Chapter 93: Confirming the Affair (First Update)

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Wu Tan hurriedly exclaimed, “Oh no!”

Wu Qinglin stroked her hair and instructed Mu Song, the carriage driver waiting outside, “Take us to the Princess Chang’s residence in Qingyang.”

“Yes, Young Master!” Mu Song responded promptly, turning the carriage toward the northern part of the city.

Wu Tan asked Wu Qinglin, “Considering Li Xun’er’s personality and temper, if there really is some entanglement between her and Jiang Pingzhi, then upon hearing that the heir and his wife from the Pingguo Duke’s household came to propose marriage at the Lin family, she would definitely go berserk. It’s very likely she wouldn’t be able to restrain herself and would risk meeting Jiang Pingzhi immediately. In that case, should we confront them on the spot, then take Jiang Pingzhi to the Lin family to explain the situation, letting grandfather and aunt go to Jiang’s house to call off the engagement?”

Madam Li doted on her daughter. Even though she and Jiang Li were sisters, if she found out Jiang Pingzhi had wandering eyes, she would hardly tolerate it.

As for the venerable Lin patriarch—

Though he was sometimes old-fashioned and became quite eccentric with age, he valued integrity above all. In such situations, he would undoubtedly decide without hesitation to annul his granddaughter’s engagement.

Wu Qinglin’s thoughts were less optimistic. He sighed, “If only things were that simple.”

Wu Tan stared at him in confusion, waiting for him to continue.

But Wu Qinglin remained silent.

Mu Song drove the carriage near the Princess Chang’s residence in the northern part of the city, parking in a dark alley one street away. Wu Qinglin and Wu Tan found a restaurant at the street corner and settled into a private room on the second floor.

From the open window, they had a clear view of the main gate of the Princess Chang’s residence.

Inside the residence, Li Xun’er was indeed furious upon hearing that Jiang Pingzhi and Lin Yanyao had become betrothed.

She had just woken from her nap and was sitting at her dressing table, attended by a maid who was fixing her hair. Upon hearing the news, she sprang up suddenly.

The abrupt movement caused the maid to accidentally pull painfully on her scalp.

Li Xun’er turned and slapped her sharply. “What’s wrong with you?”

The maid was terrified and immediately knelt, kowtowing repeatedly, “Please forgive me, Princess! Please forgive me!”

Usually, Li Xun’er wouldn’t be so lenient, but her thoughts were elsewhere. She snapped, “Get out!”

“Yes!” The maid felt as if granted amnesty and hurried out with another attendant who was helping with jewelry.

Once they had left, Li Xun’er strode over to her chief maid, Wen Lu, grabbed her shoulders, and asked urgently, “What did you just say? Who got engaged to whom?”

Her grip was so tight her nails nearly pierced the flesh.

Wen Lu endured the pain and replied, “It’s the second son of the Jiang family, Jiang Pingzhi, and Lin Yanyao of the Lin family. I just received the news that the heir and his wife from the Pingguo Duke’s household personally went to propose marriage at the Lin family.”

A ruthless glint flashed in Li Xun’er’s eyes.

She didn’t believe Jiang Pingzhi would dare to forsake her so soon, especially since she had already eliminated the top two scholars for him. The emperor was still angry these days, and no one dared to bring up revising the imperial examination results yet. Jiang Pingzhi should understand that since she could help him, she could also destroy him, leaving him with nothing.

But now Jiang Pingzhi had become engaged to Lin Yanyao? What kind of nonsense was this?

Biting her lip, her expression flickered with shifting thoughts. After some time, she calmed slightly and demanded, “Where is Jiang Pingzhi now? Is he currying favor with the Lin family?”

Wu Tan, Lin Yanyao—any petty woman connected to Wu Qinglin was a thorn in her side!

Wen Lu hurried to clarify, “Young Master Jiang hasn’t gone to the Lin family, Princess. I think this might be something the heir and his wife from the Pingguo Duke’s household took upon themselves. After all, Young Master Jiang had a prior engagement with you. He wouldn’t dare joke or break his promise like this casually.”

Li Xun’er was already furious and shot her a sharp glance. “Then what are you waiting for? Go find him immediately and make him explain to me in person!”

Wen Lu was anxious but had to remind her, “But... is this appropriate? Yesterday, Miss Wu openly insulted you in front of the Jingzhao Prefect and Prince Sheng, clearly implying you committed those two cases. It’s possible the Prefecture’s officials are already watching outside. If you call Young Master Jiang now...”

