eurekapd Chapter 24 Some are happy, some are sad (1)
Chapter 24 Some are happy, some are sad (1)
He Yanxi strode resolutely towards the figure, but upon closer inspection, found no one there. He suddenly realized that the petite figure he had just seen wasn't real; it was merely his imagination. He Yanxi smiled bitterly and muttered to himself, "He Yanxi, He Yanxi, how can you still be so forgetful! A little girl only exchanged a few words with you, and you're already so attached to her, even to the point of hallucinations." With that, he turned and walked towards his courtyard.
Upon entering the courtyard, Lan Yu and the steward, Uncle Fu, hurriedly stepped forward to greet him. Lan Yu asked, "Your Highness, it's already late. Should we deliver the items now?" He Yanxi looked up at the sky, pondered for a moment, and replied, "No, we can deliver them tomorrow." Then, Lan Yu posed another question: "So, should we really send the bill to the Third Prince's residence?" He Yanxi looked at Lan Yu with an expression as if he were a fool, and responded, "Is that even a question? Of course we'll send it. Do you think I'm playing a trick on him?" Lan Yu continued to press, "Yes, I understand. But how should this bill be written? And what should the amount be?"
He Yanxi gazed at Lan Yu and the steward, and slowly said, "Of course, we should go into the storeroom, select some truly valuable items to replenish the stock, then clearly label the prices of each item, and deliver them." Upon hearing this, Uncle Fu's eyes immediately lit up, and he replied, "This old servant understands how to proceed. I will begin preparations immediately." He Yanxi nodded slightly in agreement and said softly, "Thank you for your trouble, Uncle Fu."
Uncle Fu quickly bowed and said humbly, "Your Highness is too kind. As long as you don't despise this old servant for his incompetence, that would be the greatest favor you can do for me." He Yanxi smiled and comforted him, "How could that be!"
At this moment, Lan Yu seemed to want to continue speaking, but was hurriedly stopped by the butler and pulled away. Lan Yu looked dissatisfied and turned to Uncle Fu, shouting, "Uncle Fu, why are you pulling me? I haven't finished speaking yet!" Uncle Fu sighed helplessly and explained, "You ignorant little brat, if I didn't pull you away, you'd probably suffer some physical pain." Lan Yu looked puzzled and uttered a soft "Hmm."
Uncle Fu then questioned, "Do you know what the purpose of all these accumulated assets of the Prince is?" Lan Yu shook his head. Uncle Fu replied earnestly, "Naturally, they are intended as a dowry for Miss Qin's future marriage." Uncle Fu paused briefly, then continued, "That's right. In that case, we simply place the items there, deliver them to Miss Qin, and then send the bill to the Third Prince's residence so they can pay the expenses. Wouldn't that be a perfect solution?"
Lan Yu still asked with doubt, "But wouldn't that be equivalent to the Third Prince's residence sending a gift? How can it be considered killing two birds with one stone?" Uncle Fu looked at Lan Yu helplessly, shook his head, and sighed, "You really can't wrap your head around things! As for which items sent to the Duke's residence belong to the Third Prince's residence and which are gifts from our Prince's residence, isn't that entirely up to us?"
Upon hearing this, Lan Yu's eyes lit up, as if she had understood the secret. She smiled and said, "So that's how it is! In other words, we can use the name of the Prince's Mansion to give these gifts, and then go to the Third Prince's Mansion to ask for money? This plan is brilliant!" Seeing this, Uncle Fu smiled slightly and nodded in satisfaction, indicating his agreement.
Lan Yu thought about it more and more and felt that this idea was excellent. He was so excited that he couldn't wait to urge, "Then what am I waiting for? Let's hurry up and move the things!" Before he finished speaking, he left as quickly as a gust of wind.
Meanwhile, He Mingwen remained completely oblivious, still lost in his own beautiful dream. He smugly fantasized, "My little imperial uncle's things are all priceless treasures! If I give these treasures to Qin Yaoyao, maybe she'll change her mind and come back to me! Besides, being able to use someone else's wealth to pave my own way is such a rare opportunity!" However, he was completely unaware that the more ambitious his plans were, the more embarrassing it would be when he was proven wrong in the future.
