[It would have been useless to tell you earlier. You would have worried for days on end because your fifth brother was going to die at the Qionglin Banquet, and that's unlikely to happen in this lifetime.]

[The Imperial Banquet? This is a banquet held by the Emperor in the royal garden for the newly appointed scholars. How could my fifth brother have gotten into trouble at the banquet?]

He drank the poisoned wine and died.

【ha? 】

Fang Ruotang thought it was child's play.

Everyone present, except for the naive eighth and ninth sisters, felt the same way.

After all, how could someone poison a banquet hosted by the Emperor?

The person being targeted is clearly not Fang Zhixing, who just started high school!

There was absolutely nothing about him that would make anyone take such a big risk. Besides, even if he were Fang Zhixing's true enemy, he wouldn't kill him in this situation.

A single disagreement could lead to accusations of regicide, a crime punishable by death for nine generations of one's family. Who would be so foolish as to do that?

[Have you forgotten what I told you at the beginning? The Emperor only has less than a year to live. If it weren't for you, his health would be very weak by now, and he wouldn't be able to hide it from the ministers anymore. By this time, the Eldest Princess has already passed away.]

So it's those ministers? But that doesn't make sense! It's true that the Eldest Princess has prestige in the army, but Prince An and the Crown Prince have a close relationship, so he will still support the Crown Prince. Besides, the Crown Prince is of good age; even if the Emperor were killed, it wouldn't affect the Crown Prince's position. The Crown Prince's position is as stable as Mount Tai.

After responding in her mind, Fang Ruotang remembered the Third Prince, who had already left the game.

Is it the Third Prince again?

[No, that's not it. He was quite weak in this life, but he wasn't much stronger in the original timeline either. He just jumped around for a few more months. In the end, not only did he die, but all the wealth he collected went to the Crown Prince's residence.]

The wealth the Third Prince amassed was nothing more than taking Wuyou as a concubine and swallowing her dowry. Now, the process is different, but the outcome is the same; only the middleman was omitted.

Fang Ruotang's thoughts wandered for a moment, but her protective instincts prevented her from drifting off course like before.

She muttered something to herself, then returned to the main topic.

Stop beating around the bush and just tell me directly: Who wants to harm my fifth brother? Who tricked him? Was my fifth brother the first person that person wanted to harm? If not, who was he trying to harm?

[They are from the Princess's residence.]

【What? 】

Fang Ruotang gasped again.

Then her eyes darted around twice, and she suddenly covered her mouth.

Could it be that, in the original timeline, at this time, they took an opposing position because of me?

Fang Ruotang looked as if the sky had fallen when she thought of this possibility.

[Did my fifth brother die because of me?]

No wonder you said my third cousin saved me last time, but didn't mention my fifth cousin. Wait, you also mentioned my seventh cousin later, but not my eldest brother? Could my eldest brother be gone too?

No wonder I looked down on any of those six people in the original timeline. I'd be a fool to even think of them. They killed my family to take me away; I wanted to devour them alive. Was that love? They just wanted to possess me, to treat me like a plaything.

Fang Ruotang kept muttering to herself, and soon she started to get genuinely angry.

【No, no, no!】

The little mirror was so frightened that its voice cracked.

He was afraid that he might accidentally become the one who dragged the team down again, and if the lords found out later, he would have a hard time.

They wouldn't do such a thing. Otherwise, do you think your seventh brother could hold his own against these six people? If you threaten them, they won't dare harm any of them. Otherwise, your family members would have been imprisoned and used as leverage against you long ago.

Fang Ruotang became irritable.

[You're talking too much nonsense, who exactly are you?]

Her gaze darkened. No matter who it was, she wouldn't let them get away with it. If it was Prince An, ha! He wouldn't have an easy time either; he'd suffer the same fate.

Her family is irreplaceable in her eyes.

man!

If this one is gone, there will be another one.

She is definitely not the kind of woman Yan Yan would do, who would disregard the deep-seated hatred between her family and her enemy to have a child.

Let alone Yan Yan going crazy, even a passerby like her would be full of questions and want to ask the other person a question.

Are you sick?

He was one of the princess's lieutenants.

【ah? 】

Fang Ruotang's boiling emotions were greatly relieved, and at the same time, a sense of relief rose within her, just in case she wasn't one of the six of them.

She can be rational, but that doesn't mean that cutting ties with someone who's already entangled with her won't be painful.

[What deputy general? Why would he poison the banquet?]

[Because the eldest princess died, he assumed it was an assassination attempt by the emperor. After all, the imperial physicians couldn't detect the tumor in her brain, and she died suddenly.]

Fang Ruotang: ...

The cup of wine he poisoned for the Emperor was given to your fifth brother. The Emperor's intention was to show his favor to your fifth brother, but it ended up costing him his life.

Fang Ruotang: ...

Did my fifth brother really have to die in such a ridiculous way?

Fang Ruotang was speechless, feeling that Fang Zhixing's death was too pathetic.

Just then, Fang Zhixing arrived.

His body was damp.

He smiled before he even spoke.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, let's eat!"

Fang Ruotang suddenly darted out and hugged Fang Zhixing.

"Wow, Fifth Brother, you died such a pathetic and worthless death!"

Fang Zhixing stiffened slightly, then subconsciously hugged the wailing Sixth Sister, gently patting her back to comfort her, while looking at the other family members to ask questions.

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