Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 568 Friends
The room was unusually quiet, and Prince Huai did not urge the old man to make his own identification.

After a long while, the old man straightened up and pointed to a portrait: "It should be this young lady."

"I'm old and my eyesight isn't very good. At the time, the woman only showed her eyebrows and eyes..."

The old man spoke, his gaze never leaving the two portraits. He thought for a moment, then shook his head and pointed again with his finger: "Moreover, the two portraits show that the two women have somewhat similar features, making it difficult to distinguish them at a short time. However, I still think it should be this one. This woman's features are more... more... In short, she doesn't look like a woman from a humble family."

The Prince of Huai understood the old man's meaning.

A newfound composure appeared between her brows and eyes. In fact, this portrait was still an understatement, because when she saved him, she was far from being as calm and composed as she is now.

That face possessed the poise of a noblewoman, yet it wasn't merely a calm and collected demeanor. Her eyes were clear, but a cloud of mystery shrouded their depths, making it impossible to discern her thoughts. Despite being a young woman, she exuded an innate majesty in the flow of her gaze.

He had never seen a woman like this before.

Like a frozen lake in the dead of winter, it is right in front of you, but no matter how close you get, you can't see the bottom.

The old man said, "If I could see the two young ladies and hear them say a few words, I would be even more certain which one was the one who saved my husband that day."

At this point, the old man looked puzzled: "The young man should have been closer that day, so didn't he see clearly either?"

Prince Huai smiled and said, "I was seriously injured that day and was in a daze, so I didn't see clearly. Besides, just as the old man said, the two of us look somewhat alike."

"At first I didn't see it clearly, but now I feel it's different..."

At this point, Prince Huai looked out the window and revealed a meaningful expression.

After a pause, Prince Huai continued, "The reason I came to ask the old man for help is because... the debt of saving my life is of utmost importance, and I cannot mistake him for someone else."

The old man nodded: "That makes sense."

Prince Huai put away the two portraits and looked at the old man again: "I didn't want to trouble you, but now it seems... I can't avoid it. Perhaps one day I will have to ask you to come out and testify, to tell me the whole story of how you saved me."

The old man seemed to have expected this day to come, and his face showed little surprise. He nodded and said, "Young master, just give your orders."

The Prince of Huai said, "My men will arrive shortly and take you to a manor where you can stay temporarily. I will leave stewards and servants to serve you."

"You must not leave the estate until the matter is finished. After the matter is over, I will give you the estate as a gift of gratitude for saving your lives."

The old man never expected things to turn out this way.

That wasn't just a few acres of farmland, but an entire estate. How big was that estate? This was an opportunity that could change his whole family's life.

“But my family isn’t here,” the old man said. “They’ve gone to visit my son’s father-in-law.”

The Prince of Huai said, "I know, my men will go to pick them up separately."

The old man nodded. He wasn't entirely at ease, but the situation was dire, and he had no choice but to trust the young man completely.

"May I ask, young master," the old man hesitated for a moment, but still asked, "is your background as extraordinary as the Xie family?"

Now the Prince of Huai no longer needs to hide anything.

"The old man must have heard some rumors."

Although the old man was prepared, his expression still changed upon hearing this, and he hunched over even more: "Young master, are you really... really the Prince they've been talking about?"

Everyone says that the granddaughter of Prime Minister Xie saved the Prince.

The old man felt a striking resemblance to the situation when he saved his young master, and thus began to suspect something was amiss, only to find it was true. Now, he had no other thoughts.

The person in front of them is a member of the Liang royal family. If the Prince wanted their family's lives, it would be easy for him. Why would he need to go through the trouble of making arrangements?
The old man said, "I'll go prepare right away."

Prince Huai nodded: "A friend of mine just happened to be here, so I'll have a few words with him here."

The old man immediately looked outside.

“Don’t worry,” said the Prince of Huai. “My friend is an upright man who would never oppress the people.”

At this point, he deliberately raised his voice: "Isn't that right, Lord Wang?"

A moment later, footsteps sounded, the door opened, and Wang Yan stepped in.

The old man served two cups of tea and then withdrew from the inner room.

The Prince of Huai smiled at Wang Yan: "It's so late, what brings you here, Lord Wang? Are you looking for me?"

Wang Yan's gaze was cold and stern, but his face was unusually calm. The two of them sat facing each other, and his aura subtly overwhelmed that of the Prince of Huai.

The oil lamp flickered gently, its light seemingly shifting intentionally toward Wang Yan, making the Prince of Huai appear as if he were sitting in darkness.

The smile on Prince Huai's face faded slightly as a result, but he quickly put on a warm smile again, as if he had suddenly met a friend in the middle of the night.

Wang Yan said, "If the Prince of Huai could come here, he shouldn't have asked that question."

The Prince of Huai nodded: "That makes sense. If I hadn't made arrangements in advance, it might have been difficult for me to get out tonight." As he spoke, he looked at the old man inside the house.

The old man's son and his family were not in the village, because the Prince of Huai had already made arrangements to send them to the estate.

This was done so discreetly that even the old man was unaware of it.

So even if someone followed Prince Huai to this place, they couldn't take the family away from him.

“Your Highness Huai is overthinking this,” Wang Yan said. “This family is of no use to me. I’m here only to keep an appointment.”

The Prince of Huai was slightly surprised, but he did not try to hide it: "He Chun is indeed clever."

Wang Yan and the Prince of Huai looked at each other, and they could both see what the other was thinking in each other's eyes.

"What?" Wang Yan said, "After you led me here, the Prince is unwilling to tell the truth?"

Prince Huai shook his head: "Of course not. I'm just guessing why He Chun isn't in a hurry. Is it because he has already received a promise from someone else?"

This "other person" naturally refers to Lady Xie.

Wang Yan remained silent.

The Prince of Huai put away his smile: "He Chun, there is indeed no need to rush. My actions are not malicious. I am neither trying to compete with you nor to oppose you."

“I just don’t want to be a pawn on the chessboard, manipulated at will. I want to join forces with you to catch those people.”

Wang Yan asked, "Those people?"

“Xia Mengxian and Xie Yizhi were also people I suspected,” said the Prince of Huai. “The reason I was assassinated here is because of those people.”

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