Chapter 35 "You said the chosen leader is another..."

Chapter 35 "You said the chosen leader is another..."

"You're saying the leader of the palace is someone else?" Eunuch Anping was playing with an exquisitely carved sphere when he heard his godson Anzhong's words. With a sudden burst of force, several long, irreparable cracks appeared on the first level of the sphere's pavilions and towers.

"Tch, what bad luck." Anping slammed the broken, tattered toy ball onto the table, his face clearly displeased. This was a gift from Consort Wang before he left the palace, and it had already gone bad.

"It's all my fault." An Zhong knelt down at An Ping's feet and gently slapped himself twice. "It's because I didn't explain clearly. The champion wasn't chosen by His Highness. It was decided by those people themselves. In the end, the eldest son of the Prefect Zheng family was chosen."

“That doesn’t matter. What do you think His Highness was thinking? He seemed determined to make that woman his princess in front of me, but he changed his mind in less than an hour?” Anping felt he couldn’t understand it.

"Father, I've heard some news, but I don't know if it's true or not." An Zhong glanced at An Ping's face and spoke cautiously.

"What are you pretending to be like in front of your father? Speak your mind." Anping casually patted the head of the person kneeling at his feet as a slight warning.

Anping knew that if the information was truly baseless, Anzhong wouldn't have said it.

"I heard that Miss Xiao, who is engaged to His Highness, doesn't want to get married at all, and His Highness doesn't want to marry her either." An Zhong's eyes darted around, his expression lewd.

"What do you mean?" Upon hearing this, Anping immediately sat up straight, clearly very interested in hearing the details.

"It's quite a coincidence. The other day, when the two young masters, Wang and Su, went on an outing, Father asked us to go along for a stroll." Saying it was a stroll was actually just to follow and keep an eye on them. This was one of their duties along the way. Anyway, as long as it didn't come out in the open, everyone tacitly understood.

"Get to the point!" Anping was really annoyed by his habit of never getting to the point in his speech and actions, and of rambling on and on.

"Yes, yes, it was quite a coincidence. That day, I accidentally saw Your Highness. Not only did Your Highness save the beauty, but you were also in a room with someone. I felt something was off, so I took a few more glances from a distance. They seemed to be having a very pleasant conversation."

Seeing Anping's glare, Anzhong quickly continued, "That person is the third daughter of the Xiao family, the younger sister of the second daughter of the Xiao family who wrote the poem today. My son had someone investigate later and found out that the second daughter of the Xiao family suddenly wanted the third daughter to marry in her place a few months ago."

At that time, the Third Miss was unwilling, but His Highness already knew everything, yet he not only did not express his opinion but also pretended not to know anything.

What's even stranger is that a few days ago, His Highness's men brought a petty thief who had been robbing people on Fuhu Mountain to the yamen. On that day, the Xiao family's daughter happened to be worshipping Buddha on Fuhu Mountain. What followed was what her son witnessed: the frightened horse and the rescue.

I heard that afterwards, the Third Miss's attitude changed somewhat, softening considerably, and she's even showing interest in a marriage exchange.

"Wait, wait, what you're saying is confusing me." Anping felt her head was spinning, and it took her a while to sort things out.

"You mean His Highness was obsessed with that Third Miss, and in order to marry her, he not only secretly sabotaged the Second Miss's engagement, but also devised a plan to rescue her as a hero to get close to her, and not just once?"

"There's no evidence to suggest it was designed." Although An Zhong said this, his eyes clearly said, "Yes, it's exactly what you thought, Godfather!"

Otherwise, where would there be so many coincidences in this world?

Qin Ji probably never imagined that his thorough cleanup would lead those who wanted to investigate to push things forward based on the results, but instead, they pushed the matter completely in the wrong direction.

The conclusion reached was that both of his meetings with Xiao Yan were elaborate schemes he had orchestrated to save the damsel in distress, but in a way, it turned out to be a happy accident.

