latelenovela Chapter 253 Keeping an Appointment
Chapter 253 Keeping an Appointment
The "son-in-law" the housekeeper was referring to was the eldest princess' husband, Marquis Zhao. In the Great Zhou Dynasty, the son-in-law could not hold an actual position, and the title of Marquis was only in name only. Fortunately, Marquis Zhao had no ambition, and he enjoyed calligraphy, painting, poetry, and books every day, leading a very leisurely life.
The only thing he had to worry about was the marriage of his only daughter, Zhao Ning.
The reason for inviting Prince Ning this time was, of course, to build a better relationship. After all, his daughter was so stubborn, crying and unwilling to get married, and she disliked Prince Ning's cold attitude.
He thought that he might as well start with Prince Ning, let Prince Ning take the initiative and coax Zhao Ning a little, so as to ease the relationship between the two.
The housekeeper thought to himself that the county lady was the future mistress of the palace and was of inestimable status, so it would be okay for his prince to lower his status a little.
I didn't expect that the prince would reject me directly as soon as I opened my mouth.
The housekeeper was overwhelmed and advised: "Your Highness, the Prince Consort is..."
Before he finished speaking, Prince Ning looked up and asked, "Are you the one who makes the decisions about the palace?"
The butler immediately stopped talking, and the attendant beside him said, "The prince is too busy with several cases in Kyoto."
The butler breathed a sigh of relief. This way he could complete his task without offending the princess's mansion and the future mistress of the prince's mansion.
Just as he was about to turn around, he saw the prince's follower Asong rushing in.
"Your Highness, the young master of Anle Marquis's Mansion would like to ask when you have a day off and would like to invite you to dine at Deqing Tower."
The Anle Marquisate had only been in the capital for a little over two months and held no real power. The Marquis' wife had been given the title of Princess, a title with even less power. I'd never heard of the Marquisate having any close ties with any high-ranking family before, and I'd assumed the Marquis was a lazy man.
Now that the young master of the Marquis' Mansion has taken the initiative to invite him, could it be that he wants to build a good relationship with the Prince's Mansion?
The butler curled his lips in disdain. Their prince didn't even accept the invitation from his son-in-law, so how could he accept the invitation from you, a mere young master of a marquis's mansion?
Unexpectedly, the next moment, I heard the prince say, "Anle Marquis Mansion? The young master of the Si family?"
Asong responded: "Yes."
"Tell the person that I'm free the day after tomorrow and will come over at noon."
The butler's jaw dropped. Is this... their prince?
When Ah Song came back, he asked curiously, "Your Highness, has the young master of the Si family had any contact with you before? Why did you suddenly invite your Highness?"
Prince Ning said, "A while ago, the young master of the Si family was involved in a small case. I was passing by and helped out."
"So that's how it is..." Asong thought for a moment, "I can understand him coming to thank you, but you're so busy, how could you even agree to such a small banquet?"
Prince Ning remained silent. He thought of the girl he had met that day. He had heard that the second daughter of the Si family was all show, but not very talkative. At the flower-viewing banquet, the second daughter hadn't said much, but the circle of noble ladies in Kyoto was full of shrewd people, and they understood her personality thoroughly.
To say she can't speak is an understatement; the rumors are even worse.
She was only seventeen years old, but her child was almost two years old, and she had also killed her husband from the countryside.
King Ning never paid any attention to these nonsense. However, the information presented by Prince Feng about the Great Zhou Code, the conflicts between its implementation and the related solutions and amendments to the law, all made King Ning very curious.
It is really unimaginable that these were done by an ordinary woman.
In particular, this woman was originally the daughter of a marquis, was demoted to a commoner, and then restored to her status.
Therefore, Prince Ning had some understanding of the second daughter of the Si family and knew her general situation.
Miss Si Er was acting a bit strangely today, and he was surprised. He also felt that it wasn't as Feng Zizhou had said, that she was in a hurry to leave because she was unwell. He felt that this woman seemed a little different, but as to how...
Could it be related to this case?
Thinking that this woman had an unusually keen understanding of the law and the Fa, he had to find out whether it was good or bad.
"Remind me to bring this set of 'Wen Taigong Xin'an' the day after tomorrow."
Asong was a little confused. Why did the prince bring this set of banned books when he went to meet the young master of the Si family?
The appointed day soon arrived, and Prince Ning arrived at Deqing Tower on time. The waiter took him to the private room on the second floor. When he opened the door, it was just as he expected. In addition to the young master of the Si family, there were also two girls.
Prince Ning was not surprised. After entering the room, he put the books down and said, "Second Miss asked about this set of books before, and I agreed to lend it to her. However, Second Miss seemed to be busy and could not take the books away. I brought them here specially today."
Si Muyan stared at Prince Ning carefully. When she traveled through time, Jiang Jianqiu was already dead. But the original owner had seen Jiang Jianqiu before, and in the original owner's memory, he seemed to look like this.
But he is not as handsome as this one. He is a good-looking but useless person.
After all, the original owner really disliked the man who abducted her second sister and had no good impression of him. As time went by, she even felt that his face became particularly hateful.
Prince Ning could feel the gazes of the three people in the room, but he remained calm, still politely pushed the book forward, and said again.
"However, since the case remains unsolved, this set of books cannot be passed on to anyone else. I hope the Second Miss will forgive me and please do not give it to anyone else."
The second sister calmed down and said, "Did the cases in the book really happen in Kyoto?"
Prince Ning said, "In the month since this book was published, three similar cases have already occurred. All three cases are extremely bizarre and remain unsolved."
The second sister asked, "Is it someone copying the book, or is the author of the original book the murderer?"
Prince Ning looked at his second sister with scrutiny, his eyes narrowed slightly, but he did not inform her of the progress of the case, only saying, "Nothing can be confirmed at the moment."
Second Sister chuckled and said, "Are you so anxious to remove the book if you're not sure? If the murderer is the author himself, and the book was compiled by him, what impact would it have on him whether the book is circulated in the market? If the murderer is a copycat, since he was able to imitate the first three crimes, does he still need to refer to the book to carry out the subsequent crimes?"
Prince Ning raised his eyebrows. Although he didn't say anything, he felt in his heart that Miss Si Er's idea coincided with his.
The second sister continued, "Besides, I think if the criminal really is a copycat, he'd be able to imitate any book he gets his hands on. We can't just remove all the crime books on the market."
Prince Ning spread his hands and said, "I admit that what the Second Miss said is correct, but after all, I am not the only one handling these three cases. And I have no way to prove that these three cases have nothing to do with the books. As for the removal of the books, it is also beyond my ability."
That's honest.
The second sister wanted to argue, but she felt choked up. The businesslike manner of the man in front of her made her very sad.
It was obvious that Sanlang used to be so gentle even when he was talking to her about serious matters.
It's so cold now, how can she not feel uncomfortable?