Luo Bingqing couldn't believe what she heard. They had only spent one night together, and in the blink of an eye, Nangong Yu turned his back on her. She admitted she had acted improperly, but they had already been intimate, and Nangong Yu had no choice but to acknowledge their connection!
"Fine, Senior Brother, I'll have Father come. Qing'er also wants Father to judge this matter. When Senior Brother and Qing'er were intimate, he wasn't so heartless."
Nangong Yu's gaze fell upon Si Feng, who was prostrate on the ground, trembling. He begged Luo Bingqing to say no more, fearing the Prince would flay him alive!
"Guards, take her away and keep her under strict watch. She is not to leave her room without my command. Also, summon Old Master Luo." Nangong Yu's voice was devoid of any emotion, as if the matter had no impact on him.
"Yes."
The hidden guards appeared before Luo Bingqing. Without a word, they covered her mouth, lifted her, and swiftly departed. The soup bowl fell to the ground and shattered, spilling ginseng soup everywhere, but no one paid it any mind.
"Speak. What happened?"
"Your subordinate is unclear what exactly transpired. After dinner that night, I was meditating and cultivating in my room. Later, I felt thirsty and unbearably hot. Miss Luo somehow infiltrated the room... After that, I don't know anything. When I woke up, Miss Luo was in my arms, and the Crown Prince burst in, catching us in the act."
Si Feng's voice grew softer. While he admitted to his carelessness, he questioned how the guards of Prince Qin's manor had become so weak that Luo Bingqing could so easily infiltrate the Prince's room, and even more coincidentally, be caught by the Crown Prince!
"Idiot!" Nangong Yu rebuked coldly. "Go receive your punishment."
"Yes." Si Feng, as if granted a great pardon, quickly retreated. He had thought the Prince would take his life, but to only receive a beating, he felt he had regained his life.
"Your Highness, something about this is strange."
"The Crown Prince is quite capable, reaching into my manor while I am away from the capital," Nangong Yu mused. "Replace all the kitchen staff and the guards from last night."
"Your Highness, what about Miss Luo? After all, the outside world knows about this matter..."
"Leave her to the Luo family to handle," Nangong Yu stated calmly. "Why is this woman so foolish, so easily used by the enemy?"
"Your Highness, it's because Miss Luo likes you that she was used. If it were Princess Yongning, she wouldn't be used by the enemy; she might even turn the tables." Si Chen carefully chose his words.
Nangong Yu narrowed his eyes dangerously. "Are you implying that Xiao Man does not love me?"
Si Chen lowered his head, daring not to speak. If Princess Yongning truly loved the Prince, why would she not allow him to approach and even drug him? After all, countless women would resort to any means for a glance from the Prince. Yet, even when the Prince himself approached, Princess Yongning wouldn't even spare him a second glance. By comparison, Princess Yongning was truly indifferent to him! It was just that Si Chen dared not say it aloud.
"She doesn't not love me, she's too rational," Nangong Yu said with a hint of helplessness. "Sometimes I doubt she loves me. I even wish she would be like those women, blinded by love, using all her charms to please me..."
"Your Highness, you are overthinking," Si Chen interjected. Princess Yongning would never use all her charms to please someone; she would only set up gentle traps for those she liked to fall into.
"Si Chen, do you feel you have lived too long?" Nangong Yu asked dangerously.
"Your subordinate was wrong. Your subordinate will never dare again!"
Rumors of Prince Qin favoring a martial world woman spread through the streets, spun into various anecdotes, becoming the talk of the common folk during their leisure.
"Alas, I thought Prince Qin was a suitable match for Princess Yongning, but then Princess Yongning was severely injured by a villain and fell unconscious, and Prince Qin immediately favored his junior sister..." Su Dan Novel Network
"Lord Wen is better," another person chimed in. "Lord Wen is still in Jiangzhou, tirelessly working for the disaster-stricken people. Who knows when he will return to the capital."
"Patriarch Cen is also good. He doesn't have a woman by his side now."
Everyone nodded in agreement: "If you ask me, Patriarch Cen is more suitable for Princess Yongning than Lord Wen. Patriarch Cen is a merchant and could marry into the General's household."
"I think Lord Qin is good. Lord Qin was originally engaged to Princess Yongning, but Princess Yongning did not want Lord Qin to ruin his future, so the engagement was dissolved."
"So Patriarch Cen is better after all. Patriarch Cen can marry into the General's household without worrying about his future!"
"I wonder when Princess Yongning will return." Everyone sighed. "Without Princess Yongning, the capital is not as lively."
"Exactly, exactly. It was so lively when Princess Yongning was here." Everyone lamented endlessly. Qi Wang, one of the former three tyrants of the capital, was about to get married and no longer showed off. Xue Kun, for some unknown reason, had joined the army. The capital had truly become much quieter.
"How I miss the days when Princess Yongning was here."
"Did you hear? The Great General is ill. The General's wife is far away in Jiangzhou, tending to the disaster victims. The General has no one to care for him, so Old Madam Xiao rushed back from Cangzhou to look after the Great General."
"Who told you this?"
"My nephew's friend's uncle's cousin often delivers vegetables to the General's manor. He heard it from a servant in the General's manor."
"Is the Great General any better?"
"He's not doing too well, I hear," the person said mysteriously, glancing around. "I hear that Princess Yongning's fate is strong, and she brings misfortune to her relatives, which is why the Great General sent Princess Yongning to Gan Ye Temple to recuperate."
"You can't be serious?"
"Don't disbelieve it. Look, when the Young General was born, was the General's wife alright? How is it that after Princess Yongning was born, the General's wife had a difficult childbirth and died?"
"That was an accident. They say it was because of an invasion by foreign enemies at the time, and the wife was startled, leading to a difficult labor."
"That's what they tell outsiders. And I also heard that the third young lady of the General's manor is also missing, having been taken out by Princess Yongning. Now, she's neither seen nor found."
"Could she have been...?" Someone made a throat-slitting gesture.
"Highly possible," the person continued. "Moreover, Old Madam Xiao's illness in Cangzhou was also due to Princess Yongning's misfortune. She got better after going to Cangzhou."
Upon hearing this, everyone exchanged glances. After a long silence, a burst of laughter erupted. The person became agitated: "What are you laughing at?"
"You probably don't know, but Master Wu You of Gan Ye Temple once divined Princess Yongning's fate, saying she is a daughter of destiny, of immeasurable nobility."
"And Daoist Tianyi also said she is of immeasurable nobility, a phoenix of destiny. Master Wu You and Daoist Tianyi's divinations are always accurate. Don't spread your baseless gossip."