Chapter 20 Counterattack (1) What a brilliant move to relieve the siege of Wei by attacking Zhao!

Dark clouds, like ink, fail to obscure the mountains; white rain, like leaping pearls, scatters wildly into the boat.

"drive!"

Dark clouds gathered, the rain intensified, and the stone path was quickly soaked. Such weather inevitably made people drowsy, and even the soldiers guarding the imperial city gates were becoming somewhat lax. Just as one soldier lazily yawned, a sudden sound of a horse being harnessed burst forth from the dense rain, followed by the rapid clatter of hooves on the stone slabs, approaching from afar with a menacing aura.

The gatekeeper's spirits lifted, and he quickly raised his spear, shouting, "Who goes there!"

"I wish to see the Queen Mother!"

The newcomer wore no armor; her robes, soaked with rain, clung heavily to her body, revealing her well-defined, muscular physique. She deftly reined in her horse, wiped the rain from her face, revealing features obscured by wet hair: sharp, arched eyebrows, eyes like cold stars, and an intimidating aura. The gatekeeper involuntarily took a step back, recognizing her as Prince Rui, and respectfully inquired, "His Majesty has confined you to your quarters, and it hasn't even been three months yet..."

"If I were made to wait three months, my husband would have died in the imperial prison long ago!" Yuan Mingjin shouted. "If you don't announce my arrival, then get out of my way, and I'll barge in myself!"

"Your Highness, please wait!"

What this ancestor does is her own business. If she doesn't report it according to custom, and His Majesty blames her, she will certainly be held responsible as well. The gatekeeper hurriedly sent someone to inform the Hall of Mental Cultivation. After receiving His Majesty's reply that he wished to see him, he was about to remind Prince Rui that he should not ride a horse in the palace when he suddenly felt a gust of wind beside him. Looking again, he saw that Yuan Mingjin had already mounted his horse, cracked his whip, and headed straight for the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

She rode swiftly, and after a short while, the magnificent palace finally came into view. Through the rain, she could vaguely see several people standing in front of the palace gate. It turned out to be the emperor's head maid leading several palace servants, holding hot water and towels, smiling and inviting her to go to the side hall to change clothes before going to see her mother, the empress.

As soon as she left the Prince's residence, a guard rushed over to report the movements of the Prince Su's residence. Yuan Mingjin knew perfectly well that her dear sister was also watching her closely. She was anxious, but she also knew that she could not be disrespectful in front of the emperor. So she hurriedly changed out of her wet clothes, dried her hair, put on the dark green ruqun and crane cloak that the palace servants had prepared in advance, and rushed to pay her respects to the Empress Dowager.

Outside the window, the rain poured down. The red plum blossoms were in bloom, with a touch of velvety yellow. After being battered by the rain and wind, a few petals fell off, scattered and broken. Although they looked slightly withered, they still stood firmly on the branches.

The emperor stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the plum blossom that had been ravaged before it had fully bloomed through the window. Hearing footsteps behind him, he did not turn around, but said only, "Go back today, and you will be confined to your quarters for another month."

"Your subject obeys the decree. However, the reason I have come today is to prove that the King's consort's substitution for another woman was not his own will."

Yuan Mingjin was somewhat surprised that there were still plum blossoms in April, but he quickly calmed himself down and tried to speak clearly: "He did not intend to commit the crime of deceiving the emperor. He was also persecuted. I hope Your Majesty will investigate."

"—Your Highness, you speak with such certainty, have you discovered any new evidence?"

A clear voice came from the palace gate, a hundred feet away. Yuan Mingqiong strode in, her clothes slightly damp, her chest heaving slightly, clearly having rushed over as well.

Coincidentally, she was also wearing a dark green dress today. Yuan Mingjin had an idea, so she summoned a palace maid, whispered some instructions in her ear, and the maid left to carry out her orders.

Yuan Mingqiong greeted his mother, the Empress, and noticing the sparse smoke from the incense burner, ordered it to be replaced. He then went to the side of the imperial desk to grind ink for his mother, and said with a smile, "My dear sister, have you forgotten that you are still under house arrest? How could you have run out like this so rashly? Poor thing, your hair isn't even dry... Being disrespectful in front of the emperor is a small matter, but catching a cold is a big deal. I'll have someone make some ginger soup to ward off the cold right away—"

"No need." Yuan Mingjin had no intention of playing the sisterly role in front of the Empress Dowager; she was determined to finish this quickly. "Summon Zuo Yan to the palace!"

