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Chapter 522: A Meeting of Fathers-in-Law
Chapter 522: A Meeting of Fathers-in-Law
Ming Wang: "Second Brother, what got you so worked up? Just because your son was enthroned as a Qilin, it's not that big of a deal, right?"
Manager Jia whispered to Ming Wang, "He even gave me a raise, saying I did a great job."
"You did a great job, my foot!"
"Forget it, you wouldn't understand anyway."
Lu Zhaoyan patted Ming Wang on the shoulder and strode off confidently.
Ming Wang was utterly confused: "Manager Jia, was he just showing off his son?"
Manager Jia chuckled awkwardly: "Seems like it."
What else would he show off?
Lu Zhaoyan sat in the steaming bathtub. "Pick out the most appropriate outfit for me."
Behind the screen, Manager Jia was taken aback: "Pick? But you've always just thrown on whatever was handy. Why the sudden change of heart?"
Just because his son was enthroned as a Qilin, it made that much of a difference?
Even started caring about his appearance now?
After Lu Zhaoyan changed, he scrutinized himself in the bronze mirror. "Will this outfit be appropriate for meeting my elders?"
"Elders?"
Manager Jia racked his brain but couldn't think of any living elders of the Crown Prince.
He quickly corrected himself: "May His Majesty and the Empress live long and prosper!"
The Crown Prince never went through such trouble when visiting them.
Perhaps now, with a son to plan for, he was going to meet the esteemed royal relatives.
"It's appropriate, Your Highness."
Manager Jia smiled. "Shall I prepare a gift for the meeting?"
"Already done."
Lu Zhaoyan picked up the box on the table and walked out.
The moment Manager Jia saw the box, he was so shocked he nearly split himself in half. "Your Highness! Isn't this gift a bit too valuable?"
It was the only one of its kind in all of Daliang!
Lu Zhaoyan sighed. "I think it's too light."
Manager Jia was on the verge of tears. "Who exactly are you going to meet?"
Lu Zhaoyan didn't answer, instead he held his umbrella and left the courtyard.
Miao Wang sat in the main hall, legs crossed and relaxed.
Ruan Qing and Ruan Ling dragged out a middle-aged man, bound and gagged, from a burlap sack. It was none other than the Xun family's manager.
Miao Wang remembered him from the chaos at the Chancellor's Mansion.
"What's his name?"
Miao Wang asked Ruan Qing and Ruan Ling.
Ruan Qing replied, "His name is Cheng Youcheng."
Miao Wang said, "Wake him up!"
Ruan Ling went to the yard, fetched a bucket of water, and splashed Cheng Youcheng's face.
Cheng Youcheng jolted awake. "Spare me! Spare me! Spare... Miao Wang?"
As he struggled, he saw Miao Wang sitting on the throne, and he couldn't believe his eyes.
He pinched himself, wincing in pain.
It was real.
He was captured by Miao Wang?
Miao Wang gave Ruan Qing a nod.
Ruan Qing kicked Cheng Youcheng and coldly asked, "Who brought you to Daliang?"
"I'll talk! I'll talk!"
Cheng Youcheng knelt before Miao Wang and confessed everything.
It turned out that when the Retired Emperor ordered the Chancellor's Mansion to be raided, Cheng Youcheng was out on a purchasing trip. He saw the Imperial Guards on the way and fled the capital in fear.
As a trusted manager of Prime Minister Xun, he was wanted by the government.
He hid, never staying in inns or at stations, disguising himself as a beggar to avoid the search.
After many days, someone found him and offered to help him leave the Zhou Empire.
"I followed him."
Ruan Qing asked, "Do you know who he was, and what he wanted from you?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know, yet you followed him?"
Cheng Youcheng's face was a mask of sorrow. "I... if I didn't follow him, I would have died anyway! It was better to follow him for a while and find a chance to escape later."
Ruan Qing drew his curved sword.
