Chapter 88: Your Highness, I hope you are well
Shu Wan was waiting outside the Golden Palace. After Eunuch Jiang went in to report, she was soon called to an audience.
"Ask Princess Shuyin of Beishuo for an audience!" His sharp voice echoed throughout the hall.
Shu Wan walked in. The ministers stood in two rows, all looking at her sideways.
Although I had seen her at the palace gate in the morning, it was not bright at that time and I could not see her clearly. Now I realize that this Princess Shuyin is really as beautiful as the rumors say! Shu Wan walked forward step by step, facing thousands of eyes. Yu Jianning, who was following her, saw how calm she was and couldn't help but admire her.
His palms were sweating now, but Shu Wan was still calm.
"Shu Yin greets His Majesty Chi Yan. May His Majesty be in good health and have long-lasting happiness!" Shu Wan bowed and saluted respectfully, his words were clear and his voice was neither too loud nor too soft.
"Princess Shuyin, please stand up quickly." Emperor Chiyan Yuwenjin said with a smile, "Princess, you must have had hard work on the journey!" he said politely.
"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty!" Shu Wan thanked him.
"I heard that Princess Shuyin was in danger on the road, which made me very worried. Fortunately, Princess Shuyin is safe and sound. She is really blessed by God." Yuwen Jin's face was full of excitement, and no one knew how much sincerity was in it.
"I encountered an assassination attempt on the way. Fortunately, I received great help from His Royal Highness Prince Li, which allowed me to escape from danger!" Shu Wan answered neither humbly nor arrogantly.
"I never thought that Prince Li and Princess Shuyin would have such an adventure. It's really gratifying!" Yuwen Jin nodded, indicating that he already knew about this matter. "I have ordered people to invite Prince Li to the palace. He saved Princess Shuyin this time and his contribution is not small. I will definitely reward him well!" His meaning was already very clear, and Shu Wan understood.
"His Royal Highness Prince Li has indeed been very kind to Shu Yin. He not only saved Shu Yin's life, but also escorted her all the way to the capital. Shu Yin said that after arriving in the capital, she would definitely find an opportunity to repay Prince Li's great kindness. Before entering the palace, Prince Li left in a hurry, and Shu Yin had no time to repay him. Today, His Royal Highness Prince Li is entering the palace, and Shu Yin must thank him in person!" Shu Wan lowered her eyes slightly, thinking that she didn't understand what he meant? Threatening her!
Would he dare to deny it after Yuwen Yan came? Yuwen Jin did not expect Shu Wan to be so tough, and was slightly displeased, but he did not say anything. At this moment, he heard the communication saying that Prince Chuanli was coming.
Shu Wan smiled, turned around slightly, and met eyes with Yu Wenyan who had just stepped in.
Yuwen Yan felt mixed emotions, including anger, frustration, slight annoyance, and even a breath of relief unconsciously. He didn't know why.
His guess finally came true.
On the way here, he kept thinking, what if it was Shu Wan, and what if it wasn't Shu Wan! His eyes never left Shu Wan, and he only retracted his gaze after he walked to Shu Wan's side.
"Your son greets His Majesty." He first presented gifts to Yuwen Jin.
"No need to be so polite, just stand up!" Yuwen Jin raised his hand to signal him to stand up.
"Thank you, father!" Yuwen Yan stood up.
"Prince Li, Princess Shuyin of Beishuo said that you saved her by chance when you went to the border. She will definitely thank you in person!" Emperor Chi Yan pointed at Shu Wan and said, intending to ask Yuwen Yan whether what Shu Wan said was true.
Hearing this, Yuwen Yan and Shu Wan faced each other again.
"Your Highness Prince Li, how are you?" Shu Wan curled the corners of her mouth and looked at him with a smile.
"Princess Shuyin, how are you?" Yuwen Yan also smiled, and he said these eight words with gritted teeth.
In a word, it was a disguised admission of the fact that he knew Shu Wan and saved Shu Wan.
So the emperor and his ministers said nothing more.
"Princess Shuyin, the whole world is now saying that you have been assassinated. The situation at that time must have been critical. I am really curious about how Prince Li saved you by chance!" Emperor Chi Yan sat up straight, then leaned forward slightly, and asked Shu Wan curiously.
