Eradicate the scourge
Because Li Lin took two women of unusual status as concubines, and, along with Chen Yun, burned down the royal palace and murdered Princess Li Yangyang, the two kingdoms expressed their displeasure. To avoid impeachment, Li Lin and Chen Yun demoted themselves to the position of Minister of Works. The two concubines were then sent to Yanyou and Louhuang to negotiate.
Nanny Lan, Chen Yun's personal nanny, collapsed to the ground after receiving a letter.
On the other hand, due to the Sun Shufei incident and the recent internal and external troubles, many officials were suspected of treason, causing great distress among the civil and military officials. Everyone was in danger and vowed to uncover the spies. Li Lie'ao was even more exhausted.
Two months later, Wei Ningshuang and Yan Ruoxi returned and told Li Lieo two pieces of news.
First, after negotiations, they promised to halve the country's business tax for one year, while also assisting Qiankun Kingdom in investigating and handling the Moon People in the Eastern Ocean. Furthermore, they learned that the princess of Tufan Kingdom had assembled a team to infiltrate the territories of Qiankun and Yanyou Kingdoms, logging and stealing resources. They also learned that the country had recently experienced a number of power struggles among the royal family.
Secondly, after consultation with the Louhuang Kingdom, it was decided to pay them 200 dan of grain as compensation. Coincidentally, Louhuang Kingdom was also experiencing turmoil and rebellion among its royal family. Therefore, Xiao Hong offered to provide dried mountain mushrooms for six months as a friendly exchange, and also hoped that the two countries would share information on events in the Eastern Ocean.
However, Prime Minister Zhai Ji urged Li Lie'ao to reinstate the crown prince first and then issue a military order to resolve the internal and external troubles, or he would be exiled to the frontier to garrison. This would help balance the excessive external influence. Li Lie'ao actually agreed.
Li Lin and Chen Yun thus regained their status as Crown Prince and Crown Princess. However, Li Linhao was unwilling to accept Li Lin's abilities and decided to divide Li Lin's power.
In a corner of the East Palace, Concubine Xiao and Li Lin were talking in low voices. Beside them, several craftsmen were digging carefully, preparing to plant those exotic plants that came from foreign countries.
"Prince, these exotic kiwifruit seedlings introduced from the West are extremely valuable. Please take good care of them. I will be leaving now."
"I'd like to trouble Concubine Xiao to plant it herself. Thank you for your help."
"Where? On the one hand, I like farming, and on the other hand, I want to express my gratitude to the Crown Princess for helping the Ninth Princess. Goodbye then."
Eunuch Lin's figure quietly appeared not far away. He saw Concubine Xiao carrying a shovel and walking out of the East Palace. He thought it was not a big problem, so he did not go forward to disturb her and turned away.
At the same time, on the other side of the East Palace, a shout broke the peaceful night. Chen Yun rushed over after hearing the news. Her face turned pale in an instant. She rushed to the bedside in a few steps and held the faces of the two royal heirs with trembling hands. She saw that the children were pale and black blood was oozing from the corners of their mouths. She hurriedly took her children and put them on the bed to check their bodies personally.
She pressed her fingers against their bellies, then dug into their mouths and sniffed. "Who is it? Who wants to kill my children?" Her voice trembled, filled with helplessness and anger.
Nanny Lan knelt down with a plop, her voice filled with tears: "Crown Princess, I...I don't know either. I just finished feeding them, and they suddenly became like this..."
"Someone!" Chen Yun turned around abruptly, his eyes red and glaring. "Take Nanny Lan to the prison first and hand her over to the Dali Temple for investigation! Huahua, summon the imperial physician immediately and have him bring a knife! Guoguo, go get me my needle sleeve, quickly!"
Li Lin ran into the bedroom and saw Chen Yan looking back with an anxious expression and tears in his eyes. He realized the urgency of the matter.
Fortunately, Chen Ying's acupuncture temporarily controlled the poison and the child fell asleep in bed.
"Xiao Yun..." Li Lin called softly, his voice full of heartache. He quickly walked to Chen Yun's side, reached out and gently held her trembling hand, trying to convey a trace of strength and comfort, "Don't be afraid, I am here."
