Chapter 243 - Chapter 243: 243. Really interesting!

Chapter 243: 243. Really interesting!

Translator: 549690339

Duanmu Chen only returned to the prince’s residence late at night, after leaving the palace. He sat in silence for a long time.

He entered the palace to seek an audience with Duanmu Yi, trying to find ways to help Su Liang. Unfortunately, he could not meet the emperor and could only wait at Imperial Concubine Xiao’s palace. Duanmu Yi stayed in the side palace of the Imperial Study Room tonight and did not go to Imperial Concubine Xiao’s palace.

This made Duanmu Chen suspicious that Duanmu Yi really wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to get rid of Su Liang…

“You …” Duanmu Chen spoke again and when he saw Chang’an’s expression became serious, he told her, “Go find Xing Yusheng, find out what they’re

planning.”

Chang’an hesitated, “Master, are you saying… ‘

“Just do as I say.” Duanmu Chen insisted. “He and the Qin Family will definitely try to save Su Liang, as the Qin Family still has a life-saving golden decree. If I rashly step in now and someone takes advantage of this situation, it will only make things worse for Su Liang. With this in mind, let’s see what they plan to do. Just say that my palace can offer help.”

Chang’an was somewhat surprised, “Should I tell him directly?”

Duanmu Chen looked impatient, “Of course! Why are you asking so many unnecessary questions?”

Chang’an dared not say anything more. Duanmu Chen was always cautious, and this time he was sending Chang’an to ask Xing Yusheng about collaborating, which went against Duanmu Yi’s edict. This was not in line with Duanmu Chen’s usual style.

However, he took this action, causing Chang’an to believe that Duanmu Chen genuinely “cared” for Su Liang and refused to give her up, no matter for what purpose.

Chang’an left, carrying a jade token symbolizing Duanmu Chen’s identity.

Duanmu Chen walked to the window and only then realized that the rain had stopped at some point. At this point, he was well aware that Su Liang had been keeping many secrets from him since they first met. Under such circumstances, he shouldn’t trust Su Liang or anyone completely. However, when a crisis really hit, he hesitated and, in the end, couldn’t turn a blind eye to it.

In the cool night, Duanmu Chen let out a long sigh, “I hope my choice is not wrong.”

Qi Jun stayed by Bai Xiaohu’s bedside, worried that he missed his chance to inform Xing Yusheng and Lin Xueqing that Su Liang had returned home. However, he couldn’t leave Bai Xiaohu either, so he began to worry that Xing Yusheng would try something reckless, like breaking into the Heavenly Prison tonight.

Since Su Liang didn’t instruct Qi Jun to inform Xing Yusheng, Qi Jun still didn’t know how she managed to leave the Heavenly Prison unharmed so quickly, without any news leaking and even daring to stay at her home in the capital city. After some consideration, Qi Jun decided that as a subordinate of Su Liang, he should not act on his own if she hadn’t ordered him to. He believed that if he had thought of informing Xing Yusheng, Su Liang must have thought of it long ago. Perhaps, letting Xing Yusheng and the others find out too early would not be a good thing.

Meanwhile, Xing Yusheng and Lin Xueqing returned to the Marquis Zhong Xin

Mansion after leaving the Duke Qin Mansion. They stayed there because the Old Lady Xing had inquired about Su Liang’s situation and had asked them for more information.

Chang’an arrived at the small Xing Family residence next to the Su Family mansion but didn’t find anyone there. He decided to try the Marquis Zhong Xin Mansion next. Before leaving, he glanced in the direction of the Su Family and thought of paying Su Liang’s home a visit since he was already in the neighborhood.

Soon after, Chang’an entered the Su Mansion.

He approached Yuanming Pavilion and saw that it was pitch black without any lights. Chang’an decided to leave.

Just as he was about to turn around, he saw a light turn on in a room on the second floor of Yuanming Pavilion!

Chang’an widened his eyes, sure that he wasn’t seeing things, and that there was someone inside. Su Liang was in Heavenly Prison, so who could be in her house at this moment?

Duanmu Chen had asked Chang’an to come during the day, so he felt that it was something his master had instructed.

Although Chang’an felt that the situation was getting more complicated, considering that his master and Su Liang were friends rather than enemies and whoever was staying in Su Liang’s residence must be her ally, he decided to take a look.

Yuanming Pavilion was locked, and Chang’an was about to knock on the door when he heard some movement inside.

A moment later, the door opened, and Qi Jun came out carrying Bai Xiaohu to go to the bathroom.

