Chapter 113 Invasion by a Neighboring Country
Su Wenliang? Upon hearing this name, Ye Wanning was stunned. After a long while, she came to her senses. She looked at Su Wenzhen, opened her mouth, and said, "No..."
Su Wenzhen's face turned increasingly ashen. After a while, he recovered and smiled at Ye Wanning. "Since that's the case, then there's nothing else." As he spoke, he reached out and affectionately patted Ye Wanning's head. "Wanning, something has happened, and I need to go back to the palace to check on things."
Hearing this, Ye Wanning nodded, then, as if remembering something, she grabbed Su Wenzhen's sleeve as he was about to leave. Ye Wanning bit her lip and looked at him, saying, "Wenzhen... has something... happened? About that day..."
"No." Su Wenzhen smiled gently at Ye Wanning, then stepped forward and embraced her. "Don't worry, it has nothing to do with what happened that day."
"But..." Ye Wanning frowned, her heart filled with unease. If it had nothing to do with that day... why ask her this?
As if sensing the unease of the person in his arms, Su Wenzhen reached out and gently patted Ye Wanning's back. After a while, he said, "Su Wenliang is missing."
"Huh?" Ye Wanning froze, looking up at Su Wenzhen with a puzzled expression. "How could this be..."
Su Wenzhen tightened his embrace around Ye Wanning. After a long while, he sighed and looked at Ye Wanning, "The scouts have reported that traces of the Qiang army have been discovered near the border..."
"What!" Upon hearing this, Ye Wanning was startled, her grip on Su Wenzhen's collar tightening. "So that means..."
Su Wenzhen frowned, and after a long while, he spoke with some uncertainty, "The Qiang Kingdom has always been peaceful, but I don't know why they seized the opportunity this time, taking advantage of Father Emperor's serious illness and the internal strife in the court to invade." He paused, then added, "But only those in the palace and close ministers knew about Father Emperor's illness, and now the news has suddenly reached the Qiang Kingdom..."
Su Wenzhen gritted his teeth, looked at Ye Wanning, and sighed, "In addition, Wen Liang has disappeared again... The ministers suspect... that Wen Liang... might be a spy..."
Hearing this, Ye Wanning was speechless with shock. She looked at Su Wenzhen with a surprised expression, "Wenzhen...you..."
Su Wenzhen looked at Ye Wanning for a long while before speaking softly, "I think he does have a point of view."
“But…” Ye Wanning frowned. Although Su Wenliang had always harbored ill intentions towards her, he shouldn’t have done such a thing. After all, his mother had suffered such infamy. He… Ye Wanning clenched her fists and looked at Su Wenzhen, but she couldn’t bring herself to say what she wanted to say. If she defended Su Wenliang now, Su Wenzhen would probably misunderstand even more.
"What's wrong?" Seeing that Ye Wanning suddenly stopped talking again, Su Wenzhen raised an eyebrow, looked at her, and asked, "Why are you not talking again?"
"It's nothing." Ye Wanning pursed her lips and forced a smile. After a pause, she looked at Su Wenzhen and cautiously inquired, "So, what are you planning to do now?"
“Naturally, we must find Su Wenliang first.” Su Wenzhen frowned. “The court is in turmoil right now, it’s not the time for a major war. If we send troops to attack now, someone might take advantage of the situation, and then there will be chaos in Duyang City.” As he spoke, Su Wenzhen looked solemn. “It would be better to consider this matter carefully.”
"That's true." Ye Wanning nodded upon hearing this.
Looking at Ye Wanning, Su Wenzhen smiled, leaned down and gently kissed her forehead. "I have to go over there." He gave a gentle smile. "I'll have Jiang Hai escort you back to your residence."
Return to the manor? Ye Wanning was taken aback, then looked at Su Wenzhen and smiled. She pursed her lips and said, "You should let Jiang Hai accompany you. I can return to the manor by myself later."
Hearing this, Su Wenzhen looked at Ye Wanning and asked with some confusion, "What are you doing here?"
Ye Wanning raised an eyebrow at Su Wenzhen, "Of course I have things to do!"
After Su Wenzhen left, Ye Wanning tidied her clothes a little, and soon stepped out of the room, fanning herself with a fan.
