allonlinenovel Chapter 174: Betrayal and separation
Chapter 174: Betrayal and separation
Prince Yu glanced at the letter, read its contents, and then sat up straight and read it again.
"The daughter of the Prince of Zhenbei..."
Prince Yu read it aloud, a look of surprise flashing in his eyes.
Is Shen Qingtan actually the daughter of the Prince of Zhenbei?
interesting.
Prince Yu picked up the documents on the small table, which contained detailed information about the Gu family.
He read through the pages one by one before he learned that Gu Zongci's sister was actually the Princess Consort of Zhenbei.
His subordinates discovered that Liangzhou was the place they investigated when they found out that Gu Zongci had no daughters, only sons. He did have a younger sister who had grown up in Liangzhou and married there.
Recently, after becoming increasingly close to Shen Qingtan, he sent a letter each to Liangzhou and the northern border.
His subordinates tracked him down to Liangzhou before uncovering this secret information.
When the Princess of Zhenbei gave birth to her daughter, the Prince of Zhenbei was overjoyed to have a precious jewel in his eye and specially held a grand banquet.
The people of Liangzhou not only knew that the Prince of Zhenbei had a daughter, but also knew that he loved his daughter very much.
However, this daughter was lost fourteen years ago during the war in Liangzhou.
When all the clues are pieced together, the truth comes to light.
Prince Yu put down the documents in his hand; this news was truly an unexpected joy for him.
No matter how careful Shen Qingtan and Gu Zongci were when they met in private, they were still in the open, and the eyes watching them could not hide it from them. This is how their unusual relationship was exposed.
Of course, if Marquis Chengen hadn't revealed Shen Qingtan's background to him, he wouldn't have been able to connect Shen Qingtan with Gu Zongci.
His men wouldn't follow the clues and dig out Shen Qingtan's background.
Just then, a guard's voice came from outside the door: "Your Highness, the Lady of Cheng'en Marquis requests an audience."
"Take her to the front hall."
Prince Yu was in a good mood. He casually organized the documents, put them in a drawer, and went to the front hall.
Madam Shen sat anxiously in the front hall waiting for Prince Yu. When she saw him walking in leisurely, she quickly got up to greet him and gave him a bow.
"Your Highness, are you really not going to give my Marquis a chance?" Madam Shen asked tremblingly, her hands tightly clutching her handkerchief. "When I went to the prison to see him, he asked me to ask you why I changed my plans and exposed him."
Prince Yu chuckled softly, as if he had heard a joke.
Madam Shen felt extremely uncomfortable being laughed at by Prince Yu, because her thoughts could not be hidden from his eyes at all.
"The people of your Chengen Marquis's mansion are all quite amusing." Prince Yu ruthlessly tore away Madam Shen's fig leaf and said sarcastically, "You handed over all the evidence that the Chengen Marquis had left in your hands to me, which already means you abandoned him. Why put on this hypocritical face and care about his life or death?"
Madam Shen's expression changed. When Marquis Chengen was plotting to drag the Gu family and Shen Qingtan into the mess, Prince Yu approached her.
"Shen Qingtan knows about the false reporting of the disaster in Qingzhou and the buying and selling of official positions. She hasn't exposed it yet because she doesn't have the evidence."
Prince Yu cut to the chase, saying, "The mess in Qingzhou is far too big to be compared to that in Guanzhou. Although I have offered advice to Marquis Chengen, I cannot guarantee that everything will go perfectly. If any mishaps occur, no one will escape the consequences."
Her expression changed drastically. She knew very well that if the matter in Qingzhou were exposed, the entire Shen family would be executed.
“I am a prince, and as long as I do not commit the heinous crime of treason, my father will not punish me severely.” Prince Yu offered a bait: “As for whether Shen Shaohuai lives or dies, that depends on your choice.”
She vaguely knew Prince Yu's purpose; he wanted to retrieve the evidence from Marquis Chengen, so he came to her specifically to make a deal.
She could refuse, or even use the evidence to blackmail Prince Yu, asking him to save Shen Shaohuai's life should the truth come out one day.
