Refusing to marry the king of broken sleeves

After reading the contents of the letter, Ling Yan was stunned for a moment, and sat on the chair blankly, looking like a walking corpse that had lost its soul.

On the slightly aged face, there was an expression of disbelief, a pair of eyeballs, and they didn't even bother to turn them, just staring at the yard outside.

After being dazed for a while, he slowly raised his right hand, shook the letter paper in his hand again, as if to confirm, and read the contents of the letter silently again.

But the more he looked at it, the more he felt unbelievable, but slowly, he also accepted this shocking fact in his heart.

He never thought that his deceased wife was actually the dowry maid of Concubine Shu back then.

Just because men are not allowed to enter and leave the harem at will, before they met Ling Ruoyao's mother, they could say that they had hardly even met each other, let alone know each other's identity?

So much so that, after living with Ling Ruoyao's mother for so many years, he didn't even know that she was Concubine Shu's dowry maid.Moreover, Ling Ruoyao's mother also didn't like to go out, she took her with her in the mansion almost all day long, so she would not be recognized by anyone, she was Concubine Shu's personal maid.

But this wasn't what shocked him the most. What shocked him the most was that Huangfu Yi and Huangfu Xuan had been swapped. Huangfu Xuan was the evil son born of concubine Zhen's adultery.

For more than twenty years, the emperor has been kept in the dark, and his favorite second prince is not his own, and the fourth prince he has always ignored the most is the son of his most beloved concubine.

That's pretty dramatic.

Looking at the letter paper in his hand, Ling Yan hesitated.

He knew very well that Huangfu Yi's purpose for handing this letter to him was to enable him to help him ascend the throne and prevent Huangfu Xuan from succeeding.

As the current prime minister of the Cheyuan Kingdom, he has always put the Cheyuan Kingdom as the most important thing, and he has always disliked intervening in the struggle between the princes, and would not stand on either side, even though Ling Ruoyao married Huangfuyi back then, he did not. Therefore, I prefer Huangfu Yi.

But now it's different.

Now, he already knew that Huangfuxuan was not the emperor's own son, so naturally he couldn't let the country of Cheyuan fall into the hands of someone with a foreign surname, or even someone with unknown origin.

The country of Cheyuan belongs to the Huangfu family!

After collecting the letter, he stood up, walked towards the outside of the hall, and ordered his servants to say, "Prepare the car!"

When he came to the gate, the carriage was ready and waiting for him to get on.

"Father, where are you going?"

As soon as Ling Yan got into the carriage, he heard a questioning voice coming from the front of the carriage.

Lifting the curtain of the carriage and looking out, Ling Yan said to Ling Qinglian: "Go to the Fourth Prince's Mansion, you go back first, and when I come back, I have something to discuss with you."

After speaking, he lowered the curtain and told the coachman to hurry on his way.

Watching the carriage drive out gradually, Ling Qinglian's handsome face showed a puzzled expression, her brows were slightly frowned, and she thought to herself, why did father suddenly go to the Fourth Prince's Mansion?Just now Ye Yuan came to the mansion to look for his father, so what is it?Could it be that something happened recently, but he didn't know it?

He was very puzzled in his heart, he was going to walk towards the mansion, but he suddenly changed direction and walked towards the direction he came from.

***

Riding the carriage all the way to the Fourth Prince's Mansion, Ling Yan got out of the carriage with the support of the horse driver.

What he didn't expect was that just as soon as he got out of the carriage, he saw Ye Yuan standing outside the gate of the palace. It seemed that Ye Yuan was here specially waiting for him.

Seeing him stepping up the stone steps, Ye Yuan also rushed up to meet him, cupped his hands towards him and said, "The Prime Minister is here, please come inside." Then he made a gesture of invitation.

Looking at his confident and confident smile, Ling Yan was a little embarrassed, but without thinking about it, he walked into the palace.

Under Ye Yuan's leadership, Ling Yan soon met Huangfu Yi.

After Ling Yan stepped into the study, Ye Yuan closed the door of the study, while he stood guard outside the study, not allowing anyone to approach.

In the study room, Huangfu Yi was sitting behind the desk, reading a book leisurely.Seeing Ling Yan walking in, he put down the book in his hand, got up and walked towards him: "The prime minister is here, please sit down."

Regarding his enthusiasm, Ling Yan seemed a little at a loss, so he smiled at him twice, and quickly sat down on the chair next to him.

Sitting back on the chair behind the desk again, Huangfu Yi didn't mince words with him, and said straight to the point: "The prime minister must have read that letter, right? I believe the prime minister must also recognize the handwriting, it should be the letter written by Mrs. Zun." Bar?"

Ling Yan frowned slightly, with a dignified and serious expression, and said in a deep voice: "This is a letter written by Ruoyao's mother, yes, it is indeed a letter written by her to Ruoyao. It's just that she kept it in that box, and even sent down the official letter." I don't know what is in that box. I didn't expect it to be..."

