Chapter 23 Since she wouldn't die herself, then I'll give her a…
Consort Shu had also heard about what had happened outside the palace in the past two days. Like the Emperor, she thought that Qi Jingxuan truly loved Shen Yan. Seeing his resistance to the divorce, she advised, "The reason why Lord Shen is leaving Miss Shen a way out now is because Miss Shen did not know you before, and has suffered an undeserved disaster because of you."
"He only has this one daughter, whom he has always cherished dearly. How could he possibly be willing to ruin her life for something like this?"
“If you were a person of excellent appearance, talent, and character, he might hesitate, but…”
She didn't say what came next, but the meaning was clear.
Qi Jingxuan has a notorious reputation, and even with his noble status, he is hardly a good match for her.
Moreover, precisely because of her noble status and the vast gap between her and the Shen family, Shen Mingshan worried that he would not be able to protect his daughter in the future and would not be able to stand up for her when she was bullied. Naturally, he was even less willing to marry his daughter to him.
"To be honest, it was because the person who framed you was pushing you too hard that Lord Shen finally gave in for Miss Shen's safety. Otherwise, no matter how much you pleaded, he probably wouldn't have agreed to the marriage."
"That's what Consort Shu said."
Qi Jingxuan frowned deeply and remained silent for a long time.
He understands the reasons, but he just doesn't want to divorce Shen Yan.
Although it seems that he can save his life as long as he gets through this ordeal, what about later?
Was he really going to risk his life to see if he would die again if Shen Yan died for some other reason after leaving him?
Just thinking about this made Qi Jingxuan feel waves of pain in the places where he had been shot before, and many unseen bloody holes appeared on his body.
Seeing that he remained silent, Consort Shu advised, "Your mother knows you sincerely want to marry Miss Shen. Now that Lord Shen has agreed, it's an opportunity. As long as you marry Miss Shen first, whether or not you divorce her is a matter for later."
Qi Jingxuan blinked upon hearing this and looked at Consort Shu: "Mother Consort, you mean... that I should lure Miss Shen into the family first, and then change my mind when she wants a divorce later... Isn't that a bit inappropriate?"
Consort Shu glared at him: "What are you thinking? I mean you should marry Miss Chen first, and then the two of you will be together. Even if it's a fake marriage, as long as you treat her sincerely and win her heart, making her willing to be with you, why would she bring up divorce later?"
"Lord Shen loves his daughter so much. If Miss Shen is willing to spend her life with you, would he really insist on taking her back?"
Qi Jingxuan listened blankly, then suddenly realized: "Sincere... I'm very sincere!"
Consort Shu chuckled and patted his head: "That's it then."
"If you stay here at the Shen family's gate all day long, even if you turn yourself into a stone, you'll still be separated from Miss Shen by the courtyard gate and won't have any chance to have contact with her."
"Miss Chen doesn't understand you. All she's heard about you are bad rumors. How could she possibly like you just because she's waited for you for a few days?"
"Once you marry her into the royal palace, even if you're just a fake couple, you can still be together every day. By then, she'll know more about you and realize that you're not really like the rumors suggest, so she naturally won't look at you with the same eyes she has now."
Qi Jingxuan nodded repeatedly as he listened to Consort Shu's words, finding them to be very reasonable.
If I just stand here guarding the Shen family's door like this, I don't know when I'll be able to marry Shen Yan. Rather than doing this, I might as well marry her first.
The two of them getting married would at least solve the immediate crisis; as for the future… they could figure that out later. He was determined to win Shen Yan over with his sincerity and make her want to stay with him forever!
"But……"
Despite thinking this, he still looked at Consort Shu with some worry.
"If her son ultimately fails to win her over, will she still insist on a divorce?"
Consort Shu said irritably, "If you can't even keep the wife you've married, then you have no choice but to blame yourself for your own incompetence!"
"ah……"
Seeing that she didn't have any other good ideas, Qi Jingxuan's face fell again, but he quickly cheered up after a brief moment of depression.
"Then let the Imperial Observatory calculate an auspicious day soon. Your son will marry Miss Shen as soon as possible and win her heart with sincerity!"
He clenched his fist as he spoke, looking determined to win.
