Chapter 26

A Strange Letter of Challenge

At the Prince Regent’s Residence.

Jiang Ying paced back and forth in front of the door of the study, scratching his head and looking conflicted.

“Jiang Ying, what’s wrong?” a voice asked curiously.

Soon after, a man dressed in a green robe with phoenix eyes slowly walked over with his hands on his back.

Jiang Ying hurriedly bowed. “Young Marquis.”

The other party was the young master of the Marquis of Luo Jin’s Residence. He had grown up together with Feng Yili, and the two had a rather good relationship.

“We’re already familiar with each other so there’s no need for such formalities,” Luo Xiuran said. Then, he raised an eyebrow and asked curiously, “Why do you look so worried?”

Jiang Ying said in a low voice, “It’s all because of the Second Miss of the Yu family.”

“Oh? Yu Wanrong, the Second Miss of the Yu family? The person in the rumor whom your master and the Crown Prince are fighting over?” Luo Xiuran stroked his chin, and his phoenix-shaped eyes lit up with interest.

Jiang Ying’s expression darkened slightly as he said, “Just a while ago, she sent a maid to the residence and said that the Princess Consort has donated her mother’s dowry to the Ministry of War. Since military personnel are managed by His Royal Highness, she wants him to stop the donation.”

‘The Princess Consort donated her mother’s dowry to the Ministry of War?’

Luo Xiuran could instantly guess the trick behind this matter. He chuckled and said, “The Princess Consort you mentioned is the Eldest Miss of the Yu family who caused a commotion in the Yu family recently, right? She’s really smart. Her mother’s dowry caused a sensation back then. Those vermin in the Yu family would definitely be tempted by the dowry. Since she has donated it, it’s not surprising that the vermin are anxious.”

“That’s right! They think they can do whatever they want with the dowry of the Princess Consort’s mother. Since Second Miss Yu is so anxious, she must have stolen quite a lot of things from the dowry herself,” Jiang Ying said disdainfully. Perhaps it was because of Yu Yunxi, he rather disliked Yu Wanrong.

Seeing Jiang Ying’s expression, Luo Xiuran grew even more curious. He said, “Back then when something happened to your master, I was away looking for medicine for him. I didn’t expect so many things to happen when I returned. To be honest, I’m really curious about the Princess Consort you mentioned. Is she really that great?”

“Of course! If it wasn’t for her help back then, Master might not have been able to wake up!” Jiang Ying quickly replied.

“Then why did she escape from the Imperial Mausoleum? Moreover, she disappeared for five years. The Imperial Mausoleum was so cold at that time. If Yu Wanrong didn’t arrive in time, your master would’ve died from the cold a long time ago,” Luo Xiuran said.

“This… I…”

Jiang Ying was rendered speechless. He did not know how to refute Luo Xiuran’s words.

Back then, when Feng Yili regained consciousness, Yu Yunxi had disappeared. At that time, everyone said that she was afraid of death and had fled for her life. When the Yu family disowned her, Feng Yili did not say anything. As such, many people assumed that Feng Yili was furious with Yu Yunxi.

Despite the rumors, Jiang Ying felt that Yu Yunxi was not such a person.

After a moment, Jiang Ying said, extremely anxious, “What should I do? His Royal Highness heard that someone came over to deliver a message so he asked me to check what was going on.”

“You better hurry up and report Yu Wanrong’s message to him. It won’t be good if you keep delaying it. After all, Yu Wanrong can be considered a savior of your master,” Luo Xiuran said seriously.

Luo Xiuran had seen Yu Wanrong many times. She looked innocent and harmless, but the ambition in her eyes did not escape his notice. For this reason, he did not have a good impression of her. However, since she had saved Feng Yili, he could only try to suppress his dislike.

Jiang Ying’s frown deepened. He was not willing to see Feng Yili intervene in this matter for Yu Wanrong’s sake. If Feng Yili intervened, Yu Yunxi would definitely suffer again.

Jiang Ying was still in a dilemma when Jiang Chun hurried over. He handed a letter over to Jiang Ying and said, “Someone sent a letter and said that the letter has to be personally opened by His Royal Highness.”

