The scumbag was secretly having an affair, while I was openly having an affair with the prince.

Chapter 65 A Shocking Encounter During the Marriage Proposal

Zhu Huaning added, "I also have the same suspicion. But Lord Gu said that he tortured Gu Simo last night, and she would rather die than confess."

Consort Lan's eyes were filled with gloom.

We finally found an opportunity to get someone into the Ye family, we can't just let it go like this!

"Regardless of whether Gu Simo did it or not, for now we have no choice but to marry her into the Ye family. Have someone inform Gu Yong that he must be properly disciplined and that no more mistakes should be made."

"Mm." Zhu Huaning nodded. Things had come to this point; it was impossible to change people now.

"By the way, is that woman behaving herself in the Eastern Palace?" Consort Lan suddenly asked.

That woman refers to Luo Lixian, who was brought into the palace by Yuchi Rui.

Zhu Huaning smiled slightly, "Your Majesty, I have someone keeping an eye on her, and she is currently behaving herself."

"Has the Crown Prince favored her?"

"No. Since she entered the Eastern Palace, the Crown Prince has only visited her once, and sat in her bedchamber for a short while."

Consort Lan frowned. "Crown Princess, what exactly does the Crown Prince intend to do by bringing her into the palace? I previously thought the Crown Prince was attracted to that woman's beauty, which is why I didn't stop him. Now that she's in the Eastern Palace, he's leaving her standing there. This isn't like him at all."

Zhu Huaning shook her head. "Your Majesty, I am also very puzzled. I asked the Crown Prince about her, but he became displeased when I mentioned her and told me not to interfere, saying that the woman has a great role to play."

Consort Lan looked on incredulously, "What great use could an orphan girl possibly have?"

Zhu Huaning smiled and comforted her, "Your Highness, since the Crown Prince has said so, then let's go with him."

She didn't understand the Crown Prince's actions, but through her observations over the past few days, she was certain that he had no interest in Luo Lixian.

Besides, she didn't really care about a used woman who had been married before and had an affair with the Wei family's young master. Her tolerance of Luo Lixian's existence was only because of the Crown Prince's statement that "she's useful."

Consort Lan held her hand and praised, "The Crown Princess is virtuous and generous. It is the Crown Prince's blessing to marry you. If the Crown Prince dares to let you suffer even the slightest grievance, I will definitely not stand for it."

Zhu Huaning smiled and said, "Your Majesty dotes on me, so the Crown Prince wouldn't dare."

……

noon.

The general's mansion, with gongs and drums, carried a generous betrothal gift to the prime minister's mansion.

Mr. and Mrs. Gu Yong personally came out of the gate to greet them.

The couple were quite surprised to see that all four members of the Ye family had come; they hadn't expected the Ye family to value this marriage so much.

After exchanging greetings, Ye Gengxin spoke first, "Lord Gu, we are both officials in the same court, so let's skip the formalities. Since my son Shijun and your daughter Simo are destined to be together, we as parents should naturally wish them well. I'm sure you know that military affairs are busy, and my son and I are concerned about the stability of the Northwest border, and we may be ordered to go there at any time. Therefore, my Ye family does not want to delay the marriage of my son Shijun and your daughter Simo any longer. In addition to sincerely presenting the betrothal today, I would like to take this opportunity to discuss with you, Lord Gu, whether it is possible for them to get married as soon as possible?"

Gu Yong and Li Shi exchanged a glance, surprised once again. They hadn't expected the Ye family to be in such a hurry to come to their home.

However, given the situation of the Ye family father and son, they really couldn't find anything wrong with it. After all, the father and son had been guarding the Northwest for many years, and how long they could stay in the capital this time depended entirely on the Emperor's decision.

"General, please come in and take a seat," Gu Yong said, gesturing for him to sit down.

Lady Li then instructed the steward to bring the betrothal gifts into the mansion.

Ye Shishu could tell that Madam Li's expression was not good. When the group entered the hall, he said to Madam Li, "Madam, the marriage between Miss Gu and my second brother is settled. She will be my future sister-in-law. However, I grew up in the capital and that night was the first time I met her. Could you please ask her to come out? I would like to have a word with her."

"This..." Upon hearing this, Madam Li felt inexplicably troubled.

"Madam, is there any inconvenience?"

