Chapter 39: Lilac Colour
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Mingzhu had only eaten half of her bird’s nest porridge when the news reached her.
Su Lan lowered her voice and described to her, “Third Young Master received family punishment, watched personally by Master, twenty lashes, not one less, not one lighter. Master said, he must be taught a lesson to prevent him from being sold and still counting money for others. Madam went to plead, but Master didn’t allow it… because he was arrogant and unrepentant, he would definitely have to be punished again in front of the relatives, and Madam cried like a tearful person, but dared not plead… It’s said that the whole Geng family will be sent to the official, and Geng Pingqiang and his son will be executed. Many people in the mansion are scared, secretly going to confess to the Fourth Master, and it’s said that Fourth Master has received a lot of gold and silver goods and dealt with many people. Many people heard the news and took the opportunity to want to join the mansion as officials, and Master said it’s fine like this, no need to add more people.”
After stirring up trouble in the mansion, those relatives who bullied others and sought benefits would probably be the next targets for her father and brothers to deal with. Mingzhu listened quietly for a while, without any expression, continued to lower her head and finished the remaining bird’s nest porridge in her bowl. Then she stood up, stretched lazily, and laid down on the couch to read.
Su Lan lit the lamp for her, and glanced curiously when she saw her actually reading A Mirror for the Wise Ruler, “Miss wants to study?”
Mingzhu gave her a disdainful look, “Is reading a book studying? What are you, a maid who can read and write, doing? Are you aiming to be the top scholar?” She turned away and ignored her.
Su Lan smiled and lit a stick of incense before stepping aside.
Mingzhu felt conflicted. Actually, it wasn’t surprising that others looked down on her. She was indeed a useless playgirl who only knew how to eat, drink, and have fun. She recognized every word in the book, but when they were put together, it was too complicated and made her sleepy. She was unwilling; she felt that she was actually very smart. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have such a good memory. She died so pitifully in her previous life, and in this life, she wanted to live with dignity, to do her best to help her father and brothers, to continue the family, and to let everyone live on.
But the fact was that although she might have an extraordinary memory, excellent dancing skills, and decent painting skills, she was indeed not cut out for reading. After falling into a third drowsiness and being awakened by Su Lan’s coughing, Mingzhu finally became angry and woke up. She realized that she wanted to use her strengths to attack the enemy’s weaknesses! It didn’t matter if she didn’t understand what was written in the books. She would just memorize them all! There’s a saying, reading a book a thousand times reveals its meaning. She would try her best to memorize all these useful books. One day, she would use them!
Since Princess Funing and those people openly and secretly ridiculed her for being ignorant, the next time she had the opportunity, she would compete with them to recite A Mirror for the Wise Ruler and Records of the Grand Historian! If she couldn’t write them out, she would obediently let them slap her face! Mingzhu thought of this happily. Suddenly, she remembered that Princess Funing and Yuwen Chu were siblings of the same mother, and couldn’t help but curse them again. No wonder they were siblings; not a single good thing between them!
At dawn, Jing Song hurriedly walked through the lush paths of Ying Wang’s mansion and came directly to Yuwen Chu’s study, Tingxue Hall, without informing anyone. He whispered at the door, “Your Highness?”
“Come in.” Yuwen Chu sat upright behind the table, reading a letter. Seeing his excited expression, he asked calmly, “Is there any movement?”
Jing Song whispered, “Yes, the nanny’s whole family has been imprisoned, even implicating Fu Mingqing. Fu Mingzheng sealed the Geng family yesterday, and it is said that the silver found alone amounted to this much!” He gestured with two fingers, “Twenty thousand taels! Not to mention other jewelry, antiques, calligraphy, and paintings, as well as fields and shops. If calculated per capita, Geng Pingqiang alone should have at least twenty or more dead prisoners! He’s just a servant, don’t know who gave him such courage!”
“Outsiders will think he was acting on behalf of Fu Cong and his son, but you and I both know that’s not the case, so there must be someone behind him. We need to find out who that person is,” Yuwen Chu pondered for a moment, then said in a deep voice, “Who else is involved? And who is the one who brought this matter to Fu Cong’s attention?”
Jing Song hesitated for a moment, feeling embarrassed, “I’ll arrange for someone to investigate right away.”
Yuwen Chu said indifferently, “Today, the Great Empress Dowager will send someone to visit Fu Mingzhu, with the purpose of confirming the cruelty and untrustworthiness of Linan Wang, and later she will decree to retract this marriage.”
What next? Jing Song secretly glanced at Yuwen Chu, although he seemed expressionless and spoke calmly, his hand unconsciously kept rubbing the jade handle of his sword—this was his expression when he had something on his mind and hesitated. Was it related to this marriage with Fu Mingzhu? Thinking about his behavior these past few days, Jing Song had a bold guess.
Yuwen Chu immediately noticed Jing Song’s gaze. He raised his head and calmly looked at Jing Song. Jing Song didn’t have the courage to meet his eyes and quickly bowed his head, indicating that he didn’t peek at him.
Yuwen Chu didn’t mind, “Old Nine and Empress Dowager Min have been quiet these days. When life and death are at stake, Old Nine will definitely not give up easily. He must make some moves, and my sister-in-law is also restless. So they must be planning something, just waiting for an opportunity. Today is their best and last chance; otherwise, if the decree to retract the marriage is issued, there will be no chance.”
Yuwen You secretly entered the palace late at night and met with the Empress Dowager under the pretext of meeting the young emperor. Unfortunately, Empress Dowager Min was too vigilant and he couldn’t find out what this couple was plotting. However, it was obvious that it was related to the Fu family and Fu Mingzhu. Jing Song gathered his courage, “I will personally keep an eye on them.” Then, he cautiously asked, “Previously, Linan Wang had no connection with anyone, and his marriage with Fu Mingzhu didn’t affect the overall situation. But now that he has become close with the Empress Dowager, continuing this marriage won’t benefit us. Should we inform Prime Minister Fu to be on guard?”
Yuwen Chu smiled, “There’s no need. This is their chance, but also ours. When they stir up trouble, many hidden relationships that we usually can’t see will surface… We can also use this to delay things a bit. Otherwise, the Great Empress Dowager and Fu Cong will have Fu Mingzhu married to Old Eight next. What you need to do is to control the situation and ensure that Fu Mingzhu is safe. As for Fu Cong, there’s no need to tell him anything. Old Nine will annoy people himself, and no one else will be blamed.”
Jing Song understood and quickly went out to arrange things.
After finishing reading the letters on the table, Yuwen Chu prepared to reply to them. Suddenly, he found a letter under the crystal paperweight, a lilac-colored envelope emitting a faint jasmine fragrance, with beautiful and elegant handwriting on it, the kind that couldn’t be achieved without years of practice. He didn’t open it but furrowed his brows and asked Donghui, the maid serving the ink and brushes beside him, “Who put this here?”
Donghui hurriedly said, “It was brought by Chief Steward Zhu.”
Yuwen Chu’s expression turned colder, “Summon Zhu Changsheng.”
Zhu Changsheng happened to personally lead the servants to bring him breakfast and was preparing to report important matters in the mansion to him. Seeing the situation, he quickly approached, bowed respectfully, and smiled so much that his eyes disappeared, “I greet Your Highness. What orders do you have?”
Yuwen Chu pointed to the gorgeously colored letter, “Where is this from?”
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