CHAPTER 402: CHAPTER 402: NAGGING

He could be certain there was no one hiding in Old Duke Chong’s room.

He could also be certain that someone had been treating Old Duke Chong before he entered the room.

The disappearance in such a short time could only mean one thing, and that is a secret passage!

There is a secret passage in Old Duke Chong’s room.

But the entrance to the secret passage had long been sealed by Marquis Dongxiang.

Could it be that someone from Dongxiang Marquis Mansion used the secret passage to detoxify the Old Duke?

This speculation seemed incredible to Duke Chong.

Marquis Dongxiang had an endless feud with him, and was also coerced by him to leave the Capital City.

Although it wasn’t life-threatening for Marquis Dongxiang, it made him toil on the road for days without any gain.

Would Marquis Dongxiang not vent his anger on the Old Duke and even secretly join forces with others to detoxify him?

Is that possible?

But apart from this possibility, he couldn’t think of anything else.

Duke Chong summoned the servant stationed at the old residence and interrogated him, discovering that every day the Duchess of Duke Chong’s Mansion would dismiss the maid and servant for half an hour, standing guard outside the room.

Duke Chong’s face was icy.

After the servant withdrew, the man standing beside Duke Chong said, "It seems the Duchess really found a doctor to detoxify the Old Duke."

"I’m afraid the missing Doctor Li is right at Dongxiang Marquis Mansion!" Duke Chong’s voice was chilling, his gaze cold.

The man froze.

"You mean Marquis Dongxiang and the Duchess are working together to treat the Old Duke?" The man was incredulous.

It’s reasonable for the Duchess to treat the Old Duke.

But Marquis Dongxiang had no reason to do so.

Moreover, when Doctor Li disappeared, Marquis Dongxiang was not in the Capital City.

"Whether it’s true or not, we can’t let the Old Duke stay at the old residence any longer," Duke Chong said coldly.

The man didn’t respond.

Originally, to prevent the Duke Chong’s Mansion from being given away, they had the Duchess of Duke Chong’s Mansion plead with the Emperor, who then agreed to build a wall dividing the mansion in two.

Now, trying to bring the Old Duke back won’t be easy.

But no matter how difficult, it must be done.

If you want to do something, there’s always a way to solve it.

...

Fengyang Palace.

Princess Shouning was crying on the bed.

The maids and eunuchs stood by the bedside, unsure how to console her.

Their princess was dead set on hanging herself on the tree that was Prince NanAn, resorting to hunger strikes and kneeling down.

But who would have thought that someone was already hanging on that tree belonging to Prince NanAn?

The Empress had a hard time persuading the Empress Dowager to send someone to probe Princess NanAn’s intentions.

Before she could speak, Princess NanAn revealed at the Beauty Pavilion that Prince NanAn was already betrothed.

Princess NanAn revealed this at a mahjong table.

Duchess Dingguo was discussing with other ladies about the Eldest Young Master of Duke Dingguo, wondering how the bandit suppression mission was going, and when he would return.

Whose family’s young master married a wife and already had a child, while they were eager to hold a grandson but didn’t know how long it would take.

Princess NanAn laughed and said, "I’ve already arranged a marriage for my son, you all should hurry up."

Duchess Dingguo was taken aback, "You’ve already arranged a marriage for Prince NanAn?"

"Yes, it was decided before he left the Capital," Princess NanAn said with a smile.

"When he returns, I’ll have to prepare the gifts for the betrothal ceremony."

Princess NanAn said it in front of a crowd.

Of course, there’s nothing that can’t be said about this.

Prince NanAn must marry, bringing the bride back in a grand procession, and by then all of Capital City would know.

Prince NanAn’s status is noble, coupled with his close relationship with Marquis Dongxiang’s Mansion, and being taken by Marquis Dongxiang to suppress bandits.

He got engaged, and everyone was curious about which family the bride was from.

This spread from one person to ten, then ten to a hundred, finally reaching Princess Shouning’s ears.

Hmm.

Princess Shouning had recently enjoyed gathering information about Prince NanAn.

