On Our Wedding Night, I Discovered the Crown Prince's Hidden Illness

Lai Hao had just left the palace and was about to mount his horse when Wei Ruili grabbed the bridle.

"Thank you for competing against me," he said. "If you hadn't bid higher than me, the blame for the impostor would have fallen on me."

With that, Wei Ruili burst into laughter.

A few days before, their men had almost found the old man at the same time, but unfortunately, the people sent by Wei Ruili did not have much silver on them.

And Lai Hao had personally sought out the Divine Doctor, firstly, because he had brought quite a bit of money with him, and secondly, his personal involvement showed greater sincerity.

Thus, the old man was persuaded by Lai Hao's sincerity and wealth and accompanied him to the capital.

Wei Ruili did not expect to receive such good news today.

Originally he had come to the palace gate wanting to take the opportunity to get closer to the Divine Doctor, thinking that if he offered a higher price than Lai Hao, the Divine Doctor might agree to go with him, and the credit would then be his.

But he hadn't expected that Lai Hao and the Divine Doctor had already entered the palace.

Waiting as he was, he unexpectedly saw the "Divine Doctor" being dragged away by the Imperial Army.

After questioning repeatedly, Wei Ruili finally learned that the Divine Doctor was a fake.

Suddenly, he felt as if he had been saved by Lai Hao.

Lai Hao knocked Wei Ruili's hand from the bridle and lowered his voice, "You're fond of my fourth sister, yet you also covet the position of the Ninth Princess's Prince Consort. What are your true intentions?"

"Do you think I could fancy your sister, who is but a concubine daughter?" Wei Ruili let go of the bridle and sneered with contempt, "The credit for introducing the Divine Doctor today is already a thing of the past. Who do you think people will believe, you or me?"

"You!" Lai Hao was so angry that the bridle trembled in his grip.

He had now lost silver and still could not find the real Divine Doctor, which further damaged his reputation in the Tian Family's eyes.

Like Wei Ruili, there were many noblemen with similar intentions of intercepting, and now they were all laughing at Lai Hao.

Lai Hao climbed onto his horse, dispirited, amid the jeers of the crowd, and left the palace gate in a daze.

When he returned to the Leng Residence, Mrs. Feng asked eagerly, "Ah Hao, was it a success?"

If her son could marry the Princess, then she would be the Princess's mother-in-law. Among the ladies of the capital, she would be able to hold her head high.

Being a secondary wife, especially one promoted from concubine status, meant that her position was to some degree questionable. Therefore, Mrs. Feng greatly hoped for her two children to secure good marriage prospects.

Looking at his mother's excited expression, Lai Hao bowed his head, "Mother, the Divine Doctor was a fake."

"A fake?" Mrs. Feng's voice rose sharply. "Why fake?"

"I was deceived by him too!" Lai Hao pulled out his wallet and turned it inside out.

The wallet was empty, without even a single silver note.

Mrs. Feng snatched the wallet, "The ten thousand taels I gave you, all gone just like that?"

"Mother, back then so many people were vying to have the old man go with them. He only went with me because I offered the highest price. I never expected him to be an impostor," Lai Hao couldn't understand, "That man spoke so convincingly about medical theories, I was deceived too!"

Holding the empty wallet, Mrs. Feng slumped down into the chair in resignation, "That was twenty years of my private savings!"

Lai Hao glared furiously, "Mother, today in the Ninth Princess's chambers, at first the Emperor and the Imperial Physicians all believed that man was the Divine Doctor, but as soon as the Crown Prince and my fifth sister arrived, the situation changed."

Mrs. Feng's slender eyebrows knitted together, "How did it change?"

"First, the Crown Prince suspected the Divine Doctor was a fraud, then the Fifth Miss exposed him on the spot. That old man was scared out of his wits, and his true colors were finally revealed," Lai Hao grew angrier as he spoke. "Had the Crown Prince and Fifth Miss not called out the Divine Doctor as a fake, the position of Prince Consort would have been mine!"

