Chapter 160: A beast escapes from its cage, Xiao Yan: His Little Begonia
When Gu Helian thought about what happened back then, she felt depressed.
He was a little drunk that day, and was annoyed that Rong Yue didn't know people well. After being caught, Rong Yue woke up and refused to listen to his explanation. Everyone thought that he was jealous of Rong Yue's engagement with Xie Tianyu and wanted to do something inappropriate to ruin Rong Yue's innocence.
He was drunk at the time and was wrongly accused, so he said some things he shouldn't have said, and things got out of control.
At that time, Rong Yue and Xie Tianyu's marriage could be said to have been finalized. She was already a confirmed prince's consort. If she bullied the royal sons and daughters-in-law and was witnessed by those princes' consorts, it would be unforgivable once the news got out.
What happened that night almost caused a big uproar. It was the Crown Princess at the time who pleaded for him, and Rong's elder sister also spoke up, saying that if the matter were to get out, it would be embarrassing for the royal family and Prince Cheng as well, and that Xie Tianyu and Rong Yue's marriage would definitely not be able to continue.
Xie Tianyu was reluctant to part with Rong Yue and said that she didn't care about the matter. The Crown Princess then stepped in to silence the other three princes' wives and told them not to speak about it to anyone, and the matter was finally suppressed.
Gu Helian pursed her lips tightly. Taifu Rong had not liked this marriage at first, but after knowing about it, Xie Tianyu pretended to not care about Rong Yue's reputation being damaged. He looked so infatuated with her, which not only made Taifu Rong relent, but also moved Rong Yue extremely.
Gu Helian said, "I made a big mistake. My adoptive father almost beat me to death and expelled me from the Rong family. I know it wasn't because he was heartless, but based on the situation that day, if he didn't punish me severely, my fate would be even worse."
He bullied the future princess and ruined the royal marriage. Even if Xie Tianyu tried to kill him secretly, he would not be blamed at all. However, Taifu Rong beat him half to death in advance and personally ordered his men to send him out of the capital when he was dying, saying that he had no relationship with the Rong family from now on.
He saved his life.
Gu Helian whispered, "After I left the capital, I was in trouble for a long time until I ended up in Zuozhou and met someone from the Gu family. You all know what happened next."
Xiao Yan narrowed his eyes slightly: "You didn't investigate this matter afterwards?"
"Check, why didn't you check?"
Gu Helian gritted her teeth. "After I established myself in the Gu family, I sent people back to the capital. But in order to keep Rong Yue quiet and protect her reputation, all the maids and servants in her courtyard were replaced except for Nanny Jiang. I sent people to investigate everywhere, but there's no clue at all. No one knows how Rong Yue got drugged in the first place. Even when I was drunk, everything seemed fine."
If he hadn't been the one wronged, even he would have suspected him of having bad intentions. Otherwise, how could he have happened to break into Rong Yue's bedroom while drunk that day, and why did Rong Yue happen to be taking Chinese medicine and was seen with him in disheveled clothes?
This is also why he has been unable to defend himself even though he has been wronged for many years.
Xiao Yan looked at him and said bluntly, "Was it Xie Tianyu who provoked you to get drunk that day?"
Gu Helian's face was as black as the bottom of a pot.
Xiao Yan sneered, "So, after you inherited the Gu family's power, you ran back to the capital. With no clues or evidence, you were still unwilling to see Princess Cheng marry someone else, so you started a fight with Xie Tianyu?"
He paused, "No, you wouldn't be so foolish as to invite him out, hoping to trick him into talking, only to be tricked by Prince Cheng into hurting him and his son, causing him to use a self-torture trick to cause a complete falling out between you and Princess Cheng?"
Gu Helian: “…”
Xiao Yan said venomously: "You are so stupid."
Gu Helian glared at him: "I was young and ignorant at that time."
Xiao Yan glared at him: "You don't seem to understand much now."
"Say that again?!"
Seeing Gu Helian fuming and ready to roll up his sleeves to beat someone up, Song Tangning quickly pinched Xiao Yan's mouth and said with surprising venom: "Brother!"
Just shut up.
And you have to let your uncle get into the trap... Bah, let your uncle do the work.