As he spoke, his voice was a little choked, and there was a bit of excitement.

"I didn't expect it to be this thing, did you?" Huangfu Yi raised his eyebrows and said, and took out the box, picked up the jade pendant inside, and shook it at Ling Yan, "Presumably, the prime minister must know this something?"

Taking a closer look, Ling Yan recognized it at a glance, it was indeed the national treasure of Cheyuan Kingdom, a jade pendant symbolizing power and status.

"For such a precious thing, the Fourth Prince should keep it safe." Ling Yan reminded, arching his hands towards him.

"The prime minister said so." Nodding slightly, Huangfu Yi put the jade pendant back into the box, "Now that the jade pendant is in my hands, the prime minister must know what to do, right? Besides, you should also read the letter Is it over?"

Naturally understanding what he meant, Ling Yan sighed lightly, and said in a low voice, earnestly: "Only those who win the jade pendant are eligible to ascend to the throne of the emperor of Cheyuan Kingdom. Obey. Now that the jade pendant is in the hands of the Fourth Prince, the next official will naturally know what to do."

"Since the prime minister understands, then the king will be at ease." Nodding his head, Huangfu Yi curled up his beautiful thin lips, and said with a light smile, "If I can get the help of Young Master Ling, I will be more at ease."

Ling Qinglian has military power in his hands, this is what he needs most. .

"My lord, please don't worry." Ling Yan lowered his head slightly, arched his hands towards him and said, "Your official will convey the meaning of your lord to Quan Zi."

"In this way, there will be Mr. Lao Prime Minister."

"Excuse me, I don't know what the lord's plan is?" Ling Yan said, slightly raised his head to look at Huangfu Yi, as if he wanted to catch some beneficial information from his expression.

Lazily leaning on the chair, Huangfu Yi rested his elbows on the chair, propped his chin, and said casually: "Of course I want to catch the thief! The boss and the third child are still locked up on Luoyan Island, they can't do it for nothing." is closed."

Seeing that what he said was a bit gibberish, Ling Yan didn't continue to ask, because he knew that if he needed to do something, Huangfu Yi would naturally tell him.

"This king intends to return the jade pendant to my father." After a moment of silence, Huangfu Yi said in a serious tone with a low voice.

"Return it to the emperor?" Ling Yan was startled by his words, and said subconsciously, "The prince finally got the jade pendant, why should he return it to the emperor?"

"Returning the jade pendant to Royal Father is naturally for him to decide who to give the jade pendant to." With a chuckle, Huangfu Yi said nonchalantly, "Those who want to get the jade pendant will definitely find ways to get the jade pendant."

He had asked Caizhu to find a way to reveal the real whereabouts of Yupei to Huangfuxuan, so naturally he would let Yupei truly appear by the emperor's side.

As for whether this jade pendant is real or fake, that may be uncertain.

As if he was thinking about his words secretly, Ling Yan didn't say anything more, with a serious expression on his face.

The two were silent for a while, then Huangfu Yi suddenly asked: "Did Ruoyao come back home?"

After being dazed for a moment, Ling Yan quickly replied: "When the officer came out from the mansion, Ruoyao hadn't returned home. I don't know if she has gone back now."

Frowning slightly, Huangfu Yi nodded lightly, his face looked a little worried.

The matter of Caizhu must have hit her hard, right?The feeling of being betrayed cannot be accepted in a short time, and she also needs a little time to calm down and sort out her thoughts.

The two sat for a while, then Ling Yan got up to leave: "If the prince has no other orders, I will leave first."

Huangfu Yi also stood up, and slightly nodded towards him: "Master Prime Minister, please go slowly."

After Ling Yan left, he opened the box again, took out the jade pendant inside, and said with a chuckle, "Since even Ling Yan didn't recognize that it was fake, then he must be able to get away with it."

After getting the jade pendant, he ordered Ye Yuan to find the most powerful and best-crafted jade carver to make this fake jade pendant with an absolute 100% imitation, so that it could be useful.

Hiding the jade pendant on his body, he put the box away again, turned around and walked out of the study.

Outside the study, Ye Yuan was still guarding outside, and when he saw Huangfu Yi coming out, he quickly saluted him: "My lord is going out?"

"This king wants to enter the palace. You stay in the mansion. If there is anything, you can handle it yourself." While talking, he walked outside.

***

All the way to the imperial palace, Huangfu Yi walked straight towards the emperor's bedroom, but as he got closer to the emperor's bedroom, he became more and more nervous, and even the palms of his hands were dripping with sweat.

Standing outside the palace, he took a deep breath before walking up the stone steps.

The chief eunuch guarding outside the hall saw him approaching, and hurried up to greet him: "My servant greets the Fourth Prince."

