Becoming a literary master starting from the story of Minglan

Chapter 245 Prince Yong's Scheme
"Brother Wang, what did you say?"

"Who did you just say? Who was killed?"

Qi Heng first grabbed Old Man Wang's shoulder to stop him from moving, and then, somewhat incredulously, asked the eldest son of the Wang family, "Brother Wang, please explain yourself!"

"Who died?!"

Qi Heng looked terrified. He gritted his teeth, his eyes were red, and he looked as if he was about to fall off a cliff. There was an indescribable tension and fear in him!
"No! It's my brother who won't do it!"

The eldest son of the Wang family also had red eyes and a face full of anger!
"Although my son Buwei was sold to your Qi State Duke's Mansion, he was still a living, breathing human being!"

"How could he just be beaten to death by your family like that!"

When the eldest son of the Wang family recalled the miserable state of Buwei, with blood flowing from his seven orifices, a flame of anger ignited in his heart!

"You...you said...that..."

"...is it not right?"

Qi Heng staggered back a step, his voice becoming very weak, like withered wild grass on the mountainside.

Dry, withered, and weak.

"Shh!"

After feeling the force in Qi Heng's hand, Buwei's father, Old Man Wang, did not move. He simply wiped his dry, yellow face and silently turned his head away.

"Clap!"

The old man wept silently, but managed not to make a sound.

To be fair, the reason why Old Man Wang stopped his eldest son from speaking was simply because he was afraid that he would disturb Qi Heng, the son of a duke, and thus offend him, which could lead to some trouble.

Given the prevailing ways of the wealthy and powerful families of today, if Qi Heng were more wicked, the actions of the eldest son of the Wang family would likely bring disaster upon himself and even the entire Wang family.

After all, it was quite simple for the eldest son of a first-rank duke to make things difficult for a commoner family in the countryside.

Sometimes, even without the superiors lifting a finger, some sycophants eager to curry favor with these influential figures will take matters into their own hands in order to gain their favor.

This kind of thing is not uncommon.

In fact, when he saw Qi Heng deliberately asking about Buwei's death, Old Man Wang was extremely willing, because he also wanted to know why Buwei had died.

The news that the Wang family received was that his son had been beaten with a hundred strokes of the military rod for not causing trouble for his master.

As for anything else, including the specific details, he knew nothing about it.

Therefore, Old Man Wang naturally wanted to know the inside story.

Moreover, Old Man Wang had heard his son, Buwei, speak of Qi Heng's character, saying that the young master treated him very well, and that the two were as close as brothers. Therefore, the old man was willing to believe in Qi Heng.

So, with Old Man Wang's tacit approval, the eldest son of the Wang family told the whole story of what had happened that day.

To be honest, the reason why Old Man Wang chose to send away Buwei instead of the eldest son during the most difficult time in his family was mainly because of their personalities, in addition to the fact that Buwei was the eldest son.

The eldest son of the Wang family is reckless and inflexible. If they were to send him away, unless they encountered a kind master, the Wang family would surely receive his skeleton within a few years.

But Buwei is different. Compared to his brother, Buwei is more clever. Otherwise, he wouldn't have stood out among so many servants in the Duke of Qi's mansion and become Qi Heng's personal attendant.

"Bang!"

After the eldest son of the Wang family recounted everything he knew, Qi Heng felt a sudden dizziness and was almost unable to stand up!

"Ah? Young Master!"

Old Man Wang's face tightened, and he immediately helped Qi Heng up, asking in a panic, "Young Master, are you alright?"

Although Old Man Wang intended to use Qi Heng to understand the reason behind Buweiyi's actions, he dared not let anything happen to Qi Heng because of it. Otherwise, not only would he not get any information, but he was also most afraid that his entire Wang family would be destroyed as a result.

At this moment, not only Old Man Wang, but even the eldest son of the Wang family standing to the side was somewhat frightened!

Although the eldest son of the Wang family had only dared to lose his temper with Qi Heng because of his passion and resentment, he had calmed down by now.

As the eldest son of the Wang family slowly came to his senses, he naturally realized how frightening it was.

However, Qi Heng had no time or energy to care about what the two were thinking. At this moment, his mind was filled with anger towards his mother, Princess Pingning!
Yes, even when Princess Pingning wanted to adopt Minglan as her goddaughter, Qi Heng did not feel any anger towards her. At that time, he was only filled with grievances and resentment.

