Chapter 44 Your Highness, you may not know, but I have something to say…
"Three days ago, the prince and princess of the Kingdom of Xilan set off. Even traveling at full speed, it would take them more than half a month to reach the capital. When the court officials heard that Xilan had plans to establish a marriage alliance with our dynasty, there was much discussion throughout the court and among the people. Everyone believed that this matter was absolutely unacceptable."
The vast palace was filled with the faint scent of sandalwood, which drifted through the ice mirror with a gentle breeze. The seven cabinet ministers, led by the Grand Secretary, looked down at the man beside the young emperor, who remained calm and composed, unable to fathom his thoughts. Even the young emperor, who had been slightly distracted, immediately turned to look at them upon hearing the news.
The late emperor had few children; only four sons and two daughters grew up safely. Fu Huaiqing was the second son, and the young emperor was the fourth. After the young emperor was born, his maternal relatives pushed him to the throne in order to eliminate dissidents, and for a time, undercurrents surged both inside and outside the court.
After a fierce battle, the eldest prince and the third prince died mysteriously one after another, and the eldest princess, who had been running around for the third prince, was also persecuted.
Aside from the young emperor, only Prince Su, who was sent by the late emperor to the frontier to comfort the soldiers, and his sister Princess Duanhui were spared from persecution by the maternal relatives.
The young emperor is only ten years old. If the purpose of the Xilan Kingdom's trip is to arrange a marriage alliance, the only eligible man in the royal family is Prince Su. Prince Su holds great power and has not yet married. Naturally, the court officials do not want to see this happen.
If the princess of Xilan Kingdom were to take over the royal palace, wouldn't things fall into chaos?
Fu Zhunqing lowered his eyes, his gaze sweeping over the stern-faced courtiers below, and finally landing on the Grand Secretary Lin Yiqing, who had remained silent throughout. He casually asked, "What does Teacher think should be done about this matter?"
“That is certainly inappropriate.” Lin Yiqing, who had been called upon, stepped out of the line, his gaze slightly lowered as he looked at the clean ground. In his early years at the Hanlin Academy, he had been appointed by the late emperor as the tutor of Prince Su. Later, when Prince Su came to power, he was promoted to the position of Grand Secretary. More than twenty years had passed since then, so he naturally understood what Lin Yiqing wanted him to say. He said calmly, “Leaving aside the fact that our dynasty has no precedent for marriage alliances, it has only been a little over two years since the two sides turned hostility into friendship. It is still too early to conclude whether they have any ulterior motives. This is certainly inappropriate.”
"This old minister agrees with Lord Lin's opinion," the minister standing to Lin Yiqing's right immediately echoed.
Seeing this, the other cabinet ministers all came out and echoed each other.
Fu Huaiqing remained silent, then pushed the closed memorial open with the pad of his finger on the imperial desk. He quickly read through the contents of the memorial, then flicked his sleeve and wrote his vermilion annotations.
The courtiers waiting below with their eyes lowered exchanged glances for a moment, then secretly looked back at Su Ci, who remained silent with his eyes down, becoming increasingly unable to fathom the Prince Su's intentions.
The common people were unaware that the matter concerning King Su and Qin Wan was untrue, but they knew perfectly well that it was true. They couldn't help but feel uneasy, wondering if they had just agreed to the wrong thing.
Fu Huaiqing put down his pen and casually handed the memorial to Jiang Yue.
He looked at the slightly uneasy crowd and said, "We'll discuss this matter another day."
The others agreed, bowed, stepped back a few paces, and left, leaving only Su Ci and Lin Yiqing behind.
The palace doors opened, and the crowd glanced at Qin Xiao waiting at the palace entrance. They paused for a moment, nodded in acknowledgment, and slowly left. As the man's figure entered, the doors closed again.
Fu Huaiqing's gaze fell on the white handkerchief peeking out from under his sleeve, his eyes darkening as he involuntarily thought of what would have happened if he had arrived even half a step later that day...
He swallowed hard. "How's the investigation going?"
"I have a general idea." Qin Xiao took out the document in his hand and handed it to Jiang Yue, who had been waiting down the steps. "The coroner just delivered the results. The remains of two of the assassins had old wounds. One of them had a clear old scar on his skull. The other two had many old scars that did not look like ordinary sword wounds. They looked like soldiers who had fought on the battlefield."
Fu Huaiqing paused for a moment as he flipped through the folded document, then closed it.
