newbobooks Chapter 247: Prince's Mansion and Zhong Family's Separation
Chapter 247: Prince's Mansion and Zhong Family's Separation
The prince went to Luo Qingqing's yard as soon as possible and heard from the servants that Luo Qingqing had been rescued, but was now in an unstable mood and was crying all the time.
This made the prince very sad, so he didn't bother to ask for accountability and just comforted his concubine first.
"Qingqing, how are you?"
When the prince stepped into the room, he saw Luo Qingqing sitting pitifully on the bed, her face was pale, her lips were blue, her hair was disheveled, and her face was full of tear marks. She looked weak and pitiful.
Hearing the prince's voice, Luo Qingqing raised her head, struggled angrily from the couch, and threw herself directly into the prince's arms.
"Your Highness, you are here. Qingqing is so scared. Woohoo... Qingqing thought she would never see Your Highness again."
"Don't say such stupid things. What is going on? I rushed here when I heard that something happened to you."
Luo Qingqing raised her head from the prince's arms and looked at him with tears in her eyes. Her expression was both moved and aggrieved. With trembling lips, she recounted what had happened.
After listening to Luo Qingqing's narration, the prince became furious. He stood up and snorted coldly.
"I never thought the Zhong family was so dishonest. That Zhong Xueying actually knocked you out and changed clothes to escape! Do you know what kind of drug he used to knock out all the guards in the mansion?"
"Qingqing didn't know. She just noticed that her sister was holding a paper bag in her hand. When she was about to ask her, she knew nothing."
Luo Qingqing lowered her head and sobbed quietly and stopped talking.
The prince did not doubt Luo Qingqing's words at all, because he would never believe that Luo Qingqing would let Zhong Xueying go.
Ever since Luo Qingqing entered the mansion, Zhong Xueying had been making things difficult for her and would complain to her from time to time.
But after some investigation, it was found that it was Zhong Xueying who took the initiative to provoke trouble and bully Luo Qingqing. So in the eyes of the prince, Luo Qingqing was just a kind and weak woman who was powerless. How could she let Zhong Xueying go?
And she had no reason to do this, so the Zhong family must have found a way to rescue Zhong Xueying.
The prince even suspected that the packet of powder was provided by Minister Zhong. Otherwise, how could Zhong Xueying get such a powerful drug so easily?
The prince ordered that Zhong Xueying be kept under strict surveillance and not allowed to contact the outside world.
Now that Zhong Xueying had escaped and Tuoba Guang's body was missing, the prince put these two things together and came to a conclusion: it must be that Shangshu Zhong was dissatisfied and secretly rescued Zhong Xueying and then stole Tuoba Guang's body.
As a result, the prince's plan to send the corpse to Dongyue Kingdom had to be shelved. Moreover, after such an incident, the prince would certainly not dare to look for someone in a high-profile manner, so he could only swallow this loss and pretend that this incident had never happened.
As for Luo Qingqing's experience, the prince thought it was just bad luck and she just ran into trouble.
After thinking it through, the prince first comforted Luo Qingqing softly for a while, then rewarded her with some gold, silver and jewelry, and ordered the kitchen to prepare some nourishing food. Finally, he asked someone to send the imperial physician to take Luo Qingqing's pulse.
The imperial physician prescribed some tranquilizing medicine, and Luo Qingqing took it and went to sleep. Only after doing all this did the prince leave Luo Qingqing's yard.
He needs to think about how to deal with it. It seems that the Zhong family can no longer be trusted.
After the prince left, Luo Qingqing got down from the couch as if nothing had happened, then sat down at the table and drank a cup of tea.
The scene just now had exhausted her greatly. If her master had not prepared blood-suppressing medicine for her in advance, the performance would not have been so successful.
As for what to do next, Luo Qingqing was still waiting for news from Song Qingwan.
She had a hunch that once this incident happened, the prince and the Zhong family would completely fall apart, and she had to prepare for her own retreat.
