Two days later, one evening, the Princess of Jinnan only had a simple dinner and lost her appetite. Not long after, the King of Jinnan came in from outside. The Princess hurried to greet him and asked, "Is there any news?"
She didn't believe that in this land of Kyoto, their palace wanted to find someone and there would be no news at all. She wanted to find out who was behind the robbery of Jinnan Palace!
The eyes of the King of Jinnan darkened slightly. He did not respond to the princess's words and walked slowly into the house. The princess took a closer look at his expression, waved her hand, and asked the maid in the house to leave. She followed the King of Jinnan inside and sat down next to him on the Luohan bed.
"Found it." King Jinnan said.
The princess breathed a sigh of relief, then asked angrily, "Who did this? How is the person? Why can't he be saved?"
King Jinnan tapped the table lightly with his fingers, thinking about how to explain.
The princess observed his expression and stood up, saying anxiously, "If she hadn't rushed into the sea of fire to save me, I might not be here today! Regardless of anything else, I must protect her life! Who on earth kidnapped Yu Ji and made His Majesty suffer like this? Could it be the King of Heaven?"
"It's the prince." King Jinnan said in a deep voice.
The princess was stunned.
Prince
After a while, the princess frowned and slowly sat down, saying in disbelief: "Why didn't I see that the prince was a lecher in the past? Even though Yuji is indeed extremely beautiful, she is still his niece-in-law in name!"
"This is exactly what I can't understand. Fourth brother was just banished to his fiefdom, and third brother now stays indoors all day. Everyone in the court knows that the crown prince position will change after the New Year, so why would eldest brother make such a fuss at this time? If it is exposed, he, as the crown prince, has behaved improperly and forcibly occupied his niece's wife, wouldn't it give others an excuse to depose the crown prince?"
The princess immediately said, "He is not a smart man. Otherwise, he would not have been the eldest son but still unable to secure the position of the crown prince. He has never been valued by His Majesty. It is not surprising that he did such a lustful thing!"
The King of Jinnan listened to the princess' words in silence, but he did not agree with them. It is true that my eldest brother is not a smart man. But would he really do such a ridiculous thing at this critical moment
King Jinnan still felt that there was something fishy about this matter.
The princess was still complaining angrily, "He seems weak and peaceful on weekdays, but at his age he is forcing his niece to marry him! His grandson can even call him grandpa, is he shameless at his age? He is such an old man with no shame!"
"Be careful with your words." Prince Jinnan spoke out of habit to stop the princess from talking about the prince, but his tone sounded contemptuous and perfunctory, and it was obvious that he did not take the prince seriously.
The princess placed her hand on the wrist of the King of Jinnan, gently shook his sleeve, and said, "There are too many people who want to bring down the crown prince now, why not give this matter to those who need it?"
King Jinnan smiled and said, "You do care about Youshi."
"Repay hatred with hatred and repay kindness with kindness, isn't this the most basic moral principle in life?" the princess asked back.
King Jinnan hesitated for a while and said, "Wait a little longer."
"What are you waiting for?" the princess asked anxiously.
King Jinnan sighed and said, "I always feel that the prince is not a lecher. There may be something fishy behind this incident. My fourth brother has already set off for his fiefdom. His case is a lesson for us. If we don't clarify the matter and rashly expose it to the public, who knows if we will become the next fourth brother."
The princess also recovered from her initial anger and pondered over the words of the King of Jinnan. Although she was anxious to rescue You Yuji, she also understood that as a member of the royal family, she had to be cautious in every step, as if she was walking on the edge of a cliff. If she didn't look ahead and behind carefully, she might fall into someone else's trap.
"I know you are concerned about Youshi's safety. Although there are only disadvantages and no advantages to the Jinnan Palace if we divorce the You family, I have also thought that it would be better for her to die in the palace. But one thing is one thing, since she saved you, I will naturally not owe her this favor." Jinnan King patted the back of the princess's hand, "Relax. The prince has mobilized a large army to kidnap her, so her life will not be in danger for the time being. As for other things..."
King Jinnan paused and didn't continue.
The princess knew what the King of Jinnan meant. You Yuji's reputation was known throughout the twelve kingdoms, and even if a man had other purposes in kidnapping her, he probably wouldn't leave her alone.
The princess sighed again, as if talking to herself: "I just hope Yuji will put her life first in everything."
She thought about it again. You Yuji didn't hesitate to divorce, leaving no room for turning back, and didn't care about her reputation after the divorce. This seemed to comfort the princess, making her feel that You Yuji would not be so foolish as to commit suicide.
Pinghuai Palace.
"What?" Chen Qi's face turned pale. He took two steps forward in disbelief and looked at his father.
Behind the desk, Prince Pinghuai frowned, also not understanding the prince's behavior. Just now, he told Chen Qi about the prince abducting You Yuji into the East Palace, because he couldn't figure it out and wanted to hear his son's opinion.
But how could Chen Qi have any objections? He stood there in a daze. His mind was full of You Yuji's safety at this moment. Did the prince bully her? Would she be afraid and sad? With her temper, would she risk her life to kill the prince
Chen Qi's mind was in a mess.
"Qi'er?" Prince Pinghuai called out twice before Chen Qi came back to his senses.
Chen Qi struggled to control the expression on his face and tried to speak in a normal tone: "The Crown Prince's behavior is really embarrassing for the throne! Father should report this matter to His Majesty immediately!"
Only by overthrowing the prince can she be rescued...
Chen Qi knew that doing so would probably damage You Yuji's reputation, but compared to reputation, he believed that being imprisoned would be more difficult for You Yuji to accept.
"No!" Prince Pinghuai said sternly, "When did you become so reckless?"