"Your Majesty, this is really a coincidence. After entering the border city, I saw that the streets were very lively. Because I was playful for a moment, I disguised myself and went to the streets to play. Then I met Prince Li by chance and became close friends. A few days later, I entered the post station on the pretext of wanting to go back, but unexpectedly I saw that the post station had been assassinated. Shuyin's delegation suffered countless casualties, and even Shuyin almost died. Fortunately, His Royal Highness Prince Li appeared in time, lent a helping hand, saved Shuyin, and then after knowing Shuyin's situation, he accompanied her all the way. Because they were afraid that their identities would be exposed and they would be killed again, Shuyin and His Royal Highness Prince Li concealed their identities all the way and entered the capital in a low-key manner!" Shu Wan spoke slowly and explained the ins and outs of the matter to Emperor Chi Yan.
After hearing this, Emperor Chi Yan did not say anything, but looked at Yu Wenyan first, asking him with his eyes whether what Shu Wan said was true.
"Your Majesty, what Princess Shuyin said is indeed true!" Yu Wenyan had to say this at this point.
"Prince Li, you saved Princess Shuyin, which is indeed a great deed. Your action not only saved Shuyin's career, but also made the relationship between me, Chiyan, and Beishuo more harmonious and friendly. Therefore, I will definitely reward you well." Emperor Chiyan seemed very happy and almost clapped his hands in approval.
"Thank you, father. Maintaining the friendly relations between Chiyan and Beishuo is my responsibility. I dare not take credit for it." Yuwen Yan saluted very humbly, indicating that this was what he should do.
Although he said this, Emperor Chi Yan was still very happy and immediately rewarded Yuwen Yan with many rare treasures.
He also ordered that Shu Wan be settled down properly and that a banquet would be held tomorrow to welcome Shu Wan.
As for the fact that the marriage delegation that sent Shu Wan to the capital was wiped out, Bei Shuo had actually sent a pigeon message to Chi Yan, saying that he had sent people to the capital again and sent a dowry again, and would definitely not let Shu Wan suffer because of not having a dowry. Moreover, the dowry this time was even richer than the last time.
Shu Wan left contentedly, and Yuwen Yan was also ready to leave.
"Prince Li, please stay. I have something to discuss with you!" Emperor Chi Yan called out to Yuwen Yan.
"Your son obeys your order!" Yuwen Yan accepted the order.
After the ministers took their leave, Yuwen Yan followed Emperor Chiyan to the inner hall.
"Father, I wonder if you asked me to come here for any instructions?" Yuwen Yan would not believe that Emperor Chi Yan asked him to come simply to have a chat between father and son.
"Yan'er, what did you do when you went to the border?" Emperor Chi Yan's voice was not loud and there was no anger in his voice.
"Father, please forgive me!" Yuwen Yan quickly knelt down to apologize, "It's all because of my poor performance that such a big mistake happened. Please forgive me for my poor performance!" He kowtowed respectfully and asked Emperor Chi Yan for forgiveness.
At this point, things are actually very obvious.
Emperor Chi Yan knew about Yuwen Yan's trip to the border to assassinate the Princess of Beishuo, and he even supported it.
Crown Prince Yuwen Jin was not the heir apparent chosen by Emperor Chi Yan. He cared most about Yuwen, son of Concubine Mei. However, Yuwen Jin's biological mother was the empress, and the empress's maternal family was the prime minister in the court. The prime minister's Gao family was powerful, with many disciples and countless supporters in the court. Due to the serious situation, Emperor Chi Yan could only make Yuwen Jin, son of the empress, the crown prince.
However, the conflict between him and Queen Gao had long been irreconcilable, and he naturally would not tolerate the Queen pushing Yuwen Jin to the throne.
So he secretly supported Yuwen Yan in his fight for the throne and continued to support him.
Because of his support, Yuwen Yan had already devoured a lot of Crown Prince Yuwen Jin's power, making the Queen feel quite threatened. Therefore, this marriage with Beishuo was actually facilitated by the Queen herself.
But this time, the queen miscalculated that Crown Prince Yuwen Jin did not like Fu Shuyin and was in love with Miss Yang Xinru of the Yang family.
Because he had listened to the Queen in everything, the Prince did not want to compromise on this matter anymore. He felt that it was no big deal if he did not marry Fu Shuyin. He was confident that he would not lose to Yuwen Yan, so he was determined not to compromise.
Even though the princess had already arrived in Beijing, he did not change his mind.
If Shu Wan had not impersonated him this time, his wish would have come true and he wouldn't have to marry a princess he didn't like.
Having said that, Emperor Chi Yan was unwilling to watch the prince's power grow again, so he asked Yuwen Yan to secretly go to the border and find a chance to assassinate Fu Shuyin and disrupt the marriage.
