Chapter 20 Sanniang,

After Qin Lie left, Granny Zhao went to find the divine physician to adjust the prescription.

Lingyi stopped her, saying, "Granny, there's plenty of time. We're not in a hurry."

Even if it's three or four years, she'll still be in her early twenties, and it won't be too late to have another child then.

Actually, this is for the best. Qin Lie has sons and daughters, so he won't care about these things. Besides, he has no intention of letting her enter the palace now, so what does it matter if she has a child?

At that moment, she had a good plan: there's plenty of time, and many people and things can be dealt with gradually.

As a princess, her life isn't exactly good, but it's not bad either.

If you lower your expectations, you won't be disappointed.

But fate always delivers a heavy blow when people least expect it. That night, she suddenly woke up and opened her eyes to find Mingzhu, who should have been keeping watch outside the door, sitting by the bed, playing with a cold, gleaming dagger in her hand.

She was shocked and was about to call for help when Mingzhu held a dagger to her neck. "Don't make a sound!"

This person's voice was completely different from Mingzhu's; although it was also a female voice, it was rather hoarse.

"Who are you? Where is Mingzhu?" Lingyi asked in a low voice, looking flustered.

"Mingzhu" said, "My name is Xie Sanniang. As for your palace maid, she is sleeping in the woodshed and will not wake up until noon tomorrow."

Hearing that Mingzhu was unharmed, Lingyi breathed a sigh of relief. "As long as you don't harm anyone in my household, you may take all the gold and silver you want."

Xie Sanniang stared at her strangely and said sarcastically, "You are quite an interesting princess. You are very protective of those around you, but you are cold-blooded and ruthless towards the Crown Prince and Princess whose lives are hanging by a thread. You only care about your own wealth and glory and do not care about their lives at all."

Lingyi said, "Don't talk nonsense. My elder brother, the Crown Prince, is the heir apparent of the country, and my sisters are all of noble birth. How could their lives be hanging by a thread?"

Xie Sanniang laughed: "Your Highness, are you pretending to be stupid or are you really stupid? The Crown Prince has been deposed and is now trapped in Jinzhou for several days. You still want to talk to me about the heir apparent? If it weren't for..."

She gradually lost the ability to continue speaking, because she saw a look of bewilderment in the princess's clear eyes.

From Xie San Niang, Ling Yi heard another version.

The imperial court had never received a memorial from Qin Lie.

The Seventh Prince led the army to quell the rebellion and returned in triumph in just over a month. During this time, the Crown Prince botched two tasks and was caught by Guo Xiang's faction having his followers embezzle funds during disaster relief efforts. Calls to depose the Crown Prince were rampant. Emperor Jiahe was still considering his options when, just then, the Tower of Heaven in the capital suddenly caught fire. The Imperial Advisor declared that the decline of the Taiwei Palace indicated the Crown Prince's lack of virtue, and that the fire was a divine oracle sent by Heaven. Emperor Jiahe already held the Imperial Advisor in high esteem, and after the death of the old Grand Secretary, he listened to his advice even more. He immediately ordered the cabinet to draft an edict to depose the Crown Prince.

Before the imperial edict was read, the Fifteenth Princess, in front of all the ministers at the morning court session, accused the Seventh Prince of disregarding human ethics and engaging in illicit sexual relations in the palace.

She claimed that more than a year ago, she encountered the drunken Seventh Prince in the Imperial Garden, who dragged her to a pavilion and forcibly raped her. Afterwards, he threatened the life of the Fifteenth Princess's birth mother and repeatedly forced her own sister to commit incest with him.

The Seventh Prince naturally denied it outright, accusing the Fifteenth Princess of being misled and slandered by the Crown Prince.

The Fifteenth Princess immediately tore open her clothes, revealing the Seventh Prince's private seal emblazoned on her white breasts. The specially made ink had seeped into her skin, and unless the flesh was cut off, it would be impossible to remove for the rest of her life.

The courtiers were in uproar, both because the Fifteenth Princess had exposed her breasts in public and because the Seventh Prince had committed such a heinous act of sexual misconduct, even going so far as to assault his own sister.

Faced with such evidence and such a shocking and absurd act, even Guo Xiang and his associates had no way to refute it.

The ministers of the Crown Prince's faction seized the opportunity to ask why, when the marriage was arranged last year, even the 17th Princess, who was only 15 years old, was married off to Jizhou, while the 15th Princess was overlooked. It is likely that Consort Guo, who was in charge of the harem, knew about this matter all along and deliberately protected the 7th Prince.

Emperor Jiahe sought immortality and enlightenment, aiming to attain the Heavenly Dao, yet he remained within the realm of humanity.

