Chapter 158 Is the Master testing me?

"Your Highness, have you found the guest?" Shen Shilang asked.

"That's why I said that my cousin must have been wrongly accused." The fifth prince said, "After I found out, I immediately sent people to look for him, but there was no trace of him in the entire capital."

"I also sent people to Yunxiang Tower to look for the courtesan. But the courtesan said that there was no guest that night." The fifth prince said in a deep voice, "Because the third cousin is obsessed with writing, the second cousin is afraid that he will be deceived, so he specifically asked about the other party's identity and even went to investigate."

"My second cousin had clearly found this person before, but when I sent people to check again, he couldn't find him. Moreover, the servant who followed my third cousin that day has disappeared, and now we don't know whether he is alive or dead." said the fifth prince.

"Grandmaster, I came back from my trip to the northwest. I rarely saw the Crown Prince before, but now I always run into him in various places. Every time we meet, he is always a bit weird." The Fifth Prince looked up at Shen Shilang, "Not long after, something happened to my third cousin. It's hard for me not to associate this incident with the Crown Prince. Perhaps, this is a warning from the Crown Prince to me."

Su Jinshi couldn't help but wonder, if that was the case, then the prince was being too petty.

"The key guest who went to Yunxiang Tower is missing, and neither is the servant. There is no witness to prove my third cousin's innocence." The fifth prince said, "It is hard for me not to think that this is a setup against my third cousin, or even against me."

“Grandmaster, although I am young, I know that the Crown Prince’s attitude towards me now makes it impossible for me to stay out of it like before. Even though I don’t want to get involved, I have to be forced to participate.” said the Fifth Prince.

Shen Shilang seemed to be slightly stunned, and then he said: "Your Highness, do you want to participate in... the fight for the throne?"

"I had no intention of getting involved, but now I am in the middle of it and have been forced to make a choice." The fifth prince said in a deep voice, "It is obvious that I can no longer stay out of it like before. Even if I want to, others will not tolerate it."

"This time it was my third cousin who got into trouble, what about next time?" The fifth prince looked up at Shen Shilang, "Prince, are you warning me?"

"This was done by the Crown Prince. It is your Highness's guess. Does your Highness have any evidence?" Shen Shilang asked again.

"No." The fifth prince shook his head, "But it should be soon. The crown prince should come to care about me."

False concern, real warning.

"That's right." Shen Shilang nodded. "If the prince is really like this, what is your highness's plan for the third son of the Chen family?"

Shen Shilang's gaze seemed to be hidden in the darkness, making it difficult to see what was in it.

“If my third cousin is really wronged, we must save him,” said the fifth prince.

Shen Shilang was silent for a few breaths, then slowly said, "Your Highness, it is actually the most cost-effective to abandon the Third Young Master. It is like a gecko cutting off its tail. There is no need to confront the Crown Prince head-on, and the Chen family can be saved at the same time."

"And with this lesson, we can be on guard against the prince in the future. The prince can't easily touch the Chen family."

"How can this be!" The fifth prince said without thinking, "Since my third cousin is innocent, how can I let him be implicated by me! Moreover, this matter involves human life. If I don't care about him, he will die in vain! My third cousin has never done anything to let me down, and my maternal grandfather has taken good care of me and my mother. Although I know that my mother is not favored in the harem, my maternal grandfather has never despised her, nor has he ever given up on her."

"My grandparents never asked my mother to compete for favor and get a high position, nor did they dream of letting me get a high position. All they wanted was the safety of my mother and me. If I sacrifice my third cousin for my own safety, how can I be worthy of the love my grandparents have for me and my mother?"

"I thought the Grand Tutor was not as the rumors said, and was still a man with justice in his heart. I didn't expect that the Grand Tutor would ask me to abandon my innocent relatives." The Fifth Prince said with red eyes, but Shen Shilang did not respond.

He suddenly sensed something and looked up at Shen Shilang, "Master, are you testing me?"

"Your Highness is interested in the throne, and since you want me to assist you, I also need to make sure that Your Highness, as a possible future ruler, is ruthless or kind."

"However, although mercy is good, we should be more decisive when it is time to be ruthless." Shen Shilang shook his head again, "But it is too early to say this now. If Mr. Chen San is really innocent, he should not die in vain."

"Your Highness, what is the attitude of Mr. Chen San's future in-laws?" Su Jinshi asked, "Have you ever thought about canceling the engagement?"

The fifth prince shook his head and said, "I was so busy saving my third cousin that I didn't ask about this matter in detail."

"Why do you ask this, Master's wife?" the fifth prince asked again.

"I just want to know whether Mr. Chen San is trustworthy in the eyes of his future in-laws and fiancée." Su Jinshi smiled, "This is a psychological aspect. Although it cannot be used as actual evidence, it can be used as an auxiliary."

"If Mr. Chen San is a good person, his future in-laws should still be watching or supporting him and will not propose to cancel the engagement. If he has a good relationship with his fiancée and treats her well, she will choose to believe him and support him. But if their relationship is just average, or if Mr. Chen San is perfunctory to his fiancée and does not have her trust, then whether Mr. Chen San has ever been to a brothel is something he can ask his fiancée for her opinion and see if she believes it."

Please...collect 6...9...books...!

"If the future Yue family immediately proposed to cancel the engagement, it shows that Mr. Chen San is not necessarily that tough." Su Jinshi said, "Of course, it is not ruled out that his future Yue family is not good, and when they see Mr. Chen San in trouble, they immediately cut off ties."

"But as Your Highness said, no matter how inferior the Chen family is to the Crown Prince and the Second Prince's maternal family, it still gave birth to a prince like Your Highness. Unless the Third Young Master Chen really made a big mistake, his future in-laws would not risk offending Your Highness and cancel the engagement when the Third Young Master Chen just got into trouble. Unless the Third Young Master Chen made a real mistake."

"Da Xi is not very open to male homosexuality now, and now the young prostitute has died. This is not a small mistake in any way. For the sake of his daughter's happiness, his future in-laws will have to take action." Su Jinshi said slowly.

“What Master’s wife meant is that if Third Cousin is a good person, his fiancée understands him and trusts him. Or maybe the Gu family is just skeptical now. Even if they don’t trust Third Cousin enough, they don’t have solid evidence and will not propose to cancel the engagement. Once they propose to cancel the engagement, it means that what Third Cousin usually behaves is very likely a false appearance.” said the Fifth Prince.

The Gu family is the future in-laws of the third son of the Chen family, Chen Shixian.

Su Jinshi nodded, "The Gu family is concerned about Your Highness and will not easily propose to cancel the engagement, but once it is proposed, then the character of Mr. Chen San... Your Highness needs to investigate more."

"I see."