Chapter 112 Four Beauties
Upon arriving at the shop, Xu Chumian sorted out the remaining ingredients.
The Min family business needed two hundred boxes of Molin Incense, which required a lot of raw materials, so she took Mumu with her to the West Market.
The West Market had many trinkets from Persia. After Xu Chumian ordered the ingredients, she took Mu Mu to browse around. At noon, she took her younger sister to a restaurant by the moat for lunch.
Mu Mu hadn't gone out to play with her sister in a long time, and she was very excited the whole way.
After the little girl had eaten and drunk her fill, she took her older sister's hand and asked, "Sister, where did Brother Qingyan go? I haven't seen him in so long."
Xu Chumian paused for a moment, "Brother Qingyan is not in the capital. He went out of town on business."
Mu Mu said "Oh," her eyebrows furrowing like caterpillars. "Will it take that long?"
Xu Chumian patted the little girl's head and didn't say anything more.
After news of the war in the north arrived a few days ago, the capital was in an uproar for a while, but it quieted down again after the New Year, maintaining a peaceful and prosperous situation.
The cold wind blowing by the river dispelled Xu Chumian's thoughts.
Just over three months ago, she was taking Mu Mu and Xiao Qingyan for a walk on this road.
Worried that the little girl would catch a cold, Xu Chumian took her into the carriage.
Unexpectedly, this scene was witnessed by people on the second floor of the restaurant across the street.
Zhao Nai raised his eyes slightly and saw a woman's figure standing by the window, but he couldn't see her clearly.
Zhao Nai frowned and looked away.
From the second-floor window, Xingyang watched the carriage disappear into the distance. She gripped the window frame tightly, her face grim.
After the King of Qin was demoted to the Prince of Qin, Shen Lingyin entered the Prince's mansion as a concubine, which was nothing more than a disguised form of confinement. The young ladies who used to be on good terms with Shen Lingyin and Xingyang all distanced themselves from Xingyang.
Now, the Prince of Qin has run away with Shen Lingyin again.
Every time Xingyang leaves the mansion, he is ostracized by those people, like a rat crossing the street, despised by everyone.
The voice of Prince Chen came from behind.
"Come and sit down, Vice Minister Yu will be here soon."
Prince Chen was demoted and disliked by Emperor Ming'an. Xingyang also had a bad reputation. He was no longer as picky and casual in choosing a son-in-law as before. Now he was looking at Vice Minister Yu, whose wife had died young.
He is about ten years older than Xingyang.
Xingyang hated Xu Chumian to the core.
If it weren't for Xu Chumian, she would never have ended up in this situation.
Xingyang's wrists turned white from gripping so tightly; if she wasn't doing well, Xu Chumian wouldn't be either.
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After Xu Chumian left Wenju in the morning, Zhao Yu entered the secondary palace.
Now, all of Prince Qin's accomplices and subordinates have been arrested and brought to justice. Prince Qin has been moved to a small house and imprisoned, guarded by Emperor Ming'an's personal guards. Shen Lingyin was also thrown in there.
There were no servants in that house, so all the chores of washing clothes and cooking fell to Shen Lingyin.
It was the dead of winter, and after working for a few days, Shen Lingyin looked haggard. Prince Qin would often beat and scold her. If it weren't for Shen Lingyin's coquettish behavior that day, which led Prince Qin to go to the plum garden, their affair wouldn't have been exposed so quickly.
Shen Lingyin retorted, "If you hadn't provoked me in the past, I would still be engaged to the Crown Prince, and I would be the future Empress! It's all your fault!"
Prince Qin sneered: "Blame me? Shen Lingyin, do you think I don't know? Back then, you only went to seduce the Crown Prince because you had your eye on Zhao Yu and he didn't want to talk to you?"
"Later, you complained that the Crown Prince was sickly. I only said a few words to you, and you took the bait. If you had enough self-control, you wouldn't be in this situation now."
After a pause, Prince Qin added, "That's not right either. If your Shen family hadn't wanted to have it both ways, your parents wouldn't have stopped you at all. On the contrary, they even covered for us. The fact that my brother and the Crown Prince spared your life is all because of me!"
Shen Lingyin screamed, "Shut up!"