Chen Qi opened his mouth and swallowed the words in his mouth. He also knew that it was reckless to do so and he might fall into a trap. But his worry about You Yuji made him confused.
He failed to stand up and save her from Chen Anzhi when the Empress Dowager Cixi granted her marriage. Now that she is in danger again, he is no longer willing to be a coward and will do everything he can to save her!
Before leaving the study, Prince Ping Huai reminded Chen Qi twice more not to act rashly. Chen Qi knew that his father had made up his mind, so he could not nod and just agreed on the surface.
On the way back to his courtyard, Chen Qi kept frowning and thinking about how to rescue You Yuji from the Eastern Palace. Tomorrow is the Lantern Festival, and there will be a Lantern Festival banquet in the palace. He can take advantage of this opportunity to go to the Eastern Palace.
At this time, Sheng Xiang Wang Chen Che and his family were leaving the capital for their fiefdom. A trusted subordinate rode a horse to Sheng Xiang Wang and whispered the news. The news was that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had kidnapped Princess An.
Prince Shengxiang just smiled when he heard this, unlike the other two princes who were worried. He just looked at the endless sky and said, "It's a troubled spring."
His Royal Highness the Crown Prince went to great lengths to conceal the fact that he had kidnapped You Yuji, but he didn't expect that his brothers had all told the story one after another. This was enough to prove that the Crown Prince was not a smart man.
Several days had passed, and the effects of the poison in her body had been bothering You Yuji. The feeling of weakness throughout her body really upset her. She couldn't tell whether it was the unknown poison that had not yet taken effect in her body, or whether there was medicine added to her daily diet. If it was the latter, she had no other options, as she couldn't just starve herself to death.
She and her pillow had no choice but to reduce their food intake as much as possible and eat less.
"Madam, wouldn't you like to eat some more?" Bai Fu asked respectfully.
You Yuji shook her head subconsciously, then quickly raised her eyes to look at Bai Fu and asked, "Can I order something outside the palace?"
Bai Fu smiled and replied, "Of course, the people below will go out of the palace to buy it for Madam."
You Yuji was a little surprised. She was silent for a while, then said, "I want the candied fruit from Baimi Shop, the grilled fish from Zuixianglou, the meat buns from Furong Hutong, two strings of candied haws, and two bags of sugar-roasted chestnuts."
Bai Fu had a faint smile on her face. She bent her knees politely and replied, "It's getting dark. Should I ask someone to buy it for Madam tomorrow? Or should we buy it now for a midnight snack?"
"Tomorrow." You Yuji spoke weakly.
She stood up from the dining table and walked to the inner room with weak steps. It was such a short distance, but when she walked to the inner room and sat down in front of the dressing table, her face was flushed and she was panting slightly.
You Yuji looked at her frail self in the bronze mirror and felt annoyed.
Zhenxu sat down on the embroidered stool next to her and said, "Madam, do you want to rest?"
As soon as Zhenxu finished speaking, You Yuji hadn't opened her mouth yet when the sound of footsteps and the palace maids' neat voice of "Welcome, Your Highness" made You Yuji purse her lips.
Crown Prince Chen Lu seemed to be in a good mood today, his face was red and full of joy. He waved his hand and asked all the palace maids outside to leave, pushed open the door of the inner room, and stepped in. He narrowed his eyes slightly, looked at You Yuji who was sitting in front of the dressing table, and smiled: "Last time you saw me, you knew to stand up and greet me, but this time you didn't even turn your back to me. Don't you have any manners?"
Etiquette
You Yuji felt very ironic when she heard this word. She still sat upright with her back to the prince, and said in a neither humble nor arrogant manner: "My niece hopes that His Royal Highness the Prince will follow the etiquette and release my niece back to the Jinnan Palace as soon as possible."
"Niece-in-law? What niece-in-law?" The prince smiled and walked towards You Yuji while twisting the jade ring on his thumb. He stood behind You Yuji and looked at You Yuji in the bronze mirror for a long time.
You Yuji squeezed the rhino horn comb with a little force, but she had no strength at all. Even though she thought she was squeezing the comb, her hand didn't look tight at all.
"Yuji, do you have a nickname?" asked the prince.
You Yuji still pursed her lips tightly and did not say anything in response.
The prince didn't mind, he went on: "Bai Nanshuang and Tu Zhiyu, which of these two names do you like?"
Although You Yuji ignored the prince, she pondered his words carefully. What did he mean by this? Was he going to change her name
etc…
Tu Zhiyu
This name seems familiar.
You Yuji tried hard to recall and finally remembered. She had heard the name Tu Zhiyu when the maids below were chatting. There was a legitimate daughter in the Kanglong Marquis's mansion, who had been raised in the south of the Yangtze River since childhood and was going to come to the capital to discuss marriage in the spring. The reason why the maids below were talking about Tu Zhiyu was because her marriage seemed to have changed. You Yuji didn't know the specifics. She had no intention of listening to other people's gossip, and she overheard it at the time, but it was just because the surname Tu was relatively rare.
Since Tu Zhiyu is a real person, then isn’t the other Bai Nanshuang also a name made up by the prince
What does the prince want to do
You Yuji carefully pondered every word the prince said since he came in, guessing that the prince might want her to change her name and no longer be You Yuji. In this way, he would not bear the bad reputation of forcibly occupying his niece's wife.
However, Tu Zhiyu is the daughter of a marquis, which means that the prince has found a very high status for her. If this is the case, then the prince does not want to imprison her in the dark forever!
Thinking of this, You Yuji's heart beat rapidly.
The prince, who had a gentle and smiling face, suddenly frowned, grabbed the back of You Yuji's chair, and turned You Yuji around suddenly.
"Look at me," he ordered.
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