Ask the Nine Ministers

Chapter 433 Talking Nonsense
Li Huan slowly walked over and looked down at her.

"Ping Le, have you gone mad?"

"Brother, have you gone mad!"

Ping Le's hair was disheveled beneath her cloak, her eyes were bloodshot, and she looked both crazed and desperate: "We watched helplessly as the Crown Prince drove us step by step into a dead end, and you, on the other hand, hid in the palace pretending to be deaf and dumb..."

"Insolence!" Li Huan's tone rose slightly. "Mind your place. With such unbridled speech, who can save you?"

"Identity? What identity do I have?" Ping Le threw his head back and laughed loudly, the laughter shrill and particularly eerie in the quiet night.

“My maternal grandfather is imprisoned, my maternal clan has lost power, and even my husband has been snatched away by that widow Wenjia who brought misfortune to her husbands. Royal brother, what else do I have to lose? I have nothing left!”

Li Huan's eyes suddenly turned cold.

"You and Lu Youan have already divorced; you should have parted ways long ago. What business is it of yours if he wants to remarry?"

“That’s my prince consort! My children—” Ping Le screamed, her expression becoming even more agitated.

"Who does Wenjia think she is? A jinx who brings bad luck to her husbands, does she even deserve to take my place? To be the stepmother of my children?"

Li Huan's eyes narrowed.

For no apparent reason, a dull ache suddenly welled up in my heart.

"Ping Le, stop being so stubborn and turn back. Forgiving others is also forgiving yourself."

“Brother, I beg you…” Ping Le rushed forward, grabbed Li Huan’s collar and slowly knelt down, her upturned face a mixture of pain and hope.

“As long as you’re willing to help, we can definitely bring down the Crown Prince… My maternal grandfather still has connections in the court, and the Empress Dowager won’t stand idly by. We also have my great-grandmother… She’s the current Grand Princess. If she’s willing to step in…”

"Enough!" Li Huan interrupted her sharply, pulling her up from the ground and pinching her so hard her fingertips hurt.

"Ping Le, haven't you caused enough trouble already?"

A hint of ferocity finally appeared in Li Huan's eyes.

Every word was like a knife to the heart.

"Have you forgotten how Mother died? If you hadn't been so willful and reckless, how could you have gradually lost the Emperor's favor and fallen to this state? Mother's death and the downfall of the Xiao family were not without your faults. Even now, don't you know how to reflect on your actions?"

“I’m reflecting? I’m not wrong, they are. It’s Father Emperor who’s muddleheaded, it’s Crown Prince who’s cunning, it’s those sycophantic villains…” Ping Le cursed, trembling all over, grabbing his sleeve, her eyes filled with crazed hatred.

"Brother, you clearly possess great talent and ambition, a thousand times, a hundred times better than Li Zhao. That position should have been yours. Why didn't you want it? Why were you willing to be subordinate to someone else? Li Zhao is simply not worthy..."

"Shut up!" Li Huan approached, grabbed her wrist, his gaze cold, and his voice extremely low.

“Ping Le, I don’t blame you for not being able to see the situation clearly, but if you dare to talk nonsense again and cause trouble, don’t blame me for not showing any brotherly affection.”

Ping Le felt as if his throat was being choked, and he couldn't speak for a moment.

The brother and sister had both fallen on hard times.

Do we still need to hurt each other?
"Brother... If even you won't protect me, who else will tolerate me..."

Li Huan released his grip, his tone returning to its usual gentle indifference, "You can spend the night in the west wing. Tomorrow morning, I will send someone to escort you back to Shuozhou. Take good care of yourself and don't come to the capital again. Don't concern yourself with court affairs anymore. The Lu family's children have their own destinies; don't interfere..."

"No! I'd rather die than go back to that godforsaken place—" Ping Le was furious when he heard about Shuozhou, his face full of hatred.

"What I can't have, no one else can have. My brother won't help me, so I'll seek justice myself. Even if I die, I'll take a few down with me..."

As she spoke, she turned and was about to rush out the door.

"Ping Le," Li Huan called out coldly, his eyes chillingly gloomy, "If you want to die, don't drag the Duan Prince's Mansion down with you."

Ping Le stopped abruptly, her back stiffening.

She slowly turned her head, tears streaming down her face like broken beads, yet with a strange smile on her face.

