Rational?
How could he stay rational?
The swift horses galloped like shooting stars. In no time, they reached the Prince Yan's Mansion.
Before Ji Ming and the others could even greet them, they saw Song Yinghuai dragging Caiyu into the mansion like a gust of wind, brushing past them.
The wind he stirred up carried a thick sense of uneasiness and anger.
"What happened?" Ji Ming grabbed Han Fen, who was hurrying after them, and asked, "Wasn't it a commendation banquet tonight?"
The looks on the prince and Caiyu's faces didn't seem like they had received a commendation. Instead, it looked like they had gone to fight.
Han Fen shook his head. "I don't know either. I wasn't of high enough rank, so I could only guard outside the imperial garden. I couldn't hear the conversation inside very clearly..."
He grabbed Ji Ming's arm excitedly and said, "But I heard. Do you know? Caiyu is not an ordinary maid. She's actually the third miss of the former Marquis Yongchang Lan family!"
"Ji Ming! Caiyu is the third miss Lan that the prince has been missing for years! The emperor has pardoned Caiyu for fleeing. There's no longer a gap in status between Caiyu and the prince!"
"Oh." Ji Ming wasn't very surprised by this news.
A few days ago, the eldest miss Lan had come to question the prince, and not long after, the prince had even risked offending the emperor to request a retrial of the Lan family's case. He had already had a vague suspicion in his heart.
"Why aren't you shocked at all?" Han Fen was surprised by Ji Ming's reaction, which was beyond his expectation. "Don't tell me you already knew?"
"No." Ji Ming denied calmly. "I just guessed. I'm not like some people who don't use their brains when doing things but can still stay by the prince's side. I'm the one who understands the prince best in the mansion!"
Han Fen: "..."
Ji Ming: "But this is supposed to be a happy event. Why does it seem otherwise?"
Han Fen hesitated. "It's just that the prince's jealousy has flared up again."
Ji Ming suddenly understood.
It must be Sheng Jiangli!
He must have also attended the commendation banquet tonight. He must have done something to provoke the prince again.
Ji Ming made a prompt decision and rushed out of the mansion.
When these two enemies got into a fight, they could only turn to Prince Nine and Prince Twelve for help!
"Bang!"
The door of the bedroom was slammed shut by Song Yinghuai with internal force.
Qingqing, who was waiting for news in the mansion, only heard a cold order from inside the room:
"Everyone leave this courtyard!"
Since the third miss Lan had already revealed her identity, he might as well sort out all the matters today!
Caiyu was thrown onto the bed. Stars danced before her eyes. She struggled to prop herself up and glared angrily at Song Yinghuai.
"Your Highness! What on earth are you angry about?"
She didn't understand. Her identity had been revealed today, and the case of the Lan family was going to be retried. Wasn't this a great happy event that the whole world should celebrate?
He had also guessed Sheng Jiangli's identity. Then he should know that Sheng Jiangli was her relative.
Why on earth was he angry?
"What am I angry about?" Song Yinghuai sneered. He bent his knees and got on the bed. Ignoring her struggle, he pressed her down on the bed again. His cold eyes looked down at her. "Lan Jinshu, I'm angry at your self - righteousness and self - conceit!"
"I'm angry that you concealed your identity but then rashly revealed it!"
"I'm angry that you ruined my great plan!"
He had originally planned to kill Song Chengyuan, rescue the young brother of the Lan family, and then explain everything to Caiyu. He didn't expect Caiyu to act in advance and ruin his plan.
"I don't understand what Your Highness is saying!" Caiyu stared back at him defiantly. "Where am I self - righteous and self - conceited?"
She paused for a moment and tried to calm her tone. "I know that Your Highness has made many sacrifices to strive for a retrial of the Lan family's case while keeping it from me. I'm very grateful for Your Highness's love for me..."
"But Your Highness failed, didn't you?"
"I'm a daughter of the Lan family. How can I stand aside when it comes to the matters of my parents and family? The matters of the Lan family should never have involved Your Highness. Moreover, Your Highness had no other way... Then shouldn't I step forward and do something?"