Consort Shu chuckled: "An auspicious day isn't something you can just decide on a whim. You should at least have your and Miss Shen's birth dates checked to see if they're compatible. You're not even going through the proper six formalities, just hastily marrying someone into the family. Aren't you just giving Miss Shen something to talk about?"
Qi Jingxuan thought it made sense and stood up, saying, "Then I'll trouble Father to have the Ministry of Rites make arrangements as soon as possible. I'll leave the palace now and spread the news."
Even if he couldn't marry Shen Yan immediately, letting people know sooner that the Shen family had agreed to marry their daughter to him would make Shen Yan much safer.
The Emperor and Consort Shu agreed, so they nodded and let him leave.
After he left, the emperor sent someone to the Hanlin Academy to tell Shen Mingshan the news.
Upon hearing that the emperor had granted his request, Shen Mingshan breathed a sigh of relief. Ignoring the strange looks from his colleagues, he immediately spread the news of his family's impending marriage to the Prince of Jin within the Hanlin Academy.
Although he didn't know who the villain behind the scenes was, since he dared to attack the Prince of Jin and could act in the Marquis of Cheng'an's residence, he must be in a high position and have a lot of connections in the officialdom.
He's openly spreading the news, so the other party will definitely find out soon and probably won't do anything to his daughter anymore.
………………
In a courtyard house in the southwest corner of the capital, the pomegranate tree in the corner of the wall has already budded, and the branches are laden with blossoms, swaying gently in the wind.
But the people in the courtyard were not in the mood to appreciate the spring scenery; they were sitting in their rooms talking to each other with gloomy faces.
"Wasn't it supposed to be foolproof? What's going on now?"
The two men standing below bowed slightly, not daring to look up. One of them stammered, "Originally, it was indeed foolproof, but... but we really didn't expect that Prince Jin would admit to the crime so readily."
The Prince of Jin was nearly poisoned to death because a palace maid tried to seduce him, so he has always been wary of women who try to get close to him.
Given his temperament, he should have been furious in this situation, convinced that he had been tricked by the woman from the Shen family, and then stormed off after making sarcastic remarks.
After he left, and with the testimony of that maid named Cuiling, Madam Shen would be unable to defend herself. Even if she didn't commit suicide immediately after waking up in bed, she would probably prove her innocence by dying once the "crime" was confirmed.
Daughters from scholarly families like theirs are most concerned about their reputation. The Shen family only has this one daughter, so they must have raised her with exceptional strictness. If she were to encounter such a situation, her first reaction would most likely be to commit suicide.
With her death, the charge that the Prince of Jin forced the daughter of an official to her death will be confirmed, and then things will be easier to arrange afterwards.
Their initial assumption was correct; Shen Yan did indeed attempt suicide on the spot, but was stopped by Prince Jin.
They thought she would still try to kill herself after returning home, but two days have passed and the Shen family has not only not sent news of Shen Yan's death, but has even invited Prince Jin to the courtyard for a talk.
Some people even witnessed Prince Jin and Shen Yan chatting casually on the street. During the conversation, Shen Yan remained calm and even inquired about Prince Jin's health, showing no intention of committing suicide.
Thinking of this, the two people standing with their hands at their sides couldn't help but start arguing.
“I told you long ago that we shouldn’t have chosen the Shen family. They only have one daughter. How could they bear to let her die? If she tries to kill herself on the spot, Shen Mingshan and his wife will definitely try their best to persuade and stop her after she gets home. With the comfort and support of her family, the Shen woman probably won’t try to kill herself again.”
"See? I was right after all!"
Seeing that he was actually shifting the blame to him, the other person suppressed his anger and replied, "If not the Shen family, then who else would we choose? The Shen family comes from a poor family and is most likely to provoke the indignation of those poor scholars. Shen Mingshan is also an upright person and will certainly not take this opportunity to curry favor with the Prince of Jin's mansion. If it were someone else, they would probably be eager to take this opportunity to climb the social ladder by associating with the Prince of Jin."
"They went through a round of officials in the capital with no prominent family backgrounds before choosing his family, and you agreed at the time. Now you're coming back with hindsight, saying we shouldn't have chosen the Shen family's daughter. Well then, tell me, is there anyone more suitable than her?"
"I only agreed when you all said it was okay, so there was no point in me objecting, which is why I kept quiet."
