Since the Emperor was quite the lax one, he didn't forbid the officials from bringing others with them. Their concubines and children were allowed to attend but of course, they would have to observe proper decorum and not be a nuisance to others.
He could see that the Marshal brought quite a lot of people with him, three concubines, and five children. Two of the people in that group were familiar to him. One was the lady he once saw in the Jiang residence, scolding the villainess. The other seed to be her daughter, the girl who wanted to spread the bad rumors.
He gave the other ladies a fleeting glance.
"Which of them was the concubine who had a miscarriage?" He asked to confirm his suspicion after he distanced himself from the crowd.
Mao Hong who followed him responded, "It's not really one of the concubines, Young Highness. It's the Second Madam. People just labeled her as such since she started as the side concubine before rising in ranks after the first madam died."
The man montarily halted his speech to check if there were unwanted ears nearby. He then whispered, "Your Highness, according to rumors, this Second Madam visited the first legitimate daughter, the Young Miss, before nightfall of the day when her engagent with Rui Wang got cancelled. Three days later, she had a miscarriage. The poison found in her system is one which only acts up three days upon inhaling or ingesting it."
Jiang Li's expression did not change. But he nodded. "They must be thinking it ca from the first miss, Jiang Ying Yue."
"Right. It's because the malicious poison only acted up in the evening of the third day, allegedly at the sa ti she left the Young Miss courtyard then. Exactly three days. A characteristic of this poison."
The man did not reply anymore. In his mind, he briefly questioned how gullible people in this era were to easily conclude the girl was the culprit with just that as the evidence. But then, he realized it actually doesn't matter how light or heavy the proofs were. Even if the one accusing the villainess only said that a random mosquito from Jiang Ying Yue's courtyard bit that concubine and caused the miscarriage, the Marshal would still gladly use that as an excuse to force her out of his estate.
"His Majesty the Emperor has arrived!" This announcent was followed by a shout out of the other big nas, all from the imperial family.
Jiang Li ended the talk with Mao Hong the first ti he heard the eunuch's thunderous voice.
To welco and pay their respects to the Emperor and his entourage, they went back to the crowded pavilion.
...
The Emperor was not like the chatty school principals or politicians who loved spouting so many words whenever they were speaking for an event. The purple-wearing man only said a few encouragents to the contestants and then sat down on the elegant throne placed on the second floor's best viewing spot.
Even though the upper floor was only reserved for the imperial family, Jiang Li could actually go up there if he wanted since he was officially a prince. However, he chose to stay downstairs. And he did not sit down like what the majority of the people did. Leaning his back against the red column, he crossed his arm above his chest then watched as each group of contestants competes with each other.
"Your Highness, it seems your guess is pretty spot on. The golden boat is winning."
When Mao Hong said this to him, Jiang Li only humd in agreent. With the plot going in the female lead's favor, would he fear guessing wrongly?
Around him discussion about how pleased the Emperor looked upstairs floated by his ears. Lucky female lead. It was basically confird that the girl would either be rewarded, or contracted for cooperation. After all, the Emperor already inquired and learned that Hai Wang owned the boat, gifted to him by Sheng Lingxin. By this ti, the two leads should be upstairs. And they must have already taken the opportunity to leave an impression on the Emperor and the others.
The contestants madly rowed their boats parallel to the shore, competing with one another in reaching the set finish line. Before the golden boat won, the excitent and discussions all around them reached an all-ti high. It was so lively and noisy, making Jiang Li felt regret why he could not bring Jiang Ying Yue with him to witness the scene.
'Speaking of that girl. By now, she should have t the old witch already. Will she take the chance to learn sothing like that? Or will she stay a naive and moral-compassed girl?'
The man directed his gaze to the horizon, committing in his mory that deep blue line where the water and clouds et.
What a beautiful sight. The calming blue made a term popped up in his mind. Peace.
Would the villainess have that in this lifeti?
For now, he could offer a montary peace, and also give her a place to stay. But this all doesn't an she was safe. He had a feeling this world would be quite different and harder to clear than the previous ones.
He murmured to himself, 'In the previous world, the mission was easy, the wish was the one which gave a headache. This ti, it seems the wish will be easy, the mission my headache...'
If considered seriously though, the difficulty of the latter one was higher. He had a higher chance of failing the mission. Would he want to fail though?
'I can't fail. I have to settle my real problem as soon as possible... So I can free myself from those mories. And then truly move on.'
Jiang Li left the place together with the two subordinates. He had no plans to watch the imperial family's drama and framing battle which would soon take place. The villainess' matter was what he should work on.
...
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