Chapter 63 Delay
Prince Qi walked forward with a smile, raised his hand and tried to climb onto Mr. Chen San's shoulder, but Mr. Chen San dodged by leaning sideways.
Prince Qi was not angry, and immediately hooked Chen Erye's neck:
"I heard that you are also an official? But why haven't I seen you in court?"
"I am terrified." Master Chen wiped his sweat secretly: "My rank is too low, so I don't need to attend the morning court."
"Oh, so that's it!" King Qi let him go, patted his shoulder, and said in a serious tone:
"Then you should learn well from Elder Chen!"
"Yes, yes, your highness Prince Qi is right. I will study hard and serve the court, serve..."
"Your Highness Prince Qi." Seeing the fawning look of Second Master Chen, Third Master Chen's face turned cold and he interrupted his second brother:
"Come in, please."
Prince Qi nodded, walked into Shou'an Hall, and bowed to the senior old lady:
"Greetings to the old lady." Because the desert was irrigated into fields and famine relief was provided, the old lady was granted a third-rank imperial decree as an exception and no longer had to kneel when meeting the royal family.
The old lady quickly lifted up Prince Qi:
"Your Highness Prince Qi, this is not possible. Please sit down quickly."
Prince Qi sat down on the guest seat without hesitation, leaned back on the armchair, and started to praise:
"Madam Chen, you are getting younger and younger. You look the same as when I saw you as a child."
"No, I'm old. Now it's you young people's world."
The old lady's lips twitched, and she answered calmly.
“Not old. If you want to talk about old, Lord Chen is probably older than you. He is so young, but he acts like an old man all day long. If you don’t know, you would really think he is older than that old man Zhou Zheng.” Prince Qi picked up the pastry on the table carelessly and put it into his mouth.
Mr. Chen San didn't even raise his eyelids.
Prince Qi was gritting his teeth in hatred for Mr. Chen San's attitude of looking down on him, but he still looked indifferent on the surface.
"Lord Chen, I heard that the official from the Ministry of Personnel who was originally assigned to go to Lingnan got injured on the way after the court session today. Is that true?"
Master Chen San did not answer. He had received the news about this matter several hours ago. On his way home from court, Yang Shizhong encountered a thief who was robbing money on the street. Yang Shizhong could not bear to see this and chased the thief. However, he not only failed to catch the thief, but was also beaten by the thieves and had one leg broken.
It is estimated that Yang Shizhong of Lingnan cannot go. For this matter, his teacher Zhou Zheng entered the palace an hour ago.
Mr. Chen San did not respond to Prince Qi's words.
King Qi did not mind and said to himself:
"If this is true, then your cabinet will be busy. Last time, the one from the Ministry of Industry was about to leave, but something went wrong before he set off. The same thing happened to Yang Shizhong."
Just because Mr. Chen San didn’t respond doesn’t mean others won’t respond.
Following the meaning of Prince Qi's words, Master Chen murmured:
"Your Highness, what you said seems to be true. It's okay for the first time, but every time someone is about to go, something happens. It seems to me that someone doesn't want the court to send someone."
Master Chen San frowned. The cabinet had already guessed this possibility, but there was no evidence and the emperor had no intention of investigating further, so it was not brought to the table. It was a tacit knowledge among everyone, otherwise it would not have been delayed for two extra months.
Now that Prince Qi brought this to the Chen family for discussion, Mr. Chen San couldn't help but doubt his motives.
Master Chen San interrupted the discussion and asked Prince Qi:
"Why did the prince come here? You didn't come here just to talk about this, did you? Sorry, this matter is decided by the Heavenly Family. The Chen Family will obey the Heavenly Family's arrangements in everything."
King Qi:
"Of course not. I'm just really curious and want to see if Elder Chen has any latest news."
"Also, Elder Chen, do you know? This prince has a concubine who is also from the Pingnan Marquis's Mansion. Speaking of which, this prince and Elder Chen are brothers-in-law. I wonder if I would be lucky enough to meet this sister?"
"It's not convenient." Mr. Chen San refused.
"It doesn't matter if it's inconvenient. I'll bring my concubine with me next time." Prince Qi changed the subject again:
"Last time, your daughter of the Chen family got engaged to the son of the Tao family. I was busy and couldn't come to join in the fun. When is their wedding scheduled? I will definitely be there..."
Qi Wangyue said later,
The Chen family felt that Prince Qi had nothing to do after eating, so the questions he asked were all over the place and full of nonsense!
No one else in the Chen family paid any attention to him, and Mr. Chen San's face looked as if ink could drip out.
The old lady just left.
Only Master Chen kept a flattering smile on his face, and he was very cooperative and echoed Prince Qi's words.
Mr. Chen San saw it all, but said nothing in the end.
Prince Qi is favored by the Queen, who is the niece of Prime Minister Zhang Lianci. He does not want to cause trouble for Zhou Zheng, and Master Chen San will not offend Prince Qi unless it is absolutely necessary.
Although he was unhappy, Mr. Chen San still stayed in Shou'an Hall to accompany him.
This situation continued until Feng Xiao came in and whispered something into Mr. Chen San's ear.
Mr. Chen San walked out.
"Lord Chen, Lord Chen." Prince Qi called him from behind.
Master Chen San stopped and turned back, his dark eyes fixed on Prince Qi.
Prince Qi swallowed what he was about to say and said with a wry smile:
"Master Chen, what's the matter? Why are you leaving in such a hurry?"
Thinking of what Feng Xiao had just said, and looking at Prince Qi's strange behavior, he had been unable to understand it before. On weekdays, although he and Prince Qi were not mortal enemies, they were definitely not in a relationship where they would visit each other late at night.
It seems that he came here on purpose to tie his feet so that he could do something to Liu Yu?
There was a hint of coldness in Mr. Chen San's eyes when he looked at Prince Qi.
Prince Qi was wary of these old foxes in the cabinet.
Thinking that the prince should have succeeded, even if Chen Zhihe went there, he would most likely not be able to find anyone.
He should also withdraw, otherwise it would arouse suspicion. He didn't want to create a smart and resourceful rival like Chen Zhihe for himself just for the sake of that idiot prince.
He shrugged:
"Lord Chen, I'm just asking casually. If you really have something to say, tell me. The guards I brought with me today were chosen by my father. They are all one in a million. If you really have any trouble, I will let them go with you."
"No need. If there is nothing else, Prince Qi should go back first!" Master Chen San left without looking back.
Now that Third Master Chen is gone, it is impossible for Prince Qi to continue dealing with someone like Second Master Chen.
When he walked out of the Chen Mansion's gate, Chu Ying was already waiting outside the gate.
Chu Ying reported in a low voice:
"Master, I have searched the East Courtyard thoroughly, but I can't find the person you mentioned."
"No?"
Shouldn't it be? He had seen all the girls from the Liu family, except Liu Yu who had been hiding in the Chen family and never showed up.
Isn’t that beauty a girl from the Liu family?
Regardless of whether it was true or not, Li Qi immediately decided to find an opportunity to ask Liu Huan to invite her sister, Liu Yu, to the palace.
Since we can't find out what she is, let her show up.