"Wh...what?" Du Lin's heart skipped a beat. The image of the stunningly beautiful and ethereal woman he had seen before the hunt immediately flashed into his mind, making his heart race. "Was it...was it the idea that Zuo An Shan Ren gave you?"
Zoya: "That's right. She said that she would come up with the plan and we would carry it out, so it would be considered that we were working together."
Du Lin muttered, "That bastard Yang Jie actually wants to harm her?"
Zoya sighed helplessly, "Yes! Now that I think about it, if we hadn't visited, she wouldn't have been able to use us to check Yang Jie, and she might have already fallen victim to Yang Jie's evil deeds!"
It's pitiful that such a talented and pure woman has fallen into the mortal world, forced to do everything she can to survive and preserve her chastity.
Zoya shook her head repeatedly and sighed repeatedly as she spoke.
Du Lin said in a deep voice, "Alright, we'll proceed according to plan." He paused, then suddenly changed his tone, "If anything goes wrong, don't reveal Zuo An Shan Ren's identity. Trust your elder brother; no matter what happens, I, as your elder brother, will protect you and have someone escort you safely back to Xi Wan Kingdom."
"Huh?" Zoya was shocked. Who was it that was just angrily saying she was being used? Why is there such a big difference in their attitudes now?
Because Lady Li suddenly went mad at the emperor, the emperor was in a bad mood, the hunt was ended early, and the large entourage returned to the capital in a grand procession.
The hunting grounds we visited were only outside the capital, so we could make a round trip in a day. Although the return journey was grand, it only took half a day.
As soon as he returned to the palace, the emperor heard that Yang Jie had been summoned by the Empress Dowager.
Previously at the hunting grounds, the emperor personally inquired about Yang Jie and Li Shi's situation. Yang Jie said he would investigate the matter immediately and give him a satisfactory answer. Only then did the emperor temporarily let Yang Jie off the hook. He couldn't punish his cousin just because of a madwoman's crazy behavior. He had to save face for the Empress Dowager!
Now that the Empress Dowager had summoned Yang Jie, the Emperor guessed it was for this matter, so he sent people to secretly monitor the situation. Later, he learned that Lady Li might have been drugged or something similar, which explained her unusual behavior.
The Empress Dowager summoned Yang Jie to the palace for a private talk for half a day, but neither the Empress Dowager nor Yang Jie ordered anyone to investigate the matter. Given Yang Jie's personality, if Li Shi, as his legal wife, was drugged and offended the Emperor, he would definitely not let it go. He would definitely investigate thoroughly so that he could shift the blame for his legal wife's offense onto someone else; after all, he and Li Shi were husband and wife, sharing both prosperity and adversity!
The emperor wasn't stupid. After thinking it over, he began to understand. Although Li had successfully suppressed Yang Jie in the Yang household, Yang Jie actually harbored a lot of resentment towards Li. However, out of respect for the Empress Dowager and Li's family background, he dared not show it at all.
It's possible that he sought an opportunity to eliminate the Li family, so he sent someone to poison her? The emperor initially didn't quite believe this guess, but later, his spies discovered that Yang Jie's confidants had secretly bought the honey drug, and he was certain that it was all Yang Jie's doing.
The emperor chuckled in disbelief. However, the Empress Dowager summoned Yang Jie for a private talk and then never mentioned the matter again, clearly indicating she didn't want to punish him.
However, upon closer reflection, although he, as the emperor, lost face in this matter, Yang Jie, as her husband, seemed to have lost even more face when Lady Li publicly confessed her feelings to another man.
Thinking about it this way, the emperor immediately felt better. He was very puzzled. Although Yang Jie was a shameless scoundrel with a broken conscience, he never expected that Yang Jie would be willing to abandon his dignity and face as a man in order to get rid of Li Shi, and would even go so far as to scheme to make him a cuckold.
As a fellow man, he simply couldn't understand Yang Jie's mentality!
In fact, only Yang Jie himself knew that he wanted to drug Zoya, but the one who was drugged became Li Shi. Could it be that Zoya knew in advance and secretly cheated?
He was extremely anxious the entire way from the hunting grounds to the palace, and then to the Yang residence. By the time he returned home, the effects of the medicine on Madam Li had long worn off. Upon hearing about the foolish thing she had done, she was so frightened that she almost fainted and hid in her room, too afraid to come out and see him.
Yang Jie was also happy to have some peace and quiet, so he secretly sent someone to the hunting grounds to contact the eunuch in charge of the hunting grounds and inquire about the details. He quickly received confirmation that the spiked cup they had prepared had indeed been placed in front of Zoya, but no one could explain how the cup ended up being used by the Li family.
Yang Jie became even more certain that Zoya had learned of his plan in advance, and thought he should quickly devise another scheme to get rid of Zoya, or he could send her back to Xiwan Kingdom to prevent her from causing trouble for him in front of the emperor and empress dowager.
The next morning at court, Dulin said he would present all the tributes brought during the visit to His Majesty the Emperor. The Emperor appeared pleased, but his expression turned cold whenever his gaze fell upon Yang Jie. This made Yang Jie even more uneasy, secretly blaming Zoya for all the trouble.
Du Lin gave a detailed introduction to the many specialties and treasures of Xiwan that had been presented as tribute. Finally, a subordinate brought out the Purple Jade Heavenly Fragrance. Yang Jie's heart skipped a beat when he saw it. However, he remained calm on the surface, after all, he thought that no one present knew that he had seen the Purple Jade Heavenly Fragrance before.
It wasn't until Du Lin explained the medicinal properties and toxicity of the Purple Jade Fragrance in detail that the emperor was shocked and asked, "What did you say? This Purple Jade Fragrance is both a medicine and a poison. The symptoms of poisoning are similar to those of a cold, but the patient will cough up blood like a chronic tuberculosis patient and die suddenly within three days?"
Dulin: "That's exactly right!"
Many of the ministers were veteran officials from previous reigns who knew the circumstances of the late emperor's death, and they were shocked and began to whisper among themselves.
Yang Jie felt his legs go weak at that moment, and he had to struggle to keep himself from sitting on the ground.
Then Du Lin said, "By the way, a few years ago when our envoys visited, they also presented this medicine. It is said that His Majesty the Emperor was still the Crown Prince at that time and may not have personally handled state affairs and received our envoys, but he should have heard of this medicine."
Upon hearing this, Yang Jie's heart nearly jumped out of his chest, and he felt a chill run down his spine.
The emperor's face was ashen, his eyes narrowed, and he remained silent. Everyone present felt the oppressive atmosphere. Many dared not even breathe loudly.
An old minister stepped forward and asked, "Prince Dulin, you mentioned that an envoy visited a few years ago and presented this medicine. Which year was it?"
Dulin: "It was about three or four years ago, oh, right, about two months after our envoys returned to the capital that year, we heard that your emperor had passed away due to a cold..."
"Oh dear, it really was the year the late emperor passed away!"
"What do you mean? The late emperor died unjustly!"
"I can't believe such a thing exists. It's absolutely terrifying."
...
The courtiers could no longer contain themselves, and their discussions grew louder, with some even exclaiming in surprise.
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