Chang’an hid in the corner and barely recognized Qi Jun, who was carrying a skinny figure in his arms, causing Chang’an to be surprised.

When Qi Jun returned holding Bai Xiaohu, Chang’an revealed himself and greeted him, “Guard Qi, I’m from the prince’s residence.”

Qi Jun only hesitated for a moment, but Bai Xiaohu got scared and tightened his grip around Qi Jun’s neck.

“Wait a moment.” As soon as Qi Jun finished speaking, he returned Bai Xiaohu to the Pavilion first.

Once upstairs, Qi Jun woke Su Liang up and told her that someone from the prince’s close entourage had arrived.

Su Liang rubbed her forehead, went to check on Bai Xiaohu, and told him to sleep peacefully. Qi Jun stayed to watch over him while she went downstairs to meet Chang’an.

The familiar female voice came from the Yuanming Pavilion, “Chang’an!”

Chang’an’s expression was filled with astonishment. Su Liang was actually at home?

He hurriedly entered and saw Su Liang sitting inside, looking at him. “Miss Su, how are you…?” Chang’an couldn’t understand the situation at all.

“Why are you here?” Su Liang asked back.

Chang’an regained his senses and explained to Su Liang that Duanmu Chen had asked him to come here once during the day, and he went into the palace to ask for an audience with the emperor but to no avail. He was now on his way to discuss countermeasures with Xing Yusheng and stopped by to have a look.

“The crown prince has good intentions. Please thank him for me.” Su Liang believed Chang’an’s words were true.

“Knowing that Miss Su is safe, the master can be relieved.” Chang’an said, “However, the Heavenly Prison is heavily guarded. How did Miss Su…?” “About that…” Su Liang pondered for a moment.

Just as Chang’an thought Su Liang would not reveal the truth, she continued, “You can go back and simply tell the crown prince that I was secretly released by someone, and he will understand naturally.”

Chang’an was even more puzzled. Before he could figure it out, Su Liang had already gone upstairs.

Chang’an had no choice but to leave. He closed the door from the outside and hurried back to the crown prince’s mansion.

“You didn’t see Xing Yusheng?” Duanmu Chen’s expression darkened.

Chang’an hurriedly said, “Master, I saw Miss Sul”

Duanmu Chen looked at Chang’an incredulously, “What did you say?

Chang’an recounted the events to Duanmu Chen, who was also astonished, “The Heavenly Prison is heavily guarded, and she’s not inside? Nor is she hiding, but sitting in her own house? What’s going on?”

‘Miss Su asked me to tell the master that she was released by someone. But I haven’t figured it out…” Chang’an scratched his head.

However, Duanmu Chen’s expression changed! The one who stationed heavy guards at the Heavenly Prison was Duanmu Yi. Only Duanmu Yi could secretly release Su Liang from the prison without leaving a trace because even he, as the crown prince, was helpless.

But why did Duanmu Yi do this?

It didn’t take long for Duanmu Chen to think that during the day in the palace, Duanmu Yi knew that Su Liang was framed and guessed that she was threatened to confess her guilt. Since the Empress Dowager pressed hard and forced him to deal with Su Liang on the surface, he secretly released her to let

The more Duanmu Chen thought about it, the more he felt that this must be the case. As for the child that Chang’an saw Qi Jun carrying, he must be the hostage captured by the Wan family.

If Su Liang had escaped on her own or under any other circumstance, she wouldn’t have returned to stay at her home, as it would be too dangerous.

There was only one possibility: the person on the Dragon Throne was on her side.

Chang’an saw that Duanmu Chen suddenly looked annoyed and was even more confused.

Duanmu Chen snorted coldly, “Does Su Liang think that I, as the crown prince, am not capable and chose my father as her support instead? No wonder she can come and go freely in the Imperial Palaceand borrow books from the Library Pavilion at will.”

Although Duanmu Chen was very respectful to Duanmu Yi and had no rebellious intentions, he had always known that they were first monarch and subject, and then father and son. He even had to constantly remind himself not to have any illusions about their father-son relationship.

Chang’an finally realized, upon hearing Duanmu Chen’s sarcastic words, that the one who released Su Liang was the emperor.

“Isn’t that highly unlikely?” Chang’an frowned, “If that were the case, why would Miss Su bother telling me about the incident?”

Duanmu Chen’s expression became more focused at these words, and he fell into silence once again.

Indeed, he shouldn’t doubt Su Liang. Borrowing books was simply because she loved reading, which Duanmu Chen already knew. As for the assassination attempt on Duanmu Qianqian during the day, it was a carefully planned “accident” aimed at Su Liang. She couldn’t have known it beforehand and conspired with Duanmu Yi.

