Chapter 27 The Third Prince Invites Her to Meet at the Tea House
The following day, a rumor spread from somewhere in the Prince's mansion that the child in Yun Zhaoxue's belly was not Xiao Xuance's, but rather the child of her lover.
Red Dates and Green Branches went to the kitchen to get breakfast.
They brought it back in the morning, but the two of them had messy hair and their clothes were covered in dust, as if they had rolled around in the ground.
"How did you all get into this state? Did you get into a fight?"
“Princess, you are truly a prophet. Those people went too far, actually saying that your child is not a suitable heir. When Lüzhi and I heard them talking, we went up to argue with them, but they even argued back. We couldn’t stand it, so we fought with them, and we even won.”
"Oh, how many are you two fighting?"
Green Branch answered softly, "Reporting to the Princess, five."
"Not bad, their combat power is off the charts, two against five."
"Princess, I will definitely continue to work hard. If they still dare to gossip that the young master is not the young master's biological son, I will tear their mouths apart."
"Fine! If you can't beat them, then I, the princess, will back you up." Yun Zhaoxue picked up a piece of pastry, felt something was off, and broke it open to find a note inside.
"Bianhe Teahouse, Room No. 1 (Top Class)".
The Third Prince's handwriting?
What do you want with her?
Does he want to stand up for Yun Jiaoyue and get her dowry back, or does he want her to do things for him?
In the afternoon, they arrived at the private room of the teahouse designated by the Third Prince, where two guards stood at the door.
The other person saw her and opened the door for her.
Red Dates and Green Branches wanted to follow them in, but the guards at the gate blocked them at the entrance with their sword sheaths crossed.
"Please wait!"
The two were worried about his safety and were so anxious that they tried to rush in, "Princess..."
Yun Zhaoxue said, "You two wait for me outside. I'll be out soon."
The third prince stood by the window, dressed in a crescent-white brocade robe, his hair tied up with a silver crown, holding a folding fan, exuding elegance and refinement.
"Greetings, Your Highness the Third Prince."
Zhao Xuan grasped her wrist through her clothes and helped her up. "Xue'er, it's just the two of us here, there's no need to be so formal."
Yun Zhaoxue subtly avoided the question, saying, "Your Highness, please speak plainly."
"Xue'er, when did you become so distant from me?"
Yun Zhaoxue said, "I am already married, and Your Highness will soon be getting married as well. We should avoid suspicion."
The third prince thought she was jealous, and looked at her affectionately, saying, "Whether I marry or not, my feelings for you will never change."
Yun Zhaoxue didn't believe it. Men's words are deceitful; one second they say they love this person, the next they say they love that person.
"What business does Your Highness have with me? Is it to get back the betrothal gifts to avenge Yun Jiaoyue?"
"The main purpose is to catch up, and secondly, I want to know how you escaped from the Qin family villa that day? Who helped you in secret?"
The drugging of Qin Hu and others at the Qin Family Villa, the emptying of the Marquis's Mansion, and the Assassin's Guild are all related to Yun Zhaoxue.
He guessed that it might be the people from the Prince of Zhenbei's mansion who were secretly helping her, and that overnight, without anyone noticing, they had emptied the Hu mansion, leaving not even a single bed frame.
With at least a hundred people, the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion's hidden power should not be underestimated.
If he can use this group of people, he will be one step closer to that position.
Yun Zhaoxue pretended to recall the events of that day, feigning ignorance and saying, "I can't remember. I remember being knocked unconscious and hung up. When I woke up, I was back at the Prince's Mansion."
Who knocked you unconscious?
"Qin Hu and Shen Yan, they deserve it."
"Is there no one else besides them? Think again, is there a group of highly skilled secret guards or bodyguards?"
"I remember now, I also heard them shouting that there were ghosts, ghosts, don't come any closer... and then I don't remember anything else."
Put it on ghosts, let's see how you investigate.
The Third Prince didn't believe this explanation. "There are no ghosts in the world, only people who pretend to be ghosts. It must be a person in disguise. Does Xiao Xuance have any female bodyguards?"
"No, he was surrounded by men, not even a personal maid or a concubine."
"Xue'er, keep a close eye on them. If a group of highly skilled martial artists appear in the Prince's mansion, send someone to keep an eye on them, and then find a way to send a message to me."
"What does Your Highness intend to do? Do you want to persuade them or kill them?"
"You don't need to worry about that, I have my own plans."
As Yun Zhaoxue left the teahouse, passersby were discussing that the Prince of Zhenbei was going to be interrogated, have his property confiscated, and be exiled.
Some people also believe that the Prince of Zhenbei was wronged.
The two sides started arguing.
Throughout history, how many loyal ministers and valiant generals have died?
"If the Prince of Zhenbei really wanted to rebel, why didn't he rebel before being captured, but instead voluntarily allowed himself to be escorted back to the capital and died on the way back? There must be something fishy going on."
"Because the family of the Prince of Zhenbei was still in the capital, they were not prepared and thought the emperor would not kill him. They did not expect to die on the way."
"Why did the Prince of Zhenbei, who risked his life and sacrificed two sons of the Great Zhou Dynasty and showed no dissatisfaction with the court before, suddenly rebel?"
"I heard that the second prince of the enemy country personally admitted that the Prince of Zhenbei colluded with him, so there's no way it could be false."
"Yes, the Prince of Zhenbei's family deserved to die. They died well and were justified. The family members of this traitor should be exiled to the army. The men should be beheaded and the women should be forced into prostitution."
A group of people echoed, "Those who collude with the enemy and betray their country deserve a terrible death; they should all be beheaded."
...
Yun Zhaoxue returned to the Prince's Mansion, but hadn't even reached the courtyard yet.
Xiao Xuanwu rushed out from around the corner, his voice urgent, "Third Sister-in-law, I want to borrow five thousand taels of silver from you."
Xiao Xiuning, who arrived shortly after, said, "Borrow what? She owes us this."
"What do you need so much silver for?"
Xiao Xiuning said irritably, "It's none of your business. Our royal family also has a share of the silver we got back from the Marquis's mansion. Why won't you give it to us? If you won't give it to us, then take it yourself."
“If you don’t tell me what you’re coming for, I won’t give it to you. If you dare to take it yourself, I’ll tell my mother that you stole my money.”
Xiao Xiuning: "I'm taking back what belongs to our royal family. It's taking, not stealing."
The eldest sister-in-law, Xie Wanyun, also came over: "Third sister-in-law, in three days, the Emperor will go to Huangjue Temple to offer incense. We plan to spend some money to have the people say some good things about the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion's contributions to the Great Zhou in front of the Emperor, so that the Emperor will spare our third brother and the Prince's Mansion."
“Sister-in-law, we can’t do that. The Emperor is wary of the Xiao family’s high achievements. If he hears the people’s support for the Prince’s Mansion during the retrial, he will not let the Prince’s Mansion off the hook. So we have to do the opposite. We have to spend money to bribe others to speak ill of the Prince’s Mansion.”
The crowd thought it made sense, but what if they angered the emperor and he ordered their homes to be confiscated and their heads to be beheaded on the spot, without even a trial? Wouldn't that be even more unjust?
Xiao Xiuning thought so too: “Yun Zhaoxue, you just want to kill Third Brother and the Prince’s Mansion so you can run away with your lover. Don’t think I don’t know who you went to see today.”
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