This Zuo Yan was none other than the blessed man who carried Su Xiaotang into the wedding hall that day. After the deed was done, he received a large sum of money from Xin Yaning, enough for him to live comfortably in his old age, and happily retired to his hometown, no longer a blessed man. Unexpectedly, he hadn't even had two days of peace when he was suddenly kidnapped and forced to enter the palace to testify, with the lives of his children and grandchildren being used as leverage.

What a glorious thing it is to carry the prince consort out of the sedan chair! Even though he was just a substitute bride, as long as he didn't say anything, who would know that he was a fake prince consort?

Quanfu was initially very proud, but now he's filled with deep regret.

If he had known this was his life-saving money, he would never have taken the job!

The emperor turned around and saw a timid, middle-aged man. After scrutinizing him for a while, he asked, "Are you the person blessed on the day of Prince Rui's wedding?"

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!" Quanfu was already so frightened that his legs went weak. He opened his mouth but couldn't make a sound. He hurriedly squeezed out two words from his throat to reply.

Seeing that the Empress Dowager remembered this person, Yuan Mingqiong maintained the upward curve of her lips, but the smile did not reach her eyes.

What trouble could a mere Quanfu person possibly cause? She wanted to see what her good sister was up to.

As she had anticipated, the man confessed that he had been coerced into properly escorting the groom into the wedding hall. The reason he had called out "Please get out of the sedan chair" twice that day was because he knew in advance that the person threatening him had drugged Su Xiaotang and tied her hands and feet before putting her in the sedan chair. Therefore, he deliberately shouted loudly to wake her up, fearing that something might go wrong.

"Do you know who is coercing you?" the emperor indeed asked.

Quanfu's heart pounded. He looked down at the small puddle of water that was gradually forming in front of his shoe, and said tremblingly, "That...that person was masked, I couldn't see clearly..."

He knew perfectly well who the other party was, but his parents, wife, and children were still in Prince Rui's hands, and he wouldn't dare to say it even if he had eight hundred lives!

Although he didn't understand what these important figures were up to—Since His Highness Prince Rui was deeply in love with the fake prince who had taken his place in the marriage, he must have been extremely disgusted with Young Master Su and Madam Su, so why was he protecting them and making him keep quiet?

Upon hearing this, Yuan Mingqiong finally breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, "It doesn't matter if you can't see clearly, I already have some clues. I also have a Zuo Yan here, take a look, does he look familiar?"

Having said that, she clapped her hands and ordered a palace servant to bring someone in. The person looked slightly haggard, but his expression remained unchanged, and his eyes were calm. It was Hong Liao, whom she hadn't seen for many days.

Yuan Mingqiong said, "You come here—"

"—Isn't this my husband's servant?"

Another familiar voice interrupted her.

Su Aoshuang rushed as fast as she could and finally arrived, panting heavily. Seeing Hong Liao there, her eyes couldn't help but show a hint of eagerness.

Hong Liao had already learned of Su Yutang's fate from Zi Pu. He understood her hopes, but gently shook his head. Upon seeing this, Su Aoshuang suddenly felt weak all over, as if frost had instantly crept up her temples—even though she was only thirty years old.

"Minister Su, what urgent matter do you have to discuss?" the emperor asked.

Su Aoshuang mustered her spirits and pleaded guilty to the emperor, saying, "Although I am a convict, as a mother, I cannot bear to see my son suffer in prison. Moreover, Your Majesty has not explicitly forbidden me from acting, so I have dared to come here today, hoping that Your Majesty will listen to a few words from the bottom of my heart."

"Granted," the emperor said.

Su Aoshuang bowed deeply again, then turned to Yuan Mingqiong, her brows furrowed, her gaze piercing—

"How could Your Highness know the servants in my inner quarters? I had no idea that Your Highness possessed such extraordinary abilities that you could even have secret dealings with the servants who rarely left my inner quarters."

"How dare you!" Yuan Mingqiong could easily tell that she was being sarcastic, and immediately rebuked her, "Lord Su, you have come to see the Empress Dowager at this critical juncture. Are you afraid that this person will confess and make the charge of deceiving the Emperor even more firmly on your head?"

Very well, very well, what a desperate struggle! It seems Su Aoshuang is determined to stand firmly against her!

Fortunately, she knew from the beginning that this person could not be won over, so she decided to get rid of him. Now, it seems that she made the right choice.

