Masquerade in Bridal Attire and Marry the Prince

196. Wild Circulation of Rumors

Translator: Bryan

The two of them wandered in the capital city for a whole day. Du Chuxuan wanted to take Yuxing Tianrui to the places where he used to hang out, but Yuxing Tianrui didn’t agree. Eventually, Du Chuxuan resignedly returned to the palace with him. To their astonishment, after merely one day, everybody was now gossiping about the East Palace.

“It never occurred to me I was capable of something like this!” Du Chuxuan was faintly surprised by Dongxiang’s words. “Tsk, tsk. I wonder if someone intentionally started those rumors or word got out about it by accident.” With that, he smiled, as if impressed by how good at gossip those people were.

“I heard His Majesty lost his temper at the court meeting this morning.” After hearing Dongxiang’s report, Du Chuxuan turned his head to ask Yuxing Tianrui. It was the stand-in who had attended the court meeting this morning so Yuxing Tianrui had only just been informed of what had happened earlier this day.

“Rumor has it that the third prince likes to eat raw meat, which is why he went berserk this morning.” Yuxing Tianrui did not mind. He knew that it was Du Chuxuan’s doing. The emperor would undoubtedly have vented his anger on Yuxing Wei had the latter not adopted that tactic.

“Turk still hasn’t made any moves yet?” Du Chuxuan was not worried about Yuxing Wei. Now that Yuxing Wei was locked up, the emperor wouldn’t mete out any more punishment to him, no matter how angry he was. However, the emperor was smoldering with rage, and he needed to vent it on someone. Du Chuxuan wanted to take advantage of the emperor’s long-suppressed fury.

Yuxing Tianrui frowned slightly. “The incident yesterday was obviously related to Manlou. My father didn’t seem to be very worried about it when I talked with him last night.”

“You think he has already found it out?”

“If he found out about it and still let Yuxing Wei carry out the plan, then we would have to be concerned,” Yuxing Tianrui sighed softly. “But it’ll be all right on the night.Tell  Luo Yun to keep a close eye on them. If there’s anything out of the ordinary in Turk, we must be the first to know.”

Du Chuxuan nodded and glanced at the light outside the window. He snorted, “He’s already gone there?” He saw that it was still Zhao Ling’er’s house. “I thought you would tell him to go to Fang Rui’s house. After all, that would be the best way to maintain balance.”

“Fang Rui is still a dangerous woman. If she uses that method again, she will immediately detect it.” After all, the last time she had used it, Yuxing Tianrui had forcefully subdued his urge, but nobody knew if he would be that lucky again. Maybe Fang Rui would make another ballsy move. Nobody could say for sure.

Naturally, after thinking about it for a moment, Du Chuxuan agreed with Yuxing Tianrui. He turned to look in Zhao Ling’er’s direction. “That woman is a lucky dog. She’s clearly a fairly brainless woman. She wouldn’t have had such luck if she hadn’t been born into a prestigious family.”

Yuxing Tianrui agreed, “The likes of her are easy to control. If all the other sides were like Fang Rui, I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to hold the East Palace.”

The thoughts of the two of them were not worth mentioning. Zhao Ling’er, naturally, was very happy to see Yuxing Tianrui come to her place again. In the final analysis, the Fang family and the Zhao Family were evenly matched now. The Zhao Family did have a long history, but the mentor of half of the courtiers was from the Fang family.

It would be very easy for the patriarch of the Fang family to have the emperor change his mind. He could even have the emperor appoint Fang Rui in Zhao Ling’er’s stead. However, if Yuxing Tianrui fell in love with her, Zhao Ling’er would no longer have to worry about that at all. Once she became the darling of Yuxing Tianrui, even not being the crown princess wouldn’t matter much.

“To what do I owe this pleasure, Your Highness?” Zhao Ling’er’s words were very different from her thoughts. “Your Highness have two concubines. Apart from the two of us, your wife is still locked up in there, which makes me feel a little guilty.”

“Forget about her! She must pay the price for her actions!” Yuxing Tianrui walked to a chair on the side with a cold face and sat down. “I’ve had a rough day. I just want to find a place where I can relax. If you don’t like it, I will go to my other concubine’s place.”

With that, he rose to his feet, pretending to leave. Zhao Ling’er was just putting on an act to secure her reputation. If Yuxing Tianrui really went to Fang Rui, the situation in the palace would change completely tomorrow, and all her previous efforts would be a joke.

“Your Highness is angry?” She smiled. “Although I didn’t know if Your Highness would come back today, I spent the whole afternoon making these glutinous rice balls. You’ve got to give it a try, Your Highness.”

Yuxing Tianrui nodded and, suspecting nothing, ate a rice ball. As he put the rice ball into his mouth, when Zhao Ling’er was not looking, he unnoticeably mobilized his inner power. It surprised him that all Yuxing Tianrui’s speculations proved right. He wondered if it was Zhao Ling’er or someone else who had spiked the food.

Zhao Ling’er was very happy to see that Yuxing Tianrui was so cooperative. She became even more smug and failed to notice anything out of the ordinary. She talked with Yuxing Tianrui affectionately for a few moments before the two of them went to bed.

“Have you guys heard?”

“Of course. I think everybody’s come to know that. His Highness has spent three consecutive nights with Concubine Zhao. She’s so lucky. She and the third prince’s wife entered the palace at the same time, but the latter hasn’t even seen the third prince yet.”

“Have you guys heard the rumors started two days ago? They say the third prince likes to eat raw meat. His Majesty went ballistic at the court meeting this morning after being informed.”

“Really?”

“Why would I lie to you about something like this? I don’t know if it’s true or not, but you guys need to be extra careful. It is too easy to get killed in this palace. Nobodies like us should keep our heads down.”

After the court ladies left, Dongxiang came out from behind. He was on his way to the palace kitchen to get something for Du Chuxuan. It had never crossed his mind that those rumors would spread so quickly.

Recalling that his master still had a big show to put on today, he hurriedly set off to return. If Du Chuxuan had nobody to cooperate with, his big plan would be ruined. Without hesitation, Dongxiang quickly headed for the East Palace.