Only then did Lu Yuanfang slightly tilt his gaze toward Mei Xiyuan, but he still did not look at her face.

On the contrary, Mei Xiyuan, as soon as she realized that Lu Yuan was about to look at her, immediately smiled and turned around to him with a hopeful expression.

Unexpectedly, Lu Yuan asked her, "May I ask, Your Highness, were those ephedras sent to Longhu City truly brought back from Western Qin by you?"

"I……"

This was completely unexpected for Mei Xiyuan; she hadn't anticipated that this was what Lu Yuan wanted to say to her.

She immediately lost her smile and muttered to herself.

"Just who is this Lu Yuan? He's so arrogant and overbearing just because he's the young master of Dragon Tiger City. He doesn't even put this princess in his eyes. Well then, don't blame me for being impolite to you!"

Having made up her mind, Mei Xiyuan straightened her back, raised her eyebrows, and said with absolute certainty, "Of course!"

Then she began her own emotional performance.

"Although I have married far away to Western Qin, I have always kept my motherland in my heart."

"Even if there is a bright moon in a foreign land, it cannot compare to a lamp in one's motherland."

"In Western Qin, when I heard that a great plague had suddenly broken out in my motherland Longhu City and the people were suffering terribly, I was so worried that I could not eat or sleep. So I tried every means to order people to acquire enough ephedra in the shortest possible time and personally sent it all to Longhu City to help them get out of trouble."

Upon hearing this, Lu Yuan smiled and asked, "Does the princess mean that these ephedra were personally ordered to be purchased from various places by the princess, and not with the help of the princess's husband, the King of Western Qin?"

To demonstrate that she had done it herself, Mei Xiyuan ignorantly blurted out, "Of course, most of these were personally purchased by this princess from the pharmacy. This is all thanks to my sincerity and blessings for Longhu City."

"Thanks to the protection of Heaven, all my efforts have not been in vain."

I originally thought that after saying this, I would definitely receive a lot of praise.

Unexpectedly, Lu Yuan continued, "The princess has been married off to Western Qin for several years now. Does she not know that ephedra is a top-level controlled medicinal material in Western Qin?"

"Ephedra is both a valuable medicine and a highly harmful poison. Its collection, purchase, and transportation are subject to the highest level of strict licensing. Without the permission of the relevant local government, no one may illegally collect, purchase, or transport it. Those who violate the regulations will be punished for different periods of time, depending on the quantity collected, purchased, or transported, with the longest possible sentence being life imprisonment."

"Now look at the dozen or so cartloads that the princess has acquired. Apart from the King of Western Qin, I'm afraid there is no one else on the Lingkong Continent who would dare to do something so extravagant."

Clearly, Mei Xiyuan was completely unaware of everything Lu Yuan had said.

For a moment, they were speechless.

He stared at her, wide-eyed in astonishment: "This..."

In an instant, the crowd in the vast hall began to whisper and discuss among themselves.

"As the saying goes, even a prince is subject to the same laws as a commoner. Now that the princess has married into Western Qin, she must also abide by the laws of Western Qin. Could it be that the princess will also be investigated?"

"If this is really investigated, the consequences could be unimaginable."

"I'm afraid even her husband, the King of Western Qin, can no longer protect her."

"Do you think the princess will be beheaded if she goes back?"

"So, the ephedra in Dragon Tiger City really wasn't brought back by the princess?"

"This life-saving ephedra wasn't found by the princess?!"

"These are truckloads of genuine ephedra medicinal herbs. Could such a large quantity of ephedra truly be a gift from the King of Western Qin?"

"But why would the princess lie?"

"The King of Qin is her husband. So what if it was a gift from the King of Qin?"

"What exactly happened?"

...

At this moment, Lu Yuan spoke again, saying, "But it makes sense. The princess's husband is the King of Qin of Western Qin. Whatever the princess wants, the King of Qin will surely find a way to give it to her."

As she spoke, she feigned flattery: "I've always heard that the God of War Lingkong and the King of Qin of Western Qin are indifferent to women and cold-hearted. But now it seems that they are not as heartless as the rumors say. It seems that the princess has won the King of Qin's favor. Otherwise, the King of Qin would not be so generous."

Upon hearing this, Mei Xiyuan finally raised her head again, looking extremely proud: "Of course, my husband is always willing to grant my requests and obey my every word! He secretly ordered people to help me do these things behind my back, all to win my favor."

Upon hearing this, the vast palace fell into complete silence.

I don't understand what these two people in front of me are trying to say.

A moment later, a burly man who had just been brought into the main hall by Lu Yuanfang suddenly let out a sound as if he could no longer bear to watch.

"Now that things have come to this, will you die if you don't pretend?"

Hearing the voice, Mei Zhixuan looked down and asked, "Who's speaking?"

"It's me!" the burly man who spoke replied without any hesitation.

