"I learned it from Old Li's family, and it really works! Now, not only are there more people from this city coming to buy our dried meat, but many people from other places who are visiting Hucheng for the first time also come here because of our reputation. Our shopkeeper is very happy!"
Hearing the excited and joyful voices around him, Wei Hong showed no joy on his face; his gaze was deep and his expression was as cold as iron.
After the waiter finished speaking, he noticed that the man hadn't reacted for a while. He turned around and saw that the man looked unwell, and his heart skipped a beat.
Is Your Highness unhappy?
Why?
Old Li's family didn't seem unhappy at all, even though they used the titles of prince and princess.
As he was pondering what was going on and whether he should take down this pretense, he heard him say, "The princess also loves to eat it."
The waiter was taken aback for a moment, then came to his senses and beamed with joy.
"Alright! I'll tell the manager in a bit to add the title of Princess Consort to the title as well!"
It turns out that the prince was unhappy because there was no princess on their charade.
That's right, Old Li's shop sign even has the names of princes and princesses on it!
Wei Hong nodded, took the dried meat, and left.
Husband and wife are one; if someone is to lose face, it shouldn't be just him. They should share both wealth and hardship.
He returned to the Prince's mansion, and Yao Youqing did not mention Chu Yan to him.
This was Chu Yan's own request. Firstly, she knew that even if the King of Qin heard about this, he would only be annoyed and wouldn't see her. Secondly, she wanted to calm down and didn't want to see the King of Qin at this time.
Wei Hong was unaware of this matter and did not care.
He gave the dried meat to Yao Youqing and said to her during lunch, "I have to go out for a while and won't be back for about half a month, at the earliest it will be ten days or so, you..."
Before he could finish speaking, Yao Youqing suddenly raised her head, her eyes shining, almost beaming with joy.
Wei Hong couldn't finish his sentence; it was stuck in his throat, neither coming out nor leaving his mouth.
He looked at her coldly and said in a deep voice, "Are you happy?"
Yao Youqing snapped out of her daze and quickly shook her head: "No, no, I...I..."
She couldn't think of a suitable excuse for a moment. Seeing Wei Hong staring at her intently with displeasure, she guessed he had already guessed what was going on. She could only lower her head awkwardly and whisper, "Your Highness is a restless sleeper. He always tosses and turns at night, which has made it hard for me to sleep soundly these days, so..."
"So you want me to leave?"
Wei Hong, with a dark expression, finished the sentence she hadn't said.
"No, no."
Yao Youqing shook her head vigorously, trying to explain but finding it impossible to do so.
Because, to be honest, she really wanted Wei Hong to leave, whether to the front yard or somewhere else, as long as they slept separately at night.
Seeing that her face had turned red and she couldn't explain herself, Wei Hong sneered.
"You are my wife, and you will be sharing my bed sooner or later. Instead of hoping I will leave, you might as well get used to it now, so you won't have trouble sleeping in the future!"
Upon hearing this, Yao Youqing was stunned, her face filled with shock.
"Your Highness, didn't you say you wanted to be in a separate academy with me?"
Wei Hong: "..."
"Didn't you say you'd move back in once the front yard was repaired?"
Wei Hong: "..."
The girl asked two questions in a row, looking completely bewildered, which made Wei Hong choke on his food and unable to finish his meal.
His chopsticks remained motionless on the edge of the table for a long time, his head burning, unsure whether it was from anger or embarrassment.
The chopsticks bent in his hand, and just when they looked like they were about to break, they finally managed to escape with their lives. The person holding the chopsticks loosened his grip slightly.
“Every winter I move to Cangcheng for a period of time, sometimes for half a year, sometimes for several months. As the princess, you will naturally have to come with me.”
"The Prince's mansion is large enough to accommodate separate courtyards, but Cangcheng doesn't have such a large place. Am I supposed to sleep on the floor then?"
Wei Hong said with a stern face.
Yao Youqing was even more puzzled upon hearing this: "Where is Cangcheng?"
"Shangchuan border is also the border of Daliang, and it is adjacent to Dajin."
“The Jurchens often raided the border in winter. Cangcheng was conveniently located and connected to several important passes, so I spent every winter there. When there was trouble, I quelled it; when there was no trouble, I reassured the people.”
"Now that you have married me, you should naturally shoulder the responsibilities of a princess and accompany me so that the people know that as long as you are within the territory of my Great Liang, you are safe no matter where you are."
He eventually came to believe himself, as if he had planned to bring Yao Youqing along from the very beginning.
Yao Youqing naturally didn't suspect anything and curiously asked about Cangcheng, putting the previous topic behind her.
...
In the capital, Yao Yuzhi finally received the people from Shangchuan.
Ding Shou arrived once again. As soon as he entered the mansion, he and Yao Yuzhi closed the door and began a private conversation. The steward dismissed everyone else from the courtyard and stood guard at the entrance.
"My injury is fine."
Knowing that Yao Youqing was worried about his injuries, Yao Yuzhi said this first, asking Ding Shouhao to go back and give her a reply.