Ever since He Yanxi moved everything away, the steward Zhao Xin and the guard Zheng Kuan had been constantly worried and frowning. Zheng Kuan couldn't help but complain, "Your Highness, that Prince Zhenbei is really too much! He actually ransacked our entire estate, leaving not even a small vase." He Mingwen was still lost in his beautiful fantasy, but Zheng Kuan's words were like a sharp sword, instantly piercing his dream and dragging him abruptly back to harsh reality. He stared wide-eyed at Zheng Kuan, asking in astonishment, "What did you say? You just said everything was taken away? How could there not even be a vase left?"
Zheng Kuan replied with a bitter expression, "Not only are the items in the warehouse gone, but even the items in the yard have all been taken away!" He paused for a moment, then continued, "Except for the yard where you live, which is still intact, all the other yards are completely empty!"
He Mingwen stared wide-eyed at the steward in disbelief, while the steward nodded silently, indicating that what he said was true. Then, the steward said in a low voice, "Now, apart from a little money still in the accounting office, the other courtyards are completely empty."
Hearing this, He Mingwen was furious, roaring, "You bunch of idiots! Why didn't you stop those thieves? How could you just stand by and watch them take all our valuables? What were you all doing?!"
Faced with He Mingwen's rebuke, the steward helplessly spread his hands and argued, "Your Highness, please calm down! Those people are the private soldiers of the Prince of Zhenbei. How could we possibly resist their violence? Even if Your Highness were here, I'm afraid you wouldn't dare to stop them easily."
After calming down and thinking it over, He Mingwen realized that the steward's words made sense. After all, even he himself was wary of the Prince of Zhenbei, let alone others. So he sighed and complained, "But now that this mansion has been emptied, how are we going to win people's hearts in the future?"
At this moment, the steward offered a suggestion: "Your Highness need not worry. Although the mansion has suffered this calamity, fortunately our shops are still intact. Besides, don't we still have mines? As long as we have these assets to support us, we will surely recover in time." He Mingwen took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. He nodded slightly in agreement, and then said in a calm tone: "Yes, you are absolutely right. Not long ago, the secret guards came to report that a gold mine has been discovered in the southern part of the city. Special personnel have been dispatched to investigate and explore, and I believe news will come back soon. By then, these valuables will indeed not be anything rare."
To their utter surprise, nothing came of it. No news arrived from the gold mine, but He Yanxi's bill was delivered to them first! Worse still, the amount on the bill was staggering. Even after He Mingwen pooled all the money in his mansion and sold most of his shops, he barely managed to scrape together the required sum. After carefully counting the amount, Lan Yu handed the bill to the Third Prince, saying, "This is the bill, Your Highness. Please keep it safe. I need to return to report to the Prince, so I will take my leave now." He bowed respectfully and turned to leave, leaving He Mingwen and the others standing there bewildered.
He Mingwen gripped the bill tightly, trembling with rage. Finally, unable to contain himself any longer, he tore the bill to shreds and roared furiously, "He Yanxi, you just wait! When I ascend that throne, the first person I'll kill will be you!"
However, at this very moment, there was another person feeling depressed—Tao Chunni. Ever since He Mingwen intentionally staged a "hero saves the damsel in distress" scene, Tao Chunni had fallen deeply in love with him and was determined to marry him. During this time, she had also maintained contact with the Third Prince. Tao Chunni had mentioned her desire to marry the Third Prince to her father… However, Tao Chunni's father, Tao Cheng, did not approve of her idea, leading to a quarrel between Tao Chunni and her father, and their relationship reached a stalemate. This poetry competition, however, became the turning point in resolving the problem.
After returning home from the poetry competition, Tao Chunni was extremely agitated and flew into a rage, even smashing many items. She angrily cursed, "That despicable and shameless woman, Liu Xiaoyu, dared to drug His Highness, causing him to lose his mind and have relations with her! She has no shame whatsoever!" Seeing this, Tao Chunni's mother, Xu Fang, quickly stepped forward to dissuade her, saying, "Why are you doing this? Their actions prove he is not the right person for you. You don't need to keep thinking about him."
