Chapter 384 Shen Chu, I misjudged you
"Your Highness, please wait." His trusted aide quickly stopped Prince Heng. "It would be inappropriate to go directly to the palace to report to His Majesty."
Prince Heng frowned. "What's wrong?"
The confidant explained, "Your Highness, think about it. Prince Rui is the commander of the Flying Eagle Guard, who oversees all the officials in the court."
Logically, his Flying Eagle Guard should be the place where news travels the fastest in the capital. If you go directly to the palace and tell His Majesty that Prince Rui has gone to Yangzhou in private and is not in the capital at all, it would be a big deal.
His Majesty will surely be furious at first, but what will he think of the Prince after his anger subsides?
Prince Heng gradually calmed down, and the excitement he felt after reading the note faded away.
"My father might think that I have better information than the Flying Eagle Guards, or that I have other sources of information in private."
Either he thinks I've been secretly keeping an eye on Prince Rui's residence, and since he always hoped for brotherly harmony between us, he'll definitely be unhappy with me because of this.
The confidant nodded, "Your Highness is wise."
Prince Heng paced back and forth in the room for a moment with his hands behind his back, and said, "The fact that the sixth prince is not in the capital must be revealed, but it cannot be revealed by me."
It would be best if Father Emperor discovered it himself; that would make him even angrier and more furious.
"This plan is excellent. Your Highness might want to think about it further. Why would Prince Rui go to Yangzhou in secret? What is he doing there?"
Prince Heng: "Sixth Prince is cunning and always acts cautiously, so why would he suddenly go to Yangzhou this time?"
Did he secretly investigate the case in Yangzhou?
As soon as he finished speaking, Prince Heng quickly denied it.
“If he wants to go to Yangzhou to investigate a case, he can ask his father for permission. There’s no need for him to go secretly.”
Unless he acted for personal purposes, and specifically for ulterior motives.
The confidant hesitated, seemingly lost in thought.
"There were rumors in the capital that Lord Shen and Prince Rui were homosexual. Could it be that Prince Rui went to Yangzhou for Shen Chu's sake?"
Your Highness, we can't just focus on Prince Rui's trip to Yangzhou. We should send someone to Yangzhou to investigate as soon as possible.
If it truly was for Shen Chu's sake, then the three acts of secretly going to Yangzhou, secretly meeting with Shen Chu, and having homosexual tendencies would be enough to bring Prince Rui down.
Prince Heng's eyes lit up. "Sir, your words are truly enlightening! This matter certainly needs a thorough investigation. Guards!"
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On the official road leading from Yangzhou to the capital, two fast horses galloped past.
Thunder rumbled in the sky, and soon large raindrops began to fall.
Sun Yan put his hand to his forehead and looked ahead. He saw dark clouds rolling in, making it hard to breathe.
"Your Highness, it's raining. Let's go ahead and take shelter from the rain, rest for a while, and then continue."
Pei Yuan leaned forward, almost lying on the horse's back.
"No, I remember there's a post station fifty miles ahead. Let's speed up and get there before dark."
Once we arrived, we changed our clothes and horses, and continued our journey.
It's better to arrive in the capital a little earlier than late.
Seeing that he was pursing his lips and looking solemn, Sun Yan quickly waved the reins.
"Giddy up!"
The two horses quickly disappeared into the rain.
The rain drizzled for two days, and it wasn't until the evening of the second day that the sun gradually came out.
Shen Chu spent two whole days calculating and finally sorted out all the accounts of the Yangzhou government.
She rubbed her sore wrist and touched the jade bracelet on it, momentarily stunned.
This was a bracelet that Pei Yuan personally put on her wrist before he left Yangzhou.
"These are my mother's belongings, which I have always treasured. I brought them with me when I came to Yangzhou this time."
If your mother were still alive, she would definitely like you very much.
Pei Yuan carefully slipped the bracelet onto her wrist, kissed her, and then left.
"Be good and wait for me to come back."
Pei Yuan has been gone for two days, and no one knows where he is now.