Seeing that he had only injured his leg, and although it was not fully healed, he could already walk a few steps with the help of crutches, Ding Shou nodded and said, "Miss only has you, Master, as her family left. No matter what the reason, you must take good care of yourself, otherwise Miss will not be at ease in Shangchuan."
“I know,” Yao Yuzhi said, “this kind of thing will not happen again.”
He only resorted to this desperate measure because he had no other choice; he doesn't have any strange fetishes or enjoy hurting himself.
"How is Ning'er? You didn't let her touch those things sent from the palace, did you?"
He then asked the question that concerned him most.
“No,” Ding Shou said, smiling as he spoke, “It’s quite a coincidence.”
He told him in detail how Ji Yunwan stayed in Shangchuan, frequently visited the Prince's Mansion, and even took away those imperial gifts.
“At the time, Madam Zhou was worried about how to deal with those things so that she could ensure the safety of the young lady without the people in the palace noticing anything amiss. Then, the Second Miss Ji spoke up, and the Prince agreed.”
"She immediately went along with it and gave all those things to Miss Ji."
"Anyway, it was Miss Ji who wanted it, and it was the Prince who decided to give it away. It has nothing to do with our young lady!"
"If Miss Ji really gets into trouble because of this, it's her own fault!"
If Zhou's mother could see that Ji Er was plotting something wicked, how could Ding Shou not see it?
Ding Shou felt no sympathy whatsoever for someone who knowingly offered herself as a concubine to the prince despite knowing that his young lady was already married to him, and who even tried to sow discord between the couple in front of the prince. In fact, he wished for her to get into trouble.
Yao Yuzhi breathed a sigh of relief, but also sighed, "I never imagined that the Ji family, with its strict family traditions, could raise such a child."
"And then there's Ji Huai'an. He's grown older these past few years, but his mind has become increasingly muddled. He actually made his own daughter do such a thing!"
From Ding Shou's account of Ji Yunwan's words and actions, it was easy for him to conclude that this woman went to Shangchuan willingly. However, no matter how willing she was, without Ji Huai'an's help, not only would she not have been able to reach Shangchuan smoothly, but she would have stayed there for so long, and even leaving the capital would have been difficult.
Not to mention she was also carrying Ji Huai'an's calling card!
Yao Yuzhi lamented the decline of her once-prosperous family to this state, feeling both sorrow and disdain.
He didn't care about the Ji family; he only cared about his daughter.
"The King of Qin not only gave away the imperial gifts to others, but also gave them to other women in front of Ning'er. He is clearly a scoundrel!"
“Well,” Ding Shou hesitated, then said, “that’s not entirely true.”
"Mother Zhou said that the prince was jealous and didn't want the young lady to use the things His Majesty had given him, so he gave those imperial gifts away."
Yao Yuzhi gave a soft snort, as if she had heard a joke.
"How could that be! He doesn't even like Ning'er, what's there to be jealous about?"
He waved his hand at Ding Shou and said, "You don't need to try to fool me with these kinds of words. I injured my leg, not my brain."
Ding Shou scratched his head and frowned, saying, "But the Prince has indeed been quite good to Miss these days. He wasn't angry when Miss changed the garden, and even..."
"What did you say?"
Yao Yuzhi interrupted.
He was so busy asking how the imperial gifts were being handled that he forgot about this equally important matter!
Hearing Ding Shou say this, he was filled with disbelief.
Ding Shou said, "Because of the flood in Huizhou, I returned to Hucheng late. Miss had already transformed the garden into the style of our Yao Mansion Garden, and His Highness has already seen it."
"However... he wasn't angry, and he's been treating Miss quite well lately."
"He didn't know at first that it was the day of Miss's coming-of-age ceremony. After he found out, he specially went out late at night to buy a gift. It was a particularly exquisite hairpin. I saw Miss wear it before. It is indeed a rare and fine item. Even in the capital, it is rarely seen."
As Yao Yuzhi listened to Ding Shou speak, her face grew paler and paler until her hands trembled so badly she could barely breathe.
"I see……"
He murmured.
Ding Shou asked, puzzled, "Know what?"
Yao Yuzhi looked up, her eyes reddening: "He must be trying to trick my Ning'er into falling for him, and then abandon her! This boy is truly vicious! You must not be fooled by him!"
Ding Shou: "..."
is that so?
...
In the palace, someone who had returned from Shangchuan was also reporting something to Wei Chi.
Logically, these people should have arrived earlier than Ding Shou because they traveled quickly and changed horses along the way. However, because they stayed in Shangchuan for a period of time, they arrived on the same day as Ding Shou.
The person who answered Wei Chi was the palace servant who had been driven away by Wei Hong in front of the Qin Prince's mansion. He bowed his head respectfully and told him about the matter in Shangchuan. He also did not hide the fact that he had not been able to see Yao Youqing.
Wei Chi had anticipated this, and showed no displeasure, simply asking, "Where are the things? Did they throw them away?"
The palace maid's expression turned somewhat unpleasant upon hearing this.
"I didn't throw it away, but... I gave it away."
Wei Chi's face stiffened, and his narrow eyes suddenly shot out two cold beams of light.
The palace maid lowered her head even further and spoke with increasing caution.