Chapter 58
Under the flickering lights, Prince Shou never looked up at her again, as if he was deliberately avoiding looking at her. Yue Qingning followed his movements for a long time, not knowing whether she should speak at this time.
The prince was a homosexual in his previous life, but the time has not come yet in this life, so it has not been exposed. Prince Shou probably does not know about it.
But he needs to know about the next step and also needs his help.
But it was a royal secret after all, and Prince Shou was also a prince, so he might not want to hear outsiders talking about the royal family. She was a little hesitant at this time. Should she tell him?
"If you have something to say, just say it."
He put down the scarf and rested it naturally on his knees. He turned around and stared at her with his cold eyes, like a worm in her stomach. She didn't have to hesitate for long before he could sense what she hadn't finished saying.
Yue Qingning was somewhat frightened by his stare, and bit her lip and asked tentatively.
"I'm troubled by a matter. Although I know you and the Crown Prince are at odds, if it would damage the reputation of the royal family, I will completely obey you on this matter."
Prince Shou didn't care. "You must have forgotten the fire at Jietai Temple. The Crown Prince wanted to kill me. Why should I care about my face?"
Yue Qingning felt more confident after hearing what he said.
"I've heard some rumors recently that the prince's... preferences are different from those of ordinary men."
The voice became softer and softer until it was as inaudible as a needle tip falling on the ground. Prince Shou didn't know how to react when he heard it. He was disgusted in his heart and didn't want to hear such a dirty thing from her mouth, but she already knew it. Even outside, he didn't know how it had spread among the people. After all, the truth would come out.
"I know."
He recited silently, and his expression was unclear.
Yue Qingning thought for a while, and without caring about the feelings of his son, he continued speaking.
"Perhaps we can start from this point. No matter how carefully the Crown Prince hides his secrets, he will reveal some clues. We just need to find out the truth and then accidentally reveal it to the Yao family. With Yao Chunying's proud personality, she will definitely not tolerate this. Then we can just watch and let them deal with it on their own."
In fact, Prince Shou had already made plans for this matter, but he felt that the time had not come yet, at least he did not have the most crucial evidence in his hands. With this, making a scene in front of the emperor would be more important than the fight in the harem.
Even if the emperor favors the prince and is willing to turn a blind eye, the ministers in the court and the country will not let him off easily and will definitely use this incident to stir up a wave of deposing the prince.
But all of this requires evidence, and evidence is crucial.
He had found the family of the man whose head was cut off that day, but the man's wife and children did not know the truth and had nowhere to turn to. They cried and prayed at the gate of the yamen every day, asking them to go out to the streets to help find him.
She said that her man went out to sell goods on the street early in the morning and suddenly disappeared. There has been no news of him since then, as if he had evaporated from the face of the earth.
But how could they find it?
The people who work for the prince are very efficient and will not allow anyone to catch them, so he has not yet obtained any clues.
"This is not useful for the time being, we have to wait."
He said, "There are still four months between the Taihang Mountains ancestral worship and the Crown Prince's wedding. He definitely can't bear that long. He will definitely pick out someone he likes and take them with him before he leaves. Then, we'll have no trouble catching him."
Yue Qingning nodded repeatedly beside her. She thought so too. They were really in sync with each other and thought almost the same thing.
However, although he had known about the prince's affairs for a long time, he remained silent for such a long time and did not show any abnormality in front of outsiders. He pretended so well that even she, his accomplice, could not tell. His cunningness was really frightening.
She glanced at him quietly, and saw that under the light, his raised brow blocked half of the light, casting a small shadow under his eyes. The lines were hard and cold, like a god depicted in a painting who was detached from the world.
After taking one more look, she turned her head away.
Perhaps it was because she had met so many different kinds of men, some as handsome as Que Ming, and some as strong and heroic as Cui Hu. She had met all kinds of men who left extremely strong impressions on her, so meeting a figure like Prince Shou who was always indifferent did not seem to leave much of a mark in her heart.
As she was thinking, she suddenly remembered something, took out a piece of fine black jade running tiger from her arms, and handed it to him.
"When I woke up that day, I found this in my hand. I think it was given to me when you came to take care of me at the Princess's Mansion. Qingning can't afford such a treasure, so it's better to return it to you."
Prince Shou looked at the black jade with mixed feelings, not knowing what to say or whether he should say it.
He thought that Cui Hu should be the last wall standing in front of her. Now that this wall has collapsed, they can finally look at each other face to face.
But she obviously didn't think so.
Maybe she understood what he meant, but she just didn't want to accept it.
Prince Shou was silent for a long time before he took the black jade in his hand and asked.
"Do you know what this jade can do?"
Yue Qingning hesitated for a moment. She had told him so much, some of which were presumptuous, some aroused suspicion, and even exposed the risks of what she knew in her previous life. But she couldn't open her heart to him here, so she said in a deep voice, "I didn't know."
Prince Shou probably saw that she was not speaking from the heart, so he twisted the tiger jade and recited silently.
"With it, you can command shadows that never appear in the light, and they will do anything for you."
After saying that, he raised his eyes and looked at her face again, with some unspeakable emotions entangled in it.
"It will protect you for me."
Hei Yu handed it to her again. Yue Qingning looked at his pale fingers and was a little hesitant, but she quickly refused.
