Chapter 5
"Your Highness." Liefeng walked in quickly from outside the study.
"What is it?"
"Gong Yuxian will arrive in Yidu soon."
"Gong Yuxian?" The person who came was indeed him.
"Yes, his father and some ministers have been trying to persuade Your Majesty that His Highness has already reached adulthood and it's time to welcome His Highness back to Western Yi. This time, he came under the pretext of welcoming His Highness back to Western Yi."
My return to Xiyi was already a secret agreement with my father. The emperor's uncle jumped out so impatiently, it seemed that he really couldn't sit still.
"Also, spies back home reported that Gong Yuxian seems to have had contact with the eldest prince's men during this period."
"It looks like they can't hold it back anymore."
Recently, I heard that Prince Yi's health is getting worse, but the candidate for the crown prince has not been announced yet. It is normal for the wise prince, as the eldest prince, to be unable to contain his excitement.
"Just now, His Royal Highness King Cheng sent someone to say that Princess Yue will be returning to the capital soon. I wonder if His Royal Highness has any plans?"
"Yi Luoyue?" The last time he saw her was six years ago, right? Although they had only met a few times, he vaguely remembered that she was a beauty, just like the Queen.
Six years ago, the Queen Mother fell ill and retired to the pleasant sanctuary of the Imperial Palace for recuperation. As her beloved granddaughter, she accompanied her. Three years ago, the Queen Mother went to the Imperial Palace to visit the Queen Mother and Princess Yue, but unexpectedly, she and the Queen Mother both fell ill and passed away. Yi Luoyue remained in the Imperial Palace for three years in mourning for the Queen Mother and the Empress. Calculating the time, the three-year mourning period had expired, and it was time to return to the capital.
"Anything else?"
"His Royal Highness King Cheng said that His Majesty King Yi is interested in finding a good match for Princess Yue. Therefore, the aristocratic families in the capital have recently recalled unmarried men of marriageable age to the capital, and the other four barbarians have also sent their royal sons of marriageable age. The next few months should be very lively in the capital.
It would surely be a lively occasion. Yi Luoyue was not only the legitimate daughter, but also the most beloved child of the Yi King. As the most favored legitimate princess of the Yi Kingdom, becoming her consort would mean supreme glory and wealth, but all of this had nothing to do with him.
But Gong Yuxian was a more difficult person to describe. As the eldest son of the Emperor's uncle, his ambitions were no less than his father's, and his ruthlessness alone was unmatched. It made sense that the virtuous King Yi Luoyao would place his bets on him; the two men were birds of a feather, and Yi Luoyao and he had always disliked each other. How could he let go of the opportunity to suppress him?
Ten years ago, he was sent to Yidu as a hostage to the Western Yi, but few knew the true story. His father had five sons, but three of them, illegitimate, died in infancy. Although he was the legitimate son of the Western Yi king and the crown prince, if his elder brother, the Queen, had not died, he, the second-born son, would never have been crowned.
However, after he was crowned Crown Prince, he suffered several accidents and poisonings, which aroused his father's suspicions about the deaths of his brothers. Although he later identified a suspect, he lacked evidence and could not be convicted. Furthermore, the suspect's influence within the court was complex and difficult to eliminate. Therefore, to protect his only heir, he was sent to Yidu as a hostage.
Although he was a hostage, his treatment in Yidu was no different from that of the Western Yi, and even safer. Firstly, his uncle, Gong Che, also known as Gong Mingxue, was the Duke of Anguo in Yi State, primarily responsible for foreign affairs and holding some real power. Secondly, the late Queen and his mother were close friends, and the King of Yi loved his wife dearly, so he was well-protected.
"Instruct the spies throughout the city to be more cautious in their actions and avoid being discovered by others."
"yes."
"And Your Highness, today Miss Mingxue stepped on and broke the jade pendant of Li Fei, the illegitimate son of Prime Minister Li Wu, at the Jade Pavilion. Although Li Fei did not directly ask Miss Mingxue for compensation, he did ask her to sign an IOU."
Li Fei? Yi Luoyue's cousin? I heard that he had been pursuing Yi Luoyue, often entering and leaving the palace, and was one of the candidates for the Prince Yi's favorite son-in-law.
"Pick out two high-quality jade pendants from my private vault and send them to him as an apology. Then take back the IOU."
"yes."
"How's the investigation into Xiaoyue'er's background going?"
"Your Highness, we can't find anything. Miss Yue'er seemed to have appeared out of thin air, leaving no trace at all. If Miss Yue'er doesn't tell us, it will be difficult for us to find out anything."
During the past ten years, under his own management, although his covert influence in Yidu was limited, it should have been more than enough to investigate just one child. Why couldn't he find anything?
When they first met, he was bewitched by her inexplicable familiarity. Even though he had his doubts about her, he still gave in to her entanglement. During their time together, he had long since grown accustomed to her chatter and mischief. Between silence and lies, she wisely chose silence, which was one of the reasons why he couldn't bring himself to deal with her. Besides, she was still so young, and even if she had some ulterior motives, he believed they wouldn't pose any threat to him. Her presence was like a fresh blood injected into his body, making it full of vitality. Now it wasn't a question of whether she would speak, but whether he would let her go. Alas... that little girl...
Just as he was thinking about her, he saw her skipping into his room, with the maid who was almost dead following behind her.
"Daddy, can Xiaoyue go for a walk with Aunt Xue the day after tomorrow?"
"You want to go?"
"I want to go, I want to go."
