He never expected that Yu Jiuqing was actually keeping a woman in his courtyard.
And she was a woman who looked almost identical to Shen Qing!
Judging by the Maid’s clothes she wore, she had to be the woman who snuck into the Prime Minister’s Mansion last night and was taken away by Yu Jiuqing!
Chen Li had been furious that Shen Qing had entered without permission, but seeing Jiang Chengyi’s expression, he slowly let out a breath of relief.
‘The Lord is truly gravely ill this time,’ he thought.
‘It’s probably the sickest he’s been in the last ten years.’
‘He was powerless to snap the Lord out of it.
It would be good to let Jiang Chengyi talk some sense into him!’
Shen Qing glanced at the furious Jiang Chengyi, then lowered her gaze slightly, adopting a deeply aggrieved expression.
“I…
I was just thinking that my Lord was having breakfast, and I was worried it might be too dry for him to swallow.
So I thought I’d bring in some tea.
Have…
have I done something wrong?”
Jiang Chengyi: “!!!”
‘Where did this master of feigned innocence come from?!’
‘Besides, there’s already tea in this room!
Was there any need for some random Maid to bring more in?!’
Just as Jiang Chengyi, his face filled with indignation, was about to speak, Yu Jiuqing raised his eyes.
He gave Shen Qing a cool glance before quickly lowering his gaze again, asking with a hint of what sounded like sarcasm, “So you also find this breakfast hard to swallow?”
As he said this, however, he scooped up another spoonful of congee and brought it to his lips.
Chen Li: “…”
‘My Lord, your actions are making your words completely unconvincing!’
‘And how on earth are you managing to swallow that breakfast anyway?!
Aaargh!’
Even though she was being mocked, Shen Qing felt no shame at all.
Instead, she offered a sweet smile.
“That’s why I’ve brought tea for my Lord, to atone for my transgression, isn’t it?”
‘And gather some intel while I’m at it.’
Yu Jiuqing glanced at Shen Qing, the corner of his mouth twitching into a smirk that wasn’t quite a smile.
He looked like he wanted to say something, but in the end, he didn’t.
He only said coolly, “Bring it here.”
‘He’s not reprimanding her?
He’s just letting her do as she pleases?’
‘What is this, some scene with a Demon Concubine and a Foolish Emperor?!’
Jiang Chengyi felt like he was about to faint!
Chen Li, on the other hand, felt the moving sensation of finally having found a kindred spirit.
‘Finally, I’m not the only one feeling this soul-crushing shock!’
Shen Qing gave another sweet smile, walked over, lifted the small teapot she’d brought in, and filled the cup in front of Yu Jiuqing.
Then, with perfect composure, she took her place standing behind him.
‘She’s clearly planning to stick around and not leave.’
Jiang Chengyi: “!!!”
‘It’s one thing to let this woman mess around, but surely Yu Jiuqing isn’t so brain-dead that he’d let her stay and listen to them talk business!’
Yu Jiuqing set down his spoon, picked up the teacup, and paused.
He brought it to his lips for a delicate sip and said, “Let’s continue our earlier discussion.”
Jiang Chengyi instantly stared at Yu Jiuqing as if he were a madman.
Deep within him, an uncontrollable rage began to surge.
‘This…
bastard!’
‘How can he do this to Shen Qing’s memory!
How can he do this to Zihan!’
‘Most importantly, of all the people to be bewitched by, he had to fall for such a…
sickeningly artificial woman!’
Jiang Chengyi’s rage reached its peak, yet paradoxically, his mind seemed to clear a little.
‘No, that’s not right.
Yu Jiuqing isn’t someone who’s so easily bewitched.’
‘Over the past decade, people with ulterior motives have tried everything.
They didn’t just find women to imitate Shen Qing; they used every dirty, underhanded trick in the book.
And yet, Yu Jiuqing had always remained true to himself, never once being fooled by a facade.’
‘Could it be…
that Yu Jiuqing is doing this on purpose?’
‘Is he only pretending to be captivated because he wants to find out who the mastermind is behind this woman?’
Recalling the man’s recent methods, Jiang Chengyi felt it was more and more likely.
He couldn’t help but take a deep breath, forcing himself to ignore the unsightly woman.
He said sarcastically, “Fine.
But I’ll say it again: I implore you, Prime Minister Yu, to think more of Zihan before you act.
He has already lost his mother.
His father may not be very reliable, but it would be too pitiful if he were to lose his father as well.”
Shen Qing’s heart clenched.
‘So this must be how others have seen Zihan all these years.’
‘A pitiful child who lost his mother and is ignored by his father.’
Yu Jiuqing was silent for a long moment before saying, “Let’s get to the point.”
