Chapter 35 The Prince

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Princess Kangle took a sip of tea and looked at her good friend who had not spoken a word since she entered the room.

"I really can't figure you out. I'm afraid your recent actions are not just a whim, right?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Come on, you're still pretending to be me. Tell me, is it true, as they say, that you are going to marry a wife for Youqi?"

Princess Kangle couldn't help but smiled and shook her head, putting down the teacup. "Can't I get close to the little girl? Do I have to choose a wife for Youqi? Let Youqi decide on his wife. I won't worry about him. Besides, they don't think about which one of the Qin family and the Su family is suitable for Youqi."

Let’s not talk about Qin Ruyue, let’s just talk about the Su family. The eldest daughter of the Su family is the emperor’s concubine, and sometimes the emperor’s nephew. If she marries the youngest daughter of the Su family, wouldn’t that be a mess?

Since Youqi came back from the northwest, many people have been asking her about her marriage, openly or secretly. Whenever she makes a move, everyone would think that she is looking for a wife. But in fact, Princess Kangle has never thought about this. She and her husband love each other, so naturally she hopes that her son can find someone who understands her.

"I can see that you seem to like the little girl from the Shen family very much."

"Who doesn't like a clever and cute little girl?" Speaking of this, Princess Kangle frowned as she recalled what happened at the dinner table recently. "But the little girl from the Qin family is a little more thoughtful."

"Perhaps it's because she was raised outside for so many years that her upbringing is not good enough. With this kind of character, she cannot be the prince's consort."

Everyone in the capital knows that the Empress and Consort Xian both like the girl from the Qin family. After all, everyone in the Duke Jing's Mansion has their eyes on her.

Princess Kangle sighed. She was on good terms with the empress, but she didn't agree with the empress's plan to hire a girl from the Qin family as a concubine for the third prince. The third prince was born in the harem and was very talented. As long as he was content to be the third prince, it wouldn't be a big surprise for him to become the crown prince. The emperor was in his prime, and his ideas as a father and as an emperor were different. The emperor wanted his son to be strong, but he would also be jealous of his son's strength.

The Third Prince was already famous for his virtue and had the support of many ministers in the court. If he were to have a father-in-law who was in a high position of power, it would be too much for him. Unfortunately, the Empress loved her son dearly and was afraid that the Third Prince would lose out in this matter, so she wanted to arrange the marriage before the Virtuous Consort.

"If it's just about education, it's not a big deal. Just find a nanny to teach her well. What we are worried about is her temper. If her temper is crooked, it can't be changed. Forget it, let's not talk about her. It's not our turn to worry about what kind of princess the palace will give to the princes."

Princess Kangle had previously advised the empress to take a long-term view when choosing a concubine for the third prince, and not to rush to choose a concubine for the third prince just because Concubine Xiangui favored the girl from the Qin family. However, the empress did not listen to her, and instead suspected that she also wanted the girl from the Qin family to be a wife for Youqi. Princess Kangle did not understand, the girl from the Qin family was not a hot commodity, so why did she suspect that everyone wanted to snatch her away.

Besides, her family will be a Shaoqing of Dali Temple in a certain period of time, so there is no need to find a father-in-law who holds a high position of power.

"That's true. If you ask me, the emperor is now in his prime, why are you in such a hurry to appoint a crown prince? Doing your job well is better than anything else."

In the past two years, there have been some undercurrents in the former dynasty and the harem, all for the position of crown prince. The leaders are naturally the empress and the virtuous concubine. The two have had old grudges since they were still princes. At that time, they were competing for their husbands' favors. Now that their sons have grown up, they have begun to compete for whose son can become the crown prince.

The empress thought that her third prince was the legitimate son of the harem, so the position of crown prince was natural and legitimate. The virtuous concubine thought that her son was the eldest. Besides, even now, he was not the legitimate son of the harem, so the crown prince did not necessarily have to be the empress's son.

"If the crown prince is appointed early, it will stop them from fighting. That would be a good thing. Now, as long as the emperor doesn't appoint a crown prince, the empress and the noble concubine will have to fight for it. When the prince grows up, he may also want to fight for it. If they just fight in private, it's fine, but I'm afraid it will cause a scandal."

From ancient times to the present, there have been countless disasters caused by the matter of usurping the throne, and Princess Kangle really doesn't want to see such a thing happen.

"So, you went to the Dali Temple to avoid these things, right?"

The emperor doted on this nephew very much and had said in front of outsiders more than once that his nephew resembled his uncle and was very much like him.

Princess Kangle still has some treasonous thoughts when she thinks of this. After all, she is only his cousin, not his biological nephew. And she is the emperor's cousin. When the emperor said this, people inside and outside the palace looked at her strangely. The ladies in the harem looked at her like black-eyed chickens. Since then, she rarely entered the palace.

Princess Kangle had also heard outrageous rumors that Youqi was actually the emperor's son... until he grew up and looked more and more like her husband Xie Yuan, no one talked about it anymore.

Princess Kangle had nothing to hide from Madam Zhou, "He went to the Dali Temple to avoid the turmoil in the court at first, but now, he really likes her."

"I heard from Zhong An that Youqi is very good at solving cases. The last arson case in the capital was solved thanks to Youqi. Otherwise, my stupid boy would not have been able to catch the murderer."

"How can you say that about your own son? Zhong'an is doing a good job as the Jingzhao Shaoyin. Besides, I envy your Zhong'an for his eloquence, unlike Youqi who is a taciturn person."

Sometimes Princess Kangle wondered who her son took after, since both her husband and she were talkative and cheerful.

Mrs. Zhou frowned in disdain, "How old are you, but you are still so unrefined and talk nonsense. It annoys me to hear you talk nonsense. If you like, let's switch. You can be my son someday."

"Okay, since he has a date to go home today, I'll have him pack up and come to your house."

"Okay, I'll remember what you said. I'll let Zhong An go to your house today."

…

Xie Hui was on duty at the Dali Temple and was looking at a murder case submitted by Taizhou Prefecture. The criminal had been sentenced to execution, and because it was a death sentence, it needed to be referred to the Dali Temple for review.

There was no problem with the verdict of the case, as all the evidence was complete, so he picked up his pen and approved it.

This is what the Dali Temple does on a daily basis. After all, there are not so many important cases that need to be tried by the Dali Temple on a daily basis. Since the last arson case was solved together with the Jingzhao Prefecture, the Dali Temple has been very idle for a while.

Xie Hui was just about to take down a file when he heard someone come to report.

"Xie Shaoqing, someone reported to the authorities that a headless body was found on Xiaoqing Mountain outside the city. The Lord Temple Minister asked you and Shen Shaoqing to jointly take charge of this case."