Chapter 255

Chapter 255

Noble Consort Rou 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 to conceive a child, gave birth to Prince An, and after decades in the palace, she's still just a beauty."

"Even when she briefly became a Noble Consort due to pregnancy, it was only a temporary matter."

"How can her worthless son compare to my Yuan'er?!"

Prince Jing's birth name was Xiao Chengyuan.

In the past, Noble Consort Rou would never call him "Yuan'er" so affectionately.

It was only now that she had this one son to rely on that she suddenly changed her attitude.

Xie Run listened quietly. After Noble Consort Rou complained for a long while, she said softly, "The Prince is exceptionally gifted and has never been one to sit idly by."

"Every time he goes out, though there may be some troubles, he always returns with achievements."

"I believe in the Prince, and you should too, Noble Consort Rou."

Noble Consort Rou scoffed at Xie Run's praise of Prince Jing.

She dismissed her as an ignorant woman of the inner court, whose eyes saw nothing but her own husband and whose mouth could only utter dull flattery.

But among Xie Run's few words, one struck a nerve.

That was the fact that every time Prince Jing returned from outside, he indeed brought back good news.

Her son was stubborn as a mule—lead him and he won't budge, push him and he backs off.

Because of past matters, Noble Consort Rou didn't dare to control him much. Now she only hoped Prince Jing could rise to power, at least letting her claim the seat of the Empress Dowager.

Xie Run comforted her a few more times, mentioning the children in the residence.

Noble Consort Rou waved her hand. "Enough, you should get going. Any later and the palace gates will be locked."

Only after stepping out of the palace gates did Xie Run truly let out a sigh of relief.

Just now in the palace, hinting to Noble Consort Rou that Prince Jing went to Yunzhou to win merit wasn't Xie Run's idea—it was the Princess's deliberate hint.

The Princess wouldn't act without reason; she must have gotten the word from Prince Jing.

Xie Run took her guess one step further.

Rongyi Palace likely had a spy from Prince An.

Prince Jing had her say this so Prince An would hear it.

If Prince An found out, would he head to Yunzhou, or would he start making moves?

Just as she returned to Chunshan Courtyard, Xiaoshu and Dan Tao were arranging the meal.

Chunjuan suddenly stepped forward. "Master, you've had me observing Prince An's residence."

"Something noteworthy happened at Prince An's residence today. I thought you should know."

Dan Tao, knowing Xie Run's back was sore from sitting all day, was massaging her waist and back.

Xie Run looked up and asked quietly, "What news?"

Chunjuan: "A body was carried out of Prince An's side gate today."

This wasn't exactly a big deal.

After all, Prince An's estate was huge; one or two bodies being carried out wasn't unusual.

Xie Run's instincts flared. "Who died?"

Chunjuan lowered his voice: "It was Master Yunxian himself!"

Master Yunxian!

When Lanxiang Courtyard was being renovated, the Princess had invited this master to check the feng shui.

This master then declared they were incompatible, stirring up conflict between Shiqie Lian and Shufei Hua.

This later led to Shiqie Lian's difficult childbirth.

Even now, the household still talked about Master Yunxian's uncanny predictions.

It was said that Shiqie Lian was "restrained" to death by Qiufeng Courtyard.

Xie Run: "Master Yunxian is quite famous in the capital. How dare Prince An kill someone so brazenly?!"

Chunjuan lowered his head: "Word is, this Master Yunxian was a fraud—he was sleeping with one of Prince An's concubines, got caught red-handed, and was beaten to death."

Xie Run was stunned. "?!"

What kind of ridiculous news was this?

Xie Run had no idea what Prince Jing and Prince An had been up to in their scheming.

Now it seemed Master Yunxian was far from innocent.

Master Yunxian was beaten to death that morning, and by evening, the report landed on Prince Jing's desk.

The study blazed with light, Jing Wu standing at attention before the desk.

Prince Jing glanced down at the message, curling his lips into a cold smirk.

"That's a fitting end for Old Five's scheming."

Jing Wu said coldly, "He dared to be Prince An's pawn, so he had to accept the consequences."

Jing Wu had always been the one investigating Master Yunxian.

That old bastard had gotten involved with one of Prince An's concubines, and Prince An had gotten the dirt on him and sent him to stir up trouble at Prince Jing's estate.

The goal was to sabotage Shiqie Lian's pregnancy, so Prince Jing would have another sickly child—or no child at all.

After digging into it all, Jing Wu knew Master Yunxian was just a decoy.

When Master Yunxian spouted his nonsense about clashing fates at Prince Jing's residence, it set Shufei Hua and Shiqie Lian at each other's throats, grabbing everyone's attention.

During this time, Prince An quietly set his plans in motion in the flower house and embroidery workshop, taking advantage of the foreman's bad sense of smell so others couldn't tell lilies from daylilies, intending to harm Shiqie Lian and her child.

Shiqie Lian's premature labor was also secretly orchestrated by Prince An's men.

Fortunately, Shiqie Wan used acupuncture in time to bring on the labor, allowing Shiqie Lian to safely deliver the child.

After uncovering the truth, Prince Jing held his ground and did nothing.

Prince An assumed he would take this loss lying down.

Yet unexpectedly, Prince Jing had long since laid his own trap, pulling off a scheme to catch Prince An red-handed in an affair at his residence.

Master Yunxian was a big name in the capital, after all—otherwise, the princess consort wouldn't have asked him to check the feng shui.

Prince An's people beat him to death, and with a death that shameful, word was bound to spread like wildfire across the capital.

Nobody had any idea Prince An had used Master Yunxian to stick his nose into Prince Jing's business.

But now that this incident had come to light, anyone with half a brain could follow the trail from Master Yunxian straight to Prince Jing's place.

And if they thought about it more, suspicion would naturally land on Prince An.

Then, with Prince Jing quietly pulling strings from the shadows,

everyone would figure Prince An, after using Master Yunxian, got scared the info would leak, so he framed the master for murder to shut him up.

The crime of secretly trying to harm Prince Jing's kid.

And the crime of killing a master.

The first would tick off the Emperor, the second would stir up public anger... Prince An was getting exactly what he deserved.

Prince Jing said to Jing Wu, "Increase surveillance over the capital during this time. Old Fifth's probably going to make a desperate move."

Jing Wu hesitated, like he wanted to say something.

Prince Jing glanced at him. "Just say what's on your mind!"

Jing Wu said, "Now that Prince An is getting restless, yet you've asked to leave the capital, if Prince An's got bad intentions and tries to pull a coup like Prince Su did... then there'd be nothing you could do about it."

A complicated smile crossed Prince Jing's face. "So you're all worried about that?"

Jing Wu lowered his head. "The advisors around you all feel the same way, but they don't dare bring it up."

Prince Jing said, "Do you really think my father, the Emperor, is that useless?"