Chapter 39 "He didn't leave her a way out."...
==Chapter 39: Explanation==
"Serve the meal." Su Wanyue realized that it was already quite late. She rubbed her still aching head and said softly.
Qin'er stepped forward to help her up. As soon as her feet touched the ground, Su Wanyue felt as if she were walking on cotton, unable to exert any strength. Qin'er felt a little sorry for her. When she helped Su Wanyue sit down, Qin'er whispered, "Your Highness, I heard from Chunzhi and the others that His Highness stayed in Zixia Palace for nearly two hours."
Su Wanyue had a pair of bright and captivating eyes, full of vitality and radiance. Upon hearing this, she frowned slightly.
Why would he make such a fuss over just spending an afternoon indoors? There must be other reasons.
That strange feeling filled Su Wanyue's heart again. Thinking about what he had said about offspring, Su Wanyue felt a little heavy-hearted, and even her appetite was not very good.
Qin'er noticed that Su Wanyue was in a bad mood, so she didn't let anyone else serve her in the room. She stayed by Su Wanyue's side quietly by herself.
Su Wanyue had a habit of playing chess by herself when she was in a bad mood, and tonight was no exception. The candlelight was dim, the shadows of the trees swayed, and a gentle breeze blew in through the window, causing the woman's dark hair to move and her face to look gentle and beautiful.
She places a white piece with her left hand, and a black piece with her right; a subtle balance is achieved between the black and white pieces.
In a flash, Su Wanyue suddenly remembered something, and her voice inexplicably became very serious, "Qin'er."
"What's wrong, Your Highness?" Qin'er was startled when she saw Su Wanyue's expression suddenly turn serious and hurriedly asked.
"Go and get that key."
What key...
Qin'er didn't quite understand what she meant, but as soon as Su Wanyue raised her eyes, Qin'er knew what key she was talking about. Speaking of which, that carved brocade box was part of their princess's dowry. The two things inside must have been extremely precious to the princess. However, Qin'er usually kept this small box. When Su Wanyue suddenly mentioned this small box, Qin'er was stunned for a moment.
Qin'er hurriedly went to retrieve the key, "Your Highness, what's this?"
Others might not know, but Qin'er was the one who knew best what was inside the small box. She was afraid that the princess would be reminded of her past when she saw the jade pendant. At the same time, Qin'er didn't quite understand why the princess suddenly wanted to look at the small box.
Su Wanyue didn't explain much to Qin'er. Just thinking about that possibility made her feel short of breath, and her brows furrowed.
Su Wanyue, with her slender waist and light as a swallow, arrived in front of the mirror. She took a deep breath and then nimbly opened the locked brocade box. The box looked the same as usual, with a jade pendant on the left and a brocade box on the right, but the woman had a feeling that it had been tampered with.
Under Qin'er's puzzled gaze, Su Wanyue opened the exquisitely crafted small brocade box on the right. As soon as it was opened, the small brocade box emitted a delicate fragrance. Su Wanyue asked Qin'er how many pills were originally inside. Qin'er said that when Prince Xiang gave her the pills, there were a total of twenty pills, and there were fifteen left last month. As she spoke, Qin'er began to realize that something was wrong, because there were only fourteen pills left in the small brocade box that the princess was holding now, which meant that someone had stolen one pill.
Qin'er gasped, then felt it was absurd. She had always kept the key close to her body. It couldn't be that someone stole her key and opened the small box. But if the other party really intended to steal something, why not steal the priceless jade pendant instead of a pill? That didn't make sense. The contents couldn't have just vanished, could they?
Qin'er was at a loss for what to do, and tentatively asked Su Wanyue, "Your Highness, should I go out and ask?"
In any case, apart from her, all the maids serving in Zixia Palace were sent by the steward. If all else fails, she can ask the steward to intervene, as the steward has always respected the princess.
"No need to go." Su Wanyue pursed her lips slightly and gently shook her head. Qin'er was still somewhat puzzled, "Does the Princess know who took it?"
Su Wanyue lowered her eyelashes and sighed. If that's the case, then everything makes sense. He must have seen the pills inside, which is why he said he wanted to have a child with her.
"Is the Princess referring to His Highness?" Qin'er was surprised to hear this, but if it was His Highness, it seemed to make sense, because His Highness was in Zixia Palace that afternoon, and in the entire palace, only His Highness would dare to take this pill.
"Then His Highness..." It's possible that the Princess Consort doesn't want to have children because she's too young and doesn't want to get pregnant so early, but since His Highness is so intelligent, Qin'er is still very worried that His Highness might doubt the identity of the Princess Consort because of this.
Once the princess's true identity is discovered, not only the princess, but everyone's efforts may be in vain. The princess has already married into the family, so she certainly cannot implicate others.
Su Wanyue put the small brocade box back into the small box. She reviewed the events of the past few days in her mind. Apart from the matter of offspring, in which she had revealed a slight flaw, she should not have revealed any flaws in other matters.
"What are the Princess's plans?" Qin'er couldn't help but ask Su Wanyue's thoughts. The Princess and His Highness had a loving relationship, so it was understandable that they didn't want children at the beginning of their marriage. But what about in the future? In another year or two, someone would definitely notice something was wrong, and then there would be no reason left.
Su Wanyue was caught in a dilemma, not for any other reason than that he had no intention of giving her a way out.
How can she plan a way out for herself?
