Chapter 62
After much thought, King Huai felt that the reason why Wei Zhen resolutely refused the marriage with the Duke of Ying was most likely Chu Miaomiao.
Although Wei Zhen reported the accidental death of the King of Chu's daughter after returning to the capital with the Chu clan's criminals, whether she was actually dead or not was only Wei Zhen's one-sided statement. Did anyone see the King of Chu's daughter's body with their own eyes?
The more King Huai thought about it, the more excited he became. If his suspicions were true, then Wei Zhen would have committed the crime of harboring a criminal. With such evidence in his hands, how could he not make good use of it and be worthy of Heaven's will?
King Huai, who was completely immersed in his own world, didn't even press Shi Wanwan to ask any more questions. He just said "goodbye" and left.
Shi Wanwan stood there in a daze for a long time, then suddenly laughed, as if she had suddenly realized something or was mocking herself.
"No wonder... No wonder Princess Yukang said he wouldn't have eyes for me..."
It must be said that King Huai's speculation was quite convincing. The more Shi Wanwan thought about it, the more she felt it was true. However, she soon realized that if Chu Miaomiao was not dead but was protected by the prince, then this would likely become a handle for King Huai to target the prince.
Although Shi Wanwan was jealous of Chu Miaomiao for being the only one to be crowned the prince, she could not stand idly by and watch the prince be in trouble at this time.
She had to inform the Crown Prince of King Huai's speculation as soon as possible.
After making up her mind, Shi Wanwan walked quickly towards the venue, and gradually made up her mind.
She probably wouldn't be able to meet the Crown Prince alone again, so she needed to pass on this news through a trustworthy person. Among the people she could contact, the most suitable candidate was Jiang Yingyue.
Jiang Yingyue's brother is the prince's tutor. If anything happens to the prince, her brother will also be affected.
Shi Wanwan's steps became more and more hurried. She quickly returned to the venue without the help of a maid. After scanning the crowd, she found Jiang Yingyue and hurried towards her.
Shi Yuanyuan was the first to see her sister. Just as she was about to greet her, she saw her sister run straight to Jiang Yingyue, pull her aside, and whisper something to her. Jiang Yingyue quickly became serious and turned away.
"Sister." Shi Yuanyuan, full of doubts, walked to Shi Wanwan and looked at Jiang Yingyue's hurried back. "Did you say anything to Jiang Wu just now?"
"It's just a small matter." Shi Wanwan composed herself and smiled. "How is it, Shihui? Are you happy? Did anyone praise your poetry?"
Compared to her own work, Shi Yuanyuan first thought of Jiang Huan's masterpiece. She laughed out loud and told her sister's story in the puzzled look.
While the Shi sisters were talking about interesting things at the poetry party, Jiang Yingyue hurried to where the men were gathered and asked the waiter to call Jiang Weiqiu out.
"What's wrong?"
As soon as Jiang Yingyue saw Jiang Weiqiu, she pulled him to a quiet place, waved for him to come closer, and looked around to see if anyone was passing by.
"You're being so mysterious." Jiang Weiqiu found it funny to see his sister so busy, but he still leaned over and whispered, "Then let me hear it."
After confirming that no one was around, Jiang Yingyue dared to speak and whispered in Jiang Weiqiu's ear: "His Royal Highness Prince Huai seems to have guessed that Miaomiao is still alive."
The playful smile disappeared from Jiang Weiqiu's face in an instant, and he frowned and said, "Really?"
Jiang Yingyue nodded: "The eldest sister of the Shi family said that she met with King Huai. She didn't say anything, but King Huai made this guess based on her expression."
She looked at her brother nervously: "What should I do? Is His Royal Highness in danger?"
If the prince is in danger, my brother will also be in danger!
Jiang Weiqiu patted his sister's shoulder and comforted her, "It's okay, we will handle it."
After parting with his sister, Jiang Weiqiu returned to find a group of people gathered around Wei Zhen, asking him to comment on his poetry. He stood outside the group and waved to Xu Zizheng, who was standing behind Wei Zhen.
Xu Zizheng calmly walked out of the crowd and came to Jiang Weiqiu: "What's wrong?"
"Something happened, we have to go first."
Before another round of poetry appreciation began, Wei Zhen privately said goodbye to Prince Yu and left with his two attendants. Not long after Wei Zhen left, Prince Huai also found an excuse to take his leave.
The two main guests left first, and the poetry gathering gradually lost its interest and ended at 3 p.m. After seeing off the guests, Prince Yu's mansion finally became quiet.
After a poetry reading, it was truly exhausting. Not only the Prince of Yu and his wife, but even someone like Wei Yan, who only socialized perfunctorily, felt sleepy and exhausted.
Wei Zhi was quite happy. He had written two or three short poems today, which had been praised by all his brothers and sisters. Now he was still clinging to his sister excitedly, hugging her neck and chattering non-stop.
"Azhi, your sister is so tired and you still let her carry you. Come down and walk by yourself."
Princess Yu was terrified and told Wei Zhi to get down quickly. Wei Zhi was about to say it was okay when he felt his body relax.
"Let me do it."
At some point, Cheng Zi walked up to Wei Yan and took Wei Zhi away.