Mei Zhixuan pressed further, "Who were you referring to just now? What did you mean?"

The burly man glanced contemptuously at the well-dressed, dapper officials around him and said, "You civil and military officials are the most useless. Where did the ephedra in Longhu City come from? You should all stop speculating about it. I'm afraid we won't have any results by this time tomorrow."

Seeing his blatant disregard for the court officials and his arrogant pronouncements, Mei Zhihao, standing to the side, couldn't help but say indignantly, "How dare you! Do you know where you are? Don't act so presumptuously and spout such nonsense. Be careful, or I, the prince, will order your head to be taken right now..."

To his surprise, his actions did not intimidate the burly man at all.

Of all the people in the hall, the burly man seemed to despise him the most: "You, a complete fool! Killing me is of course easy, but if you kill me, will you be able to sit in the seat you want? Or will you be able to have everything you want? You're such a grown man, yet you still bully others with your power. It seems that's all you're capable of."

In his entire life, from birth to this moment, Mei Zhihao has never been so humiliated.

For a moment, he was so angry that he couldn't speak coherently.

"you……"

"you……"

"you……"

"You're really driving me crazy..."

"Someone come here."

"Someone come quick!"

"Rebellious"

"This is rebellion."

"Where did these bastards and scoundrels come from?"

"Blind to the truth"

"How dare you humiliate this prince like this?"

"Hurry up and drag this audacious madman away, cut off his head and hang it on the city gate for a full month."

"I, the prince, will make sure that everyone who enters or leaves the city gates knows the consequences of offending me."

"Someone come here..."

Where are they?

In a fit of anger, Mei Zhihao actually forgot that in this great hall, only the person sitting in the highest position had the right to command the guards in front of the hall.

Mei Zhihao looked at Mei Zhixuan, who was sitting there calmly and did not move at all.

He strode over quickly, wanting to personally deal with the burly man who had been so disrespectful to him, and bared his teeth, saying fiercely, "I'll skin you alive today!"

Just as he was about to reach out and try to lift the burly man, the man didn't budge at all, while he himself was exhausted.

If one hand can't do it, then try two hands, but in the end, it's clear that even two hands aren't enough.

Just then, Lu Yuan reached out and grabbed Mei Zhihao's arm, saying, "This man is a witness that Lu Yuan brought to the Third Prince. The First Prince is not qualified to deal with him."

Before Lu Yuan could even exert any force, Mei Zhihao already felt as if his arm was about to be broken.

It kept making squealing noises like a pig.

"It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts!"

"open"

"Release this prince at once!"

Mei Zhihao has clearly recognized his power.

Although she was furious, she was also timid. She knew she was no match for Lu Yuan, so she could only give up reluctantly.

She hugged one of her arms tightly, protecting it firmly, afraid that he would control her again.

At this moment, Mei Zhixuan continued to ask the burly man, "It seems that this hero knows what exactly is going on with the ephedra in Longhu City?"

The burly man then said, “Among you bunch of old fogies, there are a few who guessed correctly. Those dozens of cartloads of ephedra clearly came from the fiefdom of the King of Qin and were secretly sent to Longhu City by King Qin Xuanyuan Han. If you don’t believe me, send someone to check. Every bag of herbs has an inspection certificate stamped with the seal of the King of Qin’s mansion.”

"This is the evidence that Lu found in those bags of ephedra; it was in every single bag."

At that moment, Lu Yuan took out a small card from his person, and the palace attendant took it and handed it to Mei Zhixuan.

Mei Zhixuan immediately said upon seeing it, "Indeed, it bears the seal of the Prince of Qin's residence."

Upon hearing this, the hall erupted in an uproar: "So ephedra really was a gift from the King of Qin?"

Upon hearing this, the burly man immediately voiced a question: "A gift from the King of Qin?"

Then he added, "King Xuanyuan Han of Qin wasn't so kind. He never does anything that doesn't benefit him."

After thinking for a moment, the crowd glanced at Mei Xiyuan, who seemed extremely guilty in front of the hall, and said, "Could it be that the Prince of Qin really bestowed the life-saving ephedra on Longhu City to please Princess Yongle...?"

For a moment, the burly man was at a loss for words: "What a bunch of stupid old good-for-nothings! I don't understand how Dongning Kingdom became so wealthy because of them."

So he simply told them directly: "That was your other princess, who risked her life to bring it back for your Dragon Tiger City."

Only then did everyone realize what was happening.

"What?"

"It is Princess Yongning."

"It really is her!"

"How could she have such a relationship with such a big figure as the King of Qin of Western Qin? Even the Queen Consort of Qin, the bedmate of King Xuanyuan Han of Qin, could not do it, but he did."

"What exactly is going on?"

The burly man listened, then suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "You all don't know? Your Princess Yongle has already..."