Двойной бокс-сет

Глава 104

"Madam, I—"

"You don't believe me?" Zhao Dezhao sneered, rolled up his sleeves, and sat down in the chair next to him. "Just answer a few questions for me, and I'll tell you where Defang is."

Wanlan glanced at him indifferently, then looked at the hesitant Lan Wu and smiled, "Go ahead, I'm fine. Just bring enough food for the two of us later. His Highness Prince Yan should be leaving soon, right?" She turned to Zhao Dezhao at the end, asking with a half-smile.

"Don't waste your energy. The people in the city don't even have enough food to eat. Where would they have any surplus to sell to you?" Zhao Dezhao looked at Lan Wu and said calmly, "Xiao Luzi and Su Li are cooking in the backyard. If you're worried, you can go and check on them yourself."

Are Xiao Luzi and Su Li cooking?

Wanlan stared at him in astonishment. This man couldn't possibly know she was returning to Rongyang today, so what was he planning to do by moving into this courtyard house? Was he planning to wait for her or for Zehua?

"Lan Wu, get out of here."

"lady……"

"Go help in the backyard, I'm hungry." She wanted to see what else Zhao Dezhao wanted.

Lan Wu glanced at Zhao Dezhao hesitantly, then silently withdrew and left the hall.

Wanlan poured herself a cup of tea, took a sip, and then asked, "What do you want to know?"

Zhao Dezhao stared intently at her relaxed expression, then asked, "What is your purpose?"

Seeing his cold expression as he asked such a question, it was as if she had committed some heinous crime. Wanlan couldn't help but smile. "My purpose? What purpose?" Was he playing riddles with her?

"The purpose of helping the Imperial Uncle ascend the throne, the purpose of taking Defang away from the capital, and the purpose of why the Emperor, who is clearly alright, would rather search for Defang alone than seek help from Lord Li."

Wanlan lowered her eyes and smiled faintly. The man before her was indeed quite perceptive, able to see through everything at any time. But since that was the case—"Shouldn't you know my purpose?"

"As far as I know, on the night the late emperor passed away, the Empress Dowager originally summoned Defang to the Wansui Palace. Since you knew everything that was about to happen, why did you let your uncle get there first? The axe wound you suffered was inflicted by your uncle. Were you injured that night for Defang or for your uncle?"

Neither.

Wanlan twitched her lips. "Don't you think it's pointless and unnecessary for you to ask these questions now? It's completely meaningless."

"Then why did you take Defang away from the court?" Zhao Dezhao immediately pressed. "Was it really just because you were afraid Defang's presence would be an eyesore to the Emperor?"

"Is there some other reason?" Wanlan retorted, chuckling softly. What exactly did this man suspect of her? Did his attitude mean he wanted Zehua to leave or not? "Prince Yan, are you in the court and not as insightful as a woman like me? Serving a ruler is like serving a tiger. I don't care how much the Emperor once doted on Zehua. He is the Emperor now. Even if he can tolerate some old ministers who still support Zehua for the time being, it doesn't mean that this situation will continue indefinitely."

Zhao Dezhao pursed his lips. "If Defang herself takes that position, you can completely ignore these worries."

“Even if he does get the job, it won’t last long.” Wanlan gritted her teeth and turned away. The accusation in the man’s tone was so obvious that she couldn’t miss it. “Besides, Zehua’s ambitions lie elsewhere. I will not let you force him.”

With a loud "smack," Zhao Dezhao slammed his hand on the table and stood up, coldly shouting, "Selfish woman! Defang is perfectly capable of doing what he's supposed to do, yet you so self-righteously and arrogantly dragged him off course. Your purpose in appearing in this world, besides taking everything from Lan'er, is to take everything from Defang as well, isn't that right!"

Wanlan's face turned pale. She stood up abruptly, glaring at the angry man before her. Her fingers tightened around the corner of the table, and she gritted her teeth, saying, "Zhao Dezhao, do you really think Zehua will have a good end if he goes down that path? The Imperial Uncle is not as indifferent to the throne as he appears. Don't you really understand?"

"So what! If it had been Defang who appeared in the Wansui Hall that night, I don't believe Zhao Ling would have dared to make any rash moves!"

Wanlan froze, her mind going blank after being forced to a standstill. The man in front of her had never been so reckless. He might be arrogant and conceited, but it was absolutely unreasonable for him to say such rebellious things in such anger.

