Chapter 108 (2/2)
During this journey, he had experienced the various popular customs and much of the public opinions in the regions they had visited. He was the throne's successor and naturally had his own plans for the future. A prince needed to project an aura that could calm the imperial court as well as the entire country.
After he gained the loyalty of Ning Clan and removed Nie Clan, his position in the imperial court would naturally be secured. This had been Zhao Zhe's plan all along. He would do his upmost to find Nie Sangyu's mistakes and use them to destroy the relations.h.i.+p between Ning Clan and Nie Clan. He had originally thought it would be easy to seduce her. He had money and other valuables, as well as the promise of the future empress's position. Either of those things should have been enough to lure her in.
He would have never expected that Nie Sangyu would obstinately refuse to be swayed by him.
A strategic advisor had once told him to look for an opportunity to get rid of Nie Sangyu as a way to break the link between Ning Clan and Nie Clan. This was a good idea and he had originally planned on doing so during this trip. But, for an inexplicable reason, when he thought of that woman's completely guarded gaze while still adhering to etiquette, he was suddenly somewhat reluctant.
Nie Sangyu was so interesting, ah. Would this world feel lonelier if she disappeared?
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The boats would continue to travel during the night, so everyone had to stay on the boats. When they stopped at a dock at a midpoint, Ning Yuxuan returned to the second boat and the crown prince returned to the first boat.
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That night, Jinse served Marquis Moyu in bed again.
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Feeling bored, Ji Man visited Errong to talk.
”The crown prince was the one that gave my cousin Jinse.” Errong had heard about this gossip from someone. In an irritated tone, she said, ”Is this the crown prince's hobby? Giving men women from brothels? Was Mu Shuiqing not enough? Now, there's Jinse.”
Ji Man considered before saying, ”Isn't this just a way from him to win people over? Isn't money, power, and women what all men want? It wouldn't look good for him to give money and power, but he can easily send a woman over.”
Ning Errong stewed in anger for a while before she suddenly said something in a slightly gloating tone, ”Look at how my cousin is treating this woman. He hasn't let her leave his side for a few days, right? If Wen Wan knew, she definitely wouldn't be able to be as calm as you.”
That was certainly true. With Wen Wan's small-mindedness, could she tolerate Marquis Moyu bringing back a prost.i.tute six months after she had married into this household? She couldn't. However, Ning Yuxuan had probably considered this point too. He had said he wouldn't be bringing Jinse back to the capital with them. He was only using Jinse as a way to make her feel uncomfortable during this journey.
Unfortunately for him, she didn't care. Unless he was starving her or locking her up, then there was nothing else that Marquis Moyu could do to make her feel angry.
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The river wasn't peaceful tonight, and Ji Man wasn't able to peacefully sleep. Getting a headache from the swaying boat, she put on her clothes and went up to the deck for fresh air. She was starting to get seasick.
In the dead of night, without a moon in the sky, Ji Man looked at the other boat's fluttering dragon flags. The other boat wasn't far. She could even faintly see a person standing on the other deck.