GBP Chapter 690 The Fifth Prince's Offensive 2
Chapter 690 The Fifth Prince's Offensive 2
"Hmph, I won't drink the tea. I do have this year's tribute tea at my residence, and I brought some for Lord Ouyang on this visit. It's in the carriage outside."
There are also some other gifts, one of which is to apologize for my responsibility regarding Ouyang Jue's matter.
These two are also gifts prepared for Miss Ouyang, and I hope that Lord Ouyang can pass them on.
After all, this prince doesn't want to be branded as having engaged in illicit dealings, as that would be detrimental to Miss Ouyang's reputation!
threaten! The threat of Chi Guoguo!
Ouyang Zheng wasn't stupid. If he couldn't understand such a blatant threat, he would have wasted the last few decades of his life.
"Your Highness, how can we let you spend money like this? Tribute tea is rare, and only a few kilograms are produced each year. Your Highness should keep it for yourself."
"I would naturally be reluctant to do this for others, but what does it matter to Lord Ouyang?"
Ouyang Zheng lost his temper again. He couldn't bring himself to scold the prince as harshly as he would his own sons.
Of course, you shouldn't throw someone out with a big stick.
Whether it's extreme language or anything else, it's all "insubordination."
At this moment, Ouyang Zheng desperately wanted to go to the palace for help, but he had to wait until the Fifth Prince left.
"Uh, this, this..."
"Alright, Lord Ouyang, stop with the fuss. They're just some little trinkets, nothing special. Don't make a fuss about them."
"Well then, thank you very much, Fifth Prince. However, I have troubled you quite a bit recently, so I should return the favor."
I have also prepared a small gift, and I hope Your Highness will not find it offensive.
There was nothing else he could do but suddenly remember that he had also prepared a gift, ostensibly to thank the Fifth Prince for his efforts in helping Ouyang Jue.
Even though Elder Ouyang had clearly stated upon his return that Ouyang Jue's disappearance was quite suspicious, the Ouyang family could not openly express any doubt.
After all, it is a serious crime to use something without evidence to slander a prince.
"Oh? So it turns out that Your Highness and Lord Ouyang are on the same wavelength and have both prepared gifts?"
"Alright, I'm not like Lord Ouyang, who considers receiving gifts a good thing and accepts them graciously!"
The Fifth Prince smiled as he looked at Ouyang Zheng, a hint of coldness flashing in his eyes.
"Uh, yes, we're on the same wavelength."
The Fifth Prince seemed to suddenly remember something, "Oh right, I recently sent a storyteller to my residence. I wonder how he is doing in the household?"
"I spent a lot of money to poach this guy from the teahouse; he used to be a star performer there."
A storyteller?
Ouyang Zheng genuinely had no idea about such a thing. What storyteller and opera troupe? How could such a trivial matter possibly concern him, the lord of a prefecture?
With so many important matters to attend to every day, how could he possibly notice whether there was an insignificant storyteller in the manor?
"I didn't know that. I'm stuck between home and the court every day, and it's been a long time since I've listened to operas or storytelling."
Ouyang Zheng immediately assumed that the person was sent by the Fifth Prince while he was away from home, and became wary, wondering if this person was the Fifth Prince's spy.
That's not right either. If he really was an informant, why would the Fifth Prince reveal this person's existence now?
If you expose people to the public eye, how can you do the job of an informant?
Ouyang Zheng's already troubled mind became even more chaotic at this moment.
This fifth prince doesn't play by the rules; he's really difficult to deal with.
The Fifth Prince smiled enigmatically. "It seems Lord Ouyang truly doesn't know. But it's alright, I was just asking casually."
Having said that, he stood up. "It's getting late, so I'll take my leave now. If Lord Ouyang ever needs anything in the future, or if he comes to a realization about something, please feel free to send someone to my residence to find me."
Ouyang Zheng hurriedly stood up to see him off, saying, "Your Highness, please take care. I will definitely pay you a visit another day."
After the Fifth Prince left, Ouyang Zheng immediately ordered people to investigate the storyteller's background.
Before long, a servant came to report that the storyteller had not performed since he entered the mansion.
He lived with the actors in a side courtyard of the mansion every day, and at most he could see the actors practicing their singing and a few low-ranking servants at the side gate. He didn't have much interaction with the other people in the mansion.
Ouyang Zheng's doubts deepened. What exactly was the Fifth Prince's purpose?
They sent tribute tea and gifts, and also mentioned sending this storyteller.
Is it really just to gain favor or please one's own side?
"Master, what should we do with the gifts sent by the Fifth Prince?" the steward asked cautiously from the side.
Ouyang Zheng frowned. "Take them for now, put them all in the warehouse and seal them up. Don't let anyone touch them."
After saying that, he put his hands behind his back and walked towards the study with a worried look on his face.
Ouyang Zheng was unsure whether to go to the palace first or go find his daughter. Girls are naturally shy, so it would be better to let his wife handle it.
The Fifth Prince's combination of soft and hard tactics kept Ouyang Zheng and his wife awake all night.
"My lord, you should go to the palace to see the Empress Dowager first thing tomorrow morning."
"Alas! I had the same thought, but the Fifth Prince doesn't seem like he'll let this go easily."
Today he said that entering a prince's residence doesn't count as entering the palace, which seems to make sense. After all, the Empress Dowager said back then that one could enter the palace as a concubine, but she didn't mention that one couldn't enter a prince's residence as a prince's wife.
"Why is the master so stubborn? When the Empress Dowager said those words, were only members of the Ouyang family present?"
What exactly the Empress Dowager said is simply a matter of what the Ouyang family says. If anyone wants to question it, they should confront the Empress Dowager directly.
My lord, tell me, this concerns the entire future of the younger generation of the Ouyang family. Will the Empress Dowager help the Ouyang family or not?
It was just a matter of a single sentence to prevent the Ouyang family's daughter from jumping into a fire pit. Why wouldn't the Empress Dowager be happy to do so?
Moreover, this was also what the Empress Dowager was thinking, only that she hadn't fully articulated it when she said it back then.
Why does my lord bother searching for loopholes in the Empress Dowager's words with outsiders? Isn't that siding with outsiders?!
As if a word had awakened him from a dream, Ouyang Zheng suddenly sat up in bed, startling Madam Ouyang.
"Oh, sir, why are you so startled? Did I say something wrong?"
"No, no, no, quite the opposite! You're right, absolutely right!"
Besides, the Empress Dowager didn't issue a formal imperial edict back then, so can't we make up for it now? Haha~”
"Yes, the initiative is clearly in the hands of the Ouyang family. What is the master so worried about? I've been worried about it for so long too."
Ouyang Zheng thought it over and found it feasible, so he decided to go to the palace to see the Empress Dowager at dawn.
"Sigh, he was just so angered by the Fifth Prince that he lost his mind and his brain rusted and stopped working properly. Luckily, he has his wife as his strategist."