Chapter 193 Xiao Yu
Although the Marquis's wife had repeatedly warned that the matter of the study should not be spread outside, the news still spread like mushrooms after rain, and in the blink of an eye it spread throughout the capital, to every corner, and became a topic of conversation among people after dinner.
As for Marquis Rong'an, he had fainted from anger, but the medicine he took did not help, and he was unable to attend the morning court for several days.
As the year draws to a close, the accounts of the Royal Merchants’ shops must be settled.
In the past, these accounts were summarized by the managers in various places and reported to Rong'an Marquis at his mansion. Rong'an Marquis would then make the final statistics and report the profit and loss of the year to the court.
This year, Marquis Rong'an was ill and unable to get up, and Rong Que was in charge of investigating the case of the shop explosion. Naturally, the emperor gave the task of this year's account statistics to Rong Que.
In the past, the Second Prince and his faction would have certainly come to fight for it.
This is a lucrative job, and a long-lasting one.
But now that the Duke of Zhenguo has been arrested, the Second Prince himself is still drowning in the grief of his wife's death, and the Second Prince's party is divided because of Xiang Zheng's rebellion.
There were some people who held a grudge against Xiang Zheng and kept a close eye on all matters concerning Xiang Zheng and the Third Prince, ready to find fault at any time.
Some people were anxious for the Second Prince and gave him advice every day.
There is also a part of people who have wavered in their determination to follow and want to choose a new master.
There were rumors outside that the Rong'an Marquisate wanted to marry Rong San to the Third Prince, but the rumor was spread by Rong San himself, so the Third Prince could not take over to avoid suspicion.
In this way, Rong Que became the best candidate.
After court was dismissed that day, Rong Que left the palace and went straight to the Rong'an Marquis's Mansion. Everyone thought that he was visiting Rong'an Marquis for the sake of face before taking over the account books, but in the end he only met the Rong'an Marquis's son.
When the incident happened in the Xishan camp, Su Qingqing and Rong Que had not yet communicated with each other, but they each arranged their own people to keep an eye on the prince.
But until now, no one has found even the slightest flaw in the prince.
Marquis Rong'an usually only dotes on his third daughter and seems to care nothing about his other children. However, Su Qingqing and Rong Que both agree that the prince must know what Marquis Rong'an has done.
Rong San...
It is very likely that this is just a cover-up put forward by Marquis Rong'an.
If he really loved his daughter sincerely, why would such a good girl become like this?
The reception room of Rong'an Marquis Mansion.
The prince of Rong'an Marquis's mansion sat at the bottom, feeling uneasy and shocked, and said anxiously, "Your Highness, do you have something to tell me?"
Rong Que did not keep the audience in suspense and said directly, "In the past, the accounts of the fur shop were all handled by the Marquis, but now that the Marquis is ill, this difficult task has fallen on my head.
You also know that the Crown Princess wants to select some nice gifts to send back to Zhao State. Seeing that the New Year is coming, she is very anxious. After all, this is the first gift after getting married, so I have to be cautious. "
Talking about his beloved concubine at home, Rong Que showed an unconcealed smile of doting.
The prince of Rong'an Marquisate guessed Rong Que's thoughts and could only smile apologetically, "Of course it should be done."
Rong Que said, "Father needs the account urgently, but I don't have the time to check it. Anyway, your family has been in charge of it in previous years. Although you are not the main person in charge, you are much more familiar with it than me.
I'm sorry to trouble you. Please do this for the Marquis this year. If you can get the job done, I will reward you handsomely."
The prince of Rong'an Marquis's Mansion was stunned.
Their family was afraid that the prince would find out something about the accounts, but his father fell ill at this time, and he was so worried about this matter that he couldn't sleep for several days.
Now the prince actually told him to investigate?
this……
Is there really such a thing as a free lunch in the world?
Just when the Crown Prince was meeting the eldest son of the Rong'an Marquis's Mansion, Su Qingqing met the illegitimate son of the Rong'an Marquis's Mansion, Xiao Yu, in Suihong Tower.
Xiao Yu is the oldest among the illegitimate sons of Marquis Rong'an, only one month younger than the Crown Prince.
Because she was born out of wedlock, she didn't have a very good life in the Rong'an Marquis's Mansion.
The Marquis's wife appeared generous and had never been harsh on these illegitimate children in terms of food, drink and expenses, but her private upbringing was completely different from that of her legitimate sons and daughters.
If the eldest son is lazy in studying, the marquis's wife will punish him by making him kneel in the ancestral hall or beat him with a stick.
But when concubines' sons were tired of studying, the marquis' wife would arrange for someone to take them out to play and have fun, and if they made mistakes, they would be easily covered up.
When we were young, we were ignorant. By the time we grew older and understood things, we had already become spoiled.
Xiao Yu was the only sober one among these illegitimate sons. He studied very hard. Although the Marquis's wife intended to spoil him, he did not fall behind in private , avoiding the eyes and ears of the Marquis's wife Rong'an.
Su Qingqing didn't know all this originally.
But recently he got engaged.
In the past, he always used the excuse that he had not met someone he liked and did not want to get married too early, and Lady Rong'an Marquis also used the name of cherishing her illegitimate son to not force him.
But a few months ago, the marquis's wife suddenly began to interfere in his marriage for some unknown reason, and quickly picked a legitimate daughter from a local official's family to marry him.
The date has been set.
Outsiders all said that this was a perfect match, and his stepmother loved him, but he was extremely depressed and irritable.
In order to relieve his annoyance, he often came to Suihonglou to drink and listen to music.
In the lobby on the first floor of Suihonglou, there were top performers playing the piano and singing every day. When he came, he didn't order any girls, but only booked a private room on the second floor and a pot of wine, and drank alone.
Mother Du had been following Su Qingqing's orders to keep an eye on the steward of the Rong'an Marquis' Mansion. Since this gentleman came more often, she began to keep an eye on him.
As it happened, Su Qingqing was in Bashu at that time, so she discussed the matter with Wang Yu, and finally sent Ying Liu, one of the four top stars, to contact him.
Ying Liu is good at playing the musical instrument and chess, especially chess, where she is truly unique and many masters are no match for her.
They had intended to get close to each other, and with her skills in playing the musical instrument and chess, it took about a month for Yingliu to become Xiaoyu's companion to relieve his boredom in Suihonglou.
In order to prevent Xiao Yu from noticing anything, when he came, Ying Liu was sometimes free and sometimes not, and could not always accompany him. However, he came too frequently and Ying Liu would ask him questions.
Gradually, Yingliu got a clear understanding of his family situation.
Last night, Xiao Yu came to drink again.
Following Su Qingqing's instructions, Yingliu added something into Xiao Yu's wine. He then stayed in Yingliu's room that night and did not wake up until the evening of the next day.
Rubbing his sleepy eyes, Xiao Yu stood up in astonishment and looked around, "Why am I here?"
Although he often came to Suihonglou and became familiar with Yingliu during these days, he had a bottom line and he would not touch other women.
What happened yesterday...
He actually slept here.
Yingliu was holding her chin up and admiring the twilight outside. The sky was dyed orange by the setting sun, and it was as beautiful as a painting.
Hearing his movement, Yingliu patted her chest and looked away, smiling and said, "Oh my God, you are finally awake. I have a distinguished guest coming today. If you don't wake up, I will pour ice water on you."
Yingliu joked and handed him a cup of tea.
Xiao Yu took the tea suspiciously and glanced at the sky outside, "Why didn't you wake me up earlier?"
