"The emperor wanted to protect her, but the Chamberlain insisted on handling the matter according to the law."
"Tch, that old emperor's blind... I'll have my men keep an eye on him. But that guy's got a quirky personality, why don't you come along?"
Yanling firmly believed he was right and utterly despised the emperor who couldn't distinguish between his daughter and his own.
His impression of Mu Ruoling was fragmented, which was precisely what Di Xiu exploited, while the emperor watched his daughter grow up crooked day by day, each firmly believing in their own beliefs.
When Yanling first entered Zhaodu, he was bullied by being pushed into a pond. He was rescued by Mu Ruoling. When he discovered that Mu Ruoling had thrown a son of an official (who had spoken ill of her) into the water when she was ten years old and forced him to stay in the water overnight, he completely believed that the two princesses had swapped faces.
Even in summer, soaking in water for so long can make you sick, let alone in autumn and winter. He naturally couldn't believe that such a vicious act was done by his beloved.
Even if Di Xiu and the others told him now that it was a scam, he would 99.99% not believe it.
After bidding farewell to Emperor Xiu, Yan Ling returned to the general's mansion bestowed upon him by the emperor. He then learned from the gatekeeper that Princess Ruoyin had arrived and had been waiting in the front hall for a quarter of an hour.
In the blink of an eye, the gatekeeper had vanished from sight.
Upon arriving at the front hall, Yan Ling straightened his clothes and was about to ask her why she had decided to come to him today when he saw her anxious expression, and his heart immediately burned with anxiety as well.
"Yin'er, has something happened?"
Seeing that he had finally returned, Mu Ruoyin disregarded etiquette and jogged over to him: "General Yan, I'll get straight to the point. My elder sister has falsely accused Wei Shaofu of treason. My uncle and the others... how can I save them?"
“Yin’er, he is not your uncle. I told you, I will take you to find your real relatives.”
Mu Ruoyin pursed her lips and looked at him with disappointment: "If you won't help me save them, I'll go find Wei Shaofu."
Yanling's face turned green, and he quickly grabbed her. His eyes twitched, and in an instant, he had already mentally slapped "Wei Zixiao" into a pig's head pancake.
"pain."
Yan Ling quickly checked her wrist and found that it was indeed red from being scratched unintentionally. He was about to take out some medicine to apply to it when he felt her hand struggling. He didn't dare to use force and could only let go.
Seeing her pouting and angry, Yanling sighed: "As long as they abandon the eldest princess, this matter can be put to rest."
Mu Ruoyin hesitated, her expression darkening. Yan Ling couldn't bear to see her sad, and repeatedly assured her that he would help protect the Wu family and the Empress before she could force a smile.
Once inside the carriage heading back to the palace, Mu Ruoyin took out a handkerchief and wiped her wrists, her eyes filled with cold indifference.
She knew that the favor she received was based on lies, so she never allowed herself to become addicted to it. In addition, the previous incident of her mother being poisoned made her even more cautious.
She could imagine that if Yan Ling, this guy who was supposedly involved with the otherworldly realm, hadn't mistaken her for someone else because of their schemes, he would now stop at nothing to protect that fool Mu Ruoling, and then trample on the corpses of the Wu family.
Thinking of this, she couldn't help but feel dissatisfied with "Wei Zixiao" for so easily letting Mu Ruoling have someone stuff the dragon robe into his courtyard.
However, considering that today is Qingming Festival, she couldn't help but sigh again, and she could somewhat understand the blunder that had happened at the Wei family's residence.
You can't guard against thieves forever; even the imperial palace has been breached by assassins before.
...
Mu Ruoling was imprisoned in the Imperial Prison.
Even after arriving here, the jailers treated her with utmost respect, providing her with the best food and drink, for fear of angering the emperor behind her.
There's no need to wait until autumn to convict him; he'll be executed at the Meridian Gate in three days.
It was rare that only one member of her entire clan was killed. However, the male guard in the palace was not so fortunate. For the sake of a favor, he actually sacrificed the lives of his entire clan.
On the eve of the execution, a jailer invited everyone to drink. Except for a few who were on patrol, everyone else couldn't resist the aroma of the wine and gathered around.
After a few jars of wine, the jailers began to talk nonsense. When the effects of the drugs took hold, they collapsed one after another. A passing jailer slurped his saliva, laughed at them, and continued his patrol.
Once the footsteps faded away, the jailer who had brought the wine looked up and imitated the hooting of an owl.
Two figures shrouded in black robes appeared; one was taller, while the other only reached the former's chest and appeared petite.
The jailer tossed him a key.
After the replacement was found, the jailer took the key and pretended to be asleep while holding the wine jar.
The two avoided the other jailers and quickly left.
There were people waiting outside, but when they went out, they smelled a strong stench of blood.
The tall man instinctively blocked the short man next to him, his whole body tense, his hand on the curved knife at his waist, his eyes fixed on the front, and large beads of sweat instantly appeared on his forehead.
Under the moonlight, the two stood with swords in hand. The one with a golden mask wore a dark blue robe, while the other was dressed in raven blue with half his face covered by a black cloth. The former exuded a terrifying aura, while the latter, though restrained, was equally formidable.
There were more than a dozen people lying haphazardly at their feet, but their bodies were not stained with a single drop of blood.
The person wearing the gold mask tilted their head slightly and said, "The man is yours."
"I'll hold them off, you run!" the tall man said quickly, shoving Mu Ruoling and drawing his curved blade to block the sword that was slashing diagonally toward his neck.
He was about to parry the longsword and launch an attack when he saw the masked man retreat immediately after the attack, stand a step away, flick the clean blade, and sheath the sword.
The tall man took a step forward and suddenly felt dizzy. His last thought was that those eyes looked very familiar.
Yan Ling chased after Mu Ruoling, but she stumbled and staggered, yet always managed to dodge his sword. Hearing her piercing screams, he shouted without turning his head, "Hurry up and help!"
001 muttered, "Even Xavier wasn't as hard to kill as her."
Upon hearing this, Di Xiu smiled helplessly, chased after them, and together with Yan Ling, beheaded him on the spot before anyone else could arrive.
Stabbing someone in the heart isn't safe; losing your head is the only safe option. Of course, double insurance is even better.
The next day, the matter became a hot topic in both the public and the imperial court. Everyone guessed that the headless corpse outside the prison was the eldest princess, but for the sake of the emperor's almost lost face, they could only declare to the public that it was not.
The emperor looked displeased by the aggressive tone of the court attendant, while the most eloquent censor quoted classical texts, almost directly calling the emperor incompetent.
The commotion continued until late afternoon, when the censors were so hungry they were dizzy and their throats were parched, finally giving the guilty emperor some peace and quiet.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Di Xiu submitted his resignation. The emperor, eager to adjourn the court, agreed without hesitation.
Judging from the expressions of the censors, they would probably have offered further advice if they hadn't been unable to hold back.
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