However, upon learning of the death of his most trusted servant, or rather, his friend Buwei, Qi Heng felt as if the last straw had broken his heart!
Why did my mother do this?

"First it was Minglan, and then it was Buwei!"

What exactly is she trying to do?

Upon thinking of this, Qi Heng suddenly felt a strong urge to vomit!
"boom!"

At this moment, Qi Heng couldn't care about anything else!

He pushed away the support of the Wang family father and son, turned around, and ran straight towards the main house of Princess Pingning!
Qi Heng felt that one thing after another had happened in the past few days, and he simply could not bear it any longer!

If we don't erupt in silence, we will perish in silence!

Qi Heng is determined to have a complete showdown with Princess Pingning this time, to get to the bottom of things, even if it means bearing the blame for being unfilial!

"Thum! Thug! Thumb!"

As the sound of footsteps, like war drums, faded into the distance, the Wang family father and son in the side room suddenly felt a sense of unease.

"Father, what about the young master?"

The eldest son of the Wang family was now increasingly frightened, and the resentment he had shown earlier was no longer on his face.

"Ah~"

At this moment, Old Man Wang was more composed, but because he was heartbroken by the news of Buwei's death, he didn't want to say anything more.

"Son!"

Old Wang wiped away the stinging tears from his face and said in a hoarse voice, "Let's pack your brother's things first and go back!"

"As for the young master, there's nothing to worry about."

Old Wang didn't say the last sentence—"They're all family, what could possibly happen?"

……

On this day, as night fell and the officials dispersed from court, the Prince of Yong actually took the Duke of Qi back to the Prince of Yong's residence.

In front of the Prince Yong's Mansion.

"Haha, Brother Junshou, you must come to my residence today for a good drink before you leave!"

"Otherwise, I won't let you off the hook!"

The Prince of Yong pulled Qi Yi, the Duke of Qi, with great "enthusiasm," but his face was full of a smile that left no room for refusal.

Qi Yi, courtesy name Junshou, was the name of the Duke of Qi.

"Ah? No! No! No!"

"Your Highness, I have some matters to attend to today, and I am truly unable to spare the time!"

The Duke of Qi wore a standard fake smile, but secretly exerted force in his hands, trying to avoid the Prince of Yong's pull and leave as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, the Duke of Qi's resistance was unlikely to be effective against the King of Yong's assertive approach.

"Huh? What's the matter?"

A ruthless look appeared on the Prince of Yong's face. Relying on his status as a prince, he forcibly dragged the Duke of Qi towards his residence, mumbling, "Brother Junshou, I know you're deliberately making excuses!"

"However, is your refusal of me a sign of disrespect?"

"Huh? I wouldn't dare!"

"Alright, since you don't dare, then come with me into the manor. You can have a few drinks before you leave!" The Prince of Yong was very forceful, and in the end, he practically dragged the Duke of Qi into the Prince of Yong's manor.

"boom!"

The gates of the Prince Yong's mansion were immediately and tightly shut.

"not good!"

"The Duke has been detained by the Prince of Yong!"

When the people left outside by the Duke of Qi's mansion saw this scene, they were immediately panicked!
They weren't stupid; they naturally saw through the filth between the two.

"No, you all go back and report to the Princess immediately. I'll stay here and wait for news from the Duke!"

"Hurry! Let's go!"

"Yes!"

In the crowd, the Duke of Qi's chief advisor immediately began directing the troops and preparing countermeasures.

……

Shengfu.

Shou'an Hall.

"Shh!"

When Sheng Changquan entered Minglan's room, the first thing he did was raise his index finger to Xiaotao and Danju beside him, signaling them to be quiet and not to greet him.

Xiao Tao and Dan Ju, who also saw Sheng Changquan's actions, bowed to him and then withdrew at his gesture, leaving the two siblings alone in the house.

However, they didn't go far; they simply retreated to the outer room so that they could serve Minglan meals at any time.

After all, Sheng Changquan's purpose in coming here was to persuade Minglan to eat.

"Sister~"

Sheng Changquan walked quickly to Minglan's bedside and gently called out to her.

Minglan remained silent, seemingly still asleep, unaware of Sheng Changquan's presence.