"Zhao Dezhao, you should know what you're saying. Your Imperial Uncle is now the Emperor, and he won't tolerate your insolence!"

Zhao Dezhao pursed his lips, clenched his fists, and turned around abruptly, saying coldly, "Father has extremely high expectations for Defang. Back then, the court was in an uproar because Father delayed in establishing an heir. Father asked me about it when he was extremely annoyed, but I knew that Father had always favored Defang, so he refused to accept him. We are all waiting for Defang to come of age and prove his abilities to everyone."

"Just because of the late emperor's expectations, are you going to disregard Zehua's feelings? Just because of the late emperor's expectations, are you going to give up so easily?" Wanlan leaned weakly against the table behind her and said with some breathlessness, "Uncle did a good job, why won't you accept it? Why did you even refuse the position of crown prince in the first place? I don't care what abilities Zehua has, I just want him to live well, nothing else matters."

Zhao Dezhao remained silent with his back to her, seemingly lost in thought. Wanlan subconsciously rubbed her abdomen and sat back down in her chair.

“Have you ever thought…” he began very slowly, “If it weren’t for your appearance, Defang wouldn’t be like this today. Since he accepted the Emperor’s arrangement to marry Princess Deqing back then, it means that he had no intention of opposing the Emperor. If he had continued on this path, he wouldn’t have needed to leave today because of this dilemma, and his life would naturally not be threatened in any way.”

Wanlan lowered her eyes and stared at her hand that was stroking her lower abdomen. She asked quietly, "Zhao Dezhao, what is your purpose in insisting that I confess? Just say it directly, stop beating around the bush."

Zhao Dezhao slowly turned around and stared at her bowed head. He parted his thin lips slightly and said in a low voice, "I will not allow Defang to retire."

"Even if he's in court, is he in danger?"

"It will be dangerous if he leaves!" Zhao Dezhao coldly rebuked. "Just as you said, the current emperor is wary of Defang. If Defang leaves, it's hard to guarantee that the emperor won't become suspicious. He'll wonder what Defang is doing behind his back. But if Defang stays and lives under the emperor's watchful eye, allowing the emperor to see everything about Defang clearly, perhaps nothing will change. Do you understand?"

She... naturally understood.

Faced with the cold words of the person in front of her, Wan Lanwei could only smile bitterly. This was also why she had only asked Zehua to take a leave of absence instead of resigning. However, after learning that Zehua had already asked the emperor to resign, she fantasized that they could really leave.

In the end, it was just wishful thinking...

Taking a deep breath, Wanlan cleared her mind of all distractions and looked up at him. "Go on," she thought. He probably hadn't said what he ultimately wanted to say yet.

Zhao Dezhao pursed his lips, stared at her coldly for a long time, and then slowly said, "Before Defang agrees to return to the capital, you'd better not appear in front of him."

Wanlan blinked, tilted her head to look at him, and asked, "Do you want me to die?"

"I didn't say that!" If this woman dies, Defang will go mad. "If there's still no news of you, Defang will surely give up the idea of searching for you alone when he thinks you're in grave danger. As long as he seeks help from the Emperor, and you appear at the right time, everything can go back to normal."

"So you never intended to tell me Zehua's whereabouts in the first place." Wanlan chuckled lightly and said calmly, "Can I refuse to accept your plan?"

Zhao Dezhao looked at her with his hands behind his back, "Of course you can. As long as you don't care about Defang's life, you can do whatever you want."

With a flick of his sleeve, he turned and left.

Wanlan stared unblinkingly at his back, her right hand constantly stroking her slightly protruding belly, the faint smile on her lips never fading.

Volume 5, Chapter 95, A Desolate Scene, How Much Sorrow (2)

The next morning, Zhao Dezhao left Rongyang with Su Li and Xiao Luzi. Wanlan didn't know where he was going; perhaps he was going back to the capital or back to Yongxing.

Fifteen minutes later, Wanlan packed a few pieces of luggage and left the courtyard with Lanwu.

She couldn't ignore Zhao Dezhao's concerns. She couldn't appear before Zehua now, even though there was a chance she could persuade him to stay. She didn't want to; she worried that if she saw Zehua, she would want to leave with him immediately, and she couldn't bring herself to say anything to persuade him to stay.