confrontation

Xiao Wan'er walked into the princess's mansion, almost holding on for dear life.

"Your Highness, what are you thinking? Why do you act this way?" She didn't even have time to perform the formalities, and asked Princess Taiping directly.

"According to etiquette, the crown prince should be the eldest son. Your Highness, is it possible for you to restore order?" Princess Taiping did not answer. Instead, a trusted minister beside her answered for her.

Xiao Wan'er was almost going crazy.

"Li San came to power through a coup. Does he care if he's the eldest son?" she practically shouted. "He has power and troops. Would the eldest son dare to compete with him? Emperor Taizong wasn't the eldest son either. Who dares to say he can't be emperor?"

Everyone fell silent amid her roar. Xiao Wan'er finished her roar, took a deep breath, and asked, "Why didn't you tell me about this important matter in advance?"

Everyone present, from the princess to the servants, remained silent.

Xiao Wan'er was helpless and pointed to a minister who looked younger. "Sir, please speak."

The minister who was called first looked at Princess Taiping. Seeing that she showed no reaction, he carefully replied, "We thought that the Deputy Commander was better at martial arts than politics, so he might not be able to help us in this matter. Moreover, the Crown Prince wanted Commander Pei to marry the Deputy Commander. We didn't know what the Deputy Commander thought, so we didn't dare to tell him."

Xiao Wan'er laughed in anger. "Pei Yingguan stole my position as abbot, completely ruined my sect, and threatened to cripple my support through marriage. You actually thought I would lean towards him? Besides, I've personally experienced three coups d'état. Even if I'm clueless, I should have gained something. You're suspicious of me, and then you make such a foolish move?"

Some of the older ministers could not accept the accusation and asked Xiao Wan'er, "So what does the county lady think should be done now?"

"You have already done what you did. Let's see how the prince will fight back."

As soon as these words were spoken, some people expressed disapproval. Xiao Wan'er was too lazy to argue with them and said goodbye to go home.

Just as Xiao Wan'er expected, the emperor's eldest son did not dare to ask for the position of crown prince, and the emperor did not dare to give it to him.

The emperor's eldest son, Prince of Song, Li Chengqi, submitted a petition to resign his post as Minister of Education and became the crown prince's guest. He also shared a quilt and pillow with the crown prince to express his brotherly love. The emperor was delighted to see this.

At the same time, the emperor issued an edict that no princes or imperial consorts could ever command the imperial guards, and those currently in office were to be immediately transferred to other official positions. This greatly reduced the possibility of a mutiny.

The prince's counterattack was swift and fierce.

First, during a private conversation with Wei Anshi, the emperor said he had heard that all civil and military officials were loyal to the crown prince. Wei Anshi immediately refuted the emperor, saying that Princess Taiping had deliberately spread rumors of national destruction.

"The Crown Prince has rendered great service to the ancestral temple and the state, and has always been kind and wise, filial to his parents, and loving to his brothers. This is known to all the world. I hope Your Majesty will not be misled by slanderous words."

When he advised the emperor, Princess Taiping was furious and went to find Xiao Wan'er when she returned.

"I want to kill this man, please help me, Immortal."

Xiao Wan'er rejected her.

"Princess, he just spoke ill of you to His Majesty, and you killed him. Wouldn't that just confirm his words? Even if you want to kill him, you can't do it now. Please be patient for a while."

After much persuasion, Princess Taiping was finally persuaded.

But Princess Taiping simply stopped sending people to kill him, and all kinds of rumors continued to spread, and Wei Anshi was almost imprisoned because of this.

If Wei Anshi's advice only made Princess Taiping angry, then the prince's next move would be to directly cause Princess Taiping to lose her composure.

Song Jing and Yao Yuanzhi advised His Majesty that Princess Taiping had framed the Crown Prince and the other princes, alienated the brothers, and endangered the status of the Eastern Palace. They requested that Princess Taiping and her husband be transferred from Chang'an and placed in the Eastern Capital.

Princess Taiping finally panicked.

"Master, what should I do now?" This time she came to Xiao Wan'er's house to ask for advice. "No one else can come up with a good solution. Please, Master, save me!"

Xiao Wan'er asked her to cry in front of the emperor.

"Princess, you are the emperor's biological sister, born to the same father and mother. You have been with him through difficult times and helped him ascend the throne. The emperor is naturally more emotionally inclined towards you than those ministers who can serve in any position."

Princess Taiping nodded to show that she understood.

"However," Xiao Wan'er reminded him, "Princess, when you beg His Majesty, you must not mention the Crown Prince again. The Crown Prince is His Majesty's chosen heir and is also His Majesty's biological son. If the Princess mentions the Crown Prince, it may have the opposite effect."

"I understand. Thank you, Immortal."

