Chapter 38 038 ...mixed with anger
The autumn chill swept through the courtyard of Muyun Pavilion, ruffling the dress of Su Furong, who was standing there. She subconsciously raised her hand to brush away the withered yellow leaves that had fallen on her shoulder, gasped, and anxiously looked towards the east wing.
At this moment, Lin Wan walked out of the east wing in a hurry, looking annoyed.
"cousin."
Lin Wan blinked. Because she had parted on bad terms with Xie Huaiyuan earlier, she had only rushed out. Hearing the call, she finally remembered that she hadn't seen anyone from the Su family since the incident at the Imperial Garden.
Su Furong's eyes were slightly red. She rushed to Lin Wan and asked in a slightly hoarse voice, her voice trembling with tears, "Are you... alright?"
Yesterday, Su Furong watched Lin Wan leave with the female official right in front of her, but she still didn't see her return until the banquet ended. After most of the guests had left, Princess Zhaoyi sent word that Lin Wan suddenly felt unwell after changing her clothes, and that Princess Zhaoyi had already sent her back to the Su residence.
However, they had to wait for Su Shaohua and the others before leaving the palace, and it wasn't until dusk that they finally departed.
Upon returning to the Su residence, he discovered that Lin Wan had not returned. However, the palace had already been locked, making it impossible to go back and inquire about the situation. He waited anxiously for most of the night until Xie Huaiyuan sent someone to deliver a message, in which he learned that Lin Wan was with Hua Yisheng. He had many questions in his mind, but he could only find out after meeting her in person.
"...It's alright now."
Lin Wan finished speaking and was about to step forward, but her sharp eyes spotted Su Xuanhuai standing behind Su Furong. She hesitated for a moment, then said, "Cousin..."
Su Xuanhuai looked her up and down, sighed slightly, and said to the person behind her, "Thank you, Your Highness."
Xie Huaiyuan noticed Lin Wan's unease mixed with annoyance and said, "I have something to discuss with you. Please come with me."
Yesterday's events happened suddenly, and we dared not make a big fuss about finding her, for fear of damaging Lin Wan's reputation. Even if an unmarried woman doesn't return home all night, it will affect her reputation to some extent if it gets out. Therefore, we kept Lin Wan's matter quiet.
Su Furong didn't sleep all night. She learned from Lin Wan that someone had drugged her food the day before in an attempt to ruin her reputation. She was furious and cursed the person who did it.
On the other side of Muyun Pavilion, in the study.
Xie Huaiyuan handed the documents on the desk to Su Xuanhuai, who looked puzzled: "Recently, His Majesty has been quite concerned about the bandit suppression case from many years ago. This is the intelligence we have gathered so far. Take a good look at it."
Su Xuanhuai, looking puzzled, asked, "But wasn't this a matter that had already been settled? Why is this case being brought up again?"
After speaking, he glanced at the document he had received, and the more he read, the more alarmed he became. His face turned pale, and he angrily cursed, "This is utter slander! My Su family is clean and honest. We have never accepted bribes or embezzled the money allocated by the court to the soldiers fighting bandits. Before the incident, my father and I were merely following orders to provide supplies to the court. We never..."
He pounded his fist on the desk in a fit of rage, scattering the documents in his hands all around.
Xie Huaiyuan: "Every single document and record points to you. If this matter continues to develop, your Su family will likely be implicated."
"No, the Crown Prince will not tolerate such slander."
Upon hearing this, Xie Huaiyuan sneered and retorted, "Are you sure?"
Suddenly, the study door opened, and a palace lady walked in disheveled, her face covered with a black cloth and her body bearing whip marks.
The female official knelt on the cold floor as she was pushed and shoved: "No... it wasn't me. I was just following the princess's orders to take the person to the Cold Palace."
"The Cold Palace? Isn't that an abandoned palace? What would we be doing there?"
The female official's face turned pale, and her voice trembled as she said, "This... this servant really doesn't know. I only know that the princess asked this servant to take the person over."
Su Xuanhuai: "Who should I bring?"
"The Su family...Miss Lin..."
Lin Wan is new to the palace, how could she have made enemies so quickly?
Was it him?
Su Xuanhuai suddenly looked up at the person in front of him: "Is it because of you?"
“It was me, and it wasn’t me,” Xie Huaiyuan raised his hand, signaling for his servants to take away the female official kneeling on the floor, and slowly said, “Do you remember who suddenly left the banquet?”
Su Xuanhuai was always meticulous, especially on such an important occasion. Generally speaking, no one would dare to leave halfway through a banquet, except...
At yesterday's banquet, while the emperor and his ministers were enjoying themselves, one person arrived late and left early. This was the only person there, and that person was the Crown Prince!
This is absolutely absurd!
Ignoring the incredulous look on his face, Xie Huaiyuan coldly remarked, "That one in the palace is not pure by nature. Don't let her end up becoming someone else's stepping stone."
-
Inside the Princess's Palace in the Imperial Palace.
Several palace maids and eunuchs knelt in the magnificent palace, trembling and afraid to raise their heads, only begging for mercy.
Princess Zhaoyi was dressed in elegant and luxurious clothes, and her figure was slender and graceful. However, her exquisite makeup did not reveal any trace of her delicate and weak appearance. Instead, her eyes flashed with ruthlessness, and a mocking smile appeared on her lips. Her expression became increasingly cold.
