Chapter 234 – Teasing Little Minx (1)
“Your Highness.”
After walking halfway to the study, Zhao Jue encountered Qian Lianxue. She was wearing an unobtrusive, white dress today and looked even more delicate than usual. Her waist looked slender enough to be held in only one arm, and there was a sickly blush on her face.
There was no other passerby on the path. Danzhu saluted, then she stood to the side to keep watch.
The third prince looked at Qian Lianxue and said, “I heard that you provoked Sangyu.”
Qian Lianxue shook her head, sighed, and quietly said, “Lianxue hasn’t done anything to offend Madam. It’s Madam that’s insisting on making life difficult for Lianxue. She was the one that snatched the previous letter that you sent and knocked my servant unconscious.”
The third prince slightly raised his eyebrow. “How could that be possible?”
“Lianxue wouldn’t lie to you.” She coughed a few times, then she said, “Your Highness, Lianxue has always whole-heartedly worked for you. But, Madam used the excuse of Lianxue’s relative’s wrongdoing to demote Lianxue to an ordinary concubine and snatch away a lot of Lianxue’s key servants.”
What on earth was Sangyu thinking? Zhao Jue felt slightly angry. Could it be that she was the same as before? Was she willing to disregard everything in order to compete for the marquis’s favor? She should know that Qian Lianxue’s was his loyal servant.
“I’ll go talk to her later about this. Just be more careful when carrying out what you should be doing.” With a fling of his sleeve, the third prince resumed walking to the study.
At present, his top priority was to find and talk to Marquis Moyu.
—
Ning Yuxuan was sitting in his study. On the small table next to him, there was a pot of tea. Seeing that the third prince had come, he invited him to sit down.
Zhao Jue laughed. “Yuxuan, did you predict that I would come here?”
Marquis Moyu nodded. “The first prince is most likely waiting to see what your expression looks like when you leave this estate.”
Although Zhao Zhe was under house arrest, Xiao Tianyi and the empress wouldn’t be sitting around doing nothing. Even though the crown prince was in a dire state, the crown prince’s faction hadn’t been defeated yet.
“Then, I should start practicing on showing an especially displeased and darkened expression. That way my oldest brother will feel at ease.” Zhao Jue’s gently smiled. After picking up the tea, his expression had turned downcast.
Ning Yuxuan laughed in spite of himself. But then, thinking of something else, his expression turned serious again. “I have possession of two letters. Your Highness, excuse me for speaking bluntly. You shouldn’t underestimate women.”
“Letters?” Zhao Jue thought of his recent conversation with Qian Lianxue and somewhat awkwardly asked, “Where did these two letters come from?”
Marquis Moyu took out the two letters. One letter was smudged, but some of the words could still be clearly read. The other letter was in perfect condition.
After reading the two letters, the third prince’s expression sunk. He coldly harrumphed and said, “I must have been blind.”
After a pause, he still somewhat incredulously asked, “Did you get both of these letters from her?”
Ning Yuxuan nodded. “It’s all thanks to Sangyu.”
If Sangyu hadn’t given the back gate’s guard so much money, he wouldn’t have paid attention to Danzhu, much less pursue the matter of Qian Lainxue’s family letters. It was because he had always underestimated women, so he hadn’t notice that there had been such deeply hidden saboteur.
He had previously disregarded the third prince’s meddling in his harem through Qian Lianxue because he thought the third prince was just doing those things to help his younger cousin. But after Qian Lianxue had been fully exposed, he was deeply shocked.
The infighting between women in a harem was a lot more ferocious than he had thought.
The third prince was silent for a long time. He carefully looked over the smudged letter, then he closed his eyes and said, “How do you want to deal with this? Do you want to turn around and use her against that person or just dispose of her?”
Although the sender’s name couldn’t be seen in the smudged letter, he could see that it wasn’t his orders that had been written on the letter. Qian Lianxue had actually been serving another master while following his orders too. The smudged part of the letter made it impossible to tell who her other master was, but it was obvious that Qian Lainxue had played him, Zhao Jue, like a fool.
She couldn’t be allowed to live.
“There’s no need to consider trying to use her against that other person,” Ning Yuxuan said, “It’s unlikely that will work. For her to successfully hide herself for so long without being caught, that shows her innate skills. As for disposing her… how about handing her to Sangyu?”
With the hatred that Sangyu felt towards Lianxue for snatching away Gancao’s life, he believed that it wasn’t necessary for him to make any moves. Sangyu would neatly deal with Lianxue by herself.
“What about Yingchen?”
Ning Yuxuan paused, then he sighed and said, “He’s not close with Lianxue. Otherwise, Lianxue wouldn’t have done those foolish things. If Sangyu wants to punish Lianxue, she’ll definitely find a reason that will leave people sincerely convinced and ready to concede. That way, it’ll naturally be possible to give Yingchen an explanation that he’ll be willing too accept.”
Zhao Jue raised his eyebrows. He carefully looked at the person in front of him and said, “Yuxuan, have you noticed that whenever you mention Sangyu, your gaze has become very gentle lately?”
He used to think that it would almost impossible for Ning Yuxuan to fall in love with Sangyu. But looking at him now, he could see there was a hint of…
Marquis Moyu expressionlessly said, “Your Highness, you’re overthinking things. Yuxuan will naturally complete everything that I’ve promised you. As for the other things, there’s no need for Your Highness to waste time thinking about them.”
The third prince twitched his lips. He stood up, straightened his robe, and said, “I won’t say anything unnecessary. It’s about time for me to return. I won’t interfere in your household affairs anymore.”
Ning Yuxuan bowed. “Thank you.”
Zhao Jue turned around and left the study. His face had regained its earlier cold and distressed expression as he walked out of the residence.