‘It has to be personally opened by His Royal Highness?’

Jiang Ying looked at the letter. There was nothing on the letter at all to indicate the sender. After a short while, his eyes lit up as he thought to himself, ‘This letter of unknown origin came at the right time!’

Jiang Ying muttered under his breath, “Who cares who sent it as long as it has nothing to do with Second Miss Yu? I’ll use this letter to distract His Royal Highness!”

Following that, Jiang Ying turned around and knocked on the door.

Luo Xiuran and Jiang Chun exchanged a look and quickly followed.

…

After entering the room, Jiang Ying tried to suppress the nervousness in his heart before he lied. “Someone sent a letter, but I don’t know who it’s from.”

Feng Yili, who was reading a book, pursed his lips and looked up. He looked at Jiang Ying with a piercing gaze for a long time before he reached out for the letter. When he saw the content of the letter, his expression darkened immediately.

Upon seeing Feng Yili’s reaction, Luo Xiuran and Jiang Ying could not help but lean over to have a look. In the end, they saw a few big words scrawled on the letter: You’re an irresponsible coward!

Although the handwriting was not bad, it could be seen that the writer’s strength when writing was rather weak, and the words looked slightly distorted.

“Why does this look like the handwriting of a child who has been taught by an expert?” Liu Xiuran asked, hitting the nail on the head.

‘A child?’

Jiang Ying and Jiang Chun frowned.

‘Which family’s child is so bold to provoke His Royal Highness?’

“His Royal Highness, perhaps it’s a child’s prank. Let me burn the letter,” Jiang Ying said.

However, Feng Yili stopped Jiang Ying and said, “Soak it in water.”

Although Jiang Ying did not understand Feng Yili’s intention, he still did as he was told. He quickly brought over a small basin of water before he placed the letter into the basin.

Soon enough, a line of small words appeared at the bottom of the letter.

Feng Yili muttered tonelessly, “There’s indeed a hidden message.”

Feng Yili took the paper out and looked at the words on the letter that read: Let’s have a battle between gentlemen tonight at the Drunken Harmony Drinking Parlor!

‘D-drunken Harmony Parlor?’

Feng Yili’s expression did not change much, unlike the others.

Jiang Ying looked at Luo Xiuran meaningfully as he said, “Isn’t the Drunken Harmony Parlor that kind of place… The Young Marquis frequents that place a lot…”

Luo Xiuran scratched his head awkwardly for a moment. Then, he pretended to be indifferent as he said, “I, I only went there to listen to the songs and poetry… I definitely didn’t do anything else…”

“Oh, I see,” Jiang Ying and Jiang Chuan replied perfunctorily with knowing expressions on their faces.

Luo Xiuran: “…”

Finally, Luo Xiuran changed the topic awkwardly and said, “Something’s not right. If this letter were written by a child, why would the child ask you to meet in such a vulgar…”

Luo Xiuran coughed lightly before he continued to say, “I mean why would he ask you to meet in such a romantic place of songs and poetry?”

At the same time, Luo Xiuran thought to himself, ‘This kid started even earlier than I did!’

“Your Royal Highness, someone must be playing a prank on you! I’ll go and investigate this matter.”

“No need. We’ll know the identity of the culprit tonight,” Feng Yili said tonelessly.

“Wait. Y-you… You intend to meet the other party tonight?!” Luo Xiuran exclaimed. He was so shocked that he stumbled over his words. After all, the other party was clearly a child, but Feng Yili truly wanted to see who the other party was.

“Invisible ink is rare…” Feng Yili said, by way of explanation.

Luo Xiuran waved his hand and said, “I know that. Only the members of the Imperial Family and great generals of the country have it. It’s used to write important letters and reduce the risk of discovery.”

Following that, realization seemed to dawn on Luo Xiuran. His eyes widened slightly as he said, “Yili, you’re saying…”

“The child is not simple. Perhaps, the person behind the child has ulterior motives. No matter what, I must get to the bottom of this,” Feng Yili said coldly as he held the letter tightly.