What Bad Intentions can the Yandere Crown Prince have?-Chapter 388 - 384: Can You Claim a Clear Conscience?
Wenren Jia had already left Wenren Bookstore.
He had briefly participated in assisting with the revision of the old calendar in Chongwen Hall before resigning.
His aspirations didn’t lie there, as he yearned more for travelling and exploring mountains and rivers.
Tang Xiaobai was reluctant to let his talent go to waste, so she dispatched several clerks to accompany him to engage in some surveying work while he traveled.
After all, whether it’s astronomy and calendar systems or geography and maps, all require empirical data support.
After Wenren Jia left, Wenren Bookstore was handed over to Pei Xuan.
Pei Xuan would visit the bookstore every day, and spending the night there was also a common occurrence.
When reading, he disliked interruptions and usually only brought along a single servant.
If something happened to warrant sending the servant away, he would stay in the bookstore alone.
This situation could be called solitude, or it could be called being isolated.
After a reminder from Li Mu, Tang Xiaobai was more inclined to call this being isolated.
However, she hadn’t had the chance to remind Pei Xuan to pay attention to safety before an incident occurred—
...
The Eastern Palace, Guangtian Hall, located north of Lizheng Hall, was traditionally the residence of the Crown Princess Consort.
But ever since her marriage, Tang Xiaobai had been living with Li Mu in Lizheng Hall, using Guangtian Hall only for handling palace affairs and receiving external dignitaries.
The hall doors were open, and a figure gradually stepped out from behind the screen.
Delicate, dignified, like bamboo, like orchids.
But the stance was too straight, straight to the point of stiffness.
Tang Xiaobai watched the figure approaching on the screen for a while, then put down the scroll in her hand.
When putting it down, she failed to control her emotions and strength, causing the scroll to hit the table with a "thud," subtly carrying anger.
The person behind the screen paused their step slightly, then still walked with proper etiquette, circumventing the screen to stand before Tang Xiaobai.
Their elegant neck bent like bending bamboo, their tone calm as always: "Crown Princess Consort."
Tang Xiaobai scrutinized her closely.
The Gu Family’s second branch’s children were both steady by nature, or else the Duke Yan Mansion wouldn’t have once considered Gu Wan as the rightful first daughter-in-law.
Even with such a grave matter, Gu Wan’s courtesy was impeccable, though her complexion was slightly pale.
"What exactly happened?" Tang Xiaobai asked.
Gu Wan’s complexion paled further, her lips pressed hard before she said: "Someone framed us."
Just these four words.
Tang Xiaobai suddenly felt irritated: "I know someone framed you, I’m asking how this happened? Why were you at Wenren Bookstore?!"
Early in the morning, West Market had just opened.
The first batch of customers at Wenren Bookstore stumbled upon Pei Xuan and Gu Wan inside.
It was clearly a calculated trap.
Tang Xiaobai summoned Gu Wan to the palace not to blame, but Gu Wan merely threw those four words at her, igniting her frustration.
She knew Gu Wan to be a decisive person, as seen from her planning her marriage independently back then.
But Gu Wan might be too decisive.
Like when she plotted her marriage back then, if she didn’t want to marry Tang Ziqian, she could’ve indicated it openly or discreetly; the Tang and Gu families were close-knit, they wouldn’t disregard her feelings.
Yet she orchestrated such a scheme, leaving Tang Jiaojiao with lingering resentment to this day.
It’s the same this time.
The incident this morning had spread widely by the afternoon.
The conspiracy was laid bare, and Gu Wan neither asked nor spoke, and when asked, she only gave four words.
Is it confidence? Or suspicion?
But since Tang Xiaobai brought it up to this extent, Gu Wan, who was previously unwilling to speak, finally said: "Someone lured me to Wenren Bookstore under the guise of Pei The Ninth Son."
Tang Xiaobai frowned: "Using Senior Brother Pei’s name? What excuse did they use to lure you there?"
