Chapter 227 One day ago
One day ago, at the Prince’s Mansion.
After receiving the letter from the Xie family, Hongyu trotted through the winding corridors and courtyards, came to the study, and knocked on the door.
"Come in." The prince had been put in solitary confinement these days because of the pressure he put on Emperor Ren De in the court. He was feeling very angry and thought Hong Yu came to report what happened in the court today.
Unexpectedly, Hongyu walked in and put the letter in front of him.
Hong Yu said, "Your Highness, this is a letter from the Xie family."
The prince, who was originally leaning on the armchair with his eyes closed, opened his eyes when he heard the letter from the Xie family and first looked at Hongyu in confusion.
Hong Yu seemed to understand what the prince meant and said, "Yes, it's the letter from the Xie family."
"Was it sent by Xie Jing's people?" The prince looked at the envelope with doubt, and opened it carelessly.
His expression became more and more solemn after he saw the contents of the letter, which contained only a few sentences.
——If Your Highness wishes to see the overall situation resolved, please go to Fanlou for a discussion at 5:00 PM——
The last name written was Xie Rongying.
When the prince saw the three words "Xie Rongying", his eyes became even colder.
"Your Highness, what's wrong?" Hongyu asked.
The prince crumpled the letter in his hand into a ball and held it tightly in his palm.
"I want to see what tricks this woman can come up with." The prince stood up as he spoke. He glanced outside and said, "It's almost 3 p.m., and you want to meet me at such a fixed time."
Hong Yu looked at the prince in confusion and walked up to him and asked, "Your Highness, which woman?"
The prince snorted coldly: "Thank you for your daughter."
When Hong Yu heard about Xie Jing's daughter, she was filled with surprise and followed the Crown Prince closely. "Your Highness, why would Xie Jing's daughter want to meet with you? Is there something fishy going on?"
The prince listened to Hongyu's concerns and sneered, "Xie Rongying dared to ask me to see her so openly. Do you think I'm afraid of her?"
In fact, after the incident at the Yongyi Marquis' Mansion, the prince had always wanted to meet Xie Rongying, but he was busy investigating the affairs of the Yongyi Marquis' Mansion. Later, someone impersonated him and attacked Xie Rongying in Kaifeng Mansion. When he was angry, he was put in solitary confinement by Emperor Ren De, and he didn't even have a place to vent his anger.
Today, Xie Rongying wrote to him privately, and the first thought in the prince's mind was that Xie Rongying knew who was impersonating him.
This is why Xie Rongying came to find him.
"Prepare the carriage and go to Fanlou." The prince ordered, "Leave through the side door."
"Yes!" Hongyu said and walked quickly out of the yard.
When the prince reached the side door, Hong Yu had just pulled out the carriage. He immediately jumped out of the carriage and said, "Your Highness, please."
After the prince got on the carriage, he felt some inexplicable emotions in his heart.
Although the prince was not familiar with Xie Rongying, he had witnessed how powerful Xie Rongying was.
For example, regarding the incident at the Yongyi Marquis Mansion, although we don’t know what Xie Rongying did in it, the fact that she was able to escape from the Yongyi Marquis Mansion is enough to show that Xie Rongying had already discovered the incident at the Yongyi Marquis Mansion.
And after the discovery, he was able to easily find evidence that Yongyi Houfu was colluding with foreign enemies, which shows that Xie Rongying is a resourceful person.
Now he's found again.
It seems that Xie Rongying intends to join forces.
I just don't know what chips Xie Rongying can come up with that will make him excited.
About a quarter of an hour passed.
The carriage stopped at the side door of Fanlou. After the prince entered Fanlou, he walked around several corridors and arrived at the lobby of Fanlou.
Gu Xun saw the prince walking out of the inner door of the lobby at a glance. He walked forward and stood in front of the prince and Hong Yu.
Hong Yu immediately stood in front of the prince and asked, "What are you going to do?"
Gu Xun smiled at Hong Yu in a friendly manner: "Your Highness, my master has been waiting for you for a long time."
The prince had some impression of Gu Xun, but not a deep one. His gaze lingered on Gu Xun for a moment and he said, "Lead the way."
"Please." Gu Xun made a gesture of invitation and walked in front to lead the way.
The prince looked at Gu Xun's back, his eyes slightly deep. This was not like an ordinary guard. Looking at the hostility in Gu Xun, the kind of hostility that came out of a pile of dead bodies.
How could Xie Rongying have such a guard around her?
Similarly, Hong Yu also discovered that Gu Xun was not like an ordinary guard, so he gripped the hilt of the sword even tighter.
Arriving in front of a room on the third floor, Gu Xun knocked on the door: "Master, we're here."
"Come in." A slightly weak female voice sounded in the room.
After Gu Xun pushed the door open, he gestured "please," "Your Highness, please."
When the prince walked into the room, he saw Xie Rongying sitting alone in a wheelchair, her face slightly pale. When she saw him come in, Xie Rongying stood up and saluted.
"Greetings, Your Highness."
The prince stayed on Xie Rongying for a moment, and when he saw that Xie Rongying's face was getting paler, he said, "Sit down."
"Thank you, Your Highness." After Xie Rongying sat down, he said with a trembling voice.
The prince looked at Xie Rongying's frail appearance. It seemed that she was seriously injured this time. He sat down and asked doubtfully, "Why are you meeting me when you are so seriously injured and you don't want to rest at home?"
Xie Rongying looked up at the prince and after a moment's silence, he said, "Your Highness, would you like to watch a play?"