Tao Chunni disagreed, retorting, "Mother, this isn't His Highness's fault! If that vixen hadn't secretly drugged him, how could His Highness have acted so impulsively? No matter what, I must marry His Highness, otherwise I'd rather live alone for the rest of my life." Tao's mother replied helplessly, "Since you insist on this and refuse to listen to your mother's advice, then so be it. Don't marry him then; our family can still support you."
Upon hearing this, Tao Chunni was even more indignant and blurted out, "Fine, since none of you support me, I'll just cut off my hair and become a nun!" With that, she turned to find scissors. Tao's mother smiled gently and said, "Child, don't worry. Even if we are far apart, our affection will not be diminished. When that time comes, I will definitely visit you often. Time may pass, years may change, but the bond of kinship will always remain strong. No matter where you are, as long as your heart is connected, you will not fear the distance." Her eyes were full of love and care, as if she wanted to pass this warmth on to her wandering child far away.
However, Tao Chunni showed no appreciation whatsoever, seemingly determined to marry no one but He Mingwen. She defiantly shouted at her mother, "If you resolutely disagree with my marriage to the Third Prince, then I will go on a hunger strike! I would rather die than submit!" Tao Chunni's mother, Xu Fang, felt both heartache and helplessness upon hearing this, and could only earnestly advise, "My child, how can you act like this? That's your own body! If you don't even cherish yourself, who else will? You should understand that if you don't eat, you'll only suffer hunger and hardship."
"Don't stubbornly insist that the Third Prince was framed. You must understand that the imperial physicians dispatched by the Emperor are highly skilled. They clearly stated that neither the Third Prince nor Liu Xiaoyu tested positive for any sedatives, and there were no traces of sedatives in the room. So the question is, what does this mean? It fully proves that they were never drugged at all. Have you forgotten what the Third Prince said when they were arrested?"
Tao Chunni tried hard to recall, but ultimately shook her head, indicating that she hadn't paid much attention to what the Third Prince was saying at the time. At this point, her mother pressed, "Are you truly unaware, or are you pretending not to know?" Tao Chunni looked at her mother with a bewildered expression, frowning as she said, "Mother, I really don't remember very clearly." Seeing this, her mother patted her hand comfortingly, "Don't worry, let me help you recall. When the Empress's people led the Third Prince and a woman out, no one noticed who the woman was. It was the Third Prince himself who said that the woman was the Fourth Miss of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion."
Tao Chunni racked her brains trying to recall the events of that time, when suddenly she had a flash of inspiration and excitedly said to her mother, "Mother! I remember!" Her mother immediately pressed, "Then, do you still remember what the Third Prince said back then?" Tao Chunni closed her eyes, thought carefully, and then nodded, replying, "Yes, I remember. The Third Prince referred to the woman as Qin Yaoyao from the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, and said that the two of them were truly in love and couldn't control their feelings, which led to this situation. He begged Her Majesty the Empress to grant their request." Her mother continued to press, "Then what did he say when he learned that the woman was not Qin Yaoyao, but Liu Xiaoyu?" Tao Chunni pondered for a moment before responding, "The Third Prince said that they had been tricked and drugged, and were not acting on their own initiative. It was clearly a deliberate frame-up."
Madam Tao smiled slightly, nodded gently, and then asked softly, "Do you know the deeper meaning behind this?" Tao Chunni looked at her mother with a bewildered expression, her eyes filled with doubt. Her mother slowly said, "This precisely proves that the Third Prince was not framed, but rather deliberately set a trap to harm Qin Yaoyao. It's just a pity that in the end, he was outmaneuvered by someone."
Upon hearing this, Tao Chunni was instantly enraged and said indignantly, "It must be that Qin Yaoyao who harbored ulterior motives and plotted to frame the Third Prince! How could she be so treacherous and cunning!" Tao's mother helplessly tapped Tao Chunni's forehead and said with a hint of reproach, "You are truly incredibly foolish! Don't you understand how to scheme and plot against others? Are you just supposed to sit and wait to be bullied? Have you ever considered what the consequences would be if Qin Yaoyao really fell into her trap?"
Madam Tao paused for a moment, then continued, "Once Qin Yaoyao falls into the trap, her life will be ruined. Not only will she be consumed by the gossip and rumors, but her entire family will also be disgraced, and she will never be able to hold her head high again. So, why do you think the Third Prince would do such a thing?"