A muffled sound suddenly echoed throughout the palace. Fu Mingzhan, who was quietly playing with the clean strokes of his brush, was startled and trembled. He secretly glanced at his brother and saw the man's deathly expression. He swallowed hard and silently put down the brush in his hand.
"The two men look no different from ordinary citizens of our dynasty, but their skeletons are different." Qin Xiao frowned. "The coroner's initial guess is that the two men may not be ordinary citizens of our dynasty."
These words caused the vast palace to freeze as if it were an ice cellar.
Su Ci, who remained silent, glanced at the man in the high hall whose expression was unreadable, and asked, "If you are not a citizen of our dynasty, then where are you from?"
Qin Xiao shook his head: "The coroner is currently examining the evidence."
“If it weren’t for the people of our dynasty, the person behind the scenes would surely have other plans. The second daughter of the Qin family—” Lin Yiqing paused for a moment, and couldn’t help but think of his daughter who was about the same age as him. He frowned and said, “The second daughter of the Qin family may just be the beginning, not the end.”
The Dali Temple couldn't find any clues that the other party was targeting their family. All signs confirmed that the other party wasn't coming for the Qin family. However, their swift actions clearly indicated a clear objective, unlike randomly choosing a noble lady to kill.
It is evident that other noble ladies may be persecuted in the future. Thinking of this, Lin Yiqing recalled her daughter, who had been away recuperating with Princess Duanhui for three years, and a look of worry appeared in her eyes.
Fu Huaiqing narrowed his eyes and gave Jiang Yue a look.
While other unsuspecting courtiers might claim that the assassins were after the noble ladies of the capital, he knew in his heart that they were after Biezhi, and not the second daughter of the Qin family, but Biezhi herself.
She was guarding the Xu family's backyard when the assassins attacked. Anyone with eyes could see that something was wrong, let alone a group of heavily trained assassins. If they hadn't come for another branch, they would have hesitated. However, they didn't.
According to the Shadow Guard, the assassins attacked as soon as they approached the Xu family without the slightest hesitation, clearly indicating that they had found their target and were determined to eliminate them at all costs.
'Knock knock knock'.
A light knock suddenly sounded at the door of the tranquil palace. The door opened in a moment, and Su Ci turned her head slightly to see Cheng Jin coming in, looking travel-worn. He walked quickly to Fu Huaiqing's side, bent down and whispered something. It was unclear what he said, but the man's eyes suddenly lifted slightly, a hint of surprise flashing in his cold eyes, but more so, pleasure.
As soon as Cheng Jinfang finished speaking, Fu Huaiqing stood up.
"Continue the investigation."
He left a message and quickly departed.
The few people standing in the palace watched him leave, exchanged glances, and saw surprise in each other's expressions.
Su Ci felt increasingly uneasy.
The same thing happened an hour or two ago. The guard said something and he immediately left everyone behind, saying he would return later. Now it's happening again, as if something even more important is waiting for him.
Both Cheng Jin and the guard who had just reported the news had a hint of pleasure in their expressions.
After he left, they had no reason to stay.
Moreover, Qin Xiao had other matters to attend to. He withdrew his gaze and said to the two of them, "The family has already found someone to choose an auspicious time. My younger sister's funeral will be held in half an hour. I'll go ahead first."
Lin Yiqing nodded: "Please accept my condolences."
Qin Xiao bowed and thanked him, then glanced at Su Ci before leaving.
Fu Huaiqing had considered that Biezhi would go to Jiran after waking up, or go to the crime scene to review the events, or even take the risk of going to the Qin family to investigate. He never expected that she would come to the Prince's Mansion.
When he returned to the gate of the Prince's Mansion, Biezhi had been waiting for him for a long time.
She heard soft footsteps behind her. Biezhi, who was waiting in the pavilion, turned around and looked at the person who came. The moment their eyes met, she clearly saw the smile in the man's eyes.
Bie Zhi's heart trembled suddenly. The man's refined beauty needed no words; a single glance was enough to captivate one. His handsomeness was undeniably striking.
"Biezhi greets Your Highness," she said.
Fu Huaiqing walked past her and said, "Sit down and talk."
For some reason, Biezhi suddenly felt that his voice didn't seem so bad anymore, although it was still no different from a water buffalo's.
After thinking about it, she realized that maybe it was because she had heard it so many times that it sounded familiar.