"Have you never been shopping?"
"Yes, but it's a little different."
Different? So she means she hasn't been to Yidu yet?
"Strong wind."
"Your Highness."
"Go and tell Xue'er that if you have time the day after tomorrow, go for a walk on the street with Xiaoyue'er." After all, he still owed Xiaoyue'er a gift.
"You can go with them. It's fine if they buy anything. You can settle the bill with the accountant when you come back."
"Yes, Your Highness."
"Thank you, Daddy." Xiaoyue quickly kissed Gong Yuchen on the cheek and ran out like a whirlwind again. The poor maid had no choice but to follow him out holding up her skirt.
Gong Yuchen was stunned, stroking his cheek with his hand. Is this what it feels like to have a daughter?
Sitting in the narrow carriage, Li Fei moved her body uncomfortably and complained constantly.
"Your Highness, this is quite unkind of you. I came all the way here to pick you up, and you're going to leave me stuck in this little carriage?"
"What? Still want to ride a horse? Are you afraid that others won't know that I'm back?
"That's not what I meant. Even if you sneaked into the city, do you think your two royal brothers would not know?"
"They know." She leaned lazily against the wall of the carriage, fiddling with her hair with her fingers.
"What?" He stared at her in disbelief.
"Did I hear you correctly? Then why are you being so sneaky? Wouldn't it be better to just march openly and have the people line the streets to welcome you into the city?"
She lifted a strand of hair that fell on her temples, her fair fingers entwined and drew circles around it, and her eyebrows raised slightly.
"No, I just want them to know that I'm back. It's okay if others don't know."
"You want them to think that you are hiding something from them, so that they can't figure out the purpose of your return this time?" Li Fei immediately understood the implication of her words.
"What do you think?"
"So you suspect the instigator of that incident three years ago would be one of them."
"It's easy to reveal your true colors if you have something to hide, isn't it?"
"Okay, then, once we enter the city, do you want to go back to the Princess's residence, or go to the palace to meet His Majesty?"
"Send me to the palace first."
"good."
"By the way, did you bring the blueprints I asked you to get from Jade Pavilion?"
"I brought it. Here you go." Li Fei took out the drawing from his sleeve and handed it to Yi Luoyue.
"Because of your blueprint, I even broke the jade pendant given to me by the emperor in the Jade Pavilion. I'll have to ask Her Royal Highness the Princess and His Majesty to plead for mercy. Please don't punish me."
"If it's broken, it's broken. It's not a rare item." Yi Luoyue looked at him suspiciously.
"I've known you for so many years, haven't you broken enough of the imperial gifts? Why did you come here today? Cousin Li Fei, there's something wrong with you."
"Don't worry about it. It's good enough that you know it." Li Fei looked a little awkward.
To be honest, women like Yi Luoyue really make people love and hate them. She looks like a noble lady with noble and cold features, but in fact, her scheming methods are no less than his. Fortunately, she is not a man, otherwise her two brothers would have no chance of becoming the crown prince.
"If you want jewelry, why don't you just ask the royal craftsmen to make it? Why go to Jade Pavilion for no reason?"
"Because it's not mine, having it made by a royal craftsman would be an overstep. Besides, jewelry made by royal craftsmen is too tacky and inappropriate."
"Tacky, and you're still hanging all over it?"
"I'm a princess, I can be tacky."
If he hadn't known his cousin well enough over the years, he would have believed her lies. In the Li Palace, Yi Luoyue usually wore two white jade hairpins in her hair, and even her clothes were mostly plain. Even though it was a period of mourning, she had been wearing plain clothes for five or six years.
"Then the day after tomorrow, I will accompany Her Royal Highness to the Jade Pavilion to buy some more vulgar things, okay?"
"Oh? Then may I ask under what pretext does the Second Young Master of Li Wu's family give me these vulgar things?"
"Everyone knows that I have long admired Her Royal Highness the Princess. Do I still care about these yellow and white things in order to win Her Royal Highness's favor?"
"Aren't you afraid that one day the woman you love will see you and ruin your marriage?"
"What's the problem with that? The worst that can happen is I can just get it back." The image of that pretty little face that looked like an angry little tiger flashed through his mind.
Yi Luoyue looked at Li Fei with amusement, who looked more like an older brother than his two royal brothers.
Indeed, it was common knowledge that Li Wuxiang's second son, his cousin Li Fei, had long admired him, so much so that everyone believed he would one day become his consort. However, no one knew that he was actually the commander of the secret guards assigned to him by his father, whose sole purpose was to protect her. He appeared by her side under the pretext of admiring her, and his presence in and out of the palace would not arouse suspicion.
"Cousin Li Fei, do you know Gong Yuchen?"
“I’ve had some contact, but I can’t say I know him very well.”
"Why do you mention him?"
"I had a brief encounter with him a few days ago. I wonder how he gets along with my two royal brothers?"
"It's hard to say what his relationship with King Cheng is, but his relationship with King Xian isn't great. Over the years, King Xian has often tried to target Crown Prince Gongyu, but he's never been able to find a weak spot in him, so he's been unable to do anything to him. I heard that Xiyi has already sent someone to Yidu to pick him up. I believe he'll be back soon."
Someone who could leave Yi Luohui helpless was definitely not incompetent. Even if he was about to return to Xiyi, she would definitely have contact with him after returning to Yidu. Therefore, she had to pay a little attention to Gong Yuchen. After all, he was the one who would become the King of Xiyi in the future, and his support would more or less influence the selection of the Crown Prince.
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