Wan Xueying was afraid of offending the nobles from the palace and did not dare to get too close to Shen Yu's cell. Aunt Chen and Shunzi stood behind her.
I heard from Shunzi that the Duke Ping's Mansion spent a lot of money to put Shen Yu in a separate cell, which is much better than living with Wan Chengji and the others and a bunch of servants from the Bo's Mansion.
Despite this, the smell of the prison still made the noble lady from the palace vomit. The palace servants who served her urged her to leave, leaving someone behind to tell Shen Yu about her purpose. But the noble lady insisted on seeing Shen Yu, and some things had to be said by her.
"Shen Yu, I came to see you, and you treat me like this?" Even though the cell was made up of a few wooden pillars, Princess Mingxia was still turned away when she came to see Shen Yu.
Shen Yu lay on a stone bed covered with straw with his back to the prison door. No matter how Princess Mingxia shouted, he refused to turn around, let alone get out of bed.
"Are you stupid? Only I can save you at this time, why are you still putting on airs?" Princess Mingxia became more and more angry.
"Let me tell you this. If you agree to be my princess's consort, your crimes will be forgiven by my father. But if you refuse and remain stubborn, you will be exiled with my third brother."
Exile? Has this meant they've already been convicted and sentenced?
Rumor has it that Wan Huqing exposed the steward of the Third Prince's Mansion to Pei Xuanqing, saying that the reason why he took in the girl named Ling Niang was because he was instigated by the steward of the Third Prince's Mansion, and he really had no idea about Ling Niang's identity.
When the steward of the Third Prince's residence was found, he decisively admitted his guilt and confessed that everything was directed by the Third Prince Ning Ze. Correspondence between him and the Crown Prince of Lingnan was also discovered in the Third Prince Ning Ze's study.
Among them was a reply letter from the Crown Prince of Lingnan Kingdom agreeing to help assassinate Ning Tai. The reply letter also asked Ning Ze to hand over the border map of southern Xinjiang to Lingnan Kingdom’s spy, that is, the steward of the Third Prince’s Mansion, after the success.
In the correspondence between Ning Ze and the Crown Prince of Lingnan, it is mentioned that Shen Yu and the Third Prince's other companion, Ye Chengyun, the third son of the Pingnan General's Mansion, were all people the Third Prince could trust. Furthermore, it is mentioned that some officials had secret dealings with the Third Prince.
In this way, the entire Third Prince's faction was wiped out.
Despite the presence of witnesses and physical evidence, why did Wan Huqing refuse to confess for so long in Ming prison, only to confess such an important person after meeting the crown prince? And because that person led to all these events?
Isn't it obvious that the Third Prince was framed by the Crown Prince? But why would the Emperor believe such a crude trick?
He was a little confused and could only take one step at a time.
Even if there was no such annoying princess forcing him to marry, all he could do was to accompany the Third Prince into exile. Thinking back to the moment he and Ye Chengyun became the Third Prince's study companions, their fate had been tied to that of the Third Prince.
Shen Yu thought Princess Mingxia was too noisy, but he didn't move and just played dead. Ye Chengyun, who was in the cell next to him, was bored and started talking to Princess Mingxia.
"Hey Princess, you know Shen Yu hates you, but you still keep coming to him over and over again. Don't you find it annoying?"
"You are the annoying one!" Princess Mingxia glared at Ye Chengyun fiercely, "You are the annoying one!" She further launched a personal attack, "Don't you even consider your own appearance? You still talk about me!" Although Ye Chengyun has a gentle name, he looks very rough. He is the type that Princess Mingxia dislikes the most.
"I am annoying and I am a nuisance to others, but I don't take advantage of others!" Ye Chengyun is very proud of this.
"You..." Princess Mingxia was furious.
"What do you mean by 'me'? I'm just confused. It's obvious that your cousin is better than Shen Yu in every way, so why don't you go after him?" The person he was talking about was Pei Xuanqing.
"What do you care?"
Empress Pei had hinted to the Huai'en Marquisate more than once, wanting Princess Mingxia to marry back to her family. But who would have thought that Pei Xuanqing had someone else in his heart and almost eloped with that woman.
Princess Mingxia didn't want to marry Pei Xuanqing because of this incident, but because she had witnessed the equally young Pei Xuanqing killing someone when she was very young. For a long time, Princess Mingxia had nightmares in which she dreamed that Pei Xuanqing killed her and cut off her head.
Could she marry such a man? Especially after she fell in love with Shen Yu, she was determined to marry him.
It was Empress Pei who once again proposed that Princess Mingxia marry Pei Xuanqing to end her thoughts on Shen Yu. After the Huai'en Marquisate agreed, Pei Xuanqing approached Princess Mingxia, hoping that she would object. Princess Mingxia used this as a threat to force Pei Xuanqing to shoot the arrow at Wan Xueying.
But she didn't expect Pei Xuanqing to let her go, and she didn't expect Wan Xueying to be able to dodge that arrow. After all, she asked someone to replace several of Pei Xuanqing's arrows, and even poisoned the tips of those arrows.
