Li Shengyuan sat high in the main seat, a smile playing on his lips.
Mi Shan nodded, a faint smile on her lips, and walked step by step toward the stairs.
However, they did not notice that the Empress gave a wink to the palace maid beside her.
The palace maid nodded, released her grip, and a pile of tiny, barely noticeable glass marbles rolled down the steps.
It landed at Mi Shan's feet.
Under the sunlight, the glass ball refracts tiny spots of light.
By the time Li Changyu noticed, it was too late.
Mi Shan stepped on it, her center of gravity shifted, and her face turned slightly pale. Xun'er and A Chan, who were standing nearby, quickly went to help her up.
With Achan around, Mi Shan wasn't worried about any accidents happening.
She just didn't expect that someone would use such a low-level tactic to scheme against her.
It must have been more than just embarrassing her; there was another purpose.
Sure enough, to everyone's surprise, three princes stood up.
Li Changyu, Prince Rui, and Li Xuanche.
Li Changyu took a step forward, a hint of worry appearing on his handsome and noble face, but he quickly realized something and stopped.
Only Prince Rui, in his simple-mindedness, ran to the front and shouted, "Consort Mi Hui, are you alright!"
The Empress was startled, staring at Li Xuanche in astonishment. She reached out and tugged at him, asking, "Che'er, why did you get up?"
Li Xuanche was stunned for a moment.
He didn't know either.
He acted on his first instinct.
Could it be that, subconsciously, he also worries about whether this woman lives or dies?
He originally approached Mi Shan simply because she was the woman Li Changyu liked, but now, after being tricked by this woman, he has developed a different kind of interest in her.
"Sit down for me."
"yes."
Li Xuanche dared not disobey his mother's order. After realizing what was happening, he quickly sat down, a hint of embarrassment on his face.
He silently gripped the wine cup in his hand.
"How interesting, Your Majesty! Look, Consort Mi Hui almost fell, but your princes seem to care about her more than you do."
Empress Rouci smiled gently, speaking as if bathed in a spring breeze.
Li Shengyuan was originally about to walk down the steps to ask Mi Shan if she was injured.
Hearing this, he felt a deep displeasure, stopped in his tracks, and a faint hint of murderous intent flashed across his face, which, though weathered by time, still remained youthful.
"The Empress is right."
"You lot seem to care more about my concubines than I do?"
Mi Shan's expression changed, her heart suddenly raced, and she felt an invisible, rampant danger spreading through the air.
He subconsciously looked at Li Changyu.
Seeing his pale face, unmoved and as calm as ever,
This showed that he was not afraid.
I felt a little more at ease.
Prince Rui, however, was so frightened that he immediately knelt down: "Father, what are you saying? Isn't it normal for your children to care about Mother? If anyone almost tripped on the steps, your children would rush up to ask what was wrong!"
He looked nervous and helpless, his eyes pleading for help as he looked at Li Changyu.
"Second brother, save me!"
“Father, the reason why my third brother and I are nervous is because the set construction of the Star-Picking Tower was done by your son and Prince Rui.”
"If Consort Mi Hui were to suffer any mishap on these steps, and Father were to blame us, how could we bear the consequences?"
"Compared to us, didn't our eldest brother stand up just now?"
They both had reasonable explanations, but Li Xuanche did not.
"Mother, according to you, does that mean all three of us have a problem?"
Li Changyu spoke slowly and deliberately, glancing briefly at Empress Rouci, displaying a composed and refined demeanor.
As expected, Empress Rouci and Li Xuanche both turned pale, looking at the emperor speechlessly:
"Your Majesty, Che'er didn't. He just stood up and glanced at us out of curiosity..."
"Mother is truly biased. He stood up out of curiosity, while Prince Rui and I stood up because we had ulterior motives. Are you trying to make Father misunderstand us by putting such a big accusation on us, or are you trying to embarrass Father?"
Mi Shan pursed her lips, suppressing a faint smile.
Seeing Empress Rouci rendered speechless by Li Changyu's rebuke, she could only weakly address the Emperor:
"I absolutely did not mean that..."
"Enough! Stop talking! I know exactly what you mean!" Li Shengyuan's face was grim and terrifying.
It was Lin Zhaoyuan who spoke up and eased the tension.
"Your Majesty, please don't be angry. Today is the ceremony for bestowing the title of Imperial Concubine. It's not easy for everyone to get together and be happy. It's just a small incident. Let's just let it go and let the ceremony continue."
Upon hearing this, Li Shengyuan's expression softened slightly. He took a deep breath and said coldly, "Everyone, return to your seats. The ceremony will continue."
However,
Li Changyu, however, stood still.
Mi Shan stared at him in astonishment.
What is he still up to? It's only just that the emperor is no longer suspicious.
What if an investigation really goes on and they find something fishy going on between them?
"Your Highness, do you dare to disregard my words?"
"Father, I have only one question."
Do you have any further questions?
"The murderer who assassinated Consort Mi Hui has not yet been identified. Wouldn't it be unfair to just let this case pass by like this?"
"Hmm?" Li Shengyuan raised an eyebrow, clearly puzzled as to what he meant by that.
Li Changyu didn't say much, but walked directly down the steps to Mi Shan's feet.
Picking up a glass bead that refracted light, she said coldly, "If someone hadn't spilled this on the steps, how could Consort Mi Hui have almost fallen?"
"Bring it here, let me see it!"
Li Shengyuan finished speaking.
Xu Ninghai jogged down, took the bead with both hands, and presented it to Li Shengyuan, who exuded a cold aura and had an extremely imposing gaze.
"Your Majesty, look."
"They are specially made glass beads, moist and transparent, so that when they fall on the ground, they are almost unnoticeable."
"Who lost it?" Li Shengyuan roared, his voice filled with chilling intent, his cold gaze sweeping over the crowd.
The concubines and palace maids all knelt down. "It wasn't me."
"It wasn't me..."
They shook their heads in protest.
"You all say it's not you, so how could this bead just appear out of thin air?" As soon as Li Shengyuan finished speaking, the group of people broke out in a cold sweat.
Only the Empress and Consort Bai Lingyu did not kneel.
The Empress looked displeased and gave Li Changyu a cold glance: "The Crown Prince's observation skills are truly remarkable. You noticed details that others didn't."
Her words implied that Li Changyu had developed a different kind of concern for Mi Shan.
Mi Shan's heart sank, and her face paled even more.
Empress Rouci, knowing full well that the emperor was deeply suspicious, continued to guide his thinking in that direction.
This is meant to kill her and Li Changyu.
I really don't know what she was thinking. Even if she wanted to harm herself, she couldn't possibly not even tolerate her own son, could she?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
