Chapter 29 Gift of Jade 63.16% My Princess Consort is Amazing!
Only after saying what they didn't want others to hear did Shen Yan and Qi Jingxuan board the carriage and head towards the Shen family.
In the car, Shen Yan took out the prizes she had obtained from Ya Feng Yuan, picked out the one with the clairvoyance, and pushed the others in front of Qi Jingxuan.
"Everyone who sees it gets a share, half for each person. Your Highness, choose what you like."
When Qi Jingxuan saw that she was going to give it to him, he quickly waved his hand, "No, no, you won all of this, how can I take it?"
Shen Yan smiled and said, "If Your Highness hadn't taken me to Ya Feng Garden, how would I have gotten these? Your Highness, please don't be shy, take some."
Qi Jingxuan refused to accept it no matter what, and pushed the full wooden box back to Shen Yan.
Shen Yan thought for a moment, then took out a black jade pendant and said, "Then give this to the Prince."
Qi Jingxuan was about to refuse when she said, "I heard from Young Master Gu that Your Highness had wanted to take this jade pendant from him many times before. Now that it's given to Your Highness, Your Highness can show it off in front of him."
Hearing her say that, Qi Jingxuan paused in his attempt to refuse, then laughed loudly: "Yes, that's right, I have to show off to him."
He reached out and took the jade pendant, immediately hanging it around his waist and proudly dangling it.
Just thinking about the look of pain in Gu San's teeth when he turned around and saw the jade pendant made him feel incredibly comfortable.
………………
The carriage rattled along until it reached Yangliu Hutong, where it stopped when it was too inconvenient to enter.
Qi Jingxuan got out of the car and walked back to the Shen family with Shen Yan. When he saw her at the door, he saw the Zhang family across the street. He remembered what he had heard in the noodle shop at noon and was so angry that his teeth itched.
Shen Yan followed his gaze and couldn't help but curl her lips into a smile, advising, "Those words may not have been spread by Uncle Zhang and the others, Your Highness, please don't be angry with them."
"I know."
Qi Jingxuan puffed out his cheeks and said.
Rumors are sometimes distorted from the start, and sometimes they get twisted as they are passed on, making them impossible to verify.
Besides, even if it's verified that what Old Zhang said is true, so what? They just said his toilet smelled bad. Does that mean he can arrest and beat them up?
Qi Jingxuan felt that if the Zhang family hadn't been so bored as to bring up his toilet habits, no one would have paid attention to such a strange thing, so he was still a little angry.
He snorted coldly and said, "I'm never borrowing their bathroom again. I'll find another place!"
Upon hearing this, Shen Yan pursed her lips and said, "Then Your Highness might as well continue to borrow from Uncle Zhang's family."
Why
Qi Jingxuan asked.
Shen Yan hesitated for a moment, then lowered her eyes and whispered, "If we go to someone else's house and rumors spread... wouldn't that confirm that you... are really smelly?"
She either glosses over those few words or squeezes out a barely audible sound from between her lips, but Qi Jingxuan still understands them.
He was extremely embarrassed and became even angrier.
If this can't be explained clearly, won't he be burdened with the reputation of having a terrible toilet for the rest of his life?
In the past, when people mentioned him as a prince, they mostly said he was incompetent or a spoiled brat, but now...
Qi Jingxuan was so angry he wanted to explode, and he stomped his feet in frustration, but there was nothing he could do.
Shen Yan suppressed a smile and said, "Your Highness, it's best not to sleep here tonight. Please go back to your residence. Springtime mosquitoes..."
"don't want!"
Before he could finish speaking, Qi Jingxuan interrupted him.
"I'm going to sleep here until we get married!"
He remembered that in his previous life, a fire broke out at the Shen family home in the middle of the night. After everyone put out the fire, they found that Shen Yan was missing. When they found her again, she had already jumped into a well.
Although it is unknown whether the fire was accidental or arson, as long as he lives here, he will definitely be able to detect it immediately if it breaks out.
While others were responsible for putting out the fire, he would keep a close eye on Shen Yan, making sure she never left his sight.
Shen Yan knew what he was worried about, so instead of directly trying to persuade him, she asked in return, "Is Your Highness worried that I might commit suicide, or that someone might kill me and then stage it as a suicide, is that right?"
Qi Jingxuan nodded, then shook his head: "I'm worried you might suddenly die."
Whether it was suicide, murder, or some other accident, he couldn't let Shen Yan die.
Shen Yan was slightly taken aback by his words, somewhat puzzled, but still said, "I have already decided to marry the Prince, and today I even appeared in front of everyone with the Prince. Does the Prince think I look like someone who would commit suicide?"