Chen Ying looked back at Li Lin, her eyes filled with tears, flickering in the candlelight, almost bursting out: "Prince, who is it, who wants to harm our child..." Her voice was filled with tears, helpless and desperate.
Li Lin gently embraced Chen Yan in his arms, patting her back gently with one hand, trying to soothe her emotions, but his eyes were as cold as ice on a cold night: "Don't worry, I will definitely get to the bottom of this. I will never let anyone who hurts our child go."
At this time, the imperial physician came in to take the pulse of the two royal heirs. Both the emperor and empress, Li Lieo and Xue Lian, came.
The imperial physician felt the patient's pulse and replied, "The prince and princess were poisoned. Fortunately, the Crown Princess administered acupuncture in time."
Chen Yun said, "My two children were poisoned by arsenic."
The imperial physician asked curiously, "Why is the Crown Princess so sure?"
"Arsenic poisoning is characterized by loss of luster in nails, confusion, weakness in limbs, vomiting, dizziness, and headaches. Wide white horizontal lines appear on the nails, also known as Mie's lines. These are preliminary indicators of arsenic poisoning. This palace has instruments to detect common poisons, and arsenic, a key component of arsenic, has been detected in vomitus."
The imperial physician said, "Your Highness is absolutely right. Has Your Highness taken any measures? I will prepare the medicine later."
"Oh, I've already induced vomiting. The imperial physician can just prescribe Li Shizhen's magical elixir for detoxification. Huahua Guoguo, prepare the salt water and feed it whenever you want."
Li Lie'ao's face was terribly gloomy, and he angrily ordered, "How dare you harm the heir to the throne? Your crime is unforgivable! Investigate this matter immediately!"
Li Lin saw Chen Yun sitting next to the cradle with a sad face, so he walked up to her, held her hand, and sat next to her.
Five days later, Huahua arrived at the garden of the Crown Princess's bedroom in the Eastern Palace and reported the results of the search. Nanny Lan had purchased arsenic outside the palace and had been preparing breast milk in the imperial kitchen only from her own room. However, the breast milk in the imperial kitchen had been tested that day using a vaginal needle and was found to be normal. Chen Yun, enraged, slammed the table and stood up.
Arriving at the prison, Nanny Lan knelt down when she saw Chen Yun coming and said, "Crown Princess, I am innocent."
"Unjust? If it's wrong, why would you buy arsenic and harm my son? Tell me! Do you have any accomplices or were you instructed by someone?"
Nanny Lan continued to kowtow: "Crown Princess! Please, I beg you, I am truly wronged!"
Chen Yun's face darkened as he said without question, "I am a member of the Anbu. Do you really think we don't know anything?"
Chen Yan took out a long sword from the prison guard behind him and put it on Nanny Lan's neck.
Nanny Lan was silent for a moment, then sighed and said, "Thank you, Princess, for your continued trust in me. I'm sorry."
Chen Yun pressed on, "Madam Lan, you should know that I am a decisive killer and don't joke about matters of life and death. I'll ask you one last time: do you have any accomplices or were you instructed to do so?"
Nanny Lan was silent for a moment, then answered loudly: "No!"
The next moment, Chen Yun slashed Lan Ma's neck with a knife, then said coldly, "Anyone who hurts a child is unforgivable."
This scene was heard by Li Linhao who was hiding outside. After a few seconds of silence, he sneered and ran in while shouting, "Spare his life! Spare his life!"
The moment Li Linhao ran into the cell, he pretended to be terrified, and then burst into tears the next second.
Chen Yun frowned, looked at her, and left. But Li Linhao rushed up to her, waving a few yellowed papers in his hands, and shouted, "Crown Princess, how could you execute Nanny Lan so hastily? This is irrefutable evidence of her innocence!"
Chen Yun took the paper and took a quick look at it. It actually showed a letter mortgaging family members, and the signatory was Nanny Lan, whose real name was Lan Qiao.
"Her family was threatened by Tufan's princess, Mi'er, so they had no choice but to harm the emperor's nephew!"
Chen Yun's heart trembled at first, and her eyebrows could hardly hide the tense and looseness. Seeing her expression, Li Linhao covered his face and turned away, then smiled slyly.
