Chapter 48 Seduction from 'Aunt'
Nanny Zhang stayed in the Eastern Palace for three days in fear.
During these three days, she used all her skills and used various methods to make the taste of the Marquisate in his memory for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.
In addition to fermented rice dumplings, there are also plum blossom cakes, chestnut cakes, and even a simple bowl of shredded chicken noodles.
Every dim sum dish was strictly inspected by Fu'an and the secret guards like a poison test before being presented to the prince.
Liu Xiao enjoyed the meal very much.
These familiar foods seemed to temporarily bridge the gap between the palace and the marquisate.
It relaxed his tense nerves a lot.
He even specially left a plate of Zhang Ma's most famous sweet-scented osmanthus sugar steamed chestnut flour cake.
She presented it to the emperor like a treasure: "Father, please try it. Aunt Zhang's cooking skills are excellent!"
The emperor looked at his son's bright eyes, and any jealousy he felt was thrown out of his mind. All that was left was the great satisfaction of "his son is filial to me."
He picked up a piece and put it in his mouth, tasting it carefully. Hmm, it was sweet but not greasy, with a rich chestnut aroma. It was indeed... somewhat unique.
Inner Thought: But my Imperial Kitchen can definitely do better! I'll have them research it later!
He waved his hand and said to Fu'an, "Madam Zhang has served the Crown Prince with great merit. Reward her! A generous reward! Give her fifty taels of gold, ten pieces of brocade, and a carriage to escort her back to the Marquis's residence!"
How generous of me! It's definitely not because I've almost mastered the technique!
Aunt Zhang left with many thanks, taking with her a generous reward and a magical experience that she could boast about for the rest of her life.
When she returned to the Marquis' Mansion, she immediately became a celebrity, surrounded by servants, who all asked her about what was happening in the palace.
Xiao Zhou took her hand and asked her in detail about the prince's diet and daily life. When she heard that her son liked the snacks she made, her eyes became red again, but her heart was warm.
However, behind this heartwarming episode, the net laid by the second prince Liu Cong caught some unusual ripples.
Liu Cong's men closely monitored everything in Weiyuan Marquis' Mansion.
They discovered that shortly after Aunt Zhang returned home, a steward in charge of purchasing the second room's expenses
He suddenly became much more generous, not only paying off his gambling debts but also buying a small house.
This attracted the attention of the secret guards.
After further investigation, it was discovered that the manager had "accidentally" met a foreign merchant in the restaurant a few days ago.
The two had a very pleasant conversation, and the merchant even gave him a box of expensive exotic spices.
According to investigation, the identity of the "traveling merchant" was forged, and his activities were vaguely close to the Huangzhuang area in the suburbs of Beijing!
Although the box of spices was found to be non-toxic, the coincidence was too strange.
Liu Cong immediately reported the news to the emperor.
The emperor's eyes turned cold instantly.
As expected! There really are some fearless bugs who want to take advantage of Xiao'er's old feelings for the Marquis' Mansion!
He snorted coldly, "Keep a close eye on that steward! And that fake merchant! I want to see what tricks they can come up with! Also...it's time to teach the Marquis's Mansion a lesson. They can't even manage their own servants!"
In the imperial villa outside the capital, Liu Jue learned that the first tentative plan did not seem to be effective and had been noticed, and he could not help but become anxious.
The mysterious contact sent him a message, asking him to stay calm and provided a second, more vicious plan.
"Since the Emperor is keeping a close eye on us, let's start from the outside. Isn't there a young lady from the Marquisate who has a crush on the Crown Prince?"
The mysterious man suggested sinisterly, "Find a way to get her an object that's stained with 'something', something from the prince or the palace.
What do you think the emperor would think if she got poisoned? Would he suspect there was a traitor around his beloved son?
Or do they suspect the Marquis of Weiyuan of failing to educate their daughter properly and attempt to use dirty tricks to get close to the Crown Prince, only to suffer the consequences? Either way, they will be in big trouble! It will drive a wedge between the Emperor, the Crown Prince, and the Marquis' Mansion!"
Liu Xuan's eyes lit up and he thought this was a great plan!
