I have suffered enough in my previous life, my cousin will never marry me

Chapter 167 Deliberately Deceiving This King
Yan Jin and Yu Bai were both taken aback.

"Your Highness, I have heard that the more than one hundred people that Taowu has taken in are all relatives of Miss Ye from her old residence in Tongyang. They are all destitute and helpless. If Taowu is demolished, how will these people survive?" Yan Jin advised, "Please think it over, Your Highness."

"She herself can abandon her relatives and friends, so why should I take care of these old and weak people for her?" Fu Mingchi said with anger in his eyes. "I am not a bodhisattva in a temple, and I do not have such a compassionate heart."

Yan Jin and Yu Bai looked at each other with some difficulty, which made Fu Mingchi even more annoyed: "What are you standing there for? Demolish Peach Blossom Grove immediately."

The two sighed helplessly and were about to leave when they saw Consort Zhang leading Fu Yunni and Zhao Yun and Fu Yu'e into the room.

Seeing her cousin wake up, Zhao Yingying smiled and quickly went to greet him, affectionately taking his arm: "Cousin, Yingying heard that you took people to chase after that Miss Ye. How could someone like that be worthy of your affection?"

"Shut up."

Consort Zhang's gaze turned cold. She walked slowly forward, sat down at the tea table, and glanced at the furnishings in the room.

"After demolishing Peach Blossom Grove, what does my son intend to do next?" Consort Zhang said reproachfully, "Should he exterminate all those close to her?"

“My son certainly doesn’t have such a vicious mind,” Fu Mingchi said in a deep voice. “Since the court wants to force my son to rebel, then my son might as well rebel.”

"It's good that they've rebelled, it's good that they've rebelled!" Fu Yu'e hurriedly chimed in, "That father and daughter just predicted that Mingchi was in dire straits and had no chance of recovery. Let's show that girl from the Ye family that even without Ji Yuan, our Prince Yongning can still obtain this world."

"Madam, please refrain from speaking nonsense," Zhao Yun coughed lightly, quickly stopping him.

"What did I say wrong?" Fu Yu'e curled her lips. "That father and daughter pretended to help Mingchi take over Lin'an, but now that the imperial army is pressing in, they are in a hurry to flee Yuezhou. Do you expect me to say anything good about such two-faced scoundrels?"

Fu Yu'e glared fiercely at Zhao Yun and said coldly, "If it weren't for that wretched girl from the Ye family, how could Ming Chi have provoked the Gu family's plague and besieged the Zhenfu Division, giving people something to talk about? Now look what happened, she stirred up trouble, but she ran away first."

"Enough." Consort Zhang's eyes darkened. "As the King of Yuezhou and the commander-in-chief of the three armies, do you really not care about the lives of your soldiers? Your aunt and the Mu family's 100,000 soldiers are still trapped in the northern border. Do you want them all to die without a burial place?"

Glancing at Fu Yu'e with displeasure, Consort Zhang's words became even sharper: "And you, you are a princess of the Yongning Prince's Mansion, are you out of your mind? You let that reckless scholar Ji Yunze manipulate you all day long, do you know his intentions?"

"Of course I know."

Fu Yu'e scoffed disdainfully: "He must hate the Gu family to the core, but he can't fight them, so he wants to rely on our Yongning Prince's Mansion to stand up for him."

"Is he simply trying to get the Yongning Prince's Mansion to stand up for him?"

Consort Zhang said angrily, "If he really cares about the best for my Prince's Mansion, he should learn from Ji Yuan and plan for the mansion in every way, instead of inciting the court to be wary of Yuezhou and making Empress Dowager Gu want to kill my Prince's Mansion."

"What Sister Wang said makes sense."

Zhao Yun pondered for a moment and nodded: "I'm afraid that Miss Ye has also colluded with Ji Xuezheng, wanting the imperial court and my Yuezhou army to fight to the death, so that the two of them can profit from it."

Upon hearing this, Consort Zhang choked.

Thinking of the night on the city wall of Huizhou, when Ye Wanshu risked her life to protect Ji Yunze, Fu Mingchi's eyes grew increasingly dark.

"Her heart was always filled with that scholar."

Fu Mingchi chuckled self-deprecatingly, feeling like a fool who had been manipulated by her all along: "What do you mean by 'having no choice'? She truly hates the Gu brothers, and she truly hates me too. She probably long hoped that I would fight the Gu brothers to the death so that she could live a carefree life with that scholar."

He never imagined that this person could be so vicious.

Seeing her son's face turn extremely cold, Consort Zhang felt extremely uneasy.

Zhao Yun's words just now made people wary, after all, if Gu Tingchen hadn't imprisoned Ji Yunze in the Zhenfushi Division prison, the Ye family girl's favorite candidate would indeed have been that scholar.

She witnessed this with her own eyes that day in Peach Blossom Valley.

Seeing her mother's expression change, Fu Yunni panicked: "Big brother, mother, please trust Sister Ye just this once, okay?"

With tears in her eyes, she tugged at Fu Mingchi's clothes and shook her head repeatedly, pleading, "Sister Ye said that she only has my brother in her heart. She would not lie to Ani. Please, brother, do not misunderstand Sister Ye."

Pointing to the untidy betrothal gifts scattered throughout the courtyard, Fu Yunni explained, "If Sister Ye didn't want to marry my elder brother, why would she accept our betrothal gifts? Moreover, she has already accepted the marriage certificate. She is now my elder brother's rightful wife."