Upon hearing of this scandal, he was immediately enraged and imprisoned Consort Guo in the palace, while the Seventh Prince was thrown into the imperial prison.

With this, the Crown Prince's position was secure, and the Seventh Prince's faction was no longer a threat.

A few days later, Consort Guo and Prime Minister Guo, working together from the inside, launched a palace coup. Xie Yu and Grand Secretary Cui had been on guard and intended to eliminate the Seventh Prince and his entourage in one fell swoop, but unexpectedly, Princess Yongyi's husband, Liu Yunfei, the Deputy Commander of the Imperial Guard, suddenly turned against them.

The Crown Prince and Xie Yu and others escaped to Jinzhou through a secret passage and were finally able to breathe a sigh of relief. The governor of Jinzhou was the favorite student of the former chief minister and had a great reputation in the court. He was originally supposed to enter the cabinet after returning to the capital when his term was over.

However, he was only a civil official, and his reputation could not be exchanged for troops. Jinzhou was not a large place, and the local soldiers and warriors combined numbered less than 20,000.

The Seventh Prince seized control of the capital and Emperor Jiahe, forging an imperial edict to depose the Crown Prince and claiming he was rebelling. He then ordered generals from various regions to send troops to Jinzhou to capture the Crown Prince alive. Meanwhile, the Crown Prince issued numerous proclamations, publicly exposing the Seventh Prince's heinous crimes.

Given this situation, most generals in various regions remained inactive and waited to see what would happen. The Seventh Prince had no choice but to send Liu Yunfei, the deputy commander of the Imperial Guard, to lead troops. Now, the Crown Prince and others were besieged in Jinzhou.

Fearing unrest in the capital, the Seventh Prince sent Liu Yunfei with less than 30,000 troops. Although Jinzhou had ample food supplies, it lacked manpower and weapons.

The two sides are currently deadlocked.

Ling Yi felt as if she were hearing a fairy tale: "I don't know what your intentions are in fabricating such a lie, but my brother the Crown Prince and I have always been in contact. You can't fool me with just a few words."

Xie Sanniang asked, "How do you contact the Crown Prince? Could it be... Manager Chen?"

The secret of the spy was something Lingyi was unwilling to say, but how could her surprised expression fool Xie Sanniang?

She said, "It really is him, but he disappeared a few months ago and even abandoned the shop he had worked so hard to build. Obviously, his identity is no longer useful."

Lingyi blurted out, "Impossible! I saw him just a few days ago."

She was curious how he could work as a spy and run a business at the same time. He replied that with winter approaching, business was booming and he would be busy for a while. He also said that only by doing well could he conceal his identity; otherwise, if a shop that wasn't making money kept open, others would definitely become suspicious.

She had a sudden inspiration: "You don't need to lie to me, I will never say another word about him to you again!"

Xie Sanniang sneered: "That good-for-nothing Chen Si, I figured out his background a long time ago, but even if I stood in front of him, he still couldn't guess my origins. His shop is the fifth one from the west on the north side of Shao'er Street, Chen's Leather Shop. There's a crooked tree in front of it, and a black rag hanging on the tree means it's safe. If it's gone, he has to retreat. Do I need to trick you with such a simple trick?"

Lingyi was stunned when she heard the address she gave, which was exactly the same as the one that Manager Chen had given her.

Xie Sanniang asked sarcastically, "Does the princess believe me now?"

Lingyi remained silent. Xie Sanniang said, "You won't shed tears until you see the Yellow River. Fine, I'll take you to see it yourself in a couple of days."

She put away the dagger, but Lingyi had no intention of calling for help; she just stared at her blankly.

Xie Sanniang instructed, "If you are truly worried about the Crown Prince, you must not reveal to anyone what happened tonight, especially not those close to you."

Why?

Xie San Niang said, "If you didn't have someone covering for you, how could you have been so easily deceived?"

Before leaving, Xie San Niang took all the jewelry from Ling Yi's dressing table.

The next day, Mingzhu was first found sleeping in the woodshed by Li Mama, who was in charge of meals. Then, Zhao Mama and Zhenzhu discovered that the princess's jewelry had disappeared, which was exactly the behavior of a notorious thief.

Qiu Min came over to apologize.

Looking at his upright and honest face, Lingyi lowered her eyelashes and said, "Fortunately, it was just some material possessions that were lost. This matter is not honorable, but fortunately, apart from a few of us, no one else knows about it. In my opinion, this matter should not be spread, and it is even more inappropriate to alarm the Prince Consort. What does the General think?"

Foreign thieves broke into the princess's boudoir. This matter concerns her reputation, so how could any man not care?

Upon realizing this, Qiu Min broke out in a cold sweat and respectfully replied, "Princess, rest assured, this humble general will make all the necessary arrangements."

