Chapter 42: Going To The Marquis’s Mansion For Some Entertainment
Gao An picked up the startled A Li and nodded cautiously: “Indeed, the Du Family has the greatest suspicion.”
Yan Bei’s expression turned cold.
He set down the small rice bowl and got out of bed, striding to the curtain with a frosty face: “That dog of a Du Minghuan! If he dares to touch my Yan Family member, I’ll see how many heads his entire household has combined!”
In Yan Bei’s eyes, whether Wang Huan was Yongjia or not, she was his wife and A Li’s mother.
If she acknowledged it, she was the Jing Princess Consort.
If she didn’t, she was still his first wife.
If the Du Family dared to reach out over her head, they would have to ask if he agreed!
What’s more, this involved their child, A Li, who was merely a hundred days old at the time!
When he picked up A Li, the poor child was left with only one breath.
Fortunately, with his power in hand, he could have the imperial physician attend day and night.
Later, when the Emperor was brought back to the capital, he felt gratitude for Yan Bei’s personal dispatch of men to escort him and stationed an imperial physician permanently in the Prince’s Mansion.
With such utmost care, his life was preserved.
During those days, when A Li cried from illness and refused to eat or sleep, Yan Bei even had to bring him to court.
He would sit in the Bureau of Military Affairs yamen with the child, personally feeding him while handling official business—this was commonplace!
Because he didn’t trust anyone else to take over.
Even so, A Li had suffered great damage to his vitality; now at three years and five months, he was still only as tall as other children of two or three.
All of this was done by the Du Family!
“Go find the evidence. Once it’s in hand by morning, by noon I want to see his head at the Execution Ground!”
The small rice bowl was slammed uncontrollably onto the table with a thud.
A Li twisted in Gao An’s arms to tug at his sleeve: “Father, don’t be angry.”
Yan Bei softened his expression and picked him up: “Father King has important matters to discuss. Can A Li go find the wet nurse?”
A Li rubbed his face against his, then slid down and left with the wet nurse at the doorway.
Gao An steadied his breath and continued the earlier topic: “The difficulty is here—there is no evidence.”
“How could there be no evidence?” Yan Bei frowned. “They set up such a big trap—can’t we find even a trace? Whether it’s the source of the hired killer or the one behind him, if there’s any, follow the vine to the root and dig three feet deep to find it!”
“There truly isn’t any for now.” Gao An shook his head. “Those who could instruct the Du Family are none other than a few.
“But over these three years, Jin Yu has kept men strictly surveilling the Du Family and found no improper interactions with any of them.”
Jin Yu was the chief clerk of the Prince’s Mansion, overseeing all affairs there.
Only Gao An and Cui Xun followed Yan Bei day and night.
Yan Bei’s brows knitted tightly; he paced two circles under the curtain, then cast his gaze back: “There must be some. You just haven’t found it.”
Gao An tacitly agreed with this.
At this moment, Cui Xun entered with tea, looked back and forth between their faces, and said: “There’s big news on the street—does the Prince know?”
“What is it?” Yan Bei casually picked up the tea.
“That Top Scholar Xu He—wasn’t he previously matched by the Marquis of Guangling’s Mansion and preparing to marry the daughter of the Duan family?
“But the day before yesterday, Xu He’s wife of humble origins from the Luoyang countryside came looking for him. This marriage was forcibly called off.”
Yan Bei glanced at him: “If this Xu He already has a wife, why was he negotiating marriage with the Duan family?”
“It was said she went missing two years ago on the road while visiting relatives in the Luoyang countryside. She heard Xu He had become Top Scholar and came to the capital to find him.”
Cui Xun snorted coldly here: “In my view, where was she ‘lost’? Xu He simply despised his first wife as unworthy of the stage, so he set her aside to remarry. The woman couldn’t swallow this and came to the capital to make a scene!”
Hearing this, Yan Bei was inevitably puzzled: “And then what? Did Xu He acknowledge her?”
