Chapter 37 Method (First published on Jinjiang Literature City)
The other princes seemed inclined to stay and chat, but Zhou Xiaoyan packed his things and headed out.
Fu Mingzi was startled and hurriedly followed.
The Sixth Prince watched Zhou Xiaoyan leave, opened his mouth as if to say something, but seeing Xia Zezhen's ugly expression, he ultimately remained silent.
Fu Mingzi hurriedly followed Zhou Xiaoyan out of the study. Zhou Xiaoyan remained silent the whole way, and Fu Mingzi dared not speak casually either, so she could only follow in silence.
The two walked all the way to the alley, and Zhou Xiaoyan then slowed down.
Fu Mingzi breathed a sigh of relief, glanced at Zhou Xiaoyan's expression, and tentatively asked, "Your Highness, why did Scholar Duan suddenly retire? Is it related to what happened before?"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Xiaoyan stopped and turned to look at Fu Mingzi, his expression complex: "Why would you think that?"
Fu Mingzi smiled indifferently: "Isn't this only natural? Scholar Duan's official career has been smooth, the only setback being the imperial examination. Now that he's suddenly retiring, I'm afraid it can only be because of that, right?"
Zhou Xiaoyan closed his eyes and sighed inwardly. It was no accident that this man was able to climb to that position in his previous life. In the end, he died because of Zhou Xiaoyan. Although Zhou Xiaoheng disliked Fu Mingzi because of him, Zhou Xiaoyan knew that Fu Mingzi's own abilities were enough to make Zhou Xiaoheng wary. The reason he retired and died in his place was all because of him.
"Indeed, it's because of the imperial examination this spring." Zhou Xiaoyan said calmly, "Scholar Duan should know that the person behind this incident is the Crown Prince."
Fu Mingzi felt a sense of "I knew it!" in her heart.
Although Scholar Duan was a relative of the Empress, based on his observation of Scholar Duan, he knew that he was a Confucian scholar who valued etiquette and rules very much. At this time, even his own niece was probably not as important to him as His Highness the Crown Prince, after all, the Crown Prince was the rightful heir and also his student.
It seems that the person he went to the Wenyuan Pavilion to read the Book of Rites that day was indeed the Crown Prince...
Fu Mingzi sighed inwardly.
"Ever since the Empress became pregnant, Scholar Duan has been very worried about the Crown Prince. He is devoted to the Crown Prince, but unfortunately, the Crown Prince does not trust him." Zhou Xiaoyan said this with a mocking smile on his face.
When Scholar Duan learned that his predicament was due to the actions of the Crown Prince, whom he valued most, it was only natural that he would be disheartened.
Fu Mingzi thought this to himself, but he didn't dare to say it. Although he seemed unrestrained, he was still somewhat cautious.
"Let's go back." Zhou Xiaoyan's tone was somewhat desolate.
Fu Mingzi nodded, said no more, and followed Zhou Xiaoyan back to the West Third Institute.
When they returned, Wei Baocheng had already come back, and he looked rather unwell.
"Your Highness," Wei Baocheng greeted him with a bow.
Zhou Xiaoyan frowned, his tone somewhat impatient: "What stupid thing has Mother Consort done again?" His words were so harsh that Fu Mingzi was taken aback.
However, Wei Baocheng seemed to be used to it, his expression unchanged, and said in a low voice: "Last night His Majesty came to Qingning Palace and summoned Consort Wu to serve him in bed. This morning when Consort Wu paid her respects, Consort Zhao made Consort Wu kneel for half an hour. Consort Wu is weak and fainted."
Zhou Xiaoyan's expression grew increasingly grim: "What's your attitude, Fourth Brother?"
"The Fourth Prince seems quite amiable. When I went to visit him, he kept saying it was a misunderstanding and asked me not to take it to heart." Wei Baocheng said this with a somewhat uneasy tone, feeling that the Fourth Prince was perhaps too lenient.
Zhou Xiaoyan sneered. Zhou Xiaoheng was always like this. In his previous life, he really thought that Zhou Xiaoheng didn't care much. But he later found out that Zhou Xiaoheng had always held a grudge and hated him to the core.
