slave like jade

Chapter 169
Mu Lingzhi suddenly led Yu Ruyan to ask Liang Wang and Queen for the grace of marriage, which was really beyond everyone's expectations.

In fact, it is reasonable to say that Mu Lingzhi and Yu Ruyan are married relatives established by the two countries. They are already a couple in name, but they lack a formal wedding ceremony. Their request is not too much, but Yu Ruyan With his current status, everyone felt that what Mu Lingzhi proposed at this time was a bit rash——

Yu Ruyan is now a suspect in the Qin Xianglou case. Although because of her identities as Princess Daqi and the Third Princess and Mu Lingzhi's strength, she does not have to be imprisoned, but she cannot be arrested before the case is officially investigated. She also brazenly married the third prince, and married into the third prince's mansion in a glorious manner under the eyes of everyone in Dongdu.

Yu Ruyan was also surprised by Mu Lingzhi's sudden move. She never expected that Mu Lingzhi would make such a request to the King and Queen of Liang on such an important occasion.

Thinking of the promise she had made with the queen before, she couldn't help but panicked and looked up at the high and mighty Queen Xie. Sure enough, her face was frosty, and her eyes were staring at her fiercely.

Panicked, she swallowed hard, and couldn't help pulling Mu Lingzhi's robe to retreat, but Mu Lingzhi didn't move at all. Instead, he stretched out his hand to hold her hand tightly, and whispered in her ear: "I lost yesterday!" Qi, you owe me a matter, and I ask you not to leave the stage right now, and face it with me, I must marry you gloriously, and let you become my princess of Mu Lingzhi in a dignified way!"

Mu Lingzhi's tone was as hard as black iron, just like his firm heart.

In fact, after many things happened during this period, his determination to marry her became more and more firm and impatient.He wants to protect her justifiably, so that she will not be hurt in the slightest.

His unquestionable words made Yu Ruyan's heart skip a beat, she turned her head to look at him with a determined face, her flustered heart calmed down inexplicably, a voice in her heart said to herself, she was unwilling to leave this person beside her. Man, she is willing to fight for their future together with him. Even if the whole world opposes her, she will work hard again for him.

Thinking of this, she saw that King Liang hadn't responded for a long time, and before Mu Lingzhi could speak again, she kowtowed respectfully and said, "I also beg my father and queen mother to promise that I will marry Your Highness as soon as possible, so that I can become the third concubine! "

Seeing that she also spoke, Mu Lingzhi's whole body was shocked, and he looked back at her happily, holding her hand even tighter, and he couldn't bear to part again!

However, Empress Xie was furious when she saw that she had even offered to help at this time, and Xiaodao also stared at her blankly, with despair and pain in his eyes!
Liang Wang looked coldly at the two kneeling down, his eyes were icy cold, his voice was icy cold, and he said word by word: "Ling Zhi, do you know what you are doing?"

With Yu Ruyan fighting side by side, Mu Lingzhi became even more confident, and he no longer feared anything.

He straightened his back and said loudly to King Liang: "Father, I know what I'm doing very well. I want to give Yan Yan a grand wedding, let her marry into my Three Princes' Mansion in a glorious manner, and let the whole world know what I'm doing." Everyone knows that she is my Mu Lingzhi's woman!"

"Presumptuous!" Liang Wang let out a low voice, threw the wine bottle in his hand on the table, and said coldly: "Have you forgotten what I said to you before? I just agreed to give you time to investigate the case of Qin Xianglou, not Promise to let you get married. Don't you know what she is now?"

Hearing King Liang's words, the eldest prince couldn't help but reprimanded him aloud. He got up and left the table to come to Mu Lingzhi, pretending to be sad and said: "Third brother, the emperor always thought you were the smartest and most sensible, but I didn't expect You are so confused. Don't say that she is the evil star that harmed the country and the people, but you can forget that she is still the murderer who burned the Qin Xianglou and killed 27 people. How can our grand princess be a murderer? Before you Insisting on protecting her and taking her out of the cell is already a violation of the law. My father is merciful considering your contributions to guarding the border all these years. I don’t care about you. Now you want to marry this murderer into the palace , where are you going to put the face of our Daliang royal family?"

