Forced to be a third person: I turned around and left the palace to marry a villain

In a blink of an eye, the sun was approaching noon, and Jiang Xue was sitting in her room reading a book when Xiaochun arrived.

"Your Highness, the consort has gone down to the study."

"Can you tell him that I invite him to have dinner with me?" Jiang Xue raised her head and asked.

"Xianglu is waiting at the main entrance. The prince-in-law told him as soon as he got off the sedan chair."

"How did the consort react?"

"The Prince Consort said that he originally planned to come to see His Highness after going to court, but it is inconvenient to wear court clothes. He will go back and change into regular clothes before coming here."

"Jiang Qibin said this morning, where did he stay last night?"

"The prince-in-law should have rested in the main house. I checked with my servants yesterday and they said that the prince-in-law always stayed in Lumingzhai before marriage."

"Yeah," Jiang Xue put down the book in her hand, "What clothes should I change into in the study?"

She smiled and said, "Go out and take a look. Jiang Qibin should be back."

Xiaochun responded and went out.

Huang Fu must have returned from delivering the letter, otherwise Gu Lintan wouldn't be in such a hurry to go to the study. Jiang Xue thought to herself.

Whatever, she was in no hurry at the moment.

She called out, and in came the palace maid Xiangyu.

She said: "You go to the kitchen and tell Fu Dong to arrange for people to put the meals in the small side hall. You go and ask Qingxuan Courtyard to wait at the door. If the prince-in-law comes later, just lead him there directly."

The fragrant rain should fall.

Jiang Xue walked to the dressing table, looked at her makeup in the bronze mirror, thought about it carefully, picked up a handkerchief and wiped off all the lipstick.

For people who are sick, it is better not to look too delicate.

Not long after, Xiaochun came in with Jiang Qibin.

"Your Highness, Guard Jiang has just returned to the courtyard." Xiaochun said.

"I have met Your Highness." Jiang Qibin saluted with clasped fists.

Jiang Xue walked out of the inner room, bypassed the screen that separated the inner room and the outer hall, and walked directly in front of the two of them.

"What's the gain?"

"I followed Huang Fu all morning, but the strange thing is that he didn't go to see anyone in particular, and I didn't see him give anything."

"Oh?" Jiang Xue frowned and asked, "Then tell me carefully where he went this morning and who he met."

She looked outside the room and said, "Let's make a long story short and focus on what's important."

"Yes." Jiang Qibin responded and immediately began to recall.

"Huang Fu asked his servants to hitch a carriage and go out this morning. The concierge said he was going out to do some shopping."

"He only sent one servant to drive, and he went to four places in total."

"One is the grain store on East Street, where I bought a few bags of rice and flour."

"The first place is Dongji Silk and Satin Store. I bought some pieces of cloth with simple and elegant colors."

"One place is Lin'an Street in the west of the city. I bought four boxes of tea from Liangji Tea Store."

"Finally, I went to the market in the south of the city, which is also a grain store, and bought a few baskets of fruits and vegetables such as potatoes, cassava, and taro."

"I found a suitable place to keep an eye on him several times when he came in and out. His conversations with these merchants were not abnormal, and he indeed asked the waiters to remove the purchased items from the store."

"Buying?" Jiang Xue looked at Xiaochun, who shook his head.

"The housekeeper Xiaochun has not taken stock of the supplies in the house. Who gave him the order to buy them? Who gave him the money to buy them?"

"Besides, Gu's house is in the north of the city. We went to the grain store on East Street together. What crops should we buy? Can't we buy them together? Do we have to go to the south of the city again?"

Jiang Qibin asked: "Your Highness thinks there is something wrong with the grain store in the south of the city? I will go and investigate now."

"No," Jiang Xue sneered and said, "Do you remember who the business owners or waiters he negotiated with him in these four places are?"

Jiang Qibin said: "Yes, I remember their faces. What does Your Highness need me to do?"

"Go to each house and ask." Jiang Xue said.

"You only need to say that you are the servant from Prince Consort Gu's house. Butler Huang asked you to get the coupons for the things you bought in the morning."

"Colleague tickets?" Jiang Qibin asked, "What if Huang Fu took them all in the morning?"

"Whether he takes it or not, you just need to reveal it to them in words. The Gu Mansion has changed its housekeeper. The new housekeeper is particularly picky and difficult to deal with." Jiang Xue said slowly.

"Take the opportunity to get in touch with them," Jiang Xue said. "Let's find out when Huang Fu went shopping before and what he bought each time."

"You can make up the specific lies on your own." Jiang Xue smiled, "If there is something more difficult to deal with, just use some money cleverly."

"Yes." Jiang Qibin responded.

"No matter what you discover, be sure to remember carefully what these people said to you, and come back and tell me."

After Jiang Xue finished giving instructions, she said to Xiaochun:

"Let's go. I'll ask Fu Dong to put the lunch in the small side hall and accompany me there to wait for the prince-in-law."

When she was leaving, she looked back at Jiang Qibin.