Qi Jingxuan pondered for a moment, looked at her calm yet subtly smiling expression, and shook his head.
Shen Yan nodded and said, "Similarly, the person behind this knows what happened today and understands that it's impossible to use me to convict the prince anymore. Taking action against me now would be pointless. Even if he hates me for ruining his plans, he wouldn't choose this time to kill me, right?"
Qi Jingxuan pondered for a moment, then slowly nodded.
"So, I'm actually quite safe right now. As for any other possible accidents... with Physician Zhou watching over me, I think we can handle them. If Physician Zhou can't handle them, then there's no point in Your Highness staying here, right?"
"But……"
"Your Highness, what you should do now is find out who is behind this. Once we find out who is framing us, we will all be safe."
That's not necessarily true.
Qi Jingxuan thought to himself, "That's what I thought to myself."
Each time he woke up, he was by Shen Yan's side, and each time Shen Yan died, he was doomed.
Although it was indeed the person who framed them who caused all this, he always felt that things might not be that simple. His life was tied to Shen Yan's; if anything happened to Shen Yan, he would suffer too.
Qi Jingxuan didn't know how to talk to Shen Yan about this, so he could only say, "Then...then I'll come during the day and go back to the palace at night."
Seeing that he was finally willing to listen to her advice, Shen Yan smiled and nodded, "Okay."
"Then can you promise me that when I'm not here... you won't go out?"
After saying that, seeing that Shen Yan frowned, he was afraid that she would be unwilling, so he quickly added, "I come first thing every morning, and I can accompany you no matter where you go, so I won't interfere with your business."
Shen Yan really couldn't understand why he was so nervous about her. Although she felt it was really unnecessary, she was afraid that if she didn't agree, he might sleep at her doorstep that night, so she could only say, "Okay."
Qi Jingxuan breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that she agreed, and grinned: "Then you can go back now. Don't go out tonight. I'll go with you tomorrow wherever you want to go."
Shen Yan nodded, gave a slight bow, and then turned and went into the house.
Before closing the courtyard gate, Qi Jingxuan earnestly reminded him, "Don't go out today, okay? And don't... don't do anything rash. Remember, I'm here for you. No matter what difficulties you encounter, I'll definitely find a way to solve them!"
Shen Yan nodded, her delicate features gradually disappearing through the crack in the door.
………………
After the courtyard gate was completely closed, Qi Jingxuan stood there somewhat dejectedly.
He had a pretty good time today; he wished he could marry Shen Yan soon.
That way, I can personally keep an eye on her every day to prevent her from getting into trouble, and I'll also have a compatible playmate. How great would that be?
He sighed, just as he was thinking about who to find out who was causing his bad luck, when he heard a servant ask him a question.
"Your Highness, shall we move this chaise longue back to the palace?"
Qi Jingxuan was puzzled: "Why move it back?"
The servant was also somewhat puzzled: "Didn't you just tell Miss Chen that you weren't staying here tonight?"
What's the point of keeping this chaise longue and all the bedding here?
Qi Jingxuan glared at him irritably: "Didn't you hear me say I was coming again during the day? What will I use during the day if you move back?"
Upon hearing this, the servant gave a mumbled "oh" and said nothing more.
Qi Jingxuan ignored him and left two people to guard the entrance of the Chu family. He instructed them that if they saw Shen Yan go out, one should immediately tell him and the other should follow Shen Yan to ensure her safety.
After giving his instructions, he walked towards the alley entrance, determined to start doing as Shen Yan had said today and to start finding fault everywhere.
Before she even reached the alley entrance, a familiar man in a brocade robe walked in; it was Xu Jinyu.
Xu Jinyu stopped in her tracks, a mocking smile on her face: "Not bad, I heard that you and Miss Shen were dominating the place at Yafeng Garden today... no, it was Miss Shen who led you to dominate the place. You were so proud of yourself that you almost lost your bearings."
Speaking of this, Qi Jingxuan was indeed proud, and even dangled the jade pendant at his waist.
"That's right, you didn't see it. My princess is amazing. She even won the black jade pendant that Gu San treasured so much, and the Thousand-Mile Eye that Shuang Lu especially liked is now hers too."
Xu Jinyu's gaze did not linger on the jade pendant. Instead, she scrutinized Qi Jingxuan's beaming face several times, raising her eyebrows slightly.
"You keep calling me 'Princess Consort,' you really consider Miss Chen one of your own?"
