Chapter 333 – The Coarse Handkerchief In The Crown Prince’S Hand
“Oh, Fourth Elder Sister, you’re still here? I should have come here had I known earlier. I saw that you’ve been wandering around here all this time,”
Wei Yuewu said with a faint smile.
“M-Maybe you were mistaken, Sixth Younger Sister. I just arrived here.” A trace of anger flashed through Wei Qiufu’s eyes. She was sure that Wei Yuewu did not know about her plan. Wei Yuewu was obviously jealous after seeing that she was close to the Crown Prince, so she accused her of wandering around here.
Although Wei Qiufu knew that Wei Yuewu was lying, she could only secretly grit her teeth in irritation as she didn’t have any solid evidence now.
Wen Tianyao’s gazes became profound, and there were a few more doubts in his eyes, but he did not speak.
“Oh… I might have mistaken then!” As if sensing the displeasure in Wei Qiufu’s eyes, Wei Yuewu curled her lips slightly and apologized with an innocent expression. She didn’t want to drag this matter with Wei Qiufu any longer.
Wei Yuewu turned around, came in front of Wen Tianyao, and bowed gracefully, “Greetings, Your Highness!”
“Sixth Miss Wei. How do you feel?” Wen Tianyao waved his hand and smiled, gesturing her to stand up. Then, he asked gently.
“Thank you for your concern, Your Highness. I’m feeling much better now,” Wei Yuewu stood up and replied calmly, knowing that he was referring to her fainting incident.
Wen Tianyao looked Wei Yuewu up and down a few more times. “Okay, but you still have to take more rest.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” Wei Yuewu replied softly, behaving in a humble yet confident way. Instead of continuing to converse with Wen Tianyao, she stood silently.
Wen Tianyao did not expect that Wei Yuewu did not continue the conversation, and the scene suddenly quieted down.
“Your Highness, since Sixth Younger Sister is back, we will leave first. She’s not feeling well, so it is better for her to rest early.” Wei Qiufu had no choice but to stand up and break the awkward silence.
Wei Yuewu, who quietly stood behind Wei Qiufu, observed the eunuch who was behind Wen Tianyao. He slightly bent over and stood with his head down, but his hand was in the sleeve, as if he was holding something, but she could not tell what it was.
Previously, she had seen the eunuch come back from a distance, so he must be keeping something in his sleeve that he went to retrieve but hadn’t given to Wen Tianyao.
What was it that made Wen Tianyao so anxious and even asked the eunuch to go back to retrieve it, leaving him alone?
Her watery eyes turned from the eunuch to Wei Qiufu. This thing should have something to do with Wei Qiufu, or she could not send her away and appear here so coincidentally.
“Okay, you’re dismissed. Go back and rest.” Wen Tianyao nodded. He still had something on his mind and was not in the mood to talk to them. “Fourth Miss Wei, thank you.”
This meant that Wen Tianyao had already remembered her in his heart. Wei Qiufu was very satisfied, and her expression became more dignified and calmer. She smiled slightly and left with Wei Yuewu.
The two of them walked out of the courtyard together.
Seeing the two of them leave with their maids, Wen Tianyao pulled a long face. “Did you find the handkerchief?”
“Yes, Your Highness, please take a look!” The eunuch took out a handkerchief from his sleeve and respectfully handed it over.
Wen Tianyao took the handkerchief that the eunuch had given him and carefully compared it with the one he held in his hand.
Under this comparison, the two handkerchiefs were slightly different. Although they were both made out of coarse cloth, both the material of the handkerchiefs and the sewing of the hem indicated that they were not made by the same person.
It was not the same person!
Wen Tianyao lowered his eyes slightly. His eyes were deep. His fingers clenched the two handkerchiefs slightly. Although the two handkerchiefs were different, who knew about that incident? Who would use such a thing to trick him? Who would benefit from this?
He had been in the Palace for a long time, so he knew that everything must have a beginning.
Of course, the handkerchief would not appear near the Fallen Leaves Orchid for no reason. Wen Tianyao was secretly vigilant too after he felt dizzy and fainted earlier. He had always been strong. How could he faint on the ground for no reason?
If an assassin came at that time, the consequences would be unimaginable.
So this person probably did not come to take his life, but what was it for?
He knew how swift and fierce his mother could be. After the incident, he sent his men to investigate what happened, and no one was spared from it! Everyone who knew about this handkerchief should have been dead!
And those who knew about it were his extremely loyal subordinates around him.
“Tomorrow morning, send someone to check the two young ladies’ rooms!” Wen Tianyao raised his eyes and looked into the dark. This was the direction that Wei Qiufu and Wei Yuewu had just walked out.
Tomorrow morning, Chu Xiu Palace would literally be empty as the young ladies went to join the Third Princess’ prayer session.
“Yes, I know!” The eunuch nodded and did not feel surprised at all.
Wei Yuewu and Wei Qiufu parted at the door of the room and entered their respective rooms.
Jin Ling helped Wei Yuewu wash up. When everything was settled, she took a dry towel and dried Wei Yuewu’s hair.
“Miss, is Fourth Young Lady trying to win the Crown Prince’s favor?” Jin Ling wrung dry Wei Yuewu’s hair as she asked.
“Yes, and she even succeeded.” Thinking about how excited Wei Qiufu was on the way here, Wei Yuewu smirked. Did Wei Qiufu really think that she could fool the Crown Prince so easily?
As long as there was a slight mistake, the good impression she had left would be greatly reduced, and the Crown Prince would be suspicious and skeptical of her motives.
