Sui Sui waited there for a while, but did not see Huan Xuan coming back. Knowing that he was really angry, he continued to ride forward.
After a while, she heard the sound of horse hooves approaching from behind. Turning back, she saw that it was the guards Ma Zhongshun and Song Jiu.
She pulled the reins to a halt and asked the two men, "Your Highness, have you returned to the palace?"
Song Jiu and Ma Zhongshun secretly breathed a sigh of relief. At least she didn't cry. If she had cried, they really wouldn't know how to comfort her.
The two exchanged glances, but in the end Ma Zhongshun was defeated and said, "Madam Lu, His Highness has urgent business to attend to, so he has ordered the servants to escort Madam Lu back to Shanchi Courtyard."
Sui Sui nodded: "Thank you both."
In fact, Shanchiyuan is only a few miles away from here, and it only takes a short ride on horseback. Even if she encounters bad guys, she won't be the unlucky one.
The two guards escorted Sui Sui to the gate of Shanchi Courtyard, watched her go in, and then returned to the palace to report.
Sui Sui returned to Tangli Courtyard. Chun Tiao, Xiaotong and the others had not returned yet, and the yard was quiet.
The doorkeeper opened the door, and as Sui Sui entered, Madam Gao came out in a thick coat. Seeing that she was alone, she asked in surprise, "Madam, why are you back at this time? Where is His Highness?"
Before leaving, Huan Xuan told her that he would play all night and come back at dawn.
Sui Sui calmly replied: "His Highness went back to the palace halfway."
When Grandma Gao heard this, she became anxious: "But what happened in the palace?"
Sui Sui said, "Don't worry, Mammy. It should be fine."
Grandma Gao felt relieved for a moment, but then she found something strange. If nothing happened in the palace, why would he leave a woman on the road in the middle of the night and go back to the palace by himself
When he left, he clearly said he would be back at dawn and even asked her to prepare breakfast.
The old nanny stared at Sui Sui's face, but the lights in the yard were dim and her eyes were blurry, so she couldn't make out anything. Her voice didn't sound unusual, and she didn't sound choked or hoarse, so she was a little unsure.
She had no choice but to welcome him into the house first: "It's freezing outside. It must be cold riding a horse, right?"
"Not bad." Sui Sui said.
Grandma Gao added more charcoal to the charcoal basin and gave her a copper hand warmer. Then she asked indirectly, "Where did you and the prince go? What happened?"
Sui Sui said, "I went to watch a variety show outside Chengtian Gate, and then went to Qiongling Pavilion in Pingkangfang. I ran into His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess in the building. His Royal Highness had a midnight snack with his brother and sister-in-law."
After hearing this, Grandma Gao was completely confused and thought to herself that it was a sin.
This Ruan Sanniang is simply the evil debt of their prince.
Grandma Gao was a little ashamed: "Madam... do you understand?"
Sui Sui nodded: "I knew it a long time ago."
"Did the lady have a quarrel with His Highness?"
Sui Sui shook his head: "No."
She was also completely confused. She had just been submissive and obedient.
Grandma Gao let out a "huh" sound, which meant that their prince could not forget Ruan Sanniang. He was fine when he didn't see the real person, but he felt awkward when he saw her.
She looked at Lu Suisui with sympathy. Although she didn't like this woman at first because of her seductive appearance and humble background, she gradually felt relieved after seeing that the prince had become much more cheerful and expressive since she had been by his side.
As long as the character is pure, it doesn't matter if the family background is low, as long as their prince likes it.
Grandma Gao made up her mind that although she was just a servant with little influence, she would use her good reputation in front of His Highness to mediate for her and at least earn the title of a concubine.
Those who are lucky enough to give birth to a son or daughter will have someone to rely on in their lifetime.
Who would have thought that when I went out to see the lanterns during the Lantern Festival, I would run into Ruan Yuewei and end up parting on bad terms.
The more she thought about it, the more she felt sorry for the orphan girl. She held Sui Sui's hands and said, "Don't be sad, my lady. His Highness must have thought of something urgent."
After saying that, he stood up and said, "There is a deer antler and ginseng soup simmering in the kitchen. I will serve a bowl to my wife to warm her up."
Soon Chun Tiao and the others came back. When they heard about what happened to Sui Sui, they all secretly felt sorry for her.
