Things turned out just as Zhao Jingyu had expected. King Nanzhao and the two princes investigated for several days but found nothing. It was as if the assassins appeared out of nowhere and there was no clue at all.
Prince Nanzhao was busy with official duties and could not keep an eye on this matter, so he handed the task of investigating the truth to his two sons and began to go out on patrol with Zhao Jingyu again.
Princess Nanzhao had some complaints about him. In the past, he always took Song Zhan with him when he went out on inspections. But since Zhao Jingyu came, he has never taken Song Zhan out once. If you don’t know, you would think that Zhao Jingyu is his son!
A bastard's son was injured, but the eldest son was asked to put aside all other matters and help him investigate the truth. What kind of rule is this
Princess Nanzhao was indignant about this for several days, until the latest secret reports about the court's movements were delivered to the palace. She finally realized what was going on after being shocked, and almost got hurt.
"Zhao Jingyu is actually my brother's son. Why didn't you tell me about this earlier?" Before going to bed at night, Princess Nanzhao closed the door and questioned her husband.
"Don't you know now?" King Nanzhao was tired after a day's work and his attitude was very perfunctory.
"It's too late to know now." Princess Nanzhao said, "I have always treated him as a bastard of the Dingyuan Marquis's mansion, and I didn't treat him well. What if he tells my brother later? How will my brother look at me?"
"Haha!" King Nanzhao sneered, "What can I see? At most, I can see that you are a snob!"
"You..." Princess Nanzhao knew she was in the wrong, so she couldn't get angry. "Since you already knew about it, why did you still take him around every day? Are you afraid that he doesn't know enough about your family background?"
The Prince of Nanzhao was about to take off his shoes and get on the bed, but he stood up suddenly after hearing this, and said in a low voice, "What are you talking about? What do you mean by my family background? The whole world belongs to others, what does it have to do with me? You don't really think they are here to escape disaster, do they? They are just looking for an excuse to inspect their own territory, and we are their tenants. Do you understand what a tenant is?"
"..." Princess Nanzhao was speechless, looking at her excited husband with a confused look, "According to you, he is here to collect rent?"
"Hmph!" King Nanzhao snorted coldly, then went to bed and fell asleep.
Princess Nanzhao didn't understand what his "humph" meant. She was stunned for a while and then went to bed.
No wonder the emperor gave the daughter of the phoenix to Zhao Jingyu. So this is what happened. It seems that I have to be nicer to them starting tomorrow.
Also, I have to remind Yingying tomorrow not to have any improper thoughts about Zhao Jingyu. No matter whether he is a bastard or a prince, it is impossible for him to be with Yingying.
The two of them are not the same kind of people at all. If Yingying continues to act like this and annoys the future Crown Princess, there will be big trouble.
You can tell at first glance that Xiu'er is not someone who is easy to get along with.
Unfortunately, Lu Yingying didn't think the same as her aunt. She had boasted in front of her two cousins that she could defeat Xie Nanjia and snatch Zhao Jingyu from Xie Nanjia in three days. Five days passed in a blink of an eye, and Zhao Jingyu didn't even look at her.
The two cousins ridiculed her whenever they got the chance, saying that she was overestimating her own abilities and had no chance of winning over Zhao Jingyu.
Of course Lu Yingying was not convinced and attributed the reason to King Nanzhao, saying that if King Nanzhao had not taken Zhao Jingyu out every day, she would have succeeded long ago.
"Are you stupid? The person you want to defeat is Xiu'er. Since the Second Young Master Zhao is not here, it will be easier for you to defeat her!" Song Meiwei said.
"What do you mean?" Lu Yingying didn't understand what she meant for a moment and looked at her blankly.
"You don't understand this?" Song Meiwei leaned close to her ear and whispered mysteriously, "I heard that Xiu'er has been very close to Song Huai these days, and she hangs out with Song Huai every day. You can take this opportunity to..."
The more she spoke, the softer her voice became, but Lu Yingying was frightened.
"This, this is not good..." Lu Yingying hesitated.
"What's wrong with that? I think you're just cowardly. With your current condition, how can you still dream of finding an ideal husband? Give up on this idea as soon as possible!" Song Meiwei said disdainfully.
"Who is cowardly?" Lu Yingying was provoked by her and immediately ignored everything. "Just do it, who is afraid of who? Our Nanzhao girl dares to love and hate, I'm risking it!"
Song Meiwei's plan succeeded and she secretly smiled in her heart.
In fact, she and Xie Nanjia did not have any deep hatred, but she just disliked Xie Nanjia. Xie Nanjia caused her to be scolded by her father when they first met. A few days ago, because Song Huai was injured, she was scolded by her father again. Both times happened in public. She was almost angry to death.
What made her even more intolerable was that these days everyone was praising Xie Nanjia's beauty, overshadowing her as the most beautiful woman in Nanzhao.
Therefore, she must find a way to teach Xie Nanjia a lesson, to make her see her identity clearly and put herself in the right place. Nanzhao is not a place for her to show off.
Lu Yingying didn't understand what her cousin was thinking, nor did she think too much about it. Without waiting for Princess Nanzhao to take the time to warn her, she started to act according to Song Meiwei's instructions.
