Having a Baby Before Marrying a Wicked Husband - Chapter 112

“It turns out that General Wang has been dead for a long time, but I didn’t know and couldn’t visit his grave…” Luzhu choked up, her eyes reddening, truly grieving but unable to express it, only suppressing it within her heart.

“The General’s tomb is in the north; if you wish to express your sentiments, you may go there.” Jiang Manyue said calmly

“Thank you so much, sir; I’ve lost my composure. The General saved my life, and I must repay him that favor. Do you gentlemen have any requests?” Luzhu wiped away her tears and bowed slightly.

“Do you know a person named Qi Lan?” Jiang Manyue asked.

Yan Cai noticed that, although Jiang Manyue phrased it as a question, his tone was very certain. If he hadn’t been sure of this matter, he wouldn’t have approached Luzhu.

Lu Zhu nodded. Qi Lan would come to listen to her play every few days.

“Tomorrow night, Qi Lan will come. I wonder what you need me to do?”

“We hope you can help us stage a play.” It was Yan Cai who spoke, because Yan Cai’s tone were the most convincing and least aggressive. Therefore, it is most appropriate for Yan Cai to tell her their purpose.

Luzhu only listened for a while and then agreed.

Even though this matter was only harmful to her and not beneficial, if Qi Lan came to settle old scores later, Luzhu might be in danger. Nevertheless, she resolutely agreed.

Before Yan Cai could say anything more, they were already ready to protect Miss Luzhu, but they had no chance to say these words.

Luzhu smiled and said, “Consider this as me repaying the General’s favor. After doing this, I also want to leave here with the money I have saved over the years.”

It was a very composed and calm smile. She had been a stranger in this land, but Luzhu was not very sad about the past. However, now she also had thoughts of returning to her hometown.

She held the private seal and asked, “May I… may I keep this private seal as a memento?”

Chen Nan had intended to refuse. This was the General’s legacy and a very important private seal. However, Yan Cai pushed him. If it were any other soldier doing this, he would have slapped them long ago, but now the one pushing him was the prince.

Chen Nan could only endure the grievance and back down. What could he do? He could only endure this bitterness on his own!

In the end, Chen Nan gave the private seal to Luzhu, partly because Yan Cai was glaring at him, and another was that Jiang Manyue’s expression was unfriendly. Most importantly, it was because he owed Luzhu a favor; it wouldn’t be right not to give her something in return.

No matter how important the General’s private seal is, it is nothing more than an object. Now that its owner was buried in the ground, there was no need to hold onto it so tightly.

It was better to let it go and move on.

Seeing Chen Nan giving away the private seal, Yan Cai smiled. Chen Nan suspected that, if he hadn’t given it, he might have ended up in trouble tonight.

However, Chen Nan always suspected that the talented Tanghua Lang knew too much. But with the prince watching closely from the side, he never got the chance to ask. Chen Nan could only deceive himself, thinking it might just be good luck.

The group discussed the play with Luzhu for the next day.

Sure enough, Qi Lan arrived the next day. Qi Lan had a decent appearance, resembling a spoiled young master. There was a room next to Luzhu’s with a small hole in the wall, where a special tool was inserted to transmit sound from the other side but not vice versa. It had been installed by the brothel’s madame to monitor the girls.

The three listened as Qi Lan entered the room, humming a tune.

Chen Nan was worried that Luzhu might mess up due to nervousness, but she remained calm, showing no signs of abnormality.

“Master Qi, it’s been a long time since you came to listen to Luzhu play,” she said.

Qi Lan sighed: “I’ve been busy these days. Why, I just came here after taking a break.”

“Master Qi, don’t lie to me. Luzhu is naive and can’t stand being deceived.”

“Of course not. If it weren’t for the Chen army’s granary catching fire, which unexpectedly turned into a bit of good news, I wouldn’t have had the time to come over and sit here,” Qi Lan said, sounding a bit disgruntled.

“Now Xierli has taken credit for it again, and today he even received a reward from the king. I really wonder; it’s not like Xierli set fire to Chen army’s granary, so why did he receive the credit?”

Yan Cai could only understand a few words, but when he heard this, he immediately realized what Qi Lan was talking about. Yan Cai raised his head and saw Chen Nan’s face turning completely black, while Jiang Manyue’s didn’t seem to show any change.

Luzhu’s fair and tender palm patted his chest, comforting him. “Master Qi, don’t be angry, let me play a song for you.”

“Hold off on that for now. Go pour me a cup of tea; I’m thirsty.” Qi Lan rudely pushed her aside, but he noticed something very familiar on Luzhu’s dressing table. Yan Cai, who witnessed this scene, held his breath, afraid that Qi Lan would notice something amiss.

It was the token they forged for Xierli—Xierli’s jade pendant.

Yan Cai held his breath. It was clear that there was a wall between them; the other side couldn’t hear any sound from here. Moreover, Yan Cai still needed Jiang Manyue to translate for him, but he was still very nervous.

Jiang Manyue’s translation in his ear was steady, which helped calm Yan Cai’s nerves.

