As he spoke, he pulled Hu Mingmei's cloak tighter and hugged him, saying, "You won't be cold if I hug you!"
Hu Mingmei rested her head on Bai Nuo's shoulder, nodded, closed her eyes, and murmured, "Thank you for your hard work!"
Lu Ying and Xia Donglai were sharp-eyed and quick-witted; how could they not know what was happening inside the carriage? Lu Ying drove the carriage swiftly, returning to the Hu family under the cover of night.
"We're home!" The carriage went straight into Hu Mingmei's courtyard. When they arrived at the door of Bai Nuo and Hu Mingmei's room, Bai Nuo said softly to Hu Mingmei.
Hu Mingmei then opened his eyes and lifted his head from Bai Nuo's shoulder. Bai Nuo smiled when he saw that he was still a little dazed. He reached out and touched his face, asking with pity, "Take a bath first. I'll prepare a midnight snack for you, and I'll also find Doctor Sun to take a look at you."
Hu Mingmei shook her head. "I don't want to. I'm fine. I'm going to take a shower. Am I smelly?"
Bai Nuo shook her head, "How could that be? You don't smell!"
Hu Mingmei clearly didn't believe her. "I haven't showered for two days!" she said, sniffing herself and frowning. "You're lying to me!"
"I'm not lying to you, I'm not lying to you!" Bai Nuo suppressed a laugh and earnestly coaxed Hu Mingmei, "It's not hot here, how could you smell bad? Go back quickly, you won't feel this way after you take a shower!"
"Then I still smell bad!" Hu Mingmei and Bai Nuo were arguing about this issue!
Bai Nuo knew that Hu Mingmei was a germaphobe, and that not showering for two days was already making him extremely uncomfortable. No matter what she said, Hu Mingmei still felt that she smelled bad, so she said, "I'll run the water for you!"
Bai Nuo came down first. Hu Mingmei, seeing that Bai Nuo ignored him, felt bored and followed him down. When they returned to the room, he heard Bai Nuo say to Granny Wang, "Please prepare water for the Second Master first!"
The whole courtyard was overjoyed when Hu Mingmei returned. Granny Wang looked at Hu Mingmei with tears in her eyes and said, "Young Master is back! Young Master is back!"
No one has called him Second Master for so many years! Hu Mingmei gave a soft "hmm" and went back to his room.
Bai Nuo was getting him his undergarments when she saw him come in. She smiled and said, "Take a shower first, and I'll cook you something to eat."
Hu Mingmei gave a soft "hmm" and watched Bai Nuo leave, while Lu Ying and Xia Donglai came in. Only then did Hu Mingmei begin to take off her outer clothes and walk into the bathroom.
After Hu Mingmei finished washing herself, Bai Nuo returned with a late-night snack. The snack was simple: a bowl of plain porridge, a bowl of crystal pork dumplings, a serving of cold tripe, two servings of homemade pickled vegetables, and a fruit platter. It was very light.
"Do you need to take a look at Zhao Jinhu?" Bai Nuo sat down, poured Hu Mingmei a bowl of white porridge, and told Hu Mingmei about the situation of the past few days.
Hu Mingmei shook his head, "Let Lu Ying ask him. These people won't get anything out of him!" Hu Mingmei knew very well that Zhao Jinhu was just a small fry, and the real big fish was yet to come. Even if they interrogated him, they wouldn't get anything out of him.
The big fish is still stirring up trouble behind the scenes. As long as he doesn't fall, or rather, as long as the Hu family doesn't have a home, there will still be many things to do.
The winds in Beijing are about to change.
Hu Mingmei pondered for a long time, considering all the possibilities, and finally said to Bai Nuo, "Both the Fourth Prince and the Sixth Prince want to take action against our Hu family."
Bai Nuo paused in her chopsticks. She naturally understood what Hu Mingmei meant and didn't think that the Fourth Prince and the Sixth Prince felt sorry for Hu Mingmei and wanted to help her out to deal with Huang Wenbai and the others.
Besides, dealing with Huang Wenbai doesn't require anyone else's help; Hu Mingmei can handle it herself. Right now, aren't Huang Wenbai and the others locked up in the courtyard?
With the position of crown prince still undecided, the path to power requires a great deal of resources. Fortunately, Hu Mingmei possesses something many others lack—money. Taking over the Hu family would make everything much easier.
"So, who do you think did this?" Bai Nuo asked.
Hu Mingmei shook his head. "I don't know! Judging from the current situation, the Fourth Prince and the Sixth Prince are both popular candidates for Crown Prince, but we can't rule out the possibility that others might try to take action against us." The Emperor currently has nine princes, six of whom have been granted the title of prince, and four of them reside in the capital. Among them, the Fourth Prince and the Sixth Prince are the most favored by His Majesty, but others are not without their own ambitions.
Bai Nuo nodded knowingly. They were all sons of the emperor. Why could others succeed but he couldn't? No one was inferior to anyone else. They were all born of the emperor and everyone wanted to compete. A prince who didn't want to be the emperor wasn't a good prince.
"So how did you choose?" Bai Nuo asked. Choosing the right option doesn't guarantee success, but choosing the wrong option will certainly lead to utter ruin.
Hu Mingmei said, "I don't want to take sides!" If he were alone, if the Hu family wasn't in his hands, he would definitely take sides and even use others to his advantage, and seek revenge.
But now that he's settled down, he has a wife and an unborn child. He's started to consider their feelings when he does things, and he's no longer willing to act recklessly. Moreover, he's unwilling to use his own resources to help others succeed.
"What if it's absolutely necessary?" Bai Nuo asked.
Hu Mingmei fell silent.
Seeing that Hu Mingmei was also clueless, Bai Nuo didn't bother him. She believed that Hu Mingmei had his own ideas and would minimize the risks.
After having a late-night snack, Bai Nuo felt extremely tired and went to sleep. Hu Mingmei cleaned up the dishes and then walked out of the hall and stood in the courtyard.
Hu Da walked to his side and called out softly, "Second Master."
Hu Mingmei asked calmly, "How is it? Any leads? Whose people are they working for?"
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