Chapter 54 Did marrying me really make you spend so much money?
Do you remember your promise?
Amidst the pattering rain, Shen Guitang's voice remained clear to Er Gou's ears.
She stiffened, then finally nodded almost imperceptibly: "I remember."
Shen Guitang didn't waste any more words with her: "Now, it's time for you to fulfill your promise. You need to know who gave you your life."
"Yes." Er Gou took a deep breath. She always knew she had no right to refuse. "Young Master, what should I do?"
“Aunt Shen will arrange a new identity for you, and you will need to find a way to go back to Quzhou with Li Yu and get the secret letter that Ji Heng wrote to him back then.” Shen Guitang shifted her gaze to her. No matter what, ten years have passed, and even raising a dog would have an emotional attachment. “He probably won’t kill you, so there’s no need to worry so much.”
Er Gou: ...You can shut up now.
"However, why are you here today?" Shen Guitang asked with a puzzled look. He had indeed been slightly surprised when he saw Er Gou at the inn earlier that day.
Er Gou was puzzled by his question: "How can I keep an eye on Cuihua while I'm not here?" Then she suddenly realized, "You didn't just realize I've been away from the manor these past few days, did you?"
She had endured humiliation for him these past few days, and he had no idea at all?
Shen Guitang remained suspiciously silent for a moment before finally changing the subject, saying, "I'm finding you're still somewhat useful. Be careful, don't die."
...
The next day, when Hengbo dragged his feet to Shen Guitang's study, he asked why he hadn't seen Er Gou since the previous night.
"She's not young anymore; she should learn to be self-reliant."
Hengbo:? ? ?
She frowned slightly, her eyes filled with doubt: "Does marrying me really cost you so much?"
Can't even afford to raise one child?
Shen Guitang, taken aback by the questioning of her financial resources, then helplessly tapped her head with the scroll in his hand, "What are you thinking? She'll be back in a while. Let's start today's homework."
Yokoha propped her chin up: Sigh...
In an inconspicuous courtyard somewhere in the capital.
"What do you mean by 'incurable'?" Consort Hui's jade cup fell to the ground with a thud, and tea splashed onto her gold-embroidered shoes with orchid patterns along with the shattered shards.
However, she had no time to care about any of that at the moment. She waved away the palace maids who were about to come up and clean up the mess, and pleaded anxiously, "Elder Qingyu, my son's face must not be ruined like this. Please take a closer look. There must be a way to restore it."
“If all else fails,” she said, her face hardening with ruthlessness, “it’s not impossible to give my son a new face.”
A new face? Once a person dies, their skin stiffens, rendering the peeled-off skin unusable. Therefore, the face-changing that Consort Hui speaks of must be done while the person is still alive…
The old man with gray hair shuddered at the thought of the bloody scene and quickly lowered his eyes to hide his horror: "Your Highness, please don't worry. I will check the medical books again and I will be able to heal His Highness's face."
Seeing his assurance, Consort Hui's expression softened, regardless of her true thoughts. "Then I won't disturb you any longer, Elder. Xiao'er will stay next door for the next few days, and I hope you will take good care of him. However, it's best not to tell him any news before there's a result, so as not to upset him. Don't you think so?"
“What you say makes sense.” Qingyu wiped the sweat from his forehead. “I will do my utmost to relieve Your Highness’s worries.”
Consort Hui nodded in satisfaction and left gracefully.
However, once the door closed, Consort Hui's gloomy expression could no longer be concealed. She summoned her confidante: "Send some more men from the Duke's mansion. Make sure to keep a close eye on this old man. If he escapes, I don't need to tell you what will happen to you."
The man looked terrified. "This servant will take care of it immediately."
"Wait," Consort Hui called the person back, "Prepare for both possibilities." What does it matter if it's a living person's skin? If his son can use it, that's a blessing accumulated by his ancestors.
"yes."
Coincidentally, while the situation was critical for the Second Prince, it was equally dire for the Third Prince.
“I told you that the bitch should have been drowned long ago, but Father kept refusing because of that old vixen. Now look what’s happened, he’s grateful for her kindness, but she’s trying to stab him in the back.” Consort Shu had always been innocent and naive in front of Ji Heng, but now her charming face was full of sorrow.
