Chapter 487
Li Yan was originally laughing loudly with his arm around Zhao Yu's shoulder, but the sudden appearance of two people in front of him made his laughter seem like it was stuck in his throat, hanging there and unable to come out.
Yuan Jing looked at the two men. He didn't recognize them and had no memory of them. But from their attire, their demeanor, and the "aura" that surrounded them that was invisible to others, Yuan Jing searched all the forces in the capital and determined the identities of the two men in his mind.
The young man in brocade clothes pointed at Li Yan with his fan and said, "Li Yan, come here and talk to me."
Li Yan, who had been unhappy just now, was now as obedient as a quail. He put down his hand on Zhao Yu's shoulder, frowned bitterly, walked politely to the young man in brocade clothes, and said in a slightly flattering tone: "Your Highness, I'm not causing any trouble. I just came here to have a meal with a few good brothers. The meal has been paid, really!" He was almost about to swear an oath.
As Yuan Jing had guessed, the young man in brocade clothes was none other than Prince Shun, the younger brother of the current emperor. Prince Shun was not much older than the current eldest prince, and the man in black beside him was, as expected, Xiang Cheng, Prince Shun's former companion and current chief historian of the palace.
Although Li Yan's mother was a princess of the royal family, her status as Prince Shun was quite high, so no matter how favored he was, he had to listen to Prince Shun's instructions obediently.
Prince Shun laughed and hit Li Yan on the head with his fan: "Did I say you were causing trouble outside? I heard that even the Queen Mother likes the play "Repaying Gratitude". Was it the play you guys arranged? Whose idea was this? You have improved compared to before."
Li Yan immediately became proud. He had certainly made progress: "Whose idea was it? Of course it was the idea of the four of us together."
Prince Shun immediately said, "You are fat and you are out of breath. With the thing on your neck, how can you come up with such an idea? And where did you get this gratitude record?"
Li Yan immediately covered his neck and jumped back two steps. Prince Shun was too scary. How could he look down on him like that? He stiffened his neck and said, "It was the four of us who came up with this idea. The Gratitude Notebook was also published by my brother's bookstore."
Prince Shun sneered again: "Okay, then when there are any new books published in your bookstore, remember to send a few to me."
"Ah? Oh, I see. I will definitely send it to the prince." Li Yan nodded like a chicken pecking at rice, hoping that Prince Shun would leave quickly.
Prince Shun fulfilled his wish, looked at the four people with a smile, and left with Xiang Cheng, who was standing silently beside him.
Li Yan wiped the sweat from his forehead exaggeratedly: "This guy finally left. Hehe, I didn't expect that even Prince Shun was reading Si Yao's storybook. Xia Zhou, you're really rich this time."
At this juncture, he still remembered that he must not reveal the fact that his good brother Zeng Yuanjing was Si Yao.
Xia Zhou smiled. Although Si Yao's identity was concealed from the outside world now, his fourth brother also told him that usually Li Yan would stand in front, but if they met someone who even the four of them could not withstand the pressure, they could just tell his identity to others. It would not affect him at all. Therefore, Xia Zhou was very confident in his heart. If the water came, he would cover it with earth. If he could not cover it up, he would let his fourth brother go.
Yuan Jing returned to the cloth shop, and the three of them went back to their homes.
In the cloth shop, Yuan Jing told Jing Lie about his encounter with Prince Shun: "Prince Shun may seem a little cynical on the surface, but he is actually a scheming man. His position is quite awkward. He was the legitimate prince, but because he was too young, he was not eligible for the throne. Even though he was young, the current emperor was afraid of him because of the word legitimate. As soon as he came of age, he was thrown into that barren fiefdom, and the Shun Prince Consort he married was not a very good woman."
This time they called the person to the capital without telling him what the matter was and just left him alone in Prince Shun's mansion. By the way, the current Queen Mother is not Prince Shun's biological mother. Her mother, the Queen at the time, died of illness not long after Prince Shun was born. The current Queen Mother is the current Prince's biological mother, so the Queen Mother would not like Prince Shun very much.
The title of Prince Shun alone is very telling.
Jing Lie's eyes flickered: "It seems necessary to go to Prince Shun's fiefdom to see what this man is capable of."
Jing Lie secretly observed several princes, including the fifth prince who later ascended the throne in the plot. To be honest, he was not optimistic about any of them. It was hard to tell what the young princes would be like in the future, so it was interesting when Prince Shun showed up at this time.
The old emperor was afraid of Prince Shun. If the power of the government fell into Prince Shun's hands in the end, the old emperor would probably be so angry that he would crawl out of his tomb even if he died.
Yuan Jing smiled and said, "Seeing Li Yan act like a quail in front of Prince Shun, we know that Prince Shun is not incompetent. Other princes and dukes who are not valued would not let Li Yan behave like this. Li Yan must have suffered at the hands of Prince Shun. Besides, Xiang Cheng beside Prince Shun is not just a civil servant. He has a sharp spirit, which shows that he has led many troops."