Princess Taiping really ran to the emperor and cried. The emperor was already inclined towards his sister, but now seeing her miserable appearance, forced into a corner by the court officials, his family affection immediately took over.

So Princess Taiping successfully stayed in Chang'an.

Meanwhile, rumors arose in Chang'an: Princess Taiping had repeatedly aided the Tang Dynasty and rendered great service to the country, yet she was envied by treacherous ministers who offered slanderous accusations and attempted to frame her. These ministers, who had done nothing for the country, were trying to seize the power the princess had earned through her achievements, even using the crown prince as a cover. Their despicable intentions were truly despicable.

"Were you the one who spread this rumor?" Princess Taiping asked Xiao Wan'er in great joy.

"Princess, that's right." Xiao Wan'er agreed.

When the rumor spread, the first person to panic was the prince - the people didn't know whether Song Jing and Yao Yuanzhi were his people, so didn't he know it himself?

The emperor knows it too!

He immediately submitted a petition, accusing Song Jing and Yao Yuanzhi of alienating his aunt-nephew relationship with Princess Taiping, and requesting that the emperor punish them. The emperor agreed, demoting Song Jing to the position of Governor of Chuzhou and Yao Yuanzhi to the position of Governor of Shenzhou.

On the day Song Jing and Yao Yuanzhi left Chang'an, Xiao Wan'er went to the outskirts of the city on behalf of Princess Taiping to see them off. Not surprisingly, she met Pei Yingguan, who was also there to see them off on behalf of the Crown Prince.

"Junior sister, do you still think that Princess Taiping is better than His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?" After the two exiled officials left Chang'an, Xiao Wan'er wanted to leave, but Pei Yingguan stopped her.

Xiao Wan'er said nothing, but suddenly accelerated her pace and disappeared in just three or two steps.

"Your Highness, the carriages of Song and Yao have left Chang'an." Xiao Wan'er went straight to Princess Taiping's residence and reported to her immediately after seeing her.

"I understand," Princess Taiping said. Seeing that Xiao Wan'er had not left, she asked in surprise, "Is there anything else, Immortal?"

Xiao Wan'er asked her, "Princess, do you still want to kill Wei Anshi?"

Princess Taiping rested her chin on her hand, lost in thought.

After a moment, she asked Xiao Wan'er, "Why did the Immortal Master not allow me to kill Wei Anshi before, but now you are offering to kill him?"

"I refused to allow it before because he died right after he made his suggestion. Everyone would think it was the princess's doing. Now I can proceed because the rumors about him have died. I can make it look like he died of illness. If he continues to live, he might still slander the princess."

After listening to Xiao Wan'er's analysis, Princess Taiping made up her mind.

"In that case, I'll have to trouble you, Immortal."

At night, in the Wei residence, Wei Anshi, already asleep, suddenly fell into a dream. In his dream, in mid-autumn, he was promoted to Shangshu Zuo Pushe, a third-rank official in the Secretariat of State, and also served as a guest of the crown prince. While he still held the title of prime minister, he no longer held the power of a prime minister. In early winter, he was dismissed from his position as prime minister, given the title of special promotion, and appointed as the governor of the Eastern Capital. Later, his daughter died of illness, and he was impeached for his wife's beating of a maid to death, demoted to the governor of Puzhou. While in office, he refused a favor from the crown prince, who was now the emperor. He died of anger at the repeated false accusations.

In front of the bed, Xiao Wan'er looked at Wei Anshi's dream, speechless.

"If I had known that you would not have a good future, I would not have come to kill you."

However, once this technique is completed, when the dream ends and the person who has been subjected to the technique dies in the dream, he or she will also die in reality.

At the moment of Wei Anshi's death, Xiao Wan'er also felt the backlash of this technique - within the next ten days, her cultivation level will drop to the level of just breaking through to the transcendent level.

Xiao Wan'er silently left, enduring the discomfort caused by her declining cultivation. It wasn't until the next morning, when Chang'an City had already entered a new day of prosperity, that Wei Anshi was discovered dead at home.

The coroner arrived at Wei's house quickly.

Under the anxious gaze of the Wei family, after a thorough examination, the coroner bowed and said, "Lord Wei died of a heart attack during his dream. There are no signs of foul play."

The matter eventually came to nothing.

In the evening of the day the case was closed, Liu Mingyin and Xiao Wan'er went off duty together.

After closing the door, Liu Mingyin suddenly asked Xiao Wan'er: "Senior Sister, did you kill Wei Anshi?"

"Yes," Xiao Wan'er agreed, "but don't worry, they won't find out."

"That's not what I meant," Liu Mingyin shook her head. "Senior Sister, you used to be someone who wouldn't kill anyone just because you wanted to. When did you change?"

Xiao Wan'er was suddenly stunned.