Chapter 103: No Request for Return
After Tang Ying left, a man came out from the inner room of the study. It was Weibei Hou Shen Qian.
"Everyone has left, stop staring at them."
During the Wanshou Festival, grand banquets were held one after another in the palace. At every banquet, all the ministers drank until they lost themselves in alcohol. Only Shen Qian noticed that his childhood friend seemed to be in a bad mood. He found an opportunity to ask him the reason. The usually indifferent Fu Chen also rarely opened his mouth and confided his troubles to him: "...He has a heart of stone!" The cruel girl treated the Fourth Prince Yuan Jian much more intimately than he did.
"This is truly a tit-for-tat situation. There's a ready-made example in the palace. The Ninth Princess is still grieving over you." Shen Qian was gloating at the time and was almost beaten by Fu Chen at the palace banquet.
"Are you here to defend someone else?"
"I have always been kind to women." Shen Qian said shamelessly: "You didn't just know it today." Seeing that he didn't seem to understand, he couldn't bear to let him be depressed anymore, so he reminded him at the right time: "Chasing a young lady is like marching to war, the best way is to win her heart."
Unexpectedly, when they met again after a few days, he saw Fu Chen's polite face, which seemed to keep people at a distance. Lord Shen's eyes almost popped out of his sockets: "Ah Chen, have you made up your mind to draw a line between you and Yingying?" It is really admirable that this kid who had not been tempted by worldly desires for eight hundred years can actually let it go.
"Don't you see that I distanced myself from her, which made her feel relieved?"
Fu Chen gave Shen Qian an ambiguous smile, which immediately frightened him.
"Stop! Don't laugh so creepily!" Lord Fu seldom laughs, but whoever he shows this "Fu-style sneer" to will surely be in bad luck. Even Shen Qian was worried about Tang Ying: "Achen, you won't do this to Yingying ..." Facing his cold gaze, she quickly surrendered: "Tang Ying! You won't do anything to Tang Ying, will you? At most, she just rejected you." There is no need to be too self-respecting. You are only allowed to reject others, but not others to reject you, right?
Fu Chen avoided answering his question and instead brought up an old story: "I remember a few years ago, you told me about an incident. You had your eyes on Hanlu from Fengxian Tower, but Hanlu was not only a prostitute, but also very picky about her guests. Every time you met Hanlu at a banquet, you treated her politely without even looking at her. You also helped her solve many troubles, openly or secretly. For her, you even offended the violent Third Young Master of the Wan Family. The two had a big fight, and you broke your ribs and had to rest in bed, but you also successfully stopped the Third Young Master of the Wan Family from approaching Hanlu again, and was locked up at home by the elders of the Wan Family to reflect on your actions. When you went to Fengxian Tower again, you met Hanlu but pretended to be calm."
This was Shen Qian's top pride on his list of beauties. At that time, Miss Hanlu blocked him in Fengxian Tower and asked him why he did this. He remembered that he said, "The lady is a celestial being who has descended to the earth. She should not be defiled by an ordinary man. No matter how much I admire her, I know that I am not worthy of her. I can only do some trivial things for her. You don't need to worry about it."
He acted with a noble attitude of "doing good deeds without leaving a name, and not asking for anything in return even if discovered", which deeply moved Hanlu. She wanted to follow him wholeheartedly, but he repeatedly rejected her on the grounds that he "has always had a bad reputation and I am afraid that he will ruin the girl's life". Hanlu had a strong personality and would not change once she had chosen a person. No matter how the madam of Fengxianlou tried to persuade her, it was of no use. Shen Qian took this opportunity to redeem her and win her heart.
"What are you planning?" Shen Qian couldn't help but yell when he mentioned his past, "Do you want to use this trick on Yingying too?"
"You called me Yingying?"
"Okay, it's Boss Tang." He called out in a strange voice, clearly mocking what Fu Chen had done before.
Fu Chen did not answer but asked: "Do you think that the Tang family members are very loyal and righteous?"
Shen Qian: "That should be the case. When my bastard father was alive, he mentioned that Tang Yao was very loyal and righteous. His daughter should be similar. This is the family tradition, otherwise there wouldn't be a loyal servant like Zhang Qing."