His upright words aroused heated discussions among the ministers, and immediately, under the leadership of Mu Xiang, some ministers said to King Liang: "The eldest prince is right, and Princess Heshuo is also guilty of murder, how can she marry in an open manner?" Entering the Daliang royal family, wouldn't it chill the hearts of the people all over the world, and also become a laughing stock of the people all over the world."

Even more pedantic old ministers always kept in mind the saying that Yu Ruyan was an evil star that disrupted the country, and quickly remonstrated with Liang Wang: "Not only that, this woman is also an ominous person born without tears, a evil star that disrupts the fate of the country. If the Third Highness insists on marrying her, it will be the entire Daliang people who will suffer."

……

In an instant, Yu Ruyan and Mu Lingzhi were mobbed and attacked. Yu Mingzhu and Mu Ziyue sat aside and watched. The expressions on their faces were surprisingly consistent. Under such circumstances, how can Yan become the third princess again?

Contrary to the queen's fury, Xiaodao kept indifferently watching the commotion below, his gaze stayed on Mu Lingzhi coldly, and he didn't say a word for the two of them.

From the beginning, Mu Ziyue has been paying close attention to the expression of the prince, and now seeing that he has no intention of coming forward to help Mu Lingzhi and Yu Ruyan talk and plead for mercy, she feels very proud——

It seems that the prince really believed what he taught Chen Yanfei that night, and decided that Mu Lingzhi was the murderer who assassinated him three years ago.

At the Yaohua Palace dinner that day, after Yu Ruyan left the table, Mu Ziyue sent someone to inform Chen Yanfei who was lurking by the side of the road, asking her to pretend to meet Yu Ruyan by chance to entangle her, and at the same time deliberately let the palace servants stand in front of Xiaodao. It was revealed that Yu Ruyan seemed drunk and passed out in the garden.

Xiaodao was very worried about Yu Ruyan, so he came out to look for her without thinking.

After seeing that he also came to the garden, Mu Ziyue told her that Xiaodao was coming with a small stone according to the previous agreement with Chen Yanfei, and asked Chen Yanfei to seize the opportunity to pass the news she fabricated into Xiaodao's ears.

Therefore, in the Imperial Garden that night, not only Yu Ruyan, but also Xiaodao who had been quietly hiding at the side were the ones who knew about this matter.

Knowing that it was his own brother who set up an ambush to assassinate him three years ago, Xiao Dao didn't believe it at first, but after seeing Chen Yanfei take out the blueprint, he completely believed that the person who killed him was his own brother. Brother Mu Lingzhi.

With this layer of hatred in his heart, when he saw Mu Lingzhi again, Xiaodao wished to seek revenge from him immediately, but he suddenly changed his mind——

Since he assassinated him regardless of his brotherhood, he no longer needs to give up on Yu Ruyan because of guilt, he wants to formally compete with him
Yu Ruyan!
Therefore, in the face of Mu Lingzhi who was attacking by crowd, how could he come forward to help? He wished that his father would dissolve Yu Ruyan's engagement with him on the spot.

……

Facing the accusations from the crowd, Mu Lingzhi pulled Yu Ruyan to stand up. He turned around fiercely and looked at the eldest prince and the angry ministers behind him. His deep eyes swept across the words one by one like a cold sharp knife. Those who opposed him, those who were caught by his gaze suddenly felt chills on their backs, and all of them couldn't help but shut up in fear, not daring to say another word under his gaze.

