Gan Qiongying wanted to frown, but she restrained herself. After all, she had been eating for several more years than Gan Lin. She had even washed Gan Lin's bedwetting pants. How could Gan Lin's little tricks fool her?

Gan Qiongying was not in a hurry to expose him, but said, "I have already sent people to investigate. There is no way to directly link this matter to the Regent, because the Regent secretly bribed the Prince of Li's people to do it."

"So even if this matter is eventually exposed, it will be Prince Li who falls from grace. Moreover, we don't need to investigate this matter; the Regent's people will soon come forward to report it."

"The Regent will then ask His Majesty to punish him for failing to properly manage his subordinates."

"The Regent has a clever trick up his sleeve. He gets all the credit, while the Prince of Li takes the blame in the end. He kills two birds with one stone."

"But we can't let him get all the benefits. When the time comes, you should punish him according to the law and confine him to the Regent's Palace to reflect on his mistakes!"

“In front of the entire court, he wouldn’t dare disobey your imperial edict,” Gan Qiongying said. “Then you can subtly influence his people in the court, making him think you’re trying to seize power and divert their attention.”

"We don't need to wait until the Lunar New Year; we'll leave before the end of the year."

Gan Lin nodded and said, "I will do whatever my elder sister says."

The two discussed some details, roughly how to deal with the people they were with.

Gan Qiongying brought up Li Quan to test Gan Lin's attitude. If Li Quan really displeased Gan Lin, Gan Lin's expression would definitely change.

However, Gan Lin's plan was quite thorough, allowing Li Quan to go with them and then become a monk at a temple outside the city.

"One of the monks in Fenglin Temple is the descendant of a disgraced official whom I once saved with great effort. No one would have thought that I would have asked him to take care of Li Quan."

Moreover, hiding in a temple is the best option for Li Quan, as Fenglin Temple has always had close ties with the royal family and various clans. As the saying goes, "the darkest place is under the lamp," so it is the best place for Li Quan to hide.

Gan Qiongying still couldn't find out anything. The two talked until very late, and finally went to rest.

Gan Qiongying still stayed in the side hall. She lay there with her eyes open at night, unable to sleep and with no intention of sleeping at all.

Once she figured Gan Lin was asleep, Gan Qiongying got up, put on her shoes, and tiptoed to Gan Lin's bedroom.

Something's wrong with Gan Lin.

In Gan Qiongying's mind, the more Gan Lin tried to downplay the situation, the more serious it proved that things were.

Just like when he was a child, he was already quite old. Because of the large water vat in the palace that was inexplicably leaking, the two of them scared each other so badly that Gan Lin was afraid to go to the toilet by himself. Because he was not full, he drank a lot of water to fill his stomach and then wet the bed.

When Gan Lin woke up the next morning, he put on a show of calm and even tried to blame Gan Qiongying for the bedwetting.

Gan Qiongying quietly walked to Gan Lin's bedside. Behind the screen, Gan Lin's breathing was steady and long, and he was sleeping soundly.

And it was Li Quan who was on night watch.

Li Quan stood at the boundary between the inner and outer rooms, looked up at Gan Qiongying, and then silently knelt on the ground, kowtowing three times in Gan Qiongying's direction.

Gan Qiongying frowned deeply. What was Li Quan doing?

Li Quan quickly raised his head, tears streaming down his face. He pointed to his collar and looked at Gan Qiongying with pleading eyes.

A sudden thought flashed through Gan Qiongying's mind, and she suddenly remembered the injuries that always appeared on the emperor's body in the plot.

Sometimes even the high collar of the dragon robe couldn't cover it.

Previously, Gan Lin was unwilling to bring it up, and his reaction to mentioning the Regent would be very strong. Moreover, Gan Lin's health was indeed very poor at that time, so Gan Qiongying did not force him to ask.

But at this moment, he suddenly remembered this matter, coupled with Li Quan's eyes and behavior.

Gan Qiongying felt as if she had suddenly fallen into a lake, and a suffocating feeling of drowning washed over her.

Gan Qiongying strode over the screen and barged into the emperor's bed curtains. She grabbed the collar of the sleeping Gan Lin and yanked it sharply to the side—a dense array of tiny wounds and swollen, red patches of skin came into view.

In that instant, Gan Qiongying felt as if two daggers had been plunged into her eyes.

Gan Qiongying's breath caught in her throat, and she couldn't get a breath out for quite a while.

No matter how soundly or deeply Gan Lin slept, it was impossible for him not to wake up after his clothes were ripped so roughly.

When Gan Lin woke up, he saw Gan Qiongying standing at the head of the bed. Perhaps because he had just woken up, his mind hadn't quite processed what was happening yet.

She subconsciously smiled at Gan Qiongying, a rather sweet smile, and asked with concern, "What's wrong, sister..."

But his smile quickly faded as he felt the coldness on his shoulders. After looking down, his smile froze completely.

Then Gan Lin's expression twisted and turned fierce in an instant. He slammed his fist on the bed and roared, "Li Quan, you're asking for death!"

Gan Qiongying also lost her temper at this moment, and yelled at Gan Lindi: "Why are you cursing him! I found out myself. Do you think you can fool me with your little skills?"

"I raised you with my own hands, how could I not know that you spent the whole night whitewashing and dodging the issue!"

"Tell me, what exactly happened?"

Gan Lin quickly recovered. He was indeed worthy of being an emperor. Just a moment ago he was acting like a tyrant, but after Gan Qiongying yelled at him even louder, he looked up again and became that pitiful little man.

"Sister, don't worry. It's just that you're having some discomfort when you eat. Doctor Xiao said that as long as you don't touch that kind of thing again, you'll be fine."

"Oh? Then tell me, you've had a mouth as big as a piglet since you were little, what kind of food have you eaten that you can't argue with?"

"How come I didn't know?"

Gan Lin was speechless. It's really hard for a "child" to tell a very effective lie in front of their parents.

Especially Gan Qiongying now, and Princess Duanrong in the past, they all consider Gan Lin as their only family and regard each other as the most important people in their lives.

How could Gan Lin possibly hide it from such a person?

Gan Lin's expression slowly turned sorrowful. He lowered his head, and the protruding neck bone was his last act of defiance.

Gan Qiongying slapped him on the back of the head: "If you dare not tell the truth today, our sibling relationship ends here!"

Gan Lin almost immediately grabbed Gan Qiongying, knelt up from the bed, and knelt before Gan Qiongying, saying, "I'll talk, I'll talk! Sister, don't be angry..."

Gan Qiongying couldn't wait any longer for him to hesitate.

She pointed directly at his slightly open shirt, at the dense wounds, at the red and swollen marks that looked terrifying, her eyes reddening.

"Was it the Regent who did it?"