Chapter 403 The Truth Behind the Harm, Retribution!
"Ye'er—"
"Ye'er!!"
"Your Majesty, I beg you, for the sake of our past relationship, spare Ye'er!"
"Ye'er was murdered, he must have been murdered!"
"His Majesty--"
Consort De was dragged away, and her voice quickly disappeared at the end of the long street.
No one dared to utter a sound, kneeling and waiting in hushed tones for Emperor Yan to speak: "Anyone who dares to utter a single word about what happened today will be severely punished by me!"
Did you hear that?
Even Consort Rong and the Eldest Princess trembled with fear.
"Yes—Your Majesty!"
Emperor Yan's eyes suddenly shifted, landing emotionlessly on Li Qingluo and Sha Qi.
"Are you here on behalf of Prince Su to deliver congratulatory gifts?"
Li Qingluo: "Your Majesty, it was Prince Su who gave us silver and entrusted us to deliver a brocade box to the Jinying Palace today."
A hint of murderous intent flashed in Emperor Yan's eyes.
But when he saw the hairpin on the ground, his eyes flickered.
"You are the youngest disciple of Immortal Yunhe? How come I have never heard of a Daoist named Luoyi at Qingsong Temple?"
Li Qingluo: "Your Majesty, I was only taken in as your disciple by my master when he was traveling. Perhaps in my master's eyes, I am unruly and not as outstanding as my senior brother Qingyangzi, so he has never mentioned me to Your Majesty."
"However, I have been in charge of managing the Hibiscus Cherry Blossom Palace for the past few days."
Emperor Yan now trusts Immortal Yunhe very much.
Upon hearing Li Qingluo's identity, he finally suppressed his murderous intent.
Emperor Yan raised his hand, and the palace servants quickly carried away the sedan chair that had not been put down.
Li Qingluo looked at the eldest princess.
The princess then seemed to wake from a dream and quickly followed.
"Father Emperor—"
"Father, please wait for your son—"
The eldest princess had been trying to see Emperor Yan several times without success, and now that she had finally met her father, she naturally pressed on immediately.
The other concubines also dispersed one after another.
Only Consort Rong stopped beside Li Qingluo when she passed by.
"That's interesting."
She snorted, waved her fan, and slowly left, surrounded by a group of palace servants.
Li Qingluo glanced at the entire Jinying Palace and shook her head.
Those in this palace are probably doomed.
However, although they were pitiful, Gui Fugong was even more pitiful than them back then.
She and Sha Qi quickly returned to Gui Fu Palace.
Meanwhile, Emperor Yan finally managed to deal with his eldest daughter, Xi Yue, and then met Immortal Yunhe.
Emperor Yan: "My dear Imperial Advisor, come here quickly, I have something to ask you."
Yunhe Immortal was still a little dizzy when he came to Emperor Yan.
"Your Majesty, may I ask... what is the matter?"
Emperor Yan: "How many disciples do you actually have?"
Emperor Yan's tone was somewhat probing.
Immortal Yunhe: "Six or seven... seven or eight?"
Emperor Yan chuckled, but his eyes were icy: "Although the Imperial Preceptor is already eighty, he looks more energetic than someone in their thirties. How come he can't remember how many disciples he has?"
"The number is the number; you don't need to hide it from me. Tell me?"
"Take me for example, I have eight sons and ten daughters."
"I heard that the Imperial Preceptor has no children, so his disciples are also your children. Why can't you explain this clearly?"
Immortal Yunhe: "Your Majesty, how dare this old minister compare himself to Your Majesty? And my disciples are even less worthy of being compared to the princes."
"However, this old minister does indeed have eight disciples."
"One of the young disciples, because he returned in a hurry, has not yet registered at the Taoist temple."
"This old minister is at a loss for words to answer Your Majesty's question."
“But he is indeed the old minister’s young apprentice, a mischievous monkey that the old minister has taken in during his years of travels.”
"If he ever causes any trouble, I beg Your Majesty to be lenient."
Emperor Yan narrowed his eyes: "Oh? Could you possibly predict what kind of deadly calamity he might encounter recently?"
Immortal Yunhe waved his whisk and bowed with one hand: "This is why this old minister did not wish to bring him to Your Majesty's presence and draw attention to him, for fear that this child would not escape this calamity."
Emperor Yan smiled slightly: "Rest assured, with me here, how could I allow your disciple to suffer the slightest grievance?"
"You can just teach me the way to immortality without worry, and you can put your mind at ease about the rest."
After emerging from the hall, Immortal Yunhe immediately summoned Qingyangzi.
"Tell me quickly, just who is this little disciple of mine?"
"You hastily assigned me a junior brother, but I haven't even met him yet."
What if we bump into each other face-to-face next time and I admit I'm wrong?
"Are you trying to kill me?"
Qingyangzi smiled and said, "Yes, Master."
Only after Gui Fugong received the note did Duan Rongshi slowly get up.
"Let's go, accompany me to the Cold Palace."
"Go and see if any of Mother Consort's old friends still remember what she looks like."
Li Qingluo immediately threw down her pen and stood up: "Let's go!"
This was the first time Duan Rongshi had left Guifu Palace in the past few days.
It was getting dark.
He was dressed in black and his face was covered.
He led Li Qingluo on a leisurely stroll, easily avoiding the eyes of all the palace guards, and arrived at the Cold Palace with ease.
