Chapter 79 Already rotten and utterly a mess

If we don't save him soon, he will die.

Yun Si glanced at the Princess Consort of Lin and finally made up her mind.

She opened the medicine box and took out a jade box from the bottom: "I have half a Tian Shan snow lotus here, perhaps it can be given a try."

"Snow Lotus from Tianshan?"

The crowd gasped in disbelief.

"That's a priceless treasure, capable of bringing the dead back to life. How could the Princess possibly have it?"

Yun Si had no time to explain. She opened the jade box, took out half a crystal-clear snow lotus, ground it into powder, and mixed it into the ginseng soup that had been prepared. Her movements were swift and efficient, leaving the imperial physicians speechless.

Princess Xiao's health...is healed?

"Quickly, feed it to Prince Lin."

One of the imperial physicians took it, and fortunately, Prince Lin still had the ability to swallow, and he drank most of the bowl of medicine.

In the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, Prince Lin's originally weak breathing gradually stabilized, and the bloodstains on his chest stopped spreading.

This Tianshan snow lotus is truly magical.

The imperial physicians were both surprised and delighted, and rushed forward to examine the patient: "The pulse is stable! It's really stable!"

When Emperor Jiaqing heard the news, he rushed over and, seeing that Prince Lin was out of danger, he breathed a sigh of relief.

The emperor's unfathomable eyes made people dare not look directly at him or try to probe him.

His stern face revealed little emotion.

His gaze lingered on the rise and fall of the Prince Lin's chest. After a long while, he turned to look at Yun Si, his tone indifferent and unreadable: "Princess Xiao, where did you get this Heavenly Snow Lotus? Such a treasure does not belong to our Great Qin."

Yun Si lowered her eyes and replied, "Your Majesty, this was purchased by my maternal grandfather from a merchant when he was doing business. He has always treasured it for future use. It is truly fortunate that it was able to save His Highness Prince Lin today."

"Um."

Emperor Jiaqing showed approval on his face and ordered someone to bring a box of treasures to reward her, but his eyes were so deep that no one could see through them.

It was impossible to tell whether he was happy or suspicious.

In her previous life, Yun Si rarely entered the palace, but she knew that the Emperor of Qin was a very shrewd and suspicious man who would not easily trust anyone.

She knew that this step she took today would eventually attract some unnecessary attention.

"Princess Xiao, I heard that the verdict for your father's retrial came down today. Your Marquis's family has been wronged because of the Shen family. Do you feel any resentment in your heart?"

The Jiaqing Emperor asked a cryptic question.

It was not explicitly stated whether the object of this resentment was the Shen family or the royal family.

How could Yun Si not understand?

She remained calm and composed, but when she looked up, her eyes welled up with tears, and her voice choked slightly.

“Your Majesty is wise, how could I possibly harbor resentment? Your Majesty’s exoneration is already a great blessing from Heaven. As for the Shen family… good and evil will eventually be rewarded, and they have reaped what they sowed. I have no resentment in my heart.”

The preceding sentence is a response to the royal family, expressing gratitude for the emperor's favor despite having suffered injustice.

The next sentence refers to the Shen family.

Since the Shen family has already received their due punishment, why should she cling to hatred?

This answer is almost perfect.

Emperor Jiaqing's gaze lingered on her face for a moment, then he chuckled softly and said gently, "Princess Xiao is quite perceptive. She should visit the Empress's palace more often in the future."

His sudden mention of the Empress made Yun Si's heart tighten slightly.

Is this a reminder to her?

Suppressing her unease, Yun Si obediently replied, "Your subject obeys."

Emperor Jiaqing said no more, turned to look at Prince Lin on the bed, and said in a voice that was authoritative even without anger: "Take good care of Prince Lin. If anything happens to him again, I will hold you all accountable."

"Yes," everyone replied in unison.

After saying that, he got up and left the warm pavilion.

Outside, the other princes also rushed over upon hearing the news.

First, they surrounded Emperor Jiaqing, inquiring about his injuries, and then helped Qin Ye and the Imperial Guards investigate the assassin.

The three assassins quickly confessed.

They turned out to be three people who had suffered from the floods in Jiangnan three years ago.

They believed that Emperor Jiaqing was a tyrannical ruler who disregarded the lives of ordinary people.

These three people originally had happy families and lived ordinary lives, but all of this was destroyed by a flood.

Everyone says that His Majesty loves the people so much, but after the floods in Jiangnan, this foolish emperor watched as the people were displaced. He collected so many taxes every year, but when the people needed the country, he did nothing.

Ultimately, they lost their home and their family!

This incompetent ruler is completely unfit to be emperor.

Therefore, he deserves to be killed!

Unfortunately, Prince Lin appeared out of nowhere and took the blow for the tyrannical emperor.

Even if the tyrannical ruler wasn't killed, killing one of his sons wouldn't be a complete loss.

After confessing, the assassin immediately committed suicide.

After reading the confession, everyone fell silent.

The atmosphere under the eaves outside the warm pavilion was tense and cold.

The Prince of Jin slammed the confession onto the stone table, his forehead veins bulging with anger.

"Shen Qian! That heartless bastard!"

He kicked over the flower stand next to him, the sound of the porcelain basin shattering was deafening.

"Back then, when there was disaster relief in Jiangnan, my father sent him to supervise the grain and fodder. I even personally saw him off at the city gate, repeatedly telling him not to let down the emperor's grace and to do this job well. But he dared to embezzle funds and make my father take the blame for this tyrannical emperor, causing the people to be displaced and even nearly costing my second son his life!"

