At this critical juncture, when the situation was clearly on the verge of breaking out, Sun Wencai and Young Master Xu had such a conflict, which ended up in the Wucheng Bingmasi.
Tang Yuan immediately realized that this matter was related to Su Rong. How could there be so many coincidences in the world? Su Rong just happened to be there and happened to witness the whole scene.
"You kid." Tang Yuan had been a royal consort for decades, and he was able to stay in Guizhou for so long, so how could he not understand the deep meaning of Su Rong's actions. Yes, the Su family was definitely the party of the emperor's eldest grandson, and the Song family was even more so. Now the interests of the Su family and the Song family were naturally the same.
The Xu family is damaging the interests of the Song family. If they want to act as a protective umbrella for Zheng Siyu and Wen Runze, they will become the enemy of both the Su and Song families.
Considering the many previous grudges, Su Rong's action of instigating a dispute between the Xu family and Prime Minister Yang was almost the best and inevitable choice, but Su Rong's approach was just clever.
He stroked his beard and looked up at Su Rong and asked, "Now that you have done all this, what else do you need my help with?"
He really liked this young man Su Rong. After all, no one dislikes smart people. Besides, Su Rong had helped the Tang family several times. However, since the matter involved disputes in the court, Tang Yuan would not make a decision easily.
He was waiting for Su Rong to show sincerity. When asking someone to do something, one should always act like one is asking for help.
"To be honest with you, Prince Consort is not only helping me, but also helping Prince Consort's Mansion and Princess Yongning." Su Rong smiled and slowly took out something from his sleeve pocket and placed it in front of Prince Consort Tang.
Tang Yuan recognized what it was at a glance. His expression changed drastically. He threw away his previous calmness and stood up excitedly to grab the jade pendant from Su Rong's hand. He asked solemnly, "Where did you get this? How did this thing end up in your hands?!"
Su Rong did not fight for it. Seeing Tang Yuan reaching out for it, he let go of his hand without hesitation. When Tang Yuan tightly grasped the jade pendant in his hand, he said expressionlessly, "It seems to be the thing of Prince Consort Tang. I got this jade pendant from Young Master Li."
Young Master Li
Without Su Rong saying anything more, Tang Yuan immediately realized that the Young Master Li he was talking about was the Young Master Li of Princess Mingchang's residence. Holding the jade pendant tightly in his hand, Tang Yuan closed his eyes and asked him solemnly, "Besides this, what else do you know?"
"To be honest, Master Li insisted on marrying my fourth sister. I thought this was quite strange, so I had someone keep an eye on Master Li, and I did find out something." Su Rong did not keep the secret any longer, and got straight to the point: "That's why I also know that when you were in Guizhou, you adopted a child from an old friend..."
Tang Yuan's face was grim, he held the jade pendant in his hand, and did not say anything for a long time.
After a long while, he finally chuckled, "It seems that Princess Yongning has really put a lot of thought into us."
From the difficulties encountered when he first arrived in Beijing to the secret investigation into their affairs in Guizhou now, it can be said that he has put a lot of effort into it.
But that's where the problem lies.
During the years that Tang Yuan and Princess Yongning had been in Guizhou, everything had actually been done in accordance with the rules, except for one thing that really violated a taboo in today's society. When they were in Guizhou, they adopted a friend's child out of affection. But the problem was that the child was the child of a chieftain of Mu Mansion in Yunnan.
The original owner of the Mu Mansion was not the current lineage. As the chieftains changed, the brothers killed each other. The son of the former chieftain was still in his infancy and was sent to the Tang family.
The Tang family had been guarding Guizhou for generations, and had always had a close relationship with the chieftain at the time, so they had always had contact with each other. The change in the Mu Mansion was also caused by his younger brother usurping the throne. At that time, he accepted the child, but who knew that before he could petition the emperor, the current chieftain had already been recognized by the court because he bribed the court.
As a result, the child in his hands became a hot potato.
Their identities were sensitive to begin with, and the overall situation had been decided. The child's background must not be exposed, but they could not bear to harm a baby who was still in swaddling clothes. In the end, they could only adopt the child and keep him by their side.
Over the years, almost everyone who knew this secret has died or left, and there is almost no one left.
Even Tang Yuan and Princess Yongning themselves had almost forgotten about this matter.
But now, when Tang Yuan took out the jade pendant, he could recognize it at a glance. It was exactly the same as the one worn by the child, and the two pieces together made a pair.
Su Rong said that this thing was obtained from Master Li Xiaojue, which means...
In other words, Master Li is investigating this matter!
Princess Mingchang’s Mansion is investigating them!
When Tang Yuan thought of this, he felt creepy and got goose bumps all over his body. He turned his head and stared at Su Rong and asked, "How much do you know?"
"I don't know." Su Rong said truthfully, "But Master Li seems to value this thing very much and has sent many people to look for it. But my people have been following him, so I got there first and found this thing, and the person who kept it."
Tang Yuan breathed a sigh of relief. After struggling for a while, he finally asked Su Rong: "Then do you know who that old friend is?"
Su Rong shook his head. Seeing that Tang Yuan was about to speak, he waved his hand cautiously: "You don't need to say who it is, and I don't want to ask. I just want to remind you that if there are too many things involved, it's better to make a decision early."
Tang Yuan's lips were a little dry. He let out a long breath and reluctantly hummed. Only then did he regain his composure and asked Su Rong to sit down. This time his tone was much gentler: "You are really a smart person. With you two brothers and sisters, the future of the Yongding Earl's Mansion is not limited to this. Now, what do you want me to do for you? This time, I will really do my best."
He was mentally prepared that since Su Rong was doing him such a big favor, he should agree no matter how excessive the request was.
Even if Su Rong asked him to go to the Imperial Study to report Xu Shun tomorrow, he would have to do it.
But Su Rong smiled and said, "It's simple. You don't have to put in all your efforts. You just need to settle the bill. A total of 550 taels of silver will be needed."
ah?!
Tang Yuan didn't react for a moment, thinking that Su Rong was making fun of him. He looked at Su Rong in doubt for a while before he was sure that what Su Rong said was true. He was stunned for a while before he spoke hesitantly: "A Rong, what are you playing at? Why can't I understand what you mean? Are you kidding me?"
"How could that be?" Su Rong laughed, "I really just want the Prince Consort to settle the bills at the restaurant and Tianxianglou respectively. If the Prince Consort is reluctant to spend the money, I can pay for it, but I need to use the Prince Consort's title."