The Third Prince was also at his wit's end. "If all else fails, should I beg my father? He loves me so much, maybe he'll soften his heart and release my maternal grandfather?"
It's no wonder the two were in such a hurry. Yan Zong had already been temporarily dismissed from his post and removed from the Ministry of Justice. Even if he managed to get out of there, he would be severely injured, if not killed. The evidence provided by Yan Wan was simply too fatal; Yan Zong could not escape implication this time.
"No!" Consort Shu refused resolutely. "Father said that you must never mention matters of the court in front of your father, the Emperor, lest you arouse his suspicion and cause him to lose more than you gain." Although Consort Shu relied heavily on her father, she also understood that only her son could guarantee her a lifetime of wealth and honor.
"Then, then how about we tell Father Emperor about Second Brother's disfigurement?" The Third Prince gritted his teeth. "He can't abandon both of his two sons! Second Brother is crippled, and Fourth Brother is still young. In the end, he can only protect me, right?"
Upon hearing this, Consort Shu immediately tried to cover his mouth, but halfway through the action, she suddenly realized that what he said made sense. "This matter is of great importance, please allow me to think about it some more."
Two days later, inside the Hall of Diligent Governance.
"Oh? Elder Qingyu from Shenmu Valley has come to Yujing?"
"I only heard about it from Consort Hui," Consort Shu said gently, massaging Ji Heng's shoulders. "I was thinking, why don't we invite Elder Qingyu to the palace to take a look at your shoulder pain? It hurts so much when it's rainy, and it really breaks my heart to see you in such pain."
Ji Heng held Consort Shu's hand in his palm with one hand and wrapped his other arm around her slender waist, his voice hoarse: "You've put your heart into this."
Consort Shu blushed, and before she could say anything more, she was carried by a strong man towards the inner palace. The palace maids who were attending her bowed their heads and retreated, leaving only the room filled with the allure of the boudoir and the fragrance of sex.
...
"If she's so heartless, don't blame me for being ruthless!" Inside Huilan Palace, Consort Hui was so angry she almost crushed her nails.
After calming down for a moment, she immediately ordered, "Go and urge Elder Qingyu again. If it still doesn't work, then his life is no longer worth keeping."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"As for that little hussy Consort Shu," Consort Hui sneered, "I was planning to use her as leverage later, but now that she's courting death, no one can stop her."
While the political situation in the palace was constantly changing, Quzhou, a thousand miles away, was sunny and cloudless.
In a family home in Chenjia Village, Suixian County, Quzhou, Chen Dazhuang asked curiously, "Dad, why are you packing your bags all of a sudden?"
The still-healthy old man kept working with his hands: "Listen to your father, we'll leave as soon as Xiuqin brings Yu'er back. Quzhou is about to change!"
Chen Dazhuang quickly grabbed him: "It's not that scary! You're just scared by the floods of that year. Go outside and look at the sky, it hasn't been this sunny in years!"
The old man shook off his hand: "You've forgotten how strange the weather was that year!"
Chen Dazhuang touched his head. He only remembered that the flood destroyed a lot of land and drowned many people. He really had no impression of the weather before the flood.
He was already somewhat hesitant. "Then, what about our crops?" Like countless others in Sui County, his ancestors and his generation were all farmers. Without a harvest, there would be no way to make a living next year.
The old man angrily smacked him on the head: "Luckily, Yu'er didn't take after you! You should live to next year before thinking so much. Besides, the earth isn't going to grow legs and run away. If nothing really happens, we can always come back."
Chen Dazhuang, feeling dizzy from his father's knocking, quickly dodged away. Perhaps because the flood that year was so terrible, he gritted his teeth and finally made up his mind: "Alright, I'll go check our family's food supplies now. Let's go today!"
In the Shen residence, Shen Guitang's expression was grave: "Has the rain in Quzhou not fallen yet?"
"Yes," Black Wind asked boldly, "Are you worried that our plans will be affected?"
Shen Guitang glanced at him, her eyes cold and devoid of warmth: "I wouldn't stoop to such a despicable level."
"I'm afraid this rain will be even heavier than that year."
