Chapter 1274

Chapter 1274 Changes in Each Mansion

“Master, the person is in the Prince Zhou’s Mansion.” When Ancheng came to report, Chu Liuchen still sat in the study of the outer court, leisurely replying to the memorials in his hand. There were many memorials to the throne recently, so he had a hard time doing this job.

“Is there anything unusual about Qi Tianyu?” Chu Liuchen put down the writing brush dipped in red ink and asked lightly.

If Zhuozhuo had not mentioned Qi Tianyu repeatedly, he would not have found such a person secretly doing something suspicious.

“I guess Qi Tianyu didn’t anticipate Prince Zhou being so rude and unreasonable — he detained him for further investigating,” Ancheng said.

“He naively thought no one dared to target him, an official appointed by the imperial court.” Chu Liuchen smiled delightedly. Now that Qi Tianyu had been exposed, he could no longer be an imperceptible secret pawn.

What a surprise. Qi Tianyu, an unsuccessful Number Three Scholar on the surface, was working for Chu Liuyue. More surprisingly, it was Chu Liuyue who sent Qi Tianyu’s sister into the Prince Zhou’s Mansion. For this reason, Chu Liuzhou would not let go of Chu Liuyue.

A consort was nothing, but if this consort was suspected to be Chu Liuyue’s helper, Chu Liuzhou would never let off Chu Liuyue.

“Send a message to the Prince Yue’s Mansion!”

“Now?” Ancheng asked.

“Yes. I can’t keep Eldest Brother in the dark!” Chu Liuchen said casually. It was getting late, and he had to return to the inner court.

He stood up, flung her loose robe, and was about to leave.

“Prince, aren’t… aren’t you going to deal with the memorials?” Ancheng didn’t think it was that late. “Why is my master so lazy now?” There were so many memorials. In his mind, his master might need to sleep in the study tonight.

“Princess Chen is waiting for me!” Chu Liuchen smiled, slightly raising the corners of his mouth. It was apparent that he was in a good mood.

Xiao Xuanzi was waiting outside with a broad smile, carrying a lantern in one hand. He knew his master would return to the inner court at this time. Since Princess Chen came of age, his master had never lived in the study or returned too late.

Watching his master striding away, Ancheng felt very depressed. His master was a changed man! Was Prince Chen still the master with a pure heart and few worldly desires? Ancheng could tell that his master was in a hurry when he walked off quickly.

Chu Liuyue didn’t sleep either. He was in Zhang Qilan’s room. They had just cleaned up and were about to sleep. Suddenly, Xiao Qizi, Chu Liuyue’s personal servant, came to report in great haste. Zhang Qilan didn’t hear it clearly, but she saw Chu Liuyue’s face drastically change. He took the coat hanging aside, put it on, and said, “You go to sleep first. I have something to do!”

After that, he turned around and left.

Zhang Qilan stood at the door and watched Chu Liuyue leave in a daze, with sadness in her eyes.

“My Lady, it’s getting late. You can go to rest!” Her servant girl came in and whispered.

“Did you hear what the Prince said?” Zhang Qilan asked. The servant girl had just stood at the door. After Xiao Qizi entered the room to report, Chu Liuyue had been talking to him there.

“I seem to have heard… heard Qi Rongzhi…” The servant girl watched Zhang Qilan’s expression and whispered, “Maybe… I have misheard…”

“Qi Rongzhi?” Zhang Qilan looked up at the vast night sky. Chu Liuyue was gone, and it was completely black outside. She happened to know Qi Rongzhi, Chu Liuzhou’s consort. But what was her relationship with Prince Yue?

Zhang Qilan thought she must have misheard them, but unfortunately, she heard that right.

“Who on earth is Chu Liuyue in love with? Why are there so many women? Shao Wanru, Qi Rongzhi, and Shao Yanru, right? What about me? Am I just an ornament in his mansion that he doesn’t care about? I finally became Princess Yue, but is Princess Yue merely a showy and not substantial title? Did Shao Wanru seduce Chu Liuyue because of this?

“Is the situation the same with Qi Rongzhi? Like Shao Wanru, this woman of easy virtue also intends to seduce Prince Yue?”

Finally, she seemed to have figured everything out. A trace of jealousy and hatred flashed across her eyes. Since Shao Wanru made her unhappy, she would also stir her mansion into a tempest. She wondered if Qin Yiyan had asked Consort Lan for support. According to her words, Consort Lan had determined to make her Chu Liuchen’s consort.

The next time she entered the Palace, she might as well mention it to the Empress Dowager. Jealousy ran red-hot through her eyes…

With Xiao Qizi, Chu Liuyue entered the study, where a guard in this mansion was waiting for them. Seeing Chu Liuyue coming in, he quickly handed over a letter. “Someone threw it into the mansion’s courtyard. It was tied with a brick. I didn’t see anyone outside when I went out to chase after the person.”

With a nod, Chu Liuyue took the letter and looked at it. The handwriting belonged to Qi Tianyu. He opened the letter and raced through it. The more he read, the uglier his face became.

After going through it, he read it again from the beginning. Then, clenching the letter in his hand, he sat down heavily.

Mr. Liu, his assistant, was also called over. Chu Liuyue showed him the letter in his hand without hiding it from him. After reading it, Mr. Liu raised his head and said seriously, “Do you have any dealings with the Qi’s mansion?”

Then the person he had seen must be Qi Tianyu.

“Yes. Qi Tianyu and Qi Rongzhi are helping me. If I ascend the throne, I will mind her past and make her my consort. Qi Tianyu will also be promoted.” At this time, Chu Liuyue answered honestly without hiding anything from Mr. Liu.

