frightfiction Chapter 1884 One Night Without Sleep
Chapter 1884 One Night Without Sleep
However, Cheng Youning, being a filial son, returned to Prince Pang's mansion to visit his grandmother after his confinement was lifted.
The vermilion gates of the Prince's mansion were wide open, and many people were standing at the entrance. However, none of them were outsiders; they were all members of the Prince's mansion. Everyone looked and acted similarly, appearing restless and craning their necks.
Upon seeing the Crown Prince's carriage, everyone's eyes lit up. They hadn't slept all night, waiting for news from the palace.
After a night of treatment, Big Eyes was back to normal. He was wearing a short blue outfit, and his hair was wrapped in a blue cloth, making it look like a big bun. He was unusually energetic because he hadn't slept all night. When he saw the Crown Prince's carriage approaching, Big Eyes became excited. "Look, it's the Crown Prince's carriage and his guards!"
Everyone saw that they were waiting here for the Prince and Princess, and for news from the palace. They had been at the palace all night, and hadn't returned yet; instead, the Crown Prince's carriage had appeared. But whether it was the Prince and Princess or the Crown Prince, if anyone came, there would be news.
Yu Hua had been restless all night, and now she was even more anxious. "The Crown Prince was under house arrest, how did he get released?" she wondered to herself. "Could the Emperor be dead?"
Confined to the Crown Prince's residence for several days did not diminish his arrogance at all; at this time, the Crown Prince was once again in a radiant and cheerful mood.
He wore a moon-white brocade robe with dark patterns, a jade belt with lotus vines around his waist, a large, lustrous white pearl pendant hanging in front of his lapel, and two round pearl earrings in his ears. When he jumped off the carriage, a pair of rare pearl shoes shone brightly. As he walked slowly, the pearls swayed gently with his clothes. Although he was flamboyant, he could not hide his noble demeanor.
Before even stepping onto the stone steps, Yu Hua led the servants of the manor to pay their respects to Cheng Youning.
Looking at those anxious faces, Cheng Youning found it quite amusing. "Yuhua, what's wrong with you looking so worried?"
Cheng Youning was asking a question he already knew the answer to. He had already learned about what happened last night from his mother. His mother had made the poisonous mushrooms herself and was feeling extremely guilty, even shedding tears as she spoke. When had Cheng Youning ever seen his mother like this? He couldn't help but feel sorry for his mother.
However, Cheng Youning had his own sense of right and wrong. He believed that it wasn't that his mother was wrong in cooking, but that the poisonous mushroom shouldn't have appeared in the Prince Pang's mansion. There were more than ten people in the kitchen, so how could no one recognize the poisonous mushroom? Cheng Youning found it strange no matter how he thought about it, but he couldn't make a conclusion easily. After all, the head of the family here was his father, Cheng Feng, and his father was capable of handling this matter.
Yu Hua's tears streamed down her face, her little hand still trembling as she held Cheng You Ning's. "You Ning, it's all over now, your parents have caused a huge disaster."
Cheng Youning nodded calmly, "I know! How is my grandma? Come with me to see her. I haven't seen her for many days, she must miss me."
Yu Hua was extremely anxious, her heart filled with worry for Shang tide and Cheng Feng. "You Ning, now is not the time to talk about your grandmother. Your parents are in trouble, and the Prince Pang's Mansion is doomed!"
Yu Hua knew she shouldn't be talking to a child about this, but she had lost her composure. If she didn't talk to Cheng Youning, she didn't know who else to talk to. Although Cheng Youning was young, he was of high status, the crown prince of Fengqi, second only to the emperor. Seeing him, Yu Hua was clearly much more composed than before.
Cheng Youning glanced at the neurotic Yu Hua, whose eyes were dark and whose hair was messy, and whose complexion was terrible. "Didn't you sleep well last night? What nonsense are you talking about? If you're tired, I'll give you a day off and let you go home to rest."
Cheng Youning walked up the stone steps, passed through the gate of the Prince's Mansion, and took small, square steps in her pearl-embroidered shoes. Her demeanor was elegant and composed, and every gesture exuded a natural nobility.
Yu Hua held onto Cheng Youning's hand tightly, as if grasping at the last straw. She followed Cheng Youning forward, chattering incessantly, "Youning, something terrible has happened! Your father and mother are in trouble! Our entire Prince Pang's mansion is going to be in danger! It might even implicate you!"
Cheng Youning chuckled, his words displaying a maturity beyond his years, "Yuhua, your tendency to panic in the face of trouble is not good. You are the head steward of the Prince Pang's mansion; you should be able to remain calm in the face of problems. Your every word and action represents the Prince Pang's mansion. I don't think my mother taught you this way all these years."
Cheng Youning chuckled inwardly. It wasn't just Yu Hua who was panicking; his mother was too, having cried several times in the side hall of the Yangxin Hall. In the end, he was the calmest, only crying once while holding his great-uncle, and then he regained his composure. He was indeed no ordinary person. Even at this moment, Cheng Youning couldn't resist praising himself inwardly.
Cheng Youning turned around and glanced at the people surrounding her, then interrogated them, "I've never seen these servants before when I came to the Prince's mansion! What's wrong with you all today? Don't you have anything to do? Go back to your posts!"
Everyone looked worried and refused to leave, still following Cheng Youning. Yu Hua kept repeating the same thing: "Youning! Something's happened to our Prince's Mansion. We're finished."
"What nonsense are you talking about? My father and mother are both alive, and my grandmother is also alive. How could the Prince Pang's mansion be finished!" Yu Hua kept saying "finished" over and over, which Cheng Youning didn't like to hear. She felt disheartened.
To prove that the Prince Pang's mansion was doomed, Yu Hua told Cheng Youning, "Last night, the Emperor ate at our Prince Pang's mansion. There were poisonous mushrooms in the food. Coincidentally, the food with poisonous mushrooms was cooked by your mother, and your father was the one who tended the fire. Isn't that the end of us?"
Last night, those who went to the kitchen recalled that none of the dishes they made contained mushrooms. Coincidentally, of all the fresh poisonous mushrooms in that basket, only Shang tide used them in her cooking.
Cheng Youning disliked Yu Hua's words even more. "My mother isn't good at cooking, so naturally she can't tell if mushrooms are poisonous or not. If anyone should be held responsible, it should be the purchasing staff and kitchen staff. The vegetables went into your kitchen, and the purchasing staff didn't check the goods. Don't the kitchen staff check the goods? How can you be careless when cooking for the Emperor? Why didn't the head chef supervise and let my mother do whatever she wanted! As long as these vegetables came out of your kitchen, your kitchen is not exempt from responsibility." In Cheng Youning's mind, her mother was not wrong, and someone with her mother's level of skill shouldn't have been allowed into the kitchen at all.
Yu Hua nearly fainted, her vision went black, but luckily Da Yan caught her. The goods she was buying and inspecting belonged to her, but she never checked whether they were poisonous or not; she only checked whether they were fresh and whether the price was fair.
Upon hearing this, the kitchen staff's legs went weak, and they all knelt down in front of Cheng Youning, blocking her path. Leading them was Chef Liu, the head chef of the Prince's mansion kitchen.
Chef Liu looked extremely dejected, with barely concealed anxiety in his eyes. Already overweight, Chef Liu hadn't slept all night, and now he looked even more greasy.
He was, after all, the head of the kitchen, and with such a thing happening there, he couldn't escape responsibility. "Your Highness, please spare us! It was my negligence; I failed to supervise the kitchen properly. If anyone should be punished, punish me. Please, Your Highness, spare everyone's lives! They all have elderly parents and young children to support. Please, Your Highness, spare everyone's lives!"