Chapter 240 Let’s have a competition first. Does Lord Shen dare?
"Master Wei, this is the women's camp. Why are you here?"
The two people who were talking were both horrified when they saw Wei Lingze suddenly appear. Wei Lingze did not answer, but stared at them and asked, "What were you talking about just now?"
The Queen had already ordered that no private discussions were allowed, so how could the two dare to tell the truth? They quickly denied it, saying, "You heard wrongly. We didn't say anything. It's too late. We need to go back and rest."
The two were about to leave when they saw Wei Lingze reaching out to stop them. He couldn't help but raise his voice: "Master Wei, if you continue like this, we'll call for help!"
Wei Lingze frowned, feeling even more irritated. Yun Wantang suddenly came over and asked, "Ze'er, what are you doing?"
Seeing Yun Wantang, Wei Lingze withdrew his hand and let the two people leave. Then he whispered, "I heard them talking about me just now. Auntie, do you know what happened today?"
After hesitating for a moment, Yun Wantang pulled Wei Lingze to a more private place and said, "Mrs. Shen publicly accused you of having an illegitimate child today, and the Xiao family has already investigated the situation based on the clues she provided. Tell me honestly, do you have a child?"
When Wei Lingze heard the conversation between the two people, he already had some guesses, but when it was really confirmed by Yun Wantang, Wei Lingze still gritted his teeth in hatred.
He knew that Cao Chunxi had made such a fuss in Yunzhou under the name of the Wei family just to set a trap for him.
The Xiao family was already dissatisfied with him because of the drugging incident, and now that the illegitimate child was involved, they had even more reason to break off the relationship with the Wei family.
He should have had Cao Chunxi cut into pieces last time!
Wei Lingze's face was gloomy, and his whole body was filled with murderous intent. He took a deep breath and denied every word: "No, I have never touched other women except He'er, and it is even more impossible for me to have a child with him."
Yun Wantang breathed a sigh of relief. Although she had not been in Hanjing in recent years, she had been in close correspondence with her elder sister. Her elder sister trusted her very much. If Ze'er really had an illegitimate child, her elder sister would definitely not hide it from her.
However, Ze'er was paralyzed in bed before, and everyone in the Imperial Hospital was helpless. My sister did think of leaving a descendant for Ze'er, and secretly recruited some women with clean backgrounds to live in the mansion.
Cao Chunxi must have used this incident to confuse the public.
Yun Wantang had already thought of a plan to deal with this. She immediately comforted Wei Lingze, "Don't worry, Ze'er. I won't let anyone throw dirty water on you. Once the storm has passed, I'll help persuade He'er to change her mind. First, focus all your energy on the competition with Xuanyuan Lang. As long as you win the competition, everything will be solved."
Yun Wantang was scolded by Chunxi today and felt embarrassed in front of everyone, so she claimed to be unwell and did not attend the dinner. Therefore, she did not know that Wei Lingze had been overshadowed by Shen Qingyuan.
Hearing her words, Wei Lingze clenched his fists and replied after a long while: "Don't worry, auntie, I won't lose."
Yun Wantang smiled and said softly, "Of course my aunt believes you. You are the youngest and most promising man ever recorded in the Wei family tree. Zhen'er and Yue'er really admire you as their big brother."
Yun Wantang spoke sincerely, her face full of pride. Wei Lingze was comforted and said a few more words to her before preparing to return to the tent to rest. When he was about to reach the tent, he found a small fire burning not far away. Shen Qingyuan and Chunxi were sitting next to each other beside the fire, roasting a wild rabbit. The prince consort and Princess Hengyang were sitting opposite them. The prince consort was holding a beautiful guinea pig to present to Princess Hengyang.
Under the firelight, Chunxi's eyes were bright and her smile was brilliant. Feeling that the rabbit was almost roasted, she cut off a piece and fed it to Shen Qingyuan's mouth.
Shen Qingyuan lowered his head and ate it. Chunxi said something with anticipation, as if asking him how it tasted. Shen Qingyuan quickly leaned over and kissed Chunxi on the lips.
Chunxi was stunned for a moment, and then smiled even more brightly.
The two of them behaved intimately and naturally, and it was clear that they had a very good relationship. There was no trace of pretense at all.
Wei Lingze's clenched fists kept making noises, and hatred surged in his heart, burning his internal organs.
Cao Chunxi first teamed up with the people from Wuyou Pavilion to set up a trap to lure him to Yunshan Temple to catch an adulterer. Now he has even alienated his relationship with He'er and slandered him in public, accusing him of having an illegitimate child. How exactly has he done anything wrong to her?
When she first came to Lingfengyuan, he had a bad temper and did hurt her a few times, but after he accepted her to serve him, he rewarded her from time to time. In the last year, he even took her out to banquets often and gave her enough respect. Why was she so ungrateful and bit back?
Wei Lingze's hatred was almost condensed into cold arrows to shoot Chunxi into a sieve. Chunxi quickly noticed it and wanted to turn back, but Shen Qingyuan stopped her: "Don't look, it's dirty."
As soon as she finished speaking, Princess Hengyang came over and stuffed the embroidered rat into Chunxi's arms: "I don't like raising these things. Ah Xi, please help me raise them."
"This is something the prince consort spent an entire day finding specifically for the princess. How can a humble servant steal it away from her?"
Chunxi returned the jeweled rat to Princess Hengyang. Seeing that she refused to accept it, she said seriously, "I don't like keeping pets, but I do know a lot about food. This jeweled rat looks quite plump. If the princess really doesn't like it, I'll skin it alive..."
Before Chunxi could finish her words, Princess Hengyang took the golden rat back with her. She said with a sullen expression, "Axi, you've gained a lot of weight. Stop thinking about eating and drinking all day long."
“…”
Princess, if you can’t bear to part with the golden rat, just say so. Why are you bringing up my weight gain?
Chunxi glanced at the jeweled rat with a bit of resentment. Then she felt an itch on her waist. Shen Qingyuan pinched her waist and said seriously, "You've gained a little weight, but not enough. I think you can gain a little more flesh."
Chunxi slapped Shen Qingyuan's hand away, and when she turned her head, she could no longer see Wei Lingze.
On the second day, everyone still had to go into the enclosure to hunt, but the rules had changed. They only had one morning to hunt. Those who didn't catch any prey would be automatically eliminated. Those who caught prey could challenge others, and the winner could get the other person's prey. Through continuous competition, the final winner would be the winner of this year's winter hunt.
Soon, the morning passed.
The prince consort did not hunt any prey, but only brought back a bunch of pine cones and weeds that the hamsters loved to eat. Shen Qingyuan, Wei Lingze and Xuanyuan Lang all hunted a lot of prey, so no one dared to challenge them and could only pick on the weak ones first.
Xuanyuan Lang was getting bored waiting and was about to challenge Wei Lingze when Wei Lingze suddenly looked at Shen Qingyuan and said, "Do you dare to compete with me?"
Shen Qingyuan didn't say whether he dared or not, but only glanced at Wei Lingze: "Are you sure?"
"I'm sure."
The two reached a consensus. After the palace servant reported, he came back and said, "Master Wei, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said that this winter hunt is to let the envoys see the talents of our dynasty. Master Wei should not waste his energy challenging his own people."
The implication is that the prince does not support their competition.
Wei Lingze insisted, "I have good physical strength. After beating Lord Shen, I can beat Xuanyuan Lang without any problem. If Lord Shen is afraid, he can admit defeat now."
Shen Qingyuan didn't say anything, just snorted softly.
The palace servant who delivered the message: “…”
You two didn't hear a single word that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said.
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