Chapter 177
**Chapter 177: The Fox**
Shangguan Xuan nodded with delight, “Indeed.”
Zhaoyang seemed to catch sight of something extremely filthy and wrinkled her nose in disgust. “Yun'er, hurry up and take that cursed letter outside to burn it! Scatter the ashes far away; it’s just too unlucky!”
Yun'er immediately rushed to the outhouse to burn the letter.
Shangguan Xuan was taken aback and reminded her repeatedly, “Your Highness, that’s a letter from Lord Yan Yunting!”
Zhaoyang shot him a glare. “If I had known you brought a letter from that scoundrel Yan Yunting, I wouldn’t have let you into the princess’s residence! What bad luck!”
Shangguan Xuan: ...
He was utterly baffled. He still remembered how Yan Yunting had boasted in Liangzhou City that “the princess is infatuated with me.” Yet now, upon seeing Zhaoyang, there was not a trace of infatuation on her face—only disdain.
Having angered the princess, Shangguan Xuan had no choice but to take his leave with Zhao Qing.
The carriage from the Marquis’s residence left the princess’s estate and entered the bustling streets of Yanjing. Inside the carriage, Shangguan Xuan couldn’t shake off the thought of the ten thousand taels of debt, which gave him a headache.
The marquisate had fallen on hard times, and the treasury was empty; repaying that sum would be quite a challenge. He also wanted to marry Zhao Qing soon, but organizing a wedding would require a significant amount of money.
Zhao Qing came from humble beginnings, indifferent to fame and fortune, and only had the empty title of “County Princess” without a proper dowry.
Shangguan Xuan frowned repeatedly. If only Sun Qingmei had been more sensible and stayed in the marquisate, he wouldn’t be in such a predicament now. A dignified marquis, trapped by the stench of money.
“Marquis, you’ve been frowning for a while. Is something troubling you?” Zhao Qing’s concerned voice broke through his thoughts.
Shangguan Xuan looked up at the lovely girl beside him and managed a smile. “It’s nothing. Don’t worry, A Qing. I will definitely marry you in style and make you my only legitimate wife.”
No matter what, he couldn’t let Zhao Qing down.
Zhao Qing possessed a sharp mind. As long as she continued to propose ideas for weapons, and if those new weapons gained favor with the Emperor and the Ministry of War, the marquisate would surely regain its former glory.
Zhao Qing was more valuable than Sun Qingmei.
“A Qing also wants to marry the marquis soon,” Zhao Qing said softly, leaning affectionately against Shangguan Xuan.
The marquis’s carriage slowly left the street, and at the corner, the carriage of the Prince of Heng quietly came to a stop.
Inside the carriage, the Prince of Heng wore a flamboyant, eye-catching red robe, his black hair unbound, lazily leaning against the carriage cushion. At his feet curled a small white fox, fast asleep, its belly rising and falling gently with each breath.
The Prince of Heng lifted the carriage curtain with a jade fan, watching the carriage of the Zhen Nan Marquis depart. He fell into thought, a playful smirk crossing his lips. “Firearms, landmines, compound bows... This Zhen Nan Marquis really knows how to choose a wife.”
A woman capable of devising intricate weapons was indeed a rare find.
The steward outside the carriage leaned in to offer a suggestion. “Your Highness, Zhao Qing has not yet married the Zhen Nan Marquis. If you were to speak up, I could easily bring Zhao Qing into the royal residence.”
The Prince of Heng shot a cold glare at the old steward. “How could such an ugly thing be in my harem?”
Zhao Qing was too plain for the Prince’s taste. If she had the beauty of Shen Wei, he would surely find a way to bring her into the royal residence as a concubine.
The steward fell silent, thinking that Zhao Qing was quite pretty, but the Prince’s standards were simply too high.
He was also troubled; in recent months, the Prince had suddenly changed his demeanor and no longer asked him to find any beautiful women who could “slaughter pigs.”
This was because the Prince had found a new favorite—the little plump fox at his feet. Not long ago, during a downpour while inspecting Yunzhou, the Prince had spotted a small fox nearly drowning in a puddle, crying out in distress.
