Ask the Nine Ministers

Chapter 222 The Situation is on the Verge of Collapse

Li Zhao stared at Xue Sui's reddened eyes, slowly stood up with his hands behind his back, and a gust of wind rose from the corner of his robe.

"Announce him to come in!"

The Crown Prince's power surpasses that of a prince.

Li Zhao calmly adopted the airs of a crown prince, slowly strolling to the prison gate, preemptively striking...

The jailers knelt on the ground in panic, not daring to breathe.

Li Huan slowly walked over and stood outside the prison gate. His mourning clothes billowed in the dim light and draft, exuding a chilling and murderous aura.

"Your Highness, is your nighttime visit to a serious criminal an act of favoritism, or to silence him?"

He immediately began to question, his voice low and cold, devoid of his usual gentle and kind demeanor.

“What you said, Your Majesty, is quite interesting.”

Li Zhao slowly straightened his cuffs, his hawk-like eyes gleaming with a chilling light under the oil lamp.

"I have been ordered by my father, the Emperor, to preside over the trial of the case of the murder of the concubine in Qinghui Palace. My actions are perfectly legitimate—this is the approval document from the Ministry of Justice."

After saying that, he gestured for Guan Ya to hand over the approval document.

He glanced at the food box in Li Huan's hand, a mocking smile curving his lips.

"But Your Majesty, today is the day of the Imperial Concubine's funeral. Instead of keeping vigil at the coffin, you broke into the prison in the middle of the night. Could it be that you came to visit Consort Xue?"

Li Huan glanced at the bright red seal on the document, then at Xue Sui's disheveled hair, his smile sharper than a blade.

“My concubines, of course, must be taken care of personally.”

After saying that, he stepped into the candlelit cell, glanced at the food box Li Zhao had placed on the ground, smiled slightly, and exuded a chilling malice.

"With the Crown Prince being so attentive, aren't you afraid of rumors spreading that you and the criminal woman are having an affair?"

Li Zhao's expression remained unchanged; he smiled lightly, flicked his sleeve, and spoke coldly.

"So what? Didn't my elder brother already accuse me of 'tainting the palace and disregarding human ethics' before Father? Since that's the case, I might as well do as you wish and be even more shameless..."

The implication was that even if he wanted to exchange gifts privately, so what...?

Li Huan's expression changed, and a sinister glint flashed in his eyes.

"Your Highness, please be careful with your words. Don't you fear disgracing the royal family by spouting nonsense?"

Li Zhao looked at the ashes of paper money stained on his plain white mourning clothes, and a cold smile appeared on his lips.

"Isn't this exactly what Your Majesty hoped for? Only after you were utterly disgraced and lost the Emperor's favor could you seize the opportunity to ascend to the throne..."

The two had been rivals for years, openly and covertly vying for power, and though they had attacked each other, they had never been so confrontational as they were today, unleashing all their pent-up resentment without restraint...

The atmosphere in the cell instantly plummeted to freezing point.

Li Huan suddenly chuckled, subtly approached Xue Sui, moved the food box that Li Zhao had brought aside, and placed his own on it.

"Why is the Crown Prince in such a hurry? He keeps throwing stones into the well, but don't forget that the water can also wet his own clothes."

The cell, with its pungent musty smell, was filled with the medicinal aroma of angelica and astragalus, and the warm scent of bird's nest porridge.

The two food boxes side by side looked even more comical and bizarre...

After all, both princes are here to interrogate serious criminals of the imperial court.

But coincidentally, they all brought food and medicine...

Even the most meticulous efforts can't help but spark the imagination...

Seeing his tender and affectionate expression, Li Zhao sneered and mocked.

"My elder brother brought a food box to visit me in prison late at night; it turns out he wasn't there to investigate a case..."

Li Huan strode forward, a provocative smile playing on his lips. "My concubine is suffering from poor food and sleep in prison. As her husband, how can I not feel sorry for her?"

Li Zhao squinted his eyes and slowly turned the ring on his hand.

"If you felt so much pain, why didn't you show mercy in Qinghui Palace?"

“The evidence is conclusive, and the law cannot tolerate this.” Li Huan turned around, solemnly adjusting the cuffs of his mourning clothes, a cold smile on his lips. “However, as long as the concubine is willing to confess to the mastermind behind it all, I will definitely plead with my father to spare her life and ensure that she continues to enjoy his favor.”

These words were ostensibly addressed to Li Zhao.