Jiang Chengyi snorted but didn’t press the issue.
“We’ve identified the mastermind behind yesterday’s assassination attempt.
As expected, it was that bastard Cao Yanhua.”
“He must have discovered that you were onto his connection with Prince Cheng.
It was an act of desperation, resorting to a crude tactic like assassination.”
‘Cao Yanhua…’
Shen Qing immediately recalled the papers Guo Chengfeng had shown her the day before.
‘Cao Yanhua is the current Minister of the Ministry of Justice…
and he’s also the one who sent Aunt Cao to Yu Jiuqing.’
‘Back then, the Daqi Court was hopelessly corrupt, leading to riots all across Da Qi.
The northern Great Liang Dynasty, which had long coveted Da Qi like a juicy piece of meat, seized the opportunity to invade.’
‘It took her and Yu Jiuqing a full four years to quell the unrest in Da Qi.
But that didn’t mean they could rest easy.
Afterward, while she and Yu Jiuqing were preoccupied with their struggle against the Great Liang Dynasty, the reigning Holy Emperor’s ninth son, Prince Cheng, raised an army. Find the original chapter at novelping.com.
He used the pretext of “cleansing the emperor’s court” to launch a surprise attack against them.’
‘Fortunately, her and Yu Jiuqing’s power base was already formidable enough to just barely fend off Prince Cheng’s offensive.
After that, Prince Cheng rallied many Daqi court officials who were disgruntled with them, becoming their greatest enemy.’
‘Before she left this world, they had just finished dismantling Prince Cheng’s faction.’
‘However, the Holy Emperor at the time couldn’t bear to execute his own flesh and blood.
Both at court and among the common folk, there was considerable opposition to her and Yu Jiuqing.
People felt they were disrupting the government and usurping the power of the Daqi Royal Family.’
‘Therefore, even knowing that with such a persistent enemy, it was best to pull out the problem by the roots, they couldn’t afford to openly defy the Holy Emperor’s command.
Even if only for appearance’s sake, they had to spare Prince Cheng’s life.’
‘Even so, they ultimately crippled both of Prince Cheng’s legs and stripped him of his Imperial Family status and all his power before allowing him to leave the Capital City.’
‘But from what Jiang Chengyi was saying, could it be that even after all that, the scoundrel Prince Cheng hadn’t given up and was now staging a comeback?’
Hearing this, Yu Jiuqing said nothing, merely tapping his right index finger on the tabletop with a pensive expression.
Jiang Chengyi stared at that emotionless face, then suddenly sucked in a breath and said through gritted teeth, “You son of a bitch, don’t tell me you already guessed the assassin was sent by Cao Yanhua?!
Did you get injured yesterday on purpose?
What’s your goal?
Are you trying to lower Cao Yanhua’s guard and use him to lure out more of Prince Cheng’s Remnants?”
Yu Jiuqing raised his eyes slightly but didn’t directly answer Jiang Chengyi’s question.
“Eight years ago, Prince Cheng suddenly vanished from his place of exile, right under our strict surveillance.”
“Whoever managed to deceive our men and spirit Prince Cheng away must be no ordinary person.”
Jiang Chengyi froze.
‘Didn’t they already know this?
Why is Yu Jiuqing bringing it up again all of a sudden?’
He paused, then continued the line of thought.
“We investigated later, didn’t we?
We found that people from Daliang had been spotted near Prince Cheng’s place of exile before he disappeared.
It’s almost certain that despicable band of barbarians was who took him!
Have you discovered something new?”
Yu Jiuqing, however, picked up the egg crepe from his breakfast.
He used his chopsticks to add some pickled vegetables and a crisp lettuce leaf, then leisurely rolled it up.
After taking a bite, he finally said, “No.
It’s just…
although Prince Cheng’s initial rebellion failed, many officials in the court were his people.
There are many members of his faction that we have yet to identify.”
“If the Daliang people were the ones who took him, they would certainly try to use his influence within the Daqi Court for their own gain.
Yet for the past eight years, we haven’t seen a shadow of Prince Cheng, nor have his faction members made any overt moves.
Or rather, none that were obvious.”
“It wasn’t until the end of last year that Prince Cheng’s faction started making frequent, minor moves.”
“Chengyi, haven’t you noticed how strange that is?
Why did Prince Cheng lie low for eight years, only to start making his move at the end of last year?”
Yu Jiuqing spoke calmly, but he suddenly noticed the man across from him staring intently, not responding for a long moment.
Yu Jiuqing’s eyebrow twitched.
Just as he was about to speak, he saw the other man gulp audibly, a strange, covetous glint in his eyes.