Imperial Husband Chapter 51

Inside the carriage.

Almost as soon as Li Jin stepped into the carriage, Li Ruoyan asked anxiously, "Li Jin, who was that young gentleman just now? Why were you chatting with him so familiarly?"

"Li Jin, be honest with me, did you deliberately hire him to ruin Yan'er's reputation?" Unlike Li Ruoyan's eagerness, Wei Rong's words were full of anger, as if she wished she could bite Li Jin to death on the spot.

"Grandmother, how could you think that?" Li Jin found Wei Rong's baseless suspicion laughable.

Although Ying Ziheng had not stated his identity, his clothing indicated he was from a noble family. Only Wei Rong, with her rich imagination, would think he could bribe a scion of a noble house to deal with Li Ruoyan.

"How can you be so vicious? Yan'er is your own blood sister! What are your intentions, harming Yan'er like this?" To Wei Rong, Li Jin's response only confirmed his guilt, and she flew into a rage. "No, I must tell Shiyun about your wicked deeds and have him petition His Majesty to depose you, you malicious scoundrel!"

Impossible. How could someone of such grace and bearing possibly work for Li Jin?

Li Ruoyan felt goodwill towards Ying Ziheng and therefore refused to believe this was the truth.

Faced with Wei Rong's habit of making false accusations at the drop of a hat, Li Jin naturally would not be easily provoked. "Grandmother, your words are rather biased. When did I ever say I intended to harm Sister Ruoyan?"

"If it wasn't you, then who? You have always targeted Yan'er! Li Jin, I warn you, as long as I am alive, don't even think about laying a finger on Yan'er."

Wei Rong's fury was twofold: not only did she falsely accuse Li Jin of scheming to ruin Li Ruoyan, but her own underlying fear—the dread that something terrible might befall Li Yanshen—also fueled her rage, which she now recklessly directed entirely at Li Jin.

In the face of Wei Rong's aggressiveness, Li Jin still showed no anger. Instead, he smiled calmly and said, "Then I'm afraid I must disappoint you, Grandmother. Someone of my standing certainly doesn't have the capability to command that young gentleman."

"Humph! It's useless for you to say anything now." Wei Rong did not believe Li Jin and was determined to deal with him properly after Li Shiyun agreed to strip Li Jin of his position as Heir Apparent.

"Li Jin, what do you mean by that? Could it be... could it be that young gentleman's status is... extraordinary?"

Li Ruoyan, however, had taken in Li Jin's words and pressed him anxiously with questions.

If that young gentleman's status was noble, wouldn't he be my perfect match?

Thinking of this.

Li Ruoyan's heart immediately began to beat violently out of control.

"Yan'er, don't be fooled by him."

"But..."

Wei Rong interrupted Li Ruoyan coldly, saying through gritted teeth, "Yan'er, have you been bewitched? He is clearly deceiving you with ill intentions."

"If Grandmother refuses to believe what I say, you are welcome to report everything that just happened to Father and let him decide." Li Jin nonchalantly lifted a corner of the carriage window curtain, wanting to get some fresh air. "Ah, right, I almost forgot to tell you, Grandmother. That young gentleman's surname is Ying, and his given name is Ziheng."

His words caused a huge stir.

Li Jin's statement was like dropping a bombshell in Wei Rong's heart.

Although Wei Rong rarely went out in her old age, she was not unfamiliar with the fact that within the Da Xia dynasty, only the imperial clan used the surname Ying, and that the current Crown Prince's name was Ziheng.

So, the one who held Yan'er earlier was the current Crown Prince?

Li Ruoyan was so shocked her eyes widened, and she was speechless for a long time.

Li Ruoyan had understood that if Li Jin described the young man as noble, his status must be truly exceptional. Yet she had never dared to imagine he would be the Crown Prince himself—the man just one step from the Imperial Throne. Her heart swelled at the thought of how incredibly fortunate she was to have crossed paths with him.

More importantly, this Crown Prince had not yet selected his Crown Princess.

"Impossible! If he is the Crown Prince, why wouldn't he go to the temple in the palace, insisting on coming here instead?" Wei Rong actually believed most of it, but she was still unwilling to admit it.

