Just as Xu Yixuan was about to offer some words of comfort, someone came to report that the old Duke Chang had arrived.
The old Duke Chang is ten years older than the old Duke Shun. He is sixty-eight years old this year and his name is Dai Cen.
Upon hearing the news of Yu Nanqing's arrest, he rushed to the Duke of Shun's mansion. Before he even entered the main hall, his voice came from outside the door: "Old Xu, what's going on?"
The voice carried both reproach and anxiety.
However, when he stepped in and saw that the room was full of people, his voice immediately choked.
Although Duke Chang was older than Duke Shun, he was in better spirits, with bright and piercing eyes, and a strong and energetic voice.
Upon seeing the old Duke Shun lying pale-faced in a chair, surrounded by a group of children trying to soothe him, the harsh words that were about to spill out of his mouth immediately became impossible to utter.
Upon seeing Duke Chang, Madam Xu greeted him first, saying, "It's Duke Chang who has arrived."
The wife of the late Duke Shun was named Ke Xinyu. She was the same age as the late Duke Shun, and her hair was already gray. Because the late Duke Shun was in poor health, she always had a worried look on her face.
When Madam Xu spoke to Duke Chang, all the younger members of the family in the hall bowed to Duke Chang.
At this moment, Xu Wenyang, who was lying on the recliner, spoke up: "You all get out."
Upon hearing this, the grandchildren who were serving nearby all respectfully withdrew, along with Old Madam Xu.
In a short while, only the Duke of Chang and the Duke of Shun remained in the large main hall.
Dai Cen originally wanted to question what was going on, because Xu Wenyang had told Yu Nanqing about the spies, so he believed him and risked his life and fortune on Prince Gong's Mansion.
With this incident today, the Changguo Duke's mansion is in complete chaos.
The Changguo Duke's Mansion was not as harmonious as the Shunguo Duke's Mansion. The collateral branches of those uncles were already arguing about dividing the family property.
It's not that the family can't be separated, but separating at this time makes Dai Cen feel particularly powerless.
The Changguo Duke's Mansion was already in decline. Only by working together as one can we possibly restore its former glory.
But now that disaster is imminent, they have no way to refute Cen's claim.
Putting aside the disputes in the mansion, he wanted to ask Xu Wenyang what had happened.
Unexpectedly, it was the old man who fainted first. If he had said a few more provocative words, the man might have been sent straight to the underworld.
Seeing Xu Wenyang's half-dead state, Dai Cen sighed and sat down on the nearest chair.
Instead of speaking, he comforted her, saying, "Actually, you don't need to worry. Nothing is certain yet. Perhaps the prince has some plans."
What was meant to comfort himself turned out to be his correct guess by accident.
Fearing that his words were too shallow and Xu Wenyang wouldn't believe him, and wouldn't serve as comfort, he added, "I saw that the prince was so angry for the sake of a woman, so he must be a man of great loyalty and righteousness. Even if he is arrested and the emperor wants to investigate him, I believe the prince will not implicate us."
This is really just a consolation; even he himself wasn't sure if he could say that.
Even if Yu Nanqing really distanced himself from them, the contact they had these past few days was real. If Yu Nanqing didn't say anything, Emperor Yuanhe wouldn't suspect anything.
The Emperor finally caught Prince Gong making a mistake; would he let it go so easily?
The Emperor didn't touch the Duke's Mansion before because it posed no threat. But now that the investigation has reached Yu Nanqing and implicated the Duke's Mansion, would the Emperor still remain completely inactive?
Thinking about it this way, it's good that those uncles and cousins from the collateral branches are separated. When the Duke's mansion is raided, they won't be too implicated, and at least a trace of their bloodline will remain.
Xu Wenyang lay on the recliner, looking as if he had aged considerably in an instant: "Have you received any news?"
"There is news of envoys from the Southern Kingdom and the Northern Yue Kingdom coming to the capital. As for the whereabouts of Princess Gong, we sent people to investigate as soon as we heard about the Prince's accident, but there is still no news."
After they told Yu Nanqing about their own spies and agents, those spies and agents were no longer under their control.
Since they chose to pledge allegiance, they must have complete faith in him to show their sincerity. Therefore, those people are now completely at Yu Nanqing's disposal.
They had regular manpower, so their information gathering speed was naturally much slower.
Not only was it slow, but because the undercover agents didn't make contact, the news also spread slowly. Look at the big events that happened at the Princess's Mansion and the Prince Gong's Mansion; we only heard about them from the common people early in the morning.
These things must have happened in the middle of the night last night; they didn't hear a word about it.
Dai Cen's words calmed Xu Wenyang down. His cloudy old eyes brightened a bit as he pondered, "Do you think... this could be a setup?"
"..." Dai Cen glanced furtively towards the door.
There was no one outside.
Xu Wenyang said irritably, "If you have any, they're family. What are you afraid of here? This isn't your home."
The Shunguo Duke's Mansion has strict family rules. Sons and grandsons in the mansion only marry their principal wives. If a principal wife has children, they cannot take concubines. Therefore, the people in the Shunguo Duke's Mansion are all close relatives who can confide in each other.
The servants in that mansion were all born into the household, and their families had been living there for three generations.
The Duke of Changguo's family was different. In order to prosper, they married wives and concubines one by one, focusing on quantity to ensure the continuation of the bloodline if the Duke's family was truly beyond saving.
Therefore, there were many troubles in the Changguo Duke's Mansion, and Dai Zhiwan was immersed in this atmosphere from a young age.
Fortunately, Dai Zhiwan was born of the principal wife and had absolute say in the household.
Seeing him tease him, Dai Cen didn't hold back: "Yes, yes, your family has the strictest family traditions. What's so good about being cold and quiet?"
After finishing that, he asked the important question: "What did you mean by what you just said?"
Xu Wenyang raised his hand, pointed at him, and then at himself: "Our two families' spies and informants have all been handed over to the Prince. If the Princess Consort really disappeared, with our two families' intelligence channels, how could the Prince not find out?"
Upon hearing this, Dai Cen immediately perked up: "Hey, that makes sense."
They know their own network of connections, even if others don't.
He suddenly realized: "So, the prince did this on purpose; he really has some kind of plan!"
"So what does he want to do?" Dai Cen asked.
Xu Wenyang took a deep breath. He hadn't recovered from the news yet, and his heart was pounding. He closed his eyes and pondered for a while before opening them and saying, "This matter has only just come out. Let's wait and see. If we act rashly, it might disrupt Your Highness's original plan."
He was just guessing, but now that he thinks about it, Yu Nanqing was just arrested, and there was no reason to convict him.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
