Chapter 41: The Prince’s Fury
Since topping the imperial exams, Xu He had enjoyed smooth sailing, with everyone around him heaping praise and flattery.
The Marquis of Guangling’s Mansion, which had come knocking to show diligence, had once made him feel that their family status was a bit low; at the very least, it should have been one of the Shen, Mu, or Chu families to be fitting.
Of course, if Prince Jingyang, whom he had always hoped for, could glance at him a time or two, that would be even better!
Unexpectedly, today he was first pierced by the woman who came knocking, revealing the true purpose of the Marquis of Guangling cozying up to him, making him deeply feel like he had been treated as a fool.
Immediately after, thinking he could turn the tables on the Marquis of Guangling, he was instead stabbed with this soft knife.
The Top Scholar only felt that all the knowledge from over a decade of studying by the cold window—did it really have any use in the officialdom and Imperial Court?
He returned disheartened and dejected, and recalling the woman’s words made him increasingly alarmed.
The Du Family’s reactions had been calculated by her every step of the way! She was no simple character after all.
Since that was the case, it would be a pity to waste that thousand taels of silver for nothing.
Upon returning to the mansion, he went straight to find Yue Tang.
Yue Tang, who had long anticipated his return in defeat, was waiting in the courtyard. Wanting to know the Du Family’s countermeasures, she asked, “What did the Marquis of Guangling say?”
Xu He explained the whole story, still unable to hide his indignation: “Not only does this Du Family insist on forcibly recognizing me as their adopted son, they also want me to attend their birthday banquet the day after tomorrow as their adopted son. Is this how they do things? Isn’t this bullying? I, a dignified Top Scholar, going to be their Du Family’s adopted son—what will others think of me?”
Yue Tang’s attention was on how quickly the Marquis of Guangling had reacted. Though this Du fellow was a henchman, he clearly had a ruthless streak; to achieve his goal, he even resorted to methods that nearly tore the facade.
From this, it seemed he was truly afraid of failing to deliver on his task!
She looked at Xu He: “Don’t worry. We’ll go to the birthday banquet the day after tomorrow, and I’ll help you probe the Du Family’s situation, then teach you how to respond when we get back.”
Xu He frowned: “You’re going too?”
“Of course.” Yue Tang raised her brows. “I’m your long-lost wife. If you don’t bring me to show my face at such an occasion, won’t people suspect that you didn’t remarry because your original wife was lost, but rather abandoned her to climb the social ladder and became a heartless man?”
Xu He was stung by “heartless man,” but it was the truth, so he couldn’t argue with her.
Besides, what she said made sense. With his wife of humble origins suddenly showing up at the door, there was still discussion outside.
If he publicly brought her to the banquet, wouldn’t that prove he hadn’t abandoned his original wife, and even cherished her?
It would also silence the wagging tongues outside.
He then said, “Then don’t cause me any trouble.”
“I still have five hundred taels of silver in your hands—how dare I act rashly?”
Only then was Xu He satisfied and nodded.
……
On the day he gave the order to Du Minghuan, the Du Family sent a stack of case files to Prince Jingyang’s Mansion.
The He Family was almost wiped out.
After the madwoman Madam He also drowned, the tree fell and the monkeys scattered. The eldest grandson who had been sent back to the Zhang Family had nowhere to go since the entire Zhang Shaode family was gone, so the He Family’s collateral branch took him back, righteously moving into the He Family under the pretext of raising him. They hadn’t dared to completely devour the estate yet, but it was only a matter of time.
The Zhang Family, having fewer people, had been wiped out even more cleanly.
All the corpses had been examined.
The ones who died of poison showed no tricks.
But He Jianzhong and Zhang Shaode, who were killed by the sword, had wounds that were vicious and deep—clearly the perpetrator acted decisively and with rich experience.
Yan Bei had personally gone to see everything that could be seen.
After seeing them, he couldn’t sit still.
The Wang Huan he knew was not some delicate and fragile woman, but neither was she as fierce as his several elder sisters who could single-handedly lift their husbands.
If He Jianzhong and Zhang Shaode were truly killed by her, how deeply had she been hiding her abilities?
A woman so deeply hidden could only be Yongjia, who was deeply favored by the Empress and Prince Duan and tutored by famous teachers from childhood……
Yan Bei had heard of Yue Tang’s name since childhood.
After all, she had borne the Heavenly Calamity alongside the Emperor, and the matter was widely circulated.
Moreover, his father had returned to the capital every three years to report for duty, and during his time in the capital, he had good friendship with the Former Emperor and Prince Duan. He would always bring back some news about her.
But Yan Bei had never met this daughter of a family friend.
So, it turned out that three years ago, it was her!
It was she who had disguised herself and, like a bandit, knocked him down in the bridal chamber!
It was also from that day when Zhang Wei helped him out at the guild hall and took him back to the village that her conspiracy began!
And finally, on A Li’s hundred-day celebration, she left the divorce letter and took the child away—that was the end of the conspiracy!
But he, Yan Bei, the dignified Prince Jingyang and the new young commander of ten thousand troops who dominated Mobei, the dream lover who haunted the hearts of countless girls in the entire northern border—had actually only been valued by this bratty girl for his body to bear a child?!
Didn’t she think at all that such an unparalleled youth would make a fine and proper consort?
His Princess Your Highness just discarded him as unwanted?
After sorting all this out, Yan Bei didn’t even eat his meal properly that day.
But what angered him even more was the Du Family.
Because if his speculation was correct, it meant the Du Family had truly plotted the conspiracy to assassinate Yongjia three years ago.
Even if the Du Family back then wasn’t qualified to touch Prince Duan’s death, they had targeted Yongjia and done it so meticulously. If Yan Bei hadn’t happened to know “Wang Huan,” even he couldn’t have imagined that the accident three years ago was actually premeditated!
Prince Duan was already dead, the Heir Apparent was dead, and Prince Duan’s Mansion only had the widowed Heir Apparent’s Consort left.
Yongjia had died miserably surrounded by killers, and no one would ever avenge her!
No one would ever learn the truth and seek revenge for her!
—She was the wife he, Yan Bei, had bowed to in the wedding hall!
She was his son’s mother!
A Li had been abandoned by the roadside back then because his mother had been entangled by Du Minghuan’s people!
She couldn’t attend to him!
Otherwise, since she had gone to such lengths to have the child, how could she easily let go?
There had once been rumors in the court that she died with her face disfigured. If she hadn’t luckily escaped, she would have endured all of that herself!
“What did Shuntian Prefecture say?”
In the morning, Yan Bei, bringing the late-rising A Li to eat breakfast, asked Gao An who had delivered the files.
“Shuntian Prefecture has long colluded with the Du Family, and the Supreme Court also has Du Family people. Neither side’s words are credible. But the guards found that the Du Family’s family wealth has accumulated extremely quickly in recent years.”
Gao An spoke and presented the account book he brought to him.
“These are the Du Family’s property deeds and major expenditure records from four years ago and now four years later. Four years ago, the Marquis’s Mansion had a total of only forty-three servants inside and out. Three shops. Six hundred mu of land.
“Before Princess Yongjia’s incident, they began spreading word that they had invested in a silkworm workshop in the south, and soon after started successively buying fields and properties, acquiring shops.
“Of course, this was still done covertly.
“After Prince Duan’s Mansion’s incident, the Marquis of Guangling took over the Imperial City Department, then openly purchased fields and properties, opened shops, hired servants, and increased guards.”
Yan Bei frowned and flipped two pages, then slammed it on the table: “In other words, it is beyond doubt that the Du Family killed Yongjia.”