"Watch a show?" There was a flash of surprise in the prince's eyes. He really didn't expect that Xie Rongying called him here to talk about this.
Xie Rongying coughed twice and said, "Your Highness, don't you find it strange?"
"What's strange?" The prince stared at Xie Rongying deeply: "What's strange?"
"How come Qin Junyi and Shangguan Jing escaped from the palace this time?" Xie Rongying said.
As expected, the Crown Prince became quite emotional upon hearing about Qin Junyi and Shangguan Jing. "So which of them was the one who pretended to be me and attacked you in Kaifeng Prefecture?"
Xie Rongying smiled faintly: "Your Highness, please don't get excited yet."
"How can I not be excited? Now everyone in the court is condemning me. Prince Wei and his party even want to use this incident to force my father to push me out. Since you know who is impersonating me, why don't you tell the truth to the emperor?" The prince stared at Xie Rongying with a hint of cruelty in his eyes.
"Didn't Your Highness notice anything was amiss?" Xie Rongying's tone remained calm. "Your Majesty knew that Your Highness the Crown Prince wasn't the one who murdered me, yet he let Shangguan Jing and Qin Junyi go."
"What do you mean?" The Crown Prince was still a little confused. "Qin Junyi and Shangguan Yi left the palace a long time ago. What do they have to do with my father?"
"Your Highness the Crown Prince should know the palace better than I do. Qin Junyi and Shangguan Jing escaped from the palace guards. Would Your Highness believe it if I told him?" Xie Rongying said this with a hint of sarcasm.
As expected, the Crown Prince's pupils dilated slightly when he heard this, and after a long pause he said, "Are you saying that my father deliberately let Qin Junyi and Shangguan Jing go?"
Xie Rongying did not directly respond to the question asked by the prince, but mentioned Emperor Ren De's attitude towards the prince.
"Your Highness was right before the Emperor's eyes when that fake Crown Prince attacked me, yet the Emperor still put His Highness in solitary confinement. Ostensibly, it was to silence the court officials, but was that really the case?"
The prince stared at Xie Rongying intently, and after hearing what Xie Rongying said, he felt a sense of horror that came to his mind belatedly.
Xie Rongying continued, "Has the Emperor always been very kind to the Empress Chen?"
The prince frowned.
"That day, the fake Crown Prince and Consort Chen went to Kaifeng Mansion together. Your Highness, would you like to know what Consort Chen told me?" Xie Rongying smiled faintly. "Consort Chen told me that Your Highness, Crown Prince, has a lot of grievances against me and the Xie family. It's because I exposed the collusion between the Yongyi Marquis' Mansion and Shangguan Yan, which cost you your right-hand man. The Crown Prince holds a grudge against me and the Xie family as well."
"Nonsense!" the prince said loudly. Even if he was dissatisfied with the Xie family, it was not the Concubine Chen's right to say anything!
Xie Rongying smiled upon hearing this and said, "I knew that Concubine Chen was talking nonsense. At that time, I told her that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince wasn't that kind of person. After all, His Royal Highness would be the crown prince of Dayin in the future. How could he be so petty? Even if my fourth uncle had become the commander-in-chief and led the troops to the border, His Royal Highness wouldn't have held a grudge against the Xie family for stealing the position of one of His Royal Highness's men. After all, His Royal Highness isn't that kind of mean person."
The prince felt a little uncomfortable after hearing what Xie Rongying said.
Because he just holds a grudge and is dissatisfied with the Xie family.
Xie Rongying continued, "I refuted the Empress Chen at the time, but she kept saying that Your Highness had murderous intentions towards me and the Xie family. I sensed something was wrong, so I asked her why she kept making up stories about His Highness. She said she didn't want me to get hurt, as if she had known I would be hurt."
When the prince heard Rong Ying's last words, his eyes became more serious: "What else did you say?"
"They also said that if the Xie family is willing, they can join the same camp as Empress Chen."
Sure enough, when the prince heard the word "camp", a cold look flashed in his eyes: "Is she trying to win over the Xie family?"
Xie Rongying nodded: "But I refused."
Only then did the Crown Prince realize why Xie Rongying had just said, "Your Highness, don't you find it strange?" He clenched his fists and continued to ask, "So the person who impersonated me is in cahoots with Empress Chenfei?"
Xie Rongying nodded and then shook her head.
"What do you mean?" asked the prince.
Xie Rongying's expression was solemn: "Your Highness, didn't I tell you that there are also official intentions involved in this?"
Upon hearing this, the prince felt a chill down his spine. He opened his mouth slightly but didn't know how to respond to Xie Rongying.
"Your Highness, have you truly not noticed that the Emperor is paving the way for the Second Prince?" Xie Rongying spoke in a calm tone, then sighed softly. "First, Qin Junyi and Shangguan Jing were released, and then Shangguan Jing impersonated you. These past few days, the court has been filled with misunderstandings about you, the Crown Prince. I wonder if the Emperor's attitude is hesitant or if he's watching the courtiers' reactions. Regardless, Your Highness will definitely become a victim of the struggle between the Emperor and the Prince of Wei. After all, those around Concubine Chen are also echoing the Prince of Wei's intentions."
"Who?" the prince asked coldly.
Xie Rongying said, "The Second Prince's husband, Zheng Pingxi."
The prince's expression turned even uglier. "So this is why you dare not tell the emperor who the fake prince is?"
Xie Rongying nodded.
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