“Prince, you made such an unwise decision!” Mr. Liu patted his leg and lamented.

“Sir, why do you say that?” Chu Liuyue asked.

“You are a Prince of noble birth and superior status. Qi Tianyu certainly wants to play up to you. But you should not have made any agreement with him. And least of all, you should not have let a useless woman spy on Prince Zhou. Prince Zhou is never a person who is easy to be plotted against. Qi Rongzhi is merely a consort. There is no shortage of women in Prince Zhou’s Mansion. If this woman is not smart, she can’t do any harm to Prince Zhou and may even affect you. And that is what is happening now.”

Chu Liuyue looked sullen after hearing his analysis, but what he said was true. Though under the light, his face darkened. He paused for a moment and asked, “What should I do now?”

After a short silence, Mr. Liu pointed at the letter and asked, “Prince, are you sure the letter was from Qi Tianyu?”

“It should be him. He is cautious and always has a backup plan!” Chu Liuyue said.

He was right. Qi Tianyu had made a contingency plan, but the people from Prince Chen’s Mansion had cracked it. In the end, this letter fell into Chu Liuyue’s hands.

Others could not forge Qi Tianyu’s handwriting, but Qi Baiyu was a master of imitation. Moreover, he knew Qi Tianyu’s character very well. So, the letter looked fair and reasonable.

“Do you want to keep him?” Mr. Liu asked.

“I’m unable even to fend for myself. Chu Liuzhou will report it to my father. It will be challenging for me to explain myself.” With a frown, Chu Liuyue said. He deeply regretted listening to Qi Tianyu’s advice and sending Qi Rongzhi to collect information near Chu Liuzhou. How could the slow-witted Qi Rongzhi be a match for Infanta Yuan’an?

Qi Rongzhi was useless even when she was in the Marquis Xing’s Mansion. The more Chu Liuyue thought about it, the more regretful he became. Why would he follow Qi Tianyu’s advice and consider it an excellent plan to use Qi Rongzhi?

“Since you don’t want to keep him, just put all the blame on him!” Mr. Liu said. He had an extremely low opinion of Qi Tianyu. Initially, he was Prince Yue’s first assistant, but Prince Yue kept Qi Tianyu’s affairs from him. It meant Prince Yue couldn’t trust him with this secret about Qi Tianyu. Anyway, this feeling made Mr. Liu very uncomfortable.

When he competed with Third Young Master Wen, he wouldn’t complain even if he had a grievance. It was because Mr. Liu felt a heartfelt admiration for his outstanding talent. But whom the hell did Qi Tianyu think he was? How dare he try to surpass him?

He would drop the matter if he had no chance to fight back. But now, there came such a rare chance to fight back. Anyway, he could never honestly want to save Qi Tianyu.

“Prince, please do everything as usual tomorrow. You should pretend that you don’t know anything. If the Emperor asks you to go to the Palace, you can go there open and aboveboard. When Consort Qi and Lord Qi are mentioned, you can…”

Mr. Liu lowered his voice and whispered in Chu Liuyue’s ear. Chu Liuyue nodded in agreement. Obviously, he thought it was a brilliant idea.

That night, Chu Liuyue did not return to the inner court and directly slept in the study. When it was time to go to court the next day, he got up early, freshened up, and went to court.

Because of poor health, the Emperor didn’t meet his officials as frequently as before. Many memorials to the throne were sent to the Imperial Study by the two Prime Ministers for the Emperor to review.

No one knew if the Emperor would go to court on a specific day. It depended on whether he was feeling well that day. When these officials arrived at the waiting room, they received a definite message from the Palace: the Emperor was not feeling well today and would not go to court. He asked all the officials to go back. If anyone had to see the Emperor for something, they must wait for a while and meet the Emperor in the Imperial Study.

Of course, not everyone could see the Emperor. Only two Prime Ministers, several Ministers, and a few Princes had this honor.

The officials left, and after a while, the waiting room for officials became empty. It was still early when they went to see the Emperor in the Palace. Therefore, several first-class officials and the few Princes sat down and started chatting.

“Eldest Brother.” Chu Liuzhou entered later than the others. Upon arrival, he glanced at Chu Liuyue, who was sitting aside. Then, Chu Liuzhou came over and greeted him with a smile.

“Second Brother!” Chu Liuyue smilingly put down the teacup in his hand as if he knew nothing.

Chu Liuzhou sat in the chair next to him and said with a funny look, “Eldest Brother, you look a little different today!”

“How could it be?” Chu Liuyue said with a smile.

“You seem to have no idea what has happened?” Chu Liuzhou raised his eyebrows and yawned. “I’m worn out today. It’s all because of you.”

“What do you want to say today?” Chu Liuyue’s face darkened, and his eyes turned cold, “Second Brother, feel free to say anything you want. I really don’t understand your words!”

“Oh, you look genuinely innocent!” Chu Liuzhou’s lip curled sardonically. Qi Tianyu was tight-lipped and an official appointed by the imperial court. Since Chu Liuzhou didn’t dare to torture him, he didn’t get much information out of Qi Tianyu. However, unlike him, Qi Rongzhi was his consort. So, she confessed everything after a bit of torture.

His consort turned out to be on Chu Liuyue’s side. Whenever Chu Liuzhou thought of that, the anger in his heart flared up. Before he could do anything harmful to Chu Liuyue, Chu Liuyue took preemptive measures and placed his trusted follower in Prince Zhou’s Mansion instead.

As their words gradually turned sharp, several officials couldn’t help turning their heads to see them. Prime Minister Zhang frowned more tightly. Chu Liuyue was his son-in-law. What was going on between them now? It didn’t sound like a good thing…