Chapter 95 Chapter 95 Archer

Chapter 95 Chapter 95 Archer

It was raining heavily, and the streets were full of potholes.

Wang Yunyi's carriage was blocked by heavy rain and did not arrive at the palace until 3:30 pm. When she got off the carriage, the wind and rain came over her. Wang Yunyi swallowed a mouthful of rain and coughed violently when she returned to the yard.

The maid made her a bowl of ginger tea and served it to her. Looking at her pale face, she felt so distressed.

"Miss, do you really want to be Mr. Lu's concubine?"

Wang Yunyi leaned on the dressing table, staring at the blurry bronze mirror with wide eyes, and asked hoarsely, "What else?"

The maid knew her real purpose of approaching Lu Xusheng and couldn't bear it, "You obviously like him, how could you do that?"

Wang Yunyi kept her eyes closed without moving, until they became dull. She looked at herself, who was gradually becoming clearer, and grinned at the mirror. That smile seemed to contain both cruelty and bitterness.

"For the glory of the Wang family, I can give up everything. What is a man? Without the Wang family, I am nothing."

Compared with the Wang family's great cause, her feelings for Lu Xusheng were nothing.

Who wouldn't want to possess the glory of the Cheng family? As long as the Wang family helps the crown prince ascend the throne, they will be the next Cheng family.

She chuckled and closed her eyes tightly.

Everything is for the Wang family, everything is for the glory of the Wang family.

Every heir of the royal family was brought up in this way.

The same goes for the second wife, Mrs. Wang.

Lu Xusheng came to Mingxi Hall in the rain and told her about Wang Yunxiu.

"The most dangerous assassination attempt on my son's journey south was carried out by the Wang family. Mother, this is what the Wang family did to their own grandson. Isn't this enough for you to see their true colors?"

Wang couldn't believe it. She leaned on the table with her arms, staring at the dark sky outside and crying.

"No, it's impossible. Xiu'er is so good and you have a close relationship with him. How could he bear to do that..."

Lu Xusheng was extremely disappointed with his mother, "So, you must see your son's body before you are satisfied!"

The word "corpse" deeply hurt the Second Wife's heart. "No!" She shook her head desperately and turned her eyes around. "Xu'er, you can't be in any trouble." She looked at her tall son and couldn't help crying while hugging his arms.

"If anything happens to you, the sky will fall. You can't have anything happen to you."

Lu Xusheng had other things to do, so he comforted her a little.

"Whether you believe it or not, from now on, you are not allowed to go out, and you are not allowed to see anyone from the Wang family." He paused for a moment and glanced at the servants waiting under the corridor.

"Who are the people around you who are reliable? In my opinion, replace them all. I will pick some new people for you when I get the chance."

Wang didn't want to be completely sidelined. "No, no, no, Xusheng, what can I do in the mansion? These people have followed me in the Lu family for decades. How could they not be loyal?"

Lu Xusheng looked at her dimly, "No room for negotiation, send them all away!"

Wang was shocked. "No, Xusheng, they are all my confidants. If you send them all away, where will I be? How about this, you can lock them up first and let them out when the matter is settled?"

Lu Xusheng was determined to clear out the people brought by the Wang family. In the end, Wang had no choice but to cry and beg Lu Xusheng to keep Nanny Wang, and the rest of the people were taken away by Butler Hang.

Thinking about the fact that her natal family and her husband's family had broken off to such an extent, Wang was devastated and fell ill.

When we returned to Ningji Hall, Xiao Jiusi had already woken up.

Cheng Yian held him and walked around the room. The little guy looked around with his little black eyes, looking very cute.

When Lu Xusheng came in and saw his son, his eyes softened.

"Didn't the imperial physician tell you not to hold the baby?"

He said that his body has not recovered yet and he should try not to exert any strength within three months.

After Lu Xusheng finished speaking, he reached out and took his son.

Cheng Yian gave it to him and sat down on the Luohan bed.

"I just thought he was so cute and I couldn't help but hug him."

Jiusi was very surprised. When he was in Lu Xusheng's hands, he began to frown, his nose turned red, and his eyes wandered around.

Lu Xusheng understood that this was a search for Cheng Yian.

He could only hold the child and go to a place where he could see Cheng Yian.