"Could it be that he's really fallen for him?" Apart from this reason, Anping felt that he simply couldn't understand Prince Cheng's behavior.

"Of course, His Highness is definitely tempted. Originally, he was thinking of elevating her status, but after seeing the information on the noble ladies that you brought, Godfather, the families listed, though not the most prestigious, are certainly not ordinary. His Highness naturally worries that if he really recommends her brother to the Imperial Academy, what if any of them do something... Prince Cheng knows those methods all too well, so he naturally changed his mind at the last minute."

An Zhong, acting like a cunning strategist who had seen through the whole truth, offered a surprisingly reasonable and well-founded analysis.

"Impossible, right? But thinking about it more carefully, it does seem to make some sense." Anping muttered to himself.

He originally thought that Prince Cheng was just putting on a show of deep affection, actually using a woman as a shield to continue to gain sympathy from the Emperor while also using the position of Princess Consort to bid for a higher price.

After all, the person who would marry the merchant's daughter later was Qin Ji, which wouldn't prevent Prince Cheng from changing his mind later.

Ultimately, Anping didn't believe that Prince Cheng's experiences over the years could have shaped his current character, nor did he believe that what he sought was simply a life of wealth, stability, and a beautiful wife.

If he truly only sought a stable and wealthy life, what couldn't a prince like him make money from? He could easily add taxes under various pretexts, conceal some land and population, or even secretly expand mining in the Jiangzuo region. These were all common methods used by nobles, and any of them could bring in a fortune.

Given their status, as long as they don't do anything that incurs public wrath, no local official would be so tactless as to jump out and criticize them.

In the past, Prince Piancheng acted as if the Prince's Mansion did not exist, focusing solely on his maternal family's status, yet he still managed to produce one fine product after another, such as Xiabing Liquor, and even Snowflake Salt two years ago.

The ice and wine are now supplied by him even to the palace, and salt is of utmost importance to the livelihood of the people. He holds such things in his hands, yet he claims that he only desires wealth and stability.

Can you believe that?

Whether others believed it or not, the Emperor, who had been shrewd all his life, believed it to a large extent. Otherwise, he wouldn't have sent him on this trip to Jiangzuo. And if he were to return and report to Prince Cheng that he insisted on marrying a merchant's daughter, and even carefully planned for their future, he would be in a different position.

The emperor will likely be angry and reprimand him, but in his heart he may feel even more trust.

Xu also admired his sincerity and dedication, saying that he was just like his father in his younger days. These were his private reflections from a few years ago when Prince Cheng had contradicted the Emperor in a letter on behalf of his mother's family.

Anping suddenly felt a chill run down his spine and shivered involuntarily. He suddenly understood something: some things, whether true or false, are considered true as long as the emperor believes them.

To be honest, Prince Cheng was somewhat different from the others, because he represented His Majesty's true feelings back then—even if those feelings were as insignificant as a feather at the time.

......

Anping couldn't help but reminisce about the past. Back then, everyone thought that the merchant girl brought back from outside was nothing more than a plaything. Even if she gave birth to a son, she was not destined to be a noblewoman. But when she went mad and her child became distant, as the years passed, the emperor began to miss the sincerity he once had.

He knew that in recent years the emperor had increasingly valued this prince who had grown up in the cold palace. If it were more than ten years ago, let alone caring about his marriage and carefully compiling a list of wives, even if he starved or froze to death somewhere, the emperor probably wouldn't have given him a second glance.

However, in recent years, His Majesty has mentioned Jiangzuo more often. In particular, the attitude of Jiangzuo softened a bit the year before last, and they took the initiative to share the profits from salt into His Majesty's private treasury. His Majesty has been thinking about it more often in private.

Thinking this through, Anping looked again at the shattered Ghost Craft Ball on the ground and made up his mind. Wasn't the destruction of this imperial concubine's gift at this moment a harbinger of something terrible?