"That's because you didn't have any other options. Since that's the case, don't act like you predicted it all along, making it seem like you're smarter than anyone else. If you're so smart, why didn't you come up with a better solution?"
The two argued back and forth, their words flowing endlessly, causing the middle-aged man sitting at the table to bulge the veins on his forehead.
"Enough!"
He slammed his hand on the table and said.
"What's the point of saying all this now? You should think carefully about whether your hands are clean and whether you've given yourself away!"
The two people arguing immediately shut up and dared not speak again.
Seeing that the two of them had quieted down, the middle-aged man continued, "I heard that Lin Ping has been interrogated by the Censorate for two days now. Have you sent anyone to contact him directly? Will they be found out?"
"And that maid named Cuiling, can she even keep her mouth shut?"
"If they don't keep their mouths shut and someone follows the trail... don't blame the master for showing no mercy!"
The two men broke out in a cold sweat and hurriedly said, "Don't worry, Fourth Master. Lin Ping loves wine. After Prince Jin got drunk, he went to find someone to drink with himself."
“He was a close attendant of the Prince of Jin. The people of the Marquis of Cheng’an’s residence dared not serve him the wine that ordinary servants drink. They gave him the best wine that was served to guests that day. Before our people even had a chance to drug him, he got drunk on his own. No one can blame him. Even if the Censorate beats him to death, they won’t get anything out of him.”
"As for that maid... I suppose someone is more eager to deal with her than we are."
The Marquis of Cheng'an's mansion was not some impoverished household. They could bribe one or two servants, but they couldn't possibly know everything about the arrangements for the banquet that day.
To bring Shen Yan from the backyard to the frontyard without anyone noticing, the cooperation of the people inside was essential, and that maid was one of the people arranged by the other party.
Now that things haven't gone through, that person will surely try every means to silence that maid forever in order to avoid being discovered.
Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man's tense expression finally eased slightly, and he said, "Don't rely entirely on others. Keep a close eye on things, and make sure nothing goes wrong."
The two men agreed without the slightest hesitation, promising to keep a close eye on the Cheng'an Marquis's residence and ensure that no mistakes were made.
After saying all that, the middle-aged man brought up the Shen family again.
"If Prince Jin continues to pester him like this, the Shen family might actually agree to marry their daughter to him, and then all their previous efforts will be in vain."
Mentioning this, he couldn't help but grit his teeth, secretly annoyed that the girl surnamed Shen refused to die, forcing them to try to make a big fuss over the past two days, but in the end, they were all suppressed by Prince Jin's nonsense, and it had no effect whatsoever.
If he hadn't been so cautious and never let his own people show their faces, he probably would have been caught red-handed by now.
The middle-aged man's eyes darkened, and he made up his mind, saying, "We can't wait any longer. Since Miss Shen is unwilling to die on her own... let's send her on her way."
The two men standing there frowned upon hearing this. One of them said, "Fourth Master, it's not that we haven't thought about it, but His Majesty has sent Physician Zhou to the Shen family, and there are also five palace maids taking turns to guard them. In addition, Prince Jin is practically living at the Shen family's doorstep. I'm afraid we won't have a chance to make a move."
If we really try to take action, not to mention whether we'll give ourselves away, it's not even certain whether we'll succeed.
The man glanced at the two of them and let out a soft snort.
"Fool! If we can't go into the Shen family home to kill someone, can't we at least force Miss Shen out of her house?"
He then gave the two men detailed instructions, and they nodded repeatedly, saying, "Fourth Master really knows how to do things."
Setting a fire would force people out, and in the ensuing chaos, with everyone preoccupied with their own survival, it wouldn't be difficult to seize the opportunity to take Shen Yan away.
Once the person is taken away, it will be much easier to make her "commit suicide".
After discussing the matter, the middle-aged man said, "Go, and make sure to get things done before the Shen family changes their minds."
The two nodded, bowed, and took their leave. Just as they were about to depart, they heard hurried footsteps outside.
A servant rushed in, saying urgently, "Fourth Master, something terrible has happened! The Shen family has agreed to marry Miss Shen to Prince Jin!"
The middle-aged man, who was feeling smug about his quick thinking, suddenly froze, grabbed the teacup beside him, and smashed it on the ground.
"Chen Mingshan! Do you have any integrity left in the way of a scholar?!"
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A note from the author:
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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