Chapter 284 – My Son Has Facial Paralysis (part 15)

Later, Chen San returned to the house, and Jiang Hewen learned that Eldest Prince Kang’s people had taken Su Ruolan away.

He instinctively felt angry and wanted to rush over to question Eldest Prince Kang, but before he reached the door, and before Chen San could stop him, Jiang Hewen calmed down. He stood there with his eyes closed, his hands clenched into fists, the veins protruding from his temples.

Chen San looked terrified. “Young master!”

Jiang Hewen opened his eyes and said in a hoarse voice, “You’re doing the right thing!” Eldest Prince Kang was someone he couldn’t afford to offend. The wedding date was set for the eighth day of next month. At this time, nothing could go wrong!

Jiang Hewen knew very well what would happen if Ruolan fell into the hands of the eldest prince, but he couldn’t do anything! In this life, he was destined to lose the Su sisters. If they were spirits in heaven, he hoped they would be reborn as his daughters in this life. He would definitely love them well.

One day, he will trample all those who despised and persecuted him under his feet!

“Master!” Chen San said worriedly.

“Don’t worry, I’m fine. Is the thing I asked you to prepare ready?” Jiang Hewen asked.

“It’s almost ready and will be delivered tomorrow. This piece of jewellery was personally made by Great Master Zhaizuo. There is only one piece in the world and the county princess will definitely like it,” Chen San said quickly.

Jiang Hewen nodded. “Okay, be careful. This is the birthday gift for County Princess Wanyi and you must not make any mistakes!” County Princess Wanyi’s birthday was in 3 days. Because it was not the whole birthday, County Prince Kang’s mansion did not hold a big event, just a family dinner. Jiang Hewen, as the fiancé of County Princess Wanyi, naturally also received the invitation.

“Don’t worry, young master!”

Li Su had been waiting for Jiang Hewen’s response, and so was Eldest Prince Kang, but Jiang Hewen didn’t respond at all. Instead, he participated in County Princess Wanyi’s birthday banquet with a relaxed smile.

Eldest Prince Kang saw this scene and felt even more disdain towards Jiang Hewen. As for Jiang Hewen’s deep thoughts, the eldest prince didn’t take it to heart at all. No matter how talented Jiang Hewen was, he couldn’t make a big storm!

However, Jiang Hewen was not so happy in his heart. He spent a lot of money and asked the master to personally create a unique gold crown with gemstones, which was priceless. When he saw the flower crown, he had absolute confidence that County Princess Wanyi would definitely like it. Any woman would like it.

But when he saw County Princess Wanyi, his confidence was shaken. There was a luxurious and beautiful ornamental crown on County Princess Wanyi’s head. It was far better than the one he had. Even the crown that the eldest prince’s consort was wearing was not much worse than County Princess Wanyi’s.

Jiang Hewen finally understood that this was the gap. He thought the gift he had was unique, but in front of these imperial relatives, it was just ordinary. But this realisation made him even more excited because he was only one step away from becoming a part of the imperial family. In the future, his children would also be part of the imperial family!

County Princess Wanyi looked at the ornamental crown sent by Jiang Hewen and smiled slightly. She made people put it away. There were seven or eight such ornamental crowns in her dowry. But all of these added together couldn’t compare to the wooden hairpin that Hanwen personally made for her.

The thought of marrying this Jiang Hewen next month made County Princess Wanyi feel annoyed.

On the other side, Li Su was almost ready. She could set off at any time. She remembered what the empress dowager said before, so Li Su entered the palace again.

The empress dowager told her, then asked her to visit the empress dowager’s hometown.

Li Su did not expect for the empress dowager to say this, so she readily agreed.

The empress dowager touched Li Su’s hair. “You might as well go now to save yourself the embarrassment later.”

Li Su knew what the empress dowager was talking about, but she didn’t feel any embarrassment.

In fact, when she proposed to the empress dowager to find a tigress for Jiang Hewen, she really just said it casually. She wanted to maintain the original owner’s stupid character and did not actually want to push other girls into the fire pit. She thought that the empress dowager would not agree, so she didn’t expect that the empress dowager actually adopted her opinion.

Li Su didn’t want to guess the purpose of the empress dowager’s move. It was likely that County Princess Wanyi needed a consort to decorate the facade. And as for who this consort would be? The empress dowager didn’t care, Prince Kang’s mansion didn’t care, and County Princess Wanyi didn’t care either.

However, as long as Jiang Hewen’s life is not good, Li Su was relieved.

In this lifetime, Jiang Hewen would never even think about living the life he expected.

Seeing that Li Su just smiled and didn’t speak, the empress dowager increasingly felt that Li Su was well-behaved. She patted Li Su’s hand. “In Our eyes, Jiang Hewen is a dead man, and now he can marry Wanyi. Just use the trash! Don’t worry!”

Li Su chuckled, “Empress Dowager knows how to use the term ‘trash’?”

The empress dowager smiled and said, “Isn’t it something you often tell Us! We think this word is very good, so We remembered it.” Then she looked at Li Su and said with a smile, “Have a safe journey. We asked the emperor for a token for you. if you encounter anything on the road, just take this token and go to the government office to borrow troops!”

Zhao Tianfu quickly offered it with both hands.

The empress dowager took the token and shoved it into Li Su’s hand. Li Su quickly stood up. “This is inappropriate! Empress dowager, take this token back! It’s so dangerous.”

The empress dowager insisted. “Accept it. We still have something to ask you. If you don’t use it, just return it to Us when you come back.”

Li Su had no choice but to pick it up and looked at it. One side of the token was engraved with a coiled dragon, and the other side was engraved with the four characters of “On The Emperor’s Authority1.”