A smile appeared on Fu Chen's lips: "It's good to be loyal and righteous."
"Hey, what do you mean?"
When asked again, Fu Chen refused to reveal even a single word.
Before he could stay in Fu's house to find out the truth, news came from the palace that the Crown Prince had passed away.
※※※
The Second Prince and the Fourth Prince were staring at each other in Princess Changning's Mansion. Tang Ying returned to the mansion and refused the things sent by the Second Prince. The angel summoned by the palace and two guards who were looking for someone in the prince's mansion broke in together.
Tang Ying didn't have the time to see the guests off, so she asked Zhang Qing to do it for her. She went back to her room, put on her black narrow-sleeved official uniform, and hurried to the East Palace.
Crown Prince Yuanqi was not born weak, but he contracted an illness while on tour a few years ago and never recovered. His health deteriorated and he became seriously ill, which made the Emperor of Southern Qi very sad. He summoned famous doctors from all over the country, but still could not save the crown prince's life.
The Emperor of Southern Qi had a lot of sons, but in terms of the effort and attention given to them, all his sons put together were not as good as one crown prince.
Yuan Qi was trained to be a successor since he was young. He was taught by the best Confucian scholars in Southern Qi. The emperor took him to learn how to read memorials and discuss state affairs with his ministers. Even the team of the Eastern Palace was carefully selected. Unfortunately, they have been idle since he fell ill.
The heir whom the Emperor of Southern Qi had cultivated with all his efforts passed away before him. The old man dies before his young son, which is almost a fatal blow to him. He had to keep calm in front of his ministers, so he took his anger out on the imperial physicians who stayed in the Eastern Palace. First, he killed two of them and three doctors recruited from the public, and then beat and killed a dozen palace maids serving the prince. He was still not satisfied and wished that all the people in the Imperial Hospital would be cleared out.
When Tang Ying rushed over from home, she saw a row of palace maids being beaten in the courtyard of the East Palace. The sticks hit their flesh, making dull sounds , and bloodstains winding on the blue brick ground, which was a shocking sight.
Fu Chen had just arrived as well. He was standing outside the hall in silence and coldness. When he saw her, his gaze paused for a moment as a greeting.
The whole hall was filled with people kneeling on the ground, silent as a mouse.
The Southern Qi Emperor held a long sword in his hand, blood dripping from the tip of the sword. There were people lying on the ground in all directions. His eyes were red with anger and hatred: "Investigate! Who killed the prince?!"
The grandson Yuan Yi rushed over and hugged his legs and cried: "Grandfather, please forgive them..."
The Southern Qi Emperor glared at him, the tip of his sword trembling: "These dogs and slaves are not serving the prince wholeheartedly, shouldn't they be killed?"
Yuan Yi burst into tears and no longer pleaded for the palace people: "Father has been seriously ill for a long time... From now on, my grandson will only have Grandpa Emperor... Grandpa Emperor..." The innocent cry of the child finally softened the expression of the Emperor of Southern Qi. The long sword in his hand fell to the ground with a clang, and he sat back dejectedly. He was sitting on the steps in the hall, holding Yuan Yi in his arms and tears streaming down his face.
Everyone in the hall breathed a sigh of relief.
Fu Chen gestured softly: "Come in."
Tang Ying followed Fu Chen into the hall quietly, walked past the officials of the Eastern Palace, the Crown Princess, concubines, palace maids and imperial doctors who were kneeling on the ground, and knelt at the feet of the Emperor of Southern Qi.
The Emperor of Southern Qi embraced his half-grown grandson and closed his eyes for a moment. He finally calmed down and when he opened his eyes again, he had regained his former dignity. Even his voice was normal: "Mr. Fu and Mr. Tang, thoroughly investigate the Eastern Palace!"
The death of the crown prince has shaken the foundation of the country.
Many vassal kings and foreign envoys who had come to celebrate the birthday of the Emperor of Southern Qi attended the birthday banquet and stayed to attend the prince's funeral.