From her imprisonment in the Prince's mansion until now, in about a month, Shen Lingyin has aged ten years.
"It's all your fault for having such treacherous ambitions! It's all your fault!"
The two argued every day, and finally on this day, Prince Qin couldn't hold back and kicked Shen Lingyin in the stomach, and blood spread from under her.
Shen Lingyin was bleeding profusely and lay on the bed constantly calling out for the Crown Prince.
When the news reached the palace, Zhao Yu was playing chess with the Crown Prince in the Eastern Palace.
Upon hearing this, the Crown Prince remained calm and said, "Ignore it."
"yes."
The Crown Prince looked at the person opposite him, "He'an, it's your turn."
Zhao Yu placed the black piece down, his expression slightly serious. "Does Your Highness have something to say today?"
The Crown Prince chuckled lightly, "He'an is so cautious, nothing can escape your eyes."
Zhao Yu shook his head, "It is a subject's duty to share His Highness's burdens."
Crown Prince: "I heard that Father is investigating Madam Xu again?"
Madam Xu, also known as Zhao Ying.
Zhao Yu nodded, "The King of Qin revealed some information that day, and His Majesty has doubts."
The Crown Prince raised an eyebrow slightly, never expecting that his father had once harbored feelings for Miss Zhao...
He then placed a piece on the board and said calmly, "The world is about to change."
This morning, good news came from the north.
Duke Zhao led his army to a great victory over King Ding, winning three consecutive battles. King Ding was seriously injured. Now, the morale of the army in the north is low, and the people are showing signs of migrating south.
Zhao Yu's brows furrowed slightly, his expression revealing nothing.
"Everything will be over before the start of summer."
The crown prince grunted and put down the chess piece. "Alright, I won't keep you any longer. You should go now."
Zhao Yu smiled, his eyes melting like ice and snow.
"They're gone."
The crown prince waved his hand and shook his head.
After leaving the palace, Zhao Yu returned to the Zhao family home to let the elders know he was safe.
Having experienced many hardships in her youth, Madam Zhao took this matter very lightly, saying, "Your father has been through countless battles; there's no need to worry too much."
Zhang's tears, which were halfway through their flow, stopped abruptly. She coughed lightly and asked, "He'an, are you going to the housewarming party again tonight?"
Zhao Yu remained expressionless. "By February, the Dali Temple will have to review and re-examine all the cases from the past two years. The yamen has been very busy lately."
Madam Zhao's expression changed slightly. She held her Buddhist prayer beads in her hand and said to her eldest daughter-in-law, "Alright, He'an knows what he's doing. He just needs to take better care of his health."
Zhao Yu slightly lifted his eyelids and met his grandmother's gaze.
Madam Zhao smiled kindly, "Granny Jiang, when you go to the Wenju residence with He'an, be sure to tell the servants to take good care of their master."
Madam Zhao's words had a hidden meaning.
Zhao Yu has always been upright and honest, and even the Duke of Zhao rarely worries about him. The old lady of Zhao originally did not want to interfere, but seeing her grandson getting thinner and thinner every day, she wanted to know what was going on in Wenjuli that made He An not even come home!
Zhao Yu said calmly, "Grandmother, there is no need to worry. Granny Jiang has served you for many years. How could I possibly take what belongs to someone else? As long as you are healthy and at ease, I can focus on my official duties while I am away."
Madam Zhao's smile remained unchanged. "In that case, have your mother arrange for a few people to go over there."
Madam Zhang was taken aback, but quickly replied, "Yes, Mother."
Zhao Yu pursed his lips into a straight line.
...
As soon as Xu Chumian returned to Wenju, she sensed that the atmosphere was strange.
In the afternoon, she took Mumu to see two houses, but neither was satisfactory.
As I returned to Lanyun Courtyard from the front courtyard, I vaguely heard Steward Chen's voice, "Miss Xu must not know about this matter, otherwise no one can bear the consequences if the young master blames us."
"Take all four of them to the lower room and keep them there. They must not appear in front of Miss Xu."
Xu Chumian paused slightly and looked in that direction.
The first thing you see are four beautiful young women, all with lovely faces, some plump and some thin.
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