Chapter 121
Is Li Yanchen actually the son of Wei Shiwan and Yan Chongjin???
The shock in Li Jin's eyes quickly faded, replaced by gravity. "Yunting, continue investigating, but this time, change your direction. Start from Yan Chongjin."
If Li Yanchen truly was the son of Wei Shiwan and Yan Chongjin, then Wei Shiwan's sudden proposal to adopt Li Yanchen, and in the previous life, her wholehearted assistance when Li Yanchen became the Heir, would all make sense.
However, this letter was found in Wei Shiwan's possession. It couldn't be guaranteed that she hadn't deliberately planted it there, so Li Jin did not believe it entirely.
Moreover, Li Jin also needed to figure out why Li Yanchen ultimately became Zhou Xiaoru's son.
"Yes, Your Highness."
Zhou Yunting nodded in assent and then withdrew.
Li Jin watched Zhou Yunting's retreating figure and murmured to himself, "Wei Shiwan, even a vicious tiger does not eat its own cubs. For you to secretly harm your own son like this truly exceeds my expectations."
Earlier, when Zhou Yunting said there was belladonna in the secret compartment of Wei Shiwan's room, Li Jin had guessed that Wei Shiwan was aware of Li Yanshen's illness. Otherwise, given her nature, how could she have allowed belladonna to be repeatedly added to Li Yanshen's medicine?
Furthermore, even in its dried form, the appearance of belladonna wasn't widely recognized. If Wei Shiwan had ever inspected Li Yanshen's medicine residues, she would surely have noticed something amiss.
___
Elsewhere.
The moment Wei Shiwan returned to her room, her feigned tearful appearance instantly vanished, leaving only tension. However, this tension disappeared the moment she opened the secret compartment and saw that the amount of belladonna inside was neither more nor less.
Wei Shiwan had previously counted the belladonna stored here—she knew the exact quantity. Any addition or reduction would be noticed by her immediately.
"The belladonna inside hasn't decreased, so who could have placed the belladonna in my room?" Wei Shiwan sat down, slightly narrowing her eyes as she began to recall the people and events of a moment ago. After a short while, her eyes flew open. "It's Zhou Xiaoru. It must be her. But for her to act this early, is she out of her mind?"
After realizing Zhou Xiaoru was behind this, Wei Shiwan's first reaction was not anger, but displeasure.
"Damn it, if I had known she was this foolish, I shouldn't have given Chen'er to her." Having said this, Wei Shiwan bit her lower lip. "No, I can't ignore this matter. If someone traces it back to Zhou Xiaoru, Chen'er will definitely be implicated."
Thinking of this, Wei Shiwan immediately stood up, walked to the writing desk, and began writing a letter.
And the recipient's name was none other than Yan Chongjin.
This revealed that Wei Shiwan and Yan Chongjin were secretly in touch.
Chen'er, you are the child of me and Chongjin. The position of Heir will definitely be yours; even Shen'er cannot take it away.
...
When Wei Rong had determined Li Jin was the culprit, she had gathered many servants, intending to use them to spread the news and thoroughly ruin Li Jin's reputation.
Who would have thought things would end up like this.
Causing the person who should have been mired in public opinion to become her and Wei Shiwan instead.
There were even many voices outside saying Wei Rong was lacking in maternal kindness, making Wei Rong completely dare not leave the mansion these days.
Wei Shiwan, on the other hand, still managed the household affairs of the mansion and couldn't hide like Wei Rong. Consequently, she had to endure much gossip, forcing a smile, and explaining over and over again that she had not harmed Li Jin.
Because the news had spread and intensified so rapidly, the current rumor had transformed into Wei Shiwan secretly plotting against Li Jin, only to end up stealing a chicken and losing the rice.
[偷鸡不着蚀把米 (tōu jī bù zháo shí bǎ mǐ): lit. To try to steal a chicken only to end up losing the rice; fig. To try to gain an advantage but end up worse off]
"Miss, miss, please wait for me..."
Liu Su, Shen Ningyu's personal maid, saw that Shen Ningyu was about to disappear from sight and hurriedly chased after her, panting heavily.
"No."
Shen Ningyu had no intention of waiting for Liu Su and instead walked even faster.
Seeing this, Liu Su could only grit her teeth and follow.
After who knows how long.
Shen Ningyu finally stopped, staring directly at the Prince of Dingbei's Mansion before her.
Liu Su, while catching her breath, reminded Shen Ningyu, "M-miss... wouldn't it... be improper for us to just enter like this..."
Liu Su really couldn't understand her young lady, who, in order to see the Prince of Dingbei's Heir, didn't even take a sedan chair and just hurriedly ran over.
"I'm here to see my future husband. How could that be improper?"
With these words, Shen Ningyu walked straight in.
"Greetings, Miss Shen."
The gate guards of the Prince of Dingbei's Mansion clearly recognized Shen Ningyu. Seeing her arrival, they quickly stepped aside to let her enter.
A guard who had recently entered the mansion, seeing this, couldn't help but ask a colleague beside him, "Uh... how come you just let a young woman in without even asking?"
The other man lowered his voice, "This Miss Shen is the future Princess Consort of Dingbei and the legitimate daughter of the current Right Minister. Who would dare stop her? If she holds a grudge against you, your days in the mansion won't be easy."
The inquiring guard couldn't help but swallow. "But wasn't it said the Heir hasn't chosen a princess consort yet?"
"That's just on the surface. My information is solid. I heard that Lord Shen has also agreed to this marriage. They're just waiting for the Heir to return before petitioning His Majesty for a decree of marriage."
