"Thank you all for your hard work. Today I am going to my fiefdom in Qibei with my family. I am very grateful to you for seeing me off!" After the second prince said this, he drank the farewell wine sent by the Ministry of Rites and showed the empty wine bottle to everyone with his backhand, which seemed to express his long-lasting gratitude.
"Second brother... I'm crying in the wilderness. If anything goes wrong, you must write to me. I will do my best to help!" The fourth prince was the first to step forward and hold the second prince's hand tightly. His face was pale and his eyes were black, and his head was wrapped in white gauze. He looked like he had just recovered from a serious illness.
If Xu Yixing had not experienced the changes in the outer palace early on, he would really have thought that he and the second prince had a deep brotherly relationship.
The Second Prince, showing a rare tenderness, smiled and patted the Fourth Prince's hand, then calmly withdrew his hand back into his sleeve. Who knew if this was genuine or just a case of the cat crying over the mouse?
He had long heard about his fourth and seventh brothers pleading for him. His seventh brother naturally had no good intentions, but his fourth brother seemed sincere, but every word he said pushed him into a more desperate situation, and he really didn't dare to believe it anymore.
The third prince, the fifth prince, and the sixth prince all said a few simple words. The second prince also had a gentle expression and offered words of encouragement from time to time, showing quite the aura of an older brother.
But when it was Lu Anyuan and Xu Yixing's turn to step forward and speak, the second prince walked a few steps outside the official road. The three of them avoided the crowd and talked about some things that were not very presentable.
"I didn't ask my fourth brother to kill Wu Xueyan." The second prince spoke about an old thing that had already happened in the past, but neither Xu Lu nor the others panicked. After all, that was what the second prince wanted to say.
"Second brother, do you want me to tell this to father?" Lu Anyuan's tone was calm, even with a hint of confusion, as if he didn't know why his second brother suddenly brought up this matter.
"Humph, you're quite good at pretending. I now have reason to suspect that it was you who asked He Xin to do this!"
Xu Yixing listened and learned the name of another prince.
"Second brother, you're joking. Fourth brother and I haven't been close since we were young. How could he possibly do anything for me?"
The Second Prince narrowed his eyes, his expression filled with disdain and dissatisfaction: "If you two hadn't set me up, I wouldn't have ended up like this."
The second prince had reason to hate Xu Yixing's family. After all, he was driven out of the palace and out of the capital because of the two of them.
Xu Yi bowed and smiled sweetly, "Your Highness thinks too highly of us. It should be said that if it weren't for your arrangements, Second Prince, how could my husband and I have everything going smoothly and harmoniously?"
From the Second Prince rescuing Wu Xueyan and training her as a potential future enemy of the Xu family, to giving her the city defense commander badge, and then to plotting with the Sun family for the position of young lady, every single one of them was initiated by him, so no matter how Xu Yixing fought back, he did not feel guilty.
"Besides, your leaving the capital this time was 'fought' for you by Concubine Ying in front of His Majesty, so you don't need to thank us."
Lu Anyuan glanced at the smug Yixing and thought to himself that she knew how to irritate people and was truly vindictive.
The second prince did not lose his composure when hearing these sarcastic words, and even smiled slightly, but there was a hint of sharpness in his smile.
"I would also like to thank you both very much. From now on, I will guard the Weeping North, which is separated from your fiefdom by a river. I think there are many things that you cannot control, but I can help you with them. Well, we still have a lot of time, so we will see how it goes."
After the second prince finished speaking, he stepped back onto the official road, said a few more words to the remaining officials, got on the carriage and drove away, leaving behind only a cloud of dust and the irregular sound of horse hooves.
The people at the South Gate gradually dispersed, and Lu Anyuan took Yixing on horseback back home. The joy she had never experienced before made her completely forget the unpleasantness just now.
"Are you saying that the Second Prince's last words were a threat to us?"
"I don't know. Anyway, I guess that my second brother left the capital. Besides being angry, he was also a little happy."
"How do you say that?"
"After all, he can leave Ying Fei now. I heard that he has been packing up his things at home for the past three days and has not entered the palace. He only saw the emperor last night and did not go to see Ying Fei at all."
"This...will Concubine Ying be mad to death?"
"How could that be? Concubine Ying went to the Dharma Flower Hall to listen to the Bodhisattva's mantra three days ago. She can't even leave now."
"Tsk tsk tsk, she has been the emperor's favorite concubine all her life, but she can't even figure out the emperor's thoughts. How stupid." Xu Yixing couldn't help but sigh. Even though she was an enemy, the mistakes she made were worth learning from.
When you face someone who is much stronger than you, someone who can even decide your life or death, the best thing to do is to live in disgrace. When you finally become stronger, it won't be too late to destroy him.
"She is very stupid, but then again, if my mother were still alive, she might be even more stupid than her."
"Why do you describe your mother-in-law like that?" Xu Yixing frowned. He knew that Lu Anyuan had no feelings for Concubine Yi, but it was too rude to say that.
"I'm telling the truth. My mother, aside from being pretty and having a good sister, has no merits at all. If she were truly intelligent, she should have focused on raising her son after falling out of favor, waiting for me to become successful, or for my father to change his mind, instead of taking all her anger out on me!"
Lu Anyuan said this in a very harsh tone, as if he really hated her.
Seeing him like this, Xu Yixing knew that nothing he said would be of any use, so he just let it go. "By the way, I actually never knew how Concubine Yi died."
This past event has always been her blind spot, and she never wanted to ask about it before, but today she is really interested.
A flash of gray passed through Lu Anyuan's eyes: "Everyone said he died of illness."
"Actually?"
"Alas!" Lu Anyuan glanced at the empty bedroom, and after confirming that no one was there, he sighed, "Alas! It's okay to tell you, but don't spread it around."
"Okay." Xu Yixing nodded seriously and clutched the handkerchief tightly. She had a hunch that this was another old secret.
"My mother committed a crime and was executed by the Empress according to palace rituals. After her death, her body was buried in the most remote corner of the imperial mausoleum."
Huh? The current empress has always been kind and benevolent, and even most of the harem is managed by Concubine Ying. I didn't expect that she could be so cruel in her youth.
"To be able to get the Queen to order a death sentence... This is a very serious crime, right?"
Lu Anyuan nodded dejectedly: "The Queen found out from Mother that she used witchcraft to deceive Father and cursed the other princes and concubines. That's why she was executed."
"Hiss!" This was a reason Xu Yixing had never expected. Concubine Yi had such great ability that she could actually use this to deceive the emperor?
Suddenly, another thought flashed through her mind: "Witchcraft? I remember Ying Si said that Mr. Yao was a descendant of the Si Chong people. Are the two related?"
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