"I can't let Your Highness take risks again!" Caiyu's eyes were red.
Didn't he understand her heart?
She didn't want to involve him because of the matters of the Lan family!
She didn't want him to take risks!
It was a pity that her unwillingness was about to push the Lan family into an abyss of no return.
Song Yinghuai tightened his face. "The reason I never exposed your identity was that I knew your character. You would never stand aside. If I had told you all my plans, could you have promised to stay obediently in the mansion and just wait for me to make arrangements and bring you good news?"
"If the news I brought back was bad, could you have remained calm and waited for me to make new plans?"
Caiyu was stunned for a moment and remembered Song Yinghuai's various meetings and interactions with Lü Baiwei in recent days.
Song Yinghuai had mentioned that he had something to discuss with Lü Baiwei, but she really couldn't help but let her imagination run wild. Just thinking about their frequent meetings made her feel uncomfortable, as if a cat's paw was scratching her heart.
"You can't do it, right?" Song Yinghuai had long known she would react like this. He couldn't help but sneer. "You can neither trust my feelings for you nor my ability to plan. I might as well say nothing and just let you live happily. In the end, you just need to see the results I bring you."
"You're more assertive than other women and more skilled than them. You have a bit of cleverness... But you're still a woman after all. You can't correctly analyze the political views in the court or fathom the treachery of people's hearts. Yet you just won't be obedient and always want to meddle in men's affairs!"
"Lan Jinshu! Why can't you be as obedient as other women? Why can't you regard your husband as your sky and your earth, and just follow your husband's arrangements like other women?"
Although Song Yinghuai's words weren't particularly malicious, they still deeply hurt Caiyu's self - esteem.
The teachings she had received in the Lan family didn't include the idea that "a woman without talent is virtuous", nor the concept of regarding her husband as her everything and only having her husband in her eyes.
Lan Yuanyi himself was an exception who doted on his daughters and loved his wife very much. He was also a man with boundless love.
The women in the Lan family often shuttled through the army. Even Lan's mother had once gone into battle in armor.
The men in the Lan family, including Sheng Jiangli who had been taught by Lan Yuanyi for a few years, were all instilled with such ideas and chose to respect the women's opinions.
In such a family, the husband Caiyu wanted was a man who could accept her as an equal.
It was a pity... The man she had fallen in love with had grown up in an environment that was exactly the opposite.
His father was the most noble emperor in the world, and no one had ever dared to disobey a single word he said.
Even the noble Empress Ma, who was deeply respected and loved by Emperor Guangwu, never disobeyed a single word of Emperor Guangwu.
She finally realized that the gap between them came from the difference in their concepts.
Caiyu choked back her sobs for a long time. Facing Song Yinghuai's cold and mocking eyes, she slowly retorted:
"Your Highness, if I had told you in advance that all my contacts with Brother A Li were also for the plan to get a retrial for the Lan family, could you have just ignored, not listened, and not asked, and just chosen to trust me completely and let me and him handle the matter?"
Song Yinghuai was also stunned for a moment, then he said without hesitation, "Impossible!"
"Why?"
"You're a woman. Your ability to handle things is limited. And although he's the emperor's confidant and has cleverly deceived the crown prince, he's still too weak on his own."
"Matters in the court are intertwined. A daughter of a convicted official and a son of a traitor. There's no power behind you. Do you think you can bring down the crown prince and restore the Lan family just by yourselves?"
Song Yinghuai said arrogantly, "Without my intervention, even if you risk your lives, you'll never be able to achieve your wish!"
Caiyu thought he was extremely arrogant. She couldn't help but retort loudly:
"Your Highness is so conceited. But as you can see, you failed. But I, the daughter of a convicted official, and he, the son of a traitor, have succeeded!"
"The Lan family's case is going to be retried! The evil deeds of the crown prince will soon be made public!"
"Your Highness, you couldn't defeat the crown prince, but we did!"