In the Cold Palace, Consort De knelt on the ground, pleading with Eunuch Wang, "Please, I don't want to die. Let me see Ye'er one more time—"
The once aloof and noble Consort De was no longer the same person she used to be. She was now wringing her hands in a disheveled state, her body covered in dirt, and pleading with a eunuch.
Eunuch Wang: "Your Highness, it's not my fault for not wanting to help you."
"You have made a grave mistake today, and the Sixth Prince has killed someone. You will never have the chance to meet again in this life."
"This servant advises you to obediently set off on your journey."
"As for the Sixth Prince, he is still a prince and His Majesty's own son. Even if he killed someone, he is a fool, and His Majesty would not be so heartless as to execute him."
"At least, he should still be alive, right?"
"As for you, whether it's a white silk ribbon or poisoned wine, you'd better choose one and go on your way quickly."
"Please don't make things difficult for us servants. If you make us do it ourselves, your departure won't be dignified."
To Consort De, the cold voice of Eunuch Wang sounded like a series of death warrants.
She was filled with uncontrollable terror, and her whole body trembled.
"No... I am the daughter of the Zhuang family, and my father is a fourth-rank minister—"
"I can't die, I won't die—"
Annoyance was written all over Eunuch Wang's eyes.
Just as she was about to wave to signal the eunuchs behind her to go forward and cruelly and decisively finish her off, several pebbles suddenly attacked them from behind.
The fathers-in-law collapsed on the ground.
Li Qinglu stepped forward and kicked them. After confirming that they were all unconscious, Duan Rongshi walked out from behind her.
He pulled down his mask.
When Consort De saw him, she was so frightened that she shrank back.
"Little Five... what are you doing here?"
"Was it you...was it you who did it!?"
"Duan Rongshi, is it really you—?"
Duan Rongshi stared at her coldly: "It's me."
"Consort De, didn't you harm me first?"
As he spoke, he tossed the osmanthus cake wrapped in a handkerchief in front of her.
Consort De's face turned ashen: "You really know... No wonder he hasn't gone mad all these years."
"But you clearly know what's going on, why didn't you report it to His Majesty?"
"Why--?"
Duan Rongshi: "If I had reported you years ago, would I still be alive today? Did you watch your son slowly turn into a fool?"
Consort De was going crazy: "Why!?"
Why did you do this?
"He's your brother, after all—"
Before Duan Rongshi could answer, Li Qingluo stepped forward and grabbed her collar: "If you want to harm others, are you not allowed to let others retaliate against you?"
"If you hadn't harmed him, this retribution wouldn't have fallen on your own son!"
"It's just a cycle of cause and effect. What is Consort De hating?"
Consort De's eyes were filled with despair and tears.
But then she laughed: "Yes, this is all my retribution!"
"But I don't understand. Little Six is usually so well-behaved. Why did he suddenly go mad and kill people today?"
"Duan Rongshi, is this also your fault?"
Duan Rongshi: "It's me."
"Over the years, I have also been slowly poisoning Duan Rongye's food."
“Every time you bring me osmanthus cake, he will eat poisoned food.”
"A poison that cannot be detected by silver needles, and one that won't even cause symptoms in those who have been poisoned for three to five years. Your Highness, isn't this very similar to the one you gave me?"
"But the poison that Xiao Liu was given had another fatal aspect."
"When he smells the fragrance of osmanthus, it awakens the fighting spirit in his heart."
“If you hadn’t been making me osmanthus cakes every day and sending them to Guifu Palace lately, I don’t think he would have gone mad so quickly.”
The scent of osmanthus...
The scent of osmanthus!?
Consort De took out the hairpin from her bosom.
This hairpin was something she grabbed and took with her when she was dragged away today.
At this moment, the rich fragrance of osmanthus blossoms wafted from the hairpin.
It's this hairpin!
It was the osmanthus cakes that Jin Ying Palace had been making every day that harmed Ye'er!
Consort De burst into tears.
"So it really was me..."
Duan Rongshi: "It's you. If you hadn't been so eager to kill me, Duan Rongye wouldn't have gone mad so quickly."
"And I, perhaps, will not give you this hairpin so soon."
"Consort De, how does it feel?"
Consort De: "I feel terrible."
“When I felt Ye’er becoming duller, more foolish, and more like a child day by day, my heart ached more than if a thousand insects were gnawing at it.”
"But I dare not tell His Majesty."
"I also won't allow anyone to talk about my Ye'er in private, saying she's become an idiot."
"I'm afraid that Zongzheng Qingyue has become a vengeful ghost, and this is her revenge!"
"I should have thought of you sooner..."
"I should have known it was you, you little beast, who did all this!"
Consort De screamed in agony and suddenly stood up, intending to stab Duan Rong.
Li Qinglu kicked her over.
She bent down and slapped Consort De.
"Tell me, was it you who killed the Imperial Concubine back then!"
Consort De laughed loudly: "Duan Rongshi, do you want to avenge your mother?"
"You've been biding your time and lying low all these years, accumulating power and restraining yourself, but deep down you're probably just as crazy as I am, aren't you?"
"You want to know exactly how your mother died?"
I'm not going to tell you!
"I want you to suffer day and night, yet never get the answer, never catch the murderer—"
She stared at Duan Rongshi with resentment, each word piercing his heart.
Duan Rongshi simply replied coldly, "Fine."
"Duan Rongye will accompany you on your journey soon."
“You bookmakers will also disappear from this world along with you.”
"They will all be your victims!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
