Suspect
In Yunxiao Pavilion, Shangguan Zeyu was angrily handling official business.
Zhang Qin stood behind him, looking terrified, not daring to even breathe loudly.
"Damn it! Since he's outside the city, why doesn't he come in? What is my brother thinking?" Shangguan Zeyu was so angry that he closed the memorial in his hand and threw it on the ground opposite him.
Zhang Qin took a slight breath, glanced carefully at the messy folded paper on the ground, hesitated for a moment, and then said.
"Your Highness, I believe... His Majesty has other ideas about this matter."
"What do you mean?" Shangguan Zeyu said angrily, looking at him.
Zhang Qin was so frightened that he fell silent, looking down at the instep, not daring to look at him again.
"explain!"
Zhang Qin took a slight breath, looked at him cautiously, and said, "Your Highness, Prince Su's actions have already threatened the Emperor's dignity, but the Emperor still hasn't taken any measures. My question is, is the Emperor's target not Prince Su, but someone else?"
Shangguan Zeyu was deeply moved and remained stunned for a long while before saying softly, "You mean, Your Majesty's target is not Prince Su?"
“Your Highness, I am not certain, but His Majesty’s actions are truly unusual. Logically speaking, if Prince Su were to rebel, His Majesty would have been prepared long ago, and perhaps he would have already sent Your Highness to lead troops to suppress him. But Your Highness, you see, from the beginning until now, Prince Su is already outside the city, and His Majesty has not taken any measures. Your Highness, don’t you think His Majesty’s true intentions are not what they seem?”
To be honest, Shangguan Zeyu really hadn't thought of that.
Because he was always extremely loyal to his elder brother, always listened to his brother's words, and always obeyed his brother's orders. No matter what his brother said or what he was asked to do, he never questioned it, much less speculated about it.
Just like this incident, at the beginning, when Prince Su disobeyed orders and sent the soldiers stationed at the border back to the capital, he asked his elder brother for permission to besiege the enemy. His elder brother refused. When Prince Su's army approached the capital, he once again asked for troops to besiege the enemy, but his elder brother refused again. At that time, he was vaguely suspicious of his elder brother's true purpose. However, out of absolute support and respect for his elder brother, he did not think carefully about the doubts and abnormalities in this matter.
Now that even Zhang Qin has begun to suspect what he was looking for, it's clear that his vague feeling wasn't wrong.
His elder brother certainly had ulterior motives!
But what was his elder brother's purpose?
Shangguan Zeyu carefully recalled the whole story.
...
Huang Ying told Jiang Yan that she was busy with something, which was to inquire about Shangguan Zeyu's whereabouts at Yunxiao Pavilion.
When she arrived at Yunxiao Pavilion, she saw no servants passing by, so she quietly hid under a cherry blossom tree outside the pavilion and waited for someone to pass by and ask her.
She waited for about fifteen minutes but no one appeared, so she assumed that Shangguan Zeyu must be away from home and decided to go back.
But as he turned around, he saw Zhang Qin walking out with his head down, so he hurriedly ran over to ask him.
"Guard Zhang? Guard Zhang!"
Zhang Qin was lost in thought when he heard someone calling him. He looked over in surprise and saw Huang Ying. He raised his eyebrows and asked.
"What's wrong, Your Highness? Is something the matter?"
"Guard Zhang, is His Highness busy?" Huang Ying asked Zhang Qin with a fawning smile.
Huang Ying had been by Jiang Yan's side for too long and had learned to flatter him, but unlike Jiang Yan, she was naturally cute and adorable.
When she's not smiling, her eyes are round and bulging like lychees; when she smiles, they squint together like crescent moons. And when she smiles hard, her upper teeth show, especially her two front teeth that look like a rabbit's, which makes her look even more funny and comical.
Zhang Qin couldn't help but laugh at her amusing appearance.
Zhang Qin followed Shangguan Zeyu for many years, but he didn't learn Shangguan Zeyu's gentleness and tenderness. Instead, he learned Shangguan Zeyu's icy coldness.
He always had a stern face, as if someone owed him money and wouldn't pay it back. So the servants in the Prince's mansion would tuck their tails between their legs and avoid him, just like they would avoid Shangguan Zeyu, for fear of being caught and interrogated by him.
