuting was not really a fool, he had been pretending to be a fool!
Faced with the sudden truth, her mind was in a daze. She lost her balance and almost fell to the ground. Fortunately, Xie Yuting held her and held her safely in his arms.
Xie Yuting hugged her and asked in a low voice: "What's wrong? Are you scared?"
Jiang Yueying lowered her head, her long eyelashes trembling, and she didn't say a word for a long time, which made people's hearts soften.
With mixed feelings, Xie Yuting couldn't help but regret that maybe he shouldn't have revealed his true colors too early. Did he scare her?
In fact, he had wanted to tell Jiang Yueying everything a long time ago, because he could see that she was worrying about him and was extremely worried, fearing that the prince would be deposed. This kind of life was too difficult to endure, and he didn't want to keep it a secret from her anymore.
I don't want her to live in fear.
Therefore, he deliberately instructed the guards today that if the Crown Princess came in, they should not stop her, and even left the door of the secret passage open to let her in.
Unexpectedly, it still scared her a lot.
Xie Yuting slowed down his tone: "So you can't accept that I am a cunning person..."
Before she finished speaking, Jiang Yueying suddenly raised her head, tears flashing in her eyes: "So you won't die easily, right..."
"Yes." He paused.
"That's great..." Jiang Yueying relaxed and put her whole weight on him.
All she seemed to care about was whether he would die.
A certain place in my heart suddenly collapsed and became soft.
Seeing the girl's relieved expression, Xie Yuting asked, "Don't you care that I've been lying to you for so long?"
Jiang Yueying disagreed: "You are just protecting yourself. Telling me everything so easily shows that you are stupid. But you are really amazing. There is no flaw at all. You act like a real fool."
“…”
"But... why did you tell me such a big secret? You've worked so hard on it for years, aren't you afraid it will be ruined in an instant?"
Jiang Yueying couldn't understand how a princess from an enemy country who came for an alliance could be trusted. Xie Yuting had been keeping a low profile for over a decade, so wasn't it too rash for him to reveal all his secrets in one go?
"Will you betray me?" Xie Yuting stared at her round eyes seriously, as if he wanted to look into her eyes.
Jiang Yueying shook her head and couldn't help but add: "I don't want to die with you..."
No matter why Xie Yuting was willing to believe her, she could not let him down.
Hearing the expected answer, Xie Yuting smiled, raised his arm, carried the girl on his shoulders, and went into the secret passage.
Jiang Yueying was horrified: "Xie Yuting! I'm not a sack, what are you doing? Killing people to silence them!"
Xie Yuting patted her butt and said casually: "Go out first, it's too stuffy in there."
"I have legs!"
"I'm faster."
"You're talking nonsense—"
As soon as Jiang Yueying finished speaking, a bright light came towards her. Before she could react, she was standing steadily in the center of the study.
She looked at everything around her in a daze.
Wait, did he fly out? That’s too fast, right?
Xie Yuting walked towards the eight-fold long screen, grasped the intricate patterns on the pillars, and traced along the ridges. In a flash, the bookshelf on the other side slowly turned until it completely blocked the entrance to the secret passage.
It turns out the mechanism was on the screen.
Looking at the other person's smooth movements, Jiang Yueying stood there blankly as if in a dream.
Xie Yuting grabbed her hand, pulled her to sit on the couch behind the screen, and said she could continue asking questions.
Ah, take it slow first.
There are so many questions I want to ask.
Jiang Yueying had a lot of questions in her mind, but she was afraid that she would lose her composure if she asked them all at once. After all, she didn't know the real Xie Yuting, nor did she know where his bottom line was. What if she accidentally offended him?
Well, it’s actually good to be a little stupid, at least it’s easier to coax you.
Now she can't adapt to this situation anymore.
"...Are you in a good temper?" she asked tentatively.
She blinked her round eyes, as if she had just met him for the first time, which made Xie Yuting laugh and cry.
"It's not like I've changed into someone else. Is your question stupid?" Xie Yuting smiled mischievously. "Don't worry. I may have a temper with others, but I definitely don't with the little princess."
Jiang Yueying's ears felt hot and she lowered her head in shame.
"Why are you still so frivolous..."
Xie Yuting pinched her red earlobe and played with it gently.
"Who did you just say was looking for death? Who do you want to give him a ride?" She was still thinking about this matter.
"Ever since the Ming Lei gambling house collapsed, the third brother has lost his source of money and has started to seek help from all sorts of sources..."
Jiang Yueying was completely confused, her brows furrowed tightly, as if it was written on her face that "I didn't understand". Xie Yuting smiled and had to start from the beginning.
The real boss behind Minglei Gambling House is the third prince Xie Yusui. Ever since the gambling house's deceptive tricks were exposed in public last time, Minglei Gambling House has fallen from the altar of the number one gambling house in Kyoto. Not only has it become unpopular, but it has also been scolded from time to time.
The third prince used to make a lot of money from gambling, but now that his source of income has been cut off, he has to find another way.