For those of them who rely on power for survival, the most important thing is to be perceptive and know how to avoid trouble and seek good fortune. Although this Prince Cheng still seems insignificant among the princes, I always feel that he is not simple. So I will trust my intuition and make a good connection with him.

After frowning and pondering for a moment, Anping asked about another matter: "Have the two young masters from the Wang and Su families come out of His Highness's place? How did their talks go?"

“They came out in less than the time it takes to brew a cup of tea. Young Master Su was still the same as usual, showing no signs of anything unusual, but Young Master Wang seemed to be in a bad mood,” An Zhong replied.

"It seems that neither of them has achieved their goals in less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea."

What can you do in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea? Not even enough for pleasantries. It seems that Prince Cheng not only has no intention of cooperating with those two families, but he's also unwilling to give them any face. Thinking of this, Anping felt a little more relaxed. It seems that he won't have trouble explaining himself to the Emperor when he returns to the capital.

......

"Brother Wang and Brother Su, the Liang family has been so busy today that we have failed to provide adequate hospitality. I have prepared a feast with songs, dances and wine at Lingxi Courtyard. All the dancers and acrobats that you two had previously chosen have been called over. In particular, Miss Huixue will be performing a new dance. Please do us the honor of joining us."

Seeing that Wang Heng looked very unhappy after coming out of the courtyard where Prince Cheng had temporarily stayed, Liang Erlang knew he wasn't good at persuading him, so he could only try to distract him with fun.

"Slap!" Wang Heng, who was already simmering with anger, saw Liang Erlang's somewhat obsequious face and it was as if he saw himself in front of Prince Cheng. He raised his hand and slapped Liang Erlang across the face.

Liang Zhao was stunned. When he came to his senses, his face turned red and then pale. He had been pampered since childhood and had never suffered such humiliation in his life. For a moment, he didn't know how to react.

Wang Heng immediately regretted slapping Liang Er. It's said you shouldn't hit someone in the face, and Liang Er was, after all, the prefect's son. Even though he'd been behaving very obsequiously lately, he was still different from the penniless lackeys who used to follow him around. With that slap, even with the Wang family's power, a mishandling of the situation could easily lead to enmity with the Liang family.

Neither of them reacted immediately, and the scene froze.

"..." Upon seeing this scene, Xiao Quexian, who had come by chance, felt completely paralyzed. At that moment, she was only glad that she was still hiding behind the tree and hadn't gone out.

"Who's there? Come out!" The one who broke the tense atmosphere was Su Mingyue, who had been silent all along. At this moment, he was looking sharply at the area where Xiao Quexian was standing.

Hearing this low shout, which was neither too loud nor too soft, Xiao Quexian felt as if she had been struck by lightning. Anyone with a brain would know that going out at this moment would definitely not be a good thing.

Even if that person couldn't really do anything to her, she was just there to bump into Liang Lang. How could Liang Lang possibly have a good impression of her after such a first encounter?

Just as thunder roared in her ears and her heart pounded, she caught a glimpse of a familiar figure out of the corner of her eye.

"Little sister, where have you been hiding? I've counted to one hundred and I'm coming to find you. Come out quickly, let's go home and play. Don't accidentally bump into anyone here." As she spoke, Xiao Quexian walked towards the corner of the corridor on the other side, as if she really was playing hide-and-seek with her sisters.

"No, is she crazy? She gave herself away and then dragged me into it." Xiao Yan looked ahead, wondering if she could still run away in time.

"Anyone else spying, get out here!" Wang Heng shouted coldly.

The current situation between him and Liang Er is extremely ugly, but he can't bring himself to swallow his pride and apologize to Liang Er.

Just then, Su Mingyue pointed out that someone was spying on them, which made Wang Heng, like a struggling student who had encountered a problem but suddenly discovered an alternative way to solve it, eagerly try to cover up his previous mistake with another matter.