Li Xun’er knew well that Wu Tan’s words had already aroused Hu Tianming’s suspicions toward her. She and Jiang Pingzhi had tacitly agreed to avoid contact for the time being to prevent more suspicion.

But now the Jiang family had thrown such a wrench into things. She couldn’t swallow that indignation without confronting Jiang Pingzhi face to face.

“If I call him, so what!” Li Xun’er snapped. Though angry, she remained rational. “Even if the prefecture wants to pin yesterday’s matter on me, Hu Tianming still needs solid evidence. Does he think he can convict me based on a few wild accusations from Wu Tan?”

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Suspicion alone could not serve as proof for the authorities to close the case. Li Xun’er understood this clearly.

No matter who it was, even if they fabricated a perfect murder motive and logic, they couldn’t just present that story without evidence to the emperor and ask for the case to be closed.

Moreover, she was a princess of royal blood, and Jiang Pingzhi had Empress Jiang, his aunt, to back him up.

Honestly, if it weren’t for Jiang Pingzhi being the Empress’s nephew, she might not have dared to act this way. But with Empress Jiang’s presence, she had double protection, which made her increasingly reckless.

The emperor would shield his own, and so would Empress Jiang. No one would dare carelessly smear them!

Though Wen Lu felt uneasy, she dared not disobey and left to carry out her orders.

From a distance, Wu Tan and Wu Qinglin saw a young servant leave the Princess Chang’s residence and ride off on horseback. The Princess Chang’s and Pingguo Duke’s households were both in the northern district, not far from each other. The servant was indeed heading toward the Pingguo Duke’s residence.

The siblings exchanged a glance. Wu Tan said, “It seems Li Xun’er is truly enraged.”

“Hmm,” Wu Qinglin responded cryptically, raising his cup to drink without further comment.

They couldn’t just sit idly in the restaurant. Upon arrival, Wu Qinglin had ordered a table full of dishes.

Since both siblings had already eaten lunch, and Wu Tan was a picky eater who barely touched the food, they sat by the window drinking tea, leaving Mu Song alone at the round table struggling with the large spread.

At the Pingguo Duke’s residence, Jiang Pingzhi had just returned after handling some affairs when he heard about his parents proposing marriage on his behalf to the Lin family. Immediately upon entering, he turned around, mounted his horse, and headed to the Lin family.

He had told Jiang Li yesterday he wouldn’t acknowledge the engagement and expected she wouldn’t agree so quickly.

He wasn’t overly anxious at first, as his main concern was the imperial exams. He wanted to confront Jiang Li to warn her to keep her distance from the Lin family for now.

Unexpectedly, this backfired, provoked Jiang Li, and she acted precipitously.

He rushed toward the Lin family, heart pounding, fearing he would be too late.

Sure enough, just as he exited the alley, he saw his parents’ sedan chair returning from afar.

Annoyed, Jiang Pingzhi reined in his horse, pondering his next move when someone from the Princess Chang’s residence appeared on a nearby street.

The young servant was only a gate attendant at the Princess residence, someone Jiang Pingzhi didn’t know as he’d never been there before. Seeing him at the alley entrance, Jiang Pingzhi slowed his horse and called out politely, “Excuse me, young man. May I pass?”

He guided his horse aside and casually asked, “Which household are you heading to?”

There were five large mansions in the alley, all official families he knew well.

The servant, seeing Jiang Pingzhi’s fine attire and recognizing his status, answered respectfully, “Pingguo Duke’s Jiang family.”

Jiang Pingzhi frowned and raised his whip to stop him. “I am from the Jiang family. Who are you looking for? And which household do you serve?”

Servants of the Princess residence were generally arrogant when away from home, but knowing he was from the household their mistress sought, the young man quickly humbled himself, bowing and saying, “Forgive me, Young Master. I’m from the Princess Chang’s residence in Qingyang, sent to find the second young master of the Pingguo Duke’s family.”

“Looking for me?” Jiang Pingzhi was surprised but immediately understood the situation, feeling overwhelmed.

Li Xun’er must have heard about his engagement and urgently sent someone to find him.

He hadn’t interacted much with Li Xun’er before—only a few nodding acquaintances during banquets. Li Xun’er, proud of her royal status, looked down on him despite his noble birth as the second son of the Pingguo Duke. His elder brother was the heir apparent.

His connection to Li Xun’er was thanks to his sister Jiang Yuzhi, who had introduced them.

