dispute
The incident ended with the crown prince being deposed and imprisoned in the Eastern Palace.
When Fu Huaiying stepped into Chenguang Palace, the prince and the queen were gone. The smell of blood outside and the blood on the ground confirmed the palace coup.
She stepped in and said, "Your Majesty."
Emperor Huanyu was obviously in a bad mood. He rubbed his brows and looked down at her, "What are you doing here?"
Fu Huaiying knelt on the ground, raised the jade pendant with both hands, and placed it in her palms. "Your Majesty, a few days ago, my maid found a jade pendant by the lake. I looked at it for many days before I realized it was yours. I came here today to return it."
Emperor Huanyu came down the stairs, took the jade pendant from her hand, looked at it carefully, snorted coldly after a moment, and put the jade pendant back into his sleeve.
Seeing that he was impatient, Fu Huaiying tactfully took her leave. Anyway, she had already finished what she needed to do today.
On the way back to the courtyard, I met King Huan again. He was wearing a black robe and had no lights on. He was hiding in a dark bush. The moonlight illuminated half of his face, and I couldn't see his expression clearly.
"Your Highness."
"Fu Zhibi, are you going to plead for mercy for my brother? But this is forcing the emperor to abdicate. Even if the emperor didn't order his death, the people of the world would never allow a traitor to ascend the throne. I thought you were a smart person and would choose the right place to live."
Fu Huaiying looked at him with a smile, not much worry on her face. She lowered her voice so low that if you didn't listen carefully, you wouldn't hear it at all. "Your Highness, you're not in a good mood today, are you?"
"Hahahahahahahahahahahaha," Huan Wang said as if he had heard a joke, "Fu Zhibi is really humorous."
Fu Huaiying took two steps forward and approached him. "Your Highness, are you so sure? But who will sit at the top in the future is anyone's guess. In the past few hundred years, there have been countless cases of usurping the throne. But have you ever seen anyone survive?"
King Huan's expression changed slightly.
"The prince wants me to abandon the dark and join the light, but I still can't tell who is the light. In your majesty's eyes, today is not a subject pointing a sword at the emperor, but a son forcing his father. Father and son, monarch and minister, should it be monarch and minister first, then father and son, or father and son first, then monarch and minister? It all depends on your majesty's decision."
"If the Crown Prince died today, I would have considered it, but Your Majesty has only imprisoned him in the palace, not even exiled him. He can be deposed and reinstated, and even if he is deposed, he can be reinstated. Given Your Majesty's love for your son, why should I abandon the dark and join the light?"
Prince Huan didn't respond, his eyes lowered. The ring in his hand was almost crushed by him. How could he not know what Fu Huaiying said? From ancient times to the present, no failed traitor has ever survived, but the prince did it. Not only that, his father even sent his personal eunuch to the palace of the deposed prince... What an honor!
He clenched the ring tighter and tighter in his hand, his heart filled with murderous intent. He knew clearly that if the crown prince survived, the chances of him being reinstated would increase. If the crown prince ascended the throne, would he still be able to survive? He and the crown prince had been fighting for so many years, and it was a fight to the death.
Seeing that the time had come, Fu Huaiying bowed leisurely and said, "I'll take my leave now."
Today, King Huan is in an unstable mood and is easy to guide. If it takes a few days for him to come to his senses, it will be difficult to deal with him. But if King Huan takes it to heart tonight, he will naturally take a risky move and seek victory in danger.
Da Hu stood outside the courtyard gate waiting anxiously. Although the girl was only there to return a jade pendant, serving a king is like serving a tiger. He might become powerful because of a word, or die because of a word.
It wasn't until I saw Fu Huaiying walking towards me with a lantern not far away that I finally let go of my worries.
"Girl, what took you so long?"
"I met King Huan on the way and asked him a few more questions."
There was ice in the room to dissipate the heat. Fu Huaiying added a few more ice cubes and asked, "Why are you waiting outside, sweating all over?"
Da Hu lowered her head and sniffed. Okay, there was a little smell. She took off her coat and said, "I'm worried about you. I've boiled some water. Go wash first, girl."
…
After returning to the capital, the Crown Prince was imprisoned in the Eastern Palace, and Emperor Huanyu began to take action. Just as Fu Huaiying had expected, he did not bring up the matter of the dragon-patterned jade pendant, but only demoted several court officials, who happened to be close confidants of King Huan.
"Your Majesty is trying to teach him a lesson, telling him that I saw everything he did and that I just turned a blind eye to it before."
"Prince Huan has been visiting Grand Tutor Xu's residence quite often these past few days, always saying he wants to drink tea and chat." Lin Yan'an poured her a cup of tea. "Try it. It comes from the south. There's a mountain over there that specializes in producing this kind of tea. It's warm and nourishing."
Fu Huaiying took it and took a sip. "Not bad."
"I just asked Hefeng to give it to Dahu. If you like it, I have more after you finish it."
"I still have some. Chen Ming started work yesterday. Did he say hello to you?"
Lin Yan'an nodded. "He came to my house yesterday and said he wanted to thank you. He also brought this tea. He's clearly standing in line with you."
"It's not noble."
Lin Yan'an smiled, "His son is ill. He got sick many years ago due to the privacy of the family home. Now Master Runqing is treating him."
Run Qing is the old marquis's best friend. As he is old, he doesn't come out easily unless the old marquis personally asks him to.
Fu Huaiying raised her eyes and sighed, "Hit the snake at its most vulnerable part."
Lin Yan'an smiled without saying anything. There was nothing Huaiying couldn't do. Even if he couldn't, he would make her succeed.