He thought that Qi Jingxuan said those things at Yafeng Garden to highlight his relationship with Miss Shen and let the world know that the Shen family had agreed to marry Miss Shen to him. But now he was saying the same thing in private, and he seemed quite happy about it. It really seemed like he had been in love with Miss Shen for a long time and had finally won her heart.
As Qi Jingxuan's friend of many years, he really didn't know what interaction the two had before the day before yesterday.
Qi Jingxuan fiddled with the jade pendant, raised his chin, and said, "Of course, we're getting married soon, so we're practically family."
"My princess is incredibly powerful. You didn't see it, but today at Yafeng Garden, she killed one by one, two by two, leaving Gu San and his gang utterly annihilated, kneeling on the ground weeping and begging for mercy..."
"Alright, alright," Xu Jinyu interrupted helplessly. "I've already heard a lot outside, you don't need to say anything more. I'm here to talk to you about something important."
Hearing that he had something important to discuss, Qi Jingxuan stopped joking and asked seriously, "What's wrong? Did you find out something?"
Xu Jinyu nodded, then shook her head: "We've found some clues, but they're not very useful."
"Lin Ping and Cui Ling are both dead, and they didn't say anything useful before they died."
"Those hooligans were sent to the yamen and given a beating. They were told that a merchant had ordered them to spread rumors about Miss Shen."
“I sent people to find the merchant based on the description they gave me, but they found that he had already left the city.”
"The men we sent out yesterday finally found him along the way and brought him back today, but after interrogation, they found that he was just someone who took money to do things."
"He came to the capital to sell his goods. When he had sold most of his goods, he was about to leave. Before he left, someone approached him and told him to find a few hooligans and spread rumors about Miss Shen near Yangliu Hutong."
"The merchant saw that the other party was offering a lot of silver, and since he was going to leave the city that day anyway, even if something happened later, he wouldn't be held responsible. He could make a sum of money without having to bear the consequences, so he did as the man instructed."
“When we asked him who gave him the silver, he said that the man was wearing a veil and we couldn’t see his face, but we knew that he was of medium build and was a man.”
But there are plenty of men of average build in the world, how am I supposed to find one?
"His Majesty has brought these merchants into the palace. I wonder if we can extract any useful information from their interrogation."
Xu Jinyu said.
Even though the Marquis of Cheng'an's family was a powerful and influential family, they could not arbitrarily use their power against ordinary people.
Qi Jingxuan was in the same boat, so even though he knew those hooligans were no good, he could only send them to the yamen to be flogged, and couldn't lock them up and interrogate them himself.
Otherwise, who knows if the mastermind behind this might take this opportunity to kill those hooligans and then smear him, saying that he did something shameful but wouldn't let anyone else talk about it.
But the emperor doesn't need to worry about these things.
With the testimonies of those ruffians, the merchant's accusation against Shen Yan was irrefutable. The purpose of framing Shen Yan was to force her to her death so that Qi Jingxuan could be convicted of murdering the prince.
Even without concrete evidence, what's wrong with arresting and interrogating this kind of person? Anyone who gets so worked up over a nobody like him is just guilty, so we might as well investigate them together.
Qi Jingxuan had experienced this eight times before, and he knew it would turn out this way. He said, "It's alright. The most critical moment has passed, so there's no need to rush."
After saying that, he asked, "Have you found out anything about that scholar surnamed Liang?"
Xu Jinyu found this strange, frowned at him, and asked, "There were more than a dozen students involved in the riot that day. How do you know that the one with the problem must be surnamed Liang?"
Qi Jingxuan coughed lightly: "That day, I noticed one of the students had a particularly shifty look on his face, so I took a second look and heard someone call him Brother Liang."
Xu Jinyu clearly didn't believe it and scoffed, "You're just talking nonsense. When you asked me to investigate that guy surnamed Liang, he couldn't even describe the man's height or appearance, only that his surname was Liang. Now you're saying he has shifty eyes?"
Qi Jingxuan didn't know how to explain for a moment, so he could only say, "Oh, why ask so many questions? Just tell me whether you found anything or not."
Seeing that he was unwilling to say more, Xu Jinyu assumed that there was some reason that he was reluctant to talk about, so she did not ask any further questions and replied, "There were two students with the surname Liang among those who caused trouble that day. I checked them both."
"Both of them are from Qingyuan Academy. One is named Liang Guan and the other is named Liang Chengji. They both live in the academy's dormitories and do not rent rooms outside."
"Among them, Liang Guan is a lively person who likes to go out with friends. He has not gone out alone for nearly half a month. During the day, he either studies at the academy or goes out drinking and having fun with his friends. At night, he sleeps in the school dormitory."