"Father is better?" Looking at the closed palace gate, Huangfu Yi frowned and asked, "I have something to see Father, I wonder if Eunuch can let me know?"

The chief eunuch looked a bit embarrassed, and said hesitantly: "The emperor's body is still very weak. The imperial doctor said that he should rest in peace. If the fourth prince has no special urgent matters, we should come back another day."

"It's really what you said." Frowning, Huangfu Yi said in a serious tone, "I really have something important to do, and I must report it to my father immediately."

"This one……"

"Okay." After waving his hand to interrupt the chief eunuch's words, Huangfu Yi said impatiently, "Just pretend you haven't seen this king. If the father blames you, I will bear everything. You can go down first."

After finishing speaking, without waiting for the chief eunuch to speak again, he walked towards the closed door of the bedroom.

Pushing open the door and walking in, Huangfu Yi walked lightly, trying not to disturb the emperor, and walked carefully to the dragon bed step by step.

On the dragon bed, the emperor seemed to be asleep, with his eyes slightly closed, his expression was very calm and peaceful. If he didn't know that he was ill, and the condition was still serious, Huangfu Yi would have thought that he was just asleep.

Standing by the bed, he silently stared at the sleeping emperor, and suddenly curled up his graceful thin lips, and there was a mocking smile on his lips.

If he hadn't exchanged with Huangfuxuan back then, he would have been the most favored prince, not the most neglected prince.

While he was in a trance, the emperor suddenly woke up, rolled his eyes, glanced at him, and then sighed softly and said, "Come here."

A weak sentence pulled Huangfuyi back from his thoughts, he quickly put away the messy thoughts in his heart, bowed his hands to the emperor and said: "My son greets the father, I woke up the father, please forgive me crime."

After waving his hands, the emperor coughed lightly and said, "You didn't wake me up, so you don't have to blame yourself." Then, he turned his head to look at Huangfu Yi, "Tell me, why did you come to see me?"

On the handsome and resolute face, there was a serious expression, Huangfu Yi frowned tightly, with a dignified expression.

He took out a jade pendant from his waist, held it in the palms of both hands, and said to the emperor in a serious and respectful tone: "I got this jade pendant by chance, but I thought to myself, this matter has something to do with Cheyuan Kingdom." The country and the country should be returned to the father."

As he spoke, he held the jade pendant and approached the emperor.

As soon as he heard that he had found the jade pendant, the emperor immediately became excited, and regardless of his physical weakness, he struggled to sit up: "Let me see it." After saying that, he stretched out his hand to grab the jade pendant.

Taking a closer look at the jade pendant, a happy smile appeared on the emperor's sickly and weak face: "The jade pendant, which has been lost for so many years, has finally been found."

After being agitated for a while, he gradually calmed down, turned his head to look at Huangfu Yi, frowned, and asked seriously: "Since you found the jade pendant, why didn't you take it yourself and hand it to me instead? Don't you want to To be emperor?"

There was a bitter smile on his lips, Huangfu Yi lowered his eyelids slightly, his expression looked a little lonely: "I have known since I was a child that my father doesn't like my son, so naturally I don't want the land and society of Cheyuan Kingdom to fall to my son." I have never done anything to make my father happy since I was a child, I only hope that this matter will make my father happier and he will recover sooner."

Seeing that what he said was very relaxed and natural, but the lonely and bitter look on his face could not be ignored, the emperor frowned even tighter, and began to meditate secretly.

He still remembers what happened back then.

Just because he suspected that Concubine Zhen had committed adultery with others, and the child she gave birth to was not his own, he ordered her to confess her blood.And it turned out that the child was indeed his own.

But the knot in his heart could not be untied, so, knowing that the child was his own, he still treated him distantly and indifferently.In his subconscious mind, he always believed that this child was not his own.

As a result, once he was left out in the cold, he was left out for more than twenty years.

"Are you not afraid that I will hand over the jade pendant to the second prince. In this way, he can not only become the prince, but also ascend the throne as the emperor logically?"

With an elegant smile on his lips, Huangfu Yi said casually: "This is your decision, father, and I naturally dare not disobey it, but I just hope that father will not regret his decision."

What he said made the emperor a little puzzled, and a trace of dissatisfaction suddenly surfaced in his heart. Is he threatening himself?

"How did you get the jade pendant? Wasn't this jade pendant stolen by Shen Wuying back then?"

"It's a coincidence." Huangfu Yi straightened up and said slowly, "At the beginning, I left the capital privately, just to find Ruoyao, but I didn't expect to get to know Shen Wuying by accident. As for the father The emperor heard that the son went to the border town, so the son naturally didn't know who spread the rumor."

The emperor frowned even tighter. He just turned a blind eye to the matter of Huangfuxuan framing Huangfuyi at the beginning, pretending it didn't happen, but now that Huangfuyi brought it up again, naturally he won't let it go easily.

