The front of Gu Yanyue's bedroom was newly decorated with large lanterns hanging. It seemed that even when the owner Gu Yanyue was not there, the palace maids serving in Fengqi Palace were taking good care of it. Gu Yanyue and Yuwen Ran saw a large group of people standing in front of the door from a distance.
"Welcome Your Majesty and Your Majesty back to the palace!" A large group of palace maids and eunuchs stood in two rows. When they saw Yu Wenran and Gu Yanyue come in, they knelt down together.
Even though Gu Yanyue had been in ancient times for so long, she still wasn't used to the ancient people's habit of frequently performing formal greetings. Looking at the huge crowd of heads kneeling before her, she hurriedly said, "Everyone, stand up."
"Thank you, Your Majesty, and thank you, Your Majesty." After receiving Gu Yanyue's order, the eunuchs and palace maids stood up and stood aside waiting for Gu Yanyue and Yuwen Ran's instructions.
There was no change in any of the plants and trees in Fengqi Palace. After being away for half a year, there was a strange feeling of strangeness and familiarity.
After a long day of riding in a carriage and then tossing and turning at the city gate, they were exhausted. The palace maids had already prepared hot water. The two took a bath together. During the bath, Yuwen Ran shamelessly approached his own queen to kiss and touch her, but was pushed aside. Undeterred, he rubbed against her again.
"I have no strength now." Gu Yanyue struggled.
Yu Wenran pulled Gu Yanyue back to his side, lowered his head and gently bit her fair and smooth shoulder, and said vaguely: "Ayue, I know you are tired, I will just hold you without doing anything, okay?"
Yu Wenran always keeps his word. After getting his promise, Gu Yanyue stopped caring about him. Unexpectedly, he did not go to jail in the end, but it still made her very upset.
In the end, Gu Yanyue didn't even have the strength to get out of the bathtub. Yu Wenran kissed the red eyes of the person in his arms with satisfaction, and carried her out of the bathtub.
Gu Yanyue leaned on Yu Wenran's shoulder with her whole body limp. Her body was already tired from the long journey, and now she didn't even want to move a finger.
"Are you hungry? I'll ask them to bring the food." Yu Wenran put the person on the bed and covered him with a quilt.
"I don't have the strength and don't want to eat anymore." Gu Yanyue reached out and touched the pillow beside her, then threw it into Yu Wenran's arms, then turned over and went inside while muttering.
Yu Wenran was hit by a pillow but didn't get angry. He put on his underwear, lay on the bed, hugged the person with the quilt and kissed him: "Let me feed you?"
After saying that, Yuwen Ran stood up and walked out of the outer hall, giving the palace maid a few instructions. Not long after, the palace maid brought a bowl of porridge and two plates of appetizers and placed them on the table in the inner hall, then walked out with her head down.
Yu Wenran brought the porridge to the bed, happily picked up the person on the bed and held him in his arms, holding the bowl of rice to feed the person in his arms.
Gu Yanyue couldn't persuade Yu Wenran and had to lower her head to take a bite. After that, she was about to reach for the spoon, but Yu Wenran avoided her and said, "I'll feed you."
"I think the assassination today is probably related to Prince Xiang. What are you going to do when you go to court tomorrow?"
"As long as the chief judge can get some evidence out of him tonight, we can put Prince Xiang in jail when the court goes up tomorrow. We will have to think about how to deal with him afterwards." Yuwen Ran took a bite himself and then scooped another spoonful to feed Gu Yanyue.
Gu Yanyue shook her head, indicating that she didn't want to eat anymore. "You should also pay more attention to what Tuoba Chen said. If you can find evidence, even if the Queen Mother protects him, Prince Xiang will not be able to escape death."
Yuwen Ran ate the rest himself and replied vaguely, "Tomorrow I will let the deputy general who came to assassinate me confront Prince Xiang in person."
The next day, Yuwen Ran put on the bright yellow court robes that symbolized his emperor status and sat on the Golden Palace again.
Yuwen Ran first summoned the soldiers who had made contributions in the expedition to the Western Regions into the hall and rewarded them one by one. The ministers in the court also sang praises to them. King Xiang lowered his head, and his expression was uncertain.
"Your Majesty, I have found out who is the mastermind behind yesterday's assassination!" Du Yuhou suddenly stepped out and said.
Yuwen Ran, sitting on the throne, showed no expression. He simply asked calmly, "Who?"
"She is the concubine of Duke Qin and the mother of the concubine of Prince Xiang - Shen." The chief judge handed the evidence obtained through a night of interrogation to the eunuch beside him, who then presented it to Yuwen Ran.
The court suddenly fell silent. As soon as the Chief Justice said this, everyone's faces suddenly changed. The Emperor was assassinated on his way back to the capital yesterday?!
After carefully reading the file, Yuwen Ran frowned. "Shen is implicated in the conspiracy to murder me and the Empress. The evidence is irrefutable. She will be immediately imprisoned and beheaded soon."
As he spoke, he gave Prince Xiang a deep look and continued, "I pity the Duke of Qin's legitimate daughter for her meritorious service in rescuing the emperor from the Western Regions. Since these merits and demerits offset each other, this matter will be bypassed. However, the death penalty can be spared, but the punishment of life imprisonment cannot be avoided. Therefore, the Duke of Qin's entire residence will be confined for one year, and their salaries will be reduced by half. Also, given Shen's behavior, her daughter, Qin Ranran, will no longer be allowed to sit in the position of Prince Xiang's concubine, and will be demoted to a concubine."
Duke Qin looked at King Xiang as if struck by lightning, and King Xiang's face turned pale. He didn't know that Qin Ranran's biological mother had caused him such a trouble.
Yuwen Ran, sitting at the head of the table, could naturally observe every move made by the people below. A smile flickered in his eyes, "Prince Xiang will not blame me for interfering in the affairs of your palace, right?"
King Xiang also stepped out and said hypocritically: "I will naturally not blame Your Majesty." But he said it with some gnashing of teeth at the end.
When the ministers in the court thought that they were going to adjourn today, Yuwen Ran clapped his hands. At this time, the Royal Guards escorted a man who looked like a prisoner of war from outside the hall, followed by Prince Tuoba Chen from the Western Regions.
After seeing the man being brought in, Prince Xiang's eyes were filled with murderous intent. That man was the one he had planted in Yuwen Ran's army, and he had disappeared after assassinating Yuwen Ran. He sent people to the camp to investigate many times, but to no avail. He thought Yuwen Ran had ordered him to be killed, but he didn't expect Yuwen Ran to have hidden him.
As soon as the imperial guards let him go, the man crawled forward a few steps, passed Prince Xiang, and kowtowed repeatedly to the ascendant Yuwen Ran. "Your Majesty... I'll confess everything! I'll confess everything! Please spare my life!"
After the mission failed, he was locked up alone in the tent by Yuwen Ran's personal soldiers. During this time, someone sent by King Xiang came to find him. He thought that they were people sent by King Xiang to rescue him, but unexpectedly they were here to kill him. If Yuwen Ran had not sent soldiers to guard him outside, he would not be able to kneel here and talk to Yuwen Ran now.
Yu Wenran raised his chin: "Go ahead."
"Everything I did was instructed by King Xiang. Your Majesty, you must believe me! I did it all under King Xiang's instruction! I still have the token King Xiang gave me, which I have placed at my residence in the capital!"
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