He had been working in the Ministry of Works for many years and had a deep foundation. Some time ago, Emperor Liang ordered the Ministry of Works to repair the imperial mausoleum and the concubine's mausoleum. This gave the Third Prince evil thoughts, and he actually dug out the scattered burial objects from the concubine's mausoleum and resold them on the black market.
Xie Yusui acted in a covert manner, made a real fortune, and then stopped in time, doing everything perfectly.
Stealing burial objects is a great disrespect to ancestors and the deceased.
However, the burial objects he transported out for sale were all small items without any special markings. Even if they were sold on the black market, no one would recognize them as royal burial objects, so no one noticed.
Therefore, Xie Yuting decided to be a good person and help him transport some more valuable things out.
Jiang Yueying nodded frequently and couldn't stop sighing. She thought Xie Yuting really loved gambling, but it turned out that he had other intentions. Winning money was not important, but what was important was to destroy the Third Prince's foundation.
This guy used the guise of a playboy to attack his opponent, and Xie Yusui couldn't come out and shout that the gambling house was his, so he could only swallow his anger and feel aggrieved alone.
Well done.
"So you pretend to be hopeless on the surface, but in reality you've been secretly making things difficult for the other princes?"
Xie Yuting shrugged: "Don't make me sound like a villain. What's the point of putting obstacles in my way? That's just a well-intentioned training."
Jiang Yueying: "..."
Okay, okay, just train them until they break down.
He flicked her forehead with his finger and said, "So don't be so sad all the time. Marrying me is not necessarily a bad thing."
"I'm not gloomy, I'm just worried. The other princes are all eyeing you covetously, and you spend all day eating and sleeping. How can I feel at ease..." Jiang Yueying slapped his hand away, "How many people know that you're pretending to be a playboy?"
Xie Yuting stretched out his fingers and counted: "In the court, besides the trusted ministers, only my mother and Xiao Lang know about it. Oh, and my best friend Meng Shuzhang."
Jiang Yueying couldn't describe how she felt. Whether it was the Empress, Xiao Lang, or the close friend he mentioned, they were undoubtedly very close people.
But she, the Crown Princess, had only known her for a few months. Not to mention being close, they hadn't even consummated their marriage yet...
She really couldn't understand why she was worthy of Xie Yuting's trust.
"Don't be in a daze," Xie Yuting took her hand and walked towards the door, "Let's eat first. I'm so hungry."
Hearing the other party's normal tone, Jiang Yueying relaxed her brows.
After lunch, Xie Yuting returned to the study to deal with important matters. Jiang Yueying sat in the garden alone to digest everything. Outside the pavilion, fine snow fell one by one to the ground, emitting a sparkling and bright light.
She was in a daze again.
Anyone who knew that her husband, who was just living a life of idleness and waiting for death, was actually very smart and had deceived everyone would be both relieved and worried.
What on earth has he been through over the years that has made him hide his true self, act ridiculous and act like a jerk every day, and endure everyone's contempt and ridicule?
Are you simply afraid of becoming the target of all the princes?
It can be said that she and Xie Yuting are in the same boat. They are both compromising and trying their best to pretend to be another person.
Xie Yuting could tell the truth frankly, but she didn't dare.
No matter how Xie Yuting pretended to be crazy and stupid, he was the real prince, and she, Jiang Yueying, was just a fake princess who borrowed someone else's name.
A feeling of melancholy crept into my heart.
I can't help but think that it would be great if she could face Xie Yuting with her true self, but the real Jiang Yueying doesn't even have the qualifications to see him.
He stood up, moved closer to the edge of the pavilion, opened one palm, and caught the snowflakes falling from the sky.
The coolness spread from the palm of my hand.
Suddenly, she felt warmth from behind. Someone hugged her waist, and a furry head came up to her instantly, with hair gently tickling her neck. The familiar scent of ginkgo leaves lingered around her nose.
Jiang Yueying struggled, but it was all in vain.
Xie Yuting asked lazily, "Are your hands cold?"
He held her hand and rubbed the cold melted snow water in her palm.
"It's not cold."
"I won't believe it unless you give me a kiss."
"...There's no need to act frivolous in front of me." Jiang Yueying was quite helpless. She wondered if this guy was addicted to pretending and was too immersed in the role.
"What's wrong with me being close to my own Crown Princess? It's not like we're dealing with outsiders," Xie Yuting couldn't help laughing. "Besides, I'm just like that. I'm not pretending."
Jiang Yueying didn't believe it: "I heard you talking to those ministers, don't try to lie to me."
Xie Yuting in the secret room exuded a low-key pressure and a suffocating aura. When he raised his eyes, they were like the cold light of a sword. He was completely different from the guy who always acted like a rogue.
Jiang Yueying guessed that the real Xie Yuting should be quite cold.
"You should be dignified when dealing with your subjects, but not with your wife." He whispered in her ear.
"Why are you accusing me for no reason..."
Jiang Yueying's face flushed. After hesitating for a while, she pretended to bring it up casually: "So, was it true that you often went to brothels before, or was it fake? I heard that you always went to see Madam Meng Xiang..."
"I'm not questioning you on purpose. I'm just asking casually. If you don't want to answer, forget it."
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