However, Chen Yan was filled with doubts about this letter, but his expression remained stern. "Third Prince, where did this evidence come from? And why did you appear at this moment?"
Li Linhao's expression changed slightly, and he pretended to be calm and said, "I accidentally learned that Nanny Lan was wrongly accused, and then I heard from the palace maid that the emperor's sister-in-law was coming to purge her. I was afraid of killing her by mistake, so I rushed to save her. I didn't expect that I was still a step too late!"
Chen Yun dropped his sword and asked, "Did I misunderstand her?"
Li Linhao angrily rebuked, "Crown Princess! You are so arrogant and conceited! That was my wet nurse! No, I must tell my father! You are guilty of arbitrary punishment!"
After saying that, Li Linhao turned around and walked away quickly.
Helplessly, Chen Ying followed.
When they arrived at the Purple Palace, Emperor Li Lie'ao, Li Lin, and Shi Lu were discussing matters inside. They were attracted by the two newcomers.
"Your son pays homage to His Majesty the Father."
After the two exchanged greetings, Li Linhao spoke first, "Father! I have a report to make! The Crown Princess just murdered Nanny Lan in the prison, and I have evidence that Nanny Lan was forced to collaborate with foreign enemies. Since Nanny Lan was my wet nurse, and her family is threatened by foreign enemies, I beg you to intervene!"
Li Lie'ao took the letter and frowned as he asked, "Crown Princess, do you admit your guilt?"
Shi Lu, who was standing beside Li Lie'ao, was also getting anxious and quickly spoke up: "Your Majesty, it seems that our negotiations with the Imperial Merchants will end today. Please allow me to take my leave first."
"I'm asking the Crown Princess! Master Shi, please shut up for now!"
Chen Yun thought to herself that what she had done was indeed impulsive. She shouldn't have killed someone without evidence. She was wrong, so she had to admit her mistake.
At this time, Li Lin walked down from the side.
"Old Third, how did you know this?"
Upon hearing this, Li Linhao said, "Royal brother, are you questioning my actions? By the way, I have one more thing to add. Linhao believes that the Crown Princess's eagerness to kill is related to recent rumors of a curse being cast in the palace. And Nanny Lan may have offended the Crown Princess, which is why she harbors evil intentions."
"Third Brother! Just tell me, what evil intentions do the prince and the Crown Princess have?"
"This matter should begin with Concubine Xiao. Rumor has it that she and the Crown Prince planted something unknown in the Eastern Palace. To give my brother an explanation, I hope that Father will dig out the real thing from the newly excavated area in the Eastern Palace's back garden."
Eunuch Lin said, "Your Majesty, I did see Concubine Xiao leaving the Eastern Palace last week, carrying a shovel."
Li Lie'ao's eyes flashed, and he gave the order: "Summon Consort Xiao to the palace! Also, Eunuch Lin, arrange for people to go to the East Palace to excavate the recently excavated land!"
Li Lin looked at Li Linhao, who looked like a smug villain, and thought to himself, "What is this third brother's conspiracy?"
After a while, under the investigation of the soldiers, a box with gold bars and a bellyband on it was brought from the East Palace.
Chen Yun's eyes widened. She immediately stood up and walked over to Li Lin. "Whose bellyband is this?"
Li Lin had no way of defending himself: "I am not that perverted. I don't even recognize this thing."
Li Lieo saw the mark under the gold bar, and Shi Lu also discovered it, and realized that there was a big problem.
Li Lie'ao said, "This is a gold bar from the Tufan Kingdom. And on the bellyband, there's a word written in Tufan: Gao Miersila. Prince, what's your explanation?"
Shi Lu thought, "Although I don't like the Crown Prince, his current series of actions are definitely directed at him and his wife. There are so many things going on in the palace. At least I have to protect Xiao Yun."
Shi Lu said, "Your Majesty, to be honest, I asked the Crown Prince to keep these things safe. The gold is my reward for your hard work, and the bellyband is my gift to you. Everyone gets one... hehe. Commoners are not allowed to peek at members of the royal family, and I dare not tell anyone about it. Please keep it a secret."
