128 Chapter 128
◎Divorce.
Throughout the second half of the first lunar month, the news that Princess Qinghe had fallen into the water and was missing, and that Prince Wei was seeking a divorce from her, became a hot topic. From the royal family and nobles to the common people, everyone was discussing the matter as a topic of conversation.
However, it was still the first month of the year, and it would not look good to have a divorce, so the matter was dragged on.
It was a nice day in early March, with clear skies and a gentle breeze.
According to the laws of Da Ling, if a couple wants to divorce, the husband must write a letter of divorce in person and then gather the clans of both families to witness it. As long as the two clans have no objection to this, the marriage between the two parties can be dissolved.
However, Xu Qinghe had no relatives in this world, and the two of them were married by imperial decree. When Emperor Yongshun urgently needed Wei Che to stabilize the many countries that came to pay tribute to him on his birthday, this divorce was just a face-saving measure, and he randomly appointed a royal relative to witness it.
After the hour of Si, the divorce letter was witnessed by everyone and submitted to the government for archiving. The Wei family then crossed out the name of the Xu girl from the family tree, and the matter was finally settled.
Many people breathed a sigh of relief at the same time.
After everyone left, Wei Che wandered around the street with their marriage certificate in his arms.
Although the prince has only been back in Beijing for a year, last year when he and the princess were in love, he would go to the streets from time to time to look for some delicious and fun things to bring back to the princess to satisfy her cravings and relieve her boredom, which made many businessmen on the street remember him.
It seemed that the prince was in high spirits after his divorce. Not only was his face full of smiles, but even his steps were brisk.
When the waiter at the door of the street restaurant saw him, he immediately went to greet him with a smile.
"We have some new dishes in our shop. Would you like to come and try them, my Lord?"
Wei Che looked up and saw the three big words "Nian Xiangju" come into view.
He pursed his lips slightly.
He could no longer pretend to be carefree and carefree as he had just been. His heart began to feel heavy and he could hardly breathe.
At this time, does he still have the qualifications to "miss his hometown"?
Just when the waiter thought there was no hope, the prince suddenly walked in.
He threw a silver ingot to the waiter.
"Nian'anxuan on the second floor. This prince likes this private room."
The private room still has the familiar layout.
But this time, he was sitting alone at the table, without the reluctant girl from a few months ago.
The marriage certificate in his arms seemed to be burning inch by inch at this moment, sticking to his heart, as if to leave an indelible mark there.
"Go, order me a smoker." Wei Che ordered after randomly ordering a few dishes.
Although it is spring now, it is still only March. A late spring cold snap hit a few days ago, and many customers have ordered fumigation cages to keep warm these days.
The waiter didn't think much about it and responded with a smile. After going out, he told someone to go to the kitchen to report the names of the dishes and ordered someone to bring the smoking cage. After everything was cleaned up, he took his people away.
The room was finally cleared, and Wei Che took out the marriage certificate that was less than a year old from his arms.
The marriage certificate with red background and gold characters had the names of Wei Che and Xu Qinghe written on it. It looked like they were marrying two people with different surnames, but in reality, it was dragging her into an endless abyss.
He raised his hand and threw the heavy marriage certificate into the fumigation cage.
The red paper caught fire almost immediately when it touched the burning charcoal.
Wei Che's deep eyes immediately reflected the flames.
He stared quietly at the paper that was turning to ashes, his eyes unblinking, and soon they became dry and painful.
When the marriage certificate was completely reduced to ashes, the door was pushed open and the food he had ordered was being brought up one after another.
As people came and went, Wei Che caught a glimpse of a familiar figure passing by the door.
Before his mind could react, his body had already rushed out the door. A young boy who was serving food was bumped by Wei Che, and the food immediately scattered all over the floor.
But he ignored her and chased after her out the door.
The woman was slim and slender in a blue dress. Although she wore a veiled hat that covered her shoulders, he could still recognize her at a glance. She was clearly the girl he had been thinking about for many days.
He didn't dare call her, for fear that she would run away as soon as he opened his mouth. So he took a few steps behind her and reached out to grab her slender wrist.
"Qinghe..."
"——Madam made it easy for me to find her."
The smooth touch in his memory came back, and just when Wei Che hesitated, he was beaten to it by another person.
A man he had never seen before put his arm around the girl in front of him and whispered to himself how his wife had disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Wei Che stood there in a daze, his outstretched hand still raised in the air, but he could only watch them gradually go away.
The two are very close, just like a loving couple.
He closed his eyes helplessly, clenched and unclenched his fists.
It turned out that he missed her too much and recognized the wrong person.
Finally, he had no choice but to return to the private room in despair, watching in silence as everyone frantically cleaned up the scattered food on the floor, and finally finished the meal without any appetite.
At the same time, in Nianxiangju’s residence.
As soon as he entered the room, the man immediately distanced himself from her and apologized, "I apologize for being so rude, Madam. Please forgive me."
Even when she was indoors and there were strangers around, the woman never took off her veil.
Similarly, the man also behaved very seriously, keeping his head down and not trying to look at her face through the veil.
He only knew that when the woman spoke, even her voice was indifferent and kept people at a distance.
"Thank you, Mr. Yang, for rescuing me just now."
Yang Ye immediately bowed his head and said, "I was chased by thieves and seriously injured. If it weren't for Madam's help, I would have died long ago. Madam, you saved my life, so this little thing is nothing."