“What should we do? Looking at the situation just now, His Highness sounded gentler to Fourth Young Lady. In the future, if she entered the Crown Prince Mansion, her status would be much higher than now! At that time, she would scheme against you even more,” Jin Ling lamented worriedly, feeling more fearsome toward Wei Qiufu’s scheme than the other young ladies’.
The other people, whether it was Wei Yan or the current Wei Yuejiao, were clumsy and would leave their traces here and there. However, Wei Qiufu was so stealthy and cautious that even Jin Ling, who used to be a dark guard, found her unpredictable. In fact, it seemed that Wei Qiufu was quite resourceful and powerful.
“It’s not that easy to get His Highness’ trust,” Wei Yuewu asserted with a meaningful smile.
If Wei Qiufu successfully attracted Wen Tianyao’s attention and good impression, her abrupt remarks also successfully aroused Wen Tianyao’s suspicion.
Since there was suspicion, no matter who it was, they would check it out. Even the tiniest clue might ruin Wei Qiufu’s meticulous planning. The drawing of Fallen Leave Orchid she drew was now hidden in Wei Qiufu’s writing desk.
“When you went to return the book, did you say it as I instructed?” Wei Yuewu looked at Jin Ling in the mirror and asked. She did not have the chance to ask in detail due to the occurrence of many incidents continuously.
“Yes, I did. I said that the variety of orchids here is really complete. You like orchids very much and want to plant some orchids yourself, but there are not many people in our mansion who know about orchids, except the Fourth Young Lady. Then, I asked the gatekeeper if she could give the orchid atlas to you, but the gatekeeper seemed a little frantic, saying that there was only one copy of the atlas in Orchid Courtyard.”
Jin Ling thought about it and answered. She went to ask for the orchid atlas, but in the end, she couldn’t obtain it. Of course, it was not easy to obtain the orchid atlas. Sixth Young Lady just expressed her love for orchids, but she was not familiar with it.
The book was returned first, and the incident in Orchid Courtyard happened later. With this order, Wei Yuewu’s suspicion would be reduced a lot, but Wei Qiufu’s suspicion would increase a lot.
When something like this happened to Wen Tianyao, Wei Yuewu did not think that he would not investigate her. Even if she was just passing by casually and occasionally encountered them, the Crown Prince would definitely send people to investigate.
The facts were better than the debate. The royal family was more suspicious than ordinary people anyway.
After drying her hair, Wei Yuewu went to bed and slept without a word the entire night. Early in the morning, she accompanied the Third Princess to pray. However, the few heirs-apparent did not seem to have come this time, and nothing around them suggested that the heirs-apparent were near them.
The Third Princess was still very attentive to Wei Yuewu. However, for some unknown reason, Zhao Ruo’e was scolded by the people sent by the Empress, and the Empress even hinted to remove her identity as the Third Princess’ study companion. This scared Zhao Ruo’e into kneeling and begging for mercy.
Because this matter had nothing to do with her, Wei Yuewu only looked at them for a bit before returning to Chu Xiu Palace with the group of young ladies.
“Miss, someone has come to investigate!” Jin Ling whispered to Wei Yuewu when she stood at the door and looked at the hair, which she had placed before, sliding to the ground.
This morning, before she left, she deliberately placed such a piece of hair on the door frame. As long as the door was pushed open, the hair would fall. Now, the hair had indeed fallen to the ground. It was clear that someone had come.
Wei Yuewu nodded. In fact, she was not surprised about this. It was inevitable for Wen Tianyao to check. If he did not come to check, he would not be the royal family’s Crown Prince.
At the door, it was hard to notice the black hair that was clamped down on the door frame.
If Wen Tianyao had already sent someone to check on her, it meant that Wei Qiufu, who was more suspicious than her, should have also been checked. The painting should be with Wen Tianyao now.
The corner of her lips curved silently. Wei Qiufu had plotted against Wen Tianyao, so next, it would depend on what Wen Tianyao thought!
However, no matter what, it was impossible for Wei Qiufu to gain more trust from Wen Tianyao. In fact, he began to suspect her. Sometimes, he did not need any evidence to instigate his suspicion.
Actually, she was also curious about how Wei Qiufu had plotted against Wen Tianyao. However, she was hoping that the matter could continue to develop in a different direction from what Wei Qiufu had expected…
If Wei Qiufu, who was bent over backward on stepping on her and making use of her several times, ascended the throne, she would definitely not spare her!
The painting was indeed laid in front of Wen Tianyao’s writing desk. On the side, there was another orchid atlas. If Wei Yuewu was here, she would definitely notice that this orchid atlas was the one she had returned before.
Of course, there were also the reports from the gatekeeper along with the painting.
The two sets of flowers were basically the same, but they were still slightly different. If one looked carefully, one could still notice the difference. Wen Tianyao looked at them carefully, and the corners of his lips curved into a deep and serene smile. “Go, send the prepared gifts to Fourth Miss Wei!”
“Your Highness, are you still sending them now?” the eunuch asked in confusion. Since His Highness had already discovered that Fourth Miss Wei was suspicious, why would he still send gifts to Fourth Miss Wei with great fanfare?
“Since she wants my gratitude, I can’t break my promise. Double the gift I prepared!” Wen Tianyao sneered. He put down the painting in his hand and walked to the window with his hands behind his back.
The air outside the window was cold, revealing the cold breath of winter. However, what was colder was his heart. As soon as he thought of the handkerchief, Wen Tianyao felt his entire heart turn cold. At that time, he was still a young boy, and he faced the pool of blood on the ground with…
The handkerchief fell into the pool of blood on the ground!
The 𝘮ost uptodat𝑒 novels are pub𝙡ished on fre(e)webno(v)el.𝒸𝑜𝘮