Rong Ji's past

Li Yunyu nodded, instructing Lin Siwen to be careful, then looked at Rong Ji, whose hair was disheveled, her voice turning colder, "Empress Rong... I advise you to tell me what you know... If you don't, you'll suffer the consequences later..." Seeing Lin Siwen leave, Rong Ji looked at Li Yunyu, whom Li Linglan had once despised, now speaking to her with such arrogance, and felt increasingly resentful. She held her head high, not even sparing Li Yunyu a glance, picked up a hairpin from the ground, and began to style her hair. "No need for Your Highness to worry... My fate is none of your business..." Li Yunyu naturally wouldn't waste any more words with Rong Ji, finding a stool and moving it in front of her. "Empress Rong... I respect you as my elder, so I call you Empress Rong. I don't want to argue with you, but I also hope you understand the current situation," Li Yunyu squatted down. Looking Rong Ji in the eye, Li Yunyu asked, "Do you know... why my father is so wary of princes colluding with ministers?" Rong Ji remained silent, pursing her lips. Li Yunyu continued, "Because... Xiling has no army... In a civil war, Xiling cannot quickly respond. Over the years, Xiling has made too many enemies and has had to station its troops on the border. I don't know if Consort Rong has heard the saying, 'You can't have your cake and eat it too'... That's roughly the idea. Brother Zhou led the Dingbei Army to attack the city, do you know what that means? It means... Father can't help you unless he can send troops, but where can he get them from? Mu Xi is under the Lin family's control, and the general in the south has already been executed by the Grand Tutor... So... Consort Rong..." Li Yunyu stood up and looked down at Rong Ji, whose eyes were filled with despair, "Just tell us about Pu Yuan. If the coup succeeds, perhaps your life can be spared... right?"

Rong Ji looked at Li Yunyu and pondered for a moment before asking, "Will you really spare our lives, mother and son?" Rong Ji placed her hopes on Li Yunyu. After all, she knew that if Tang Feng failed and Li Linglan found out about their relationship with Pu Yuan, she and her son would also be doomed. It was better to put her bet on Li Yunyu. At least with the new emperor's ascension to the throne, as long as they did things honestly, perhaps the past would be forgiven.

Li Yunyu nodded. "Hmm... If what you've said is true, I will naturally spare your lives." Li Yunyu naturally understood Tang Feng's meaning, but he also knew that Rong Ji wouldn't speak without some means. Seeing Li Yunyu nod in agreement, Rong Ji breathed a sigh of relief and then said, "I am a concubine of Emperor Puyuan... His Majesty sent me to infiltrate Xiling to facilitate internal and external cooperation, and also to facilitate sending messages back to Puyuan... More than twenty years ago, I entered the pass from Muxi, following a merchant caravan to Xiling. At that time, I infiltrated a dance troupe that came to perform for Emperor Yun. The late Empress was already terminally ill, and Emperor Yun brought various magic tricks and dances in an attempt to bring her good fortune... So I knew my opportunity had come..." Rong Ji touched the handkerchief given to her by Li Lingyan on her wrist. The woman on the bracelet said, “For His Majesty… I would do anything… So I killed the lead dancer and impersonated her… Sure enough, Emperor Yun chose me and let me stay in the palace to serve him. Although at first I was just a lowly dancer, after the late Empress passed away, I gradually learned what Emperor Yun wanted… So soon after, he gave me a title… I even bore him a son…” Li Yunyu listened in shock. He truly couldn’t understand why a concubine would become a spy, or even bear a child for someone she didn’t love.

After giving a few instructions to the soldiers, Lin Siwen felt uneasy and stopped one of them, saying, "Never mind, I'll go with you." Lin Siwen was worried that Li Yunyu was too smooth-talking to capture, especially since Li Yunheng was extremely cunning. He was confident he could handle the situation himself, but if he failed to capture Li Yunheng and let him go, how would he explain it to Tang Feng? Just as he was about to leave, he saw the Zhaixing Pavilion ablaze, which delighted Lin Siwen. "This is the Grand Tutor's signal. It seems General Meng and his men are about to storm the palace..." He then instructed his subordinates, "You keep watch here. Do as the Ninth Prince says. Keep an eye on Consort Rong. I'll be right back."

Lin Siwen emerged from the palace and saw several horses standing bewildered at the palace gate. Guessing they were horses left behind by fallen soldiers, she casually led one up, mounted it, and galloped towards Li Yunheng's residence. However, upon arriving, she was met with a chaotic scene of corpses, followed by the steward lying lifeless in the front hall, his chest rising and falling slightly. Lin Siwen knelt down and asked, "Where is your prince? Tell me quickly!" The steward struggled to raise his hand and pointed towards the back courtyard before dying. Lin Siwen quickly rose and rushed to the back courtyard. Upon entering, she saw Meng Lie with over a dozen imperial guards surrounding Li Yunheng. Meng Lie held a crescent-shaped scimitar, intending to behead Li Yunheng. Lin Siwen's heart tightened. "General Meng! Spare him!" She stomped her foot, using her inner strength to kick a pebble that struck the blade in Meng Lie's hand. Meng Lie was stunned for a moment, then angrily said, "Siwen! What are you doing!"

