Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 426 Situation
After leaving the Xie family, the Prince of Huai did not return to the palace immediately but went straight to his residence. His father had gone to Qin Prefecture with the Pacification Commissioner and had not yet returned to the capital. After he finished his duty, he should go and pay his respects to his mother.

"Your Highness."

The gatekeeper immediately bowed to the Prince of Huai.

The Prince of Huai walked into the courtyard: "Where is Mother?"

The steward smiled and said, "The Princess Consort's family has come today, so a banquet has been held in the inner courtyard. The Princess Consort will be delighted to know that you have returned."

Prince Huai nodded: "I'll go change my clothes and then go to pay my respects to my mother."

The steward hurriedly went to the inner quarters to inform the Princess Consort, and Prince Huai changed his clothes and also rushed to the inner quarters.

The current Princess Consort of Qin is the second wife of the Prince of Qin. The birth mother of the Prince of Huai passed away more than ten years ago. After entering the Prince's residence, the second Princess Consort gave birth to one son and two daughters.

Her first child was the second son of the King of Qin, who is now thirteen years old. Her second child was a pair of twin daughters who have just turned ten.

Last winter, the princess became pregnant again. She had been taking good care of herself for the past few months. Now that her belly is growing bigger and the pregnancy is stable, her family members dared to visit her at home.

As Prince Huai stepped into the courtyard, he heard laughter coming from inside.

The head maid was already waiting at the door. When she saw Prince Huai, she quickly lifted the curtain and invited him in.

The curtain was lifted, and the laughter and chatter came to an abrupt halt.

Prince Huai looked up and saw that half of the people in the room had stood up. Princess Consort Jiang Zhenru, who was in the main seat, had a slightly protruding belly, her eyes were smiling, and there was a crooked lifelike flower in her hair. Her two daughters, the eldest and the second, stood on either side of her.

Without needing to think too much, Prince Huai knew that before he entered the room, it must have been a scene of loving mother and filial children, and that the lifelike flowers on Princess Qin's head were probably put on by her two daughters.

“Mother.” Prince Huai bowed.

Princess Qin reached out and said, "Get up quickly. You're on duty in the palace all day long, and it's not easy for you to leave the palace. Why didn't you send someone a message in advance? That way, I could have the kitchen prepare your favorite dishes."

The Prince of Huai said, "Knowing that my mother was unwell, I ate in the duty room before returning."

Princess Qin asked with concern, "Was your shift going smoothly? You look a bit thinner. Have the kitchen prepare some medicinal cuisine later; spring is the perfect time for nourishing the body."

The Prince of Huai agreed to all of them and then turned to pay his respects to the Jiang family.

The Chiang family members were all all smiles.

Princess Qin suddenly remembered: "I heard that something happened to the Xie family. Have you gone to inquire about it?"

The Prince of Huai recounted Xie Chengrang's story in general.

“Xie Erlang usually seems quite clever,” said Princess Qin. “I always said he shouldn’t have any connection with the demonic sect.”

After saying this, the room fell silent for a moment. Before the Prince of Huai had even warmed his chair, he stood up and said, "I still have official business to attend to."

The Queen of Qin smiled and said, "I'll call you over for dinner later."

As soon as the Prince of Huai stepped out of the house, the curtain behind him was lowered, and the room became lively again.

Since marrying into the Prince's mansion, Jiang Zhenru has treated him well, taking care of his every need in terms of clothing, food, housing, and transportation. However, there is only one thing... she never talks to him about anything else besides these things.

The Prince of Huai smiled slightly, so that if he showed even the slightest displeasure, he would be out of place in this family. Having been a performer for so long, many things were insignificant to him, and it was precisely because of this that the fake Xie Wenjing could not hide from him.

Unbeknownst to them, the Prince of Huai had arrived at a courtyard on the west side.

That used to be his mother's study, where she often read and wrote. He was young then and doesn't remember much, but his mother's feet dangling in mid-air, her cold and stiff body, and her drooping head are still so clear to this day.

When he was young, he dreamed countless times of holding his mother's hand.

The mother's hands were soft and warm, yet weak; in the end, she could only end her own life. He was genuinely interested in Xie Wenjing; a woman who had been confined to the countryside for so many years, yet still managed to live a good life, was truly extraordinary.

I never expected to be replaced so quickly; it's really quite boring.

Prince Huai entered the study and sat down. His guards immediately came forward and placed the paper in their hands on the table.

"This is news related to the Yunqi Temple case, and it's roughly the same as what's coming from the government office."

The Prince of Huai carefully examined the information, especially the news about the sorcerer cult.

"Have you found out who tipped off Xu Huaiyi?"

Without this person, Xu Huaiyi would not have found Li Family Village.

The guard said, "Lord Xu became famous in the neighborhood because of the gambling case. Since then, people have been coming to Lord Xu every day to plead their cases. The yamen runners of the Ministry of Justice have gotten used to this, so no one cares. They don't know who has come to the yamen to submit their petitions."

"The letter was tucked inside the petition; no one would have noticed it if Lord Xu hadn't looked through it carefully."

The Prince of Huai raised his head: "The messenger knows Xu Huaiyi very well and has been keeping a close eye on the situation at the Ministry of Justice. This is using Xu Huaiyi to deal with the Xia family and the Li family."

The guard asked, "Should we continue keeping an eye on the Xia family?"

Before Xia Mengxian got into trouble, the Prince of Huai had already planted spies around the Xia family.

“The Xia family hasn’t figured things out yet and someone else has already beaten them to it,” said the Prince of Huai. “However… although Xia Mengxian has resigned from his post, he is still a centipede that doesn’t die easily. He will eventually come out to do things again. Don’t take back your manpower for now.”

The guards responded.

The Prince of Huai dismissed the others and continued examining the document in his hands. The messenger would be of great use to him, but unfortunately, it seemed unlikely that he could find the person anytime soon.

However... he felt that person would make another move.

……

South City Wharf.

Guo Xiong talked to the people around him as he walked. After he was released from the Ministry of Justice prison, he was greeted all the way to the South City Wharf.

"Guo Da, how many times has this happened?"

Guo Xiong smiled without saying a word, and someone said on his behalf: "The number of times is not important. What's important is that you can come back safe and sound."

“Of course,” Guo Xiong said to the crowd. “We haven’t done anything wrong, so we’re not afraid of being called in by the authorities for questioning.”

"Correct."

Someone immediately chimed in: "That's exactly right."

As they were talking, someone stepped forward to tell Guo Xiong about the Zhou family's fleet.

"Later, many more people were arrested. Besides those three families, they never stopped causing trouble. Anyone who had any dealings with that... demonic sect was taken to the yamen for questioning."

"What goes around comes around. They were bullying people on the river. From now on, I don't think they'll dare to obstruct your fleet again."

Before Guo Xiong could speak, the person next to him immediately chimed in: "Not only do they not dare to stop Guo Xiong's boat, but they also don't dare to stop other boats. At least they've been behaving themselves for the past few days."

They were often bullied by those four fleets, and everyone was happy to talk about it, feeling very relieved.

As everyone was chatting animatedly, someone called out a Buddhist chant: "Amitabha, may I ask where Madam Xie, who comes from Daming Prefecture, resides?"

Let's take a look at the Prince's scenes, just to set the stage; there'll be more tonight!