Chapter 66
"Waste! A bunch of waste!" Second Prince Shen Yanzhao kicked over the flower table beside him, and the fine celadon vase fell to the ground and shattered into pieces. "What's the point of me keeping you? You can't even beat a woman! A cheap concubine and a discarded concubine have you fooling around!"
Kneeling on the ground was an aide, the very one who had advised Wen Yue to use witchcraft to frame Song Qingyuan. At that moment, he was so frightened that his face turned pale and his whole body was shaking like a sieve.
"Your Highness, please calm down, calm down! Who... who could have imagined that Song Qingyuan would be so cunning, playing by his own rules, and actually resorting to pretending to be crazy and stupid to break the situation..."
"What's the point of saying this now!" Shen Yanzhao paced back and forth in anger, his eyes filled with sinister intent. "My father will summon the seventh brother for questioning tomorrow. It's called questioning, but in reality, it's a warning to me! That idiot Wen Yue actually betrayed me. He deserves to die!"
"Your Highness, the most urgent task is to prevent Old Seven from getting any more evidence against him." Another older staff member spoke in a deep voice, "Wen Yue has gone mad, and the words of a madman are of no use.
As long as we firmly deny it and find a way to silence her forever, there is still room for improvement."
"Shut up forever?" A fierce look flashed in Shen Yanzhao's eyes. "But she's now imprisoned in the dungeon of the Seventh Prince's Mansion. The guards are tight. How can we do it?"
"If the open approach doesn't work, let's try covertly." The long-bearded aide stepped forward and lowered his voice. "Your Highness, we can't touch Wen Yue, but can't we touch a little Song Qingyuan? This turmoil, in the final analysis, was caused by her.
If anything happens to her, Old Seven will be distracted. Then we can maneuver and put all the blame on her, saying she framed Wen Yue and tried to win the emperor's favor... wouldn't that be wonderful?"
Shen Yanzhao stopped walking, squinted his eyes, and pondered the words of his staff carefully.
"Your Highness, think about it. A disgraced abandoned concubine and a prince with a promising future. Who would His Majesty trust? As long as we do it cleanly and make her die of 'illness' or 'accident', there will be no evidence. Even if the Seventh Prince has suspicions, he can do nothing!"
"Alright!" Shen Yanzhao slammed his palm on the table, his eyes flashing with ferocity. "That's it! Not only will I kill her, I'll make her die in disgrace! I want to see how Old Seven can fight me without this woman!"
A more sinister and vicious conspiracy against Song Qingyuan was quietly woven in the middle of the night. At this moment, Song Qingyuan had just put away the chess pieces, extinguished the lights, and lay in bed, but he had no desire to sleep.
She knew that Shen Yanzhi's draw was only a temporary truce. The real storm might have just begun. She needed to gather her strength for the next, perhaps even more dangerous, battle.
The next morning, before daybreak, Shen Yanzhi had already entered the palace in a sedan chair.
Song Qingyuan got up very early, but contrary to his usual behavior, he did not read books or fiddle with flowers and plants. He just sat in front of the window, quietly drinking a bowl of bird's nest porridge.
Xiao Tao waited on the side, her heart racing as she watched her master's calm profile. She felt as if the atmosphere in Hibiscus Garden had changed since the prince's visit last night. An indescribable tension permeated the quiet.
"Master, are you worried about the prince?" Xiao Tao couldn't help but ask in a low voice.
Song Qingyuan paused while scooping the porridge. He didn't answer, but simply instructed, "Go, take out the jade Guanyin statue from the previous dynasty from the warehouse and pack it carefully."
"Ah? What are you going to do with that?" Xiao Tao was stunned. That was one of the most valuable things in the master's dowry. She usually treasured it so much, why did she suddenly take it out?
"My father has always been fond of collecting antiques and jades. He has been looking for this Guanyin statue for a long time but has not found it. Tomorrow, you will go there in person and return it to the Song Mansion, and say that it is a gift from me to him." Song Qingyuan's tone was very calm, as if he was just talking about an ordinary matter.
Although Xiaotao was puzzled, she still answered "yes" obediently and turned around to do it.
Song Qingyuan looked at her back and added, "By the way, give my father a message. Tell him that the autumn wind is blowing and the weather is getting colder. Tell him to take care of his health and eat less cold food, especially... crabs sent by others."
In the golden autumn, when crabs are plump and golden, the Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs are the favorite of the powerful and influential in Beijing. Song Qingyuan's father, Song Jingguo, was not only a university scholar but also a renowned gourmet, and he particularly loved this delicacy.
If the Second Prince wanted to attack him, it would be easy for him to just give him a "problematic" crab.
Although Xiao Tao was confused by what she heard, she still kept this sentence firmly in her heart. She vaguely felt that her master must have a deeper meaning behind this.
Sure enough, Song Qingyuan’s premonition was correct.
It was already afternoon when Shen Yanzhi returned from the palace. He didn't go straight back to his study, but instead once again visited Hibiscus Garden. Song Qingyuan was sitting under the pomegranate tree in the courtyard, a pair of scissors in hand, slowly trimming an overgrown orchid.
“It seems that you have peace and quiet here.” Shen Yanzhi’s voice came from behind.
Song Qingyuan didn't turn around, nor did he stop what he was doing. He just replied calmly, "There's always a calm before the storm."
Shen Yanzhi walked over to her and watched her neatly cut off a stray flower stalk before he slowly spoke, "Father reprimanded my second brother, fined him three months' salary, and confined him to the palace for a month."
This outcome was within Song Qingyuan's expectations. The emperor wanted balance, not fratricide. The most prudent approach was to punish the Second Prince and appease Shen Yanzhi. After all, Wen Yue was insane and dead, and there was no evidence. The ravings of a madman alone could not shake the foundation of a grown prince.
“However,” Shen Yanzhi changed the subject, his tone sinking, “When I left the palace, I met Censor Li from the Censorate at the palace gate.”
Song Qingyuan finally stopped cutting flowers. She raised her head and looked at Shen Yanzhi.
"Li Yushi is the Second Emperor's man." Shen Yanzhi's eyes were as cold as ice. "He stopped me and 'righteously' advised me that unrest in the backyard would be detrimental to the country and the family.
He also said that he had heard that the princess was extremely intelligent, but also extremely jealous, and had framed the concubines in the palace, causing unrest in the palace. He also 'kindly' reminded me that the Grand Secretary Song was honest and upright, and he must not let his daughter bring him down, as this would ruin his reputation in his later years.
These words seemed to be exhortations, but in reality, every word was a threat. Overtly attacking Song Qingyuan, secretly, he was putting a knife to the neck of her father, Song Jingguo.
Song Qingyuan's expression instantly turned cold, and the scissors in her hand creaked as she squeezed them. What she hated most was being threatened with her family. The Second Prince's move had precisely touched her bottom line.
"He's forcing me." Song Qingyuan's voice was chilling. "He's forcing me to end my life myself, or forcing you, Your Highness, to end my life yourself, to quell this storm and preserve the Song family's reputation."
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