The inquiring guard was speechless. "..."
"Who did you say is Li Jin's future Princess Consort?"
Suddenly, a slightly angry male voice interrupted the conversation between the two guards.
And the speaker was none other than Ying Yuan, who had come to find Li Jin.
For some reason, Ying Yuan, who had finally been able to leave the palace to find Li Jin, had been in a very good mood originally. But upon hearing the guards discussing this matter, Ying Yuan's heart felt stifled, completely devoid of the joy he had felt on the way.
"Who are you?"
The gate guards, startled by Ying Yuan's sudden appearance, immediately became wary and inquired.
Ying Yuan thought for a moment before saying, "Li Jin and I are... close friends."
"Close friends?"
The gate guards clearly didn't quite believe it, even thinking Ying Yuan was talking nonsense, trying to freeload at the Prince of Dingbei's Mansion.
It's no wonder the guards thought this. The clothes Ying Yuan wore were very ordinary, clearly what commoners wore, while Li Jin was the Heir of the Prince of Dingbei. They simply couldn't imagine these two being friends.
The new guard, also clearly from a poor family, couldn't help but advise, "You'd better stop talking nonsense. It's just us here; we'll pretend we didn't hear. You should go back."
Ping'an, who happened to be returning from outside, caught sight of Ying Yuan and exclaimed in surprise, "Huh? Seventh Prince, what brings you here?"
Seventh Prince? This person dressed in coarse cloth is the Seventh Prince??
Hearing Ping'an address the man as "Seventh Prince," the gate guards were dumbstruck, their eyes filled with disbelief.
At the same time, the two couldn't help but feel inwardly relieved that they hadn't said anything too harsh just now; otherwise, had Ying Yuan chosen to pursue the matter, they would certainly have faced consequences.
Ying Yuan said, "Mm, something happened. I wanted to come and discuss it with Li Jin."
Ping'an casually grinned, "Alright, then I'll take His Highness the Seventh Prince over. The Heir is most likely in his study."
"You've gone to trouble."
"No trouble at all, no trouble at all."
In just a short while, led by Ping'an, Ying Yuan entered the prince's mansion.
Ying Yuan walked in and immediately noticed something off. "Ping'an, why is someone wearing mourning clothes?"
After returning to the capital, Ying Yuan had been unable to leave the palace and therefore knew nothing about the events that had recently occurred at the Prince of Dingbei's mansion.
Ping'an said softly, "Replying to the Seventh Prince, not long ago the Second Young Master passed away. Those dressed in mourning are all people from the Second Young Master's courtyard."
Actually, according to Wei Rong's original plan, the funeral was to be held on a grand scale to give Li Yanshen a dignified farewell. However, Li Shiyun replied with a letter refusing the idea, sternly reminding Wei Rong not to do anything unnecessary. Although Li Shiyun also loved Li Yanshen, the fact remained that Li Yanshen was no longer the legitimate son and could not bear such formalities. If they were to proceed with such a ceremony, how would others view him? How would they view the Prince of Dingbei's mansion?
With Li Shiyun's reply in hand, Wei Rong had no choice but to abandon her original intention and instead hold a modest funeral within Li Yanchen's courtyard.
Along the way, due to the clothes Ying Yuan was wearing, he drew the attention of many servants in the prince's mansion. Some of the more meddlesome ones even mistook Ying Yuan for a newly arrived servant and thought to come over and put him in his place.
Of course, the servants who harbored such thoughts immediately halted their steps upon realizing it was Ping'an leading the way for Ying Yuan, not daring to approach or cause any trouble.
Ping'an was Li Jin's favorite, and whoever he brought in was likely to be assigned to Li Jin's quarters. They'd have to be out of their minds to go looking for trouble, risking being reported to Li Jin and landing themselves in a mess.
___
Shen Ningyu had already arrived outside the study where Li Jin was, ahead of the others, amidst the flattery of the servants.
Li Yanchen walked over from the side and said gently, "Miss Shen, you've come?"
"Young Master Li."
Hearing Li Yanchen's voice, Shen Ningyu's cheeks couldn't help but blush slightly.
Although Li Jin was not at the Prince of Dingbei's mansion, Shen Ningyu still came, saying she wanted to see the place where Li Jin lived. Naturally, she became familiar with Li Yanchen as well.
Li Yanchen said, "Miss Shen, have you come... to see the third... His Highness the Heir?"
"Mhm." Shen Ningyu nodded. Inadvertently, she noticed that Li Yanchen's complexion looked rather pale and instinctively asked, "Young Master Li, why does your face look so pale?"
Li Yanchen replied, "It's nothing, just feeling a little unwell."
"Young Master, you've been beaten so severely by His Highness—how could you be fine?" He Xiang said indignantly. "His Highness has gone too far. Clearly, you did nothing wrong, yet he insisted on punishing you."
Li Yanchen glanced at He Xiang. "He Xiang."
"Yes."
He Xiang lowered her head and did not continue speaking.
Hearing this, Shen Ningyu said in disbelief, "Wait, did you just say the Heir beat Young Master Li without reason?"
Li Yanchen smiled weakly. "Miss Shen, they're just minor injuries. It's nothing serious."
"If you're in this state, how could it be a minor matter?" Shen Ningyu was the first to disbelieve it. Looking at He Xiang, she said, "You tell me. I want you to explain clearly what exactly happened."
"Yes..."
Seeing that Shen Ningyu had specifically asked her to speak, He Xiang proceeded to explain accordingly.
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