"What should we do now?" Ao Mingyu asked, going straight to the point, and looked at Xia Yuhang. He didn't have time to waste.
Xia Yuhang thought about it before asking, "Do you want to save Honored Consort Ya or deal with Prince Yi first?"
"Deal with Prince Yi!" Ao Mingyu replied coldly without hesitation. His mother was imprisoned but not charged with any crime. She wouldn't have the freedom to move and her living environment would be poor, but that was all. Saving her wasn't as important as dealing with Ao Chenyi.
"Now that Prince Yi is the Crown Prince, he's staying in the Eastern Palace. The Eastern Palace is undoubtedly heavily guarded right now. It won't be easy for you to deal with him," Xia Yuhang replied, frowning. Ao Chenyi had outstanding guards. No assassin had ever succeeded in hurting him. Now that he had become the Crown Prince, his protection would only increase. Prince Xiang wouldn't be able to do anything to him.
"What is it?" Xia Yuhang asked, stopping in his tracks.The maid in black wiped the sweat on her head and said in a panic, "Someone is… Someone is looking for you."She was contradicting her previous words. He didn't immediately understand her intention, so he went straight to the point. "Who is looking for me? Madam or someone else?""Someone came for you for an urgent business, Eldest Young Master. He has been taken to the study. Madam is panicking because she couldn't find you anywhere."The maid was a clever one. She stopped stuttering and explained the matter to him.Who was looking for him? Why did his mother lead the guest to his study? Xia Yuhang was surprised. His mother never interfered in his business. Why did she take matters into her own hands and invite the guest in? Why was she desperate to find him? Did they have a special guest?He contemplated for a moment before telling the maid, "Tell m
It took a long time for Xia Yuhang to compose himself after Wen Xueran left. He walked back to the backyard calmly to meet his mother. Mrs. Xia let out a sigh of relief after hearing that Wen Xueran was gone. Xia Manor had fallen, and if their family was dragged into a rebellion, they would be damned.Everyone in Xia Manor, including Mrs. Xia, was like a bird that would be easily startled by a mere twang of a bow.After calming down his mother, Xia Yuhang returned to his study and ordered a maid working there to visit Madam Wu Yao with an invitation under Mrs. Xia's name.The invitation soon reached Wu Yao.Wu Yao was an alluring woman, seemingly only in her early thirties. Though she was not exactly young, she took such good care of herself that she still carried an elegant charm. She had a pretty face too. She picked up the invitation and read it. Then, without taking anyone with her, she headed for the side door in the back.
Ning Xueyan was surprised that Heng Yuqing was invited as well.The poetry exchange at Wu Manor was a bigger event than she thought, and the guests more influential than she expected. These people formed what felt like a politically-neutral faction of people and leaders who dared to criticize the monarchy. Some noble families and off-shoot imperial families sent their daughters as guests as well.Unlike the typical guest list full of rich, honorable, and beautiful ladies, the women invited to the poetry exchange were known to be talented. One could say that most of the guests were from noble families, but some ladies weren't invited despite their honorable families.For a moment, people in the capital took pride in receiving Madam Wu's invitation.Someone even said that this was the most meaningful gathering in the capital for the past tens of years. The lack of an invitation meant that the lady was vulgar and boorish. Initially, t
It would be easy to investigate which household such a material went to. The palace would have kept records of outgoing gifts.The Empress had bestowed the material to both her and Commandery Princess Xianyun, but she received only a small roll of the material. She ended up fashioning several handkerchiefs out of the material, which was why she found the current handkerchief so familiar. Lanning recognized it as well.Most families wouldn't be able to afford to use such material. Lanning had met many noble ladies lately, but she didn't know the lady earlier.Even more familiar was the cluster of orchid embroideries on the corner of the handkerchief. It was her master's favorite symbol. It was embroidered on some of her master's small decorative items.But, she didn't know why this symbol would appear on this handkerchief."Lanning, you can just put the handkerchief away." Ning Xueyan smirked, staring out the window wit
Xia Yuhang remained seated upstairs. The screen blocked only his vision, but not the noise. He heard Lanning's frank words clearly, as well as Cheng Yu's apology. His face turned pale with anger and resentment.He didn't expect to fail at generating rumors about Ning Xueyan's affair with another man in this rare meeting. That meant that he wouldn't be able to justify her disappearance as an elopement after kidnapping her. Moreover, he wasn't the only one involved in this scheme. Madam Wu Yao was in on it, too.He planned to have everyone witness Ning Xueyan and Cheng Yu's ambiguous relationship in public. A maid running into Cheng Yu with a handkerchief in hand could be explained as Ning Xueyan ordering her maid to send the handkerchief to Cheng Yu, evidence that the two had known each other for a long time.Thus, if Ning Xueyan were to disappear one day, the reason that he had cooked up would be a serious attack on Ao Chenyi. It might even rui
"What's wrong?" Ning Xueyan returned to her senses and turned to look at the book in Heng Yuqing's hand, but didn't notice anything odd about it."It's strange. The copy of that I once read… didn't have this part," Heng Yuqing replied uncertainly."What's missing?" Ning Xueyan asked, surprised."This part. Look, Your Highness… This part wasn't in the book before… I remember liking this piece a lot. I tried playing it, but couldn't finish it as the piece was incomplete. I failed every time. It sounded as if the music had abruptly been cut off. It left me quite uncomfortable."Heng Yuqing said, pointing at a zither piece.She was pointing at an incomplete piece in the zither section, but the damage was minimal. Looking at the scope of the zither piece, there were very few missing verses. In other words, if one were to repeat the final verse of the piece, one might be able to treat this as a complete piece and play it as
Ning Xueyan's carriage continued moving toward the zither store at a steady pace. It didn't take them long to reach because it was so close. The carriage stopped and Ning Xueyan and Heng Yuqing got down one after another.A cold smile appeared on Ning Xueyan's face when she looked up at the sparkling store signboard. Since those people had put so much effort into luring her here, she would play along and find out what they were up to.Her thoughts were hidden from Heng Yuqing, who was pointing to the zither store and saying enthusiastically, "Look, this is the store. Just look at the storefront. This must be the property of a top-tier noble family. I wonder which family managed to run it so well. There are many zither lovers in the capital, but all of them approve of this store."Suddenly, a surprised voice resounded behind them. "Huh? Isn't this the Crown Princess? Did you come to pick out a zither in preparation for Madam Wu Yao's banquet?" N
There weren't many zithers on the second floor of the zither store, but all of them seemed to have significant histories behind them. Ordinary zithers wouldn't be able to compare at all. These zithers were better suited for Ning Xueyan's current status as the Crown Princess. If she were to use an ordinary, nameless zither, she wouldn't be able to impress anyone.Therefore, no matter how skilled the store was at crafting zithers, her best option was picking out a famous antique zither.The quick-witted store attendant led Ning Xueyan forward, allowing her to look at all of the zithers.All the antique zithers were placed in the same area. Whether it was the table under each zither or the perfumed incense lingering in the air, all the details showed how valuable these zithers were.What attracted her the most was the antique zither resting right in the middle of them all.The location of the zither, the huge table beneat