Xiao Yan glanced at his little girl who kept winking at him, thinking that if this idiot was really schemed by Prince Cheng, then after Prince Cheng was skinned alive, all their years of love would be gone in one day. Princess Cheng would be so heartbroken that this guy surnamed Gu would most likely pester her and take advantage of the situation. He might even become his cheap elder in the future.
In the end, he didn't provoke him any further, and only asked him: "Which princes' wives discovered your affair with Princess Cheng back then?"
"Do you know how to talk? What about that? I've already said that Rong Yue and I have nothing!" Gu Helian tried to save face before saying, "Why are you asking this?"
Xiao Yan said, "Just tell me when I ask you."
Gu Helian said, "There are the Crown Princess, the Third Prince's Consort, the Fifth Prince's Consort, and the future Sixth Prince's Consort who is just engaged to the Sixth Prince."
"Is there anyone else?"
"No, there were only four of them at the time, and a few servants who followed them."
Xiao Yan narrowed his eyes slightly and thought for a moment, then lightly tapped the teacup on the table with his fingers and said to Tang Ning, "Alright, let's go."
"Why are you leaving?" Gu Helian said quickly, "You haven't discussed what to do about Rong Yue yet, and why are you asking this?"
Xiao Yan glanced at him and asked, "Has Patriarch Gu really been blinded by money?"
"Prince Cheng has discussed marriage three times, and all three times things went wrong. Princess Cheng also had an accident and nearly lost her life. You were just an adopted son of the Rong family back then, with no power or influence. Even if Prince Cheng didn't like you staying in the Rong family, he wouldn't have used the innocence of the already engaged Princess Cheng to frame you and bring shame upon himself."
Gu Helian was stunned: "You mean..."
Xiao Yan said, "Prince Cheng may have had some despicable plot to arrange the marriage, but he couldn't have been the one who drugged me. You've been looking for the wrong person from the beginning, so how can you possibly find out the truth?"
Gu Helian froze for a moment, then went over Xiao Yan's words in his mind and understood what he meant. Then, he felt as if he was ignited with anger, and his eyes were filled with hostility.
Xiao Yan said, "Tang Ning and I can't stop Princess Cheng from returning to the palace, but if Prince Cheng really planned the marriage, and there's someone like this behind him, then she might be in danger..."
Gu Helian stood up quickly and before Xiao Yan could finish his words, she angrily said, "I'm going to find Rong Yue!"
Gu Helian left in a hurry, without paying any attention to the two people who stayed behind.
Xiao Yan looked at his back as he almost ran out, and remembered what he had just said about the things he missed with Princess Cheng.
It was obvious that he was the one closest to the daughter of the Rong family, and he was also the first to fall in love with her, but Gu Helian waited for Rong Yue for many years, and finally handed her over to Prince Cheng. He was unwilling to do so all these years but was powerless.
Xiao Yan suddenly glanced at Song Tangning beside him. It is said that love can cloud one's mind. Can he really watch Xiao Haitang wearing a wedding dress and being affectionate with someone else?
He personally handed her over to someone else, watched her get married and have children, watched her stay with another man for the rest of her life, and there was no trace of him in their conversations and laughter.
Just thinking of that scene, Xiao Yan's heart suddenly tightened, and the dull suffocation almost made him breathless.
Feeling like a beast out of its cage, Xiao Yan whispered, "Tang Ning."
"Um?"
"You said earlier that you wanted to stay in Cumulus Lane with me?"
Tang Ning was thinking about Princess Cheng and had already made up her mind not to marry. When Xiao Yan asked her, she subconsciously tilted her head: "I can take care of you, brother. Don't you like it?"
Xiao Yan's eyelashes drooped slightly when he heard this, as if he was saying something meaningful: "I like it."
He reached out and brushed her hair.
"If you want to stay, then stay."
The little girl was instantly delighted: "Okay!"
Xiao Yan's eyes darkened slightly, and then a smile gradually broke out.
He is not as stupid as Gu Helian.
If it is his, it can only be his.
He rubbed his fingers for a while, as if caressing the girl's face. Looking at the little girl who followed him closely, Xiao Yan thought seriously: Raising a wife should not be more difficult than raising a younger sister, right?
His...little Begonia.
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