"I have treated him well since he was born, so why does he only remember you?"

Cheng Yian waved to her son, who looked at her with squinting eyes.

"That's different. He's been in my belly for so long that he's already familiar with my voice and smell. But you still feel strange to him."

Lu Xusheng didn't finish his lunch, so Cheng Yian ordered dinner early. Lu Xusheng only drank a few sips of soup before putting down his chopsticks. He even vomited the last sip of soup. Seeing him like this, Cheng Yian realized how much damage Baiyin Mountain had done to him. He held him in his arms when he went to sleep at night.

"In the previous life, the prince lost the Qin family and still raised an army to rebel. Which army did he use?"

Lu Xusheng leaned against her chest, took a deep breath, and replied slowly,

"Shi Feiyue, the son of Duke Shi, the commander-in-chief of the Five Armies, accidentally killed someone and was discovered by the prince's men. The prince helped to conceal the murder, and then used it to threaten Shi Heng to help him rebel."

"Now that the prince has reached the end of his rope, I'm afraid he will go to extremes."

Lu Xusheng knew what she was worried about. "I have arranged for someone to keep an eye on Shi Feiyue. The prince will not succeed this time."

As expected, two days later, there was news from Shi Feiyue. The prince in this life was more ruthless. He deliberately created the illusion that Shi Feiyue had killed someone in order to threaten Shi Heng to defect. He was caught red-handed by Lu Xusheng. Unfortunately, the prince was very cunning. The people he arranged had no connection with the Eastern Palace on the surface. However, since Lu Xusheng had been watching him for so long, he still found clues.

Shi Heng immediately took the evidence to the court and demanded that the prince be deposed, thus firing the first shot in the emperor's attempt to depose the crown prince.

The imperial faction had been preparing for action for a long time, and soon the entire Yan study was flooded with memorials to depose the crown prince.

The Empress Dowager and Kong Yunjie claimed that Shi Heng was making a false accusation and rejected the memorial to depose the crown prince on the grounds of insufficient evidence. At that time, the late emperor committed suicide in Jinshan Fort, leaving an image of loyalty among the people. The people had always been cautious about deposing the crown prince, and the emperor did not expect such a small matter to overthrow the crown prince, so he could only keep the matter quiet. However, Shi Heng's incident sounded a wake-up call to the emperor. The emperor still ordered the crown prince to reflect on himself in the East Palace on the grounds of admonishing him, and he was not allowed to go out without the emperor's order. He first controlled the crown prince to prevent him from causing trouble.

When the news reached Cining Palace, the Queen Mother was making tea.

Outside the window of the small pavilion, green bamboos were winding around. Old Lady Wang was kneeling opposite the Queen Mother. The Queen Mother, wearing a dark blue silk brocade dress, pushed the poured tea to Old Lady Wang.

"I haven't made tea for many years, so I don't know how good I am at it. My cousin, just drink it as it is."

Old Mrs. Wang bowed first, then took the teacup in her hand, sniffed it carefully and praised it.

The Queen Mother watched him drink tea and said, "The Emperor put the Prince under his care. He thought he was taking advantage of me, but he didn't know that this move was exactly what I wanted."

Old Lady Wang took a sip of tea and nodded, "Yes, the prince is under the care of His Majesty, which means he is safe."

If something happens to the crown prince at the hands of the emperor, and the emperor cannot explain it, and if Prince Ning's throne becomes unclear, history books will curse both father and son in the future.

The Queen Mother narrowed her eyes and looked out the window.

"Lu Xusheng must be desperately looking for evidence of the prince's rebellion now."

Only by producing ironclad evidence can the prince be deposed.

Old Lady Wang looked at the water in the teacup. It was a very light green color that was refreshing.

"I have arranged for Xiu'er to handle this matter. By making a feint to the east and attacking in the west, we can accomplish the task in one fell swoop."

The Queen Mother thought of her flawless plan and couldn't help but chuckle.

"It takes ten years to sharpen a sword. Lu Xusheng must not know that I have prepared a huge surprise for him. My cousin, when it comes to open-mindedness, Cheng Mingyu can be called the best in the world, but when it comes to extraordinary strategies, no one can match you."

Old Lady Wang was still cautious, and there was not even a trace of smile on his face. "It's too early to talk about success before the great cause is accomplished."