"Grandmother, I also met the Crown Prince by chance. As for why the Crown Prince appeared here, that is not something I should know."

"You..." 

"Grandmother, that young gentleman is the Crown Prince. It's not surprising that Li Jin wouldn't know." Li Ruoyan shot Wei Rong a meaningful look, hinting for her not to clash head-on with Li Jin.

Wei Rong took the hint and indeed closed her mouth and stopped speaking.

Li Ruoyan immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Times had changed. Knowing that Ying Ziheng was the Crown Prince, and with Li Ruoyan being of marriageable age and still unmarried, she naturally would need to rely on Li Jin's help to facilitate a good match. Therefore, she changed her previous attitude and became polite towards Li Jin.

For the rest of the journey back.

Li Ruoyan kept pretending to be casual, asking Li Jin various questions about Ying Ziheng. Li Jin was no fool and could naturally see that Li Ruoyan wanted to use him, so he simply pleaded ignorance to every question, almost infuriating Li Ruoyan to the point of directly attacking him.

Wei Rong was impatient by nature. Seeing her granddaughter being teased by Li Jin repeatedly, she couldn't stand it and began to sneer and mock Li Jin, directly calling him a useless good-for-nothing.

However...

In his previous life, Li Jin had heard even more unpleasant words, so he simply treated Wei Rong's insults as someone singing a tune.

Seeing that one plan had failed, Wei Rong intended to feign illness upon returning to the mansion to teach Li Jin a lesson and confirm his lack of filial piety. But Li Jin was ruthless—before Wei Rong could even begin her performance, he took the lead, his face turned pale, and he fainted.

Ping'an and the others were terrified and hurriedly supported Li Jin as he was carried inside. Left behind, Wei Rong and Li Ruoyan also looked very displeased, the fear in their eyes betraying their true feelings.

The Emperor wanted to summon Li Jin, and now Li Jin had fainted. How could they, who had been with Li Jin the entire time, escape unscathed?

Li Jin hadn't actually fainted. After being brought back by Ping'an and the others, he woke up.

"Your Highness, are you alright? Are you feeling unwell anywhere?" Ping'an, who hadn't realized Li Jin was pretending to faint, rushed over upon seeing him awake and bombarded him with questions.

Zhou Yunting shook his head, amused. "Ping'an, His Highness was just pretending to faint earlier."

"Ah? Wh-why?"

Ping'an was bewildered, his mind unable to process it for a moment.

Zhou Yunting explained patiently, "Ping'an, didn't you see the look in the Dowager Lady's eyes just now? If His Highness hadn't pretended to faint, the Dowager Lady might have taken the opportunity to cause trouble again."

After Zhou Yunting's explanation, Ping'an immediately understood. "Ah, you're right. It was good that His Highness pretended."

"Enough," Li Jin said with a hint of helplessness, lightly tapping Ping'an's forehead. "Hurry and prepare the carriage. His Majesty's summons is urgent, and I don't know what the matter is."

Although he said that, Li Jin had some vague guesses.

He remembered that around this time in his previous life, Ying Zhengjing had also sent someone to summon Li Jin, but Li Jin was still too ill to leave his bed at the time, so he didn't go.

Later, he heard that it wasn't just him who was summoned during that period, the heirs apparent of the two princes, several ministers, and even the older princes were all summoned by Ying Zhengjing together. For some reason, all of them were punished by Ying Zhengjing's order.

"Yes, this servant will go prepare immediately."

Hearing that Li Jin was going to the palace, Ping'an didn't dare delay and rushed out frantically to prepare the carriage.

A short time later.

Li Jin went to the palace by carriage.

Upon hearing the maid's report that Li Jin had already left the mansion, Li Ruoyan was furious and roared, "I knew it! I knew this would happen! That scoundrel Li Jin was perfectly fine earlier, how could he faint so suddenly?"

Wei Shiwan, who had just stepped into Li Ruoyan's room and heard this, frowned and asked, "Yan'er, what happened during your trip to Yunling Temple?"

"It's all because of Li Jin, he..."

Li Ruoyan told Wei Shiwan what had happened earlier. For some reason, every time Li Ruoyan mentioned Ying Ziheng, her voice and tone would unconsciously soften.