"Third Miss, it's nothing inconvenient. It's just that my daughter is used to being lazy and hasn't gotten up yet," Gu Yong said with shame. "It's all because we haven't disciplined her properly and have always indulged her outside, which has led to her developing a bad habit of being willful and reckless."

“Then I’ll go to her courtyard to find her. We’re both women, so there shouldn’t be any problem.” Ye Shishu smiled gently and amiably.

Gu Yong's face fell immediately.

Madam Li quickly said, "Third Miss, to be honest, it wasn't that Mo'er was lazy, but that she was playing around last night and tried to climb over the wall to leave the mansion. She didn't expect to slip and fall, injuring herself."

Upon hearing her words, Ye Shijun, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but narrow his eyes.

Ye Shishu frowned almost imperceptibly.

Climb over the wall and leave the mansion?

Both families left the tavern after midnight last night. How could Gu Simo have climbed over the wall and left the mansion again after being taken home?

"Madam, is the eldest young lady seriously injured? No, I must go and see her. I don't want her to be seriously injured and delay my marriage with my second brother."

After speaking, she turned around and gave Ninth Aunt a wink, then led Ninth Aunt out of the hall.

"Third Miss..." Madam Li couldn't help but want to call out to her.

Gu Yong glared at Li Shi, then instructed the maid beside him, "Quickly follow her, lest the Third Miss get lost."

The maidservant quickly chased after Ye Shishu.

Ye Shijun also noticed that Gu Yong and his wife looked strange and wanted to follow them to see what was going on, but just as he was about to take a step, he received a warning from Ye Shiting.

He had no choice but to suppress his curiosity and remain in the hall.

And the other side.

Ye Shishu's trip was originally just to confirm her guess, but she never expected it to be such an eye-opener.

The young lady of the Prime Minister's family lived in a courtyard right next to the stables.

Calling it a small courtyard is an understatement. Not a single flower or plant was planted there, and the row of houses looked more like servants' quarters.

The maid who led the way explained to her, "Our young lady has always been indifferent to fame and fortune and doesn't like to associate with others, so she went to live alone on an estate outside the manor when she was very young. She was brought back recently, but she is not used to the luxurious things in the manor and insists on moving here. The master and madam can't do anything about it, so they can only let her have her way."

Ye Shishu smiled and replied, "I've only ever heard of people who want to enjoy wealth and luxury by any means necessary, but I've never heard of anyone who would endure hardship without suffering. Your young lady is truly special. However, her personality is really to my second brother's liking. My second brother has always been just as carefree and easygoing since he was a child."

After hearing this, the maidservant said nothing more, but lowered her head and led the way for her.

Gu Simo's room was the one at the very back of the row of houses, against the wall. You could smell the stench coming from the stables not far away, even from outside the door.

"Young Miss, Miss Ye San heard that you fell and injured yourself while climbing the wall, so she came to see you." The maid pushed open the door and eagerly relayed the message to the person inside.

Ye Shishu led Ninth Aunt inside.

Their arrival was quite unexpected for Gu Simo, who stared blankly at them from her bed.

Ye Shishu and Aunt Jiu were also stunned.

There was only a bed in the room; there wasn't even a box or a table.

A faint musty smell in the air was nauseating.

The person on the bed had disheveled hair, wore only thin clothes, and had a waxy white complexion, as if suffering from some incurable disease.

If Ye Shishu hadn't known that this was the eldest daughter of the Grand Secretary's family, she would have thought she was a female prisoner in some jail!

"Third...Third Miss..." Gu Simo came to her senses and hurriedly tried to get out of bed.

But as soon as she moved, before her feet even touched the ground, her whole body fell uncontrollably off the bed.

Ye Shishu and Aunt Jiu were both startled, completely unprepared for this scene, and it was too late for them to rush forward to help.

"Young Miss, are you alright?" The two servants rushed forward to help her up.

"Ugh!" But as soon as they touched Gu Simo, Gu Simo clenched her teeth tightly, her originally pale face contorted with the force of her clenching.

Ye Shishu and Ninth Aunt stood frozen, neither daring to move.

At the same time, their eyes met and they both received a positive answer from each other's eyes: Gu Simo's injury was definitely not an ordinary fall!

According to Madam Gu, Gu Simo fell and was injured while climbing the wall. Even if what they said is true, why was she not treated when she, as the eldest daughter of the Gu family, fell like this?

Apart from the musty smell, there wasn't even a trace of medicine in this room!

"Ninth Aunt, go and invite my second brother over!"

"Yes."