"It's definitely not him."
As soon as he left the Prince's mansion, Lin Yanping rolled his eyes in a manner quite out of character. "The person behind it all definitely isn't this guy. His shallow brain is only filled with lust!"
"Hmm..." Lin Wanyue smiled and nodded, saying, "Dad, you guessed right."
The peace charms that Lin Wanyue distributed to everyone were indeed peace charms, but she had put something inside the talisman paper, which could be used to detect the person behind Liu Shuhua's creation.
The Second Prince Qi Rong held the talisman in front of them for a long time, but the talisman did not change at all. It was easy to tell that he was not the scheming mastermind behind the scenes.
After all, the body of the lord Lin Yanping had taught a group of princes, and he had some teacher-student relationship with them. Now, seeing the Second Prince Qi Rong in such a disgraceful and lecherous manner, he felt a surge of anger.
However, what neither of them expected was that the news of Lin Yanping suddenly leading Lin Wanyue to visit Qi Rong at the Second Prince's residence would reach the inner palace in just a few days.
When Lin Wanyue and her group arrived, they didn't disguise themselves. They were simply not high-profile people; they went directly there in a carriage.
...
Once the news reached the inner palace, things changed.
At least Consort Ye found this quite strange. She frowned and said to her trusted eunuch, "Send someone out to inquire whether that brat has offended the little princess. Otherwise, I have never heard of any interaction between the two of them. Why would I send the Prime Minister to secretly lead the little princess to cause him trouble?"
"This..." the trusted eunuch said in a low voice, "It shouldn't be that bad, right? Our prince is the most gentle-natured and doesn't like to have conflicts with people. He shouldn't offend the little princess, right? Besides, what the ladies said earlier makes a lot of sense. Maybe the little princess is just bored and wants to go play with our second prince?"
Consort Ye grabbed her teacup, took a sip of cold tea, and a cold smile appeared on her usually dignified and rigid face. "They are so far apart in age. If that good-for-nothing had fathered some child while he was away establishing his own residence, and the little princess went to play with him, I would believe it. But what could that good-for-nothing possibly have that would warrant the little princess's personal visit? And she even went with Prime Minister Lin. There must be something fishy going on here!"
"..." The trusted eunuch lowered his head and dared not speak.
Consort Ye looked down on her own son, but no matter how much she disliked the Second Prince Qi Rong, he was still the son of the late Emperor, and thus a prince.
After his childhood, when he was forced to study hard by Consort Ye, he had a falling out with his mother when he was a teenager. From then on, the relationship between the mother and son broke down, and they rarely got together peacefully throughout the year.
Qi Rong naturally disliked Consort Ye, and as a result, even his trusted eunuch, Consort Ye, never received a kind word from him.
Now, trying to find out the inside story is simply impossible.
In the past, one could have learned some things from the servants, but now that the Second Prince's wife is in charge of the Prince's residence, the entire residence is as well-managed as an iron barrel. Apart from the Second Prince Qi Rong, the servants are all obedient and dare not tell him these things.
After giving her instructions to her trusted eunuch, Consort Ye frowned and pondered deeply.
Her son, Qi Rong, is unambitious and a useless piece of trash.
He's been away from the manor for so many years, and he's had his share of women. He spends his days idly, holding a few equally useless nominal positions, yet he doesn't have any real power at all.
What could such a useless person possibly have that would warrant Lin Wanyue, who is favored by the Emperor and the Regent, going to such lengths?
What's more, the old Prime Minister Lin Yanping was also with them on this trip!
This really made it impossible for her not to overthink things.
Although the former Prime Minister Lin Yanping was nominally related to her in some way, the intricate web of marriage ties among the prominent families of the capital made their distant cousin-in-law relationship insignificant.
In fact, apart from the occasional palace banquet, Consort Ye and Lin Yanping had never met in private, let alone had any relationship.
Consort Ye was having a headache, but she couldn't figure out the key to it. Helpless, she could only ask someone to prepare a bowl of calming soup and send it over. After eating it, she went to bed early.
Although she went to bed early, the other concubines in Chunqiu Pavilion were still discussing the matter.
The long nights in the deep palace were terrifying. Even though their beauty remained, they could see the end of their lives ahead of them.
All I could do was repeatedly chew over all the gossip I heard to pass the long hours.
Xiao Yuehan was one of them. She had recovered a lot in recent days and was able to get up and chat with her sisters.
Although she believed in Lin Wanyue's abilities, she still didn't like the girl very much, and after listening to a few words, she returned to the palace on her own.
But when Qi Xiao came to the palace to see her the next day, she still told her son about it.
After all, there wasn't anything new to say to her, and since her son was visiting, she still wanted to talk to him as much as possible.
Unlike the Second Prince, who spends his days idly indulging in pleasures, the First Prince Qi Xiao holds a real position; even as a prince, he has to be busy with his official duties.
"You mean, the old prime minister secretly took the little princess to see my second brother?" Qi Xiao's face still had that gentle expression.
"Yes." Xiao Yuehan nodded and said slowly, "I heard them say that too. It seems that Sister Ye is quite anxious about this, so it's probably true. It's just that she and the Second Prince don't get along, and I don't know why. I've never heard of the Second Prince getting along so well with that little princess in the palace."
Xiao Yuehan had already noticed the brocade pouch hanging from Qi Xiao's waist and assumed that he had taken the talisman after listening to her, which made her feel somewhat relieved.
She felt that a large part of her recovery was thanks to this talisman.
Now that this talisman is hanging on her son and can protect him from misfortune, Xiao Yuehan is naturally happy.
Qi Xiao nodded: "My son hasn't heard about this either. Maybe they both like to play, so they guessed the same thing. As for the Prime Minister... I have heard about him. I heard that he is the little princess's biological grandfather, but he hasn't acknowledged him because of the Lin family's influence with the Imperial Uncle. I'm afraid this time he's just sending the little princess to play with the second prince."
“What you said makes sense.” Xiao Yuehan nodded. “That’s true. After all, that little girl is only a few years old, and it’s common for her to be playful.”
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