I don't know how he arranged it, but the matter was like a dragonfly lightly touching the surface of a lake, leaving a ripple and then disappearing without a trace.

The guards at the princess's residence, while not exactly heavily guarded, were significantly more numerous than before. The inner courtyard had been manned by more guards, and additional guards were deployed to patrol at night.

If Lingyi didn't want Xie Sanniang to come, then it proves that she deliberately lied to her that day.

I'm also afraid that she might want to come, but won't be able to.

Unexpectedly, she not only came, but also in broad daylight, with Li De's face.

Three-quarters of an hour later, the two eunuchs walked out of the princess's residence openly and honestly.

The first place we went to was Shao'er Hutong. It was the fifth shop from the west on the north side of the street. The sign of Chen Ji Leather Shop behind the crooked tree was already half drooping, and the door was tightly closed. A layer of moss had grown on the steps, and the weeds in the cracks of the paving stones had grown as long as a person's forearm. It was obvious that no one had taken care of it for many days.

Xie Sanniang crossed her arms and looked at her with a mocking expression.

Lingyi stood silent for a moment on the street, then said, "How do I know if you deliberately set up a fake shop to deceive me?"

So they were taken to a teahouse.

In Jizhou, a place far from the emperor's reach, the emperor and crown prince were merely titles, and the affairs of the imperial family were freely discussed and ridiculed.

The storyteller recounted each event vividly, as if he were witnessing it himself, drawing cheers from the audience.

The waiter came with a tray asking for a tip. Xie Sanniang gave him a silver ingot and asked with a smile, "You told a good story. I haven't had enough today. Could you save me a seat in the VIP section tomorrow?"

The waiter said, "It's not that I didn't want to reserve a seat for you two, it's just that everyone loves to listen to it, so all the seats were booked half a month ago. Even then, quite a few customers are already tired of it. If it were a month ago, just that part about the Fifteenth Princess suing the Seventh Prince in the Golden Palace would have been enough to get you into this teahouse..." He held up five fingers with his right hand, "At least that many!"

Finally, we went to a stage.

On stage, one actress was heavily made up and dressed provocatively, while another, wearing a python robe and with her face covered in white powder, pounced on the actress. The two tugged at each other while singing, "Fifteenth sister, how can you be so wanton, making my heart burn, my heart burn, I'll pull out my rod and thrust it into your XX!"

The actress was also singing, "Seventh Brother, don't panic, Fifteenth Sister has been thinking of you for a long time~ I've been in the deep palace for eighteen years, just waiting for your big x stick. Everyone says the princess's life is wonderful, but who knows no one wants to be an old maid~ Ah, old maid~"

The most vulgar opera troupes, with exaggerated twisting and entanglement of their bodies, sing the most common obscene songs.

The men below the stage went mad, throwing broken silver and copper coins at them while uttering even more lewd commands.

The two actors worked even harder, arranging the silver coins however they wanted, as long as it was thrown out the most. This caused the audience to scramble to throw more coins, and the performers on stage put on an even more energetic show.

Lingyi unconsciously bit her lip, her nails digging into her palms, drawing blood on both sides, yet she felt no pain.

She wanted to rush up and push away the two entangled actors, she wanted to stop the jeering guests in the audience, she wanted to burn the place down, but what could she do? She should have slapped herself twice across the face!

Her fifteenth sister was a proud and aloof woman who didn't care about worldly affairs and only focused on studying medicine.

No wonder, no wonder she suddenly lost so much weight, no wonder she gave herself birth control pills.

But what about herself? She saw it all, yet she was oblivious and completely unaware of the torment she was enduring.

Xie San Niang led the distraught Ling Yi out of the theater, and saw the princess come to her senses and squat on the ground crying uncontrollably.

After waiting for a long time and seeing that she was still crying, Xie San Niang lost her patience and said with disdain, "It's come to this now, what difference will it make if you cry yourself to death?"

Lingyi sobbed, "I want to go back..."

"Go back for what?"

"Go back to find the Crown Prince, find my Fifteenth Sister—even if I die, I will die with them!"

Xie San Niang was exasperated. "I've gone to so much trouble, did you think I'd just send you to your death?"

Lingyi, her eyes brimming with tears, asked, "Then what can I do?"

"Save them!" Xie Sanniang said decisively, her eyes falling on Lingyi's face as she sighed, "Look at yourself, what a beautiful face you have, even crying like this you still look so charming... Use that face to beg your husband, use your body, your tears, even your life to beg him! As long as Qin Lie sends troops to Jinzhou, Liu Yunfei will be no match for him. The Crown Prince is the rightful heir of the country. Once he escapes and holds military power, he will naturally be able to rally a hundred supporters and return to the capital immediately!"