The Fourth Prince stared at Xiao Yan: "Does Mother really know?"
Xiao Yan frowned. "Are you doubting me?"
Tang Ning, upon seeing the Fourth Prince, had a vague understanding of what her brother intended to show her. She spoke up from the side: "There's no need for my brother to lie to His Highness. About a month ago, Her Majesty the Empress gave me a phoenix hairpin and helped me with the matter of the Lu family. Over the years, the Empress has taken care of me. It was I who asked my brother to temporarily keep this matter under wraps."
"The Crown Prince and the women of the Lu family have a scandalous affair, and my brother told the Empress to help her distance herself from the Lu family as soon as possible. Otherwise, once this is known, the Lu family’s reputation will be ruined, and the Empress's name will also be tainted. Even His Highness…" She furrowed her brows, her expression full of confusion. "But why didn't the Empress tell His Highness?"
Xiao Yan saw how his little sister's words made the Fourth Prince's face turn even paler, his suspicions turning into anger. Xiao Yan subtly raised the corner of his lips, a fleeting smile crossing his face, and then turned his gaze to the Fourth Prince.
"I helped the Empress in secret, paying a favor back to her and warning her privately so that you could get out of this mess early. But who knew..." Xiao Yan pretended to be upset. "The Lu family has offended many people. I could not suppress the rumors, and today, someone leaked the news to the palace, even mentioning that His Highness visited the Lu family yesterday. The Emperor is furious."
The Fourth Prince stood rooted to the spot, his face full of disbelief. His mother had never mentioned this matter to him.
After the Lu family got into trouble, he had planned to cut ties with them, but his mother had said that the Lu family had more than just this trouble and that his maternal grandfather, Lu Chongyuan, was very strategic and might still have a way to recover. She advised him not to rush into severing ties with the Lu family.
He had followed his mother's advice and continued interacting with the Lu family as usual, but he had refrained from intervening in the imprisonment of his uncle, Lu Zhao, or the grain case. Who could have guessed that the Lu family still had such a scandal? He had just been to the palace the day before and even talked to his mother about the Lu family, yet she hadn't told him a single thing.
Why did his mother hide this from him?
Why didn't she quickly distance herself from the Lu family and tell him? Now, it had caused the Emperor to be furious with him!
Xiao Yan watched the changes in the Fourth Prince's expression and spoke up, "His Majesty's temperament, His Highness should understand. The Empress has truly made a mistake this time. If it weren't for her past kindness to Tang Ning, I would never have interceded for you in front of the Emperor."
The Fourth Prince's eyes flickered with hope. "Xiao Governor, did you speak on behalf of me and my mother?"
Xiao Yan's expression turned slightly sour. "I said before, Tang Ning owes the Empress a favor. The Lu family’s matters have nothing to do with you. The Emperor’s anger stems from thinking that you were covering up for the King of Cheng and the Lu family. I told His Majesty that you’re not that kind of person, and the Empress would never tolerate the Lu family’s disgraceful women."
"So what about Father?" The Fourth Prince asked eagerly. "What did Father say?"
"The Emperor naturally doesn't believe it. You have Lu family blood in your veins, and the Emperor thinks you may be partial to them. After much persuasion, I finally got His Majesty to temporarily trust you, but he insisted on assigning the investigation of the Lu family and King Cheng's affairs to you."
The Fourth Prince was stunned. "Investigate it myself?"
Xiao Yan's expression turned cold. "What? You don’t want to?"
His eyes narrowed, a trace of impatience creeping in. "I have tried my best to mediate for you. It’s not easy for the Emperor to give you this chance, to let you investigate the Lu family personally. If you don't want it, I’ll just return to the Emperor and tell him."
"No!" The Fourth Prince hurriedly said. "It’s not that I don’t want to. It’s just that I’ve never been involved in the King of Cheng’s case, and I know nothing about his affair with the Lu family. Now that it’s been handed to me, I truly don’t know where to start."
Seeing that he wasn’t unwilling, Xiao Yan relaxed a little. "Since they are from the Lu family, and they have connections to the King of Cheng and the Ministry of War, their status in the Lu family is certainly not low. Your Highness frequently visits the Lu family, so you should know them better than I do."
"I can arrange for you to meet with King of Cheng, ask him a few questions. As for the Lu family, that depends on you."
Seeing the hesitation on the Fourth Prince’s face, Xiao Yan added, "His Majesty greatly dislikes the Lu family. The fact that he entrusted this investigation to you shows that he still cares about the father-son relationship. If it weren’t for that, this matter would have already been exposed in front of everyone in the court."
"I could have handled the investigation myself, sending the Black Armored Guards to search the Lu family and interrogate their women. Finding the one who had an affair with the King of Cheng wouldn’t be hard. But in that case, the Empress’s and your reputation would be ruined, and people in the court would use this to attack you."
Tang Ning, watching the Fourth Prince’s constantly changing expression, added a final blow: "Earlier, I saw the Second Prince having a conflict with His Highness. The people he was protecting seemed to have mentioned His Highness’s position in the court."
"I may not understand court matters, but I know how unpredictable the Emperor is. Your Highness, although you have Lu family blood, you are still a prince of the imperial family."
"If you’re willing to give up your future and live an ordinary life, then you can let my brother handle the investigation. But if you still have aspirations, do you really want to risk your future for a family that’s bound to be ruined, while losing the Emperor’s favor?"
Her voice was gentle but pierced the Fourth Prince’s heart.
The Fourth Prince understood her meaning. If the Lu family were still powerful, he could ignore these things. With the support of the aristocracy, even if the Emperor didn’t like him, he would have to consider the potential dangers of breaking with the powerful families. But now, the Lu family was far from what it used to be, and the aristocratic families were fractured. If he wanted the throne and to become the heir, he couldn’t afford to lose his father’s favor.
His father had given him this task to test whether he had any bias toward the Lu family.
If he could handle this well and clear up who was colluding with King Cheng, his father would be pleased, and he could earn a reputation for impartiality.
But the Lu family...
The Fourth Prince hesitated. They were his maternal family. If he personally investigated the matter and ruined the Lu family’s reputation, there would be no room for reconciliation between them. He would lose their support, and he didn’t trust Xiao Yan.
Xiao Yan saw his hesitation and said directly, "Whatever your choice is, I’ve delivered the Emperor’s message. You can think about it yourself."
"Xiao Governor..."
The Fourth Prince still wanted to speak to Xiao Yan, hoping to take advantage of this rare opportunity where Xiao Yan seemed to show "favor," to see if he could win him over. However, after the politeness wore off, Xiao Yan had returned to his usual distant self, unfazed and unapproachable.
"I have an appointment here with Tang Ning and others. I will not send His Highness off."
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You can read ahead to chapterr 400 (100+ extra chapters) here
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