Wei Zhi also liked Cheng Zi and hugged Cheng Zi affectionately: "Brother Azi, why didn't you join the poetry reading today? I also wrote a poem today, and everyone praised me. It would be great if you were here."
"It's okay, just show it to me later."
"Yes!" Wei Zhi nodded heavily.
"What about you, Ah-Lun? Did you write a poem?"
Cheng Zi was holding Wei Zhi and Wei Yan while walking and chatting. Princess Yu deliberately slowed down her pace and walked behind. Prince Yu wanted to catch up but was stopped by the princess.
"I'm tired and can't walk fast." Princess Yu held Prince Yu, her tone filled with a hint of resentment, "Can't you just walk slowly with me?"
Prince Yu slowed his pace, watching his daughter's receding figure, a look of melancholy on his face. "Since ancient times, marriage has emphasized matching social status. In terms of status, Cheng Ziyuan is not worthy of Ah Lu."
Princess Yu nodded, seemingly agreeing with Prince Yu's opinion, but she said, "Yes, after all, when we first got married, you said I was of low birth and unworthy of you."
At that time, the Princess of Yu was just the daughter of a minor editor in the Hanlin Academy. If Prince Yu himself had not had a terrible reputation in the capital and had not won the emperor's favor, she would have had no chance of becoming the prince's principal wife.
Speaking of what happened back then, Prince Yu was a little embarrassed: "Our situations are different."
"It's said that a good match doesn't make a good match. While being well-matched is important, the intentions of the parties involved are more important."
Princess Yu smiled gently and said, "Frankly, is someone like Ah Lu suitable to be the wife of an aristocratic family?"
Prince Yu raised his eyebrows and said nothing.
"If someone's family background is comparable to hers, her personality wouldn't be suitable, and you'd be worried she'd be wronged if she married him. As for someone's family background, you either feel they're unworthy of her, or you think those who approach her have ulterior motives, trying to curry favor with the royal family."
Every word Princess Yu said resonated with Prince Yu. He looked at her with a smile and said, "The only one who understands me is my wife."
Princess Yu ignored her and continued, "I know you want to find the best marriage for Ah Lu to compensate her, but what you think is best is not necessarily the most suitable for her. For me, as long as the children can live a life that suits their hearts, that's all that matters."
"Well, if Wei Zhi finds a village girl and wants to get married in the future, will you agree?" Prince Yu joked.
Princess Yu nodded. "As long as she's a clean-cut, virtuous woman, and he truly loves her, there's no need for me to be the one to break up a couple. So what if she's just a village girl? When I first married you, I didn't know any more than a village girl. I've learned everything bit by bit over the years."
"You can only talk nonsense now." Prince Yu snorted in dissatisfaction. "When that day comes, I'll see if you will do what you said today."
"Mother."
The three people walking in front stopped and waited for a while for the Prince of Yu and his wife. When they approached, Wei Yan said, "Cheng Zi said he wants us to go to Guangyun Tower tonight. Do you want to go?"
Without waiting for Princess Yu to answer, Prince Yu said first: "Go, why not?"
Seeing Princess Yu nod, Wei Yan turned to Cheng Zi and said, "Then I'll have to trouble you tonight, Uncle Master, to pay for it."
"I told you not to call me uncle-master!" Cheng Zi now felt like he was shooting himself in the foot.
Looking at the noisy Wei Yan and Cheng Zi, Princess Yu's lips unconsciously raised: "Isn't it good now?"
Princess Yu smiled and held Prince Yu's hand tightly: "I am really happy now."
*
Wei Zhen and others who had left early returned to the East Palace study. Jiang Wei Qiu told Wei Zhen and Xu Zizheng what Shi Wanwan had asked Jiang Yingyue to convey.
"Prince Huai is quite clever," Jiang Weiqiu sighed. "Just by looking at Miss Shi's expression, he was able to infer that Miss Chu was not dead."
Wei Zhen was not at all surprised by this: "Among the heirs who entered the palace and survived to this day, there are no fools."
"But the information that Xu Zizheng has mastered can now be put to use."
Xu Zizheng asked, "Should we arrange for those people to go to the capital now?"
Wei Zhen nodded, and without him saying anything more, Xu Zizheng took the order and left.
On the other hand, after leaving, King Huai went straight back to his palace and summoned his trusted aides to discuss how to use this handle to attack Wei Zhen.
"But this is just your Highness's conjecture. If it's not true, will the Crown Prince accuse us of false accusation?"
One of them was relatively calm and suggested another possibility.
"To be on the safe side, let's investigate first before making any decisions."
King Huai calmed down at this point, feeling that his advisors were right. Now that he had leverage over Wei Zhen, he had to maximize its value, ideally making Wei Zhen fall flat on his face.
"Let's send someone to the prison to investigate first." King Huai pondered for a moment, then said, "Send a small team to Pingzhou to confirm Chu's body."
"yes."
As the sky darkened and dusk approached, the beauty of the sunset glow in the western sky drew many passersby to stop and watch. Five men in uniform black uniforms shouted at the passersby to disperse, then rode past, heading straight for the city gate.
"No galloping in the city. Who is so arrogant?"
The people were angry and started talking about it.
When the group arrived at the city gate, they were stopped by the guards. The leader didn't even dismount and showed his badge: "We are here for business at Prince Huai's Mansion. Please let us pass!"
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