She casually glanced at the people kneeling on the floor and said nonchalantly, "You managed to lose track of someone who's been drugged. Your abilities truly impress me. On this one palace road, not only has she disappeared, but even my lady-in-waiting has vanished. Tell me, what use are you to me!"
The matter she had specially arranged had been ruined, and she almost implicated her elder brother, the Crown Prince, who had left early to go to the Cold Palace. He had waited all night for nothing and was so angry that he scolded her this morning.
This story begins at the Peach Blossom Banquet. On that day, the Crown Prince was playing polo when he accidentally missed a shot and saw Lin Wan in the audience. That fleeting glimpse of her left a deep impression on him, and he has remembered her ever since.
If she hadn't returned to the capital to ask the Crown Prince for help, hoping he could find a way to arrange a marriage between her and Xie Huaiyuan, she wouldn't have known that the man had won the hearts of both men.
She certainly wouldn't miss this rare opportunity, as it would both please the Crown Prince and eliminate those who stood in her way—a win-win situation.
But... things actually failed!
“Those who can’t get things done,” Princess Zhaoyi glanced lightly at the kneeling man, her brows furrowing slightly, a cold killing intent flashing across her face. Then, with a half-smile, she raised her eyes and said, “I will not use them again.”
As soon as he finished speaking, several fierce-looking eunuchs appeared and pulled up the people kneeling on the floor, covered their mouths and noses, and carried them out, quickly disappearing around the corner of the palace gate passage.
Princess Zhaoyi asked, "Is the Princess Consort of the Prince of Xiangyang still the Noble Consort Shu?"
A eunuch said in a high-pitched voice, "Your Highness, the Princess Consort is indeed still alive."
Princess Zhaoyi's face still held the lingering anger. She smiled slowly and narrowed her eyes: "I've been back in the palace for a few days and haven't paid my respects to my elders yet. That's really inappropriate. Now is the perfect time, so I'll go and see them. I can take this opportunity to bring up the time when I was injured and recuperating for him."
-
As night fell, the gates of the Prince of Xiangyang's mansion opened hastily, and a person strode in.
The princess has been doing quite well lately.
Ever since she was invited to the palace to stay with Consort Shu for a few days, she has spent her days enjoying flowers and tea, living a very comfortable life, with nothing able to bother her until today.
Princess Zhaoyi rarely visited Consort Shu's palace and warmly invited her to enjoy the flowers and stroll in the garden. However, she inadvertently brought up the matter of Xie Huaiyuan and Lin Wan, implying that the two had a close relationship. This infuriated Consort Shu, and she felt so angry that she could hardly breathe. She had no desire to stay in the palace any longer and bid farewell to Consort Shu before leaving.
She stepped into Xie Huaiyuan's courtyard and glanced at the sky. The dark night sky was devoid of any clouds or stars, so dark it seemed to swallow people whole.
Since Xie Huaiyuan passed the imperial examination and entered the court as an official, he has always been opinionated about his own actions. Even his mother rarely interfered with any of his decisions or actions.
But now that this concerns the future new princess of the royal palace, she has no choice but to get involved.
She had thought that after punishing him to reflect in the ancestral hall last time, he would at least understand her meaning and restrain himself. However, the steward she left in the palace reported to her that even when Xie Huaiyuan was reflecting in the ancestral hall, Lin Wan from the Su family came to the palace to look for him. She even used the jade pendant that the deceased old prince had left for Xie Huaiyuan to enter.
She only learned about these things today, and she was so angry that she wanted to tear off the mask of that vixen who dared to seduce her son!
I had some idea of what Xie Huaiyuan would say.
But when she heard Xie Huaiyuan's first words, she was so angry that she almost lost her balance. She lost control of the teacup in her hand and smashed it against the hem of Xie Huaiyuan's clothes, instantly soaking the area around it.
Xie Huaiyuan bent down and picked up the teacup that had fallen to the ground. Holding it in his hand, he said meekly, "Mother, I want to marry Lin Wan."
Absurd, absolutely absurd!
The princess's face turned deathly pale with anger, and she rebuked her furiously: "Are you deliberately trying to oppose me? What is your status, and what is that woman's status? There are so many noble ladies in the capital, yet you look down on them all? You actually want to marry such a woman of unknown origin!"
She was so angry she almost couldn't breathe, looking at the silent Xie Huaiyuan with exasperation: "I will not allow a woman like this to enter the manor. If you want to marry, you must marry someone of equal social standing."
"A marriage of equal social standing? Does Mother think I'm going to marry Princess Zhaoyi?" Xie Huaiyuan sneered. "Could it be that Mother was provoked by her words and now thinks Princess Zhaoyi is a good person?"
The head maidservant, seeing the princess so angry, hurriedly stepped forward to soothe her anger and calm her down.
Xie Huaiyuan lifted his robe and wiped the tea stains off it. He said indifferently, "The incident of Princess Zhaoyi's injury back then is inextricably linked to Father's death. Mother, you should have less contact with people in the palace. Otherwise, you might end up getting caught up in it without even knowing the truth about Father's death. Wouldn't that be even more of a loss?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com