Cheng Youcheng was terrified. "I... I actually guessed he might have connections with the Chancellor... Perhaps he wanted to get something from me... I swear! I've told you everything I know! Not a single detail is hidden!"
Miao Wang waved his hand.
Ruan Ling dragged the man out and locked him in the woodshed.
Ruan Qing said, "He knows nothing; we can't use him to expose Prince Jin."
This was precisely Prince Jin's cunning.
If they had told Cheng Youcheng in advance that he was to testify against Lu Yuan, even if they gave him a hundred hearts, he wouldn't have dared to come to Daliang.
But once he was in front of the Emperor, he would have to expose Lu Yuan to avoid the crime of deceiving the throne.
Prince Jin had played his cards well.
Unfortunately, he had underestimated Miao Wang.
Not only had he thwarted the assassins trying to intercept Lu Yuan, but he had also sent Ruan Qing and Ruan Ling to abduct Cheng Youcheng.
"Capturing him was enough."
Miao Wang knew when to be content.
Besides, if Cheng Youcheng had been sent to the Emperor, it was uncertain whether he would expose Prince Jin or the brat.
"Brat, why did you create a fake identity for yourself?"
Miao Wang's teeth ached.
Ruan Qing, who had already gathered the information, replied, "Young Master A Yuan didn't know either."
The princess had always claimed that the young master's father was dead. Who would have thought that he was not only alive but had become the Crown Prince of Daliang?
"Besides, with the relationship between the Miao Borderlands and the Southwest..."
Ruan Qing left the rest unsaid.
The Miao Borderlands and the Southwest had once been allies, agreeing to defend against neighboring countries. But the old Miao Wang had betrayed them by siding with the Great Zhou.
Old Qin Wang felt betrayed, but his relationship with the Great Zhou was still good, so he chose to join them rather than another country.
Not long after, Old Qin Wang's sister eloped with Old Miao Wang's brother. A year later, she died of illness in the Miao Borderlands.
Old Qin Wang went to the Miao Borderlands to seek justice for his sister and beat up Old Miao Wang's brother.
Perhaps he hit too hard, and Old Miao Wang's brother suffered internal injuries and died not long after.
The enmity between them was thus firmly established.
In the years since, if it weren't for Wushan's mediation, the Miao Borderlands and the Southwest would have been in constant conflict.
Miao Wang hadn't come to the Southwest to attend Lu Qi and Gongsun Liuying's wedding.
He was worried about the brat and his granddaughter's safety.
"Why did she have to seek help from that old scoundrel's son? If I had known it was the Crown Prince's Mansion, I wouldn't have come!"
Miao Wang grew angrier the more he thought about it.
"Try to calm down", Ruan Qing advised.
Miao Wang said irritably, "I can't calm down! Where is Bai Zheng?"
When Miao Wang called his daughter by her name, it meant he was truly angry.
Ruan Qing replied, "The princess is recovering."
Miao Wang waved his hand, "Wake her up and have her recover elsewhere! I don't believe there's no place in this vast imperial city for her to recover!"
Ruan Qing hurriedly said, "Madam instructed the princess to rest."
Miao Wang said, "Fine, bring the little girl along too! I don't feel safe with her living in that Thousand Mechanisms Pavilion!"
Ruan Qing thought for a moment, "Do you want to meet the Crown Prince of Daliang first?"
Miao Wang slammed the table, "I will never see him!"
Suddenly, Ruan Qing's ears twitched, and he looked alertly at the door. "Who's there?"
Ruan Ling, his brother, flashed to the door and opened it, looking at the unfamiliar man standing there. "It's the Crown Prince of Daliang."
He had never seen Lu Zhaoyan before, but the identical features to the young master left no doubt that he was the young master's father.
When Miao Wang heard that it was the Emperor's son, his face darkened. "Get him out—"
Lu Zhaoyan said, "My father is a jerk."
Miao Wang: "...Come in."
(End of Chapter)
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