Chapter 196 Discovery
The prince was getting impatient and tapped his fingers on the table. "Isn't my brother at home?"
"I don't know where you've been strolling. How about I call the prince back to play chess with you?" Princess Jing, who was sitting beside him, smiled gently, but murderous intent was burning in her heart.
They wandered around one after another, leaving her behind to deal with the unfortunate prince.
"No need, I'll just wait for my brother."
As he was speaking, Qi Shuo walked in.
"Your Highness has been waiting for a long time."
The prince stared at the young man who walked in, put his teacup on the table, and stood up. "I was wondering if my brother had left through the back door."
Qi Shuo smiled and said, "How could that be? I've just recovered. If I go out, my mother will be the first one to disapprove."
When the prince heard this, a trace of contempt flashed in his eyes.
Even such a sickly person is loved by his parents and married to a stunningly beautiful wife. He is not afraid of being unlucky.
"Come on, play chess with me." The prince patted Qi Shuo's shoulder and walked out first. "It's such a nice day, let's not go inside. Let's play in the garden."
Qi Shuo watched coldly as the prince walked forward, getting closer and closer to the wall separating him from the general's mansion.
Are you still not giving up on Ah Hao?
His eyes darkened.
"Your Highness, how about playing chess here in the pavilion?"
The prince paused and said, "Oh, okay."
A chessboard was quickly laid out on the stone table in the pavilion, and fruits and tea were placed on the side.
The prince's mind was clearly not on chess, and he casually placed a piece: "I hadn't noticed before, but the prince's palace and the general's palace are only separated by a wall."
"Um."
The prince raised his eyelids and glanced at Qi Shuo: "Then it will be very convenient for my brother to go to his father-in-law's house in the future."
"yes."
The corners of the prince's mouth trembled, and the fire of irritation in his heart began to rise.
Such a dull guy, he even dislikes the hair!
"Sometimes I really envy my brother, for having a childhood sweetheart."
Qi Shuo smiled, his voice calm, "It's all the parents' orders and the matchmaker's words."
The prince became even angrier.
The sickly guy got what he had always wanted without doing anything!
If it weren't for this sick kid——
The prince glanced at the calm young man opposite him, and the idea that suddenly popped up in his mind was like a spark igniting weeds, and he couldn't suppress it.
If Miss Lin Er remains a widow, perhaps her opportunity will come when he ascends the throne and she is still unmarried.
The prince became more and more excited as he thought about it. His mouth was dry and he grabbed the cup and took a few sips of water. The water in the cup was almost gone, but the feeling of thirst still lingered.
Wang Fu, who was standing by, immediately took the teapot from the servant and filled the cup with water.
The prince gulped down the drink, sweat breaking out on his forehead.
"It's much hotter outside the palace than inside." The prince threw away the chess piece and stood up.
Qi Shuo coughed lightly and said with a smile: "Maybe it's because I've always been weak, but I feel that the pavilion is very cool."
"My brother is not feeling well, so don't stay with me. Go back and rest quickly." The prince was anxious to return to the palace to enjoy the Five-Color Powder, so he walked out.
Qi Shuo stood up and followed: "I'll take His Highness there."
"Don't be so polite, we cousins are not outsiders."
Even though the prince said so, Qi Shuo still sent him to the door of the mansion and watched him hurriedly get on the carriage.
The magnificent carriage sped away, and the sound of horse hooves gradually faded away.
Qi Shuo stood for a while, then walked towards the general's mansion.
"The prince is here." The servants at the general's mansion smiled when they saw Qi Shuo.
This is my own son-in-law.
"Please tell the second lady that I have something to discuss with her."
Qi Shuo waited in the hall for about two quarters of an hour and finally waited for Lin Hao to show up.
"I changed my clothes and kept you waiting for a long time." Lin Hao was in a good mood as it was the second time he saw Qi Shuo in one day.
Qi Shuo glanced at Lin Hao and fell into a brief silence.
There seems to be no difference.
"What do you want to talk to me about?" Lin Hao asked casually with one arm resting on the table.
Qi Shuo couldn't help but glance at the arm that was across in front of him.
He was not a person without self-control, but he always felt that the faint fragrance was close to his nose, making him dare not even breathe hard.
Seeing this, Lin Hao didn't think much about it, but instead became happy: "I sprinkled the floral dew again after bathing, isn't the fragrance stronger?"
Qi Shuo breathed a sigh of relief.
It turned out that it was just the floral dew that had been sprinkled on him, and it wasn't just his imagination.
"A Shuo——" Seeing that he didn't say anything, Lin Hao shouted.
Qi Shuo suddenly came back to his senses. Although his heart was beating like a drum, his face remained calm: "The prince just left, and I found something wrong with him."
"Is there a problem?" Lin Hao immediately sat up straight and put away his casualness.
"There's probably something wrong with his body..." Qi Shuo carefully described the prince's reaction when he was playing chess. "No matter how hot the weather is, he shouldn't be like that. His reaction seems like he has some kind of illness, or -"
"Or what?"
"Or taking some medication that causes—"
"Five-Color Powder." Lin Hao blurted out.
Qi Shuo was startled: "What?"
"Ah Shuo, do you think it could be the Five Color Powder that was once popular in the previous dynasty?"
During the two years of Emperor Pingle's reign, diplomacy was weak, perhaps to avoid venting his anger. The atmosphere was far more extravagant and decadent than it is today, and many nobles were proud of taking Wucai Powder.
The reason why she reacted to this first was because the Emperor Pingle, who was on the run, still couldn't do without the Five-Colored Powder. Her teacher's advice that this thing was harmful to the body made Emperor Pingle unhappy many times.
Qi Shuo had also heard of the Five Color Powder and murmured, "The prince's reaction really seems to be caused by taking the Five Color Powder."
Lin Hao couldn't contain his excitement and leaned forward. "Taking too much of the Five Color Powder could be life-threatening. Ah Shuo, can this be considered as getting something for nothing?"
She had been waiting for the prince, who had suffered a series of blows, to commit suicide, but she didn't expect that he would give her such a big surprise.
"Whether or not taking this will cost you your life depends largely on your individual constitution, but it's certain that the Crown Prince will not have a good end." Qi Shuo's tone was slightly cold. "The current Emperor banned the Five Color Powder upon ascending the throne. The Crown Prince was able to obtain this substance, and the person who provided it to him certainly didn't hope for his immortality."
Lin Hao smiled and said, "No matter what, it's good that the prince is unlucky."
"Ah Hao, could it be that the person who provided the Five Color Powder to the prince was Ming Xin Zhenren?"
Today, Mr. Wang, the incarnation of Master Mingxin, is a popular figure in front of Emperor Tai'an.
Lin Hao denied it without hesitation: "Impossible. Master Mingxin deeply detests the Five Color Powder."
Qi Shuo, however, thought otherwise: "Master Mingxin must be deeply disgusted by Emperor Pingle's use of the Five-Colored Powder. What if it was someone else? What if it was the current Crown Prince, whom Emperor Pingle wanted to get rid of as soon as possible?"
Lin Hao thought about it carefully, then shook his head. "Ah Shuo, you've never been around Master Ming Xin. I think he's the kind of person who knows what he'll do and what he won't do. Otherwise, he wouldn't have ended up being murdered by the monarch he was so devoted to."
Even if his teacher escaped, Emperor Tai'an would not let him live. He risked his life to persuade Emperor Pingle to give up his restoration, purely for the sake of the Great Zhou.
She didn't think that such a Master Mingxin would lure the prince into taking the Five-Colored Powder in order to achieve his goal, just as she and A Shuo would not do so either.
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