After Becoming the Hero's Ex-fiancée

Ten Thousand Thoughts (3)

Zheng Wan stood up abruptly; she instinctively wanted to go to the eldest princess to get a clear picture, but she collected herself, then sat down again.

Back then, it was thanks to the eldest princess that she had managed to plant people in the Plum Garden. With the addition of this now, she had already troubled her a lot, and it wasn’t appropriate to ask for more.

No matter. Zheng Wan burned the note with the wax, washed up seriously, got changed, and left. She had only just stepped out to the corridor when she heard someone talking about the marriage between the crown prince and the Liu family.

“…the Liu family has always been honest and just, so naturally, the daughters they raised are good.”

“But why did I hear that one of their concubines had died not long ago, causing that concubine-born to kick up a huge fuss? It– it was the one with red rashes!”

“It was all because of Madame Liu’s soft-hearted and kind nature. That concubine-born daughter was unruly and disrupted the banquet; Second Lady Liu even specially requested for the crown prince to send the imperial physician over for a look, but who can win against their fate? After a few days, she passed away. But that concubine-born insisted that it was Madame Liu who had poisoned her mother. Lord Liu was so angry that he went straight to a matchmaker to marry her off, somewhere far away. She’s been gone for almost half a month.”

“This person is really——”

Someone said in a low voice, “Madame Liu was the culprit?”

“It’s just a concubine, born with a poor fortune and a poor fate, how can others be blamed?”

Zheng Wan seemed to have some thoughts, and was just about to walk forward when she heard a familiar voice behind her, soft and gentle:

“Wan’niang, I have something to say to you.”

Zheng Wan raised her eyebrows and turned around. Sure enough, it was the Crown Prince. He was dressed in a white silk wide robe with golden trim, a golden headdress, and long boots. He looked rather elegant, but his beard, which had not been shaved for some time, made him seem especially downtrodden and melancholic.

“What is it? You can just say it here.”

“I, I……” He took a step closer, and saw Zheng Wan take a step back, then shook his head and smiled bitterly. “I just want to have a chat with you about the tedious troubles in my heart.”

“Your Highness, if you are troubled, why not look for Second Lady Liu.”

“That woman with the mouth of Buddha and the heart of a snake?” The crown prince snorted. “She would even harm her own sister, to think…”

Zheng Wan’s spirit lifted. “What does Your Highness mean?”

“The day before yesterday, I was feeling vexed and went hunting in Imperial hunting grounds in the western suburbs. There, I saved a person. Do you know who it was? It was my good fiancée’s concubine-born sister. Such a pitiful person, she actually wanted to get someone to put her——”

“Third Lady Liu? Then, where is she now?” Zheng Wan’s face was full of innocence.

“I was afraid that something would happen to her if she was by herself, so I brought her here.”

Inside the main hall, Cui Wang stood up.

Zheng Zhai felt that the room, which was still warm a moment ago, suddenly became chilly. In the span of time he took to call out to the servants to bring in more stoves, the young gentleman he had just been talking to was gone.

Cui Wang looked at the couple not too far away who were talking and smiling with each other. It seemed to him that a slab of thousand-year-old black iron was wedged in a particular spot in his heart—he could neither swallow nor spit it out.

“State, State Preceptor——”

He was about to move forward, but a woman in white leapt out in front of him. She was so thin that her eyes bulged out. She was also wearing a face veil, but this veil wasn’t very useful to Cui Wang.

“Scram.”

A single word came out from Cui Wang.

“The State Preceptor is perceptive and wise! In the past, have you given someone a zan?”

The person fell to her knees, and as she sobbed, took out a white brocade handkerchief that she had hidden in her chest all along. She spread it out; the bloodstone fragments gleamed, and the word ‘Cui’ stood out clearly.

As expected, Cui Wang’s attention was captured.

“I, I found it on the marble boat. This is clearly something I’d pawned the day before the banquet… I, I’m guessing that the State Preceptor is the one I picked up at the entrance of the Senior Grand Secretary’s residence that day, and sent to the medical hall for treatment, right?”

“Raise your head.”

Third Lady Liu raised her head tremblingly.

“Huh?” The crown prince saw them. “Third Lady Liu, why are you obstructing the State Preceptor? Even if you have a grievance, you should go to your father.”

Zheng Wan’s heart thumped; she turned her head, only to see Cui Wang’s eyes cast down at the thin and fragile girl on the ground, his expression unreadable.