"How's the investigation going?" Pei Yusheng put down the wine glass in his hand and asked with a gloomy face.
"Your Highness, I've been investigating... It should be related to the Eastern Palace, but it's not advisable to investigate this matter too closely, lest the Crown Prince find out." Qu Mingcheng replied.
He was wearing a light brocade robe with a flowerless pattern, and he looked in good spirits. "I thought... there would be no great use in investigating this matter."
"What do you think we should do? Tell me quickly." Pei Yusheng said impatiently.
This rumor has been bothering him recently, making him feel like someone is whispering behind his back wherever he goes. If his biological mother is such a person, he would not even be able to hold his back straight in front of court officials.
He also felt lack of confidence when facing Pei Luoan.
"Your Highness, the rumors outside are about the problem between Ji Youran and the former Crown Princess. Can we start from this direction?" Qu Mingcheng said with a roll of his eyes.
"No, Ji Youran is already useless." Pei Yusheng shook his head. He received news that Ji Youran had returned to the Eastern Palace with a broken leg. From now on, she was willing to serve the late Crown Princess wholeheartedly in front of the spirit tablet.
Not only has she lost her looks and broken her leg, the situation of the second branch of the Ling'an Marquis's Mansion is in such a state that it seems that Ji Youran is of no use no matter how you look at it.
"Your Highness, not from this direction. This is just an excuse. What we need now is something to attract everyone's attention. As for the previous rumors, they will slowly pass." Qu Mingcheng suggested.
"What should we do?" Pei Yusheng thought for a moment, nodded and asked, finding this question interesting.
"Your Highness, isn't there a lot of trouble at the Ling'an Marquis' Mansion? What do you think of starting from the Ling'an Marquis' Mansion?" Qu Mingcheng said.
"No, the Ling'an Marquis' Mansion is only the maiden home of the late Crown Princess. It has nothing to do with Ji Youran. Besides, once this matter is brought up, we have to talk about the matter between Ji Youran and the late Crown Princess." Pei Yusheng denied it directly. Once this matter was dragged into the matter of the two sisters, there would be suspicions about the Empress Yuan and the mother.
A woman who has been dead for who knows how many years is being dragged out again to talk about something.
No matter how good Empress Yuan was, she had no offspring. For so many years, my father never allowed anyone to say anything. Now he feels annoyed when he hears the word Empress Yuan.
What does the incident back then have to do with him? As for the Empress Yuan, his mother didn't say much either. Anyway, she didn't allow him to ask too much, and he didn't know if they really had anything going on back then.
He glanced at Qu Mingcheng and sighed. After all, he was still young and needed a few more years of experience before he could be used. If it weren't for the fact that he was Qu Zhizhen's son, he would not let Qu Mingcheng do anything.
Loyalty is there, but ability is lacking.
"Did you do as I asked and test your father's intentions?" Pei Yusheng asked.
"I told my father about it, and he told me not to interfere. He said it was a royal family matter and no one would dare to interfere." Qu Mingcheng said helplessly. Of course, he knew that his father was very capable, but his father didn't tell him anything and told him to stay out of royal affairs, otherwise he would die without knowing how.
"Your father... really doesn't treat you as his own children." Pei Yusheng mocked Qu Mingcheng with a half-smile.
Qu Mingcheng's face flushed, he felt embarrassed and annoyed.
"Your Highness, father just asked us to leave it alone for our safety," he had to explain.
"Your sister married me, and I helped her now. She has become my concubine. Even so, your father still doesn't stand by me.
If I fall, will your father still be able to get a good deal under the Crown Prince?" Pei Yusheng said lazily, picked up the glass of wine in front of him, took a sip, and then put it down heavily.
He snorted coldly: "Could it be that your father is still planning to surrender to the prince?"
Qu Mingcheng shuddered at these words, and could no longer stand. He knelt down hurriedly and said, "Your Highness, why would my father surrender to the Crown Prince? It's just that it's inconvenient to pay more attention to him right now. My father is timid by nature and is afraid of things. He dare not intervene rashly at this time."
Regardless of whether it is true or not, Qu Zhizhen must be timid at this time.
Qu Mingcheng really didn't understand what his father was thinking. His sister entered Prince Jing's Mansion, which meant that the Qu Mansion stood on Prince Jing's side. If Prince Jing didn't get any benefits, they wouldn't get any benefits either. This was why he now wholeheartedly wanted to work for Prince Jing.
What's the use of being good at studying? In the end, you will just be sold to the emperor's family. It is better to take this shortcut and help King Jing become the emperor. Then he will naturally become a high-ranking official, even higher than his father.
All those famous essays by Qu Mingcheng that were once a talent for study and excellent in writing now seem more like a joke.
Since there is a shortcut, why bother studying
Hearing what he said, Pei Yusheng's face looked better, and he tapped his wine glass twice on the table. "Get up! I'm not blaming you, but I think if your father takes action, this matter should be settled soon. You... now is not the time."
Qu Mingcheng was sweating on his back. He said yes repeatedly and stood up.