The Queen Mother immediately stopped smiling and said, "My cousin is right."

The two discussed many details before Old Lady Wang left.

After Shi Heng's incident, the court became peaceful and calm.

The Dragon Boat Festival passed quietly, and the day of May 15th came when the moon was full.

In the middle of the night, Lu Xusheng received news from the secret guards that all the masters of the Wang family had gone out and followed Wang Yunxiu all the way to the northwest, apparently heading to Xuanfu.

Lu Xusheng had been keeping an eye on the evidence of the Crown Prince colluding with the Prince of Nan'an. Now it seemed that the Crown Prince was ready to fight to the death. He got up from his bed at night and prepared to follow him.

Before leaving, he told Cheng Yian, "When I leave, the capital may be in chaos. You take the children back to the Cheng family to hide."

Cheng Yian also lost his sleepiness.

"I will send the child and the nurse to Grandmother, but I have to come back myself. If you are not at home, Mother-in-law will not be able to take care of things. Who will take responsibility if something goes wrong?"

She is the head wife of the Lu family. If she leaves now, how will her family members look at her in the future?

Lu Xusheng hesitated for a moment, "Then I'll let Qiu Qing and his wife follow you. Remember, don't leave him at any time, and don't step out of the house."

Cheng Yian agreed.

After Lu Xusheng left, Cheng Yian dozed off for a while, got up early in the morning, went to the meeting room to meet her sisters-in-law, and said that she would go to the Cheng family today and would be back later. Liu and others told her not to worry.

Cheng Yian brought two wet nurses and rushed to the Cheng Mansion carrying the child.

The old ancestor saw that she sent Xiao Jiusi over at this time, which showed that something had happened. "Child, is it okay for you to stay at the Lu family alone?"

In the eyes of the old ancestor, Cheng Yian is still a delicate little girl, but she has to stand on her own and support the entire Lu family.

Cheng Yian believed Lu Xusheng, "It will be fine, don't worry."

After lunch, I hurried back to Lu's house to rest. I was still a little uncomfortable without my child, so I woke up after a short sleep. As soon as I opened my eyes, I heard hurried footsteps coming from the corridor, and then Sister Ming rushed in.

"Madam, something happened."

"What's the matter?" Cheng Yian sat up quickly.

"The Wang family came to our house. They heard that our wife was seriously ill and wanted to visit. The servants stopped them from entering. They said that you drugged the second wife and caused her to fall into a coma. They also said that the second wife wanted to marry her niece to the second master as a concubine, but you refused and drove the cousin out of the house. You held a grudge against your mother-in-law and carried out this evil plan. Now the old lady of the Wang family has come with her people, claiming that she wants to take the second wife back to the Wang family."

"What a vicious plot!" Rulan's face turned blue with anger, "This is an attempt to ruin our grandmother's reputation."

But Cheng Yian knew it wasn't that simple.

Ruining her reputation would only ruin her reputation, and the Wang family would not gain anything. I'm afraid there are ulterior motives behind this.

Cheng Yian pondered for a moment and immediately made arrangements.

"Mrs. Ming, send someone to the Cheng family to inform my father,"

"Dingxiang, take the doctor to Mingxi Hall to see what's wrong with the Madam?"

"Rulan, tell Qiu Qing to seal off the mansion inside and outside, and not allow anyone to enter or leave!"

After giving the instructions, Cheng Yian left Ningji Hall and planned to go to Mingxi Hall, when he ran into Liu and Bai coming this way.

Mrs. Bai looked panicked and rushed over.

"Sister-in-law, I saw my mother was fine this morning, but when I went to visit her in the afternoon, she suddenly became unwell. I don't know what happened. What should I do?"

Cheng Yian's face froze, and after a moment of silence, he said to Liu,

"Please ask sister-in-law to stay in the front yard and help me deal with the Wang family. I'm going to go see my mother first."

Without saying a word, Liu rushed to the front yard, while Cheng Yian brought Bai to Mingxi Hall.

Going around to the east room, she saw the Second Madam lying on the couch, pale as death. She felt a chill in her heart and looked at Nanny Wang, who was standing by the footstool. Her eyes were cold and gleaming.

"Madame Wang, were you the one who poisoned Mother?"