However, Qi Lan didn’t notice anything wrong. Holding the jade pendant, he thought of Xierli. Sometimes Xierli would come here to listen to the zither. It seemed normal for his pendant to be here.

However, Qi Lan saw another white jade bowl. The symbols on the bottom of the bowl were extremely familiar. Isn’t it exactly what the king showed him last time? How could Luzhu, a singer, have such a thing?

Luzhu approached with the tea.

“Who gave you this?” Qi Lan’s gentle demeanor suddenly changed, as he grabbed Luzhu’s wrist tightly. The tea cup in Luzhu’s hand fell to the ground with a crash, splashing her clothes with tea. Qi Lan held her tightly, leaving a red mark on Luzhu’s fair skin.

“I… It was a guest.”

“A guest? Which guest?”

“Just an ordinary guest.” Luzhu looked at Qi Lan in fear and began to stutter, “I… I can’t say.”

First, it was an ordinary guest, then suddenly it couldn’t be said. It was truly strange.

“Can’t say?” Qi Lan became more suspicious. Who could make Luzhu unable to speak? Qi Lan subconsciously associated this guest with the guy he hated the most.

Xierli is just a mongrel, yet he dares to look down on him, showing contempt. Qi Lan is extremely disgusted with him.

“It was Xierli who gave it to you, wasn’t it?”

“N-no, it’s not…”

“No?” Qi Lan pushed Luzhu aside and picked up Xierli’s jade pendant. “This isn’t his pendant? I see now, he must have come here to show off after being rewarded by the king for his accomplishments. That mongrel! I knew it, nothing good could come out of mixing with the blood of Chen Dynasty.”

“It’s not. This doesn’t belong to General Xierli’s,” Luzhu explained tearfully, but her explanation was feeble, only serving to reinforce Qi Lan’s suspicions.

He had wanted to bring down Xierli for too long.Xierli had been overshadowing him for a long time! He was obviously just a bastard with Chen’s blood, yet he had always been more respected than Qi Lan. People would scorn when talking about him, calling him cunning, but when it came to Xierli, there was often praise.

How ridiculous. Clearly, he was the legitimate, pure-blooded noble of Beirong.

Qi Lan suspected whether Xierli had already found the treasure and intentionally kept it to himself… He couldn’t suppress this malicious speculation.

This malicious conjecture made him even more excited, and Qi Lan couldn’t deny that he enjoyed entertaining this thought.

Both items were taken away by Qi Lan. He didn’t really suspect Luzhu much, after all, it was more his own arrogance than anything else that prevented him from taking her more seriously.

Lu Zhu’s palms were sweating, and she looked at the three of them with some fear.

“Is this okay?”

“You’ve done well enough. The next step is our business.” Yan Cai thanked the gentle woman, “Take care of yourself. If you need our help, please be sure to let us know.”

Jiang Manyue and Yan Cai exchanged a glance; they naturally knew that this alone was not enough to achieve their goal—making the King of Beirong suspicious of Xierli.

They were certain he would pay a visit to Xierli’s mansion to investigate. For this reason, another piece of “incriminating evidence” could not be missing.

Yan Cai couldn’t help with this task now. Jiang Manyue was also unwilling to let Yan Cai take on such a dangerous task.

Just as they planned, Qi Lan took the evidence to complain to the King of Beirong. Qi Lan had a grudge against Xierli and wanted to add fuel to the fire to discredit him.

And the King of Beirong had long suspected Xierli of treachery. Qi Lan’s intentional smearing only deepened his suspicions. However, it was not enough.

Reason told the King of Beirong that Xierli is loyal. Not long ago, he had just awarded Xierli for his merits.

But emotionally, the King of Beirong was truly afraid. Xierli had won too much popular support, and many people rallied behind him. That was why the King of Beirong feared Xierli. No emperor could tolerate someone who was more beloved by the people than himself.

Especially someone with legitimate inheritance rights.

That is a threat—a thorn in the side, a thorn in the flesh!

It made him unable to sleep, feeling as if he were being pricked by needles.

Qi Lan was quite skilled at speculating on the monarch’s thoughts. Just by looking at the King of Beirong’s expression, he knew what was on his mind.

“Your Majesty, why don’t we take a peek inside General Xierli’s mansion? If Xierli truly has such intentions, there must be some clues hidden in his home.”

“That makes sense.” the King of Beirong also wanted to see what might be hidden in General Xierli’s mansion.

Without drawing attention, the two changed into ordinary civilian clothes and went to General Xierli’s mansion. They learned from the servants that Xierli was not at home at the moment.

The two quietly entered the backyard of the mansion, where they didn’t encounter many people along the way. Xierli’s mansion had never had many servants attending to it.

As they reached the courtyard, they suddenly heard the voices of Xierli and a woman.

They paused and discreetly hid behind a wall to listen. They were standing quite far away, so they could only faintly hear Xierli’s voice, but the woman’s voice was soft yet audible.

The voices were intermittent, and at times they would lower their voices to speak. The King of Beirong only caught a few words.

“General… treasure… gift… King…”

This bastard Xierli!