In reality, this was also a way of putting pressure on Xue Sui.

"Have you two princes had enough?"

Xue Sui looked at the two food boxes and suddenly let out a sneer.

"If you're going to interrogate, then interrogate thoroughly. If you're not going to interrogate... in the dead of night, why not save your energy?"

Li Huan stared at Xue Sui's haggard appearance, bent down, and slowly opened the food box.

“I heard you were sick, and your eldest sister was very worried.”

As he spoke, he took out a clean handkerchief from his sleeve, placed it on her knees, and then put the chopsticks into her hands.

"Eat some while it's hot. This bird's nest porridge has been simmering for three hours. Your eldest sister was worried that you would be mistreated in prison, so she didn't even have time for dinner and watched the kitchen finish making it before she felt at ease..."

Xue Sui twitched the corners of his mouth, but the smile didn't reach his eyes.

"I'll trouble you, Your Highness."

The two locked eyes, their gazes swirling with tension, as if invisible blades were clashing...

But to Li Zhao, this scene appeared as an indication of her familiarity and closeness with Li Huan…

That respectful address of "Your Highness," that unwavering adherence to the title, ripped pain from his very insides...

Li Zhao clenched his fists tightly and stormed off.
-
The peony lanterns outside Tianxiang Pavilion in the west of the city sway in the autumn wind.

On a street covered with fallen leaves, several young children were singing frivolous tunes, imitating the adults.

"Young widow, take off your hempen clothes... your black hair twirls around the silver spear, the general's tent is filled with the warm fragrance of jade..."

Amidst the childish, off-key voices and the loud laughter of several drunken patrons, no one noticed that behind the bamboo curtain at the corner, fingers hidden in wide sleeves were already digging into their palms.

“Princess, these unruly children are ignorant of their place. We should send the guards to teach them a lesson.” Dong Xu pulled his cloak over her shoulders and said through gritted teeth in a low voice.

Wen Jia lifted the carriage curtain and looked at the children who were jumping and playing, their clothes tattered. She clenched her handkerchief, turned her face away, and frowned deeply.

"Never mind. Getting to the Lu residence is the priority!"

Further on... there was a blacksmith's shop on the street, where a young blacksmith was wielding a hammer, sweating profusely, and a dagger on the anvil was beginning to take shape...

The embroiderers at Xianchun Embroidery Workshop are meticulously comparing the patterns with their needles, their needles flying as they begin their work...

The owner of the wonton stall next door was sprinkling scallions into boiling water, the oil mill worker was pushing and shoving a wooden oil press, and the candied hawthorn vendor was clapping his bamboo clappers as he walked through the streets and alleys...

Everyone is busy making a living, taking their time to get by.

A few nursery rhymes are nothing more than the autumn wind passing by the streets and alleys, unable to disturb the daily life of ordinary people.
-
In a secret room on the second floor of the Hung Fook Casino, Tian Shu threw the secret letter into a cast iron brazier.

The flickering flames reflected his refined and otherworldly face.

The letter curled up and turned to ash in the flames, and the smell of burning filled the air...

Yao Guang sat beside the wooden table with a half-smile, carefully flipping through the Shangjing Nuwa Collection of Letters.

These petitions were filled with evidence of Princess Ping Le's crimes.

"It's time to close the net." Tian Shu glanced at him, calm and composed.

Yao Guang nodded. "The imperial edict has been issued; it's time."

One after another, old secrets and shocking conspiracies, irrefutable evidence, are laid out before us.

The old mausoleum, through a web of seemingly insignificant characters, weaves together intelligence clues and evidence, like a vast net, gradually uncovering Princess Ping Le's every move, waiting only to tighten the noose and strangle her prey within...

Yao Guang smiled casually, leaned back in the bamboo chair, and tossed a hollowed-out gilded skull into the air.

"I only hope that this time, my thirteenth junior sister will not be soft-hearted again and allow Ping Le to linger on in her wretched state..."

“She’s not soft-hearted.” Tian Shu brushed the token on the table, his eyes as sharp as ice-cold knives.

"What Thirteen wants is never the life of her enemy, but to let her fall from the clouds into the mire, to slowly rot in despair..."

Yao Guang's body trembled suddenly, and she looked at him as if she had realized something.

"Senior Brother truly understands Junior Sister Thirteen best. He has silently protected her and secretly taken care of her for so many years... We must make plans early, lest that brat Li Zhao seize the initiative..."

