Двойной бокс-сет

Глава 44

"Wait a minute," Yuan Niang hesitated for a long time, looking extremely uneasy, and asked uncertainly, "Are you sure you can get into the Prince of Jin's residence?"

The three looked at each other, puzzled as to why Yuan Niang would say such a thing. Xuan'er scrutinized Yuan Niang for a while and said, "We are not sure if we can get into the Prince Jin's residence. Do you have something to discuss with the Prince Jin?"

“Yes…” Yuan Niang nodded and slowly took out a sealed letter from her sleeve. “This was given to you by the Prince before he left the palace. He said that if there was any emergency in the capital, this letter should be handed over to Prince Jin. If everything went smoothly, it should be destroyed. But I can’t get into Prince Jin’s residence at all.”

Xuan'er reached out and took the letter, saying, "How about this, I'll go to Prince Jin's residence before I leave the capital and try my best to deliver the letter to him, okay?"

Yuan Niang immediately grabbed her hand and said anxiously, "Xuan'er, you must be careful. This letter must not fall into the hands of others. If it cannot be delivered to the Prince of Jin's residence, then destroy it on the spot, understand?"

After giving detailed instructions, Yuan Niang returned to the palace, and Lan Wen and Xuan'er also left the mansion immediately to go their separate ways.

Chapter 51, Desiring to Send a Letter (2)

Meanwhile, the Prince of Yan's mansion had fallen into chaos after Xuan'er left.

The news of Princess Qin's husband's whereabouts enraged Zhao Dezhao. He had returned to Junzhou after his last meeting with Wanlan in Jiangling, and later, through Xue Suxin, learned that Zhao Defang had found Wanlan in Jiangling. He rushed back to the capital, preemptively reporting Zhao Defang's dereliction of duty to the Emperor. Although he knew his father doted on Defang, he believed that by making the matter clear, even if his father wanted to protect him, he wouldn't be able to do so openly. However, to his surprise, Defang received no reprimand from his father upon returning to the capital. His father simply stated that Defang hadn't yet taken office, and the charge of "dereliction of duty" was unfounded; he was merely ordered to return to Guizhou immediately.

Not only that, Defang also told his father about Lan Wu's death in Junzhou. Although they had no clear evidence that he was involved, he knew that his father was already suspicious of him, otherwise he would not have ordered him not to leave the capital.

He never expected that someone other than him would dare to kidnap Lan'er!

That's right, he didn't kidnap Wanlan at all. He would never do something like that twice.

When Xuan'er stormed in, he neither admitted nor denied it. Firstly, he was furious. Lan'er had no grudges against anyone, and he truly didn't know who was so bold as to kidnap the Princess of Qin in broad daylight. Secondly, he didn't want to deny it at all; he wanted to see what Defang would do this time.

Inside the study of the Prince of Yan's residence, Zhao Dezhao clenched his fist and sneered, "Defang, Defang, what will you do? If you think this was my doing, how do you plan to deal with your only brother?"

"Your Highness!"

The study door was suddenly pushed open, and a young woman dressed as a married woman rushed in. When she saw Zhao Dezhao's cold face, she froze and knelt down tremblingly.

"This servant acted rashly, Your Highness, please forgive me."

Zhao Dezhao glanced at her coldly and sat down in the chair. "You'd better give me a reason why I'll spare you."

"This servant...this servant heard that Miss has been kidnapped again, so—"

"So you suspect that this was done by me again?" Zhao Dezhao looked at her coldly with his hands behind his back. "Su Li, are you really that concerned about your young lady? You shouldn't have come back with me in the first place. What, are you regretting it now?"

"No!" Su Li hurriedly shook her head, glanced at him, and then quickly lowered her eyes again. "Su Li doesn't regret it, but Your Highness also promised Su Li that you would never hurt Miss. Don't you like Miss? You definitely won't hurt Miss, right?" No matter how she broke with Jiao Wanlan, she couldn't bear to watch her master, who had followed her since childhood, suffer.

Zhao Dezhao suddenly chuckled. He turned around indifferently and said calmly, "Su Li, you have already concluded that this was my doing. I won't say anything more to you. This time, I'll see how Defang will save his wife. You may leave." Anyway, he didn't expect anyone to believe his innocence.

"Your Highness..."

"Get down!"

With a cold shout, Zhao Dezhao glared at Su Li, hastily rose, and left the study. He flicked his wide sleeves, strode to his desk, and began to write furiously. His father's forbidding him from leaving the capital didn't mean he couldn't do anything. No matter what, he had to snatch Lan'er back before Defang. Now that Prince Jin was under house arrest, he wanted to see what Defang could do without Prince Jin's support!