Now, not only did Yuwen Yan mess up the job, he also brought Shu Wan to the capital himself, so he was naturally furious, thinking that Yuwen Yan was a piece of rotten wood that could not be carved, and was a useless person.
Seeing Yuwen Yan confess his guilt so respectfully, his anger subsided a little. After all, he was the son born by the woman he loved most. How could he have the heart to really blame him?
"Look at this!" He didn't want to pursue Yuwen Yan's dereliction of duty any further. Shu Wan had already entered the palace anyway, and it would be useless to blame him no matter how much. He pulled out a letter from the desk and threw it next to Yuwen Yan.
Yuwen Yan was confused, but he picked up the letter and opened it without saying a word.
The more he looked, the worse his face became, until it finally turned ashen.
Because this letter was written to Crown Prince Yuwen Jin.
The letter clearly stated that Prince Li Yuwenyan was planning to assassinate Princess Fu Shuyin and destroy the marriage between the two countries, and hoped that the prince would come to the rescue.
After reading it, Yuwen Yan was speechless, but his heart was already filled with huge waves.
Who discovered his plan?
This person was able to write a letter to the prince for help, so he certainly could not be the prince's man. All his confidants knew that he would never marry Shu Wan.
"You claim to be smart!" Seeing his ugly face, Emperor Chi Yan spoke more gently, "But now your plan is known to everyone clearly, and you are still completely unaware of it. Yan'er, tell me, how can I hand over this huge country to you?" He was really worried that if he was gone one day, based on Yuwen Yan's current condition, he would be eaten by those people until nothing would be left!
"I am terrified and have failed your expectations. It is I who made you worry." Yuwen Yan knew that Emperor Chi Yan was truly doing this for his own good and wanted to push him onto the throne, so naturally he had to apologize respectfully.
"Don't do this again next time, otherwise you will be eaten to the bone!" Emperor Chi Yan sighed, "Forget it, things have come to this point, there is no point in arguing about it. The most important thing now is that the princess has entered the palace, and we have to find a way to resolve this matter. We must not let Fu Shuyin marry the prince, otherwise, all our previous efforts will be in vain!" The past is past, and facing the problems ahead is the top priority now.
"Yes, father, your son obeys your command!" Yuwen Yan said hesitantly, "Father, your son has a piece of news, but I don't know whether I should tell you!" He was very hesitant, wondering whether he should say it or not.
He just received the news last night and had no time to verify its authenticity. He was summoned to the palace early this morning, so he could not guarantee the authenticity of the information for the time being.
"What news? Tell me!" Emperor Chi Yan raised his hand. In his eyes, as long as Yuwen Yan did not say anything outrageous, he could speak freely.
"Yes, father." Yuwen Yan said, "Your Majesty, I received a tip-off yesterday, saying that... it said that the crown prince and Miss Yang, the daughter of the Minister of Revenue, have already performed the Zhougong rite, and that Miss Yang is already pregnant with the crown prince's child!" He only hoped that the news was true, otherwise, who knows how this matter would develop!
"Is this true?" Upon hearing this, Emperor Chi Yan was shocked at first, then he was surprised after he reacted, "Yan'er, is what you said true?" If this was true, then they could make a big fuss about it.
"Your Majesty, I only received this news last night. I didn't have time to verify the authenticity of this matter before I entered the palace. Therefore, I dare not assert the truth or falsehood of this matter at this time!" Yuwen Yan said truthfully.
He would not say anything he was not sure of, lest he would have no way out.
"There's no smoke without fire!" Emperor Chi Yan murmured, "Since there is such a rumor, it proves that even if the prince and that Miss Yang are not pregnant, they have already had an affair. You go out of the palace and try to find evidence. At tomorrow's banquet, find a way to cancel their engagement. Now that Fu Shuyin has entered the palace, why not find a way to make her marry you? This way, you can turn it into a blessing in disguise!" This is the most advantageous way he can think of for them now.
"Yes!" Yu Wenyan did not refute, but agreed obediently, "I will follow your father's arrangements in everything!" He narrowed his eyes. If he really married Shu Wan, it seemed not bad.
The little girl had caused her such a great loss. How could she not take revenge?
Shu Yu, book and poetry.
The names are very similar.
After leaving the palace, Yuwen Yan ordered his subordinates to investigate the matter between the crown prince and Yang Xinru, and also asked someone to thoroughly investigate the border plan, to find out which link had gone wrong, and who had sent the message to Shu Wan, allowing Shu Wan to trick him without anyone knowing.
(End of this chapter)
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