The evil woman becomes the concubine and the villain is crushed to ashes

Xie Zhibai turned around and looked at his sister with a questioning look, wondering whether he should tell his father about the Fifth Prince. After all, his sister had only told him just now.

Xie Lingxi didn't mind, and briefly told Lord Xie that she and her elder brother had exchanged their knowledge of the cause of death of the Fifth Prince's biological mother for the Fifth Prince's help in breaking off the engagement.

At this time, the area near the carriage had been cleared and there were no outsiders. Lord Xie was shocked when he heard this.

"What! The Fifth Prince? And the cause of Lipin's death?"

"Father, keep your voice down!"

Xie Zhibai couldn't help but remind him, and Lord Xie finally came back to his senses, looked around, his eyebrows twisted so tightly that they could pinch a fly to death, and stared at Xie Lingxi and asked.

"Girl, why didn't you tell your father about such an important matter... No, how did you know about this?"

Lord Xie was also very curious about how his daughter knew such a secret matter.

Xie Lingxi said helplessly: "Father, how about... let's go back and talk about it? It's just right for me to see how I can make you believe it. If you believe it, I think the fifth prince will believe it too."

Xie Lingxi finished speaking and gave a bitter smile.

……

The private residence of Prince Chen.

"Good news, Your Highness!"

Si Ling walked into Prince Chen's bedroom with a happy face.

There was a faint smell of medicine in the room. Looking at the doctor who was packing his medicine box, Si Ling suppressed his smile and walked forward to ask.

"How is your highness?"

"Si Ling, come here."

Before the doctor could answer, a clear voice called Si Ling.

Si Ling could only temporarily put aside his worries about His Highness's health and let the doctor leave.

He walked over the screen, glanced at Si Jian, nodded, took a few steps forward and stopped three steps away from the bed, and said respectfully.

"Your Highness."

Sitting on the head of the bed, Rong Jingchen looked over.

"What good news? An imperial decree?"

Rong Jingchen asked straight to the point.

He still looked haggard, but seemed to be in better spirits. Si Ling looked at him for a moment and felt relieved. He then started talking happily about the Xie family.

"Yes! The imperial edict has come down, the emperor has agreed to cancel the engagement, now the Cheng'en Marquis' Mansion and the Changping Marquis' Mansion have no connection anymore, Xiao Yusheng can stop thinking about relying on Miss Xie."

Si Ling loves the princess and her family, and is mainly happy for His Highness that Miss Xie is finally free.

Rong Jingchen's expression also eased a lot. Just when he was about to ask about Xie Lingxi's situation, he heard Si Ling say again.

"By the way, Your Highness, Prince Xie just sent someone to pass on a message saying that the Fifth Prince wants to see Miss Xie."

While saying this, Si Ling carefully glanced at His Highness's expression.

Sure enough, when Rong Jingchen heard the news, his brows first frowned, then he showed a hint of displeasure, but more of confusion.

"Old Five? What did he do to see Miss Xie?"

Si Ling explained directly.

"I was just about to report this when news came from the palace that the Fifth Prince went to the Imperial Study. He entered before Crown Prince Xie but came out later than Crown Prince Xie. It is unclear what he said."

"As for why the Fifth Prince wanted to see Miss Xie, the person who came to deliver the message did not say, and I don't know either. However, based on the news from the palace, I dare to guess that it is related to the cancellation of the engagement."

Si Ling's guess was somewhat based on facts. After all, before this, the people in Changping Marquis' Mansion had almost no interaction with the Fifth Prince.

In addition, the Fifth Prince did not like to make friends with court officials, so it was even more unlikely that the two would have any contact.

But precisely because of this, it would be strange if the Fifth Prince really helped the Marquis of Changping to cancel the engagement.

Prince Rong Jingchen, who is also the second prince of the dynasty, can't help but recall his memories of the fifth prince -

I don’t know much about the fifth brother, and not only him, I am not close to any of the royal brothers.

After all, I have been in the military camp since I was ten years old. My father meant that I should hone myself, exhaust my mind and starve my body, so that I can become a talent.

But Rong Jingchen himself knew clearly that his father, or to be more precise, the emperor, had become very cold towards his son since some time ago.

I didn’t understand it when I was young until I accidentally did it one time, or maybe someone did it on purpose.

Let him hear some secret past events——

He doesn't seem to be the emperor's biological son.

in this case,

It seemed to make sense that his father was cold towards him.

As he got older, became more talented, and had more military achievements, this indifference turned directly into fear, with no transition in between. Apart from feeling helpless, he was not sad.

Because this further confirmed what he had heard when he was young -

The emperor and I are not biological father and son.

This is probably true.

Without this relationship, there would just be the ruler and his subjects.

So it seems acceptable that his father alienated him when he was a child, made him suffer in the military camp at a young age, and was afraid of him when he grew up, with no father-son relationship at all?

"Your Highness? Your Highness!"

Si Ling's call interrupted Rong Jingchen's memories of the past.

He raised his head, his expression calm, and looked at Si Ling and asked, "When and where shall we meet?"

Si Ling didn't react to what His Highness meant at first, but after coming to his senses he immediately spoke.

"The messenger did say that we will meet at Qingfeng Academy tomorrow. Miss Xie's brother, Xie Zhiqing, is studying at Qingfeng Academy, and Miss Xie will go there in the name of visiting her brother."

"As for the Fifth Prince, although he doesn't like to make friends with the rich and powerful, nor does he like to socialize with the court officials, he admires talented scholars and often goes to teahouses and academies, or even the suburbs, to drink tea and go for an outing with talented scholars."

"With this premise, it won't seem abrupt or arouse suspicion if I meet Miss Xie at Qingfeng Academy."

Rong Jingchen nodded, as if he had some idea of ​​how to do it, and then said.

"Si Ling, please make arrangements so that no one finds out. I will go to Qingfeng Academy in person tomorrow."

Si Jian, who had been silent, couldn't help but interrupt.

"Your Highness, you should take a good rest. It's just a trip to the academy, and I am willing to go there in person. If you are worried, I will be careful and bring back the first news!"

Rong Jingchen frowned: "No need, I will go there myself."

Si Jian has never been as good at speaking as Si Ling, so he looked at Si Ling and asked him to give some advice as well.

However, Si Ling, who had always cared about His Highness's health more than anyone else, did not respond to Si Jian's hint at this moment.

His eyes rolled and, contrary to his usual behavior, he started to disagree with Si Jian.

"I also think it's better for His Highness to go. Si Jian, please don't make things worse. Can you match His Highness's Qing Gong skills? The Fifth Prince will definitely bring many guards with high martial arts skills when he goes out. Please don't make a fool of yourself."

After saying that, he blocked Si Jian's mouth and looked at Rong Jingchen seriously: "Don't worry, Your Highness, I will make all the arrangements!"

Rong Jingchen's expression eased slightly, and a rare look of satisfaction appeared on his handsome face: "Well, go ahead."

Si Ling smiled and said, "Yes! Your Highness, please have a good rest so that you can be energetic to go to Qingfeng Academy tomorrow!"