Poetry, paintings—even the paintings made at Prince Yu Mansion with the Heir of Marquis Jingguo—ended up in Princess Shouning’s collection.

She placed them in the study and often found herself lost in thought while looking at them.

Such big news about Prince NanAn’s engagement, of course, had to be reported to Princess Shouning immediately.

And so, Princess Shouning kept crying.

Crying her heart out, pitiful to behold.

The Empress, informed, hurried over and said, "Such a small matter, why are you crying so?"

Small matter?

To Princess Shouning, it was akin to the sky falling.

She cried, "I finally convinced Mother to marry me to him, and now he’s engaged!"

The Empress also felt regret.

She had to put a lot of effort into persuading the Empress Dowager and Duke Chong.

Now that they agreed, the issue arose with Prince NanAn Mansion.

"Since he’s engaged, it means it’s not meant to be between you two, listen to your mother’s advice, and forget about him," the Empress advised.

"If it’s not meant to be, why did he save me?" Princess Shouning was not afraid to confront the Empress.

The maid beside her had been holding a thought in her heart for days, fearing death to speak it.

Clearly, it was the Eldest Young Madam of Duke Zhen’s Mansion who rushed to rescue the princess.

Prince NanAn only went to save her after learning from her mouth that the princess was sold.

If this counts as fate with Prince NanAn, then wouldn’t the princess have even more destiny with the Eldest Young Madam of Duke Zhen’s Mansion?

The Empress also didn’t know how to comfort Princess Shouning. She could see that her daughter had genuinely fallen for him this time.

Princess Shouning, with swollen eyes from crying, looked at the Empress, "Mother, who is Prince NanAn engaged to?"

The Empress frowned, "What do you plan to do?"

"I want her to break off the engagement with Prince NanAn!" Princess Shouning said.

The person she fancied could only marry her!

Princess Shouning was being unreasonable, and the Empress would not indulge her.

Initially, the Empress Dowager and Duke Chong were opposed to this marriage, and now that Prince NanAn was engaged, it played right into their hands.

For a dignified princess to use power to force a marriage, if word spread, even the Emperor would not agree.

But no matter what the Empress said, Princess Shouning had one line: She would marry no one but Prince NanAn in this lifetime.

The Empress was so angry that she almost wanted to skin Prince NanAn alive.

Meanwhile, Prince NanAn and Chu Shun were returning to the Capital City with seven hundred soldiers.

It’s needless to say how tough the journey had been.

It was the height of summer, with the scorching sun, to avoid heatstroke, they set off before dawn, resting when the heat became unbearable.

They marched until nightfall when they could no longer see the road, then set up camp.

Throughout the day, their clothes were soaked in sweat countless times, then dried by the wind.

The brocade robes taken off at night had a sour smell.

Prince NanAn sat under a big tree, drinking tea.

Hmm.

Proudly pouring the water sack into his mouth, anyone unaware might think he was drinking liquor.

From afar, it looked imposingly grand.

But if he truly drank heartily and sneezed, spraying tea all over, it would completely ruin his image.

"Don’t say you’re being talked about again," Chu Shun said, gnawing on a steamed bun.

Prince NanAn coughed, almost tearing up, and said, "I really sneezed."

"Commandery Prince, we’ll believe whatever you say, but can we stop using the same excuse over and over?" the Heir of Marquis Beining said.

"I’m tired of hearing it."

Prince NanAn, "..."

What excuse?

I truly sneezed!

Looking at Chu Shun and the others’ disbelieving looks, Prince NanAn was quite vexed.

Why was he always the one being talked about?

What did he do to bring this upon himself?

The Eldest Young Master of Duke Dingguo cools himself with a jade fan, longing for ice bowls and mung bean soup.

A bowl of ice-chilled mung bean soup down the throat could make one feel on top of the world.

"Hold on, in just two more days, we’ll be back in the Capital City," Zhao Xu said.

"Another two days?!" Prince NanAn was not satisfied.

He looked at Su Chong and said, "We rode horses when we left the Capital, can’t we ride horses back?"

"We should be able to, right?" Chu Shun said.

"We must," Su Chong replied.

"..."