Tian Shu glanced at her indifferently, his eyes turning almost imperceptibly cold.

"Stop talking nonsense and get on with your business."

Yao Guang straightened up, bowed slightly, and clasped his hands in greeting.

"Yes."
-
The main hall of the Lu residence.

Upon hearing that Princess Wenjia was coming to visit, Prime Minister Lu, along with his wife, hurried to greet her at the gate of the mansion.

Guan Chen and Tong Tong, who had been peering out from the carved lattice window, jumped out like fawns upon hearing the news and followed their grandmother.

Upon seeing Wenjia, she called out in a childish voice.

"Aunt! Aunt! You've finally arrived!"

Wen Jia smiled, bent down, and opened her arms.

The two children cheered and rushed over, their cheerful shouts continuing...

Wenjia told Niu Niu to go over and play with her younger siblings, while she followed the Lu couple into the mansion, laughing as they walked.

At the street corner outside the Lu residence, shrouded in autumn colors, Ping Le watched helplessly as Wen Jia was surrounded by the Lu family as they crossed the threshold. Her own flesh and blood, like fledglings, ran towards her, their faces filled with joy, as if they were seeing their own mother...

Towards herself, however, he repeatedly called her a "monster," tearing her heart out!

Ping Le was trembling with rage. She closed the carriage curtain, her eyes practically spitting fire...

Upon returning to the princess's residence, she kicked the charcoal brazier.

"Is that slut trying every trick in the book to curry favor with Lu You'an? Is she so eager to become his concubine?"

The furnace fire tipped over, and sparks flew across the ground like bees.

The two maids hadn't seen the princess lose her temper like this in a long time, and they were so frightened that they knelt down on the ground, their faces ashen.

"Princess, calm down!"

"Calm down, calm down! What's the use of keeping a bunch of useless people around if you can't even get a single piece of information?"

Ping Le was filled with indignation. "That shameless wretch has no sense of shame. Relying on her looks, she seduced my husband and even wants to be my child's stepmother. Unless I die, Li Fuyin will never be allowed to enter the Lu family again..."

Before she could finish speaking, Granny Zhou stumbled in and hurriedly stomped out the sparks on the carpet.

"Princess! Something terrible has happened! Biyu, who serves Miss Lu, insists that the agarwood bracelet was given to her by you, Princess, and that she instructed her to poison Empress Xie with snakeberry juice. She also said—"

"What else is there to say?" Ping Le sneered, her eyes red. "Are you going to say I murdered my mother?"

"Yes...yes..." Granny Zhou knelt and took half a step, her voice trembling, then kowtowed to the ground before raising her head again and reporting in an even lower voice.

"This old servant has received news that that wretched woman Wenjia has been frequently visiting the Lu residence recently, getting along well with Lord Lu and Old Madam Lu, and is also quite popular with the two young masters... Lord Lu has even been persuaded by her to take the lead in uniting the Censorate and the officials of the Six Ministries to submit a memorial impeaching the princess..."

Ping Le's eyes widened in anger, and his voice sounded like a roar.

"That old scoundrel Lu! He deceived my children, sowed discord among my family, and now he wants to break ties with me..."

Seeing her trembling with emotion, almost bursting into tears, Granny Zhou exclaimed, "Master Lu has truly gone senile! As a senior elder, he's willing to bring out the iron certificate and decree personally bestowed by the founding emperor... to vouch for the Lu family's century-old reputation and plead for Xue Liu's innocence... This old bastard dares to defy the princess for a lowly woman, even abandoning his ancestral legacy..."

Each word felt like being pricked by needles...

Ping Le was so angry that her breathing became rapid. With trembling hands, she grabbed the bronze incense burner on the table and smashed it against the candlestick.

"Go! Summon Gu Wulang to see me."

The maids and eunuchs all knelt on the gold bricks, holding their breath.

When Ping Le saw that they didn't move, the veins on his forehead bulged, and he pointed at them and started cursing.

"What are you standing there for? Hurry up and go!"

The girl looked up, trembling, and pleaded with him, her voice trembling with tears.

"Princess, the Imperial Concubine's mourning period is not yet over, and it is inappropriate for her to summon men from outside the family..."

"Are my words just passing by?" Ping Le was furious and suddenly swept her sleeve, knocking the teacups off the table.

"If you dare to obstruct us again, drag him out and beat him to death!"

Li Zhao: Tsk, this Gu Wulang is... quite lucky.

Gu Jie: This is a blessing for you, do you want it?