C129 – A Small Punishment
When Crown Prince Zhao arrived at Yueyang Marquis’s Mansion, two fast horses arrived at the same time. Two men in black clothes jumped off their horses and ran to Crown Prince Zhao, reporting in a low voice.
Crown Prince Zhao’s expression was calm and his thoughts could not be seen. Zhang Chun pulled the corner of Wang Dingjun’s clothes and raised his head to ask him, “Is this your colleague?”
“What is a colleague? What colleague?” Wang Dingjun asked.
“Why are you so stupid? It’s hard to understand what a colleague means,” Wang Dingjun said. Zhang Chun shook his head and sighed. “I really don’t know how you got your reputation.”
The corner of Wang Dingjun’s mouth twitched. He silently turned his face away. He decided not to argue with this lunatic. Otherwise, he would lower his level.
Tang Yue followed his family out to welcome them. When he met Crown Prince Zhao’s undiscernable gaze, he knew in his heart that the other party should already know about the family matters.
Crown Prince Zhao spared everyone from kneeling and bowing. Without avoiding the presence of the crowd, he pulled Tang Yue’s hand and entered the room. Together with Yueyang Marquis and the others, they went straight to the study room.
Marquis’s Wife and Zhao Shi wanted to enter the room with tea but were stopped by Wang Dingjun and the other guards. They were so angry that they almost could not maintain the smile on their faces.
“Master Hou must know why I came here. What happened yesterday and this morning was not a coincidence. Someone did it on purpose.”
Yueyang Marquis smiled and did not answer. In such a short time, not only did Crown Prince Zhao know what happened in Marquis’s Mansion, but he also found out the result. It could be seen that he was in control of every single move in Marquis’s Mansion.
This answer wasn’t good news for the master of Marquis’s Mansion.
However, Yueyang Marquis would not be restrained by the royal family because of Crown Prince Zhao. It would not be strange even if Crown Prince Zhao’s spies appeared in Marquis’s Mansion, let alone a little bit of news.
“Then who is the mastermind that His Highness found out? Why do you want to go against me, Yueyang Marquis?” Yueyang Marquis asked angrily.
“There are still doubts about this matter. Currently, the information that I have obtained was done by Tangxi, but I have yet to get to the bottom of it. There may be some hidden reason behind this.” Crown Prince Zhao’s words were very reasonable, but it might not be true in other people’s ears.
Due to the bad debt between him and County Princess Tangxi, as the father-in-law, it was impossible for Yueyang Marquis to not care about it. As Tang Yue, who was about to marry him, it was also impossible for him not to care. For Zhang Chun, who had watched too many romance dramas and idols, it was even more of a melodramatic way of thinking about the plot.
Yueyang Marquis snorted lightly. “What does His Highness mean by that? Do you think someone is trying to frame County Princess Tangxi?” Who would eat their fill and go against a silly woman?
Tang Yue didn’t say anything. He lowered his head and didn’t know what he was thinking. He trusted Crown Prince Zhao, but he couldn’t control his emotions.
Zhang Chun was timid. Yueyang Marquis asked, “Crown Prince is very familiar with County Princess Tangxi? How do you know that the result of the investigation is not the final result? Do you trust her that much?”
Wang Dingjun heard everything clearly from outside the door. He wanted to rush in and beat this idiot up. This kind of question was something he could ask?
No wonder he was fooled and controlled by others for so many years.
Crown Prince Zhao glanced at them indifferently and looked at Tang Yue. He answered, “I don’t mean anything else. I’m just telling the truth. Tangxi is a hired person. There is no doubt about it. But there might be someone else behind this. If we can’t find out who she is, we can’t find her. Such a thing might happen again.”
“Reason. Your Highness, please give this official a reason.” Yueyang Marquis straightened his back and asked firmly. Normally, he would not easily challenge Crown Prince’s authority. Now, for his son, he was willing to risk everything.
At night, news came one after another. Yueyang Marquis had his own information channel. When he heard that someone in Prefecture Lord’s Mansion had suddenly been infected and dozens of people had died within a day, his heart skipped a beat.
He said to his confidant with emotion, “He is the future ruler of a country. No one can compare to him.”
“Lord Marquis, are you worried that His Highness’ iron-blooded methods will be used in the future in the manor?”
“Of course not. Accompanying a lord is like accompanying a tiger. This kind of worry comes every day when this duke bears the responsibility of this family. But if it is Crown Prince, at least he can guarantee that he will not be implicated by the innocent.”
“The human heart has changed. Moreover, Marquis’s Mansion is rich and powerful...” His trusted aide reminded him kindly.
Yueyang Marquis laughed twice. “Money is an external thing. Moreover, the most valuable thing in the entire Marquis’s Mansion is not a mountain of gold and silver. It’s my son, Tang Yue! As long as His Highness is not stupid, he will not rashly touch the Marquis’s Mansion.”
In just one night. Bad news came one after another from Prefecture Lord’s Mansion. There were guards, maids, cooks, and slaves among the people who died. Outsiders only knew that the plague in Prefecture Lord’s Mansion was too strong, but they didn’t know that these people who died were all by County Princess Tangxi’s side.
“Father... Father... You must save your daughter. It must be him, it must be him!” County Princess Tangxi sat on the ground in tears. Her big hazy eyes were full of fear.
Old Prince and his wife sat at the head of the group, frowning and sighing.
“You... Sigh, what kind of sin are you doing?” The county princess wiped her tears and was speechless.
Old Prince’s face turned green and he suddenly slapped the table and stood up. “Tell me the truth. Why do you have to make things difficult for the kid from the Tang Family? Didn’t I warn you not to touch him again? You know that there are tigers on the mountain, but why are you so stupid?”
“No, I don’t. I just...”
“Shut up! You don’t have anything?” Old Prince shook his hands and threw a handkerchief in front of her. “How dare you say you didn’t write this?”
County Princess Tangxi stopped crying and picked up the handkerchief to look back and forth a few times. Suddenly her eyes were straight, “This... this is...”
“This is the letter you wrote to Guard Liu. You asked him to find someone to hurt Tang Yue’s reputation and then use a small punishment. This kind of unorthodox method. “Only you brainless women can think of it!”
Old Prince was furious. If it were him, he would not have been found out by Crown Prince Zhao so easily.
“But...” She did not hand the handkerchief over.
“No buts. All the witnesses and evidence are here. There is no way to explain it!”
County Princess Tangxi’s entire body was paralyzed. She muttered to herself, “It is not like this... How can cousin treat me like this? No, I have to find him to explain clearly...”
Old Prince looked at his daughter in disappointment. He ordered someone to take her back to her room to look after her. She was not allowed to go anywhere. There was no need to send anyone to serve her. Crown Prince’s actions had been very clear.
“Darling, His Highness has killed so many people. Isn’t it time for this to happen?” The County Princess asked carefully.
“Hmph, you’re thinking too well. How could His Highness’s methods be so simple? Just wait and receive the attack.” Old Prince paced around the hall in annoyance. After a long time, he ordered people to change their clothes and prepared to enter the palace to beg the King for mercy.
With the protection of the king, Crown Prince Zhao did not dare to go too far.