Save my man, why does he always turn out to be the savior?

Chapter 396 The Prince's Mystery: The Cannon Fodder Bride Forced into a Substitute Marquis'

Xia Yuzhong glanced at the paperweight and quickly replied, "This paperweight with the numbers 'Fu, Lu, Shou' was presented to His Majesty by Prince Jing after he returned to the capital."

Because of its beautiful design and auspicious meaning, His Majesty liked it very much and kept it in the Imperial Study.

After hearing Xia Yuzhong's words, Su Jinyue became somewhat certain. She examined the paperweight over and over for a long time but found nothing unusual.

But smelling the paperweight, Su Jinyue was certain that this was the problem.

Unable to detect the problem with the paperweight, Su Jinyue simply used her divine sense to investigate, and only then did she discover the abnormality inside the paperweight.

This paperweight, featuring the auspicious symbols of fortune, prosperity, and longevity, appears to be carved from a single piece of jade. However, the auspicious symbols and the jade base are not actually one piece; they are cleverly joined together by the craftsman's skill.

Su Jinyue skillfully pried open the Fu Lu Shou (福禄寿) and its base, and then discovered that the inside of the Fu Lu Shou had been hollowed out and was filled with pills made of medicinal powder.

These pills, through Emperor Xinghe's daily handling, slowly seeped into his body, causing him to be poisoned without his knowledge.

Su Jinyue showed the pills to Emperor Xinghe. Emperor Xinghe breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Su Jinyue had found the source of the poisoning, but he frowned again when he thought about who had sent them.

Prince Jing, Tang Jingfan, was ten years younger than Emperor Xinghe. Emperor Xinghe always treated him as both an elder brother and a father. After ascending the throne, Emperor Xinghe further bestowed upon him the title of prince and granted him a fiefdom.

Emperor Xinghe couldn't figure out why Tang Jingfan treated him this way, but Tang Jingfan had personally given him the Fu Lu Shou paperweight. Emperor Xinghe didn't believe that Tang Jingfan knew nothing about the paperweight's secrets.

Su Jinyue and Tang Ruijing exchanged a glance, feeling a sense of joy in their hearts.

Su Jinyue was just worried about how to tell Emperor Xinghe about Tang Jingfan's wolfish ambitions, but unexpectedly, the problem was solved.

After all this trouble, it's getting late. Now that we've found the problem, everything else is no longer relevant to Su Jinyue and her companion.

Su Jinyue wrote down the prescription for the antidote and promised Emperor Xinghe that she would keep it a secret. After that, she and Tang Ruijing left the Imperial Study.

Although there would be a family banquet later, Tang Ruijing and Su Jinyue still needed to pay their respects to the various palace ladies and get acquainted with them.

In fact, Su Jinyue and her companion didn't need to meet many people, just the mothers of the three princes. They didn't need to pay their respects to the other lower-ranking concubines.

Because of Consort De, the Empress disliked them, but Emperor Xinghe currently doted on Tang Ruijing, and since he posed no threat to the eldest prince Tang Ruibin, the Empress dared not do anything more.

In the end, the Empress could only maintain the airs of a legitimate mother, reprimand Tang Ruijing and Su Jinyue a few words, bestow gifts upon them, and then dismiss them.

The Consort Xian was very polite to Tang Ruijing and the other woman, and her tone was somewhat cautious. Su Jinyue sensed something unusual from the Consort Xian's attitude.

But when Su Jinyue probed carefully, the Consort Xian didn't seem to know the truth.

Perhaps there really is some kind of telepathic connection between a mother and her child; even without recognizing each other, they may still have feelings for one another.

After all, she was Tang Ruijing's biological mother, and Su Jinyue treated Consort Xian with much more respect and intimacy than she treated the Empress.

Having met the people and received a pile of gifts, Su Jinyue was extremely satisfied. If she could get gifts every time she entered the palace, she wouldn't mind coming more often.

When they arrived at the venue for the family banquet, Prince Jing and Consort Hua were also there.

Su Jinyue wondered if Song Zhihua was too confident in her disguise skills. Did she not care at all in this situation, or did she think that after eighteen years, no one would recognize her?

At this family dinner, Tang Jingfan and Song Zhihua behaved themselves well, probably knowing that there were fewer people and they didn't dare to cause any trouble.

When Emperor Xinghe arrived, he treated Tang Jingfan very intimately, showing no sign of his anger at discovering that Tang Jingfan had drugged him.

Su Jinyue sighed, "As expected of members of the royal family, they are all masters of acting."

At the family banquet, Emperor Xinghe asked Tang Ruijing which department he wanted to go to, since he was now a prince and should be assigned to a department like the other princes.

Tang Ruijing had thought about this issue beforehand, and he stated frankly that he wanted to go to the Ministry of Works.

Firstly, the Ministry of Works doesn't attract as much attention as the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Personnel, or the Ministry of War, so it's best for him to keep a low profile for now.

Secondly, Su Jinyue had shown him some books, and some interesting things could only be made by the Ministry of Works, such as lime.

Tang Ruijing wanted to go to the Ministry of Works. Emperor Xinghe frowned, but then relaxed his expression. He said, "Go if you want. It's not like you can't learn other things if you go to the Ministry of Works."

Emperor Xinghe understood the situation and readily agreed.

The other guests at the family banquet had varying expressions regarding Tang Ruijing's upcoming departure to the Ministry of Works.

But since the capital city of Xinghe had been decided, and no one else had the power to change it, they let it be.

At the family banquet, the eldest prince, Tang Ruibin, kept trying to strike up a conversation with Prince Jing, Tang Jingfan. Tang Jingfan seemed to enjoy chatting with the younger generation, and the two seemed to get along very well.

Su Jinyue looked on thoughtfully. In everyone's eyes, Prince Jing, Tang Jingfan, had always been a supporter of Emperor Xinghe. If the princes wanted to gain Emperor Xinghe's favor, starting with Prince Jing, Tang Jingfan, would be an effective way.

The eldest prince, Tang Ruibin, has always been ambitious, so it is not surprising that he tried to win over Tang Jingfan.

However, Tang Jingfan's attitude made Su Jinyue somewhat wary; he seemed to be consciously getting closer to the eldest prince, Tang Ruibin.

Su Jinyue knew that Tang Jingfan was not truly loyal to Emperor Xinghe, so his closeness to the eldest prince Tang Ruibin must have been for some other purpose.

Thinking of what had happened in the Imperial Study, Su Jinyue turned to look at Emperor Xinghe, whose smile didn't reach his eyes. She knew that Emperor Xinghe was concerned about Tang Jingfan's matter, so she didn't need to worry.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

At Zuixianlou, Lord Shen Mingze was led to a private room on the second floor. He stood at the door, remained silent for a moment, and then pushed the door open and entered the room.

The private room was already occupied. The woman sitting there had her hair styled in a bun and was stunningly beautiful. Although it was clear that she was getting on in years, her face was firm and there were no wrinkles around her eyes. She looked to be in her thirties, and you couldn't tell that she was nearly forty.

Judging from the woman's appearance, Shen Mingze knew that she had been doing well all these years.

Shen Mingze sat down silently opposite the woman, watching her graceful tea ceremony without saying a word.

The woman, Song Zhihua, finished preparing the tea, poured a cup of tea, and handed it to Shen Mingze.

"Mingze, it's been a long time. How have you been these past years?"

Shen Mingze gripped the teacup Song Zhihua handed him, his voice hoarse as he said, "You shouldn't have come back."

Song Zhihua smiled silently, took a sip of tea, and spoke slowly and deliberately.

"Eighteen years have passed, and it's time to put an end to some things."