The young man has red lips and white teeth, and is handsome in appearance. He is wearing the guard clothes prepared by the palace and has an extraordinary temperament. He really does not look like a "boy".

She said to Jiang Qibin: "You go back to the wing to rest first. After lunch, I will ask someone to prepare a set of clothes for you. You can put it on before moving on."

"You are so handsome." Jiang Xue lowered her head and said to Xiaochun.

Jiang Qibin's ears suddenly turned red.

Xiaochun covered her mouth and chuckled.

"I'd also like to try to darken my face." Jiang Xue said calmly and turned to leave.

"How come you look fairer than me when you look closely?" Jiang Xue muttered a few words and disappeared from Jiang Qibin's eyes.

Ask about the small side hall of Qingxuan.

When Jiang Xue arrived, her index fingers were moved by the aroma of the food.

She didn't use much of yesterday's dinner or today's breakfast. She had been hungry for a long time, and now she just wanted to eat with chopsticks.

Xiaochun asked: "Your Highness, do you need a servant to urge the consort?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Gu Lintan stepped forward to the threshold of the small side hall.

Hearing Xiaochun's words, he immediately asked: "But His Highness has been kept waiting for so long?"

Jiang Xue put on a gentle smile and said softly: "It's okay, consort, I've just arrived."

Gu Lintan's face was filled with concern. He quickly walked to Jiang Xue and supported her, asking:

"Is Your Highness in good health? Why does he look so bad?"

Ha, man. She just took off the red lipstick, but she felt that her face and mouth were all white and she felt unwell.

Jiang Xue rolled her eyes silently, but had to keep a gentle look on her face.

"It's okay. Prince Consort, please sit down and have a meal quickly."

Gu Lintan had actually been waiting for Jiang Xue to take the initiative to mention what happened last night.

He wanted to know Jiang Xue's attitude towards this matter, whether she was simply dissatisfied with his ability to arrange escorts, or whether she was suspicious.

Helplessly, Jiang Xue just called him to eat and didn't mention it at all.

He had no choice but to sit next to Jiang Xue.

Seeing that Jiang Xue had not raised chopsticks for a long time and seemed to be looking gloomy, he could only say:

"Your Highness, I deserve death for what happened last night."

"What did the consort say?" Jiang Xue frowned, with confusion on his face.

"Isn't it Xiao Xiao's fault last night? What does it have to do with the consort?" Jiang Xue said softly, "Doesn't the consort know anything about the thief's origins?"

Gu Lintan's heart sank. Did she say this out of pure curiosity, or was she suspicious and deliberately testing?

"Of course not," Gu Lintan said, "I just hate that I didn't take care of the guards in the mansion, and let them neglect it so much that it frightened His Highness!"

"Since there is no such thing, please don't blame yourself, Prince Consort." Jiang Xue comforted her, "Does Prince Consort feel that the guards in the mansion have failed in their responsibilities?"

"Of course I have failed in my duty," Gu Lintan said more and more, the look of regret became more apparent, "It's all my fault for being too lenient with them on weekdays! I will punish them severely this time!"

"How is the consort planning to punish him?" Jiang Xue raised her chopsticks, picked up a piece of lotus root, and placed it in Gu Lin's bowl.

Seeing her move, Gu Lintan sincerely reached out his hand and gently covered the back of her hand, saying:

"If you neglect your duties and cause trouble to the princess, you will severely punish each of them with ten pieces of gold and one piece of silver per month. I believe they will not dare to do it again."

"Consort, do you think they have neglected their duties?" Jiang Xue asked.

Seeing that Gu Lintan didn't answer, she continued: "I don't think so."

"When he was a child, there was a small yellow gate in the palace. The eunuch in charge asked him to organize the books in the palace library. After more than a month of organizing, he not only failed to complete the task, but also misplaced several books, resulting in the loss of an extremely precious volume of scriptures. .”

"The mistakes he made were so serious that the eunuch in charge didn't dare to punish him without permission, so he came here to ask his mother."

"The Queen Mother did not punish the little Huangmen. She only asked Aunt Dong to go to the Palace Attendant to select a Huangmen who could read and write, and asked him to replace the original one and reorganize the library."

"Do you think your mother-in-law's decision is too soft?"

Gu Lintan said: "Your Majesty, Yihui, there must be a reason for this. It seems that Xiao Huangmen was originally illiterate, but was assigned to the library, so even if he was punished severely, he would not be able to do this at all. "

Jiang Xue smiled and said: "The prince-in-law deserves to be the number one scholar. This is quite right."

"I was puzzled at the time and asked my mother why she was not punished. My mother said that in order to organize the palace affairs, the punishment must be appropriate."

"A talented person can be punished if he cannot do something within his ability."

"If an incompetent person cannot accomplish something, no matter how severe the punishment is, he will not be able to accomplish the matter."

"It would be better if we quickly replace the person, so that things can be pushed forward and completed."

Jiang Xue raised her eyebrows, looking at Gu Lintan's reaction with amusement in her eyes.

"The prince-in-law said, yes or no?"