The First Auxiliary Road from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 1234 Kuang's Concerns

Yongxing Marquis Mansion, Zhengyuan Hall

Shu fidgeted, clasping her hands together repeatedly and looking out the window frequently.

Seeing Yun Jing hurriedly coming back in a cloak, she ignored the cold wind and rushed over to him, asking hurriedly, "Where is the prince? Isn't he at Kuang's place?"

Yun Jing took off his cloak with a breath, rubbing his hands while replying, "I went to Wen Ya Pavilion to ask, and they said that the prince hasn't been there for a few days... I saw that they seemed to be packing boxes and crates over there, and it seemed that he was planning to go back to Hai Anbo!"

"Are you sure?" Mrs. Shu pursed her lips and asked with narrowed eyes, "Did Mrs. Kuang not see you?"

Yun Jing shook his head: "I said I wanted to pay my respects to Madam Kuang, but the people over there said that Madam Kuang seemed unwell. In the past two days, even the second young lady was not called over."

"What does this mean? Good things are about to happen, but she wants to back out at the last minute?" Shu thought about it and asked Yun Jing to find out the time when Sheng Xiangxun went to Wen Ya Pavilion last time.

"I've checked, the time doesn't match!" Yun Jing whispered, "If I were to ask you, for Wubenzhai and Wenyage to communicate, it doesn't necessarily mean that the two masters have to meet in person!"

"Humph! The prince has been avoiding me lately, and Kuang Shi has also been avoiding me. In the end, this has become my problem! All of these people are waiting to take advantage of the situation!"

Shu was so angry that her face turned red. She slammed her hands on the table and told Yun Jing to get someone to arrange a carriage: "Let's go to the Shengguo Mansion immediately!"

……

In the Wen Ya Pavilion, Sister Kuang Qi leaned on the pillow and watched the maid counting the packages.

"Madam, is it not appropriate for us to leave now?" The maid Qingquan sat beside them and whispered, "The situation is about to change. If we leave now, won't we give people something to talk about?"

"Whether we leave or not is not up to us, but the situation. I asked you to pack up, on the one hand, it is indeed to make preparations, but more importantly, it prevents the Shu family from meeting." Sister Kuang Qi coughed twice, and then said, "In my opinion, the matter will be settled in this short time. Let's prepare ourselves and wait for the situation to decide."

"If this is successful, they will probably complain that we are taking advantage of them!" Qingquan peeled the fruit for Sister Kuang Qi and pursed his lips, "I heard that the prince has refused to see her recently."

"What's wrong with taking advantage of a ready-made opportunity?" Sister Kuang Qi smiled. "After all, I only have Sister Chun as my daughter, and it's almost impossible for me to have other children in the future. It would be great if Sister Chun could become a princess, but if she can't, she can still inherit the title of Earl of Hai'an.

Unless I have nothing better to do, who would jump up and down with her!
If it succeeds, she will become the queen or queen mother, and I might end up being abandoned after my work has been done!

Instead of that, it would be better to give her a handle now, so that after this, she will tolerate Chun Jie'er and me."

Sister Kuang Qi has been keeping an eye on Zhengyuan Hall since she moved back to the Hai'an Marquis' Mansion. The more she sees, the more she understands Shu's character.

If it were her in the past, she might be willing to use her connections to lend a helping hand, but now she just wants to stay safe until the situation becomes clear.

As the master and servant were talking, they saw a little maid with two buns coming in from outside, standing in the hall, and bowing to them from a distance.

Qingquan walked over, whispered to her, and handed over a handful of copper coins. Seeing the little maid thanking her with a surprised look on her face and walking out briskly, Sister Kuang Qi couldn't help but smile.

But when Qingquan came back and whispered in her ear, the smile on her lips turned into sarcasm.

"I remember that Duke Sheng came to the mansion the other day. He came in a hurry and left angrily. How come our good lady actually came up to him? Doesn't she think about why the prince doesn't want to see her?"

"Madam, you are saying that the prince... really doesn't want that position?" Qingquan couldn't help but feel curious when he thought about how the prince had been avoiding his two wives recently.

"I really don't know whether he wants it or not, but the prince has always been upright... No matter what happens in the end, he is unwilling and unable to take the initiative in this matter." Sister Kuang Qi didn't think that there would be anyone who would not be tempted by the supreme position.

"So what do you think, can this be accomplished?" Qingquan felt excited when he thought that if it could be accomplished, his master and the second young lady would be members of the royal family. He couldn't help but ask with some expectation.

Sister Kuang Qi glanced at her as if she had sensed something and sighed, "Normally, I am hoping that it will work...but I don't know why, whenever I think about it working out, I feel weak."

"Feeling weak? Madam, are you feeling uneasy?" Qingquan had followed Sister Kuang Qi when they were on the island and knew his master best. Seeing that she had a hint of worry on her face, he couldn't help but feel nervous as well.

"I can't say I'm uneasy, I just feel empty, as if all this is so easy to obtain, it's neither real nor solid." Sister Kuang Qi sighed and looked around. Seeing that the maids' attention was not here, she waved Qingquan to her ear and whispered, "Don't you think the Crown Princess disappeared too suddenly? She disappeared just after the Crown Prince was appointed. Why do I feel so unreal?"

"But could this be fake?" Qingquan felt that his master was overthinking, so he could not help but persuade him gently, "I heard that the atmosphere outside is very tense. The patrol officers of Shuntian Prefecture, the officers and soldiers of the City Patrol, as well as the Internal Guards, the City Defense Camp, and the Military Affairs Camp have appeared in groups, saying that they will check every household, even the residences of the senior officials in the court cannot be avoided! With such a big momentum, how can it be fake?"

Sister Kuang Qi nodded gently: "I know what you said, but I trust my intuition more. Our Hai'an Marquis Mansion should not get involved in this matter! Even if it is proven that I thought too much and I am given a lower position in the end, I will accept it."

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"Madam, you are talking nonsense again. Just because you are the Earl of Hai An, the prince will not treat you unfairly after the matter is accomplished... Not to mention, the one you are not cooperating with now is Madam Shu. In fact, you are always with the prince!"

Qingquan's words made Sister Kuang Qi's anger disappear, and all her previous anger was gone.

……

When Sheng Yuan returned home, Shu happened to be out.

Although she didn't plan to confront him immediately, she still called the manager to ask a few questions.

Hearing that Shu had gone to Duke Sheng's mansion again, Sheng Yuan's already gloomy expression became even gloomier.

He looked like he was about to jump up and beat someone up at any moment, and the manager was trembling with fear.

Sheng Yuan saw that the man was shivering as he kept wrapping his cloak tightly around him, so he waved his hand and told him to go back to the front yard: "Since it's cold, go inside and put on more clothes later, so you don't get cold when you go back and forth."

Upon hearing this, the steward bowed and thanked as if he had been pardoned, and in the blink of an eye, he disappeared from Sheng Yuan's sight.

Seeing the other person running away, Sheng Yuan took his hands out of his sleeves in a daze, feeling them and wondering, "Is it that cold?"