After telling the people behind him to shut up, Mu Lingzhi turned around and seriously reported to King Liang: "Last time when the altar incident happened and the floods occurred in the south, Qin Tianjian watched the sky at night and discovered the evil stars. Now the disaster situation in the south is stable, and the crown prince The seal was also granted smoothly, and I dare to ask, has Qin Tianjian recently discovered that there has been a change in the astrology in the sky?"

After all, he looked coldly at the supervisor at the side, staring at him intently, waiting for his answer intently.

The supervisor was originally ordered by the wood minister to deliberately smear Yu Ruyan, so as to hit Mu Lingzhi.But when he came to attend the prince's banquet today, he never expected that Mu Lingzhi would suddenly attack him in public, so he was not prepared at all, and he was stunned on the spot.

If he continues to insist that the evil star is still there, the situation in the south has obviously improved, and the crown prince has just been granted the seal. If he continues to say this, won't it be the bad luck of the crown prince who has just been awarded the seal?

And now that everything is going well in Daliang, and even the poison accumulated on the Queen's body for many years has been cured, why should he let people believe the celestial phenomenon he said! ?
But if it is said that the evil star is no longer there, let alone the level of the wood phase, he is also slapping himself in the face.

Because Yu Ruyan, who was regarded as an evil star, was still alive in Daliang, but the evil star in the sky disappeared. Isn't this a slap in the face, admitting that the previous ones were all made up by her own excuses?

Spread rumors to slander the princess, confuse the audience, disturb the government affairs of the court, and at the same time order the offender to deceive the emperor. Not only will he die, but he will also punish the entire family!

In the cold weather of early winter, Mr. Superintendent's forehead was covered with fine sweat, and his whole body was shaking slightly, but he was forced to hide by Mu Lingzhi's fierce gaze. In the end, he gritted his teeth and knelt down. Na Na said: "Weichen... I just wanted to report to His Majesty. Recently, I found that my eyesight is becoming more and more blurred. I went to see the doctor and found that I had an eye disease. So... so, I am ashamed, I can't To serve His Majesty again, I implore His Majesty to allow this minister to retire and return to his hometown..."

The Lord Superintendent knelt down in front of King Liang and begged with grief, then turned to the frosty Mu Lingzhi and said, "Forgive me, Your Highness, I am old and weak, and my eyes are blurred. I really can't see clearly what is happening now." Please forgive me, Your Highness!"

The supervisor's age was barely over forty, so he was not really old and weak, so everyone knew that what he said was just an excuse.

Liang Wang's face darkened, and Mu Xiang's expression was no longer as stable as a stone, and there was a flash of panic in his expression, and he took two steps back quietly, mingling among the officials.

As clever as Mu Lingzhi, he didn't understand Linsi's meaning, he snorted coldly and said, "Since you are old and dazzled, you can't see the truth, I think that the so-called evil star you saw before needs to be deliberated. "

After finishing speaking, he raised his head to look at King Liang, and said, "Father, the matter of the evil star is very important, why don't you let others from Qin Tianjian take a look?"

Because of what the superintendent said before, Liang Wang has always been worried about the evil star. Now that he heard that he was blind, he couldn't help doubting his statement about the evil star last time. He waved his hand angrily to let the superintendent step down , coldly said: "Your eye disease came at the right time, if that's the case, you should go back to your hometown to take care of yourselves."

The supervisor felt distressed, and his back was drenched in cold sweat. Now it is rare to be able to fully retreat, so he dared to say another word, and quickly thanked him and withdrew.

Angrily, King Liang yelled to the officials: "Could it be that the people in the Qin Tianjian have eye problems?!"

Hearing this, Shi Shiran, a young official in his early twenties, stepped forward and respectfully said to Liang Wang: "I am not talented, but I am the deputy director of the Qin Tianjian. I have the courage to watch the stars for Your Majesty!"

King Liang saw that he was young but had an extraordinary bearing, so he couldn't help feeling a little more fond of him in his heart. He nodded in agreement and asked him to leave the palace immediately to observe the astrology!
Upon receiving King Liang's order, the Deputy Superintendent immediately got up and left the hall, stood on the high steps of the East Palace, and gazed at the starry sky.