I never knew what longing was, but now that I do, I am consumed by it.
As Chen Chu stroked the jade bracelet, she thought of Pei Yuan.
The faint sounds of arguing could be heard outside.
Chen Chu snapped out of her daze, opened the door, and went outside.
"Chen Chu, I'm just asking you, when will you release them?"
At the entrance to the courtyard, Li Anning, dressed in fiery red, glared angrily at Ling Ce.
Ling Ce patiently explained:
"Didn't I already explain to you? He Wei and Jiang Xun haven't divorced yet, so she's considered a member of the Jiang family and can't leave for the time being."
As you've seen, she and Madame Chiang are accompanied by servants in the backyard; no one will make things difficult for them.
Li Anning angrily pulled out a divorce agreement.
"Who said there was no divorce? She signed a divorce agreement with Jiang Xun on the day Prefect Jiang was arrested. She can no longer be considered a member of the Jiang family."
Ling Ce stared at the divorce papers in her hand. "She signed the divorce papers, but did Jiang Xun sign them?"
Li Anning's face stiffened, and he stroked the long whip at his waist, his face full of anger.
"Jiang Xun is a scumbag. He refuses to sign the divorce papers and keeps saying that as long as he is the son-in-law of the He family, the He family cannot abandon him."
He even shamelessly asked He Wei to go back to the He family to plead for him, so that the He family would want to take him away as well.
Bah, you bastard! You schemed to marry He Wei just to take advantage of the He family.
He married He Wei but didn't cherish her, keeping her locked up at home every day and even hitting her.
Now that he's a prisoner, he's only thinking about how good He Wei was, and he even dares to dream of not getting a divorce? Humph, no way!
Li Anning became increasingly angry as she spoke, "He Wei is already so pitiful, can't you just release her first?"
I assure you she won't take anything from the Jiang family. I can accompany her back to the He family first.
"Send Commander He to talk to Chiang Hsun about a divorce; Chiang Hsun certainly won't dare to be so arrogant then."
Ling Ce pinched the bridge of his nose.
“We are currently sorting out and liquidating the Jiang family’s assets. Once everything is sorted out, Miss He can leave with her dowry.”
Li Anning was furious.
"Why are you so inflexible? Why can't you be more adaptable? Why can't you let her leave first?"
Ling Ce smiled wryly, "It's not that I'm rigid, it's just..."
Rather, it was indeed against the laws of the imperial court, and given Ling Ce's temperament, he would naturally have followed Li Anning's wishes.
But now that he's in his junior sister's shoes, he's hesitant to act rashly.
Prefect Jiang's crimes are irrefutable. Currently, none of Jiang's family members have been fully interrogated. Strictly speaking, they are all relatives of a criminal official and cannot be released easily.
He was afraid that if he caused trouble for his junior sister, things would get really bad.
Little did he know that his hesitation only made Li Anning even angrier.
"Chen Chu, am I begging you?"
Ling Ce hesitated for a moment, then whispered, "I'm sorry."
A deep sense of disappointment flashed in Li Anning's eyes, and she couldn't help but raise the whip in her hand.
"Chen Chu, I misjudged you."
The whip lashed straight at Ling Ce.
Ling Ce clenched his fist but did not dodge.
A hand appeared in mid-air, and Shen Chu grabbed Li Anning's whip.
"Miss Li, let's talk this out."
Li Anning was already furious, and seeing Shen Chu wearing a veil made her even angrier.
"It's you again. I heard you've been staying in this courtyard for two or three days. What's your relationship with him?"
"Are you the one who encouraged him to not let He Wei go, since you're always inseparable like this?"
Shen Chu explained, "Miss Li, you've misunderstood."
Li Anning waved her hand, "Don't talk to me about useless things. I'm here to ask if He Wei can be released. This has nothing to do with you. Move aside."
Having said that, he raised his whip to strike again.
Fearing that she might hurt Shen Chu, Ling Ce quickly stepped forward to shield Shen Chu.
Unexpectedly, the whip turned in mid-air and ripped off the veil on Shen Chu's head.
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