Nanny Wang has been with the Second Wife for decades. She usually treats the Second Wife as her lifeblood, but she knows that she is just a running dog of the Wang family.

Nanny Wang seemed to have expected this day to come. She didn't argue at all, but banged her forehead heavily on the pedal and sobbed.

Upon seeing this, Cheng Yian immediately ordered his servants,

"Take her down

Go, shut up, don't give her a chance to kill herself!"

The Lu family's live-in doctor rushed over, took the second wife's pulse first, confirmed that she had heart failure, a sign of poisoning, and then quickly wrote a prescription and gave her acupuncture to detoxify her.

Cheng Yian was unsure of the purpose of the Wang family's move.

Just at this moment, another old woman came over and reported to Cheng Yian,

"Second Madam, please go to the door and take a look. Old Lady Wang has arrived in person and is very arrogant. First Madam can hardly stand it."

Cheng Yian rushed to the front yard, but saw a large group of people gathered in front of the Lu Mansion, most of whom were members of the Lu family and neighbors. The old man Wang, wearing a tea-white old robe, stood in the front, pointing at the gate of the Lu Mansion and said confidently,

"See? I, as a grandfather, am not even allowed to enter the Lu family's gate. Is this Lu family trying to harm my daughter?"

In addition to Old Lady Wang, the Wang family also had two old servants and the eldest daughter, Wang Yunyi. Wang Yunyi placed her hands on her belly, lowered her eyes, and said nothing.

Cheng Yian stepped out from the threshold, stood in front of the stage and scanned the audience, his eyes fell on Old Lady Wang.

"Hey, who is this old lady? Why is she yelling at the door of our Lu family? How disgraceful! Come on, kick her out!"

The Lu family servant said this and was about to step forward.

Old Lady Wang looked at Cheng Yian and sneered.

"Xu Ge's daughter-in-law, you don't need to respect me as your grandfather, but I came to see my daughter, why did you let the servants block my way? Could it be that I can't even see my daughter?"

"You rely on your father being the prime minister and want to trample even your mother-in-law under your feet, right?"

Cheng Yian looked at him in surprise.

"I have been married to the Lu family for just over a year, and I have never met the grandfather of the Wang family. I have only heard that he is an old man of good character and behaves in an upright manner," she said, glancing up and down at Grandpa Wang with disdain.

"Look at your demeanor, you look like a street-swearing scoundrel. I can't connect you with the head of the Wang family. Excuse me for asking, are you really Old Lady Wang?"

This caused a burst of laughter from the neighbors.

Old Lady Wang was not angry either, she took out an imperial decree from her sleeve in a dignified manner.

"Xu Ge's daughter-in-law, don't play tricks on me. This is the Queen Mother's decree. The Queen Mother received a secret report that someone poisoned my daughter. I came to the Lu family to visit them. Xu Ge's daughter-in-law, do you have the courage to disobey the order?"

Cheng Yian narrowed his eyes deeply, knowing that he had to let him in today.

"My mother-in-law has been unwell recently. If you want to visit her, just bring the Wang family's name card. Why make such a fuss?" Yan Qi raised his hand and pointed inside. "Please invite the old lady into the mansion."

Old Lady Wang brought Wang Yunyi over the threshold and headed straight for Mingxi Hall.

After a while, the group rushed to Mingxi Hall. Old Lady Wang came with an imperial physician and asked Wang Yunyi to follow the physician in for a diagnosis, while he sat in the main room waiting. Cheng Yian stood aside and asked someone to serve him tea, but he was wondering in his heart what Old Lady Wang was up to.

As for causing trouble, he just brought a granddaughter with him, so he couldn't cause any trouble.

Even if someone wanted to frame her, he couldn't do it with just a royal physician.

What would happen if he framed her? Even if he forced her to divorce Lu Xusheng, would Wang Yunyi be able to marry Lu Xusheng?

It was obvious that Lu Xusheng had already torn her relations with the Wang family. Framing her would do no good to the Wang family except to make them hate her. Moreover, this was the Lu family's territory. Right now Mingxi Hall had been surrounded by Qiu Qing and his men, and not even a fly could fly out. It was not something that Old Lady Wang could frame just because she wanted to.

This move is really strange.