In his view, the entire Imperial Hospital had been unable to treat the Ninth Princess's leg disease; even if they had found a Divine Doctor, the outcome would have been the same.

Besides, the Emperor had said that anyone who showed merit in seeking medical help would be eligible to marry the Princess.

He never specified that the Divine Doctor had to cure the Ninth Princess's leg disease; even if the Divine Doctor was a fraud and the Princess's leg could not be treated, once he successfully married the Princess, they could later declare that even the Divine Doctor was helpless to treat her.

In this way, all problems would be easily solved.

By then, his position as Prince Consort and his wealth would have been secured.

But now, he had failed!

Lai Hao added, "Mother, I believe the Crown Prince called the Divine Doctor a fraud largely because he felt the Divine Doctor couldn't cure his eye condition. But the Fifth Miss, why do I feel her actions were targeted against me?"

"Why would that little girl dare to go against you?"

"At the time, I hinted repeatedly to the Fifth Miss, telling her not to speak out. Unexpectedly, she not only ignored me but even pulled off the old man's fake beard, exposing the fraud."

After a lengthy discussion between mother and son, once Leng Zongfa returned, the family of three debated further.

In the end, they concluded that it was Leng Yu Yan who had sabotaged Lai Hao's good fortune.

Leng Zongfa slammed the table, "Where is that double-dealing creature now?"

"Father, she left the palace before me," Lai Hao obediently said.

He'd squandered the silver and failed to marry the Princess, as well as losing credibility with the Tian Family; to avoid his parents' blame, he shifted all the blame onto Leng Yu Yan to vent his anger.

When the angry trio arrived at Qingyu Residence, Leng Yu Yan was engrossed in a game of chess against herself.

Hearing their footsteps, she didn't lift her head.

Leng Zongfa approached and overturned the chessboard, "You double-dealer, today at the palace, not speaking for your Second Brother was one thing, but you actually..."

In the middle of his questioning, Leng Zongfa choked, realizing that nothing he said would be right.

Leng Yu Yan slowly looked up, her gaze cold and distant, "Divine Doctor being a fake, as a citizen of the Tiancheng, don't I have the duty to expose him?"

Mrs. Feng, tearing away the previously amiable facade, shouted, "Ah Hao is your Second Brother. By exposing the Divine Doctor, aren't you pushing your Second Brother into a hopeless situation? You ungrateful child, I have treated you kindly. I didn't expect you to hold such resentment against me. I may not be your birth mother, but Ah Hao is indeed your blood-related Second Brother!"

Lai Hao seized the opportunity to say, "Yes, Fifth Miss. I hinted to you several times, yet you still willfully proceeded. Now, I won't be able to become the Ninth Princess's Prince Consort, so what do you suggest we do?"

Leng Yu Yan lightly shook her head; the values of the three people before her truly were peculiar, their thinking utterly selfish.

"Consider this, if Second Brother had successfully married the Princess and later someone exposed the Divine Doctor as a fake, would not our Leng Family be sentenced to death? Confiscating our property would be the least of it," Leng Yu Yan played with a chess piece in her hand, speaking unhurriedly, "Father has been an official in the court for many years; surely, you do not need your daughter to teach you this principle."

Upon hearing this, Leng Zongfa broke into a cold sweat, his face turning alternately pale and green with fear.

Mrs. Feng, thinking of the possibility of losing the silver she had saved over many years, continued her tirade like a shrew, "You just can't stand to see your Second Brother prosper, you are such a..."

Before she could finish her rant, the butler hurried in to report, "Master, Lady, someone from the palace has come with an imperial edict from the Emperor!"

An imperial decree from the Emperor was as sacred as the imperial decree itself; everyone quickly made their way to the front courtyard.

By the time they arrived, Madam Lai, Lai Manting, Li Lu, and Mrs. Hu, the entire family of four from the second house, were all present.

The eunuch announced, "Imperial decree from the Emperor, Miss Lai of the Leng Family is wise and shrewd, highly intelligent and talented. With a Crown Princess Consort like this, We are very comforted!"