Chapter 570

Chapter 570 – Accompanying her to Chengde

Ye Zhen needed about half a day to travel from the capital to Chengde Mountain Villa, hence she started early in the morning.

Just as she was about to get into the carriage, she realised that there was another carriage beside hers.

“Whose carriage is this?” A bad feeling rose in her heart.

“Your Highness, that’s the Marquis’ carriage,” Yu Ping whispered softly.

Ye Zhen’s face fell. “What’s his carriage doing here?”

“I’m sending you to Chengde Mountain Villa. I want to stay at Zhuangzi* for a few days too.” Lu Lingzhi walked out from behind them and smiled at her.

[*Zhuangzi Hot Springs- the Lu family’s hot springs estate, it’s close to Chengde Mountain Villa. MRZ met YZ while she was swimming here.]

Ye Zhen’s gaze was cold as she looked at him and asked, “Why are you going to Zhuangzi for no reason? Are you going to leave everything that needs to be done at home to Grandmother?”

There was a hint of a smile in Lu Lingzhi’s eyes. Nowadays, he could feel joy even when he saw her fuming. At the very least, she was still alive. “There’s nothing much going on at home, and besides, I’m just staying for a few days.”

Even though Ye Zhen felt repulsed, she couldn’t stop him from going to Zhuangzi. He is doing it intentionally. He can go to the hot springs any time why choose to go now?!

“Did you intentionally choose to go at this time?” she glared at the hateful man and demanded.

Lu Lingzhi was amused. “It’s just a coincidence. Didn’t you say before that the hot spring is good for health? That’s why Grandmother asked me to stay there for a few days, and I can give you a lift too.”

“I don’t need you to send me there,” Ye Zhen said coldly.

Lu Lingzhi sighed helplessly. “Yaoyao, did I do something wrong again?”

“What do you think?”

He didn’t need to do anything; she was already sufficiently disgusted with him, not to mention the intimacy that he intentionally showed that day. She hated him so much that she couldn’t wait to cut him to shreds.

Lu Lingzhi shook his head as he smiled. “It’s getting late now, let’s set off.”

Ye Zhen glared at him coldly, then turned and got onto the carriage.

Yu Ping, who was standing by the side, guardedly eyed Lu Lingzhi, then followed Ye Zhen up the carriage. Fortunately, they had brought Hong Ying along this time.

Lu Lingzhi’s gentle gaze rested upon Ye Zhen’s figure for a while, before he walked towards the carriage in front.

Ye Zhen, who was in her carriage, was feeling depressed at the thought of having to see Lu Lingzhi even when she was at Chengde Mountain Villa. She felt even more repulsed than eating flies.  The thing that infuriated her the most was that she still hadn’t found a way to deal with him.

What can be used against him?  Lu Wushuang… And Ye Yaoyao…

These two people should be the only leverage against Lu Lingzhi. If she wanted to deal with him, she could only start with these two people. However, where was she going to find Lu Wushuang? Once she found her, she would be able to prove that Lu Lingzhi was guilty of lying to the emperor. Or perhaps, she could help Ye Yaoyao recover her memory… And prove that she was not imprisoned by Lu Shifeng but by Lu Lingzhi, then the latter would also have committed a crime punishable by death.

Ye Zhen rubbed her temples. She wanted Hong Ling to think of some way to find news about Lu Wushuang. As for Ye Yaoyao, it was time to meet her.

The carriage left the city gates. Ye Zhen was leaning against the wall contemplating her next move. In the past, she lived under the protection of her father and had never experienced any sort of political intrigue. She was a girl of noble bearing, raised in the palm of her father’s hand. Now that she had a second chance in life, the life that she led was completely different from the one before. She had enemies everywhere and needed to be vigilant always. What’s more, she had to come up with plans to seek vengeance too, which was hardly an easy thing for a boudoir girl like her.

There were many types of crimes that would wipe out the Lu family, but she was unwilling to use those. All she wanted was to take revenge on Lu Lingzhi, the others in the Lu family were innocent. Moreover, she could not allow Lu Shiming and his family to come to harm. And this was what troubled her the most.

“Yaoyao… Wait for this prince!” Suddenly, Mo Rongyi’s voice sounded from behind.

Ye Zhen opened her eyes and turned around in astonishment. She wondered if she was having hallucinations after getting lost in her thoughts. “Why do I hear the little prince’s voice?”

