Chapter 29: The Calm Before the Storm

There was a heavy rain in the capital, but only a few drops of rain fell in Peking, more than 2,000 miles away.

In early July, the wind in Beijing died down. But the dark clouds in the sky did not disperse, still hovering over the ancient city, and it was cloudy for several days in a row. Sooner or later, a heavy rain would fall, and the short lull was just the calm before the storm.

Yao Guangxiao arrived at the gate of the prince's mansion and bowed to the gate with one hand, "Amitabha."

The doorman hurriedly said, "Master, please come in."

Yao Guangxiao soon saw the prince in the living room. The prince looked anxious and fidgety. Yao Guangxiao asked, "Prince, why did you send people to look for me twice?"

The crown prince Zhu Gaochi moved his fat body to the door, closed it first, and asked directly, "Father is pretending, right?"

"Yes." Yao Guangxiao said without hesitation.

When the Crown Prince had just gotten married, Prince Yan asked Yao Guangxiao to come often to teach the Crown Prince; now that the Crown Prince has reached adulthood and is Prince Yan's eldest son, Yao Guangxiao feels that there is no need to deliberately hide confidential matters from him.

The prince nodded slightly, and his expression gradually turned cold. Yao Guangxiao observed, and it was difficult for him to figure out the meaning.

"Not long ago, someone in my father's mansion accidentally ate Junying grass and was poisoned to death!" said the prince.

When Yao Guangxiao heard this, he was stunned for a moment, "So what?"

The prince said, "I was seriously ill in the capital and almost died. My fourth uncle and uncle-in-law said that it was most likely poisoning... That day, someone in my father's house ate Junying grass and was poisoned. The symptoms were exactly the same as mine! At that time, I thought that the poison in the capital might also be Junying grass.

But who would poison me? When I was in the capital, my food and drink were provided by two servants who had been in the mansion for a long time, and my brothers.

That would have been fine, but on our way back to Peking, my illness suddenly healed overnight! At that time, there were only my two brothers and Gao Xu's two servants around me!"

The prince's face turned red, and his anger continued to grow. "At first I didn't believe it, and I didn't want to believe it! Later I went to the doctors in my father's house, the ones who treated the people who died of poisoning, and asked them in detail. The more I thought about it, the more I felt something was wrong!"

"Ah?" A sound came out of Yao Guangxiao's mouth, but there was no surprise in his triangular eyes.

The prince clenched his fist and waved it in the air. His manners were completely gone, and his red face was a little distorted. "After all, he is my brother? I treated him with all my heart and was willing to sacrifice my life for him, but he actually poisoned me!?"

Yao Guangxiao was old and usually calm, but he was a little confused at this moment... The "he" mentioned by the prince was obviously referring to Zhu Gaoxu, the Prince of Gaoyang! In front of him, the prince was obviously emotional and acted on impulse. This made Yao Guangxiao feel a little worried.

Yao Guangxiao was planning a big event and a lifelong ambition during this period, and he didn't want to cause any trouble at this juncture! First of all, the timing was wrong.

Secondly, Yao Guangxiao has always been closer to the Crown Prince and has never liked the violent King Gaoyang, but it has not yet come to the point where he has to have a head-on conflict with King Gaoyang.

Previously, Yao Guangxiao asked Yuan Gong to find Du Qianrui mainly because he wanted to place a surrogate next to Prince Gaoyang, nothing more...

He first tried to get Du Qianrui to tell him about the Junying Grass, but it was just to lure her into betraying King Gaoyang. If she betrayed him once, she would never be able to turn back, and she would be in the hands of the enemy from then on! The key point was, in the future.

Moreover, if there was evidence of the poisoning of Prince Gaoyang, it would be a handle in Yao Guangxiao's hand. Should he take action or not? When should he take action? It all depends on the future situation... Of course, no matter what, he would definitely not take action now.

This technique is the same as playing Go. When you have time, place a piece in a certain necessary area in advance, and then you may need it after countless moves. Because when the need arises, it is not easy to come up with a solution on the spot; only when you act early in advance will it be difficult for the opponent to be prepared.

"I will call Gao Xu in front of my father and question him face to face!" said the prince fiercely.

"Absolutely not!" Yao Guangxiao's face looked very ugly, as if he was crying.

What's the point of using that thing at this time? Besides, Du Qianrui's father has not been put in yet, and there is no handle to talk about. Without any evidence, what can you interrogate?

But the blue veins on the prince's face were exposed. It was not easy for such a situation to occur in the thick white flesh. His teeth were clenched tightly, and the voice of his speech was completely different. If he had not been standing in front of the prince, Yao Guangxiao would definitely not have recognized that it was the prince who said it.

The prince gritted his teeth and said, "I must ask him whether he is my real brother or not, and whether he has a black or red heart! Master Daoyan, you come with me!"

"Prince! Can you listen to my advice today?" Yao Guangxiao said with a bitter face, the wrinkles on his face were almost blended together.

"No!" The prince said firmly, "I can maneuver in everything except this one. I will ask for clarification right away! Master Daoyan, can you understand my suffering? On the one hand, I was plotted against and poisoned, and almost lost my life, and on the other hand, I was willing to sacrifice my life to help him... Even if I am stupid, you can't treat me like this..."