Song Qingwan had instructed that if she found the situation was not right, she should be ready to withdraw at any time. Song Qingwan had already arranged a place for her, and would let Luo Qingqing go to Yancai at that time.
After the prince returned to his study, he personally drafted an imperial decree and asked someone to immediately summon Minister Zhong to the prince's residence, saying that there was an important matter to discuss.
Minister Zhong was immersed in the grief of losing his daughter, and was very unhappy about the prince's urgent summons.
No matter how bad Zhong Xueying was, she was still the prince's most beloved youngest daughter. He didn't expect that this would be the result. Although Zhong Xueying was indeed wrong, the prince's punishment was indeed too harsh.
In the opinion of Minister Zhong, there is no need to make this matter public. The family can just resolve it privately. At most, Zhong Xueying can be sent back to the Zhong family or kicked out of the house. Why bother causing a loss of life?
The most important point is that the prince's actions have really brought shame to the Zhong family.
At this time, Song Changwei was standing quietly by the side, observing Shangshu Zhong's expression from time to time and thinking about whether to step forward and make a suggestion.
Suddenly, Minister Zhong threw the imperial edict on the table and said in a deep voice.
"Chang Wei, what do you think about this?"
Song Changwei pondered for a moment and spoke carefully.
"Doesn't father want to take the third sister back to the Zhong family?"
"Oh? You actually think so. I remember that you protested for Mei'er a while ago and wanted me to take charge of her."
"No matter how badly Mei'er and the third sister get along, they are still sisters. Chang Wei naturally hopes that father will punish the third sister a little, but he does not want her to die."
"But Mei'er asked you to say that?"
"Not really. Of course we have to consider Mei'er's feelings, but the most important thing is that Chang Wei can't bear to see his father die young."
"Well, you are indeed a filial son."
Most of the gloom in Minister Zhong's heart disappeared, and he nodded at Song Changwei with satisfaction.
He is worthy of being the son-in-law he personally chose, and he knows how to consider himself.
Song Changwei struck while the iron was hot and volunteered to go and find Zhong Xueying. Zhong agreed without even a second thought.
Because he still had to obey the prince's orders, no matter how unhappy he was, he could not offend the prince. This was the basic rule between a monarch and his subjects.
So, as soon as Minister Zhong went out to the Prince's Mansion, Song Changwei also went out.
However, Song Changwei had no intention of looking for anyone, and he left the house slowly without taking any servants with him.
According to the agreement, this matter should be reported to Song Chengfeng. Song Changwei is not a man who goes back on his word, so he has sent a letter to Song Chengfeng in advance to inform him and ask him to wait for him here.
When Song Changwei pushed open the gate, he found Song Chengfeng had been waiting there for a long time. He quickly glanced at Song Chengfeng and found that his complexion looked much better today and he was no longer as frail as before.
Song Changwei immediately became more certain about the situation of the Zhong family in the court. Song Chengfeng would only be happy if the Zhong family was in trouble.
Song Changwei quickly lowered his head, concealed his complicated expression, respectfully bowed to Song Chengfeng, and began to report what had happened in the past few days.
After listening to Song Changwei's report, Song Chengfeng's face was full of disbelief. He knew that all this must have been done by Song Qingwan.
However, no one could figure out how the Prince's Mansion and the Zhong Family were messed up like this, and without revealing any flaws at all.
Now the Prince's Mansion and the Zhong Family have become estranged. If a piece of glass has just one crack, it will soon break into pieces.
"You mean the Zhong guy asked you to find Zhong Xueying?"
"It was my nephew who offered to go."
"Oh? Why? There is absolutely no need for you to do this. After all, the Zhong family still has a lot of people. There is no need for you, a proper son-in-law, to come forward."
Song Changwei lowered his head slightly to hide the coldness in his eyes, and he answered honestly.
"For my nephew's wife, Zhong Xuemei."