“He lives in a four-person dormitory, so there are people who can testify for him at night.”
"As for that Liang Chengji... he's rather withdrawn and doesn't usually interact with others. The students who caused the trouble all said that he usually seems quiet, but they didn't expect him to be so tough. This time, he even joined the sit-in protest."
“I had someone inquire about his family background. I heard that his family was poor and his family was very small, consisting of only an elderly mother and a younger brother.”
“Some time ago, he received a letter from home saying that his elderly mother was seriously ill and urgently needed money to save her life.”
"He has been copying books day and night to earn this money, and he has pawned everything he has that he can still afford, but even so, he still hasn't managed to scrape together two taels of silver."
"If one of these two is most likely to have been secretly bribed, it should be Liang Chengji."
He sighed and said, "But all our suspicions about him are based on your words. There's no other evidence whatsoever, so it's really inconvenient to take action."
This Liang Chengji was a scholar who had already obtained the title of Xiucai (a degree in the imperial examination system). He had excellent grades and was highly regarded by his teachers. He was just waiting to pass the provincial examination to become a Juren (a degree in the imperial examination system).
If someone tries to arrest another person without solid evidence, the academy will definitely not allow it.
If they secretly arrest someone, the academy will definitely report it to the authorities. If the commotion gets too big, it might be difficult to handle.
Qi Jingxuan frowned, his fingers, which had been fiddling with the jade pendant, stopped. "If he was truly bribed, then the person who bribed him must have started with his mother. Have you tried talking to him about his mother?"
"I tried it, but it didn't work."
Xu Jinyu said.
"I tentatively asked about his mother's situation and offered to help her if needed, but he refused outright, saying that we were not related and he couldn't accept my money. This is one of the reasons why I think the scholar surnamed Liang you mentioned is him."
“His mother worked hard to raise him and support his education. Now that his mother is seriously ill, and someone is willing to lend a helping hand, even if he has some concerns, he should not refuse so readily.”
"Unless... someone offered to pay for his mother's medical treatment beforehand and even threatened him with it, saying that if he said anything he shouldn't, his mother and younger brother would not be safe, which is why he kept quiet."
"His recent efforts to raise money are probably just for show, to avoid arousing suspicion."
“Then send someone to his hometown,” Qi Jingxuan said. “Since we’re bribing and threatening him with his mother, the other party will definitely have some contact with her. We’ll have to send him news about his mother and brother from time to time, otherwise how can we ensure he doesn’t talk?”
"Send someone to check. If his mother and brother are still alive, bring them to the capital. If they are not, then they must have been taken away."
"It's difficult to hide with such an old person and a child. Whoever took them away will definitely leave some clues."
He would continue searching for these clues and he was sure he would find something.
Xu Jinyu nodded and said, "I've already sent someone, but... don't get your hopes up too high."
“The merchant instructed that the person who bribed him wore a veiled hat, and I suspect that the person who met with Liang Chengji also wore one; perhaps they are the same person.”
"If my guess is true, then they certainly won't care about Liang Chengji's mother and brother anymore."
"Even if Liang Chengji confesses, he will only say the same things as that merchant, which will be of no use. In that case, why bother taking his mother and brother away to threaten him?"
"Liang Chengji is not daring to say anything yet, simply because there is still no news from his family. Once he finds out that his family is safe, it should be easy to get him to talk."
"Whether the information obtained after being pried open will be useful... is unclear."
Qi Jingxuan frowned, finding these messy facts annoying.
He knew that Xu Jinyu had done her best to handle the matter. If this matter hadn't involved the Cheng'an Marquis's mansion, given the mansion's usual aversion to getting involved in politics, he probably wouldn't have been able to mobilize so many manpower and resources to help him.
He did not insist that the Marquis's mansion give him an explanation in a short time, but only said: "Let's talk about it when the people who went to his hometown come back."
He then changed the subject, asking, "Do you know where Zhao Shisan and Fang Gou are, or Yang Delang and Xu Zhima...?"
Qi Jingxuan rattled off a string of names on his fingers, which startled Xu Jinyu.
"What...what are you going to do?"
Having known each other for many years, he naturally knew that these were all Qi Jingxuan's enemies.
Why bother contacting them at this time? Why bother with so many people?
Qi Jingxuan, recalling what Shen Yan had said to him, felt his fighting spirit rise, and he straightened his back, declaring, "I'm very unhappy right now, so naturally I'm going to go and make them unhappy!"
Having said that, he strode forward, determined to turn the capital upside down.
-----------------------
A note from the author:
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