The prince grabbed Yao Guangxiao's arm with both hands and shook it violently, his eyes full of bloodshot, "Does everyone treat me like a pig? Even my own brothers treat me like this! Who has ever treated me with sincerity in this world?"

Yao Guangxiao was speechless and felt sad in his heart.

"Alas!" Yao Guangxiao could only sigh. Although the prince had reached adulthood, he was still too young and needed more experience... However, judging from his intentions, he was indeed a kind and honest person by nature, not as treacherous and scoundrel as some people. This was a weakness, but it was also the reason why Yao Guangxiao was close to him.

"If you insist on doing this, I would like you to hear one more thing." Yao Guangxiao glanced at the prince with his triangular eyes, and his eyes looked at people very strangely. "Based on my many years of experience in judging people, King Gaoyang is very treacherous and will definitely not give in like this. It's useless to ask him like this."

Yao Guangxiao sighed again, "Now that things have come to this, I am helpless. There is a solution that is not a solution. When the prince meets him, don't say that he is suspicious because someone in the Prince of Yan's mansion was poisoned. Just say that at that time, a servant in the capital's mansion saw Prince Gaoyang pulling out the Junying grass."

The prince was silent for a moment after hearing this. "He wants to ask where the Junying grass was pulled?"

When Yao Guangxiao heard this, he regained some confidence in the prince. The prince was also a thoughtful person. Yao Guangxiao said, "Jun Yingcao prefers shade to sunlight, so you can tell him that he is in a dark corner of the mansion. If he insists on asking, just say that you forgot to ask the servants in detail."

The prince nodded gently, "If he asks which servant, I will say that the man is still here and it has to be kept secret for the time being. I will just ask him whether he admits it or not. I will trick him first!"

Yao Guangxiao said, "Yes, that's the way. We don't have any evidence, so this is the only way. Anyway, Prince Gaoyang is only a teenager, so maybe it can work."

When the prince deceived him, he had to hint intentionally or unintentionally that you had mastered other things. He had to insist that it was him, so that he could not figure out your details and how much you knew. "

The prince pondered over Yao Guangxiao's words for a while, frowned and said, "Master Daoyan won't help me?"

Yao Guangxiao said, "It is not convenient for me to interfere in the affairs of the Prince of Yan. I don't want to see you brothers become alienated, but the prince is determined to do so. I can only resort to this last resort."

...Not long after, Zhu Gaoxu heard the eunuch Cao Fu report in his mansion that the eunuch Ma He from the Prince of Yan's mansion had come and wanted to see him about something important.

Zhu Gaoxu did not dare to neglect the person sent by his father, and immediately walked out of the front hall to meet him outside the hall.

Ma Hexian bowed and said, "The prince has come to the palace and wants Prince Gaoyang to come over as well. He wants to see you for something."

After hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu felt something was not right, so he said calmly, "Okay, I'll change my clothes and go over. Eunuch Ma must be tired." Then he took out a few banknotes from his sleeve pocket, held Ma He's arm affectionately, and stuffed them into his palm.

Ma He said, "No, no! Prince Gaoyang is also from the Yan family, and I am also your servant, how dare I do that?"

Zhu Gaoxu said, "Shoes and socks wear out and you have to spend money to buy them. I'm giving money to my family, so what else can anyone say?"

"Thank you, Your Highness. Thank you very much." Ma He said hurriedly.

Zhu Gaoxu said in a friendly way, "Do you know Wang Gui from my mansion? Wang Gui always says that Eunuch Ma is a good person and is steady in his work. He often takes Eunuch Ma as an example. He always praises you in front of me, ha!"

Ma He pondered for a moment, then whispered, "The prince came with bad intentions, his face was not very good, and he did not call me 'Second Brother', but only called me by your name."

"Okay, okay, it's just a misunderstanding. I'll see him later and talk to him and everything will be fine." Zhu Gaoxu said with forced calmness.

Ma He clasped his fists and said, "Then I'll take my leave and go back to report first."

As soon as Ma He left, Zhu Gaoxu's face suddenly fell. He looked depressed and felt overwhelmed!

The poisoning in the capital might have been exposed! Zhu Gaoxu was so anxious that he paced back and forth in the room, thinking hard for a long time, but he could not come up with a solution. For a moment, he felt as if ten thousand alpacas were roaring past.

what to do?

There is no other way but to wait and see!

Seeing that he had been dawdling for a long time, he looked down at his clothes, and thought of the embarrassment of wearing formal clothes last time when he went to the palace, and thought that this outfit was good. Zhu Gaoxu walked out of the door, called Wang Bin on duty, and prepared the horses for his entourage.

After Wang Bin brought out the horse, Zhu Gaoxu jumped on it.

At this moment, Du Qianrui quickly chased out and said, "My Lord, I have something to say. Please listen to my explanation!"

Zhu Gaoxu looked at Du Qianrui with mixed feelings. His gaze stayed on her face for a long time before he finally said, "I have something to go out for. Let's talk later."

"Your Majesty..."

Zhu Gaoxu patted his horse and shouted, "Let's go!"

No matter how helpless the trouble is, you have to face it head on. What else can you do when the time comes?