"Ha," Ye Chengyun smiled, "Don't be angry, I'm just asking casually because I'm bored." He really has nothing to do! Shen Yu has been like a taciturn person these past two days, saying nothing to anyone, and I don't know what he's thinking.
Princess Mingxia glared at him again. "Boring!" She then shouted at Shen Yu, "Are you deaf? I've been asking you questions for a long time, and you just gave me a response!"
Shen Yu actually replied, with just one word full of energy, "Get lost!"
"Okay, I'll get out of here! If you have the guts, don't come to me for begging from the Duke of Ping's Mansion! Even if you die on the road to exile, don't regret it!" Princess Mingxia, who had suffered great mental trauma and humiliation, left the Dali Temple prison with her people crying.
Thinking it was her turn to visit, Wan Xueying walked towards Shen Yu's cell. After taking a few steps, she heard a woman scolding Shen Yu bitterly.
"Why did I give birth to such a troublesome son like you!"
"Mother, why are you here?" In contrast to his previous indifference to Princess Mingxia, Shen Yu quickly turned over and got out of bed, and in three or two steps he came to the cell door.
"Why else would I come? To save you, of course."
"Save me? You just want your son to marry that woman?" Shen Yu's original joy after seeing his mother suddenly halved.
"What do you mean by that woman?" Meng snorted, "She's the princess! She's the only one who can rescue you right now!"
"My son would rather go into exile with the Third Prince than marry Princess Mingxia!" He didn't want to live in pain for the rest of his life.
"But if you don't marry Princess Mingxia, your father will break off the relationship with you and expel you from the clan!" Meng was full of worry.
"Severing ties? Expelling the clan?" Shen Yu was so shocked that his pupils dilated. "Why? Didn't my son's affairs affect the Duke's Mansion?" He really couldn't imagine that what happened to Wan Xueying a few days ago happened to him so soon.
"What do you mean by not implicated? If your father hadn't handed over the Golden Book and Iron Certificate, do you think the Emperor would have let the Duke's Mansion go?" Meng continued, her voice filled with frustration. "That's the Golden Book and Iron Certificate! It's a life-saving talisman that can protect our entire family!" Then she asked herself, "Do you think those clansmen will let this go? Of course not! They've been coming to the Duke's Mansion for two days straight, looking for your father and demanding that you be expelled from the clan."
Otherwise, why would she have the nerve to ask Princess Mingxia for help? Why would she force her son to marry a woman he didn't like?
"Mother," Shen Yu closed his eyes and made the most difficult decision of his life. "When you return, tell my father to agree to sever ties with his family and expel him from the clan."
"Why are you so disobedient?" Meng's eyes were filled with tears. "Have you ever considered how easy it was for your father and me to raise you? How can we sever ties so easily? Do you know how heartbroken your mother is?"
"Mother, I am an unfilial son. You and father should just pretend that I have never been your son." After Shen Yu finished speaking, he knelt on the ground and kowtowed three times to Meng, his head being bruised and broken.
"Hurry up and get up," Meng choked up as she reached out to support Shen Yu in the cell. "Just don't blame your father. He had no choice!"
Shen Yu fought back the tears in his eyes and said calmly, "I will never blame my father. I hope that I can have the opportunity to be your son again in the future."
Mrs. Meng nodded and said confidently, "That day will come." Then she asked, "Is there anything you need? Ask your father to arrange it later."
"My son doesn't need anything. Please tell me not to offend the Emperor again because of my son's affairs." In the past, the Duke of Ping's Mansion had the golden seal and iron certificate in hand, which gave them great confidence. Now that they had lost their amulet, it was best to keep to themselves. Shen Yu didn't want the Duke of Ping's Mansion to intervene in his affairs again.
"The journey of exile is extremely dangerous. Ask your father to provide you with more guards. Oh, and I'll also arrange for two attentive concubines to accompany you in exile to take care of your daily needs."
"Mother, I can accept a guard, but I don't need a concubine. My son is going into exile, not being exiled. Uh... even if I were to be exiled, my son doesn't need any messy women."
"You too, how come you have no interest in women when you are already an adult?" After waiting for so long for him to get married, it was because Princess Mingxia pressured him too much.
The wedding was only halfway through when the two divorced on the street. Until now, she had only seen her ex-daughter-in-law once, when she proposed marriage, and she had no idea of her personality, but she knew she looked good.
"It's not that my son has no interest in women, it's just that he hasn't met the one he likes." Maybe he met one and missed it.
"Forget it," Meng waved her hands helplessly, "Let's talk about it after your exile is over." Even if I want to find him a girl from a good family, no one will agree!
"My son also thinks this is the best." Shen Yu breathed a sigh of relief. He really didn't have those thoughts in his mind right now.
"How many guards do you want?" asked Meng.
"Two is enough."
"Two?" Meng thought she had misheard because her ears were not working well.
"That's right." Shen Yu nodded, "Nanying and Beiwu are enough." If he brought too many people, he was afraid that the escorting officers would be on guard against him being jailbroken at any time.
"Okay, I'll talk to your father." Meng asked again, "What about the servants accompanying you? How many are you taking? Who are they?"
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