"News has come from the palace that the two spies are connected to His Highness the Third Prince, and my father has sent me to investigate this matter."
Today, the palace suddenly summoned the Second Prince Tianxia to the palace. His Highness thought it was to discuss various matters related to the grand ceremony, but he did not expect it to be like this.
To be honest, this kind of task shouldn't have been assigned to the Second Prince, as it would be extremely inconvenient for him to handle it given his status. The Second Prince pondered this over and over, but he really couldn't understand what the Emperor's intention was in making this arrangement.
The thought of postponing the Crown Prince's ceremony to after Li Youran's wedding made the Second Prince increasingly aware that his father wouldn't so easily appoint him as Crown Prince; there must be many tests to be done. Could this be one of them...?
The Second Prince's wife frowned upon hearing what the Second Prince had said.
Although she was unaware of what was happening in the court, she knew that this matter was not easy to handle, and that no matter the outcome, it would not be good for His Highness the Second Prince.
If the Third Prince is guilty, he could very well be misunderstood and framed by the Second Prince. If no concrete evidence is found, it would mean the Second Prince is useless.
In short, this is a thankless task, and it's very difficult to strike the right balance.
"The Vice Minister of Justice is a rigid man, utterly loyal to the Emperor, and undoubtedly a royalist. Your Highness, when dealing with this matter, you might as well take his advice into consideration."
Li Youran pursed her lips, pondered carefully for a moment, and then looked at the Second Prince and said.
Just as I expected.
As the Second Prince spoke, he walked toward his wife and hurriedly helped her to sit down and rest.
Although the Second Prince's wife was still far from showing, His Highness the Second Prince remained cautious. He looked at her flat stomach with tenderness in his eyes.
Seeing this, Li Youran felt conflicted. Should she stick to her own ideas and selfishly think of herself...?
If she really arranged it the way she did, and if it were discovered later, not only would the Second Prince not be able to ascend the throne as the Crown Prince, but his whole family would also be implicated.
She looked at her sister, who was desperately searching for her, her only family in the world. Li Youran couldn't bear to see her suffer because of her.
Moreover, the Second Prince's wife was carrying an unborn child, which made Li Youran even more conflicted.
All afternoon, Li Youran was struggling with this problem and was in a daze until Tang Lei appeared in front of her, at which point she seemed to come back to life.
"You Ran, don't worry about these things. I'm here for you."
Tang Lei knelt on one knee, grasped Li Youran's hands, and looked at her with utmost sincerity.
"There is a solution, but I'm mainly worried that it might involve His Highness the Second Prince and my sister."
When Li Youran's eyes met Tang Lei's, she suddenly felt as if she had found her pillar of support.
She took a deep breath. Actually, Li Youran really wanted to throw herself into Tang Lei's arms and give him a hug, but she forcibly held back.
"Don't worry, I'll handle these things."
As if reading Li Youran's mind, Tang Lei stood up and pulled her into his arms, her head resting squarely on his chest.
"Lu Chuan, with so many retainers in my household, do you know why I value only you?"
Since the Prime Minister's wife passed away, the Prime Minister has not remarried, but he openly brought Hongxiu into the affiliated middle school. However, he did not give Hongxiu a formal title and simply let her stay in the mansion.
Although the Prime Minister did not specify whether Hongxiu was the mistress or a concubine, judging from his attitude towards her, the servants in the mansion did not dare to underestimate her.
With Hongxiu's arrival at the manor, her two brothers also rose in status, and Lu Chuan's status and position also increased, quickly making him stand out from the group of retainers.
"The student does not know."
Although Lu Chuan did not achieve a top-three ranking in this imperial examination, he has still shown promise and can be considered a rising star.
As the prime minister spoke, he gestured for Lu Chuan to sit down. This was the first time Lu Chuan had received such high treatment from the prime minister, so he sat down with a heavy heart.
"You have a lot of my style back then, decisive and efficient in doing things."
Upon hearing the Prime Minister's words, Lu Chuan hurriedly rose and bowed, expressing his humility. He truly dared not accept such high praise from the Prime Minister.
"You lost your wife at such a young age, but you have a long road ahead of you, Lord Chen. You have a daughter in your family, nineteen years old, who is still unmarried. I think the two of you are a good match. If you have the opportunity, you should arrange this marriage and start a family as soon as possible, so that you can serve the Emperor with peace of mind."
The Prime Minister did this entirely to win over Lord Cheng. Everyone knows that Lord Cheng's daughter is extremely ugly and has remained unmarried for many years.
"Thank you for your kind offer, Prime Minister, but I have only recently lost my wife and have no intention of getting married yet."
After hearing Lu Chuan's words, the Prime Minister assumed that Lu Chuan knew that Lord Cheng's daughter was extremely ugly, and therefore refused.
In fact, Lu Chuan didn't want his impotence to be exposed, which is why he refused to get married.
"As the saying goes, 'A family with an ugly wife is like a treasure.' This is the daughter of Lord Baocheng. Although she is not good-looking, she is still presentable."
As the prime minister spoke, he gestured to the maid behind him to pour tea for Lu Chuan. Lu Chuan was flattered, as being treated to such hospitality by the prime minister was truly a great honor.
Therefore, when the Prime Minister again suggested that Lu Chuan marry Cheng's daughter, Jin Shi, Lu Chuan found it difficult to refuse.
"Thank you, Your Excellency, for thinking of your student."
"It's all as it should be."
Seeing that Lu Chuan had agreed to the marriage, the Prime Minister nodded in satisfaction.
"Why would someone be chopping firewood here for no reason?"
Liu Zhiyuan has now become the second-highest scorer in the imperial examination, and it is inconvenient for him to continue staying at the aforementioned home. Therefore, he has temporarily moved into the half-built mansion of Tang Lei.
Tang Lei rarely stayed at his residence, and Liu Zhiyuan felt comfortable staying there.
Are you troubled by You Ran's situation?
Although Liu Zhiyuan and Tang Lei are rivals in love, they don't dislike each other. They seem to be competing with each other, wanting to have a fair and just competition.
When it came to Li Youran's marriage, the two of them joined forces.
Tang Lei looked at Liu Zhiyuan, who dropped the axe in his hand, picked up a handkerchief from the wood, wiped the sweat from his face, and sat down on the woodpile next to him.
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