As the sun set, the entire Zhuque Street was bathed in a crimson glow. Li Qingchen, draped in a pale red light, stepped out of the palace gate, and Yuan Que quickly stepped forward to greet him, handing him a cloak.
"Young Prince, has His Majesty mentioned anything about Yandang Mountain?"
This was the thing that Li Qingchen's subordinates were most worried about before he entered the palace today. Therefore, when Yuan Que saw him walk out with a somber expression, he couldn't wait to ask him about it.
Li Qingchen sneered, "His Majesty was on guard and never summoned him."
"Then we must find a way to dispel His Majesty's doubts..." Yuan Que muttered to himself, but he was just a military general, not a strategist, and he couldn't think of a good solution.
Just as Li Qingchen was about to get into the carriage, he suddenly heard a voice behind him, clearly filled with anger: "Li Qingchen!"
Li Qingchen's foot, which he had just lifted, landed back on the ground. He turned around and saw Zhu Gaozhuo. He walked towards him with an angry expression, and Li Qingchen felt as if he could see smoke coming from all seven orifices of his body.
"Second Young Master, what advice do you have for me?" Li Qingchen said this in an almost mocking tone, which made Zhu Gaozhuo even angrier!
Although Li Qingchen was the eldest son of the Prince of Qiaochuan and the undisputed heir to the throne, and everyone respectfully called him "Young Prince," he was still only a crown prince at the moment. In addition, they were of similar age, so Zhu Gaozhuo did not feel that he, as the second son of the Prince of Jing, was inferior to him.
Therefore, when Zhu Gaozhuo approached Li Qingchen, he first reiterated his noble status, intending to intimidate the other party:
“Li Qingchen, you should know that there is a difference between a vassal king and a prince! Even though your father has 100,000 elite troops under his command, he is far away, while you are in Shengjing, right under the emperor's nose! Only our Zhu family are the true imperial relatives!”
Li Qingchen listened quietly to him with a slight smile on his lips, and then asked, "Has the Second Young Master finished speaking?"
"I haven't even gotten to the point yet!" Zhu Gaozhuo was so angry he almost jumped up. He had come all the way to the palace gates to block people, not just to introduce himself.
"Then I'm all ears." Li Qingchen put his hands behind his back. Although his words were devoid of emotion, his cold and imposing demeanor was inadvertently revealed.
Zhu Gaozhuo felt a sudden chill run down his spine.
But he quickly calmed down, and the inexplicable fear only fueled his anger. He asked directly in an unfriendly tone, "Did you do the thing about making Miss Yun Wan from Xunfang Pavilion dress up as Yun An and dance?!"
“Of course not.” Li Qingchen said calmly.
Zhu Gaozhuo gritted his teeth in anger, pointed at Li Qingchen, and said, "How dare you say it isn't true? That guy surnamed Gu is clearly your subordinate Gu Zhuang. Someone has already recognized him!"
"The second young master himself said that he was just my subordinate, so why is he trying to pin this on me?"
"You—" Zhu Gaozhuo was so angry that his hands trembled uncontrollably, like a diabolo flying up and down.
Finally, he clenched his hand into a fist and angrily pulled it back to his side: "Your subordinates naturally acted on your orders!"
"How can you be so sure, Second Young Master? Everyone has emotions and desires, and my subordinate is no exception. Perhaps he has truly admired your sister for a long time and resorted to this desperate measure to relieve his longing."
Li Qingchen spoke with utmost seriousness, not at all like he was talking nonsense, but the more serious he was, the more Zhu Gaozhuo was enraged and lost his composure.
Zhu Gaozhuo had originally wanted to hold back some leverage, but now he couldn't hold back any longer and blurted out everything he had found out and speculated about: "Li Qingchen, don't think I don't know what you're up to. You're just trying to help that young lady from the Wei family out of this predicament!"
"And last time at the Sheng residence, that young lady from the Wei family clearly tampered with the incense in my mother's home, yet during the search for evidence, you just happened to kick the glass incense burner and shatter it! What kind of coincidence is that?"
"I've long suspected you have an improper relationship with that young lady from the Wei family. I investigated today and found out that a few days ago you used printing plates from Chongwen Academy to send to the Wei family. You just wanted to please her through her blind brother!"
Hearing these words, Li Qingchen's expression remained unchanged, but the smile on his lips gradually turned cold and became somewhat eerie.
If he wanted to act covertly, he certainly wouldn't have sent Gu Zhuang, who was by his side, to do that, much less directly transfer items from Chongwen Academy to the Wei family. The reason he did these things openly was simply to send a message to the Jing Prince's Mansion: the Wei family is not without powerful backers.
That girl from the Wei family was able to keep his biggest secret, and she even saved him that night; he wouldn't ignore that kindness. Helping her escape the schemes of the Prince Jing's mansion, allowing her to stay in Shengjing in peace, was his way of repaying that debt.
However, the fact that Prince Jing's mansion had such a headstrong young man who insisted on exposing everything to his face was somewhat unexpected.
It was stupider than he expected.
Noticing the change in Li Qingchen's expression, Zhu Gaozhuo was initially wary, but then he felt that he had indeed grasped Li Qingchen's weakness and became even more smug!
"Li Qingchen, could it be that I'm right? You really have fallen for that young lady from the Wei family?" Zhu Gaozhuo asked provocatively, raising his eyebrows and exaggeratingly analyzing Li Qingchen's reaction. The more he looked, the more he felt he had hit the nail on the head, and the more interesting the matter became!
"Hahaha—it seems we're kindred spirits!"
Li Qingchen had dismissed Zhu Gaozhuo's earlier remarks as if he were a fool, but the last sentence stirred a hint of doubt in his eyes. Could it be that Zhu Gaozhuo hated the Wei family girl because of the Jingwang Mansion and the Yun'an Princess?
He asked in a cold tone, "What do you mean by that, Second Young Master?"
Zhu Gaozhu laughed so hard he almost fell over, and patted Li Qingchen on the shoulder: "Li Qingchen, Li Qingchen, guess where I came from?"
Seeing Li Qingchen become serious, Zhu Gaozhuo laughed so hard he almost fell over, and leaned closer to him, saying, "I just came from the bed of the Wei family's young lady~"
Two cold glints flashed in Li Qingchen's eyes. His expression seemed unchanged, yet it also seemed to have undergone a significant transformation. Zhu Gaozhuo then lightly brushed the dust off his lapel and explained with a smile, "Don't be nervous. I only slept with a fake. Your Lady Wei is still a virgin."
As he withdrew, Zhu Gaozhuo's previous carefree attitude suddenly turned threatening: "But Li Qingchen, if you continue to oppose my Jingwang Mansion, next time I will sleep with her in her true form, Wei Shuwan."
As he finished speaking, two lewd laughs followed, and then Zhu Gaozhuo turned and strode away.
Seeing that the person had gone far away, Yuan Que stepped forward and said indignantly, "Young Prince, should we teach him a lesson?"
As he spoke, Yuan Que clenched his fists, making a "crunching" sound between his wrists.
Li Qingchen simply smiled nonchalantly and said, "No need." With that, he turned and got into the carriage.
There's no need to provide the color, but we can send a coffin as a gift.
He was just worrying about who to find as a scapegoat in front of the emperor, and it was like a pillow being delivered to him as soon as he was about to doze off.
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