When the news of Li Yunheng's sudden death in prison was passed back to the palace by the jailer, Yuwen Ran's pen, which was used to review memorials, fell on the table with a "bang", blurring out all the handwriting on the memorial.
Gu Yanyue quickly stood up from the chair beside her. Without thinking too much, she strode forward and tightly grasped the jailer's shoulders, almost digging her nails into his flesh. "How could he die in prison? Who saw him today?"
The jailer hadn't expected Gu Yanyue to be so agitated. He had kept his head down since entering the hall. The moment Gu Yanyue grabbed him, Yuwen Ran's burning gaze swept over him. He lowered his head even lower, wanting to disappear on the spot. He whispered, "The Supreme Court Minister and the Minister of Justice both interrogated Li Yunheng today. Li Yunheng died of a sudden illness while the Minister of Justice was interrogating him."
At the end, the sound was as soft as the buzzing of a mosquito, so quiet that Gu Yanyue had to put her ear close to his mouth to barely hear what he said.
This action caught Yu Wenran's eyes, and the jealousy on her body became stronger. Gu Yanyue suddenly shuddered, loosened her hand that was holding the jailer's shoulder, and then she moved to two feet away from the jailer before she stopped.
The jailer could not bear the pressure from Yuwen Ran's aura and could not raise his head. He could only kneel on the ground and tremble. Finally, Gu Yanyue could not bear it any longer and asked him to leave the palace and return to the prison.
"Ayue, what do you think about this?" After the jailer left, Yuwen Ran pulled Gu Yanyue into his arms, and rubbed Gu Yanyue's hand that had just touched the jailer's hand hard.
Gu Yanyue's hands were rubbed so hard by Yu Wenran that they hurt, but she didn't dare to cry out in pain and could only endure it obediently. "This is definitely not such a coincidence. How could it happen to happen during the interrogation of the Minister of Justice?"
Yuwen Ran rubbed Gu Yanyue's hands until they turned red before stopping. "This Minister of Justice is probably one of Prince Xiang's men. Right now, the clues are cut off with Li Yunheng. The people I sent also said that they didn't find any tokens or anything like that at Li Yunheng's residence in Beijing. I'm afraid he sent people to take the token away from Li Yunheng's residence long after Li Yunheng was arrested in the Western Regions and lost contact with Prince Xiang."
"Prince Xiang is being too cautious. Even if Tuoba Chen has pointed the finger at us, there's no solid evidence to prove he did it. Tomorrow at court, he could just turn the tables on Tuoba Chen, saying he lost the battle and wants to sow discord between you two brothers. This way, he can turn you against each other and cause chaos in the Central Plains, so he can seize the opportunity to attack the Central Plains and take it all in one fell swoop. Look, I've even thought of a rhetoric for him. Once it's out, and with Prince Xiang's support, who in the court wouldn't be convinced?"
Gu Yanyue clenched her fist and slammed it hard on the small table beside her. "He just calculated that we can't do anything to him, and he has the Queen Mother to protect him, so he dared to speak so arrogantly in the court, saying that he has never committed treason."
Gu Yanyue became more and more excited as she spoke, and she slammed the small table a few more times, like a kitten with its fur exploded, venting her anger in a cute and fierce manner. Yu Wenran was afraid that she would smash it again, and that the table would be fine, but her hands would be hurt first. So he held her in his arms, patting Gu Yanyue's back again and again, and smoothing her fur.
"How about being more direct and setting the Prince Xiang's Mansion on fire?" Gu Yanyue thought about it carefully, and the more she thought about it, the more she felt that this method was feasible. "Look, if I block the door and start the fire, Prince Xiang and Qin Ranran will burn to death in the Prince Xiang's Mansion. Then there will be two less troubles in the world."
Seeing that Gu Yanyue was about to break free from him to find the fire stick and matches, Yuwen Ran quickly pressed her back into his arms, "Ayue, calm down. Prince Xiang has been poisoned by Miss Qin and won't live for long. Just don't move for now. You don't have to burn the mansion yourself, I'll do it."
Gu Yanyue calmed down after hearing the words that Prince Xiang would be alive in a few days. She agreed, "Okay, then I hope he can see the King of Hell soon."
If King Xiang heard this, he would surely be so angry that he would immediately have a poisonous attack and quickly lie down in the coffin, never to be reborn.
Gu Yanyue had already started imagining what delicious food she would make for Yuwen Ran to celebrate the joy of that moment after King Xiang passed away.
The next day, at court, Prince Xiang, just as Gu Yanyue had predicted, put on a terrible show. If Gu Yanyue were present, she'd have wanted to award him the Ancient Times' Best Green Arrow Award. How could this guy be so lazy? If this were modern times, he'd definitely be a nuisance, the kind who'd always kick off a girl.
Yuwen Ran rubbed his forehead, not wanting to pay attention to the noisy scene in the hall. He simply gestured to Zheng Hai, who understood and immediately shouted at the top of his voice: "Please - Prince Tuoba Chen of the Western Regions, enter the palace to see you -"
Tuoba Chen came in this time holding a letter of surrender. As soon as he entered, he knelt in the center of the hall, lowered his head, raised the letter of surrender above his head, and kowtowed three times to Yuwen Ran, who was sitting at the top. "On behalf of all the people of the Western Regions, I come to submit this letter of surrender to the Emperor of the Central Plains. I would like to thank Your Majesty for not killing me after the Western Regions were defeated. The Western Regions also voluntarily become a vassal state of the Central Plains. From now on, the Western Regions will pay tribute to the Central Plains every New Year."
Yuwen Ran asked Zheng Hai to go down and take the letter of surrender. He glanced at it briefly and said, "Prince Tuoba, please stand up."
Tuoba Chen refused, kneeling on the ground and continuing, "What follows is my personal promise to Your Majesty. I, Tuoba Chen, swear in this hall today that I will never set foot in the Central Plains without the summons of Emperor Yuwen Ran!"
Yuwen Ran looked at Tuoba Chen in shock. He had always known Tuoba Chen's feelings for Gu Yanyue. This war was also because of Gu Yanyue. Tuoba Chen's oath in the hall today was completely telling him that he had let Gu Yanyue go and would not continue to bother her in the future.
After Tuoba Chen swore an oath, he stood up from the ground and retreated.
After the morning court session, Yuwen Ran happened to meet Bai Youjin at the side door. He thought that Bai Youjin had followed them into the palace for many days, but he and Gu Yanyue had been busy with the affairs of Prince Xiang during these days and had no time to see if Bai Youjin was used to living in the palace.
He walked forward and bowed to Bai Youjin, just like he did in the military camp, "Senior Bai."
Unexpectedly, Bai Youjin was not happy this time. With a pout, he helped Yuwen Ran up and started to scold him: "We are in the palace, and you are bowing to me like this outside. If the Imperial Censor finds out, you will be in trouble in court tomorrow."
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