She didn't dare.
Marquis Chengen and Prince Yu had cooperated for many years, and she knew some of Prince Yu's character from Marquis Chengen. If she really dared to threaten Prince Yu, she would probably be courting death.
After only a moment's hesitation and weighing the pros and cons, she agreed to make a deal with Prince Yu.
When news of the shipwreck reached the Marquis's residence, she advised the Marquis to destroy the evidence, but he brushed her off.
Having been husband and wife for half their lives, she knew the Marquis of Chengen very well and found the evidence in a hidden compartment in the study.
She dared not be clever enough to keep any evidence herself, and handed it all over to Prince Yu's men.
Without evidence in his possession, Prince Yu was no longer subject to the Marquis of Chengen's control.
Madam Shen's face paled slightly as she recalled her actions.
The moment she handed over the evidence, she had already anticipated the consequences, yet she still gave it to Prince Yu without hesitation.
It is indeed somewhat ridiculous that she personally cut off the Marquis of Chengen's path to survival, and then asked Prince Yu if he was willing to give the Marquis of Chengen a way out.
“Your Highness, I did it to protect Huai’er and to preserve a bloodline for the Shen family.” Madam Shen’s fingers dug deeply into her palms, as if trying to convince herself: “The Marquis will understand me. I did all this for the sake of the Shen family.”
Prince Yu chuckled, finding these hypocritical faces truly amusing.
Madam Shen felt as if her face was being pricked by needles. Suppressing the humiliation surging in her heart, she asked again, "The Marquis said there is still room for maneuver in the Qingzhou matter. You don't need to cut your losses to survive. He wants the truth."
Having learned from the example of the Marquis of Chengen, she dared not place all her hopes on Prince Yu. To ensure everything went smoothly, she had to obtain Princess Yizhen's belongings in order to save Shen Shaohuai's life.
“The Marquis of Chengen has failed in his duties, and the ‘grain’ of Qingzhou has ended up on Hongyun’s large ship.” Prince Yu frankly stated, “Hongyun Shipping is a property of the Ling family.”
With just this one sentence, Madam Shen suddenly understood.
This matter involves the Ling family, so it's no wonder that Prince Yu personally exposed Marquis Chengen, instead of waiting until the truth could no longer be concealed before shifting the blame onto Marquis Chengen.
It turns out they wanted to protect Ling Zhongshi.
When Prince Yu approached her to retrieve the incriminating evidence from Marquis Chengen, she already guessed that Prince Yu intended to make Marquis Chengen a scapegoat.
It's just that it was brought forward.
Madam Shen, her face pale, said, "I understand."
She chose Shen Shaohuai over Chengenhou, but after being married to Chengenhou for decades, she still felt somewhat uneasy.
Seeing Madam Shen's sorrowful appearance, Prince Yu turned his head away in disgust.
He had already prepared to abandon the Marquis of Chengen, because after the incident in Guanzhou, Emperor Jing'an had already suspected the Marquis of Chengen.
Furthermore, he promoted Chengenhou to the position of Grand Canal Transport Commander, and sooner or later he would be targeted.
The reason for not taking any action against Marquis Chengen for the time being is twofold: firstly, there is no evidence, and secondly, it is to lure out the big fish behind Marquis Chengen.
The fact that Marquis Chengen was alive posed a threat to him.
Offering advice to Marquis Chengen was actually a way to better shift the blame onto him.
If Marquis Chengen could take the opportunity to drag Gu Zongci and Shen Qingtan into the mess, that would be even better.
He could then seize the Gu family's assets.
At the last moment, Ling Zhongshi appeared, ruining his plan and forcing him to abandon Chengen Hou prematurely, thus halting all subsequent arrangements.
This caused him a lot of trouble.
This fire might have already reached him.
Otherwise, Emperor Jing'an would not have suddenly summoned him to the palace.
Prince Yu glanced at Madam Shen, thought of a document in the study, and slowly curled the corners of his lips, saying with a hint of amusement, "I have something to tell you."