Chapter 65: Thoughtful
In the Second Prince's study, his aide Yu Jingyi was full of admiration: "Your Highness really guessed it right. When Huan Yanbo arrived in Changzi, he moved into the house bought by the Grand Princess's subordinates, and replaced him with someone with a similar figure and appearance to go to Lingnan."
"This move was expected a long time ago." Yuan Lang said with a smile: "The Grand Princess is good in everything else in her life, except that she loves her son too much. She loves him so much that she has lost her mind. With her own ability, if she had disciplined Huan Yanbo earlier, this wouldn't have happened today."
"That's right!" Yu Jingyi and Yuan Lang had discussed this matter before, so he said, "Now that Prince Huan has settled down, can we start our plan?"
"Notify the people." Yuan Lang sighed, "It's a pity for my cousin. If he hadn't died, the Grand Princess wouldn't have gone crazy. How could I have gotten the connections she had? Otherwise, it would be useless to save his life."
In the fight for the throne, Yuan Lang was always rational and calm, and he struck decisively with a sharp move. Outsiders saw him as gentle and amiable, and courteous to the wise and humble, but they did not know that he was just as active behind the scenes, and every move of his move hit the target directly.
Yu Jingyi said, "A broken boat still has three pounds of nails. The eldest princess has been in the Imperial Cavalry Division for many years. She should have a lot of connections and leverage over officials in the court. Huan Yanbo, that idiot, is incapable of taking over. If it falls into the hands of the crown prince, wouldn't it be a bargain for the eldest grandson of the emperor? It would be better for His Highness to take over."
The prince had been bedridden for a long time. He was truly ill and had to take medicine every day. The Eastern Palace was closed to help him recuperate. Even the fourteen-year-old eldest grandson of the emperor had a great scholar invited to teach him directly in the Eastern Palace instead of taking classes with other grandsons of the emperor.
"That little brat, the last time I went to the East Palace to visit the Crown Prince, I suddenly felt that he had grown up, and his height had grown a lot. The people who taught him were all people that the Emperor trusted. What do you think the Emperor was planning? Did he think that the Crown Prince's illness was not going to get better, and wanted to help the Emperor's eldest grandson take the throne?"
Yu Jingyi had only met the emperor's eldest grandson once, and that was a few years ago. At that time, the emperor's eldest grandson was just a little boy of seven or eight years old, who was fair, cute and childish.
"The Lord is young and the country is suspicious. This is not good, right?"
"It's hard to say what the emperor means, so we'd better make more preparations."
Yuan Lang thought: Wasn't this what my father had in mind in his previous life? It's just that I didn't see through it at the time, and I almost suffered a great loss in the end. The eldest princess was determined to support the eldest grandson of the emperor.
Living a new life, many things happened according to the original trajectory. However, after the fall of Baicheng, he arrived a few days earlier and met the fake young lady of the Tang family. There were no other major problems after returning to Beijing, but the Fourth Prince made a big fuss in the Golden Palace, which had never happened in his previous life.
The fourth prince Yuan Jian was cowardly by nature and had been bullied by Huan Yanbo in his previous life. Huan Yanbo relied on the emperor's favor and his mother's power to act arrogantly. Not to mention asking Yuan Jian to sue him in the Golden Palace, he couldn't even fight back if he was beaten.
It was not until he came to power that he gradually realized that the eldest princess had retired from the Forbidden Cavalry Bureau and the emperor intended to disband the Forbidden Cavalry Bureau just to pave the way for the eldest grandson. He was afraid that the emperor was too young and would not be able to wield the sharp sword of the Forbidden Cavalry Bureau after he came to power, and would be injured by the sword instead, which would be a loss.
"Your Highness is really thoughtful. We are far behind!" Yu Jingyi stood up: "I will send a message right away."
In Changzi City, Baozi was holding a broken bowl and a dog-beating stick, and was followed by a boy of similar age. The two of them were braving the wind and snow and following behind an inconspicuous green mule cart. They saw the green mule cart stop in front of a three-story house, the door was opened, and two young maids jumped out first. One of the maids reached into the car.
"Watch your step, sir."
A young man stepped off the carriage. At first glance, he had good facial features and looked wealthy, but there was a lot of hostility between his brows, and he seemed to be in a bad mood. He looked up and surveyed the house in front of him: "What a shabby place! My mother is such a fool. She actually let me live in such a shabby place!"