Not long after, King Liang also came out of the palace in person, followed by a group of ministers, even the queen.

Yu Ruyan followed Mu Ling out of the hall, and she stared nervously at the Deputy Superintendent, hoping to get a different answer from him.

As if sensing her nervousness, Mu Lingzhi took her hand and whispered in her ear, "Don't worry, I'll take care of everything!"

Hearing this, Yu Ruyan suddenly remembered that he had told her before that he had his own way on the side of Qin Tianjian, and immediately understood that this young deputy director of the supervision must belong to him!
At this moment, the Deputy Superintendent smiled and pointed to the vast starry sky in the north, and asked Liang Wang to look at the brightest one, and said with a smile: "Please look, Your Majesty, the Emperor Star is shining brightly in a sea of ​​stars, and it is similar to the bright moon." The power of striving for glory, let alone other things? Moreover, the dark clouds are blown away by the wind, and they can't cover the brilliance of the Emperor Star. Therefore, the Emperor Star is in the lead, and the light cannot be blocked. This is an astrology that is beneficial to the king. Your Majesty can rest assured. "

Hearing his words, King Liang was in a good mood immediately, and looked up at the Diwang star. As he said, the Diwang star was very dazzling and bright.

Liang Wang asked: "Then the evil star mentioned by the former supervisor last time still exists?"

The Deputy Superintendent of the Supervisory Committee smiled lightly when he heard the words, and said: "As the saying goes, the astrology is ever-changing, just like things in the world, nothing stays the same forever. I don't know what astrology was before, but from the current point of view, the surrounding area of ​​the Emperor Star is clear, There is no evil star disturbing."

As soon as these words came out, Liang Wang looked very happy, but Mu Xiang and the First Prince turned dark, but no one dared to refute.

Going back to the main hall, the deputy supervisor has taken over the position of the former supervisor and has become the youngest supervisor of the Qin Tianjian.

And after listening to the supervisor's words, no one mentioned the evil star again!
Although she understood that what the supervisor said just now was probably instructed by Mu Lingzhi, Yu Ruyan also put down a stone in her heart. No matter what, she didn't want to be regarded as a evil star that brought disaster to the country and the people, and she didn't believe in herself. It is the evil star that affects the fate of the country!
As a result, the ministers who opposed the marriage of the two before were silent, and Mu Lingzhi saw the opportunity and pleaded with King Liang again: "Since there is no evil star, it proves that Yan Yan is not a evil star." , so I also ask my father to allow me to marry her!"

Before King Liang could speak, the Queen said coldly: "Even if she is not a malevolent star, the matter of Qin Xianglou has not yet been found out, and she is still carrying the identity of a suspect. How can she marry you and marry into the royal family?"

Mu Lingzhi seemed to be waiting for this sentence. He smiled slowly and said, "My queen, as long as she proves that Qin Xianglou was not done by her, and the murderer is someone else, will my mother agree to our marriage?"

Hearing this, the queen was stunned——

She just doesn't like Yu Ruyan, especially after seeing her face that won't shed tears with her own eyes, the ominous rumors about her have taken root in her heart, regardless of whether there are evil stars and Qin Xianglou, she disagrees .

Even if it was just a rumor, she would not be willing to take her son to take risks, not to mention there are countless rumors about Ming Shakefu among the people.

Therefore, when she brought up the matter of Qin Xianglou, she was just looking for an excuse to refuse their request, but unexpectedly, she was stopped by Mu Lingzhi's counter-questioning.

Yu Mingzhu, who was sitting next to the First Prince, trembled when she heard Mu Lingzhi's words, and her face turned pale instantly.

She immediately turned her head to look at Mu Ziyue who was sitting next to her, her face was flustered, and Mu Ziyue also became flustered.