So, Su Liang was fine, but there was an unexpected situation that Duanmu Chen hadn’t anticipated. The real problem was…

Duanmu Chen’s heart skipped a beat as he suddenly realized that his assumption that Duanmu Yi had wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to get rid of Su Liang was completely wrong! In fact, it was quite the opposite. Lately, Duanmu Yi had been protecting Su Liang both overtly and covertly!

Allowing Su Liang to borrow from Library Pavilion wasn’t a big deal, but giving her a token that granted her free access to the Imperial Palace was extraordinary.

Since when had Duanmu Yi become so trusting of Su Liang?

And why were today’s events kept hidden from him, the crown prince? In the past, Duanmu Yi often discussed matters related to Su Liang with Duanmu

Chen.

The more Duanmu Chen thought about it, the more he felt something was off, and the issue was related to Su Liang. But it wasn’t her that was off, it was Duanmu Yi!

When did it all begin…

Duanmu Chen was deep in thought, while Chang’an didn’t dare to interrupt him and just silently stood by his side.

Not much later, Duanmu Chen whispered three words, “Crown Princess…”

He recalled that earlier, Duanmu Yi had wanted Su Liang to be the crown princess and even directly approached her about it. Su Liang then specifically sought out Duanmu Chen to resolve the matter quickly.

However, not long after, when Duanmu Chen went to the palace to discuss the matter with Duanmu Yi, the latter didn’t mention Su Liang at all. Instead, he said he would continue to choose a wife for Duanmu Chen, and soon after, arranged for their engagement to Princess Yaoguang of Liang Country.

What happened in between was an event that Duanmu Chen couldn’t afford to overlook: the appearance of a massive stone at Huguo Temple, which Duanmu Yi had ordered to be transported into the palace. Nobody knew the secret that the stone held.

After the mysterious falling stone, Duanmu Yi no longer wanted Su Liang to be his crown princess. But it wasn’t because he suspected her since he only treated her better… At this point, Duanmu Chen couldn’t help but wonder if there was some divine oracle written on that stone that was related to Su Liang. Perhaps something like “He who possesses Su Liang shall possess the world” roused Duanmu Yi’s interest in her…

“What’s the matter, Master?” Seeing Duanmu Chen’s changed expression, Chang’an couldn’t help asking.

Duanmu Chen let out a heavy cold snort, “Nothing, I’m perfectly fine!”

Chang’an didn’t understand why Duanmu Chen’s mood suddenly worsened even though Su Liang was safe. But not daring to ask more, he just listened as Duanmu Chen ordered, “Take some men and go check the situation at the Wan family.”

Chang’an took the order and left. Duanmu Chen then wrote a letter to Su Liang, but didn’t send it out immediately.

Chang’an led his men to sneak into the Wan Mansion, finding everyone inside tied up and gagged. After searching, they found no trace of Wan Shan.

Soon, one of Chang’an’s men reported some movements in the rear garden.

When Chang’an went there, he saw a mud-covered figure struggling to climb out of a dried-up well, almost making it out.

Chang’an looked up at the pitch-black night sky and sighed, “The moonlight is quite good tonight.”

At the same time, he “unintentionally” took a step forward and just happened to step on Wan Shan’s hand.

After a scream, there was a splash as he fell back into the water-filled well, and soon all was quiet again.

“Let’s go.” Chang’an gave an order and left with his men to report back.

Upon returning to the prince’s mansion, Duanmu Chen handed a sealed letter to Chang’an and asked him to deliver it to Su Liang.

Before Chang’an left, Duanmu Chen called him back, took the letter, opened the lampshade, and burned the letter. With a nonchalant expression, he said, “Forget it, I’ll talk to her next time I see her. You can go rest now.”

Chang’an withdrew, feeling that there must have been something significant in that burned letter.

Before dawn, Duanmu Yi sent someone for Su Liang, and she secretly returned to the Heavenly Prison.

Qi Jun knew that Su Liang would be fine, so he remained at ease watching over Bai Xiaohu.

The Martial Arts Champion assassination attempt on the princess yesterday was still being discussed amongst the awakened capital city’s people, boiling with endless debate.

After the rain, the sun rose, the world suddenly became bright and warm, even the small puddles visible everywhere reflected a soft light, the capital city remained bustling and prosperous.

Approaching noon, the old Imperial Physician Gao returned home from the palace, his anxious grandson Gao Jiabao immediately greeted him, “Grandfather, how is it? Is there any change in the situation?”