Clearing his throat, he changed the topic and said, "You mean, Shen Wuying returned this jade pendant to you? Why did he return the jade pendant to you?"

"He didn't give this jade pendant to my minister." Meeting the emperor's suspicious gaze, Huangfu Yi said firmly, "It was the concubine Shu who had a spirit in the sky, and let the jade pendant fall into the hands of my minister."

"Concubine Shu?" As soon as he mentioned Concubine Shu, the emperor's frown immediately relaxed, and the doubtful expression in his eyes disappeared, replaced by a strange brilliance, "What's going on here?"

How could Concubine Shu give the jade pendant to the fourth child?When Concubine Shu passed away, the fourth child was only a few years old.

"Perhaps, father and imperial concubine would get a better answer if he personally asked Concubine Zhen." Huangfuyi said, a tricky smile appeared on his lips, the smile was deep and complicated.

The emperor was taken aback again.

This concubine Zhen is the biological mother of the fourth child, and the fourth child does not respectfully call her concubine mother, but concubine Zhen, could it be that something happened between the mother and son?

During the period of his illness, how many things happened that he didn't know?

Seeing that his emotions seemed to gradually become agitated, Huangfu Yi hurriedly bowed his head and said, "Father, the dragon's body is the most important thing. I also hope that Father can take good care of the dragon's body and recover soon, and then we will find out about these things."

Clutching the jade pendant in his hand, the emperor looked dignified, his eyes were deep and cold, he stared at the quilt, and said in a cold voice: "You step back first, I want to be alone for a while."

Naturally he didn't dare to disobey, Huangfu Yi hurriedly took orders to retreat, but when he turned around, a confident smile appeared on his face.

The appearance of the jade pendant had already surprised the emperor, but now it involved his most beloved concubine Shu, and concubine Zhen who had been neglected for more than 20 years. Presumably, the emperor must really want to know, what is the connection between this?

Then, let him slowly guess and doubt, it is best to check it out himself.In this way, it saved him wasting time in front of the emperor.Moreover, even if he told what happened back then, the emperor might not believe it.Lian Rong was dumbfounded.

Let him find out the truth of the matter himself, and he will naturally believe it.

***

After leaving the emperor's palace, Huangfu Yi hesitated for a moment, originally wanted to sit in Concubine Zhen's palace, but when he thought of Concubine Zhen's angry appearance when he took Ling Ruoyao away from Concubine Zhen's palace today, he knew , Concubine Zhen will not calm down easily.

He didn't expect her to calm down either. If she could keep being angry, he thought, he would be more satisfied.

Turning around, he walked straight out of the palace.At this time, the sky is getting late, the sky in late autumn is getting more and more gloomy, and the sky is getting darker and earlier. At this hour, the sky is already dark.

After leaving the palace, he went all the way back to the Fourth Prince's Mansion.

But I didn't want to, just walked into the front yard, and before I had time to enter the hall, I saw Ye Yuan coming out quickly, frowning, looking worried.

Seeing him like this, Huangfu Yi also immediately became nervous, heightened his vigilance, and hurriedly asked: "What happened?"

When he came in front of him, Ye Yuan didn't talk nonsense, and went straight to the topic: "Just now someone from the prime minister's mansion reported that Miss Ling has not returned to the prime minister's mansion so far, and the prime minister has sent someone to look for it, but there is still nothing. any whereabouts."

"What?!" Huangfu Yi was shocked immediately. On his handsome face with sharp edges and corners, there was a look of shock and surprise, but there was a trace of cruelty in his deep and narrow phoenix eyes: "Where is Caizhi? Can Caizhi go back?" ?”

"Caizhi was already in a coma when she was found, but Second Miss Ling disappeared." Ye Yuan was also extremely anxious, frowning, and said in a serious tone, "It's all my subordinates' fault. If my subordinates go to the Prime Minister's Mansion If you walk faster, you can catch up to Miss Ling, and Miss Ling won't disappear."

Pursing his thin lips and thinking for a moment, Huangfu Yi said in a low voice: "This is not your fault, and you don't have to blame yourself."

"But my lord, Miss Ling's whereabouts are unknown now, and the prime minister's mansion is already in a panic, what should we do?"

Frowning tightly, Huangfu Yi put his hands behind his back, his handsome face looked extraordinarily gloomy and cold, but there was a bloodthirsty and cruel light in his eyes.

If he guessed correctly, he should know why Ling Ruoyao disappeared, but he is not sure where she is now, and for now, the only way is——

"Look for it! Hurry up and send someone to look for it!" Huangfu Yi said sharply with a wave of his hand, his tone was so cold that he could almost freeze people into ice.

It's best not to let him know that Ling Ruoyao has been hurt in the slightest, otherwise, no matter who the opponent is, he will never show mercy!