Shen Yu shook her head, gripped the armrests of the recliner with both hands, and propped herself up. Once she was on her feet, she slowly straightened up and looked at Prince Jing.
Does Prince Jing have any other clues?
King Jing shook his head. "Young Master Qiu has ordered the local government to thoroughly investigate this matter. Chen Yu, please accept my condolences. I will inform you as soon as I have any news."
It's the dead of winter now, and your legs can't afford to get cold. I'll send someone to fetch Elder Li right away so he can prescribe a remedy for you.
After saying this, King Jing hurriedly left the hall and instructed his attendants to invite Elder Li.
In just a short while, when he returned to his room, Chen Yu was nowhere to be found.
------
Shen Yu went to the palace to see the Empress, claiming to present a newly developed beauty and health tea, but in reality, she wanted to verify whether Hong Yu knew martial arts.
Jade told her to wait in the hall, saying she was going to invite the Empress.
It was nearly noon, and Hongyu was still dozing on her bed. Upon hearing that Chenyu was requesting an audience, she was quite puzzled.
She had long since grown estranged from Shen Yu, so why would she suddenly come to visit? Considering that Prince Jing had already returned to the capital, she naturally guessed why Shen Yu had come.
She quickly washed and dressed herself, then slowly walked into the hall.
There was a teacup on the table, still steaming, but Shenyu was nowhere to be seen.
Strangely enough, when she turned around, she saw Chen Yu rushing towards her with a dagger in her hand.
Shen Yu was going to assassinate her? As the dagger approached, she froze on the spot, not even blinking.
"Well!"
The dagger pierced Hongyu's chest. She clutched her wound and looked at Chenyu, whispering, "Run! If anyone sees you assassinating the Empress, you will surely be executed."
Chen Yu stood frozen, clutching the dagger. Based on the evidence at the scene and the perpetrator's physique, she deduced that the murderer was Hong Yu.
However, Hongyu doesn't know martial arts.
She suspected that Hongyu was hiding her true abilities, so she attempted to assassinate Hongyu to confirm her suspicions.
To everyone's surprise, Hongyu neither dodged nor attacked her.
Seeing the bright red blood seep from the dagger, she gasped in shock, releasing her grip and backing away. Looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar face, she asked in a trembling voice:
Why did you kill Liu Yu? He had no grudge against you.
Hongyu, her hand covering her wound, approached Chenyu, a smile on her face. She raised her hand to touch Chenyu's cheek, choking back tears.
[Sister has finally come to see Hongyu. Hongyu feels so cold in the palace, and she will never have her own children in this life. I hope sister will not distance herself from her...]
Before Hongyu could finish speaking, Chenyu slapped her hand away, took two steps back, and shouted angrily: "Speak! Why did you kill Liu Yu?"
Hongyu lowered her eyes and remained silent. Her stepfather was a martial arts master and also a master of poison making.
Back then, his stepfather angered many people, and to avoid being hunted down by the martial arts world, he went into hiding, disguised himself as a fisherman, and married Lu Qing'er, who had a child.
The fisherman not only took Hongyu fishing, but also taught her martial arts skills and the secrets of making poison in his spare time.
As a child, Hongyu was physically weak and would be beaten if she couldn't learn the moves. To avoid being beaten, she would always secretly hide in a secluded place to practice martial arts, which is why she had no friends during her childhood.
Now, she is not only highly skilled in martial arts, but also adept at using poison. Her methods of making and administering poison far surpass those of Chen Yu, and knocking out dozens of guards is a piece of cake for her.
She did indeed secretly travel to the northern frontier and kill King Yan and his entourage. She deliberately removed King Yan's clothes, as he had no mole on his abdomen.
It turns out that the person she shared a bed with was just a stand-in for the King of Yan, and even An'er was the stand-in's daughter!
Before his death, King Yan admitted: "I will never abandon Yu Lang in this life. My fondness for male concubines is merely a cover. As for you, you were nothing more than a pawn in my game. I only regret that I couldn't kill you the moment your heart changed!"
She hated Yan Wang to the core, and with a single stroke of her sword, she severed his head from his body.
But she did not kill Liu Yu.
The reason for creating the illusion that Liu Yu was dead was to make Shen Yu give up completely.
It's true that Chen Yu is obsessed with power.
Previously, she felt that the defeated Liu Yu was unworthy of Shen Yu. But now, Liu Yu's defeat was not the only consequence; once his special identity was revealed, it might cause chaos throughout the land.
A few days ago, Hongyu overheard a conversation between Prime Minister Kong and the Emperor and learned that Liu Yu's background was unusual.
The Zhao family seized the throne from the Liu family, which was the main reason for the decline of the Liu family's direct line.
If Liu Yu were to recover completely one day, the Emperor might take action against him, and Shen Yu and her child would also be implicated.
This is the reason why Hongyu assassinated Yan Wang's faction.
At this moment, the Emperor and Eunuch Cai walked in, and Emerald followed with an embarrassed expression.
Hongyu was terrified. She hurriedly raised her arm and used her sleeve to cover the dagger in front of her chest. She bowed to the Emperor and said, "Your Majesty, I pay my respects."
The Emperor nodded, then turned to look at Shen Yu, who was furious and did not bow to him.
"What business does Chen Yu have with the Empress?"
Shen Yu knelt down with a thud and spoke angrily: "Your Majesty, since ancient times, princes have been punished the same as commoners for breaking the law. The Empress has been indiscriminately killing innocent people..."
Hongyu remained calm as she watched Chenyu complain to the Emperor.
The fact that Prince Yan escaped to hide in the northern border region was clearly suspicious, and the emperor tacitly approved the assassination of Prince Yan.
What the Emperor didn't know was that the woman who assassinated Prince Yan was none other than Hongyu.
Hongyu pursed her lips and mentally counted down: five, four, three, two...
Clang! Shen Yu actually fell to the ground.
It turns out that when Hongyu touched Chenyu's cheek, she had already smeared the sleeping potion into Chenyu's nostrils.
Her homemade sleeping potion was a colorless and odorless powder that would cause someone to faint if inhaled.
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