Jing Lie hugged Yuan Jing and chuckled. No matter what the purpose of this Prince Shun running to Li Yan was, he certainly didn't expect that his appearance would expose all his past to Yuan Jing.
"Didn't he look at you more than once? Didn't he show any strangeness about your appearance?"
Yuan Jing touched his face happily, looking narcissistic: "Of course, this face my mother gave me seems to be very useful."
Jing Lie laughed again and took a bite of the face.
Prince Shun thought that he had not revealed anything unusual, and he had already inquired about what kind of person the fourth young master of Zeng Yihou's mansion was. He had no idea that his behavior was noticed by him and he had almost no secrets left.
After he returned home, he said to Xiang Cheng, "Only after a closer look did I realize that this Fourth Young Master Zeng resembles someone, or rather, he resembles his biological mother. Do you still remember what happened between my brother and the son of the Marquis of Yongyi?"
Xiang Cheng widened his eyes, no way.
Prince Shun sneered, "What's there to be incompetent about? Many of the beauties in his harem were recruited based on the appearance of that woman. Have someone investigate how the wife of the Marquis of Yongyi died, and whether he had any hand in the deaths of the Marquis of Yongyi and his son."
Xiang Cheng's pupils suddenly shrank, and he replied in a deep voice, "Yes," that he would not argue with Prince Shun on official matters.
Prince Shun said playfully, "The prince of that mansion was also sent to the border. He could have been the prince of the Marquis of Yongyi for anyone, but he finished himself off before even fighting a single battle. Now there's no trace of him, alive or dead, and no trace of his body. However, the child left behind by Zeng Heng is now in an awkward situation in that mansion."
"The prince wants to give some support from behind and muddy the waters?" Xiang Cheng guessed.
Prince Shun said with a peculiar tone, "We don't need to stir up trouble. They will muddy the waters themselves. Zeng Kang is far inferior to his brother. He has no great ability, but he is quite good at scheming. Just wait and see. Zeng Kang himself is the most anxious person now."
"Then the Fourth Young Master Zeng is..."
"Let's see first. My good brother is not necessarily so eager at this age. He has never been interested in male beauty."
A few days later, the second volume of "The Yellow Millet Dream" was published. Xia Zhou remembered what Prince Shun had told him, and as soon as the book came out, he rushed to deliver five copies to Prince Shun's mansion. After handing the copies to the mansion's doorman, he heaved a sigh of relief, and then hurried away, as he felt very pressured facing the prince.
There were also many people outside waiting for the next content of the book "The Yellow Millet Dream". The wealthy families often sent their servants to Xia Zhou's bookstore to inquire when the second volume would be out. On this day, Xia Zhou had just asked the shopkeeper to put up the announcement, and the servants who came to inquire as usual immediately rushed into the bookstore.
"Quick, give me five."
"No, I want ten!"
"Haha, I finally got it. My young master is waiting for the second volume. I wonder if Jiang Tianci has married the female bandit leader."
"Let's go, let's go back quickly and have a sneak peek."
Everyone got the book, paid the money and hurried back. Those who could read could have a sneak peek, while those who could not read could wait for their masters to finish reading and ask how far the story had developed. Some servants bought the books for their own ladies. Although the female bandit leader did not sound presentable, the description in the book made them feel her charm. They also hoped that Jiang Tianci and the female leader could have a good ending in the troubled times.
The second volume is only about 100,000 words, and it can be finished in one day if you read it slowly. After reading it, you will not only applaud, but also feel anxious. Why is it over? What's next?
Jiang Tianci has left the bandit stronghold, where will he go next? They wished that the author Si Yao would finish writing the rest of the story in one go, so that they could read it to their heart's content, instead of being left hanging in the air, thinking about it while walking, eating, and sleeping in bed.
Jiang Tianci did not take the initiative to attack. When Yuan Jing and Jing Lie discussed how to arrange the following plot, they also took into account the current social environment. The male protagonist should not be too aggressive, but his experiences along the way should make it seem as if he was pushed to that position by various factors and various people. He was trying to protect himself, but he reached the highest position step by step.
Because the stronghold had become wealthy, the news could no longer be hidden, and this aroused the envy of bandits in other strongholds, as well as the covetousness of corrupt officials in the nearby county. They wanted to extend their hands into the stronghold, and the people in the stronghold were forced into a desperate situation. If they did not resist, they would only die, so the female leader summoned all the people in the stronghold to vote on the future of the stronghold.
No one was willing to give up their current home and the great mountain stronghold transformed by Jiang Tianci, so they all shed tears and were determined to fight the enemy to the bitter end. Whoever wanted to destroy their mountain stronghold would be their enemy.
Of course, there were also extremely poor people and small village strongholds nearby who came here on their own initiative. They were also willing to do their part to protect the village strongholds. Thus, the great cause of rebellion in ancient times began. Of course, at the moment, they were only forced to do so in order to protect themselves.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
