Chapter 307 Reputation
He now only obeys the Crown Prince. Although the Princess holds a high position and wields great power, she has no right to interfere in the affairs of the Qilin Guard. Since she insists on taking the letter, let her take it from his corpse!
The letter from the Yue Kingdom was examined by General Duan, General Xiahou, and others. They confirmed that the letter contained no poison or hidden weapons, and that the contents were available for the Crown Prince to review. Only then were they entrusted to him to deliver it all the way back to the capital.
He was paid by the emperor and should be loyal to him. It was his dereliction of duty that the letter did not reach the crown prince. However, he could not possibly hand over the letter so easily because he was about to have an audience with the crown prince and was afraid of powerful figures, thus causing the whole thing to fail.
The princess slowly lowered her hand, her voice finally regaining some composure: "Then I'll go in with you."
The princess, who had returned, stood once again in the crown prince's study. The deputy commander had finished delivering the letter and was sweating bullets as he gracefully withdrew from the scene.
Only the equally haggard aunt and niece remained in the study.
The eldest princess was concerned about Qi Yuxuan's sudden disappearance, and Qi Jun also had to devote a lot of attention to the front-line battle against Yue.
"What did the letter say?" the princess asked numbly. She had come to accept the fact that her hard-won daughter might never return. She also began to worry about how difficult the war with Yue was, as the reports of defeats came back time and time again.
Qi Jun sat behind the long table, his lips already bruised, his eyes bloodshot. He quickly read the thin letter, then suddenly his eyes widened in fury, his fingers tightened, and he gripped the paper tightly in his hand.
"How dare they!" A hint of irritation and anger escaped his lips, like disbelief after being provoked, or indignation after his doubts were confirmed.
The princess looked up at him, her heart pounding. She didn't say anything, but stood up and took the letter from his hand.
She smoothed out the letter and read it word by word until she saw, "Our dynasty wishes to marry Princess Chang Le, the daughter of your country's eldest princess, with the title of Empress, to establish a lasting friendship between our two countries. From now on, our people will be able to exchange goods and services, trade will not be prohibited, taxes will be reduced, we will not interfere with each other, and there will be no more war between our two countries."
"Jun'er!"
"Is Yu Xuan in their hands? Is she in Yue?! They've kidnapped her! She must still be alive, alive and well, right?!"
The eldest princess grabbed the letter and frantically threw herself onto the long table, sweeping everything off the table.
"Jun'er! Your aunt begs you, please send someone to bring Yu Xuan back quickly! Since she became my daughter, she has never been away from me for so long. She must be living in fear and anxiety in Yue Kingdom, unable to eat or sleep... Jun'er, Your Highness, I beg you, please go and bring her back..."
Qi Jun walked around the long table and helped his aunt up.
Enough people have lost control over this matter. He is the Crown Prince, the heir apparent, and the future of the entire Qi Kingdom. He cannot act like his aunt, disregarding the consequences for the sake of those he cares about.
He suppressed his anger and tried his best to appear calm and rational:
“Aunt, since I promised you that I would take care of Yuxuan for the rest of my life, I will keep my word. I will make sure she returns safely and will not let her suffer these injustices in vain.”
"Since the Yue Kingdom dared to do this, they must pay the price for what they have done."
The council hall of the Eastern Palace was lit with candles all night long. The next morning, several officials emerged from inside with bruises in their eyes and rushed to court.
Xie Tingzhou and Xiao Jue were mixed in with the others, and compared to the other court officials, their dejection was more palpable than the last.
Upon learning of Qi Yuxuan's disappearance, Xiao Jue immediately mobilized all of the Xiao family's manpower and resources to search for her and gather information.
However, even at its peak, the Xiao family was not all-powerful. Now that it has fallen on hard times, it can't even be considered a third-rate family. Even after exhausting the entire clan's resources, they couldn't find a single clue.
Xiao Jue lost his appetite and couldn't find anything about the rest of the Xiao family.
The Lin family had long since fallen apart, and Lin Hui could only worry helplessly. Her health had been deteriorating in recent days, but she was certain that at least before she died, she would see that beast Xiao Su go first!
That's right. From the moment Xiao Su went to Jiangnan, Lin Hui poisoned the food he ate and used.
A few months ago, Xiao Su knelt in the rain in front of the Princess's mansion. After that incident, he was exhausted and powerless to change the situation. In the past few days, he has been barely surviving and has even resigned from his post and not gone to work for quite some time.
Xiao Jue was struggling to maintain the family's reputation when he heard that his only sister had disappeared without a trace. What was even more infuriating was that someone was gossiping behind his back, saying that Princess Chang Le had eloped with someone and fled the capital!
He remembered it was two days ago, after he finished his shift. He was walking home from the government office, and the long street was crowded with carriages. He was leading his horse, waiting to cross the bridge, when he heard a woman carrying a vegetable basket and her companion chatting away:
"Tell me, why are the Princess's residence and the palace still going through all this trouble?! That Princess Chang Le is probably pregnant and eloped with a guard. Otherwise, why would she give up her noble and precious life as a princess and suddenly disappear? Isn't it because she's afraid of being exposed and drowned in a pig cage?!"
Upon hearing the words "Princess Chang Le," Xiao Jue immediately raised his head and saw the woman in front of him who was gossiping behind his back.
But if you continue listening to her, all you hear are malicious speculations and foul language!
Xiao Jue thought that in public, rumors would become truth if they were spread too often, and he couldn't let such people continue to ruin his sister's reputation. He then heard the women in front of him continue speaking—
"That means they must have done something shameful to be in such a hurry to escape."
"In my opinion, the Princess should take in another adopted daughter as soon as possible so she can live out her days in peace and comfort... I think Sister Xie would be perfect. Her brother is the youngest third-ranked scholar in the imperial examinations, with a bright future ahead. Sister Xie is also quite beautiful. Why can't she be the Princess's adopted daughter?"
"When Sister Xie is made a princess in the future, please remember us!"
The woman who was the first to slander Princess Chang Le, and who was called Sister Xie, angrily flung her handkerchief around:
"Go away, go away! I'm not the kind of person who fawns over the powerful and only knows how to climb the social ladder! Even if the Princess begged me to be her daughter, I wouldn't go! My mother treats me much better than the Xiao family, hahaha..."
Finally, Xiao Jue could no longer bear it. He squeezed past several people in front of him and approached a few to reason with them:
"Ladies, don't gossip. Not only is Princess Chang Le not what you say, but even if she were, a princess is not someone you can arbitrarily criticize and slander. If you really want to argue, what you've said is enough for the government to convict you of false accusation!"
He tried hard to control his anger and tried to reason with them, but all he got in return were contemptuous laughs from the girls.
"Oh my, who are you to Princess Chang Le? Are you perhaps one of her lovers, that's why you're protecting her like this? What business is it of yours what we're having a conversation?!"
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