Seeing Meng Lie stop, Lin Siwen quickly grabbed him. "What are you doing!" Meng Lie was bewildered by Lin Siwen's question and pointed at Li Yunheng. "Can't you see? The Grand Tutor always praises you for being smart, it's obvious I'm going to kill him!" Lin Siwen sighed helplessly and pulled Meng Lie aside. "Brother Meng... if you kill him, how am I supposed to explain to the Grand Tutor! You'll be fine, the blade will fall, and your head will roll, but what about me? When the Grand Tutor asks me, 'Siwen, where's the person I asked for?' What am I supposed to say... General Meng was beheaded..." Meng Lie scratched his head, even more confused. He walked up to Li Yunheng, pinched his chin to show Lin Siwen. "He wasn't a good person! Why is the Grand Tutor keeping him around? To fatten him up? Well... then the Grand Tutor shouldn't put this thing here with me again... or talk about exiling him to the army..."

Lin Siwen pressed his temples, "What is all this nonsense... The Grand Tutor didn't say he'd keep him alive..." Hearing Lin Siwen say that Tang Feng didn't intend to keep Li Yunheng alive, Meng Lie immediately raised his sword, "I knew the Grand Tutor wouldn't want to keep this bastard!" Seeing this, Lin Siwen quickly grabbed him, "Hey, hey, hey! He didn't say to kill him now!"

Meng Lie clicked his tongue repeatedly, "This won't work, that won't work, what should we do!" Lin Siwen looked at Li Yunheng, "Leave him to me. The Grand Tutor still has uses. He's suspected of colluding with Pu Yuan, he might be a spy from there." Meng Lie's eyes widened, "This... good lad, I knew he wasn't a good person..." Lin Siwen tied Li Yunheng's hands and looked at Meng Lie, "Although... he can't be killed now, his lackey Xu Chang'an can. No one in his family can be spared, including his servants." Having received the order, Meng Lie stopped worrying about Li Yunheng and led his troops away. Lin Siwen forced Li Yunheng towards the palace, and Li Yunheng finally caught his breath, looking at Lin Siwen who was pressing him down and sneered, "I really didn't expect this..."

"Didn't expect what?" Lin Siwen's grip on Li Yunheng's hand tightened slightly. "Didn't expect the tables to turn? The once high and mighty Fourth Prince is now tasting the bitterness of being a prisoner?" Then, a chill ran through Lin Siwen's eyes. "Li Yunheng, I will not let you go! My father, my brother, my elder sister! My brother-in-law!! You killed them all! Do you think... the Grand Tutor wouldn't want to kill you? If you weren't still somewhat useful, you would have been torn to pieces long ago!"

Hearing Lin Siwen's words, Li Yunheng burst into laughter. "So what! I'm just a pawn born from a pawn. Even if you kill me, even if you kill my mother, do you think you can stop Pu Yuan from attacking Yan Yun? No... no! Nobody's life is always smooth sailing! Pu Yuan won't stop fighting because of us... Li Yunyu, that pushover, do you think everything will be fine once he becomes emperor? Tang Feng is really... too naive, three years ago... and now even more so!" Lin Siwen pressed down on Li Yunheng's hand, tightening her grip even more. "Did I give you a chance to speak now?! Once you enter the palace, you'll have plenty of opportunities to speak."

Lin Siwen escorted Li Yunheng to Consort Rong's quarters. Upon seeing Lin Siwen return, Li Yunyu stood up and asked, "Why did you take so long?" Lin Siwen looked at Li Yunheng and said, "It's all because of him. He's glib and full of tricks, afraid someone might let him escape... No, they can't be locked up together; they need to be separated, otherwise... they might collude..." She then summoned soldiers to take Rong Ji to another room, while Lin Siwen and Li Yunyu personally watched over Li Yunheng. Lin Siwen noticed that Li Yunheng was still quite old... Then, pulling Li Yunyu aside, Lin Siwen asked, "Did Consort Rong confess anything just now?" Li Yunyu nodded. "She admitted to being a spy, but I'm still a bit skeptical... She told me she's the Princess Consort of Emperor Puyuan... That identity... is somewhat......" Lin Siwen frowned upon hearing this. "Princess Consort... are you sure?" Li Yunyu nodded. "Absolutely true, that's what she said. Although I'm not entirely convinced, I don't think she's lying. How are things on your end?"

Lin Siwen glanced at Li Yunheng and said, "He's right there... It's like talking to a brick wall. It's easy to talk to Consort Rong; a little scare and she'll confess everything. But who knows about this one... He was almost killed by General Meng just now. Luckily, I arrived in time, otherwise it would have been too late. If the Grand Tutor blames us, we'll all be scolded..."

"Then let's just give it to Meng Lie."

Lin Siwen paused for a moment, then laughed, "Your Highness, you've really gone astray. I wonder who taught you that." Seeing Lin Siwen teasing him, Li Yunyu rolled his eyes, "One is influenced by one's company. Do you even need to learn that?" Lin Siwen smiled and looked at Li Yunheng sitting beside him, "If you don't speak up now, you'll regret it later. Do you think you can still leave the palace alive?"

Li Yunheng sneered, "Your threats are nothing but a few meaningless words to me. Ever since I decided to seize the throne, I have already burned my bridges and left myself no way out. Being treated like this is exactly what I expected."