"Have you told Mother about my stance?" Zhou Xiaoyan asked coldly.
“I did,” Wei Baocheng wiped away a bead of cold sweat. “This servant has been trying to persuade Consort Zhao to go see Consort Wu and say something kind, but Consort Zhao is strong-willed and has been unwilling. She even cried later. This servant really…” Wei Baocheng couldn’t finish his sentence.
"That's enough." Zhou Xiaoyan stopped Wei Baocheng impatiently. "I'll go talk to her later."
Zhou Xiaoyan felt a headache coming on. His mother was always short-tempered and simple-minded. Everyone could use her as a weapon, but she couldn't see her own position. Every time she did something stupid, he had to clean up her mess.
In his previous life, he wasn't this meticulous, and she exhausted him both physically and mentally. In this life, he is even more meticulous than before, and therefore has even more things to worry about.
Fu Mingzi could also see Zhou Xiaoyan's predicament. Her heart softened, and she couldn't help but step forward and say gently, "Your Highness, why don't you let Consort Zhao also feign illness, and find a few capable eunuchs and maids to keep an eye on her? It's better than putting out fires everywhere like this."
At this point, Zhou Xiaoyan's expression turned even uglier: "I'm afraid this won't work."
It's easy to send a few maids in, but to put someone by Consort Wan's side is beyond the reach of an unfavored prince like him. After all, the people around Consort Wan are carefully selected and sent there, and he can't touch them right now.
“If I could do that, I would have done it long ago.” Zhou Xiaoyan’s expression was somewhat gloomy.
Fu Mingzi's eyebrows twitched slightly, subconsciously sensing that something was amiss. However, judging from Zhou Xiaoyan's expression, he didn't seem inclined to explain, so Fu Mingzi didn't press the matter. Instead, she smiled and said, "Your Highness, don't worry. I'll ask our old man about this. Perhaps he can offer some advice."
He was also testing the waters. Although he had sided with Zhou Xiaoyan, the Fu family would not easily side with him. He also wanted to see Zhou Xiaoyan's attitude towards the Fu family.
“This matter is troublesome, but there’s no need for that. This is already a quagmire, and if the Fu family is dragged into it, I will not be at peace with myself,” Zhou Xiaoyan said without thinking too much about it.
Fu Mingzi felt relieved and looked at Zhou Xiaoyan with an increasingly gentle expression. Even in his difficult situation, he was still thinking of the Fu family, which showed that Zhou Xiaoyan was a kind and generous person.
“It’s not really that difficult.” Zhou Xiaoyan refused, but Fu Mingzi wanted to help him instead: “Our Fu family has had female relatives accompany the emperor in the palace before, so we have some connections. I’ll go back and ask the old man first. Whether it’s possible or not, we’ll decide after we’ve asked him.”
Seeing Fu Mingzi's enthusiastic persuasion, Zhou Xiaoyan could only sigh and nod: "Thank you, but there's no need to force yourself. I always have other ways."
Fu Mingzi smiled, but didn't say anything more.
**
After the afternoon martial arts class ended, Fu Mingzi hurriedly returned to the Fu family. As soon as she got back, she went to talk to the Duke of Jingguo about the matters in the palace. The Duke of Jingguo also looked a little unwell, but when he heard Fu Mingzi mention Consort Wan, his expression softened.
"You want to find someone to keep an eye on Consort Wan?" Duke Jingguo stared intently at Fu Mingzi. "What, has Consort Wan caused trouble for the Fifth Prince?"
Fu Mingzi felt a little uncomfortable under the Duke of Jingguo's gaze, but still nodded: "It has caused a little trouble. Consort Wan, this person, is somewhat... somewhat..."
“That’s a bit foolish.” Duke Jing interrupted Fu Mingzi, saying directly, “It’s not that it’s impossible, but you know that the family’s resources cannot be mobilized for personal gain. If His Majesty finds out, the Fu family will be in big trouble.” Duke Jing looked at Fu Mingzi with a scrutinizing gaze.
Fu Mingzi felt a chill run down her spine, and after a long pause, she finally said, "So what do you mean?"