Just as Zhao Dezhao put down his pen and was about to call someone in, a person rushed in through the door. After entering the study, the person closed the door behind them and then knelt on one knee, calling out, "Your Highness."

"A minor approach?" Zhao Dezhao raised an eyebrow, slowly withdrew his hand, and strolled in front of him. "How was it?"

"As Your Highness expected, Miss Xue has arrived in Junzhou, but for some reason she is all alone. What should we do? Your Highness initially hoped that she would bring Princess Deqing to Junzhou, but Princess Deqing suddenly disappeared." Xiao Luzi, who had rushed back to the capital, said cautiously, "There is another matter—Young Master Xue has also appeared in Junzhou. I wonder if it is related to Miss Xue."

"Young Master Xue?" Zhao Dezhao was surprised. He had heard of Xue Weiji before. This idle young master was often away from home. It was said that he was either traveling or chasing after some so-called beautiful female knights in the martial arts world. Prime Minister Xue was powerless to discipline his son, while his wife was unwilling to discipline him.

"Is it just a coincidence? Did he happen to go to Junzhou for fun?"

Xiao Luzi shook his head, indicating he didn't know. "Your Highness, what should we do next? Princess Deqing has suddenly disappeared, and we don't know what happened. Miss Xue went to Junzhou probably to look for you. Should we show ourselves and bring Miss Xue into the manor?"

"You don't need to pick her up, she'll find you herself," Zhao Dezhao said calmly. What he was more concerned about was who the people who kidnapped Lan'er were and what their purpose was.

"Your Highness, then we—"

With a slight wave of his hand, Zhao Dezhao interrupted his urgent words, turned to the side, took the letter written on the table, folded it, took an envelope, put it in place, and handed it to him. He smiled and said, "Send this letter to the Prince of Jin's mansion in secret. After that, you will go back to Junzhou to pick up Miss Xue. As for Young Master Xue..." He hesitated for a moment, "If he has nothing to do with Miss Xue, then let him be. There is no need to pay attention to him."

Xiao Luzi took the letter and carefully put it away. "Your Highness understands. What do you plan to do about Princess Deqing's disappearance?"

Zhao Dezhao watched as he put the letter away, but his gaze remained fixed on Xiao Luzi's chest where the letter was hidden. He smiled strangely and said, "I plan to give Defang a 'gift' that she will never forget!"

Chapter 52, Desiring to Send a Letter (3)

Zhao Guangyi, who was under house arrest, never expected to receive two letters on the same day. He didn't even know who sent one of them. The two letters were written in different handwriting, but they were both quite familiar to him. Although the tone of the letters was different, they were about the same thing. This made him furious on the spot, and he smashed the desk in front of him to pieces with one blow.

"Someone come here!"

The guards at the door scrambled into the room at his roar, bowing their heads tremblingly, "Your Highness..."

"I want to see the Emperor!" Zhao Guangyi gripped the letter tightly in his hand, his fingertips turning white from the force. His stern face was chilling. The guard, though desperate to escape, was forced to speak in a trembling voice due to his duty:

"His Majesty... wishes you... to stay home... and rest well!"

Zhao Guangyi stepped forward, grabbed the guard by the collar, and said coldly, "Don't you understand what I'm saying? I want to see the Emperor! Go and report this!" With a heavy shove, the guard fell out of the door and hurriedly knelt down, begging for mercy.

"Your Highness...the Emperor said...he doesn't want to see you..."

His grip on the letter tightened, crushing the thin paper into tiny pieces that fell to the ground, forming a small white circle on the dark floor. Zhao Guangyi strode to the door and sneered, "Fine! The Emperor may not see me, but I want to see Chief Steward Pei of the Prince of Qin's residence. Summon him here immediately!"

"Your Highness, this..."

With a heavy flick of his wide sleeves, Zhao Guangyi's sharp eyes shot towards the guards who had repeatedly defied him. "Don't waste my breath. If you don't want to go, fine. I'll make sure you never have to do such a thing again! There are so many people guarding me. Even if one is missing, the Emperor won't have time to worry about it. What do you say?"

The guard, who had been prostrate on the ground, was terrified and hurriedly jumped up, replying, "I'll go and fetch Steward Pei right away!"

His cold eyes slowly moved toward the pile of paper scraps on the ground. Zhao Guangyi smiled slightly, turned and walked into the inner room, seemingly unintentionally scattering the white powder on the ground, before sitting back in the soft chair behind the broken desk.

He was pondering the reason for his house arrest when Zhao Dezhao "kindly" delivered the reason to his doorstep. He knew he would never show any mercy to this biggest rival of Defang, but after all, he was his nephew. As long as he didn't offend him, he would turn a blind eye. However, this letter allowed him to truly let go of the so-called blood ties. He wanted to see what Zhao Dezhao was up to!