Li Su didn’t know whether this token was useful or not, but the empress dowager would not give her this token for no reason. If it was just to protect herself, then why would she not send a few guards? What did it mean to get given this token?

Sure enough, with a look from the empress dowager, Zhao Tianfu immediately left with the people who served with him.

The empress dowager motioned for Li Su to come over, and whispered a few words in Li Su’s ear. Li Su understood and said that she understood.

The empress dowager smiled with satisfaction. “This matter is just an incidental matter. The outcome is not a mandatory thing. It is important that you manage your own affairs well.”

Li Su didn’t plan to put too much effort into what the empress dowager ordered. Besides, wasn’t Crown Prince Yin dead? Hadn’t all his descendants been slaughtered? How could another son appear? Barring the fact that that person could likely not exist, the current emperor had been on the throne for 2 years, and the emperor’s rule was stable. Was he still afraid of a boy? Perhaps remaining suspicious was a trait of emperors.

“Yes, I understand. Empress Dowager can rest assured!” Li Su said.

The empress dowager had faith in Li Su, otherwise she would not have left this matter to Li Su. She and the emperor did not worry about Li Su handling this matter. First of all, the Li family had always been loyal to the emperor. Second, Li Su was a girl. As she said herself, without the protection of the empress dowager and the emperor, she would definitely not be living so well now. She would naturally choose to stand beside the empress dowager and the emperor.

At the beginning, Crown Prince Yin was framed for a rebellion. In his anger, the late emperor banished the prince and removed his title. Facing this unbearable humiliation, Crown Prince Yin burned himself to death. His wives, concubines, and children all died due to various reasons. In the late emperor’s later years, he found out the truth and regretted it. He felt he had wronged his son and gave him the title Crown Prince Yin. Unfortunately, Crown Prince Yin had no living heirs.

Unexpectedly, last year, a man who claimed to be the son of Crown Prince Yin appeared in Jiangnan. He claimed that he had the treasure left by Crown Prince Yin.

If not for people, then it was for money! Could it be that Crown Prince Yin’s treasure really had something to do with that event? Li Su decided to go back and ask Li Zhong if he knew anything.

Li Su returned from the palace, found Li Zhong, and asked him about Crown Prince Yin.

Li Zhong scratched his head. “Crown Prince Yin? What happened to Crown Prince Yin?”

“It’s nothing. I just thought about it for a while and wanted to ask a few things,” Li Su said.

Li Zhong thought for a while. “Crown Prince Yin was the eldest son of Late Emperor and Empress Yuan. He was declared as the crown prince in his infancy, and was most favoured by the empress dowager at that time. Legend says that, when the empress dowager passed away, she left all her private property to Crown Prince Yin. Later, Crown Prince Yin was framed and demoted, and the late emperor banished him. Crown Prince Yin couldn’t bear the humiliation and committed suicide. In his later years, the late emperor learned the truth and posthumously awarded him the title of Crown Prince Yin.”

Li Su asked, “After Crown Prince Yin committed suicide, what happened to the private properties of the East Palace?”

Li Zhong snorted. “I don’t know!”

“The location of Crown Prince Yin’s ** was the East Palace. When Crown Prince Yin died, and most of the East Palace was also burned,” Li Chen said suddenly as he raised his head. When he was studying with his master, he heard his senior brothers mention Crown Prince Yin’s matter.

Li Su knew it in her heart. The matter of the private property that was left to Crown Prince Yin had something to do with that event! Maybe it was really a huge fortune! Maybe it was large enough to even move the empress dowager and the emperor, who were sitting at the top of the world.

Moreover, Crown Prince Yin could transfer property without anyone knowing, so it was probably not difficult to keep his children. It was likely that he did have children in the world.

But why did he choose to appear at this time? Wouldn’t the best time to show up be when the late emperor was still alive?

Li Su racked her brains and couldn’t think of a reason. Forget it, her brain was incomparable to those people.

Seeing that there was nothing to do, Li Zhong left. He still had a lot of things to prepare.

Seeing that there was no one else in the room, only she and Li Chen were left, Li Su asked in a low voice, “Chen’er, mother will ask you, if, and only if! If Crown Prince Yin had a son, why did he choose to show up at this time? Come? Why didn’t he come out when the late emperor regretted his actions and posthumously named the fallen prince Crown Prince Yin?”

“Fear!” Li Chen said while practicing calligraphy.

“Fear?” Li Su repeated.

“He was the one who killed my father, and now he regrets it. How can I trust him? Besides, the identity of the son of the crown prince is a thorn in the eyes of many people.” Li Chen finished his homework today. He put down the pen, carefully read his own words, and was quite satisfied.

“Then why would he appear now?” Li Su asked.

“To feel things out!” Li Chen looked at Li Su. “Maybe he has something to hide. Maybe he doesn’t want to hide anymore. Maybe he’s just bored. There are various possibilities. However, the person who is emerging now is definitely not the son of Crown Prince Yin. Crown Prince Yin’s real son is hiding in the dark and watching it all.”

Li Su took a deep breath. She understood, but Li Su looked at Li Chen with complicated eyes. “How old are you? How do you know so much?”

“Teacher mentioned it in the discussion with my senior brothers. I wrote it down,” Li Chen replied.

It turned out that good teachers and good friends really helped people make a lot of progress. “Are you sure you want to leave with me? I still think you will learn more from Mr. Xue.” Li Su didn’t give up and wanted to try and persuade him again. When she left this time, she wanted to go to the courtesan’s quarters to take a look. It would be inconvenient to bring the child!

Li Chen glanced at her, snorted coldly, and turned to leave.

1.(如朕親臨) Those are the characters that are on the token, and it roughly translates to ‘it is as if We (the emperor) have come to this place personally’.