Fu Mingchi's heart skipped a beat, and he suddenly recalled the words she had spoken on the day she left. "From today onwards, you will be my husband. I will be your queen and stay in Yuezhou. But you must promise me that no matter what happens or where you are, you must think of me and return to my side safely."

Thinking back to the passionate moments he shared with her, Fu Mingchi's eyes were filled with disdain and disappointment: "That was just a trick she used to lull me into a false sense of security because she was worried that I wouldn't let her go."

After all, she herself said that she was not a virtuous woman and enjoyed manipulating the sons of the powerful and wealthy; there was nothing she couldn't do.

Fu Yu'e nodded in agreement: "Indeed, it's just a marriage certificate, and there hasn't been a formal wedding ceremony. If she doesn't want to acknowledge it, no one can make things difficult for her."

"Sister Ye isn't that kind of person," Fu Yunni said, her eyes immediately reddening, and she burst into tears.

Just then, Mu Qingqing and Zhu Wencai led a group of people in a hurry.

Looking at the scene inside the room, Mu Qingqing guessed that her cousin and aunt had a deep misunderstanding about Wan Jie, so she quickly explained, "Aunt, cousin, on our way back, General Zhu received news from the scouts that the imperial court had withdrawn its troops."

“Yes,” Zhu Wencai nodded excitedly, “It must have been Miss Ye who persuaded Duke Rong to withdraw his troops.”

“Would she really have such good intentions?” Fu Yu’e curled her lips in a mocking smile. “If she really had such extraordinary abilities, why would she have led her father to flee Yuezhou in such a sorry state?”

Yu Guang glanced at her nephew and said with a smile, "I heard that Mingchi easily subdued the Duke of Rong on the city wall of Huizhou. This must have intimidated the Duke of Rong, forcing him to withdraw his troops."

Seeing that Fu Mingchi remained unmoved, Chu Yin hurriedly stepped forward to explain, "Your Highness, Wanwan did not intend to abandon you. It is likely that the Gu family father and son are afraid of Wanwan's marriage to you and are threatening Wanwan with her aunt and cousins."

"This is getting more and more absurd." Fu Yu'e rubbed her temples speechlessly: "The second daughter of the Ye family is the wife of the Duke of Rongguo, and the two younger ones are the Duke of Rongguo's own children. Have you ever seen anyone use their wife and children to blackmail their niece?"

Zhao Yingying also revealed a mocking smile: "Miss Chu is really Miss Ye's good sister. She can't even come up with a decent reason. Miss Ye is not stupid either. If the Duke of Rong doesn't care about the life and death of his wife and children, why should she, an outsider, meddle in other people's family affairs?"

"Alright," Consort Zhang said impatiently, her thoughts becoming increasingly chaotic, as she interrupted the conversation.

She always felt that this matter was not simple and it was not good to make a hasty conclusion, but she believed that time would prove everything and trusted her own judgment.

The daughter-in-law she has chosen will not be a worldly and petty person.

"Now that His Highness has returned safely, everyone should return to Yuezhou immediately."

Looking at the betrothal gifts outside the courtyard, Consort Zhang said solemnly, "What A'Ni said is true. The marriage certificate is in black and white and has been stamped by the government. Even if Wanwan is inexperienced, Ji Yuan is not a fool. He will give my Yongning Prince's Mansion an explanation sooner or later."

Upon hearing this, Fu Mingchi's heart stirred slightly.

"Wan'er, do you truly have unspeakable sorrows in your heart, or do you only want to take revenge on me?" he murmured to himself.

He was very upset at the time and had no intention of returning to Yuezhou. He went to Ye Wanshu's Fuyatang alone and had a lot of wine prepared. He drank one pot after another in the room, drinking seven or eight pots in a row, but he was not drunk at all.

Her son had just recovered a little when he started drinking heavily again, which worried Consort Zhang greatly. She summoned Zhu Wencai and instructed him, "The girl from the Chu family and the old and weak people from Taowu are all unfortunate. Take them back to Yuezhou to settle them down, so that no one will have any more bad intentions."

Thinking about her son's current condition, she said with great unease, "As for Your Highness, go and find some sleeping pills so that he can get a good night's sleep. We'll make further plans when we get back to Yuezhou."

Zhu Wencai was initially pleased to learn that the Dowager Consort wanted to arrange for Miss Ye's relatives and friends to return to Yuezhou, but when he heard that the Dowager Consort wanted him to drug His Highness, he became extremely troubled.

Thinking of the prince's appearance just now, Zhu Wencai still sent the drugged wine to Fuyatang.

So, after finishing the last pot of wine, Fu Mingchi fell into a deep sleep.

It was as if he had a very warm dream, in which he saw that fair little face smiling at him.

"Fu Mingchi, what every young lady loves most is for her husband to personally do her hair and makeup every day. Would you be willing to do my hair and makeup today?"

She smiled, her eyes crinkling, and clung tightly to him. Fu Mingchi had just replied with an "okay" when the smiling face in the mirror became increasingly blurry. A familiar dizziness washed over him, and he suddenly opened his eyes to find himself lying on a large canopy bed.

His head was still a little heavy. He looked around and realized that he had returned to the Prince's Palace.

Taking out the blue handkerchief and examining it quietly, Fu Mingchi's eyes were filled with complex emotions: "Wan'er, you really are a heartless person. You won't even linger in my dreams."

……