After a few days of rest, Song Huai recovered quickly from his injuries and complexion under the careful care of the imperial physician and Madam Ning, and he could already walk around with the help of others.
Xie Nanjia has been with him these days. Except for eating and sleeping, she stays with him most of the time because Zhao Jingyu follows King Nanzhao out every day and she is very bored alone.
After this assassination incident, her impression of Song Huai changed greatly. Moreover, Song Huai was knowledgeable and had a wide range of knowledge. There was never a lack of topics to talk about with him, and the two of them got along very well.
Madam Ning liked Xie Nanjia very much. Every time she sent supplements to Song Huai, she would always bring an extra portion for Xie Nanjia. Seeing the two of them enjoying the food, she was also happy from the bottom of her heart.
Sometimes when Song Huai fell asleep, she would tell Xie Nanjia about Song Huai's troubled life.
Song Huai didn't like her talking about these things. One time when he woke up, he heard her complaining to Xie Nanjia. Afterwards, he told her seriously not to say these nonsense to Xie Nanjia anymore.
Unexpectedly, Mrs. Ning ran to apologize to Xie Nanjia tremblingly, saying that she shouldn't have brought up these bad things, which affected Xie Nanjia's good mood. She asked Xie Nanjia not to be angry with her and she would never talk about it again.
She was worried that Xie Nanjia would no longer be friends with Song Huai because she disliked her.
Xie Nanjia had seen many humble concubines, but she had never seen one like Madam Ning who gave birth to a favored son and yet was so humble.
I don't know how much she suffered at the hands of Princess Nanzhao to become so timid and cautious.
"You don't have to worry about it. She told me maybe because she has no one else to listen to her talk." Xie Nanjia said to Song Huai, "People will get sick if they hold it in for too long. I have nothing to do anyway, so let her talk. It's okay."
Song Huai smiled bitterly: "You were also born in a wealthy family, so you must have heard these things a long time ago. You finally came to Nanzhao, and I don't want my affairs to affect your mood, and I don't want your memories of Nanzhao to be mixed with the slightest bit of unhappiness."
"Do you always think about others like this?" Xie Nanjia tried to persuade him, "People need to be more selfish in order to live happily."
"But you are not selfish!" Song Huai said.
"That's because you don't know me well enough." Xie Nanjia said seriously, "I'm actually a very selfish person. Everything I do and every step I take are based on my own interests. I won't do anything that is harmful to myself, even if it is beneficial to the whole world. Really!"
Song Huai chuckled: "If you didn't emphasize the word 'really', I might still believe you."
Xie Nanjia also laughed and emphasized again: "It's true, I am really selfish, you believe me."
The two looked at each other and laughed heartily.
The laughter startled the maid who came to deliver the soup. The girl stood at the door, not knowing whether she should go in at this time.
"Come in, it's okay." Xie Nanjia waved to her.
The little maidservant responded and entered the room, placing the tray in her hand on the table: "Madam Ning is busy and can't come, so she asked me to bring chicken soup to the Third Prince."
"Chicken soup again?" Song Huai frowned, "Can't you make something else? I'm about to vomit."
"Madam made sour bamboo shoots and chicken soup today. It's very appetizing." The maidservant said, serving him and Xie Nanjia a bowl each. "Madam said that she cooked this soup for several hours and added nourishing herbs. Miss Xiu'er must drink two more bowls."
Xie Nanjia: “…”
Not to mention that Song Huai didn't want to drink, she was tired of eating and drinking for free these days.
"Your Highness is injured. Let me feed you!" The little maid brought the bowl to Song Huai.
"No need, I can do it myself, you go down!" Song Huai waved his hand.
The little maid responded, bowed and left, closing the door.
Xie Nanjia and Song Huai didn't care and drank the soup.
"I really can't drink the rest. You can secretly take it out and feed it to Ah Huang later!" Song Huai said, pinching his nose.
"Isn't this bad?" Xie Nanjia said, "Madam Ning worked so hard to cook this, wouldn't it be a waste to feed it to the dog? Otherwise, save it for Zhao Jingyu to drink when he comes back!"
Song Huai: “…”
Although what he said was correct, why did it sound so awkward
Xie Nanjia thought about it carefully and laughed to herself: "No problem, it's a waste if you feed it to a dog, but it's not a waste if you feed it to Zhao Jingyu."
Song Huai: “…”
"You don't know, my mother used to say he was just a nobody!" Xie Nanjia continued to laugh.
Song Huai: "... Your mother actually doesn't like the Second Young Master, a talent like him?"
"Yeah." Xie Nanjia smiled and nodded. "He was very afraid of my mother. One time, he went to look for me secretly, and my mother suddenly showed up. He was so scared that he hid in a tree. But the tree had no leaves, and he was wearing a red dress, so my mother caught him red-handed."
“Hahahaha…” Song Huai imagined the scene at that time and couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
The two laughed for a long time, their faces turning red.
"Don't laugh anymore. If you laugh any more, your wound will split." Xie Nanjia patted her stiff face and frowned inadvertently, "Do you feel that the room is hot?"
(End of this chapter)