HLnovel Chapter 182 Who is helping her?
Chapter 182 Who is helping her?
As Lüyao spoke, she quickly covered her mouth.
“Miss, I didn’t mean it. I just heard it, and it might not be true. This is also the first time I’ve met Young Master Sheng.”
Luyao was just feeling emotional, after all, she never expected to meet the legendary young master. But when she thought about what she had just heard, and considering that Lu Yangyang was still living in the Duke of Sheng's mansion and was a cousin of the family, it was not appropriate for her to say those things.
Lu Yangyang didn't think too much about it. She was just surprised that someone as arrogant as Sheng Junyi was actually a regular at brothels. He was truly a hidden talent.
Both are children of the Duke of Sheng's family, but the elder brother abandoned his literary pursuits for the sake of the people, his ideals, and his family, going from a mere scholar to fighting on the frontier to protect his country. Meanwhile, his younger brother only cares about frequenting brothels. Tsk.
Lu Yangyang felt even more disgusted with Sheng Junyi.
Not only is he like that arrogant Duke Sheng, unable to distinguish right from wrong, but he also doesn't keep himself clean.
I should definitely stay further away from him from now on.
Lu Yangyang couldn't help but say, "I also think his eyesight is terrible."
Once inside, she called for Granny Shen and asked her to take Lüyao to settle in. She then went to the small study to ponder the information she had just extracted from Sheng Yunzhu.
Sheng Yunzhu said that she obtained the medicine from Abbess Qinglian in the name of the Third Prince.
If she wasn't mistaken, besides offering tributes to the Empress Dowager, the Fairy of Goodness should frequently help noblewomen in the capital obtain medicine, and might even have a regular clientele.
Two to three hundred children have been reported missing to the local authorities, but what is the actual number?
In reality, many of these people were not reported to the authorities, and some were abducted from other places. According to Uncle Cheng, he would only consider abducting people from nearby areas if he was short of available goods. This means that when he had enough, he often bought people from traffickers from other places.
The boxes of skeletons she found in the secret room contained far more than two hundred bones; these were just the ones they hadn't had time to deal with. Who knows how many more were secretly disposed of? So, while it appeared that only the two heart-nourishing pills offered to the Empress Dowager each month were a fixed amount, in reality, the number flowing out from the hands of the Immortal Maiden Shangshan and Abbess Qinglian was definitely not small.
Did the Third Prince know about their scheme? And what role did he play in it?
And then there's Sheng Yunzhu. The abduction incident last night was probably related to Sheng Yunzhu, but no matter how much she investigated, Sheng Yunzhu just disappeared without a trace. Who was helping her?
His Highness the Third Prince?
Or is there someone else behind her?
She used to think that Sheng Yunzhu was just ruthless, but now it seems that she was too naive. There must be someone behind Sheng Yunzhu.
Lu Yangyang picked up her brush, dipped it in ink, and smeared all the symbols she had drawn on the paper into a ball before crumpling the scrap paper and throwing it into the wastebasket, a slight smile playing on her lips.
……
Sheng Junyi escorted Sheng Yunzhu back to her courtyard before going to the Duke of Sheng's study.
When Duke Sheng saw him enter, he asked, "How did it go when I asked you to appease Yunzhu?"
"Father, do we really have no other choice?" Sheng Junyi couldn't help but ask.
The Duke of Sheng gave him a cold look: "What do you mean?"
“With my elder brother stirring things up like this, Yunzhu might not be on our side. Even if the Third Prince does ascend the throne in the future, does Father really think she will support the Sheng family?” Sheng Junyi had never questioned this before, but many recent events have made him start to have doubts.
Sheng Yunzhu has her own ulterior motives. If she is coaxed properly, there won't be any problems. But if Sheng Yunzhu is removed from the Sheng family genealogy, given her temperament, he really can't guarantee that she will still be of one mind with the Sheng family if she gains power in the future.
"She had no choice," the Duke of Sheng said coldly. "I used to love her so much, and even after finding my biological daughter, I still favored her. What more does she want? She's just the granddaughter of a country wet nurse. With such a background, without the Duke of Sheng's mansion, she's nothing. She thinks she can rely on the Third Prince's favor? That's just wishful thinking! She hasn't even married into the family yet. Without the Sheng family, she doesn't even have the right to be the Third Prince's concubine!"
"Just now in the courtyard, I saw Yangyang arguing with her. She brought up the matter of the Qinglian Temple's Nourishing Heart Pills that Yunzhu gave to my mother a few days ago. For some reason, Yangyang insisted on asking her where the Qinglian Temple's Nourishing Heart Pills came from, whether they were obtained from the Immortal Shangshan. Yunzhu had no choice but to say that she obtained them from Abbess Qinglian under the Third Prince's name."
"You know about the Qinglian Temple's Nourishing Heart Pills. Only two pills reach the Empress Dowager each month, and even His Majesty doesn't have any. The Third Prince is willing to incur such a favor for her. If she truly gets what she wants in the future, she might not need the Duke of Sheng's mansion," Sheng Junyi said calmly.
Duke Sheng frowned, pondering for a moment, "Really?"
"It's true."
Duke Sheng slammed his hand on the table in anger: "Your elder brother is a good-for-nothing scoundrel! He's just like your maternal grandfather!"
Sheng Junyi twitched her lips slightly: "Father, why don't you say this in front of Grandfather? At least my eldest brother doesn't swear, he only talks about rules and reason."
Duke Sheng was furious: "Shut up!"
Thinking of all the scolding he had received from his father-in-law over the years, the Duke of Sheng's face darkened even more: "Given your elder brother's temperament, he must have already persuaded all the clan elders by tomorrow. The matter of the clan genealogy will be very difficult to handle. Go and withdraw ten thousand taels of silver from my private treasury for Yunzhu later, and make sure to appease her."
"I've heard that Miss Cheng is also close to the Third Prince. Remember to tell Yunzhu to be careful and not let someone else get there first."
"I'll think of another way with the clan elders. If we can stop them, it's best not to touch the clan genealogy."
"Hmm." Sheng Junyi responded casually, but then thought of something else: "I always felt that Yangyang deliberately brought up the Qinglian Temple's Nourishing Heart Pill today, and even forced Yunzhu to admit where the medicine came from, rather than just being a provocation."
"how do I say this?"
Sheng Junyi shook his head: "At first, I thought Yangyang was just a little girl from the countryside with little experience, but in fact, judging from the things she has done, she is very smart. I had someone inquire about her scores when she entered Taiming Academy. She only took two subjects, both of which were top grades. She only studied at home for less than two months without a teacher. I initially thought that her mother had helped her get the admission notice, but after inquiring, I found out that her mother had this idea but did not use it. She took the exam on her own, without any help from anyone."
"There was no cheating either?" Duke Shengguo didn't believe it.
“Father, is Taiming Academy an easy place to cheat?” Sheng Junyi looked at the Duke of Sheng and said, “So we have to admit that she is really smart. If that’s the case, then her dislike for Yunzhu and her talking to Yunzhu may not just be a simple provocation, but a deliberate act.”