"Your Highness, I greet you. Your Highness, there are matters to attend to in the palace, so Your Highness will not be coming tonight. He will come to dine with you tomorrow night." The moon was bright and the stars were few, with dark clouds covering the sky. Someone knocked on the door outside the palace three times.
Su Wanyue let someone in, pretending to be worried about the man, and asked gently, "What happened in the palace? Is Your Highness alright?"
The guard quickly cupped his hands in greeting, "Your Highness is well. As for the matters in the palace and the Seventh Prince, I am not clear on the specifics."
Su Wanyue breathed a sigh of relief because Xiao Yu was not there. Qin'er locked the small box for her again. "Your Highness, why don't you rest early?"
Long before the princess replaced Princess Weiyang in the bridal sedan chair to Beili, there were many things the princess had no choice but to do, and could only take things one step at a time. Fortunately, His Highness Prince Cheng treated the princess very well, and perhaps when the truth came out, His Highness Prince Cheng would stand on the princess's side.
The most pressing matter is having offspring. The princess and Prince Cheng's child would undoubtedly be extremely intelligent, but...
Su Wanyue shook her head, signaling her to step back.
Seeing this, Qin'er prepared a bowl of milk tea and tangerines, and then stayed by her side.
***
At this very moment, in the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Eunuch Zhou passed a memorial from Fuzhou to the masters of the hall. The Emperor's face turned ashen, and he was on the verge of exploding with rage. "Look at this," he said, "a prince of royal birth and noble status actually considered not returning to court for a commoner woman. I had thought he was a promising talent and was preparing to grant him the title of Prince after his return to the capital. This is how he repays me."
Several high-ranking officials also had indescribable expressions. Recalling last year when the Seventh Prince defeated the bandits in the Qingzhou area and returned to the capital in triumph, many families in the court with daughters had their eyes on the Seventh Prince, thinking that if the Seventh Prince returned to the capital, he might be able to compete with the Crown Prince and Prince Cheng. Who knew that the Seventh Prince would be ambushed on the way, and now he is openly opposing the Emperor because he wants to marry a commoner woman. This has already made most of the ministers in the court give up their thoughts of currying favor with the Seventh Prince.
The Crown Prince's principal wife comes from a family of meritorious officials, and the Princess Consort of Cheng is a princess of the Southern Qiong royal family. If the Seventh Prince marries a woman from a commoner family, how can he compete with the Crown Prince and the Prince of Cheng? The ministers in the court are not fools. Whichever prince they support, it is because they hope that the other prince will ascend the throne in the future and help them.
The Emperor glanced around and then asked Duke Xie directly, "Duke Xie, what do you think?"
Duke Xie, the father of Xie Cheng, was an upright and refined man. When asked by the Emperor, Duke Xie did not answer immediately, but pondered for a long time. "Your Majesty," he said, "my son mentioned that the female physician who treated the Seventh Prince is named Bai Shuang. She learned her medical skills from Abbess Jinghui. She learned by chance that the Seventh Prince was wounded by a sword and was in critical condition. She treated the Seventh Prince out of a sense of 'saving lives and healing the wounded,' and did not covet the position of the Seventh Prince's consort. I beg Your Majesty to investigate."
At present, Xie Cheng is in Fuzhou. Xie Guogong's words are thought-provoking and also made the emperor take a second look at Xie Guogong. "So Xie Guogong means that I agree to the Seventh Prince's request."
"Your Majesty, I believe that if the Seventh Prince truly likes this Miss Bai, he could grant her the title of concubine. This would avoid damaging the relationship between His Majesty and the Seventh Prince," said Duke Xie, unfazed by the Emperor's attitude, in a refined manner.
"Your Highness, what do you think?" The Emperor neither said "good" nor "bad," but asked the Crown Prince directly.
"Your Majesty, I believe you are truly considering my seventh brother's best interests, yet he is willing to defy you for the sake of a woman. He shows no respect for you, Father, and disregards our father-son bond. I think Your Majesty should recall my seventh brother to the capital first, and we can discuss other matters later." Xiao Ruofei's face was filled with righteous indignation, his expression extremely angry. "Furthermore, Duke Xie just said that Miss Bai Shuang only managed to heal my seventh brother by chance because she was saving lives. Why doesn't Miss Bai Shuang save lives for others? Is it only because my seventh brother is a prince that Miss Bai Shuang is so selfless?"
His Highness the Crown Prince made no attempt to conceal his intentions, leaving the other ministers somewhat ashamed.
The Emperor's face grew even colder, and his recently softened expression immediately faded. He asked Xiao Yu what he meant, and Xiao Yu replied calmly that Duke Xie's words made sense, which meant he agreed with Duke Xie's opinion. The Emperor nodded, and after all the ministers had expressed their opinions, the Emperor ultimately decided to summon the Seventh Prince back to the capital first and did not grant his request.
The delay was quite late. The ministers returned to their respective residences, the Crown Prince returned to the Eastern Palace, and Xiao Yu returned to the Prince Cheng's residence.
That night, Xiao Yu rested in his study. The next day, after court, Xiao Yu went directly to the Water Fetching Pavilion by carriage.
The young master of the Water Fetching Pavilion personally greeted them, "Your Highness, Crown Prince Qin has arrived."
The private rooms on the first and second floors of the Water Fetching Pavilion are for guests, but the Heavenly Pavilion on the third floor is priceless. The young master respectfully welcomed Xiao Yu to the third floor. The partition door was pushed open, and Qin Jue opened his folding fan, "Your Highness Prince Cheng."
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