Su Aoshuang said frankly, "I have already accepted this crime. Sooner or later I will not be able to escape death. Why should I be afraid of being framed? I am just stating the facts."

"you--"

"Enough! My Hall of Mental Cultivation is not a place for you to quarrel!" the emperor reprimanded.

She found this scene familiar, but ultimately remained wary of Prince Su's interference in the private quarters of his subjects. So she first sought confirmation from Hong Liao: "Are you truly from Minister Su's household? And how did you become acquainted with Prince Su?"

"This humble subject has served Madam Su for many years, and everyone in the manor recognizes my face. This humble subject has only heard that His Highness Prince Su is known for his virtue, and the person this humble subject intends to report is of high rank and great power, and this humble subject is afraid..."

The red smartweed bowed its head deeply.

He didn't continue speaking, but everyone present understood his unspoken message: he was afraid that the person he wanted to report was very powerful, while he was weak and alone, and that he might be persecuted instead of succeeding in his report, so he had no choice but to seek protection.

This search led them to Prince Su.

The emperor reluctantly accepted his explanation and then asked, "What exactly do you want to report?"

"The matter of the substitute marriage was intentionally arranged by Madam Su and Young Master Su!"

The red smartweed fell to the ground with a resounding thud.

“His Highness Prince Rui has always had a bad reputation. The eldest son of the Su family was unwilling to marry him and also harbored resentment towards the second son of the Su family, so he asked Madam Su to tie up the second son of the Su family and marry him in his place.”

Yuan Mingjin was observing the situation calmly, but upon hearing this, his expression finally changed.

This is true, but she cannot reveal the truth because Su Aoshuang's only condition for submitting was that Yuan Mingjin protect her husband and children.

If she can't do it... I'm afraid Su Aoshuang won't be content with that.

"How dare you!" Upon hearing this, the emperor was instantly enraged. "Su Qing, is this your good husband and good man?!"

As the emperor, she was always the one whose daughter looked down on others; how could anyone else dare to take advantage of her?

Seeing that the Empress was about to punish Xin Yaning and Su Yiyi, Yuan Mingjin was happy to see it happen, but he could not lose Su Aoshuang's help, so he quickly stopped her, saying, "Empress, this matter is not over yet. If you want to punish them, it is not too late to hear these testimonies first."

"What other evidence do you have? Present it immediately!" The emperor frowned and glanced at her sideways.

"Bring him up." Yuan Mingjin ordered towards the outside of the hall, then turned to Yuan Mingqiong, his face still displaying a gentle and respectful demeanor. However, his words made Yuan Mingqiong's heart skip a beat—"Coincidentally, there is also someone in my household who has close ties with the Prince Su's residence... Why don't you take a look, elder sister, and see if you recognize this person?"

As instructed, everyone looked towards the entrance and saw a handsome man, seemingly boneless, being carried forward by eunuchs, one on each side.

If Xiangye were here, he would surely recognize that this was the same servant who had nudged him with his elbow, jokingly calling him "Little Xiangye," and then instigating him to provoke the king's husband.

The two were close in age. When Prince Rui asked him to give himself a name to change his humble name, he couldn't even read many characters and was racking his brains without success. Seeing his distress, the young servant looked at the tall, canopy tree in the courtyard and gave him the name "Xiangye".

Xiangye asked him what those two words meant, and the servant said they referred to light yellow leaves. However, upon closer inspection of the tree—its branches and leaves were lush and verdant, deep green and light blue, without a trace of yellow.

"Are you kidding me? Aren't all leaves green? Where are the yellow ones?" Xiangye laughed.

The servant simply shook his head, a rare look of melancholy on his face. “The world is vast, you just haven’t seen it, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. In my hometown, there is a tree with leaves like small fans and slender stems. Although it is green when it first sprouts, it turns golden in autumn, the color of beeswax and amber. When the leaves fall, they cover the sky and the earth, a sight to behold.”

Xiangye listened intently, and even pressed for details about where his hometown was, but the servant remained silent, as if it were just a utopian paradise in his imagination.

The young servant knew his days were numbered when he was captured and thrown into the dungeon by Zhang Mama and her men. He showed no fear, standing tall and looking down at the nobles in the hall with a mocking gaze. His eyes showed no reaction when they swept over Yuan Mingjin, but when they touched Yuan Mingqiong, he immediately turned away as if burned, lowering his eyes and remaining silent.