“Brother, I thought you were my last hope in this world… and my only family. I never expected you to be so heartless… Tell me, if Mother were alive, how heartbroken she would be…”

Li Huan looked at her expressionlessly.

"The bond between us as siblings was exhausted long ago when you repeatedly disrupted the court and dragged our maternal clan into the abyss."

Ping Le took a deep breath of the cold air, staggered back two steps, and suddenly burst into a hoarse, hysterical laugh.

"Okay...okay, well said. It was my fault...I deserve to die...it's all my fault..."

She looked at Li Huan, and very slowly gave him a deep bow. It took her a long time to straighten up, and she laughed calmly.

“In the past, Ping Le was ignorant and implicated my elder brother. From now on, whether I live or die has nothing to do with you, Li Huan… Take care.”

She flung open the door and plunged headlong into the swirling snow, leaving only a trail of messy footprints.

Li Huan stood there, motionless for a long time. Xue Yuechen appeared out of nowhere, her face pale, and stepped forward to ask him in fear.

"Your Highness, is that Pingluo?"

"Watch your mouth." Li Huan raised his hand to stop her, his gaze fixed on the gray sky outside the window, his voice colder than ice and snow.

"You haven't seen anyone tonight."

Xue Yuechen shuddered and lowered her head in response.

"Yes, I understand."

She dared not ask another question.

Li Huan remained silent.

The courtyard was completely silent.

No one noticed that in the shadows of the eaves outside the study, a servant in a coarse cotton-padded jacket was silently shrinking back and disappearing below the steps...

Those are the eyes that are everywhere in the old mausoleum.

Everything that happened tonight will soon reach Yiyuan and Xue Sui's desk.
-
"Cuckoo...cuckoo..."

The next day at noon, the wind and snow stopped, the sky cleared, and a little warm light shone through.

Xue Sui was combing her hair in front of the mirror when she heard the familiar sound of flapping wings coming from outside the window.

Lingyu braved the wind and snow to land on the windowsill. Her snow-white feathers were ruffled by the wind, and some unmelted snowflakes still clung to her beak.

Xue Sui smiled slightly, walked over and pushed open the window. The little thing nimbly jumped in, tilted its head, and affectionately rubbed against her palm.

"Look how cold you are, you look so pitiful..."

Xue Sui turned around to get millet to feed it.

Startled, Black Eighteen, who was crouching nearby, immediately pricked up its ears, bared its teeth, and lunged forward, making low growling sounds in its throat...

Xue Sui patted its head with a smile.

"We're on the same side. Don't be aggressive."

Black Eighteen whimpered twice in grievance, flicked its tail, and lay down again, its amber eyes still fixed on the audacious "white-feathered bird".

Xue Sui dried Lingyu's body, took the letter tube from its ankle, and with a slight force from his fingertips, broke the wax seal on the letter and pulled out the rolled-up thin paper.

Unfold it, and there's only one line of small text on top.

"Peace be with you, don't worry."

It is Li Zhao's handwriting.

Concise and straightforward, yet with a touch of tenderness hidden deep within the strokes of the pen.

Xue Sui's lips curved slightly.

This was something the two of them had agreed upon.

After returning to the palace safely, I let her know I was alright.

It seems the emperor didn't make things difficult for him.

The matter of feigning illness and defying the imperial decree to return to court has been dealt with for the time being.

Xue Sui brought the note close to the candlelight, watching it turn to ashes. He then sat down, ground ink, picked up his brush, pondered for a moment, and wrote a line of small characters.

"Withered petals fall from golden branches into the cold courtyard; I break through the vermilion gate at night, but receive no answer. Old debts remain unresolved, hatred arises; how can one survive when blood relatives turn against each other?"

Once the ink on the paper had dried completely, she carefully rolled it up, stuffed it into the letter tube, and gently tied it back to Lingyu's foot.

"Go."

She gently stroked Lingyu's feathers and watched it fly into the air.

After standing still for a moment, he changed his clothes and went out.

Today, she only took Xiao Zhao and Ruyi with her, and they rode in an inconspicuous blue-curtained carriage, cruising over the snow-covered streets, heading towards the east of the city where the Marquis of Jingyuan's residence was located.

　Li Zhao: Come on, let's hurt each other.

　　Xue Sui: Black Eighteen, charge!
　　(End of this chapter)