However, the observant Sheng Changquan noticed that the other party's "sleeping" reaction was somewhat off; at the very least, her slightly trembling eyelashes betrayed her.

Sheng Changquan glanced at it and immediately understood. However, he didn't say anything. He just sat down next to Minglan and muttered to himself.

"Sigh, it seems my sister is really exhausted!"

"Otherwise, I wouldn't have been sleeping until now!"

Sheng Changquan shifted his body to make himself more comfortable, completely unaware that his movements might have bumped into the "Sleeping Beauty" next to him.

"However, it's strange, but when I came back from outside today, I actually saw the young master!"

Sheng Changquan didn't look at Minglan's reaction, but continued, "That young master told me a lot, but he only meant one thing: he had no idea that Princess Pingning would do this today!"

"According to his account, I feel that this matter cannot be blamed on the young master!"

Sheng Changquan seemed to be speaking up for Qi Heng: "However, the young master is also pitiful. He is such a grown man, yet he has always lived under the control of Princess Pingning. No matter what he does, he cannot do without the princess."

"Or rather, he can only listen to Princess Pingning."

Sheng Changquan shook his head and sighed, "I just don't know what the future holds for the young master if he continues like this."

"Could it be that you have no opinions of your own and can only listen to Princess Pingning?"

"Or perhaps he did rebel, but was powerless to do anything about it and could only accept Princess Pingning's arrangements in the end?"

"Or……"

"..."

Sheng Changquan kept rambling on and on, but the meaning was clear: Qi Heng was not a good match, and his personality meant that he could only follow the arrangements of Princess Pingning.

"Om~Om~Om~"

At this moment, Minglan, lying on the bed, felt very irritable. Sheng Changquan's voice was like a string of flies buzzing around her.

Especially since what he said concerned her and Qi Heng, Minglan finally couldn't bear it any longer and simply admitted defeat.

"boom!"

Minglan suddenly sat up!
"Alright, little brother, stop talking!"

"I'll get up and eat right now!"

As Minglan expected, when she admitted defeat and stopped pretending to be asleep, what she saw was Sheng Changquan's hateful smiling face.

"hehe!"

Sheng Changquan smiled at Minglan and changed the subject, saying, "Sister, you said it yourself!"

"Eat your meal properly in a little while, and don't be stubborn and hurt your body!"

Sheng Changquan smiled and warned Minglan, "Otherwise, I'll report this to Father from now on!"

Sheng Changquan knew that besides maternal love, what Minglan longed for most was Sheng Hong's care. Therefore, if Sheng Changquan told Sheng Hong about Minglan's deliberate refusal to eat, it would be the thing Minglan feared most.

Because Minglan truly didn't want to disappoint her father.

Even though he had always ignored his own Sheng Hong.

"understood!"

Minglan glared at her younger brother with a hint of annoyance, her face also showing a touch of coquettishness: "You little rascal, you're such a nuisance!"

"hehe!"

Sheng Changquan smiled, but didn't pay attention to Minglan's complaints.

However, Minglan did not realize that after Sheng Changquan's banter, she no longer felt as sad as before, and seemed to have been completely refreshed.

"Xiao Tao! Danju!"

"Quickly bring the food, my sister is hungry!"

Sheng Changquan called out to the door, immediately summoning Xiao Tao and the others who were already waiting outside.

"Great, girl, you're finally eating!"

A hint of red flashed in Danju's eyes, her tone filled with surprise.

"Girl, I've already heated up the food, please eat quickly!"

Xiao Tao, who was standing nearby, was also carrying a tray and reminded Minglan, "Miss, there are also osmanthus pastries that Quan-ge brought back from Fanlou today!"

"It's so delicious!"

Xiao Tao swallowed hard and added a final sentence.

"hehe!"

Watching Minglan eat dinner with the help of Xiaotao and Danju, Sheng Changquan couldn't help but smile. He looked up and gazed in the direction of the Duke of Qi's mansion, pondering to himself.

"At this point, the Duke of Qi's mansion must be getting anxious too!"

Sheng Changquan's statement may seem like a question, but in fact it expresses an extremely affirmative attitude.

It turns out that the reason Sheng Changquan went out today was to "fulfill" the wishes of the Duke of Qi's family and "fulfill" the wishes of Princess Pingning!
At the very least, it is to "fulfill" Princess Pingning's wish to choose a good daughter-in-law!
(End of this chapter)