"This person not only incited the servants in the palace to be dissatisfied with the king, but also collected and organized all my schedules, tied them to pigeons, and sent them out—sister, why don't you guess where these carrier pigeons will eventually fly?"

Yuan Mingjin grabbed the servant's chin and forcefully turned him towards Yuan Mingqiong, a half-smile on his face.

Yuan Mingqiong never expected that she would even dig out the deepest spy she had buried in the Prince Rui's mansion. Her previous composure vanished, and she hurriedly looked away, sweat pouring down her heels. "Since you are your servant, why do you ask me? I have always been clean and honest, and I would never secretly collude with your servant!"

"Oh? If that's the case, why don't the carrier pigeons fly elsewhere, but only fly towards the Prince Su's residence, my elder sister's residence?"

Is it a coincidence if it happens to one person, or two? Both are women from the inner quarters of high-ranking officials and nobles, people outside the household with whom women rarely have access. If there's nothing strange about it, even a young child wouldn't believe it.

Yuan Mingjin subtly observed his mother's movements. Seeing her face ashen and her eyes swirling with suspicion, he guessed she was already suspicious. Seizing the opportunity, he dropped another bombshell—

"Moreover, the day after my wedding, I went on an outing with friends, but was ambushed. The only people who knew in advance that I was going to go boating on the lake were a servant named Xiangye and Shen Huaqing. Even my wet nurse and my husband only found out on the day of the wedding."

Yuan Mingjin turned the servant's head back to face him, staring into his trembling pupils. His hand, which was gripping the tip of the servant's chin, was wet with cold sweat. "Xiangye and you have always been on good terms. You even gave him his new name. He must have told you that I am going boating on the lake the next day."

"Perhaps someone with malicious intentions is lurking in my residence? In that case, I have also suffered as a result. How can you, my sister, make baseless accusations that this person was instructed by me?" Yuan Mingqiong retorted.

"Bring that brothel owner up here." Yuan Mingjin did not answer her immediately, but instead ordered another official to enter the hall.

The fact that they were able to catch this madam was thanks to Su Aoshuang for truthfully recounting her past with Feng Qin. Now, being dragged by the collar to the Golden Hall, with the Emperor looking down upon him, and having already been coerced and bribed by Prince Rui's men, the madam dared not conceal anything and immediately confessed that Yuan Mingqiong did indeed frequently visit their establishment—

"So what? I only had a couple of drinks and listened to a few songs; I never slept with any courtesans—your sister herself keeps more than a dozen servants. How can you use this to slander me?"

Yuan Mingqiong spoke quickly and fluently, glaring at Yuan Mingjin with gritted teeth. Her blood rushed to her head, and her mind went blank. She even forgot the sisterly affection she always talked about.

She finally figured out what Yuan Mingjin was up to.

Today, I only wanted to cut off her arm, but her sister is even more ruthless and wants to uproot me!

What a brilliant tactic of attacking Wei to rescue Zhao!

"If that were all, it would be fine..."

The madam, with her shifty eyes and timid demeanor, a thick, coarse black hair growing from the mole on her lip, twitched like a rat's whiskers, yet her words were like a thunderclap from a clear sky—

Why do you always insist on hiring dancers from Baiyue?

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The author writes: "Dark clouds, like overturned ink, fail to obscure the mountains; white rain, like leaping pearls, scatters wildly into the boat." This is from Su Shi's poem "Written in Drunkenness at Wanghu Tower on June 27th."

No other dynasty had a palace that integrated governance and daily life as comprehensively as the Hall of Mental Cultivation, so we'll borrow its design.

Even a firm erection can be penetrated; it seems the perverts on Jinjiang (a Chinese online literature platform) are superior to me. This humble woman concedes defeat. [Clown]

Mini-theater:

Yuan Mingjin: "I have a task for you to perform."

Author: "Yes, Your Highness! I will obey your orders!"

Yuan Mingjin: "Don't stay up late anymore, or you'll ruin your eyes. The King is still suffering in prison, and you only managed to squeeze out this one word a day. When will I be able to rescue the King? I won't allow you to stay up late anymore."

Author: "Wow, Your Highness, you've actually mastered the sandwich communication method without any instruction! I can't stay up any longer, so I'll go to bed early tonight. How domineering! You truly are someone destined to be emperor!"

Yuan Mingjin: "...What sandwich? Or is it some kind of rotten food again?"