Gu Wan hesitated for a moment, then said: "I have a book, and at Pei——"
"Xunzi Explanations?"
Gu Wan was taken aback, blurting out: "How did you know?"
After asking, she realized: "He told you?" Her expression was complicated.
Tang Xiaobai’s feelings were even more complicated, but this wasn’t the time to dwell on that issue.
She looked at Gu Wan for a while, asking: "In this incident, is your conscience clear?"
Gu Wan’s face immediately changed.
Even if there was a conspiratorial plot, Gu Wan indeed went there for Pei Xuan.
Tang Xiaobai felt a wave of powerlessness.
If she liked Pei Xuan, why did she marry Wei Sui back then?
And if she married Wei Sui, why couldn’t she let go of Pei Xuan?
"What did Wei Sui say?" Tang Xiaobai asked softly.
Gu Wan’s face displayed panic for the first time: "He didn’t say anything... he refuses to see me, I didn’t... Once I married him, I had no other intentions, I just wanted to get that book back."
Tang Xiaobai remained silent.
Retrieving the book might be true, but Gu Wan’s heart might still harbor some lingering thoughts.
Perhaps she wanted to ask a question, or perhaps she sought an answer.
Otherwise, there was no need to meet Pei Xuan alone, giving opportunists a chance.
Tang Xiaobai tapped her fingers before ordering: "Go fetch Wei the Thirteenth Son!"
Gu Wan’s eyes reddened, bowing to the ground: "Thank you, Crown Princess Consort."
Tang Xiaobai gazed at her for a moment, speaking softly: "Explain everything clearly later. Wei Sui is a good man, don’t mistreat him, if it doesn’t work, then—" She abruptly fell silent, swallowing back the words "divorce."
This wasn’t her place to speak.
It wasn’t her place, yet someone else would speak.
The palace attendant Tang Xiaobai dispatched soon returned.
Wei Sui didn’t come; instead, a divorce letter did.
Gu Wan stared at that divorce letter, her face ashen.
"Wei the Thirteenth Son said there’s no need to meet again, he’s willing to break off—"
"Thud!"
Before the palace attendant could finish, Gu Wan collapsed to the ground, fainting...
...
"Miss Gu is a month and a half pregnant."
Tang Xiaobai’s forehead twitched as she looked at the now-awakened Gu Wan.
She probably heard this news too, her face and eyes seeming to regain life, her hand unconsciously caressing her abdomen.
This child, it is uncertain if it’s the right time.
Tang Xiaobai glanced at the sky outside, saying: "You should stay here for the night, tomorrow I will have someone inform Duke Wei Mansion."
...
"Go inform them now," Li Mu said.
While Tang Xiaobai was arranging for Gu Wan, he didn’t intervene, but upon hearing Tang Xiaobai’s plan, he had someone call her over to express his disapproval directly.
"Why?" Tang Xiaobai was slightly surprised, "I was considering that this matter shouldn’t be escalated further. It’s best not to publicize Cousin Gu’s pregnancy; I’ve already sent someone to Duke Wei Mansion, going again might draw attention, plus Wei the Thirteenth is probably still upset, better to calm down overnight, is there anything wrong with this?"
"I don’t like outsiders in the Eastern Palace," the Crown Prince replied without hesitation.
Tang Xiaobai: ...
"Have Wei the Thirteenth come for her, or let Gu Yuan come," the Crown Prince said firmly.
Tang Xiaobai paused for a moment, then said: "Then send someone to Duke Wei Mansion again..."
Li Mu squeezed her hand, saying: "Wei the Thirteenth may be upset, but there are sensible people in Duke Wei Mansion, whether they come for her or not, it conveys the same message."
Tang Xiaobai nodded silently.
Indeed, even if Wei Sui is upset, Duke Wei surely knows Pei Xuan’s character and understands that cooperation from Duke Wei Mansion is essential to suppress this matter and safeguard Pei Xuan’s future.