The sky became cloudy again. A gust of wind came and clouds gathered in the sky, blocking the sun. The sky quickly darkened.

After a night and a half of racing, Lu Xusheng chased Wang Yunxiu to Xuanfu, where he saw Wang Yunxiu confronting the Prince of Nan'an's men. However, the two sides just met and Wang Yunxiu retreated. Outside the outskirts of Xuanfu, Lu Xusheng blocked Wang Yunxiu's retreat and the two sides started fighting.

As an arrow pierced Wang Yunxiu's face, his cheek tilted and the white scarf on his face was torn, revealing his entire face.

Lu Xusheng saw his face clearly, put away his hands and took a step back, pretending to be surprised.

"Is it you?"

Wang Yunxiu stood with his left hand behind his back, holding a sword in his right hand, and looked at him with complicated eyes.

"Xusheng, supporting the prince is a noble cause. Why would you risk your life for Prince Ning? Xusheng, as long as you listen to my advice and stop interfering in the court disputes, I will definitely ensure that you will be rich and prosperous in the prince's place."

"Cousin, isn't it too late to say this?"

After he finished speaking, Lu Xusheng's eyes flashed, and he drew out the soft sword from his waist and stabbed it at Wang Yunxiu's left hand.

Last year he chased the archer to Tongzhou. The opponent was very skilled, especially in light kung fu. It took him a lot of effort to cut the opponent's wrist. If that person was Wang Yunxiu, he would have been seriously injured and his skills could not have been very agile. Faced with such a situation, he must have relied on the archer's outstanding light kung fu to escape, but Wang Yunxiu did not do that. He raised his sword and rushed over.

Lu Xusheng's moves were too fast, so fast that he swept towards Wang Yunxiu like a whirlwind. In the end, he was defeated and had to pull out his left hand to attack Lu Xusheng's waist. Lu Xusheng stepped back and raised his eyes again, only to see Wang Yunxiu's left hand clenched into a fist and hit him.

Before Lu could react, the guard beside him shouted that something was wrong.

"The Major General is not good, he is not an archer!"

If Wang Yunxiu is not the archer, then who is the real archer?

Wang Yunxiu looked at Lu Xusheng who was slowly retreating and smiled an almost insane sneer.

"Cousin, I'm sorry to disappoint you!"

Lu Xusheng left the battlefield and solemnly ordered his guards,

"Kill him without mercy!"

After saying this, Lu Xusheng hurried to the capital.

At this time, a drizzle had begun to fall in the Lu Mansion. Cheng Yian waited for a while. The imperial physician had examined the second wife and his diagnosis was the same as that of the doctor in the Lu Mansion. The two of them discussed a prescription to detoxify the second wife.

At this time, Wang Yunyi also came out from the east side room and looked at Cheng Yian quietly. She suddenly picked up the teacup on the table and walked towards Cheng Yian.

"I was the one who offended you that day. Please forgive me, cousin. I did want to be your concubine before, but I didn't have to cling to you. I just wanted to find a way out for the Wang family. But since you don't want me to, I can only give up."

"Please, sister-in-law, please don't be angry with me because I am young and anxious." After saying this, she knelt down and presented the teacup to Cheng Yian.

"This cup of tea is my apology to my cousin's wife."

Cheng Yian didn't understand her intention, nor did he intend to argue with her. He raised his hand to take her tea, and his hand accidentally touched her left hand.

It's very cold, without any temperature.

On a summer day like this, everyone's palms tend to sweat, but her left hand was not only cold but also a little stiff.

Not like a living human hand.

The coolness seemed to have quenched the ice, running along the back of my hand and into my heart.

Several messages suddenly flashed through Cheng Yian's mind.

Wang Yunxiu is an archer. Lu Xusheng cut off the archer's left wrist. Wang Yunxiu's figure is almost the same as his sister's. Because they are twins, the brother and sister look exactly the same.

In her previous life, Wang Yunyi rushed to the military camp to inquire about Lu Xusheng's whereabouts.

Is it possible that the real archer is not Wang Yunxiu, but Wang Yunyi?

Oh my god.

Cheng Yian was frightened by the thought, and a chill ran down his spine.

She suddenly understood why Old Lady Wang dared to break into Lu's residence with only Wang Yunyi.