Masquerade in Bridal Attire and Marry the Prince

173. Too Many Coincidences

Translator: Tracycbj

Yuxing Tianrui pondered for a moment, “Maybe this is a coincidence. There were no traces of Manlou’s involvement in the Wulin Assembly.”

“But Manlou retreated before the incident. Isn’t it suspicious?” Du Chuxuan didn’t want Yuxing Tianrui to put this coincidence behind, as they could not afford to make a mistake when dealing with Manlou as well as those people who bore ill intention towards Yuxing Tianrui.

Seeing that Du Chuxuan was anxious, Yuxing Tianrui smiled helplessly. “I’ll do as you say. If you want to have Fang Rui by your side, you can just do it. As for Manlou, the court is now taking action. You’d better ask the people in Sect Luo to be cautious.”

Du Chuxuan snorted and turned to sit on a chair on the side. He was frustrated that Yuxing Tianrui didn’t take this seriously no matter how he persuaded him.

At this moment, the Empress was discussing with her confidants about which girl to choose. Her old maid approached her quietly and said, “Your Highness, the pageant is said to be held for the princes, but everyones knows that it is held on the Crown Prince’s account.”

“The Crown Prince has married the daughter of the Du family, who has no influence in the court. Even they are rich, their money would be exhausted sooner or later. Therefore, the girl we choose can’t be too powerful or too low.”

The Empress let out a sigh. “I know.” She looked outside the door and saw the high palace wall, which wrapped around her like a cage. “Actually, the most suitable person is my niece. I just couldn’t bear to send her into this dangerous place.”

“But these days, the Crown Prince is getting hard to see through. He doesn’t change a lot, but he seems to drift away from you. His Majesty says the time is not ripe, and you have to appease the Crown Prince at the moment.”

Desperation flashed across the Empress’s eyes. “Why did he choose Yuxing Wei? Little You is competent now, but he won’t let him come back.”

The old maid stopped talking when she noticed the Empress was upset. She had been serving the Empress for a long time and she was her trusted confidant. She knew things that others might not know.

The Empress was regarded as the most honorable and happiest woman in Shenglan country. However, only she knew that although the Empress seemed to be favored by the Emperor, she was only a shield for the Emperor, who was never short of women that he hid away.

The women would stay if they had given birth to sons, who would be coached under the order of the Emperor, who was looking for opportunities to put one of his sons into the throne. Over the years, the Empress knew at least a dozen of the Emperor’s sons, some of whom were useless and their relatives had been killed by the hidden guards in the palace.

Without the support of the people around them, the children who didn’t know their identities had no one to rely on. It was up to their fate to decide what kind of life they would lead. The Emperor was indeed ruthless, considering those were his sons as well.

“I heard that Prince You is now one of the best among them. On the other hand, there must be something extraordinary about the third prince. Otherwise, His Majesty would not have let him come back.” The old maid didn’t know how to sooth the Empress.

“You don’t have to comfort me.” The Empress waved her hand and carefully put away a token. “Since I’m the Empress, I’ll plan well for my son. I don’t care who the Emperor would choose, but the throne has to belong to my son.”

The Empress’s eyes glinted as she spoke, as if she wanted to swallow people alive. The old maid was not frightened, sighing inwardly.

“As for the girls, I think the girl from Zhao Family is not a pushover, so I’ll give her to the Crown Prince. She will do everything for her own family, and she would cause trouble to Du Chuyue without our interference. The East Palace will not be peaceful.”

“Exactly.” The old maid agreed. She thought that the daughter of the Zhao Family was good in the beginning, but now she wasn’t sure how the upper class would think about the Crown Prince if Zhao Ling’er entered the East Palace after what had happened with Zhao Zheng.

“Your Highness, what do you think of that girl of the Fang family?” She hesitated for a moment before asking.

Although Fang Rui looked fine, the maid felt uneasy after she finished dancing that day. She had a hunch that Fang Rui was dangerous. The Emperess also suffered a headache after she came back from the pageant.

“That girl looks perfect.” The Empress pondered for a moment. She had to admit that she had been thinking of the same thing. “If she was not from the Fang family, I would be sending her into East Palace. But wouldn’t I add wings to a tiger if I give him both Zhao Ling’er and Fang Rui?

“Your Highness, you can look at it from another angle.” The old maid shook her head and persuaded. “Zhao Ling’er comes from Zhao Family and has a noble status. In addition, although she is not as tough as Zhao Zheng, she is spoiled. The Crown Princess has a high status, but she is not as noble as the daughters of the Zhao Family.”

“You mean…” The Empress narrowed her eyes. “Fang Rui, according to her identity, has the ability to be on an equal footing with Zhao Ling’er. That is a good idea. Don’t three women make up a good show? I’ll put on a big show in East Palace.”

In this way, the Empress decided which girls would be given to which princes. The decision to be made at the family banquet was actually made by her alone. No one could interfere with that.

Time flew. Due to the intervention of the court, Manlou, who had committed so many crimes, now was hated by everyone. Yuxing Wei looked at the person who came to deliver the letter with a grave look. “What a bunch of idiots. How can I compete with Yuxing Tianrui if you are so useless?”

“Your Highness, please calm down. Our boss says the best way is to distract everyone’s attention. Otherwise, Manlou will not be able to do anything in the country.”

“To distract everyone’s attention? How should I do it?”