People around her thought she was heartbroken, so they were all very cautious and attentive, serving her soup and water. She received several lanterns in a row, which made her feel a little amused and helpless.
It was a matter of mutual consent, so she naturally did not feel sorry for herself. On the contrary, she felt a lot less burdened when she learned that Huan Xuan was still in love with Ruan Yuewei.
When she left the capital in the future, Huan Xuan would only lose a "fake", so it would probably not matter much.
…
After Huan Xuan returned to the palace, he quickly showered, changed into pajamas and lay on the bed. He lay there for half an hour. He still felt suffocated and his body was tired, but he could not fall asleep. When he closed his eyes, he thought of what had just happened.
He tossed and turned for a while, and finally sat up and called Gao Mai: "Song Jiu and the others are back?"
"Your Highness, I just got back." Gao Mai replied. He had already heard the guards' story of tonight's events, but he didn't know why His Highness the Prince of Qi was angry with Lu Suisui. If he had said that it was because he saw the real master taking his anger out on the substitute, then now he was asking about the guards who escorted Lady Lu back to Shanchiyuan. It was really hard to understand.
Huan Xuan said: "Send them over here, I will ask them some questions."
As he said this, he put on a fox fur coat over his pajamas and went into the hall.
After a while, two guards arrived.
Huan Xuan still had a gloomy face and a chill all over his body. The two of them looked at each other in the eye and nose, not daring to breathe.
"Have the people been delivered?" Huan Xuan asked.
Song Jiu said: "Reporting to Your Highness, I have sent Lady Lu to Shanchi Courtyard."
"Lu," Huan Xuan said coldly, "who is your wife?"
Song Jiu is even more wronged than Dou E. They usually call her like this, and His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi never blames her.
Huan Xuan didn't say anything after asking this question. After a while, he asked, "Did she cry?"
Not only did Lu Suisui not cry, but he also had a pleasant chat with them along the way.
Song Jiu instinctively felt that this was not what his Highness wanted to hear, but he couldn't lie, so he secretly kicked Ma Zhongshun.
Ma Zhongshun was not as senior as Song Jiugao, and his experience was not as old as his. He could only bite the bullet and said, "Your Highness, it was dark at the time... I didn't see clearly, but I heard that Madam Lu's voice was a little hoarse, maybe... maybe she cried..."
Song Jiu glanced at his companion and gave him a look that said "You can do it, kid."
Huan Xuan's expression eased a little: "What did she say to you?"
The two felt a little guilty. Along the way, Lady Lu taught them the tricks of beating Chupu, asked them where the cook of Qiongling Pavilion was from, where they went to play when they were not on duty, and which brothel in the capital was the most famous...
Of course, these could not be reported truthfully. Ma Zhongshun rolled his eyes and replied, "Reporting to Your Highness, Lu Niang... Lu Shi, probably had something on her mind, so she didn't say much."
How much depends on who you compare with, and this is not considered bullying.
Huan Xuan squinted at him and said, "You helped her speak for her, but did you accept bribes?"
Ma Zhongshun quickly pulled out a silver coin from his sleeve, which was exactly what Lu Suisui had won from him when playing Chupu just now: "Lu rewarded... gave us this silver coin and asked us to buy some wine."
The silver coin was worth about five or six cents, which was too much to use as a reward. It seemed that the hunter woman was really panicked and was counting on his close followers to mediate for her.
Little did he know that Sui Sui was just returning the money to Ma Zhongshun under the pretext of a reward.
Huan Xuan raised his chin and said to the two of them, "Back off."
Lying back on the bed, he felt a little relieved. The woman was just a country woman who was not good at talking, so why bother with her
Let's go see her in two days. His cold heart slowly warmed up, as if a tiny flame was burning.
But at this moment, he suddenly thought of Huan Minggui's words, which was like a basin of cold water poured over his head.
His heart gradually sank.
Even though he was unwilling to accept the responsibility, he knew that Huan Minggui was right. Regardless of whether he still had feelings for Ruan Yuewei, he should let go of the past. Lu, the fake, was naturally a part of the past.
He should give her some money and property as soon as possible and let her go. An orphan like her, with no one to rely on in Chang'an, would probably have to find someone to marry...
I'm afraid that as soon as I let her out, Huan Minggui will be guarding the door.
