Chapter 260 Partiality
Suddenly, it started to rain heavily under the bright starry sky. It poured down all night long, and the next morning, puddles of water had formed on the stone platform in front of the palace gate.
Emperor An suddenly had a headache and took a day off from court, but both in the palace and in the capital, the affairs of the Lu family were still extremely lively.
The Lu family's events yesterday could not be concealed. The Fourth Prince led his men to break into the Lu family, and Guan's body was carried through the streets. The whole capital knew that she had an affair with Prince Cheng, and that the Lu family had "exchanged children" with Prince Cheng's mansion. It was thought that the Lu family would be blamed this time, but no one expected that Lu Chongyuan, who had entered the palace to apologize, would not only come out safely, but was also suddenly released from house arrest.
Qian Qiyue was leaning over the table, talking about gossip outside, while Xue Ru was cracking walnuts with a small hammer.
When the plate was almost full of peeled walnut kernels, she divided it into two, giving the larger portion to Tang Ning and the smaller portion to Qian Qiyue.
"Xiao A'ru, you are biased." Qian Qiyue pointed at Tang Ning and pretended to be dissatisfied: "Why does she have more than me?"
Xue Ru said, "Sister likes it."
"But I like it too." Qian Qiyue teased her deliberately.
Xue Ru was not annoyed, she smiled and said, "Then I'll peel it for Sister Yue."
Although she said so, after peeling all the walnuts in her hand, she still put the extra ones in front of Tang Ning and gave the fewer ones to Qian Qiyue.
Seeing this, Qian Qiyue pouted at Tang Ning and said, "Look, look, your little A'ru really only loves her sister. She's really partial..."
"Eating won't stop you from talking." Tang Ning threw walnut kernels at her. Seeing her pretend to fall down with an "ouch", he turned to Xue Ru and said, "Ignore her. She just loves to make trouble."
Xue Ru pursed her lips, revealing two dimples. She liked Sister A Yue, even though she always liked to tease her, but she could tell that Sister A Yue treated her kindly, unlike those people in the past who told so-called jokes but were actually sarcastic. Qian Qiyue just loved to laugh and had a boisterous temperament.
Qian Qiyue giggled, grabbed the walnut kernel in her hand and threw it into her mouth, then continued talking about the previous topic.
"You don't know, there are all kinds of things being said outside today. Some are talking about the Lu family, some are talking about the Guan family, and some are talking about the Fourth Prince. How did Madam Lu get involved with Prince Cheng? I've seen her before, and she doesn't seem like that kind of person."
"And Lu Zhinian? He's actually Prince Cheng's son. The Lu family used to train him as their legitimate son. Everyone said he would be the head of the Lu family in the future. If those previous events hadn't happened and Prince Cheng hadn't been involved, wouldn't he have truly inherited the Lu family..."
Qian Qiyue was shocked when she heard these things for the first time. The story could not be written in a notebook so wonderfully. Just thinking about the Lu family's century-old family business being handed over to the son of King Cheng, not to mention Lu Chongyuan and others who would be furious, I'm afraid that the ancestors of the Lu family for eighteen generations would be furious.
"It's a good thing you broke off your engagement with Lu Zhinian, otherwise you would have been dragged down to death by him this time. And there's that Xie Yin, who was said to have been adopted from the Lu family by Guan. But the women of the Lu family have a fixed number of children to give birth to, so it's not certain whether this is the Lu family's bloodline."
Xie Yin, a descendant of the royal family and the prince of the royal palace, became a bastard of unknown origin overnight. It was really pitiful for him.
Tang Ning listened quietly, not commenting on the outside discussions and rumors. She poured some fruit drinks and handed them to Qian Qiyue before asking, "What are those people saying about the Fourth Prince?"
"What else can they say? They say he's cruel and heartless, and ungrateful for trying to get the crown prince position. Some even call him brainless. Anyway, there's nothing good to say."
Qian Qiyue held the fruit drink and said, "By the way, I heard that His Majesty is ill and didn't attend the morning court today. They said he had a cold, but I don't think that's the case."
"My father found out last night that Lu Chongyuan was released from house arrest. He scolded him all night in the mansion, and his face was black when he left this morning."
"I don't know what His Majesty is thinking. The Lu family has made mistakes one after another, and the Lu Madam's incident has caused a lot of uproar. Instead of reprimanding the Lu family, he allowed Lu Chongyuan to return to the court. I think he didn't hold court today because he was afraid that those old-fashioned people in the Censorate would bang their heads against the pillars."
This is totally the behavior of a tyrant!
Tang Ning raised the corner of her mouth when she saw her angry look. Emperor An was indeed sick. Her brother told her that Emperor An had been taking the golden elixir for a long time and was addicted to alcohol and pleasure. He regarded the golden elixir as an elixir of immortality and used it in increasing dosages. The severe headaches were caused by the poison in the elixir entering his body and being stimulated, but outsiders did not know about it.
The people from the Imperial Medical Bureau said that Emperor An had caught a cold, but the people in the court did not believe a word of it. They thought it was too coincidental. There were many people who thought the same as Qian Qiyue. It was said that the people from the Censorate had knocked on the door of Emperor An's bedroom early in the morning, and they were probably still making a fuss.
Emperor An could not have peace even when he was on leave.
Qian Qiyue was mumbling to Tang Ning about things outside, and Tang Ning and Xue Ru were listening quietly.
It was still raining outside, dripping on the tiles, flowing down to the eaves and gathering into rain lines, dripping down and splashing water all over the ground.
In the afternoon, people from the palace came to deliver the imperial edict. Tang Ning brought Xue Ru and Princess Cheng to receive the imperial edict together. After the palace servant who delivered the edict was given a red envelope and sent away, Gu Helian appeared from nowhere.
"Xiao Yan said that Emperor An has already convicted Prince Cheng. Prince Cheng's family business needs to be sorted out as soon as possible. There's also the matter of establishing a palace. Do you plan to stay in Jiyun Lane or find another palace?"
Although Gu Helian looked down on Xie Tianyu's things, they were all owed to Rong Yue by him and the royal family, and he had to get every penny back to Rong Yue.
Rong Yue casually threw the imperial edict aside and said, "Find another mansion."
Since the Rong family has established a mansion, the Rong family ancestral hall will be moved there in the future. If possible, she will also find a suitable heir for the Rong family in the future. Besides, this Tang Mansion belongs to Tang Ning and was given to her by Xiao Yan. Rong Yue has never planned to ask Tang Ning to change the plaque and make this place the Rong family.
Gu Helian was about to say that he had a house, but remembering the temperament of the man in front of him, he swallowed his words and just said, "Then I'll ask someone to help you find it."
Rong Yue didn't refuse, just looked at him and said, "I'd like to trouble you to lend me a few accountants. The businesses of Prince Cheng's Mansion are too complicated, and it's a bit troublesome to sort them out. I don't have anyone under my command, and it will take some time to find new people. The Gu family has many capable people, so lend them to me first. I will take care of the family and give them double the monthly salary. After the affairs of Prince Cheng's Mansion are sorted out, I will let them go back..."
Gu Helian frowned and said, "It's just a few account rooms. I'll give it to you."
Rong Yue shook her head gently. "No, just borrowing it for now is enough. It's not right to borrow it and not pay it back. I don't have much money on hand right now, so I'll have to trouble you to advance the money for the house. I will pay it back to you as soon as the assets of Prince Cheng's Mansion are liquidated."
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