This sentence clearly meant that the prince was interested in Gao Mier. Chen Yan clenched his fists when he heard it.
"Prince, could it be that you are also... interested in me telling Mi'er off?"
Li Lin quickly interrupted: "How is that possible!"
"Is it impossible? You are like the sun, you can give warmth to anyone. Yan Ruoxi, Wei Ningshuang, which one of them didn't you lend a helping hand to?"
Li Lin looked at Shi Lu, wanting to kill him: "You little bastard, you killed me!"
Concubine Xiao Xian came in and was asked about Nanny Lan and the treasure chest. Concubine Xiao Xian said, "I was just planting plants in the East Palace that day. It's my hobby. The Shanglin Bureau should know about this."
"So what Eunuch Lin said is true about Concubine Xian going in and out of the Eastern Palace. She is just planting vegetation and not doing anything as outrageous as my third brother did." Chen Yan said truthfully.
Concubine Xiao looked at Chen Yun and thought to herself, "Since you've helped Lu'er before, I'll lend you a hand again, Crown Princess!" Concubine Xiao continued, "And speaking of Nanny Lan... I do find this a little strange."
"For example?"
Li Lie'ao asked curiously, so Concubine Xiao continued to answer: "According to people in the palace, Nanny Lan made mistakes everywhere after receiving the letter."
Li Linhao wanted to say, "Father, you shouldn't make such a hasty judgment about Nanny Lan's unjust death! I hope that according to the laws of Qiankun Nation, those who wrongly accuse others without trial can be exiled to another place to serve as serfs!"
Li Linhao hoped to divide Chen Yun so that Li Lin's greatest support would be lost and he could take advantage of the situation.
Li Lin also knew Li Linhao's little thoughts, but the law cannot be changed and must be obeyed, so he said: "Father, the law must be followed, but there are also laws that state that if the crime is not serious, the merits can offset the sins. Therefore, I hope that Father will give me and the Crown Princess time to start the investigation!"
Li Linhao tried to stop him, but Li Lin immediately stepped forward and covered his mouth. Li Lieao said, "Three days, no bargaining."
It's not that Chen Ying hasn't investigated. He started doing so after the child got into trouble.
That evening, Chen Yun and Li Lin arrived at the clinic. While Li Lin conversed with the doctor, Chen Yun idled around. Suddenly, walking out the back door, he noticed a brick on the floor that was a different color. There was a spot on the floor that could be lifted with a hook. Curious, Chen Yun stepped on it, but it made a distinctive, hollow sound. Looking around, he spotted an iron hook lying on the ground nearby.
Chen Yun used an iron hook to pull up the floor tile with great effort and found that it was actually a door leading to the basement.
Chen Yun noticed a fire in the narrow basement and walked in curiously.
After a few steps, the view suddenly opened up. There was a large space with a table, a chair, and several people. Among them were men, women, young and old, all tied together with iron chains. And next to them was Concubine Lin.
Concubine Lin took a step back. "It's you? What brings you here?"
Chen Yun asked, "Are you Lan Qiao's family?"
And those people immediately shouted: "We are!"
"Okay, I'm here to save you."
Concubine Lin immediately pulled out her hairpin and said, "Crown Princess? Go out and forget about what happened today. I will give you a generous reward."
Chen Yun ignored Concubine Lin and continued to ask, "Why were you captured? Who captured you?"
A man shouted, "It's the Third Prince and that princess from the Tufan Kingdom!"
Chen Yun silently slipped the chain knife from her sleeve. "I have always said that wherever Nanny Lan passes, there must be a threat to her. Fortunately, I came to investigate. Otherwise, I would not know the extent to which Concubine Lin doted on her son. I also do not know who harmed my heir, causing me to kill someone by mistake. And you still want me to pretend nothing happened? You should beg me not to kill immediately."
Concubine Lin said, "How can you prove that these people are not actors you hired?"
Chen Yun said, "Madame Lan behaved erratically after returning from the clinic that day. According to colleagues and my own investigation, she was only traveling between this place and the Imperial Palace. A single sentence, a letter, or even a single line of writing can't sway someone. It must be something they witnessed firsthand, and something that touches their heart. Therefore, there must be something wrong here."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