The old Imperial Physician’s face was strange, “Don’t worry, that girl Su shouldn’t be in any trouble.”

On the other side, Qi Yan found out that Qi Jun hadn’t been seen since he returned to the Su Family yesterday, and came to look for him for fear that something had happened, only then did he learn the truth. Soon, Xing Yusheng, Lin Xueqing, and the Qin Family were informed about the situation, but they didn’t make a fuss.

At noon, there was a major turnaround in yesterday’s incident.

The news coming out of the palace went like this:

Yesterday, after Sixth Princess Duanmu Qianqian was injured and fell into a coma, she had no chance to say anything. It wasn’t until today when she woke up that she found out Su Liang was being wronged for trying to assassinate her. She came to Su Liang’s defense and explained that the truth was that she had met Su Liang when the latter came to the palace to borrow a book. She asked Su Liang to teach her some self-defense martial arts, and Su Liang gladly agreed and demonstrated earnestly. Unfortunately, Duanmu Qianqian was too clumsy to learn, twisted her foot, and accidentally stabbed herself with the knife in her hand. Su Liang tried to save her at that moment, but people misunderstood it as her wanting to harm her.

Upon learning the news released by Duanmu Yi from the crown prince’s residence, Duanmu Chen laughed with a weird look on his face, “How interesting!”

Unaware of the truth, the common people took everything they heard to heart, and started saying things like, “I knew Su Liang was innocent, she couldn’t possibly be a spy. She and the Sixth Princess are good friends.”

Under everyone’s watchful eyes, Su Liang walked out of the Heavenly Prison, passing through half of the capital city on her way back home.

As she arrived at the entrance of the Su Mansion, she happened to run into Monk Cheng Yun, who had come to visit Bai Xiaohu.

“Miss Su.” Cheng Yun’s face was clearly not right.

Su Liang asked what was wrong.

Cheng Yun sighed deeply, “That Wan Shan, he’s gone.”

Su Liang paused for a moment, knowing that Cheng Yun thought he had killed someone, broke his vow of nonviolence, and might even be feeling uneasy and upset about it in his heart.

So, Su Liang earnestly said to Cheng Yun, “It wasn’t you who killed him. Actually, last night he crawled out of the well, but was pushed back in by the people sent by the Emperor and lost his life.”

Cheng Yun’s eyes widened, “Is this… true?”

Su Liang nodded, “It’s true. As you know, Wan Shan wanted to rebel. He caught Little Tiger and nearly killed him. He even tried to harm me. The Emperor naturally cannot tolerate him.”

Cheng Yun chanted “Amituofo” and sighed deeply again.

In fact, Su Liang didn’t know how Wan Shan had died, but she simply didn’t want Cheng Yun to be affected by the matter of a scoundrel who deserved to die, so she said those words.

Bai Xiaohu’s complexion was better than yesterday, and he was vividly telling Lin Xueqing about his adventures with Su Liang and Ning Jing in the mountains, hunting wild boars.

Upon seeing Su Liang, Bai Xiaohu eagerly asked, “Sister Su Liang, when are we going home?”

He said ‘we’ because yesterday Su Liang had said she would take Bai Xiaohu home. In his mind, Su Liang’s home was in Sujiacun.

“In a few more days.” Su Liang replied. She planned to take advantage of this opportunity to move the graves of Su Yuanzhou’s family back to their hometown of Bei’an County and needed time to prepare. Moreover, she was waiting for someone to return.

Su Liang asked Xing Yusheng to send someone back to Sujiacun in Bei’an County to inform Bai Xiaohu’s family that he was alright and not to worry. She wrote a letter to Lei Zheng and Su Bai, briefly mentioning Bai Xiaohu’s situation and asking Su Bai to help prepare for Su Yuanzhou’s family to return to their hometown for burial. Along with the letter, she also sent a silver note for Su Bai to use.

“Sister Su, since the Sixth Princess was seriously injured, will the Emperor still let her go on the diplomatic marriage?” Lin Xueqing suddenly thought and asked Su Liang.

Su Liang snorted, “She didn’t die, so she can’t escape it.”

“That’s really too terrible!” Lin Xueqing still looked somewhat angry, “Why is it that there are always so many despicable people trying to harm Sister Su? It was so dangerous this time since the injured person was a princess after all. Fortunately, the Emperor is wise and has always believed in Sister Sul”

When Su Liang thought of Duanmu Yi, who had personally visited her in the

Heavenly Prison yesterday, her eyes narrowed slightly. The Emperor’s treatment of her was almost too good….