Chapter 255

Chapter 255 Noble Consort Rou always loved to veer off topic. Thinking of Prince An, she then associated him with Concubine Jing. "What is that Concubine Jing anyway?" "The Emperor only favored her for one night back then!" "She was lucky enough to conceive a child, gave birth to Prince An, and toiled away in the palace for decades—yet she's still only a Lady of Beauty." "Even if she later became a Noble Consort due to pregnancy, it was only a temporary matter." "That worthless son of hers—how dare he compare with my Yuan'er?!" Prince Jing's original name was Xiao Chengyuan. In the past, Noble Consort Rou would never call him Yuan'er. It was only now that she had only this one son to rely on that she suddenly changed her attitude. Xie Run listened quietly. Only after Noble Consort Rou had vented for quite a while did she speak softly: "His Highness is exceptionally gifted and has never been one to sit idle and wait for death." "Every time he goes out, although there may be some troubles, he always returns with achievements." "Your concubine believes in His Highness, and Noble Consort should also believe in His Highness." Noble Consort Rou scoffed at Xie Run's praise of Prince Jing. She only took her for an ignorant woman of the inner court, whose eyes could only see her own husband, and whose mouth could only utter dull words of praise. But among Xie Run's few words, one struck her heart. That was the fact that every time Prince Jing returned from outside, he indeed brought back good news. This son of hers was a stubborn mule—pull him and he won't move, hit him and he backs away. Because of past matters, Noble Consort Rou didn't dare to manage him too much. Now she only hoped that Prince Jing could rise to power, so that she could at least sit on the Empress Dowager's throne. Xie Run comforted her a few more times, mentioning the children in the residence. Noble Consort Rou waved her hand. "Enough, you should head back first. Any later, and the palace gates will be locked." It wasn't until she walked out of the palace gates that Xie Run truly let out a sigh of relief. Just now in the palace, hinting to Noble Consort Rou that Prince Jing going to Yunzhou was an opportunity to earn merit—that wasn't something Xie Run had wanted to say, but something the Princess Consort had specifically hinted at. The Princess Consort wouldn't do such a thing without reason. She had likely received guidance from Prince Jing's side. Xie Run took her guess one step further. Rouyi Palace probably had Prince An's spy planted within. Prince Jing had her say those words precisely so they would be heard by Prince An. If Prince An found out, would he go to Yunzhou, or would he start stirring restlessly? Just as she returned to Chunshan Courtyard, Xiaoshu and Dantao were arranging the meal. Chunjuan suddenly stepped forward and said, "Mistress, you've had me observing Prince An's residence all along." "Today, something of moderate significance happened at Prince An's residence. I thought you should know." Dantao knew Xie Run's back was tired from sitting all day, and was massaging her waist and back. Xie Run raised her eyes and asked softly, "What news?" Chunjuan: "Today, a corpse was carried out through the side gate of Prince An's residence." This wasn't really anything particularly major. After all, Prince An's residence was so large—if one or two people died and were carried out, it wasn't a big deal. Xie Run keenly sensed something wrong. "Who died?" Chunjuan lowered his voice: "It was Master Yunxian!" Master Yunxian! When Lanxiang Courtyard was being renovated, the Princess Consort had invited this master to examine the feng shui. As a result, this master had spoken words of mutual opposition, causing Concubine Lian and Consort Hua to fall into conflict. Later, this led to the matter of Concubine Lian's difficult labor. Up to now, the residence was still saying that Master Yunxian's predictions were miraculous. That Concubine Lian had been killed by Qiufeng Courtyard's ill fortune. Xie Run: "Master Yunxian is quite famous in the capital. How dare Prince An kill someone so casually?!" Chunjuan lowered his head: "It's said that this Master Yunxian was a hypocrite—he'd been carrying on with a concubine of Prince An's residence. He was caught in bed and beaten to death on the spot." Xie Run: "?!" What kind of absurd news had she just heard? Xie Run didn't know exactly what Prince Jing and Prince An had each done in their maneuvering. As it stood now, this Master Yunxian was anything but clean. Master Yunxian was beaten to death in the morning, and by evening, news of him was already placed on Prince Jing's desk. The study was brightly lit, with Jing Wu standing respectfully before the desk. Prince Jing glanced down at the message and curled his lips in a cold smile. "With this kind of death, it's a fitting end for Old Fifth's scheming." Jing Wu said coldly: "Since he dared to be Prince An's pawn, he should have been prepared to be destroyed along with the chess piece." The task of investigating Master Yunxian had always been Jing Wu's. This old bastard had hooked up with a concubine of Prince An's residence, and Prince An had seized the leverage, sending him specifically to Prince Jing's residence to stir up trouble. The purpose was naturally to harm Concubine Lian's pregnancy—to make Prince Jing have another unhealthy child, or simply be unable to have one at all. After investigating everything thoroughly, Jing Wu knew even better that Master Yunxian was merely a smokescreen. When Master Yunxian had made those remarks about mutual opposition at Prince Jing's residence, it had caused Consort Hua and Concubine Lian to clash, drawing everyone's attention. During that time, Prince An had quietly laid his plans in the flower room and embroidery room, exploiting the embroidery room manager's sense of smell problems—others couldn't distinguish lilies from daylilies—to try to harm Concubine Lian and her child. Concubine Lian's premature labor had also been pushed from behind by Prince An's people. Fortunately, Concubine Wan had administered acupuncture in time to induce labor, allowing Concubine Lian to safely deliver the child. After investigating everything, Prince Jing held his troops still. Prince An thought he would swallow this bitter loss in silence. Unexpectedly, Prince Jing had already laid his plans in secret, staging a trap of adultery at Prince An's residence. Master Yunxian was, after all, a well-known figure in the capital—otherwise, the Princess Consort would not have invited him to inspect the feng shui. He was beaten to death by the staff of Prince An's residence, and with such a disgraceful cause of death, rumors were bound to spread like wildfire through the capital. No one had known that Prince An had used Master Yunxian to meddle in the affairs of Prince Jing's household. But now that this matter had erupted, anyone with even a hint of cleverness would trace the connection from Master Yunxian back to Prince Jing's residence. And thinking deeper, suspicion would naturally fall on Prince An. At that point, Prince Jing would only need to offer a subtle nudge from the shadows. And everyone would suspect that Prince An, having used Master Yunxian, feared the leak of information and thus framed the master to silence him. The crime of secretly harming Prince Jing's offspring. The crime of murdering a great master. The former would enrage the Emperor; the latter would stir the people's resentment... Prince An would be reaping what he sowed. Prince Jing said to Jing Wu, "Increase surveillance in the capital during this time. The fifth one is likely to resort to desperate measures." Jing Wu seemed to want to speak but hesitated. Prince Jing glanced at him. "If you have something to say, say it directly!" Jing Wu said, "Now that Prince An is stirring restlessly, yet you have requested to leave the capital yourself. If Prince An harbors ill intentions and follows Prince Su's example of staging a palace coup... then you would be powerless to stop it." A complex smile flickered across Prince Jing's face. "You're all worried about this?" Jing Wu lowered his head. "The several advisors by your side all share this concern, but they dare not voice it." Prince Jing said, "In your eyes, is my Imperial Father truly so incompetent?"