The maidservant urged: "Sir, please be patient during this extraordinary period!"
"Stop talking nonsense. You're like a mosquito buzzing all day long. Aren't you annoying?" The young man slapped the maid in the face and said, "Why don't you tell the servant inside to open the door? You're freezing to death!"
Another maidservant hurriedly knocked on the door. Someone inside heard the noise and ran to open the door. But just as she stuck her head out, the young master kicked the door open. The inertia of the door hit her and she fell backwards.
The carriage drove in from the side door. The beaten maid looked around the street with a bitter face and found that there were almost no pedestrians on the road. Only four or three people passed by. In the distance, there were two beggars who were timid and knocking on the door of the house at the entrance of the alley, pleading miserably: "Kind uncle and aunt, please give me something to eat..."
Everyone has his own misery.
Seeing that there was nothing unusual around her, she slipped in and the door creaked shut.
Baozi knocked on the door for a long time. Perhaps because of the heavy snow, people in the yard heard the noise. They opened the door and found two little beggars. Seeing their lips were blue and purple from the cold, he was kind and said, "Wait a minute. I'll bring you a bowl of hot soup and rice. It's so cold."
The middle-aged woman who opened the door brought a pot of hot soup and rice, and filled two large bowls for Baozi and Gouzi. Seeing that they poured the soup into their mouths without caring about the heat, she hurriedly shouted, "It's just out of the pot, be careful."
Baozi took two gulps of the hot soup, and his stomach warmed up and he smiled sweetly : "Auntie, you are so kind, I will remember your kindness."
The woman laughed and said, "You are such a smooth talker, when you are full, go find a warmer place to hide from the snow. It is hard to live in the cold weather. Do you remember that you can come back to repay me? I also eat the food of the master, not the grain I bought."
The woman took the empty basin, closed the door and went in. Baozi and Gouzi slurped down the noodle soup, then held their empty bowls and looked at the house with its closed gate not far away.
Gouzi also said: "Brother Baozi, I remember when we first met Huan, he was fatter than he is now, right?" At first glance, he looked fat and shapeless, with his facial features squeezed together: "We...didn't recognize the wrong person?"
In order to follow this person, the two took turns to rest along the way, for fear of losing him.
"This Huan guy has suffered a lot and has lost a lot of weight. Just look at the gesture he made to the maid just now, and you will know that we are following the right person. He still looks like a bully, which is really annoying." Baozi has his own way of identifying people, and he cannot make a mistake based on fat or thinness.
The eldest princess was not bad-looking, and the deceased Prince Consort Huan was also a handsome man, so the son he gave birth to was naturally of good appearance. But getting fat ruined everything. Huan Yanbo became so fat that he was deformed, and his behavior was so ugly that he became even uglier.
He has lost a lot of weight now, his stomach has shrunk by two-thirds, and his eyebrows, eyes, and facial features that were once squeezed together have returned to where they should be, making him much more attractive than before.
"If he doesn't make any movement in two days, we will send a message to my second brother again." He touched the silver in his arms. After all, he was reluctant to spend it. With a full stomach, he curled up with the dog at the door of this family, ready to take a nap.
At the Fu Mansion in the capital, Tang Ying stretched herself and counted the days to be lazy. Finally, the day of the Second Prince's banquet arrived.
Fu Chen came early in the morning, taking off his official uniform of the Imperial Cavalry Division and wearing a moon-white round-necked robe, a white fox fur cloak, and a jade crown to tie his hair. He looked like a young man who was well-read in poetry and literature.
"Sir, are you going out to meet guests so early in the morning?" Dressed so formally, what she actually wanted to ask was: Sir, are you going on a blind date?
Fu Chen usually wears official uniform, has a stern face, and looks like he keeps people at a distance. But today, he has a lot of ornaments on his body and looks much friendlier.
"Aren't you going to the Second Prince's mansion for a banquet?" He pointed at the invitation in Tang Ying's hand.
Tang Ying was surprised: "Sir, are you going to follow me to eat for free?" Wouldn't that be too cheap?
Fu Chen glared at her unhappily. Xiong Yu, who was standing beside her, immediately took out a note from his arms and handed it to Tang Ying: "The Second Prince has also invited you. You are going to go with me. There is a carriage and gifts outside. You can leave when you are ready."
Tang Ying: “…” Lord Fu was very thoughtful. She was worrying about what gift to bring to the Second Prince’s house last night. Now it saves her money.