There was a commotion outside, the voices were so chaotic that I couldn't make out what was going on.
Fu Huaiying took a sip of tea and lowered his eyes to look at the bustling street. "It's Suning."
Lin Yan'an also leaned over to look. Su Ning had a conflict with someone, and the Su family's servants were holding sticks and glaring at the people nearby.
He raised his hand and called the waiter over, "Go and see what's going on downstairs?"
Fu Huaiying glanced back, then turned back to look. At this moment, Su Ning had already set up the desk downstairs, took out a pen and paper and started writing.
The waiter came up from downstairs and said, "Sir, we've inquired carefully. There's a failed candidate who's been making wild claims, accusing Master Su of cheating on the imperial examination. Cheating in the imperial examination is no small matter. The Su family's servants are naturally furious, but Master Su is good-tempered and is willing to publicly testify to his innocence."
Lin Yan'an raised an eyebrow and looked at Fu Huaiying, "Sister, did you teach him this trick?"
Literati and poets, if they have no fame, naturally want to earn some for themselves.
Fu Huaiying laughed. "I only care about official affairs, not reputations. However, if he wants to build his own reputation, I won't stop him."
Lin Yan'an looked down again and saw that Su Ning had finished writing his article. Those who had ridiculed him were actually waiting quietly for him to finish. The article was circulated one by one, and everyone praised it highly.
Suddenly, a different voice emerged from the side. "You are quite impressive. Just now you were sarcastic and wanted to ruin my future, but now you have an expression of admiration. How about this? I'll set up a stage, and you and Master Su can perform again?"
After hearing this, Su Ning's face darkened. He turned his head and saw a man in green clothes with patches on the waist standing there staring at him. When he saw him looking at him, the man sneered and looked at him without fear.
Su Ning looked at him for a moment without saying much. He looked up and happened to see Fu Huaiying. He then put on a smile and stepped in.
"Who is this person? Why have I never seen him before?"
Fu Huaiying followed Lin Yan'an's gaze and happened to meet the eyes of the man standing by the wall. She looked back calmly, "I don't know him, but he looks familiar."
As he spoke, Su Ning came up. He smiled, raised his hand, and gently knocked on the door twice. "Young Marquis, Miss Fu, I'm sorry to bother you. Would you mind having some tea together?"
Don't hit someone who smiles at you. Since he said so, Fu Huaiying couldn't refuse. "It just so happens that Yan An brought me some tea from the south. You can try it too."
"Then I will respectfully obey your command."
Lin Yan'an half-lay down and looked at him, with a playful smile on his face, "Mr. Su, this tea of mine is not cheap, can you give me something in exchange?"
Suning knew it was just a joke, but he still responded seriously, "What does the young marquis want in exchange?"
"Just kidding, I don't need your cup of tea, sit down."
"Thank you very much, young marquis."
"Hey, what happened downstairs just now?"
Su Ning's face froze. He didn't believe that Lin Yan'an didn't know. Now he asked suddenly, it couldn't be just a casual chat. Could it be that he wanted to laugh at him?
"It's just a small matter, not worth mentioning."
Lin Yanan smiled and didn't ask any more questions.
Su Ning sat down below Fu Huaiying, took the tea she handed over, and took a sip. "Good tea."
Lin Yan'an raised his eyelids slightly and said casually, "I didn't get to congratulate Young Master Su on his admission to high school, but I'm going to make up for it today. I wish him good luck in finding a good partner."
Fu Huaiying looked up at him and said, "He's in high school, shouldn't I wish him a bright future?"
"Since you've already graduated, you naturally don't have to worry about your future," Lin Yan'an played with the ring in his hand. "It's just that Master Su has a close female friend, but she's a bit reluctant, and he's still looking for one. I think if I could wish him to find her soon, that would probably be more to his liking than wishing him a bright future. Don't you agree, Master Su?"
After hearing this, Su Ning could no longer sit still. He stood up with a very bad look on his face, "What do you mean, young marquis?"
Lin Yan'an still had that nonchalant, irritating look on his face. "It's nothing. Mr. Su is a scholar with deep thoughts. It's just a few casual words. Why get so excited? I won't do anything."
"You!" Su Ning looked at him coldly, "Young Marquis, are you threatening me?"
Lin Yanan laughed, "I told you, it's just a casual chat, why bother with it?"
As he spoke, he casually flicked his ring without even looking up, and instantly, a shattering sound was heard.
Su Ning looked back and saw the jade bottle on the table shattered all over the floor.
His face darkened, and he didn't even bother to put on a show. He said goodbye to Fu Huaiying directly, "Fu Zhibi, I have other things to do. Come to my house someday and I'll treat you to tea."
Fu Huaiying nodded, "Sorry, Yan An likes to joke around."
Suning shook his head and turned away.
After he left, Fu Huaiying turned to look at the troublemaker in front of her, "What's going on? How did he provoke you? Or are you trying to get something out of him by provoking him?"
"No, I just don't like him."
Fu Huaiying lowered her eyes, "The young marquis has a bad temper."
Seeing that she was angry, Lin Yanan could only speak honestly, "He is Huan Wang's man."
Fu Huaiying paused while pouring tea, "Just because of this?"
"I don't believe that the witchcraft incident that day was not his doing."
When Lin Yan'an said this, she understood. It turned out that he was resentful of Su Ning for making plans for King Huan behind his back and including her in the scheme.
Fu Huaiying raised her hand and touched his head to comfort him, "But you have to compensate for this jade bottle."
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