Recently, Jiang Yuzhi had started frequent contact with Zhou Changyin, who twice brought along Li Xun’er. Jiang Pingzhi had met them once and learned, indirectly, that he was participating in the imperial exam and that his aunt, Empress Jiang, had hinted he might rank high, possibly entering the top three. After that, the ladies talked privately, and he left. Unexpectedly, Li Xun’er sought him out afterward.

Li Xun’er was blunt: she could help him become the top scholar and secure a bright future, but in return, he must marry her.

As Jiang Li’s youngest son, he was somewhat favored privately, but that meant little. As a man, he needed the support and recognition of his elders to secure a prosperous future.

He had long resented his status as the legitimate second son.

At first, he distrusted Li Xun’er, but perhaps desperate to escape this awkward position and prove himself, he spent a restless night and sought her out again the next day.

This time, Li Xun’er told him outright about Zhou Changyin’s grudge against Wu Tan and the plan to kill at the Vermilion Bird Pavilion, revealing her own supplementary plan.

Her plan was logically sound.

She also disclosed inside information: because of Huangfu Qi’s interference, his top-three position slipped away.

Though everyone knew his third-place rank was largely due to the emperor’s favor for Empress Jiang rather than his talent, the gap between third and fourth place was significant.

Both he and Huangfu Qi had used underhanded means, but having his future disrupted so unexpectedly by Huangfu Qi was intolerable. So he resolved to form an alliance with Li Xun’er.

Li Xun’er was cautious, spending heavily to hire two assassins disguised as carpenters, who would flee immediately after their task. They agreed not to meet privately until he secured the top scholar title, after which he would formally propose to her at the Princess’s residence.

His original engagement to Lin Yanyao could be nullified when Zhou Changyin eliminated Wu Tan, removing two obstacles at once.

The engagement with Lin Yanyao was merely a verbal agreement between families. If she died, the arrangement would be void, and no one would know he abandoned that for Li Xun’er.

The whole plan was flawless, and the story presented to the world would be:

Jiang Pingzhi was lucky—he originally ranked fourth, but when the top three died in an accident during a parade, he rose to top scholar, then caught the eye of the Princess of Changping and became her consort.

It should have been foolproof, and the plan went smoothly at first, but unexpected mishaps followed—

First, Huangfu Qi miraculously survived.

Then, the trap set on the second floor failed, not killing Lin Yanyao and Wu Tan, but revealing Li Xun’er as the mastermind to Wu Tan.

Despite this, there was no turning back; since Lin Yanyao was still alive, he had to openly reject the engagement.

Then, another unexpected twist: Jiang Li rushed to the Lin family to confirm Jiang Pingzhi’s marriage to Lin Yanyao.

After these setbacks, his situation was dire and overwhelming.

The young servant, realizing Jiang Pingzhi was the person in question, became even more respectful, bowing and apologizing, “I didn’t recognize you earlier, Young Master. Please forgive me. Our princess says it’s urgent, you see...”

Jiang Pingzhi knew it was a sensitive time, but he urgently needed to meet Li Xun’er. After a moment’s thought, he said, “Let’s go. Lead the way; I’m going now.”

“Yes!” The servant turned his horse, and Jiang Pingzhi followed.

Back at the restaurant near the Princess’s residence, Wu Tan roughly calculated the time. Within half an hour, the servant returned, followed by Jiang Pingzhi.

“Looks like I wasn’t imagining things,” thought Wu Tan, feeling a tight knot in her chest over Lin Yanyao being kept in the dark while betrothed. She was sulking when suddenly a thought struck her. She turned to her brother, “I always thought Li Xun’er was targeting me at the Vermilion Bird Pavilion yesterday. But now that she’s involved with Jiang Pingzhi... Brother, do you think they were trying to take out Cousin Yanyao too?”

Because she had clashed with Li Xun’er before and Li Xun’er’s hostile look at her yesterday, Wu Tan had assumed she was the target.

But now, discovering Li Xun’er’s affair with Jiang Pingzhi, it was clear Lin Yanyao was a barrier between them.

If Li Xun’er could strike decisively at someone she merely disliked, she would certainly eliminate any obstacle to her marriage.

This realization sent chills down Wu Tan’s spine, a cold dread racing through her body.

—End of side note—

The entire process and inner workings of the Vermilion Bird Pavilion case are now fully revealed, involving the deceased top scholars, Huangfu Qi, Tanmei’er, and Cousin.

Tanzi: Behold my heroine’s aura—Huangfu Qi and Cousin are under my protection ╭(╯^╰)╮

This novel is first published here; please do not repost!