"You should keep an eye on your father for me, and tell him about my affairs from time to time. Since he is now on my side, he has to contribute. Otherwise... I, the king of Japan, cannot reward you too much, or others will say that I am unfair."
"Yes, Your Highness, I understand. I will definitely tell my father more about Your Highness." Qu Mingcheng dared not disobey and quickly agreed.
"Since there's nothing to do, let's go back!" Pei Yusheng waved his hand. He was in a bad mood and there was nothing he could do at the moment. He just wanted to be alone.
"Your Highness, how is my sister's face...? I went outside and got some new ointment this time. Could you please bring it to my sister?" Qu Mingcheng didn't rush to leave. He took out a dark bottle of ointment from his arms.
"It's already good. I asked the royal doctor to come and check it out. There's nothing serious. You just need to be more careful next time." Pei Yusheng said lazily, "Since you're so concerned, just leave it alone!"
"Yes, Your Highness!" Qu Mingcheng respectfully placed the ointment in his hand on the table in front of him, then walked out with his waist slightly bent.
Just as I reached the door, I suddenly heard Pei Yusheng's voice: "Have you called off your marriage?"
He was startled for a moment, and quickly turned around and replied, "We are discussing it."
"Retire, and find a better marriage. It will be of great benefit to you in the future." Pei Yusheng said meaningfully, "Your mother's family is completely ruined. There is no benefit in keeping them."
"I understand, but... this marriage is not so easy to cancel." Qu Mingcheng smiled helplessly. If he could withdraw earlier, he would have withdrawn earlier, but there were some other reasons involved. "My teacher also gave me some advice, but this matter... has not been resolved yet."
"It's just a cancellation of an engagement, why is it so troublesome? The family you were originally engaged to wasn't an important one. Your sister cancelled it.
... Isn't it very simple?" Pei Yusheng said indifferently.
It is also very important for Qu Mingcheng to find a good marriage, so I am giving him some advice here so that he will not miss out on this important matter.
The so-called sister is, of course, Princess Qu Moying of England.
"Your Highness is right. I'll think about it when I get back." Qu Mingcheng's eyes lit up after being reminded.
"Go ahead, and deal with the matter as soon as possible, so that you can work more attentively for me. In the future, I will never treat you and your sister unfairly."
Pei Yusheng said slowly, giving Qu Mingcheng another reassurance.
Although he is of little use, he is still Qu Zhizhen’s son after all, isn’t he!
"Thank you, Your Highness. I will do it as soon as possible." Qu Mingcheng said repeatedly.
"The Prince of Ying's Mansion... make use of it as much as possible. With a sister like this, won't you be able to take advantage of it?" Pei Yusheng reminded him again.
Qu Mingcheng quickly agreed.
After leaving the house and standing under the light of the alley, the fear and trepidation on Qu Mingcheng's face faded away, and his expression became gloomy. Originally a young man's face, this gloomy look made it look several years older, and he looked like a man in his twenties.
"Princess of England?" He muttered to himself and sneered.
Just as Pei Yusheng didn't want to hear the word "Empress Yuan", he also didn't want to hear the three words "Princess Ying". If that woman didn't return home, his family of four would still be fine and would never have ended up like this.
However, King Jing's words also reminded him that Qu Moying had canceled the engagement in the first place, so why couldn't he do so when it came to him? He had to cancel the engagement.
You won't retreat, right? His Royal Highness King Jing is right. Isn't he the brother of the Princess Ying? Since we can't reach an agreement, then we should retreat. Isn't the Ying Palace always arrogant
It's okay to just take advantage of the situation!
"Second Young Master, where are we going now?" After getting on the Qu Mansion's carriage, the coachman raised the whip in his hand and asked.
"Go back home!" Qu Mingcheng said. Since he had to rely on Qu Moying's power for this matter, he had to find his grandmother first.
Arriving at Qu's residence, Qu Mingcheng got off the carriage, straightened his clothes, and strode towards the backyard. Unexpectedly, at the corner, he saw a woman walking slowly towards him with her maid.
Miss Xie, the stepmother who is about to marry into the family.
This thought made him very uncomfortable, but he did not step back. He continued to move forward. Both parties stood still for a while. Miss Xie leaned sideways and saluted, and Qu Mingcheng nodded as a return gesture.
Passing by each other.
Looking at Qu Mingcheng's receding back, Miss Xie raised her eyes slightly, as if thinking about something.
"Miss." The maid called out softly, and Miss Xie withdrew her gaze and continued to walk forward, walking like a flower reflected in its shadow, neither hurried nor slow...
"This jade plaque... is it really cut from the same piece as the madam's blood jade bracelet?" In the Yingwang Mansion, Nanny Zhou looked at the blood jade plaque and was shocked. "Didn't they say... that Old Master Yue got a rare treasure and opened two pairs of blood jade bracelets and gave them to the two ladies? I still remember many people saying that these two pairs of blood jade bracelets are rare. How... how are they still there?"
She was shocked and looked carefully at the light again.
As for the two pairs of blood jade bracelets from the Great Yue Clan and the Small Yue Clan, Madam Zhou knew them best. It was precisely because of this that she felt that it was impossible...