Duke Jingguo chuckled: "If Consort Wan doesn't cooperate in this matter, all your efforts will be in vain. I did ask around about Consort Wan's temperament and know that she relies heavily on her chief eunuch, Wang Chunlai. Do you know whose man this Wang Chunlai is?"
Fu Mingzi knew nothing about the intricacies of palace politics, so she could only shake her head.
The Duke of Jingguo smiled more deeply: "Wang Chunlai was originally the head eunuch in charge of tending flowers and plants in the Palace Department. Later, he was transferred to Fengyi Palace as a minor steward, in charge of the gates and messengers. Later, when the head eunuch in Consort Wan's quarters became vacant, he was transferred to Qingning Palace."
"Could it be someone from the Empress's faction?" Fu Mingzi frowned.
The Duke of Jingguo curled his lips in a mocking smile: "The Empress doesn't even have a grasp on the power of the inner palace, how could she possibly have that ability?"
“That is…” Fu Mingzi hesitated.
"He is the Emperor's man." Duke Jingguo finally revealed the answer.
Fu Mingzi suddenly realized why Zhou Xiaoyan dared not touch the people in Consort Wan's palace. It turned out that this was all arranged by the emperor. But why was the emperor keeping such a close watch on a consort who was not particularly favored?
“Father, this…” Fu Mingzi finally understood the difficulty of this matter. With the emperor’s people around, let alone their family, even the most favored concubine would probably not dare to reach out to Qingning Palace.
"Don't be afraid." Seeing the boy's confusion for the first time, the Duke of Jingguo was touched and quickly reassured him, "This matter is actually easy to resolve."
Fu Mingzi looked at the Duke of Jingguo, and hope immediately arose in her eyes.
"Consort Wan is foolish, but she's also easy to coax. Have the Fifth Prince find a clever and eloquent maid to send in. She doesn't need to be sent to her right away. As long as she can get close to Consort Wan, that's fine. As long as she's better at coaxing people than Wang Chunlai and is more favored by Consort Wan, getting close to her will be a piece of cake, right?"
The Duke of Jingguo's idea was a wise and prudent suggestion. Although it wouldn't produce immediate results, it was still a glimmer of hope.
Fu Mingzi thought about it and thought it was a good idea, so he nodded: "Alright, I'll go talk to the Fifth Prince."
After he finished speaking, the Duke of Jingguo added, "If you don't have any good candidates, you can come to me again. I can still help you with this."
Looking at the Duke of Jingguo's meaningful smile, Fu Mingzi was momentarily at a loss for words. He knew that the old man was probably planning something again, but he didn't know what his plan was. Was he trying to curry favor with Zhou Xiaoyan, or was he using Zhou Xiaoyan to plant a spy in front of Consort Wan?
Fu Mingzi didn't understand what the old man meant, and knew he certainly wouldn't tell her, so she didn't say anything more, just nodded and was about to leave.
But the old man stopped him: "Your wife is getting engaged in a few days, why aren't you paying attention to her these past few days?"
Fu Mingzi had almost forgotten about this, but the old man reminded him that he still needed to hurry up with Miss Yang.
"Yeah, I know, but how can I care? Do I have to prepare everything that's been ordered?" Fu Mingzi was quite straightforward.
The old man was furious, feeling that the young man was nothing like a young man before marriage. However, the old man was determined that the marriage had to go through regardless of whether the young man wanted to or not.
"Even if you don't need to prepare the things that have been ordered, you still need to cultivate your character and mind well these next few days. Cut off all those messy things outside. The Yang family is not an ordinary family. Don't even think about having everything at home and outside." The old man was furious and didn't hold back his words.
Fu Mingzi was furious: "What do you mean by 'outside' and 'inside'? I'm on duty every day, don't you know where I've been? This marriage wasn't something I asked for. If you have any complaints, you can just call it off!"
The old man was almost furious; he pointed a trembling finger at Fu Mingzi but couldn't utter a single word.
Fu Mingzi was also stubborn. He stormed out of the study and stormed off to his own courtyard, but he couldn't help thinking to himself, "What a mess this is!"
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Author's note: I wanted to write a sweet story, but as someone who's never been in a relationship, I don't know what sweetness is, so I left in tears.
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