On the pier, after Song Wangyue and the others had left, the attendant returned and whispered a few words in Wu Sheng’s ear as he walked towards the large boat.
Having negotiated a big deal, Wang Wu was pleased with himself, humming a little song as he turned to board the boat, and had just taken a few steps when he heard someone call out to him, “Boss.”
Wang Wu turned around and saw that it was a young gentleman, not badly dressed, who turned around and came down again, “Does this gentleman have something to do?”
“I want to rent this boat of yours.”
“You have come at a bad time, I have just rented out this boat and that guest is going to Jiangnan.”
Having received the answer, Wu Sheng showed a regretful expression, “In that case, I will go and look at something else.”
Wang Wu nodded and watched them walk towards another boat, before turning around and going up.
He put away the board, and the guests knew that their boat was rented out and no one else would be coming over.
Wu Sheng exited the dock and got into the parked carriage, instructing the driver to hurry home.
With a boat that big rented, quite a few people should be going, and he had to hurry back to tell his elder brother.
……
Faced with Wu Jin’s excitement, the third prince said, unhurriedly
“If uncle doesn’t believe me, I’ll think of having someone take you into the palace to have a look.”
Although he had been relegated to a bitterly cold place, there were still his spies in the palace, and his father had written to him about everything that was happening in the palace, so he knew that apart from the fact that his mother consort was not free, everything was no different from before.
“You can let me into the palace?”
Wu Jin’s eyes widened and when he saw the Third Prince nodding, he became excited again, “Does that mean that the Emperor ……”
“The person Father has been fond of has always been me.”
Wu Jin’s eyes widened even more, and no sound came out for a long time.
“Second Prince, the Grand Prince is seeing a guest.”
The butler’s voice came in.
Wu Sheng’s voice was eager, “I’m looking for Big Brother for something urgent.”
When Duke Ding was still alive, he loved Aunt Zhang and treated Wu Sheng very well. Wu Jin had been very discontented for some time and often looked for trouble with Wu Sheng, until later when Duke Ding had a long talk with him and told him that Wu Sheng had talent in business and if he could make good use of it, even if the Duke’s house had fallen one day, he could use the silver money to open the way and return to the peak. However, he did not like his younger brother, especially after he was stripped of his title, so he did not like him at all and made things difficult for him.
When he heard Wu Sheng’s voice, he was subconsciously about to open his mouth to reprimand him, when he heard Wu Sheng say again, “It’s about Song Wan Yue.”
Hearing this long-lost name, the third prince’s hand on the armrest unconsciously tightened.
Wu Jin looked at the Third Prince – Wu Sheng was in such a hurry, so he must have found out something about Song Wangyue.
The Third Prince nodded slightly and rose to walk behind the screen while saying, “Let him in.”
When he stood behind the screen, Wu Jin raised his voice, “Come in!”
The steward stepped aside and Wu Sheng entered quickly, not seeing anyone in the room, he was puzzled but didn’t care that much, “Big brother, Song Wan Yue has just gone to the pier to rent a big boat and wants to go to Jiangnan.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive, I’ve checked with the boat boss.”
“I see. You’ve worked hard, go back to rest first and wait for my news.”
It had been a long time since Wu Jin had spoken to him like this, and Wu Sheng was somewhat flattered, “Don’t worry, big brother, I’ll find out when they’ll be departing.”
Wu Jin nodded his head and Wu Sheng withdrew.
The Third Prince came out from behind the screen to re-sit and subconsciously went to serve tea, his hand reached out, touched an empty one and looked at Wu Jin.
Wu Jin busily instructed the butler to serve tea.
The butler quickly and carefully brought in the tea, placing one in front of the Third Prince and one in front of Wu Jin, and retreated.
The Third Prince picked up the tea, picked up the lid and fiddled with the tea leaves, took a small sip and almost spat it out, “What kind of tea is this, it’s too bitter.”
Wu Jin smiled bitterly, he used to lead those foxes and friends to take things from his family’s shop, after being taken away from his title, those dogs exposed the information of the shop, the business of the shop was getting worse day by day, the little money he had in his hand and he didn’t dare to move it around, he could only be worse in food and drink.
Looking at his bitter smile, what else did the Third Prince not understand. He put down his tea and reached into his sleeve, wanting to give him some silver tickets, but his fingertips touched them, and then withdrew them, for if he gave less, he would appear to be ungrateful, and if he gave more, he could not afford to give up.
“Song Wan Yue is in the capital?”
Wu Jin didn’t see his movement and nodded his head hatefully, “Just arrived not long ago, and made another splash the other day.”
“Oh?”
Wu Jin told the story of Song Wangyue going to the State Prison to play chess a few days ago.
The Third Prince subconsciously picked up his tea again, but did not drink it, “I never thought that that girl could even play chess, I had underestimated her. However, her going to Jiangnan this time is a good opportunity for us.”
“What do you mean ……?”
The Third Prince did not speak.
He did not expect to get such good news just after entering the capital, it seemed that even the heavens were helping him, this time he would make sure that Song Wangyue had no return.
……
Inside the palace, the emperor also got the news that the third prince had returned. He waved away the palace maids and eunuchs in the imperial study and instructed Eunuch Huang, “Send some smart people to think of bringing in Yi’er.”
Eunuch Huang answered, selected a few eunuchs, and gave them careful instructions.
One of them said in a sharp voice, “I am a friend of your young master, who went on a trip a year ago.
The watchman knew that the young master did not like his former friends, so he hesitated, but seeing that the man was new and had not been here before, he thought about it and went to report.
As soon as he heard this, the Third Prince knew that they were people sent by the Emperor and gestured to Wu Jin to let them in.
Several people entered the flower hall and bowed to the Third Prince, “Greetings, Third Prince.”
They were all in Eunuch Huang’s inner circle and knew from Eunuch Huang that the Emperor cared most about the Third Prince, so they were respectful in their attitude.
The Third Prince looked round at several people, pointed to two of them and told them to change their clothes. He and Wu Jin went out of the Wu residence dressed as two people, found a secluded place to change into the eunuch’s clothes, followed with their heads down and blended into the palace, and did not go to the imperial study, but went straight to the cold palace.
The Cold Palace was in the north-west corner of the palace, far away from the other palaces, and apart from the two little eunuchs who carried rancid meals over every day, no one came over.
Instead, a courtyard near the innermost part of the palace was different from the other Cold Palaces, the courtyard and the house were furnished exactly like the place where Lady Shu used to live, and there was a large number of palace maids and eunuchs.
At the moment, Consort Shu is sitting on a soft couch by the window, basking in the sunlight while eating fruit cut by the palace maids.
The palace maid guarding the door looked at the eunuch walking in front of her and stared in shock, “Three, three, three ……”
The Third Prince gestured for her to be silent and lifted his feet straight in, with Wu Jin following behind him.
The palace people in the courtyard also saw them, and each one stared in shock, forgetting to even kneel down.
“Why is it so quiet outside?”
Consort Shu enquired.
Aunt Steward also found it strange and walked quickly outside, but before she reached the door she froze in a straight line.
“What’s wrong?”
Consort Shu looked up and saw the two men walking in, the fruit in her hand falling to the floor.