Without hesitation, he had braved the rain to rescue the fox from the water, cleaned it up, and kept it as a pet.
Because of this little fox, all the beauties and handsome men in the royal residence had lost their favor. One bold maid, unwilling to lose her status, attempted to poison the white fox secretly, only to be caught and have her hands and feet chopped off, then thrown into a mass grave.
“Ah.” The steward sighed inwardly, realizing that if he had known his master would dote on a white fox, he should have worked harder to find a beauty who could “slaughter pigs.”
The Prince of Heng lowered the heavy carriage curtain and instructed the steward, “Shangguan Xuan wants to marry Zhao Qing in style, and he will surely need money. Go fetch a thousand taels in silver notes and deliver them to the Zhen Nan Marquis’s residence.”
It’s easy to add flowers to a brocade, but hard to send coal in the snow.
With Zhao Qing’s genius and Shangguan Xuan’s military talent, the Prince needed to win over the Zhen Nan Marquis’s residence before the Prince of Yan did.
The steward, having followed the Prince for years, understood his intentions and immediately took his leave. “I’ll take care of it right away.”
The carriage of the Prince of Heng slowly rolled away. He looked down at the little white fox sleeping at his feet.
He kicked the fox playfully with his embroidered golden boot, half-smiling, half-scolding, “Wake up, lazy fox.”
The white fox was startled awake, its eyes opening in annoyance. It glared at the Prince, then snapped at his boot, revealing its fierce nature.
After leaving bite marks on the edge of the Prince’s boot, it curled back up and fell asleep again.
The Prince couldn’t help but think how much this little creature resembled Shen Wei from the Prince of Yan’s residence, who also seemed blissfully unaware of her own limits.
“Your Highness, ahead is the carriage of the Prince of Yan,” the steward reminded from outside.
The Prince’s interest piqued.
He knew Shen Wei was visiting the princess’s residence today. Lifting the jade fan to part the thick curtain, he intended to chat with Shen Wei, but the carriage of the Prince of Yan suddenly sped up and quickly vanished from his sight.
The Prince fell silent. Did Shen Wei really dislike him that much?
He lifted his foot and lightly kicked the sleeping white fox again. The fox yelped in surprise and lunged to bite the Prince’s boot.
...
The carriage of the Prince of Yan slowed down. Shen Wei had no desire to run into the Prince of Heng; she wanted to avoid him at all costs.
Inside the carriage, Caiping handed a warm hot water bottle to Shen Wei, chattering away. “My lady, you asked me to find out about Zhao Qing’s background, and I’ve gathered some information.”
“Zhao Qing was born in a small village outside Liangzhou City. Her father was a carpenter and has been dead for many years. She grew up gathering herbs in the mountains, and once, after getting injured, she was rescued by Shangguan Xuan.”
“To repay his kindness, Zhao Qing revealed her exceptional talent for weapon-making and became Shangguan Xuan’s military advisor. I’ve heard that some of the weapons she designed are quite lethal, pushing back the bandits significantly. Eventually, she developed feelings for Shangguan Xuan, and he brought her back to Yanjing... Liangzhou is too far, so I could only gather this much.”
Feeling that her information was too brief, Caiping thought hard for a moment and added, “Recently, Zhao Qing has been buying a lot of cosmetics and jewelry in the streets of Yanjing. She seems to enjoy dressing up.”
Shen Wei narrowed her eyes. “That doesn’t tell me what I want to know.”
Caiping lowered her head, feeling embarrassed.
After a moment of thought, Shen Wei instructed Caiping, “Go to the toothmaker and pick a clever maid. Find a way to get her into the marquisate, preferably as Zhao Qing’s maid. I want her to keep an eye on Zhao Qing at all times and see if there’s anything unusual about her.”
The Zhen Nan Marquis wanted to marry Zhao Qing, and with the complexities of a wedding, the marquisate would surely need to buy some new servants.
This was the perfect opportunity to plant a spy in the marquisate.
Shen Wei suspected that Zhao Qing had brought back the secret of “designing weapon blueprints” to Yanjing. Shen Wei intended to uncover Zhao Qing’s secrets and take them for herself.
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