If she wanted, he could even kill that scoundrel for her.
"There's no need for mountains of swords and seas of fire." The woman suddenly asked, "I wonder if Mr. Yang is married?"
"Um……?"
The topic changed so quickly that Yang Ye was unable to react for a moment. After a long while, he replied, "No."
"Does the gentleman have a lover?" the woman asked again.
Yang Ye shook his head: "Neither."
The woman said, "Okay. In a month, please do me a favor. I will reward you handsomely."
**
March 23rd, the sun is warm.
A huge convoy filed into the city gate, raising a lot of dust under the horses' hooves and people's feet.
Emperor Yongshun's birthday is approaching, and the city is decorated with lights and colors everywhere. It is almost a celebration for the whole country. In addition, many neighboring countries have come to pay tribute. Even the Suzaku Street, which is controlled by the imperial guards, has now been surrounded by people who come to watch the fun.
Since the envoys from various countries came to celebrate the birthday on behalf of their respective countries, Da Ling naturally could not lose the dignity of a great country. In addition to sending officials from the Honglu Temple, the Ministry of Rites and other departments to welcome them at the city gate, it also sent several princes to lead the charge.
The teams from various countries that came to celebrate the birthday started marching towards the city gate at 9:00 PM and did not finish marching until noon. Fortunately, the sun in late spring was not too strong, and although the officials and civilians were tired from waiting, at least they did not fall down.
Another hour passed before the birthday celebration team finally reached its end.
"Don't be too happy, everyone. The envoys from Nanyi Kingdom haven't arrived yet."
This sentence was like thunder out of the blue, which made everyone who had just breathed a sigh of relief regain their spirits.
"I've been waiting for a whole day, and you haven't finished yet?"
The official just now explained: "The envoy from Nanyi Kingdom set out late, and we don't know if he can arrive today."
"Who did the Nanyi Kingdom send?" asked a young prince who was ignorant of political affairs.
The official immediately bowed and replied, "Your Highness, it was the Third Prince who escorted the princess to the marriage last year."
"So when will they arrive?"
"This...this minister does not know."
…
"Isn't this coming?"
Amidst the low voices of discussion, someone suddenly said with certainty. Everyone looked up and saw that it was the Prince Wei who was in the limelight in the Honglu Temple.
Wei Che, dressed in a crimson round-collared official robe, stood behind the princes and in front of the officials. He said to the impatient prince, "Your Highness, please wait a moment. The envoys from Nanyi Kingdom should be here in less than half a minute."
“…Really?”
The prince looked out of the city gate.
However, at this time, there was silence outside the city gate, and it was obviously not like any team would come here.
Everyone was suspicious and anxiously waiting.
Half a minute later, clouds of dust began to rise again at the city gate.
Nan Mingzhao, the third prince of Nanyi Kingdom, led the crowd and came with a huge birthday celebration team, with countless vehicles loaded with birthday gifts behind him.
When greeting the princes and officials, he glanced at Wei Che calmly.
On the first day of the envoys' arrival, Emperor Yongshun sympathized with their long journey and felt that they had lost strength, so he ordered them to rest in the inn for a few days before entering the palace to meet him.
However, that night, Nan Mingzhao did not stay with the envoys, but secretly escaped from the inn in the dead of night.
At that time, the crescent moon was high in the sky, and the alley was narrow and deep, with only a little moonlight leaking through.
However, people who practice martial arts have very good eyesight, and he quickly saw the person leaning against the wall.
"I heard that Princess Qinghe fell into the water and disappeared some time ago. For such a beauty, Prince Wei was not in a hurry to look for her, but was in a hurry to divorce her. It is so eccentric and unheard of." Nan Mingzhao smiled meaningfully.
Wei Che was playing with the jade pendant at his waist. He didn't even look up when he heard this. He just said calmly, "The Third Prince has just entered Daying, and instead of discussing business, he's eager to care about Wei's family affairs. I've never heard of such a lack of consideration for the serious matters."
Nan Mingzhao snorted coldly, but eventually got down to business as he said. However, he made a request: "Where is Xie Qi? Since he's the one asking me to do something, I'll only negotiate with him. Other people who are blind and don't know how to cherish others should stay out of my sight."
Under the moonlight, the man who had been lowering his head finally raised his eyes. There was a smile in his deep eyes. He spoke only a few words and left Nan Mingzhao speechless again.
"Third Prince, where exactly do you get the confidence to think that Xie Qi is asking you to do something? Considering the current situation of your Nanyi Kingdom, I'm afraid you are anxious to ask him to assassinate your brother for you."
"Oh yes, I actually forgot."
Wei Che suddenly twitched his lips and smiled. "Not only does the Third Prince have an older brother, he also has the Fourth Prince, who lived among the common people for a long time and was finally able to return to the palace and be crowned king not long ago. I heard that your Majesty originally wanted the Fourth Prince to represent Nanyi in Daying. I wonder what tricks the Third Prince used to make your Majesty change his mind."
At the end of the words, there was a hint of gloating
【Author’s words】
A minor revision:
1. Qinghe's waist is not obvious, and there is no belly bulge, but Wei Che just thought he recognized the wrong person
2. I added some content at the end. Nan San has a younger brother, which is connected to the following text.
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