"Young Master Ye!" The madam standing downstairs greeted Ye Wanning as she came down from upstairs, smiling broadly. "Why are you coming down now?" she asked, glancing back deliberately. "Where did that young master who was with you earlier go?"
"Ahem." Ye Wanning coughed lightly, a little embarrassed. She naturally understood what the madam meant. She grinned and looked at the madam. "He had something to do and just left. Madam, you seem so concerned about him..." Ye Wanning glanced at her thoughtfully. "That really makes me feel strange..."
"Look at what Young Master Ye is saying," the madam chuckled, fiddling with the handkerchief in her hand. "After all, Young Master Ye is now practically the manager of this Yichun Courtyard. How could I care about outsiders and not my own family?" The madam raised an eyebrow at Ye Wanning and said, "I only asked that because I saw that young master was on good terms with Young Master Ye. In the end, I'm just concerned about Young Master Ye!"
“Mother really has a sharp tongue.” Ye Wanning shook her head with a smile. She stepped forward and gently lifted the madam’s chin. “Speaking of managing things… it seems I haven’t properly managed the affairs of Yichun Courtyard yet. Today, since Mother brought this up, perhaps…” Ye Wanning winked at the madam, “why don’t we go upstairs and have a proper talk?”
"Good, good, good!" Hearing this, the madam laughed so hard she bent over. "That's exactly what Young Master Ye wanted to say!" With that, the madam waved the handkerchief in her hand at Ye Wanning in an ambiguous manner. "Young Master Ye, please come with me!"
“No problem!” Ye Wanning smiled and followed the madam up to the attic.
As soon as she reached the pavilion entrance, the aroma of tea wafted over. Pushing open the door, she saw Liu Xuan seemingly brewing tea. Upon seeing this, Ye Wanning was taken aback, "Young Master Liu, you..."
"The Princess Consort has arrived." Liu Xuan smiled to herself, but did not look up, continuing what she was doing. "Come in."
When the madam heard Liu Xuan address Ye Wanning in that way, she was naturally startled. Her gaze towards Ye Wanning became more scrutinizing. So this young master Ye... was actually a woman. Then who was the young master from before...? Thinking this, the madam's face turned pale.
"Judging from Qiao Niang's expression, it seems she hasn't discovered that Ye Ning is a woman?" Liu Xuan suddenly spoke up from the side.
"Qiao Niang?" Ye Wanning was taken aback and looked at the madam standing beside her. "Your name is Qiao Niang?"
"Yes, Your Highness." Upon hearing this, Qiao Niang hurriedly replied, giving Ye Wanning a deep bow. "This humble woman was blind and ignorant; I hope Your Highness will not..."
"Let's skip these formalities." Ye Wanning chuckled and quickly stepped forward to help Qiao Niang up. "Come to think of it, I've been to Yichun Courtyard so many times, and I never even knew your name was Qiao Niang."
"The Princess Consort never cared about me before." Hearing this, Qiao Niang covered her mouth and laughed. "Speaking of which, the Princess Consort is quite something. I never really thought that Young Master Ye was a woman!" Even when she saw the group arguing in the Peony Pavilion, she assumed...
As if sensing what Qiao Niang was thinking, Ye Wanning blushed and quickly looked at Liu Xuan to change the subject, saying, "Young Master Liu, why are you still here?"
"Why can't I be here?" Hearing this, Liu Xuan couldn't help but laugh. "To be honest, I specifically came here to wait for you."
"Wait for me?" Ye Wanning was taken aback, looking at Liu Xuan with some confusion. "Why are you waiting for me?"
“Of course…” Liu Xuan raised the corner of his mouth slightly and smiled at Ye Wanning, “What did the Princess want to see me about? I wanted to see the Princess about something.”
"You knew?" Upon hearing this, Ye Wanning was startled and quickly grabbed Liu Xuan's sleeve, her face full of tension. "How did you find out?"
Liu Xuan remained remarkably calm. He put down his tea set and turned to look at Ye Wanning with a serious expression. "Haven't you noticed that the peonies have disappeared these past few days?"
"Peony?" Upon hearing this name, Ye Wanning paused, then suddenly realized something. She looked at Liu Xuan with surprise, "You mean...Peony, she..."
“Yes.” Liu Xuan smiled and looked at Ye Wanning, saying calmly, “She went to do what she was supposed to do.”
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