Chapter 305 It's all just mutual exploitation.
The private room was quiet. The setting sun was a bit too bright for his eyes, and Prince An sat there motionless like a statue.
Prince An harbored the ambition to use the Prince of Lingnan and Consort Su to smoothly ascend the throne, and he didn't think he was wrong. Throughout history, the competition for the throne has always been bloody; how much kinship can one speak of within the royal family?
He was born into royalty, yet he only felt affection from Prince Rui; everyone else was like a stranger, sometimes even less than a stranger. Strangers had no vested interests with him and wouldn't plot against or harm him, but his closest relatives would.
Just because his birth mother was a palace maid who swept and cleaned the palace, and just because the emperor favored his mother while she was drunk and in the imperial garden, the emperor regarded him as a stain on his life.
He never saw his biological mother after birth and was raised by an old palace maid. His earliest memory is of the old palace maid kneeling in front of a eunuch, begging for winter clothes.
Who would have thought that a prince would live a life where he was hungry and cold?
He felt no paternal affection for the emperor, so he didn't see anything wrong with seizing the throne through bloodshed. However, as Jiang Yu said, the emperor treated his own son poorly, but was genuinely good to Prince Rui. Prince Rui, in turn, was also genuinely devoted to the emperor.
If he were to do something to harm the emperor, Prince Rui would find out and their previous friendship would surely be destroyed. Prince Rui might even seek revenge for the emperor.
"call...."
Prince An looked in the direction where Jiang Yu's sedan chair had disappeared and let out a long sigh. He had been bewitched at the time; in truth, once that moment passed, he could have figured things out. Now, competing for the throne step by step was more likely to lead to success than taking an extreme path.
But time cannot be turned back. What he needs to do now is figure out how to explain things to Jiang Yu. In fact, given Jiang Yu's rationality and intelligence, as long as he doesn't take any action down that path, Jiang Yu will, as she said, pretend that she never said anything to him.
But he wanted Jiang Yu to understand him, to understand his past life, and his pursuit of the future.
...........
The conversation between Jiang Yu and Prince An ended unhappily. The conversation between Xie Ning'an and Mr. Chai also did not go smoothly.
“Young Master Xie has worked with the Duke of Chu before, so you should know something about him, right?” Mr. Chai asked, looking at Xie Ning’an.
Xie Ning'an did not answer his question, but said, "I thought you would go back to Lingnan immediately after you got the template."
Mr. Chai picked up his cup and took a sip of tea. “I was originally going to go back right away, but I suddenly discovered something interesting and decided to stay and find out more.”
Xie Ning'an glanced at him. "Anything that interests you must be something important."
“Yes.” Mr. Chai nodded. “I heard that the imperial court has established a new Bureau of Crafts, headed by Prince Rui. I also heard that this Bureau of Crafts was established under the strong impetus of the Duke of Chu.”
Xie Ning'an paused almost imperceptibly for a moment, "You think someone like me would know the inside story of something like this? You really overestimate me."
Mr. Chai smiled and said, "Isn't this something you did with the Duke of Chu? If you paid attention, you should have noticed something."
Xie Ning'an: "If you were the Duke of Chu, wouldn't you be wary of me?"
Mr. Chai: "......."
If he were the Duke of Chu, he would certainly be extremely wary of Xie Ning'an. However, since that person had revealed this information to him, it must be very important, and he needed to investigate it thoroughly before returning to report.
Seeing Mr. Chai remain silent, Xie Ning'an, holding his teacup, looked out the window. He saw Jiang Yu get into the sedan chair and leave. Who was she meeting? This street was secluded and quiet; normally, she shouldn't be meeting anyone here. Therefore, it was highly likely that she was meeting someone she didn't want outsiders to know.
Thinking of this, he suddenly paused, then gave a bitter smile. Given his current status, knowing too much wasn't a good thing.
He turned his gaze away from Mr. Chai and said, "If I were you, I would immediately return to Lingnan and submit the template to the King of Lingnan. How long will it take to investigate the matter you are currently investigating? Will it affect your current mission?"
Mr. Chai frowned upon hearing her words. At this moment, Xie Ning'an added, "Don't end up not doing anything well, Mr. Chai. When doing things, you must focus on the key points."
Mr. Chai seemed to be deep in thought when Xie Ning'an said again, "I just don't believe that the King of Lingnan didn't have other informants in the capital. Why do you take other people's business upon yourself?"
After saying that, Xie Ning'an got up and left. Mr. Chai watched his retreating figure in deep thought. After a while, he muttered to himself, "Although Xie Ning'an is suspected of trying to persuade me to leave immediately, what he said is very true."
Mr. Chai also stood up and walked out, returning to his temporary residence. He immediately packed his things and left the capital. Of course, before leaving, he left a message for the Lingnan King's informant in the capital.
His roots were in Lingnan; if he stayed in the capital for too long, he might lose his life at any moment. He first left the capital by carriage, then switched to waterway in Shima County…
He traveled non-stop to Lingnan, and then entered the Lingnan Prince's Palace without stopping. The palace steward, upon seeing him, immediately informed the Prince of Lingnan, and shortly afterward, Mr. Chai was invited into the Prince's study.
When they entered, the King of Lingnan was standing in front of a map. He was in his forties, tall but not muscular, possessing instead a scholarly elegance. However, everyone knew that the current King of Lingnan was highly skilled in martial arts and a master commander.
"Greetings, Your Highness." Mr. Chai bowed respectfully to the Prince of Lingnan.
The King of Lingnan turned around, took two steps forward and helped Mr. Chai up, saying, "Sir, you've worked hard. Please sit down."
"Thank you, Your Highness."
The two men sat down at the tea table. Mr. Chai took out a template of a banknote from Jufeng Money Exchange and respectfully presented it with both hands. The Prince of Lingnan took the template, examined it carefully, and then took out a banknote to compare it with, saying, "It should be genuine."
"I also confirmed it repeatedly at the time," Mr. Chai said.
He was naturally afraid, having gone through all that trouble to go to the capital only to return with a fake template. So, after receiving the template from Xie Ning'an, he compared it inch by inch.
"You've done very well, sir." The King of Lingnan poured Mr. Chai a cup of tea and then asked, "Was the trip successful?"
"It went fairly smoothly." Knowing that the Prince of Lingnan wanted to know the details, Mr. Chai recounted in detail what had happened after he arrived in the capital.
After listening attentively, the Prince of Lingnan lowered his eyes, played with the template in thought for a while, and then asked, "Do you think Xie Ning'an is trustworthy?"
Mr. Chai had initially thought Xie Ning'an was trustworthy, but now, after being questioned by the Prince of Lingnan, he felt that he might not be so trustworthy after all. He carefully considered his words and said, "I believe that Xie Ning'an does not trust us, nor does he trust the Duke of Chu or the Emperor."
The King of Lingnan placed the template on the tea table, picked up his cup, took a sip of tea, and said, "I never intended for him to trust me; it was just a mutual exploitation."
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