Huang Ying was naturally afraid of him, but for Jiang Yan's sake, she had no choice but to bite the bullet and go for it. So when she was worried that Zhang Qin would scold her angrily, she heard Zhang Qin's laughter and looked at him in confusion.
Just imagine, Huang Ying would sometimes grin at Zhang Qin with her front teeth like a groundhog, and other times she would stare at Zhang Qin blankly. How could Zhang Qin not laugh?
Zhang Qin's smile is really handsome; it's the kind of sunny, boyish smile that's very infectious. Huang Ying couldn't help but smile along with him again.
However, Zhang Qin's smile didn't last long before he suddenly stopped smiling and his face darkened.
Huang Ying, who had been watching her intently, was startled and quickly wiped the smile off her face. She asked anxiously, "Guard Zhang, what's wrong?"
Whether it was because he was off guard and suddenly laughed in front of Huang Ying, or for some other reason, Zhang Qin's eyes were as cold as ice as he stared at Huang Ying, making her eyes dart around and her shoulders shrank before she finally spoke.
"Your Highness is busy with official duties, please do not disturb him unless necessary."
After saying that, he left without looking back.
Huang Ying's heart was still like a flower being blown by a storm, swaying uncertainly. She stood there watching his figure disappear until she could no longer see him, then gasped and hurriedly ran away.
Huang Ying treated this as just a minor incident, an accident, and didn't tell Jiang Yan about it.
Jiang Yan was like a deflated balloon, lying listlessly on the soft couch, no longer greedy for food, and no longer feeling bored.
When Huang Ying returned, she was still staring wide-eyed at the roof above her head, wondering what good things were there that made her not want to blink.
Huang Ying hadn't succeeded in her mission and was too embarrassed to tell Jiang Yan, so she simply said, "Master, let me keep you company for a while."
Jiang Yan's mind seemed to be elsewhere. After a while, she gave a stiff "hmm" and then made no further reaction.
The next day, the third day, and even the fourth day at noon, Shangguan Zeyu still did not come to Pear Blossom Residence.
Jiang Yan spent the next few days in a daze, and on the fourth day at noon, she could no longer bear it and went mad.
But even though he was said to be going crazy, he was just shouting and yelling around Pear Blossom Residence as if he had been possessed.
Huang Ying knew she was upset, so she told Fu Qu to close the door tightly and told the others not to gossip. She let Fu Qu shout and yell in the room, venting her sorrow and frustration without restraint.
Jiang Yan kept fussing for half an hour before finally stopping.
Huang Ying didn't rush in to check on her immediately, but waited outside until she calmed down a bit before going in.
Unexpectedly, Jiang Yan opened the door and came out without calming down at all.
Her clothes, hair ornaments, and makeup were neat and tidy, without the slightest mess or impropriety, as if the person who had been shouting and yelling in the room just now was not her at all.
Huang Ying paused for a moment, then asked, "Master, what are your orders?"
Jiang Yan was in a good mood. She smiled and glanced around the courtyard, saying, "Tell them not to prepare any meals for me. I'm going out of the manor to eat something delicious!"
Huang Ying was taken aback and said in fear, "Master, it's almost dark!"
"It's more fun to go out after dark! We need to really enjoy the night view of the capital." He then looked at Huang Ying, "Take plenty of money, might as well spend it!"
Without hesitation, Huang Ying ran inside to get the money.
She had expected the room to be messy and chaotic, but to her surprise, it was exactly the same as when she had left, showing no signs of having been disturbed. This made her even more fond of Jiang Yan.
As soon as Huang Ying led Jiang Yan out of the manor, Jiang Yan reminded her, "Master, shouldn't we redeem the hairpin you used to hire the carriage for last time?"
Jiang Yan had long forgotten about this matter, but upon hearing her say this, he replied, "It doesn't really matter whether he redeems it or not, does it? He doesn't care anyway."
But Huang Ying didn't think so. She said, "Master, the things the prince bestows are definitely not ordinary, and their origin is unknown. What if they are tributes from another country and the prince bestows them upon you? What will you do if the prince suddenly asks about them one day?"
What Huang Ying said was indeed reasonable.
This Shangguan Zeyu is untrustworthy and unpredictable. What if one day she really remembers and asks her for advice?
"Alright, let's redeem him. Do you remember where that person is?"
"I remember, I remember it very clearly."
"Alright, let's go redeem the hairpin first, then go get something to eat, okay?"
"This servant will obey your orders, Master."
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