Don't ask where people go

Chapter 2013 Consolation
"Your Highness Prince Yucheng wants to detain me?" Shang Mingzhou's expression changed, and Li Qiyou frowned. "I told you to leave, but you refused. Now I'm keeping you here, but you still refuse. Why is that?"

Just as Shang Mingzhou was about to explain, Li Qiyou suddenly looked enlightened. "I understand now. Your loud commotion outside the manor just now was all premeditated to blackmail me, wasn't it?"

He paused, then said, "Now, it's awkward for me to keep you here, but it's also awkward to let you go. In that case, guards, take this young master Shang back to the Shang family and tell the head of the family everything that happened tonight, and demand an explanation from him..."

"Please forgive me, Your Highness!" Shang Mingzhou released the beam and knelt down in front of Li Qiyou. "I did not mean to make things difficult for Your Highness, but I have unspeakable difficulties..."

"Difficulties?" Li Qiyou coldly interrupted Shang Mingzhou. "What difficulties would make you risk offending me?"

Shang Mingzhou hesitated, while Li Qiyou's face was ashen. "Do you know that if I weren't so good-natured, it would be your corpse that's being sent back to the Shang family right now?"

Upon hearing this, Shang Mingzhou broke out in a cold sweat, while Fang Zilan, who was eavesdropping, also felt a chill run down her spine. Perhaps because Li Qiyou had always treated her kindly, she had forgotten that he also had the surname Li and was a member of the Li royal family, possessing supreme power.

Even if Li Qiyou kills Shang Mingzhou tonight, no one can do anything about it. The idea that princes are subject to the same laws as commoners is nothing but a high-sounding lie.

If the reason given by Li Qiyou is sufficiently justifiable, or even if it is not entirely justifiable, simply for offending Prince Yucheng, a life could be taken. Otherwise, why is it that despite Prince Rong'an's numerous crimes, no one dared to utter a single word about him after his death?

Offending the imperial court is far more intimidating than the truth; it is powerful enough to distort the truth and allow others to embellish it.

"Everyone knows that His Highness Prince Yucheng has a good temper, but I took advantage of it. Please forgive me, Your Highness." Shang Mingzhou's voice pulled Fang Zilan back to reality. She watched him kowtow repeatedly, his forehead becoming a bloody mess after several thuds.

Li Qiyou merely observed coldly for a while before saying, "Since you admit to using me, then you should pay the price."

"Please forgive me, Your Highness Yu Cheng." Shang Mingzhou continued to kowtow. Fang Zilan looked at the blood on his face and clenched her fists tightly in her sleeve.

Li Qiyou finally raised his hand, and the servant understood immediately, stepping forward to hold down Shang Mingzhou and stop him from kowtowing.

"I'll give you one last chance," Li Qiyou said, looking down at Shang Mingzhou. "To be honest, I might spare your life."

Fang Zilan stared intently at the arrogant Li Qiyou. For some reason, at this moment, she saw the shadow of Li Shengxuan in him.

Shang Mingzhou pursed his lips and slowly said, "With the young master's death, there are undercurrents within the Shang family. I was entrusted by the family head to go ahead and find out the situation."

"Is this why you want me to throw you into the government jail?" Li Qiyou asked thoughtfully. Shang Mingzhou nodded. "Yes, I heard that Mo Yang, who killed the young master, is imprisoned in the government jail. I want to meet him."

Upon hearing this, Li Qiyou's eyes darkened. "Who told you that Mo Yang killed Shang Zhongyi?"

The head of the Wu family lowered his head and spoke after a long while, "Although my Wu family is a prominent family in Lingnan, and does have some business in cordyceps, but..."

He didn't continue, but Xiahou Yunzhao, standing beside him, pressed on with a half-smile, "But what?" "But that's Lingnan! Even a fly flying out wouldn't escape the Xiahou family's notice. How could I possibly evade the Xiahou family's control over some illegal drugs?" The Wu family head seemed more and more aggrieved as he spoke, and he knelt down on the ground with a thud. "Please, sir, do me justice! You mustn't wrong my Wu family for no reason!"

"Injustice?" Xiahou Yunzhao repeated the two words meaningfully, and said with a smile, "That's right, everything requires evidence. It seems you won't shed tears until you see the coffin."

"General Xiahou, what do you mean?" The head of the Wu family looked up at Xiahou Yunzhao and said angrily, "Don't try to slander my Wu family just because you have a private relationship with Mr. Xie!"

"Who do you take me for, Xiahou Yunzhao?" Xiahou Yunzhao said coldly, "If I hadn't caught the person who was illegally trading contraband drugs, why would I have entered the pass alone, disregarding the safety of the entire Xiahou family?"

"May I ask who General Xiahou has captured?" The head of the Wu family clenched his fists and roared at Xiahou Yunzhao, "That is Aying, my own sister, your lawfully wedded wife, head of the Xiahou family! If I don't risk my life to bring her back to the Wu family, General Xiahou will torture her into confessing, using her blood as bait, and the corpses of my entire Wu family as stepping stones, so that your Xiahou family can rise to prominence?"

Xiahou Yunzhao pursed her lips and said calmly, "Do I need to?"

However, the more nonchalant she appeared, the more the Wu family head pressed her for an answer. "General Xiahou, you've harbored resentment ever since Prince Rong'an overpowered you. Later, Fang Zilan forced you to relinquish your power and step down, taking away your title of Duke of Yue, which only fueled your resentment. If you had known this would happen, why did you surrender in the first place and even send Consort Yu to him..."

"Shut up." Xiahou Yunzhao looked down at the head of the Wu family and said, word by word, "Consort Yu is the birth mother of the current emperor. You are not worthy to mention her."

"I am not worthy?" The head of the Wu family sneered. "General Xiahou, if you and Xie Chen had not been so determined to surrender, how could the Baiyue region have fallen to this state? How could the Xiahou family have fallen to this state?"

"This is a matter for the Xiahou family, and it has nothing to do with you." Xiahou Yunzhao's face was ashen. "Now that Xie Chen is in court, I only have one question—does your Wu family admit to the crime of privately trading prohibited drugs?"

“I admit it.” The head of the Wu family nodded readily. “I was instructed by the Xiahou family to trade in prohibited drugs and sell Wu Kui to the steward of the Rong’an Prince’s mansion, which poisoned the Rong’an Prince’s life.”

Before he finished speaking, an uproar erupted both inside and outside the hall.

Xie Chen slammed his gavel and asked loudly, "Why would the Xiahou family instruct you to do this?"

"Why?" A sinister smile appeared on the face of the Wu family head. "Haven't I made myself clear enough? General Xiahou has harbored resentment for a long time. Moreover, considering the pirate invasion and the epidemic in the southeast, how could she not hate what Prince Rong'an did?"

Xie Chen took a deep breath. "If what you say is true, why didn't General Xiahou take action back then, but instead waited all these years?"

"Mr. Xie, others may not know the reason, but do you not know it either?" The head of the Wu family chuckled. "Who in the southeast doesn't know that General Xiahou and Prince Rong'an are at odds? At that critical juncture, even if she had her own intentions, Mr. Xie, you wouldn't have let her act recklessly, would you?"

Xie Chen didn't speak. Xiahou Yunzhao smiled self-deprecatingly and said softly, "I never thought that after so many years, in other people's eyes, I would still be the woman who needs Xie Chen to save me."

"General Xiahou, is there anything you want to say?" Xie Chen heard his own voice tremble slightly.