Yu Ping put down the carriage’s curtains, smiled, then said, “You weren’t hearing things. The little prince is indeed behind us.”

Why is Mo Rongyi here? Ye Zhen shook her head helplessly, then ordered the carriage to stop.

After a short while, Mo Rongyi caught up with them. “Yaoyao, I’m coming with you to Chengde Mountain Villa… To pay respect to Imperial Mother.”

“How did you know that I’m going to pay my respects to Empress Dowager today?” Ye Zhen asked with a laugh. “Come up to my carriage.”

“Imperial Mother sent an oral message. Oh, you don’t know this, but my days in the palace have been hard. Imperial Brother is basically coming up with all sorts of ways to torture me,” Mo Rongyi griped bitterly. He would rather go to Chengde Mountain Villa to accompany the empress dowager than stay in the palace and face his Imperial Brother.

Amused, Ye Zhen asked, “Why would your imperial brother torture you?”

Wait! Does Mo Rongzhan know that I am going to Chengde Mountain Villa today?

“Does His Majesty know that I’m going to pay my respects to Her Imperial Highness today?”

Mo Rongyi handed his horse to his aide, hopped onto Ye Zhen’s carriage, and said cheerfully to her, “Initially, Imperial Brother wanted to come along, but unfortunately he was delayed by other matters.”

It is truly fortunate that he was delayed! Ye Zhen was celebrating within. “Let’s go!”

“Why is Your Highness here?” Out of nowhere, Lu Lingzhi rode a horse over and appeared beside their carriage.

“Marquis of Anyang?” Mo Rongyi was surprised. “Are you sending Yaoyao to Chengde Mountain Villa?”

Lu Lingzhi nodded with a smile, then stared deeply at Ye Zhen. “That’s right.”

Ye Zhen’s face was cold, and she did not even look at him. “It’s getting late now, let’s continue our journey.”

“All right. Marquis, let us move on,” Mo Rongyi said to Lu Lingzhi with a smile, and did not notice the cold shoulder that Ye Zhen was giving the latter.

“All right.” Lu Lingzhi smiled. He had rushed over just then because he thought that His Majesty had arrived, but fortunately, it wasn’t him.

Once again, they began their journey towards Chengde Mountain Villa. Now that Mo Rongyi was in the carriage, Ye Zhen no longer had the time to think about how she should deal with Lu Lingzhi, and all she could do was chat and joke with the little prince.

On the other side, Tang Zhen had already brought Old Madam Lu and Pei Shi to meet with the abbot of Huguo Temple.

Pei Shi handed Ye Zhen’s birthdate characters* to the abbot. The latter’s face was cold as he recited in his heart that a monk shall not lie. He lowered his head and saw Ye Zhen’s birthdate characters, and his expression instantly changed.

(*八字 bazi)

“These birthdate characters… Are they correct?” the abbot looked at the other, his eyes full of doubt. “This person should have been dead a long time ago.”

“That’s impossible. My daughter is well and alive!” Pei Shi instantly exclaimed.

The abbot shook his head, then closed his eyes and began to read Ye Zhen’s fortune again. The more he thought about it, the more surprised he was. This set of birthdate characters was clearly one of a pair of twins. But what confused him was… Apart from being able to tell that this set of characters was that of a beautiful woman with a terrible fate, he could not see anything else. A beauty with a tragic end, but one who was extremely noble… This was one of the strangest sets of birthdate characters that he had ever seen.

“This benefactress, do you have another daughter?” the abbot asked.

Pei Shi was taken aback. Her daughter’s birthdate characters were hidden within her swaddle, so it was impossible for her to remember them wrongly. “No. Abbot, what is going on?”

The abbot was silent for a moment before he spoke again. “This young lady’s birthdate characters are extremely noble, but… This old abbot really can’t read her fortune. If you are asking about marriage, then you can only find someone with a noble life in order to ensure that she can live a long life and spend her life in riches. Otherwise, I’m afraid… Her good fortune might turn into a bad one.”

If this lady has a twin sister, but if that sister has already passed away, then this lady… would truly be a rare but noble person. Apart from the emperor, no one else could probably match up to her fortune.

“What you’re saying is… my daughter will jinx her husband?” Pei Shi’s voice immediately changed.

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