The more the Prince of Jin thought about it, the angrier he became.

"I heard that the Shen family members all died in the slave market recently. It's retribution, they deserved it, but they died too easily!"

"yes."

The Prince of Xiang coughed lightly twice, his face also showing anger.

"Father, you've been wronged. Those three assassins are all dead, but what's most frustrating is that we didn't even give them a chance to know the truth or make them regret their actions."

King Jing remained silent for a long while before finally saying in a deep voice, "This matter is probably not so simple."

He looked up at the crowd, his brows furrowed: "These three were able to infiltrate the palace; they must have had someone helping them. Moreover, the Shen family's corruption has already spread throughout the capital. How could they be completely unaware of it?"

Qin Ye's gaze swept over his brothers with a deep look, finally landing on Prince Yu: "Sixth Brother, what do you think?"

Prince Yu snapped back to reality, looking somewhat dazed: "Huh? What did Fourth Brother say?"

"Why are you so distracted today?" The Prince of Jin frowned in displeasure.

Prince Yu forced a smile: "Perhaps I didn't get enough rest last night."

Qin Ye glanced at him thoughtfully, then turned to King Jing.

"Fifth Brother is right. There are many suspicious points in this matter. Although the three people have committed suicide, this matter still needs further investigation."

Upon hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement.

"I never expected that my usually timid and cowardly second brother would be so brave this time, taking a fatal blow for Father. I will never call him useless and incompetent again."

The Prince of Xiang suddenly sighed.

Everyone looked at him in silence, and no one refuted him.

yes.

I really didn't expect that.

"Fortunately, Princess Xiao had the Tianshan Snow Lotus, otherwise he would have died young this time," Prince Jin added.

Clearly, no one doubted that Prince Lin had shielded Emperor Jiaqing from a knife attack.

After all, that could be fatal.

I almost died.

They might not have had that courage.

On the way out of the palace, Qin Ye asked Yun Si, "In your opinion, if it weren't for the Tianshan Snow Lotus, would Prince Lin have died?"

"meeting."

Yun Si said with certainty, "Without the Tianshan Snow Lotus, he would surely die."

"He's really lucky."

Qin Ye said in a calm tone, then paused for a moment before asking, "Who knows that you have the Tianshan Snow Lotus?"

"Only Awu and Anye know this; I haven't told anyone else."

Yun Si thought for a moment, then added, "There's one more person."

"who?"

"It's the person who gave me the Tianshan snow lotus."

Upon hearing this, Qin Ye fell silent.

After returning to the palace, Yun Si went back to Qiwu Garden alone.

Qin Ye had said he had finished everything for the day, but then this happened. As soon as he got back, he immediately arranged for people to investigate the ancestral origins of the three assassins.

King Jing is right. He always felt that the truth behind this assassination attempt was too simplistic.

Even absurd.

After returning to Qiwu Garden, Yun Si was filled with a myriad of sorrows.

Emperor Jiaqing's words lingered in her mind.

Was he also trying to get Qin Ye to recognize the Empress as his mother?

If that were all, it wouldn't be a big deal. What's truly frightening is that after recognizing the Empress as his mother, he would immediately face a marriage alliance with the Jiang family.

Qin Ye can refuse Jiang Wanning, and he can also refuse the Empress and Prime Minister Jiang. But what about His Majesty's intention?

Yun Si lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.

She got up again, went to the pharmacy to get the evidence of Dillon's treason, and opened it to take a look.

Northern Yan had always had spies hidden in the capital of Qin, and Qin had also planted its own spies in Northern Yan. However, Di Long actually secretly corresponded with the Northern Yan spies.

What interests do they share?

After reading several letters, Yun Si gradually understood.

This Dillon has been secretly doing business with the Seventh Prince of Northern Yan. Previously, the raw materials for the Ministry of War to forge weapons were basically monopolized by the Shen family. Dillon and the Shen family are indeed from the same master.

They reserved a small portion of the raw materials produced by the Qin Dynasty each year for the Ministry of War, and used waste materials as a substitute when that was not enough, which is why the quality of weapons has always been substandard.

Fortunately, no large-scale war broke out in the past two years; otherwise, given the quality of the weapons used by the Qin army, countless people would have died.

The remaining majority was sold at a high price to the seventh prince of Northern Yan.

In addition, the Seventh Prince promised them that if the Qin Dynasty were to experience internal strife one day, he would do his utmost to help them.

Unfortunately, these letters could only bring Dillon to justice.

The person behind him is hiding his true identity very well.

Cautious, and cunning.

Besides Shen Yu, Lin Shuyan should also know who this person is.

When Qin Ye returned after finishing his work, Yun Si immediately showed him the letters.

"After the Shen family fell from power, who took over the raw material yard?"

"Minister of War"

After reading the letter, Qin Ye's eyes turned cold: "Judging from the contents of the letter, it seems that Di Long and the Minister of War have had a disagreement, otherwise he would not have told the people of Northern Yan that they would be unable to provide raw materials for a period of time."

"You mean the Minister of War is also involved?"

“Shen Qian is just a vice minister of the Ministry of War. Without the cooperation of the minister of the Ministry of War, how could he have kept things so watertight all these years and remained undetected? The entire Ministry of War has long been corrupt and is now a complete mess.”