However, Biezhi would naturally not say such things to Prince Su, especially since he was her savior. Even if she didn't like it, she had to force herself to listen to it.
She did not sit down, but followed him and remained standing to his side.
Their eyes met, and Biezhi bowed again: "Thank you for your help, Your Highness. If it weren't for you, I would probably be lying dead in the wilderness by now."
The moment she finished speaking, she caught a glimpse of the man's suddenly cold eyes, the smile deep in his pupils vanished. She was stunned, not understanding what she had said wrong, and hesitated for a moment before saying, "If Your Highness ever needs my help in the future, I will certainly do my utmost, even at the cost of my life."
"I saved you, not so that you would risk your life for me."
After a moment of silence, a calm and even tone came from the man's mouth. Biezhi clearly felt his slightly raised gaze measuring over her inch by inch. She pursed her lips and vaguely understood the meaning behind his words.
If it had happened earlier, she would have escaped long ago.
However, she can't escape now.
Biezhi quietly exhaled and lowered her eyes, saying, "Your Highness may not know, but I have someone to take responsibility for."
A mouthful of warm tea suddenly caught in his throat, unable to go up or down. Fu Huaiqing looked at the resolute-looking girl with an inscrutable expression, who seemed ready to throw caution to the wind. His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed the tea. "Do you need to take responsibility?"
"Yes, I've already spoken with my master. We'll find an auspicious day to get married after I recover from my injuries." Biezhi nodded solemnly, and added, fearing he might not believe her, "Master also knows about this."
Fu Huaiqing: "..."
He did know, but it seems he didn't agree?
"Does your master agree?" Fu Huaiqing asked.
When asked this question, Biezhi thought for a moment. She hadn't heard her master say that the master was unwilling. Surely Prince Su wouldn't go out of his way to verify with the master over such a trivial matter?
Moreover, according to ordinary people's thinking, this is a great joy in life. No matter how you look at it, the master has no reason to disagree. He can't be a loner and not be able to stand seeing others in pairs, can he?
Although Biezhi would occasionally scold her master, she still felt that her master was not so petty as to be despicable.
His personality might change drastically in the future, but that doesn't stop him from being a shrewd businessman who can sit down and communicate properly for now. And even if he's unwilling, what can he do? Whether I can get married or not is not up to him to agree.
The more she thought about it, the clearer her mind became. She nodded heavily and said, "Yes."
Fu Huaiqing: "..."
He asked with a serious expression, "Are you sure?"
Biezhi was a little confused by his behavior, as if he was very certain that his master would not approve of his marriage to Jiran and would definitely try to stop it.
She muttered, "Even if he doesn't agree, what can he do?"
Fu Huaiqing didn't hear what Biezhi said, but he could still tell from her expression that she was a little unhappy. He gently persuaded her, "Marriage is a major event in life, so it should be treated with caution."
She frowned.
She was serious and cautious about her marriage to Ji Ran.
He was indeed her savior, and what she said earlier was true. If Prince Su had any requests, she would gladly die for him.
Biezhi felt that their relationship was not that close yet, and it sounded too much like an elder giving advice to a younger person. He had never even met Jiran, so why should he deny Jiran's existence?
Ji Ran was not of noble birth like them, and he was indeed born with a defect, but that was not something he could choose.
Bad guy.
A scoundrel who judges people by their appearance!
She wants to take back everything she ever said to him!
An unpleasant voice is unpleasant, no matter how many times you listen to it until it sounds pleasant.
That face—
Yes, it cannot be denied that Prince Su's face is still unusually handsome.
The other branches were quiet for a short while.
So what if someone is good-looking? They're just born with a pretty face.
Fu Huaiqing stared at Biezhi quietly for a moment, seeing that she was like an angry raccoon cat, ready to pounce and scratch him at any moment. Even the dimples that she usually showed were hidden deep inside, her round almond eyes darting around, and she seemed to be muttering something to herself.
In short, it doesn't sound like anything good.
He paused for a moment, then changed his words: "I think it wouldn't be difficult for you to marry him if you wanted to."
Upon hearing this, Biezhi, who was filled with indignation, was stunned and didn't react for a moment: "Huh?"
Fu Huaiqing stared intently at the girl's slightly bewildered expression, a slight smile playing on his lips, and said slowly, "As long as he nods in agreement, it's a cause for celebration."
After a pause, he added, "I suppose he would be willing."
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