Chapter 109: It Was All His Fault
The name sounded familiar to him. His first thought was, he hadn't any impression on any of the daughters of nobles called Zhao Qing. He would have to investigate it.
"Why must it have anything to do with the person I examined?" Zhao Xing still voiced her doubts. But Zhang Zhengyang being Zhang Zhengyang didn't answer her.
"I'll look into this girl for you, you're currently sick so don't go anywhere this few days."
Zhao Xing glared at him. 'How come this man nags more than my mother?'
But she remembered the banquet, she hadn't been able to tell him, now was the opportunity.
"Zhang Zhengyang, I was invited to this banquet…"
Zhang Zhengyang smiled when he heard her call his name. All these time she had sarcastically called him by his title, not just because she wanted to cover up their relationship in front of outsiders, but because she wanted to mark a distance between the two of them.
"I've asked Tang Rongyi to go with you, you should be fine with her around."
Zhao Xing: "…"
"I…the banquet is in three days…I would be sick by then, can I not go?" It was always safe to avoid trouble than to face it head on.
"Must attend." Zhang Zhengyang replied seriously.
Zhao Xing sighed. She really couldn't escape this. "Zhang Zhengyang, it's all your fault."
Zhang Zhengyang: "…?" How come he's suddenly the culprit? He wasn't the one who sent the invitation.
"You allowed rumors to spread around that both of us had 'that' kind or relationship." She said with a pout, if she had a bit more guts and strength, she would have hit him!
If Zhao Qing hadn't told her she would have still been in the dark till today!
Zhang Zhengyang heard her, and held back a smile, he decided to act dumb. "Oh? What is 'this' relationship Grand Tutor speaks of?"
Zhao Xing couldn't believe he was actually trying to act stupid, did he think she was a three year old that could be easily fooled??
She stood up as she angrily pointed at him. "Zhang Zhengyang you…you…"
Zhang Zhengyang saw her complexion wasn't as good as just now, and decided to stop teasing her, "Alright, alright, Grand Tutor shouldn't be too agitated it's not good for your health, just bear with it for now, it's all part of the plan." He stood up and helped her sit back down.
Zhao Xing felt he was acting strange, but she couldn't pinpoint in how.
She calmed down, and thought about it. She shouldn't be worried about this too much, the Crown Prince still needed her, so he wouldn't deliberately throw her into trouble without any prior arrangement.
"Then you better protect me well."
Zhang Zhengyang nodded, this time he sat next to her as he pushed the plate of pastries for her to eat. Zhao Xing didn't realize what the Crown Prince was doing, she grabbed a pastry and took a bite.
"After the banquet, I'll take you to see the poison master to give you the antidote."
Zhao Xing nodded obediently, after she had bitten into the pastry her mood was much better, she no longer argued with him.
Something flashed through Zhang Zhengyang's eyes. Zhao Xing's servants all told him that she was doing well, only after she had left the manor and saved that lady that she returned and suddenly had a fever. Then he remembered something Xiao Qi told him when she came to report.
Flash Back ["Master, you can't keep trusting that woman, she's sketchy… she even said she can fortune tell, and cheated that woman. If she can casually lie to a stranger, then imagine how many lies she must have told Master! Isn't she afraid of receiving divine punishment?"]
Divine punishment.
That time when his master was here, he would always retire and not come out for a few days whenever he looked into others future, only his first disciple was allowed to meet him.
That time he had thought it must have been because he had to follow certain rules after using his powers. Now that he looks at it, Zhao Xing the two time she had used her powers in the past had resulted with her meeting with dangerous and unexpected incidences.
Now, because she used her powers and saw a young lady's future, she had to suffer from sickness for the past few days. At first he suspected the poison, but after thinking this way, he couldn't un-see this possibility.
In the future he would have to be much more careful with her. He still couldn't get people to find his master that had been missing for so long, and he couldn't teach Zhao Xing himself to control her powers, to stop her from randomly seeing people's future.
Fortunately all this time she didn't see any visions. But if it got out of control in the future, he didn't know what would become of her.
He secretly cursed his master in his heart. He didn't send him someone to help, instead he sent him someone he should babysit!
Zhang Zhengyang soon left the manor after accompanying Zhao Xing some more. It had been a while he hadn't seen her, and he enjoyed her company. Even if he wouldn't outrightly admit he did.
"Many people secretly speculate that the assassination attempt was caused by the Fourth Prince, they just don't dare openly say it, since he is currently being favored by the Emperor…" That night, the ninth prince met with the Crown Prince in his manor.
"Not everyone would keep quiet, people would talk." Zhang Zhengyang answered.
"Then what did Second Brother tell your people?"
"Not to worry, they just need to keep calm, Fourth Brother is so cunning, he's sure to have a backup plan, anyone who speaks would have to deal with him."
The Emperor had already turned a blind eye to this matter, he had already given him what he asked for so the case was considered a forgotten matter.
Even if people questioned their decision, they would surely have a way to suppress it.
Zhang Zhengyang could tell that his Fourth Brother had already found the perfect scapegoat. He himself didn't give much detail about the assassination this time, he could just say that the the Crown Prince had offended some people because of incident before in the south and people who recognized him came to settle scores with him.
No one knows he has so many skilled fighters with him, so they would easily believe it.
Zheng Zhehan knew this too, he felt it was a pity they couldn't use this incident to bring down the Fourth Prince.
"Then Second Brother, do we continue…?"
"Um, we have to." They had gotten to the point of no return, they either went forward or await their death.
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