Several days have passed, and the rain still hasn't come to Quzhou, but the weather in Yujing has truly changed.
First, the story of the Second Prince peeling people's faces off somehow got out, causing a huge uproar in the court and among the people. The Second Prince was also demoted to a commoner.
It turned out that the Second Prince had accidentally injured his face, and even the elders of Shenmu Valley could not help him. So he decided to replace the face of a living person.
Unfortunately, he thought he had picked an easy target, but he ended up kicking a hornet's nest. The powerless "outsider" he had abducted was actually the youngest son of Chu Ping, the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, who was visiting relatives in Beijing.
Their precious young master was almost skinned alive, how could they tolerate this? Even though the other party was a prince, the Chu family, which held military power, was not afraid at all.
Just as the Chu family was about to seek an explanation from the emperor, they happened to run into Eunuch Chen, who had come to invite Elder Qingyu to the palace. The two sides decided to take the unfortunate old man with them to the palace to file a complaint with the emperor.
With the Second Prince's downfall, the Third Prince, who had always been at odds with him, was also in a state of gloom.
Originally, Yan Zong's collusion with his son-in-law to embezzle funds was not a small matter, but it wasn't a huge one either. After all, water that is too clear has no fish, and a person who is too discerning has no followers. Moreover, Ji Heng knew that the wise king was about to return to the capital, and uprooting the Yan family now would be like cutting off his own right-hand man.
If Consort Shu had simply whispered in Yan Zong's ear to give him a warning, that would have been the end of it. But this time, the mistake was Consort Shu's fault.
Consort Hui, no, she should now be called Consort Hui, actually found evidence that Consort Shu had murdered a palace maid back then. She was just a palace maid who had been favored by the emperor. Ji Heng wouldn't punish Consort Shu for such a thing. In fact, he might even enjoy the secret satisfaction of the concubine being secretly jealous of him.
However, the reason Consort Shu couldn't tolerate this palace maid was because the maid was pregnant with the emperor's child. Murdering an imperial heir was a grave crime in every dynasty, especially for Ji Heng, who had no children since the birth of the fourth prince…
Consort Shu was banished to the Cold Palace, and Yan Zong, who could have been dealt with leniently, ended up being stripped of his official rank and reduced to commoner status, with most of his family property confiscated. As for the Third Prince, who relied on his maternal clan, he was now confined to the palace by Ji Heng to reflect on his actions, and was now completely ignored.
In the imperial court, both factions have fallen one after another, and now the people are in a state of panic.
After court that day, Ji Heng surprisingly came to Empress Lin's Kunning Palace.
The Empress was ill and refused to see anyone, saying she "did not want to pass on her illness to His Majesty." Ji Heng was not annoyed, since he hadn't come to see her anyway.
“Zhu’er,” Ji Heng looked at the girl sitting quietly with her head bowed, but there was no emotion in his eyes, “You came of age last year. Even if your father and mother are reluctant to part with you, they should find you a good marriage.”
The girl lowered her eyes and remained silent.
Ji Heng was not annoyed and continued, "Soon your Uncle Xianwang will return to the capital with news of the Xiongnu's request for a marriage alliance. Which daughter do you think Father Emperor will marry to those barbarians who cannot be educated?"
Seeing the girl's fingers curl up outside her wide sleeves, Ji Heng smiled with satisfaction. "Zhu'er, I've always known that you're smarter than your two younger brothers."
"How about this? If you can get Wen Jie to marry you, Father Emperor will not only not marry you off to the Xiongnu, but will also allow you to have the same right to aspire to this position as the princes. What do you say?"
The girl finally raised her face, revealing a rare, spirited face among young women.
She still didn't respond, but Ji Heng knew she wouldn't refuse.
As we left Kunning Palace, raindrops suddenly began to fall. At the same time, as if echoing the distant Jade Capital, Quzhou finally saw its first raindrop since the beginning of summer.
However, this rain was not a friendly one.
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Author's Note: This volume is finished. The next volume will open with a map of Quzhou and begin Wangcai's poignant story. Stay tuned!
Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 01:51:34 on March 8, 2024 and 17:26:10 on March 9, 2024!
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: North Wind (7 bottles); Fu Bao Duanduan (5 bottles);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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