Thinking of her blushing face and charming smile in front of Huan Minggui, Huan Xuan's heart suddenly tightened, as if it was suddenly grabbed by a sharp claw.
Anger welled up in his heart. He had never been a good person, so why should he help them? Even if he ended up disliking her, he would still lock her up by his side. If she wanted to leave, she would have to die.
…
Since the Lantern Festival, the King of Qi has not been to Chang'anfang.
Everyone in Shanchiyuan felt very sympathetic towards Lu Suisui, the "abandoned woman". Only she continued to eat and sleep as usual and went to the garden to practice sword every day.
The weather is getting warmer day by day. The snow on the eaves is melting unnoticed, dripping into the spring mud, nourishing the grass and trees.
One morning, Sui Sui went out to practice sword as usual, and suddenly found that the crabapple tree in front of the yard had sprouted new buds without him knowing when.
Sui Sui was startled, and suddenly remembered that it was already the end of January. After counting the days, she realized that she had not seen Huan Xuan for nearly half a month.
But she was only stunned for a moment, as if a pebble fell into a vast lake and sank before making any splashes.
After the snow in the garden melted, construction of the training ground for horse riding and archery began.
Huan Xuan had ordered people to convert the abandoned polo field in the garden into a training ground for riding and archery years ago. The construction period was set early on and was not affected by Sui Sui's "falling out of favor".
On the second day of February, Sui Sui went to Chang's cosmetics shop.
This visit was just a routine matter, but it brought unexpected results.
The inn owner said, "According to the order of the general, I ordered people to investigate the batch of pulse records burned by the Imperial Medical Bureau. I found that among these suspicious palace servants, three of them had served in the Shufei Palace, but were transferred to other places due to their own reasons."
"Shufei?" Sui Sui asked in surprise.
She had never doubted Concubine Shu and her son. Everyone in the court and the country knew that Concubine Shu's son, Prince Chen, was fat and stupid, and acted absurdly. Among all the legitimate and illegitimate princes, he was the least likely to ascend the throne.
Shufei was born in a humble family and had been following the Queen's lead for many years. Although the Queen handed over the power of the harem to Shufei after the loss of her beloved son, this was not something they could have predicted. It was not credible that she would take the risk of murdering the crown prince for this little power.
Sui Sui also asked people to investigate Shufei and her son, but they were never the main targets of the investigation.
They have absolutely no motive, why should they make wedding dresses for others
What's more, Huan Ye was very caring towards his half-brother. Everyone in Chang'an treated him as a big shot, and only Huan Ye treated him kindly.
No matter how you think about it, Concubine Shu and her son had no motive to murder him.
Sui Sui was puzzled, but still ordered his subordinates to investigate Shu Fei and Chen Wang Mansion carefully.
After coming out of Chang's cosmetics shop, Sui Sui saw that it was still early, so she took Chun Tiao for a walk. When they were tired, they found a teahouse on the street to sit down, ordered some cakes and tea, and ate while resting.
Not long after I sat down, I heard someone at the next table say to his companion, "Have you heard? His Majesty is going to choose concubines for the King of Qi and the King of Chen."
Another person said: "Prince Chen is so pitiful. Who would be willing to choose him when put together with the Prince of Qi?"
"He is a prince after all." said the man in front.
"So what if he's a prince?" his companion laughed. "Not to mention the noble ladies, even the prostitutes in Pingkangfang don't like to entertain him..."
The two of them started laughing as they talked.
Chun Tiao glanced at Sui Sui cautiously: "My dear, these rumors in the market are mostly spread randomly, don't take them to heart..."
Sui Sui nodded absentmindedly: "I know."
But Harujo wasn't right this time.
Within half a month, the news that the emperor was going to choose a princess for the Prince of Qi spread like wildfire. It was said that the emperor specially set up a banquet for outing and flower-viewing in Qujiang Pavilion and invited young girls of marriageable age from high-ranking noble families to attend, vowing to choose a princess with both talent and virtue, and outstanding appearance for his beloved third son.
Among all the candidates for the title of noble lady, the most eye-catching one is the sixth cousin of the Crown Princess.
Almost at the same time, Sui Sui received news from Jiannan that the people she sent found the medical officer who had participated in poisoning Huan Ye, and the mastermind revealed was Chen Wang Huan Jiong.