But she was calmer than Yu Mingzhu, she approached quietly, gritted her teeth and said: "We didn't leave any evidence that day, and it is likely that they deliberately deceived us, so at this time, we must calm down more Don't mess yourself up, let them find out by showing your clues."

Yu Mingzhu's mind was blank, she held Mu Ziyue's hand tightly with both hands, a flash of light flashed in her mind, she suddenly thought of something, and asked Mu Ziyue in horror, did she find that old bustard in the death list of Qin Xianglou last time? name.

Mu Ziyue was stunned, thought about it carefully, shook her head very slowly, and said coldly: "She——recognized you?!"

Yu Mingzhu's whole body was already shaking like chaff, she gritted her teeth and said tremblingly, "Also...maybe!"

With a chill in her heart, Mu Ziyue's whole body broke out in a cold sweat, she couldn't help looking at Yu Mingzhu with disgust and coldness in her eyes, her voice also cooled down, and she said with resentment and anger: "Why is the side concubine here?" Only now did I think of this? Is it still useful to think about it now? If they really find that old bustard, we’ll just sit and wait for death!”

Sure enough, their guess was correct.Seeing that Empress Xie was unwilling to answer for a long time, Mu Lingzhi said: "Queen, regarding the matter of Qin Xianglou, we have found the old procuress Qiu Mama who survived that day, and this Qiu Mama happened to have seen the person who set the fire with her own eyes, so as long as we let her Come out and point out the serious person who set fire to the murderer, and the truth about the Qin Xianglou case will be revealed."

After finishing speaking, his eyes as deep as cold pools coldly glanced at Yu Mingzhu, who was restless beside him, and his eyes were like blades, flying towards her!
And Yu Ruyan looked at Yu Mingzhu coldly, making her whole body tremble, she couldn't hold it anymore, she was about to fall backwards, and was supported by Mu Ziyue calmly...

After hearing Qiu's mother's name, Mu Ziyue was also extremely frightened.But in the end she was very serious, and she blamed Yu Mingzhu in her mouth, but she knew in her heart that now they are grasshoppers on the same rope, and whoever has an accident will involve the other party, and no one can escape in the end.Yu Mingzhu was fine, she was the only one who died.And if something happened to her, the whole Mu Mansion would suffer with her, so she must not let Yu Mingzhu have an accident.

Thinking of this, she gritted her teeth and whispered a few words to Die Xiang beside her. Die Xiang's face changed when she heard the words, she quickly covered herself and retreated, quietly came to the last seat of the female family, and whispered a few words in Mrs. Yiqing's ear , Yiqing's expression also changed drastically, and after a while, he nodded slightly to Mu Ziyue who was nervously looking over, and his hand was already quietly inserted into the cuff.

Seeing this, Mu Ziyue's hanging heart fell into her chest again, and she turned around and told Yu Mingzhu to let her rest assured that the matter has been resolved!
On the other hand, after hearing Mu Lingzhi's words, Liang Wang was very surprised, and at the same time wanted to know, if the person who set the fire was not Yu Ruyan, who would be the real culprit?

So Liang Wang waved his hand and said: "Since you have evidence, call the old bustard and see what she says?"

Before this, Mu Lingzhi had asked the people from Dali Temple and the Criminal Department to go to the other garden to bring Qiu's mother back to the palace. He estimated that they would have brought Qiu's mother back to the palace at about this time, so he asked them to come into the palace. St.

Seeing the palace servants go down to invite people, Yu Ruyan became inexplicably nervous, and Yu Mingzhu was so frightened that her whole body trembled, even though Mu Ziyue had told her that the matter had been resolved, she was still afraid. Facing the consequences, she stood on end with hairs all over her body. After Daqi witnessed her mother and concubine being torn to pieces by five horses, she didn't want to face such a tragic end for herself...