He immediately found a way to send a small bottle of colorless and odorless poison that takes effect slowly upon contact to a bribed maidservant of Cui Baiyu through an extremely secret channel.
The instruction was: find an opportunity to put the powder on an object that the prince might give to the young lady as a reward, such as a handkerchief, jade pendant, etc.
However, they never expected that since the steward was exposed, the entire marquisate, especially the second house, has been under the strict surveillance of the emperor and Liu Cong.
The little maid just got the medicine bottle and before she could take any action, she was caught red-handed by Liu Cong's secret guards!
The news was immediately reported to the emperor. The emperor was furious and wanted to order Liu Jue and the ignorant girl to be executed by slow slicing on the spot!
But Liu Cong tried to persuade him, "Father, calm down. Executing Liu Jue now would only alert the enemy and allow the mysterious person behind him to hide even deeper. Why don't we... take advantage of their trick?"
The emperor calmed down, a cold light flashing in his eyes: "Alright! As you say! I want to see what kind of evil spirits dare to plot against my son again and again!"
They quietly controlled the little maid and replaced the bottle with a powder that looked exactly the same but had no toxicity.
Then, he deliberately asked the prince to "reward" Cui Baiyu with an ordinary palace flower.
Cui Baiyu was overjoyed when he received the "reward" from the prince, thinking that his "infatuation" had finally moved the prince.
She wore the palace flower and paraded around the city all day long, dreaming of entering the East Palace, completely unaware that she had become the "bait" set by the emperor and his son to fish.
A potential crisis was quietly resolved with the joint efforts of the emperor and Liu Cong.
Seeing that Cui Baiyu was fine, the mysterious contact thought that the plan had failed or the drug had not taken effect yet, so he lay dormant for a while.
After this incident, the emperor's impression of Weiyuan Marquis' Mansion became more complicated.
On the one hand, he was grateful to the Marquis' Mansion for raising his son; on the other hand, he felt that the Marquis' Mansion was a nest of trouble and always brought danger to his son.
He issued an imperial edict to reprimand Marquis Weiyuan for not managing his household properly, fined him half a year's salary, and more strictly restricted the prince's contact with people outside the palace, especially the marquis's mansion.
Liu Xiao vaguely felt some storms, but he trusted that his father and second brother could handle everything.
He just worked harder to learn how to govern the country and practice martial arts, hoping that he could become stronger as soon as possible and no longer be protected under someone else's wings.
Cui Baiyu was still immersed in her dream until one day she found that the little maid who delivered the things suddenly "successfully fell ill and died".
I felt a little uneasy, but it was quickly suppressed by vanity.
Just when the turmoil in the capital had temporarily subsided, a fast horse arrived at Weiyuan Marquis Mansion with news from Qingzhou Yaowang Valley.
The news was for Hu Qing. His master, the master of Yaowang Valley, was critically ill!
When Hu Qing received the news, he immediately requested to see the emperor to explain the situation and hoped that His Majesty would allow him to leave the capital and return to the valley.
The emperor felt complicated as he looked at the real prince of Weiyuan who had lived among the people.
He admired Hu Qing's medical skills and character, and knew that he had saved the prince's life.
After pondering for a moment, the emperor approved Hu Qing's request and gave him a large amount of precious medicinal herbs, asking him to take them back to the valley to treat his master.
Hu Qing left Beijing in a hurry.
His departure temporarily took away the last aftermath of the controversy over the true and false prince of Weiyuan Marquis' Mansion, but it also left a new suspense - will there be any new discoveries in Yaowang Valley?
Will the truth behind the baby swap reveal new clues due to the old valley master's critical illness or recovery?
When Liu Xiao learned that Hu Qing had left Beijing, he felt a little disappointed.
He always felt a complicated sense of gratitude and apology towards the real prince.
He silently prayed that Hu Qing's master would recover.
The capital seemed to have returned to its former tranquility, but everyone knew that beneath this calm, undercurrents had never stopped surging.
The prince's journey of growth is destined to be filled with countless twists and turns, as well as tests of human nature. And the biggest storm may still be brewing in the distance.
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