“How could he not? Xu He welcomed her through the door, then immediately ran to the Du Family to propose breaking the engagement. Probably fearing public opinion; I hear the Du Family is celebrating a birthday today, and this Top Scholar is even bringing his wife of humble origins to the banquet.
“The various yamens are abuzz with discussion of this and can’t stop. Several officials who weren’t planning to attend personally now intend to go see for themselves.”
Yan Bei said: “This woman is quite fierce.”
As he spoke, he suddenly looked up from behind the tea bowl: “The Du Family is celebrating a birthday today?”
Gao An nodded: “Precisely today.”
Yan Bei glanced at the sky, then set down the tea bowl: “Prepare the carriage.”
Gao An was stunned: “The Prince is going to the Du Family banquet?”
Yan Bei was already unfastening his robe to change: “Others can go see that Top Scholar’s Wife—why can’t this Prince?
“—Bring the full imperial guard, and take more men.”
……
The Du Family members didn’t know Yue Tang either.
Or rather, nowadays, aside from those in the Imperial Palace, no one knew the appearance of Princess Yongjia.
A household like the Marquis of Guangling’s Mansion was far from enough to alarm the nobles of the palace.
Yue Tang planned to bring Lan Qin, Wei Zhang, and Huo Yun, while Hua Lin, disguised as a servant, would stay at the Xu Family to watch for movements.
The Xu Family was under Xu He’s control. But household matters were managed by his mother Fu Shi.
Upon learning that Xu He had kept a woman of unknown origins in the mansion under the name of He Shi, the woman worried: “Is this reliable? She demanded over a thousand taels of silver right away—could she be a notorious bandit!”
“Not likely.” Xu He shook his head. “I see this woman acts generously and with some poise; she’s not comparable to those riffraff. Seriously speaking, she’s even more refined than the noble ladies I’ve seen in the capital.
“Even the attendants she brought are very proper and move with elegance.
“Notorious bandits aren’t like that.”
Xu He had stumbled in front of the Du Family, and these past few days his spirits had sunk by a third; he no longer dared to be so arrogant.
But his past close attention to the powerful gave him confidence in these judgments.
Only then did Fu Shi relax a bit, though she still worried: “Everything else is fine, but she shouldn’t have been made to impersonate He Shi. What if she takes a liking to you and to our Top Scholar’s Mansion’s family status and refuses to leave?”
“This is just an expedient measure,” Xu He sighed. “The Du Family already knows it’s a trap; there’s no reason for me to jump further in.
“Moreover, abandoning He Shi is ultimately a weakness.
“The Du Family schemed against me first and holds this weakness, able to threaten me at any time.
“I’ve already been tricked into the pit; if I let them lead me by the nose further, it’s not worth it.
“Now, going with the flow, I can rightfully use this woman to cancel the Duan family marriage, while also clarifying my marriage to He Shi through her, preventing others from making an issue of it.
“Once the disturbance passes, I’ll have her voluntarily write a divorce letter or request to leave, making a proper and decent handover; my reputation outward will then be secure.”
Xu He was confident in his heart; He Shi definitely lacked the courage to come to the capital—this point needed no worry.
Now, to break the engagement, the news had spread, but as long as this woman in the house later requested to leave under He Shi’s name, then no matter which family’s daughter he negotiated marriage with in the future, no one would bring up that he had been married.
This was handling it cleanly.
Her son was the Top Scholar, so his words were naturally correct.
Fu Shi was convinced.
Turning, she saw the hour was late and immediately went to prepare the horse carriage for Xu He, so his Top Scholar son could go decently to the marquis’s mansion for the banquet—no need to mention.
Yue Tang also rode in a horse carriage, entering the Marquis’s Mansion one after the other with Xu He.
They alighted in the front courtyard; Xu He, as an honored guest, was received early by attendants, while female guests came separately to guide Yue Tang.