Seeing her description, Mu Ziyue was afraid that she would lose her composure, so she gritted her teeth and whispered in her ear: "If you don't want to die, calm down, I have asked the master to shoot poisonous needles on the old bustard when she came in. That's why the old bustard will die silently in front of His Majesty, you must stay steady and don't show your feet!"

Hearing what she said, Yu Mingzhu took a breath in her heart, and she pretended to be drunk and half lying on the table, so that everyone could not see the panic on her face.

Everyone looked at the door eagerly, waiting for the witness Qiu's mother to come in. They didn't even speak all night, and the knife that had been drinking coldly one after another put down the wine glass in their hands, and looked at the door of the main hall with uncertain eyes. Looking forward to the appearance of witnesses to resolve Yu Ruyan's grievances, but thinking that there will be no obstacles for her to get rid of her grievances, and she can marry Mu Lingzhi smoothly, and she does not expect witnesses to appear...

However, everyone waited for a short while but no one came in. Mu Lingzhi showed a suspicious look on his face, and was about to go to the outside of the hall to see for himself, but he saw the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment come in himself, kneeling on Mu Lingzhi and Mu Lingzhi with his whole body wet. In front of the King of Liang, he said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, I have received instructions from the Third Majesty to personally take people to His Highness's other garden to obtain witnesses, but..."

From the moment the servant of the Ministry of Punishment came in alone, Mu Lingzhi had a bad feeling in his heart, and he asked coldly: "You are in the other garden of the palace, and the servant came back empty-handed. What happened?" ?”

Yu Ruyan's heart shuddered when she didn't see the witness of Qiu's mother, she immediately turned her head to look at Yu Mingzhu, her heart suddenly jumped violently, and her heart suffocated!
Hearing Mu Lingzhi's questioning, the servant of the Ministry of Punishment showed a troubled expression on his face, and finally gritted his teeth and said, "When Weichen took people to Bieyuan to collect witnesses, the witnesses were no longer there..."

Hearing this, everyone in the audience was shocked, and Yu Mingzhu, who had been lying on the table pretending to be drunk, sat up happily from the table when she heard that the witness was missing, and looked at Mu Ziyue beside her in surprise.

Mu Ziyue was equally overjoyed, and whispered to her, "Look, God is helping us!"

And Yiqing, who had been holding the poisonous needle in his hand all the time, also slowly put away the poisonous needle, eating on his own with a casual expression, as if he didn't care about what happened in the field at all.

Hearing that the witnesses disappeared, Mu Lingzhi and Yu Ruyan were both stunned.In the next second, Mu Lingzhi stepped forward and said coldly: "You have been staying in the other garden of the palace, and there are hidden guards guarding it. Why did you disappear? What happened?"

He glanced at Yu Ruyan hesitantly, and the official of the Ministry of Punishment sighed: "Your Majesty, I heard from the people in the Bieyuan that the witness Qiu's mother suddenly disappeared at night, and finally picked up the woman on the edge of the cliff at the back of the Bieyuan. It seems that they escaped at night and fell off the cliff... The servants of Bieyuan recognized that the shoes belonged to the witness Qiu's mother, and... and we also found a string of pearl hairpins on the edge of the cliff, but it was, it was The concubine's close maidservant..."

"Brother An?" When he mentioned Brother An, Yu Ruyan was stunned, she didn't understand at once, she didn't doubt him, and asked later: "Did she see Mother Qiu fall off the cliff with her own eyes? "

On the other hand, Mu Lingzhi's face changed drastically, he understood the meaning of the minister's words, he couldn't help but glance at Yu Ruyan nervously, and was about to speak to stop the minister from continuing, but the minister of punishment had already spoken.

"According to the people in Bieyuan, the concubine's personal servant girl fell off the cliff together with Qiu's mother. After the two of them fell, the copper coin of His Royal Highness's attendant also jumped down... The servant's belt People detoured to the bottom of the cliff to search, but..."

Before he finished speaking, Yu Ruyan couldn't take it any longer and passed out...

(End of this chapter)