Tianliangyuan

Chapter 192 True and False

Li Yunning is not a gentle and obedient person.

She devoted all her gentle affection to her deceased husband.

Born into royalty, how could they not have some trump cards up their sleeve?

The bodyguards under Li Yun Ning's command included those she had trained over the years, as well as those left to her by her husband.

Originally, Li Yunning just wanted to live her life as a widow in peace, but unexpectedly, she was embroiled in a case of assault.

Li Yunning's background was different. Others only saw the superficial appearance of Liu Huaien's removal from office, but she keenly sensed that there was a strong political warning in it.

It must be said that Li Yunning's intuition was very accurate.

The people sent out quickly brought back news.

After listening to her subordinate's report, Li Yun Ning's expression turned cold and stern.

"What a daring Prince Zhong! He's got some nerve, daring to extend his reach into my princess's residence. Hmph, does he think I'm just a woman and can't be traced back to him? Or does he think I'm just an aunt and can't control a prince who wields real power?"

These words already carried a hint of anger.

"Go, embellish this news a little more and send it to Liu Huaien, the victim."

"Yes, Your Highness, do you mean to shift all the blame onto Prince Zhong?"

"Hmph, there's more to this than meets the eye. Let the Duke of Su and his son figure it out for themselves."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Looking at the various results laid out on the table, Duke Su found it difficult to make an accurate judgment for a moment.

Was this intentional on the part of the Prince Zhong's family, or did his own second son harbor thoughts of seizing the throne?

The Duke of Su was struggling to make a decision, but Liu Huaien, who was recuperating from his injuries, expressed his emotions quite directly upon hearing the news.

"That bastard! I knew he was trying to harm me! He's after my position as heir apparent, so he deliberately conspired with outsiders to kill me. He's worse than a beast!"

No matter how angry Liu Huaien gets, he can't change this fact now.

Duke Su summoned Liu Huaide for questioning, but Liu Huaide remained impeccable throughout. He even repeatedly assured that he had never coveted the title and that his close relationship with Prince Zhong was due to his recent assistance in compiling books for Prince Zhong.

It is no secret that the Loyal King was dedicated to compiling a geographical record of Daxing to document the local customs, terrain, and other aspects of the region.

Moreover, Liu Huaide was recruited by the Loyal King through proper channels, and the Emperor even bestowed upon him an official position because of his work compiling books.

Although it was only an eighth-rank official position, it was still an official post.

Duke Su is now finding it difficult to determine whether something is true or false, right or wrong.

Moreover, Liu Huaide was just a scholar with no martial arts skills. Even the Duke of Su himself wouldn't believe that he did it.

Unless it was the Prince Zhong's own mansion that had this idea, after all, Liu Huaien had caused trouble time and time again, which had already annoyed the Prince Zhong.

Because of Liu Huaien's injury, all the mansions in the capital are now on high alert, and the elders of each family are instructing their children and nephews not to go out at night, and even more so not to go to places of ill repute.

In short, the fact that Liu Huaien was crippled resulted in the confinement of many spoiled young masters, making the capital much quieter and reducing the number of disputes and violent incidents.

For once, this brought a few days of peace to the capital, allowing those yamen runners and scoundrels to eat their meals in peace.

Xu Zhaozhao was quite satisfied with the result.

Let them panic first.

Having offended the Marquis's mansion, they still think they can get away unscathed? Who gave them that illusion?

After learning that Liu Huaien had been injured, Xie Zheng inexplicably felt that the matter was related to his wife, but he couldn't produce any evidence.

Moreover, even after Zhao Changqing investigated the case, he couldn't find a single clue related to the Marquis's mansion, which shocked Xie Zheng even more.

Or perhaps his intuition was wrong, and his young wife was indeed not involved.

Either his wife is incredibly capable, cleaning up the mess flawlessly—she's absolutely a talent!

Xu Zhaozhao retorted directly, "In your eyes, am I really that vindictive?"

Xie Zheng asked earnestly, "Aren't you one?"

Xu Zhaozhao was so angry she wanted to hit someone!

However, if she were to use force alone, she would clearly be no match for Xie Zheng, so she wisely avoided her weakness and instead started crying and whining as she went to her father and brothers to complain.

Xie Zheng panicked as soon as he saw this and immediately stopped the person.

“I was wrong! My Zhaozhao is naturally the most kind and benevolent, and also gentle and virtuous.”

Xu Zhaozhao gave a haughty snort before instructing someone to prepare tea and snacks.

"Zhaozhao, how exactly did Liu Huaien get his injuries?"

Seeing that he was sensible, especially since he had given her a box of gems today, Xu Zhaozhao naturally wanted to reward him for being such a thoughtful husband who knew how to spend money on his wife.

"Liu Huaien's injury has nothing to do with me, but I know who did it."

Xie Zheng's eyes lit up: "Really? Tell me about it!"

"Isn't the most talked-about person in the capital Duan Xing, the young marquis of the Princess's residence?"

"Indeed. After all, he has the most noble status and is extremely favored by the Emperor."

Although he was only a marquis, he was the emperor's own nephew!

This is truly incomparable.

"According to my investigation, Liu Huaien was crippled by people from the Prince Zhong's mansion."

"Huh?" Xie Zheng didn't understand.

The Prince Zhong's Mansion and the Duke Su's Mansion have always been on the same side, so what happened this time?

Why the infighting?

Xu Zhaozhao knew what he was thinking with just one look.

"You've misunderstood! Prince Zhong's goal is simply to prevent Liu Huai'en from dragging down the overall situation. Everyone knows that Duke Su is on Prince Zhong's side, but Liu Huai'en has made repeated mistakes and has a terrible reputation in front of the emperor. Prince Zhong doesn't need such a collaborator, so he wants to kick him out and replace him with a new heir who is obedient, sensible, and has some talent. Isn't that simple and clear?"

Xie Zheng frowned. If that's the case, then it seems to make sense.

"In fact, if the Prince of Zhong truly intends this, why not directly persuade the Duke of Su to change the heir apparent? If he does this, wouldn't he be afraid of turning against the Duke of Su?"

Xu Zhaozhao scoffed, "This is the information I found. How do you know that the Duke of Su could find it? And how do you know that the information the Duke of Su found is consistent with mine? Besides, the Duke of Su has long had the idea of ​​changing the heir apparent, but he just hasn't found a suitable opportunity and reason."

Upon hearing this, Xie Zheng immediately understood.

The Prince of Zhong is helping the Duke of Su make up his mind.

And haven't we already found a reason?

Xu Zhaozhao took a sip of tea and explained again, "Liu Huaien is useless, and his wife Jiang Fu is equally stupid! If the Duke of Su's mansion is handed over to this stupid couple in the future, that will be a disaster for the Liu family. Prince Zhong saw this long ago, which is why he decided to take action."

Xie Zheng frowned: "That's not right! But if we do that, won't we offend the Jiang family?"