"Since it's so important, it's better for you to stay with His Highness."
Rejected again, Prince Shou was not the kind of person who would wait for something thankless, so he took back the black jade, comforted her to sleep, walked to the door with the lamp, and sighed softly.
The sigh in the darkness was like the night wind, blowing across her body and causing a chill. Yue Qingning hid in the quilt and thought for a long time. She thought of the day when she went to visit him at his house in her previous life. If Prince Shou had been willing to see her that day, would there have been a fate between them? If he had come that day, would she still have such a tragic ending?
I kept thinking and thinking until I fell asleep, but I still couldn't come to a conclusion.
When it was just getting light, Teng Xieji took advantage of the fact that everyone was still asleep and immediately went into her room to wake them up.
At that time, Yue Qingning was not fully awake yet. When he saw her coming, he thought it was Qingzhu. He got up and sat at the head of the bed in a daze, watching her pick up the lamp and light the white candle that had not yet burned out on the bedside.
"Qingning, I didn't have time to talk to you alone yesterday, but today you must listen to me first no matter what."
Teng Xiji was entrusted by someone, and earlier when she was at the Duke of Huguo's Mansion, Cui Jing repeatedly told her to explain it to her in private.
It turned out that Cui Jing was not the rich and dissolute young man he appeared to be. He and his brother were actually cousins of the Cui family. His brother had outstanding military achievements and was well-known, which earned him a lot of face for the Cui family, so he was naturally the cousin.
While Cui Jing appears unlearned and unskilled, he secretly cultivates secret outposts across the country. It all stems from the shock left by an old case from twenty years ago. The Protector of the Country witnessed how the former Crown Prince's faction, once at its peak, was completely extinguished under repression. Fearing for the survival of his clan, the Cui family was driven to seek a way out for themselves.
Cui Jing is the escape route.
Since his brother died, the only watch of the Cui family was removed, and Cui Jing could only take care of the family from the inside out and shoulder the burden of the whole family.
The first person to be liquidated must be the prince!
The secret sentry hiding in the brothel had reported to him many days ago that the prince had been molesting a slave and even killed an innocent citizen to cover up the matter. The young waiter was in the orange orchard.
Caibi and Hongli told him that they had tried to test the young man several times, but each time they saw his face turn pale and he refused to reveal too much no matter what, as if the prince had warned him.
But if such a timid person is caught and frightened a few more times in the yamen, who can say whether he will blurt out something he shouldn't say.
God is really helping me!
Yue Qingning clapped his hands and said happily, "Great, great! This is what I've been waiting for."
She immediately took Sister Teng to the eldest princess and told Prince Shou about the matter through the eldest princess.
Not long after the next day, Prince Shou entered the palace to accompany the emperor. In front of the hall, he talked about the official business in recent days. Prince Shou deliberately spoke some official words, which made the emperor, who was already overwhelmed by the headaches, stop him repeatedly.
"You have nothing else to say? Why are you like those pedantic scholars, coming into the palace just to chant sutras and disturb me?"
Prince Shou hurriedly bowed his head and said he dared not, but the silence made him dare not say any more.
The emperor changed his mind and realized that Prince Shou was usually timid, and if he was annoyed by his words, he might become self-deprecating. He didn't want to see the father and son become estranged, so he asked if there was anything new happening outside the palace.
This is what Prince Shou was waiting for. He pondered for a while and then spoke.
“There really is such a thing.”
The emperor became interested and asked what it was about.
Prince Shou replied, "A strange thing happened in the Dali Temple today."
"It was said that the government office in Beijing couldn't handle a small missing person case, and Pei Shaoqing saw them chasing the victim away at the government gate. He asked a few questions and found out that a small vendor had disappeared inexplicably while selling goods in the morning."
The emperor frowned slightly. He didn't want to hear such a trivial matter, but Prince Shou didn't stop talking and continued.
"There's a rumor going around in the capital that a demonic fox has appeared from nowhere. It transforms into a human during the day and a wild beast at night, preying on early morning vendors. For the past few days, merchants in the capital have been so worried that they dare not go out in the morning to do business."
If such misleading rumors appeared in remote areas, they would be regarded as idle talk and not worth paying attention to. However, such things could actually be spread under the feet of the emperor. For the emperor who was known as the true dragon emperor and feared by all, it was a great shame and humiliation.
The emperor's face darkened, and he angrily rebuked him: "Nonsense! How dare you make up such nonsense!"
Prince Shou quickly lowered his head and said yes cautiously.
"I told Pei Shaoqing the same thing, but he acted out of character and actually thought there was something fishy about this matter."
The emperor's frown was like three small hills, and he asked, "Has the peddler been found in the Dali Temple yet?"
"Yes! It's true that they haven't found him yet. This son is also strange. The Dali Temple is a place of this kind. According to common sense, the rumors should have been dispelled long ago. Whether he is dead or alive, there will always be a clear explanation, but this time..."
It was just idle talk to entertain the audience, but now the emperor took it a little seriously.
"Ask Pei Weijing to come into the palace. I have something to ask you."
However, before Su Fu could go out to convey the order, the young eunuch outside the door hurriedly squeezed in and kowtowed to the emperor.
"Your Majesty! Junior Minister Pei Weijing requests that you proceed to the Dali Temple. He has important matters to report."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
