Chapter 63 The Evil Cat Princess Who Bewitched the Kingdom 24
Inside the side hall, the head of the academy was feeding medicine to the person on the bed.
What's wrong with him?
The head physician turned around upon hearing the voice, hurriedly put down the medicine bowl, and bowed. "Reporting to the Empress Dowager, Lord Jiang's chest injury is extremely severe. Although he is not dead, he is truly..."
Before the head of the academy could finish speaking, he shook his head and sighed.
"You can go down now."
"Your humble servant takes his leave." The head physician breathed a sigh of relief, slung his medicine chest over his shoulder, and left the side hall.
Xie Rong sat on the edge of the couch, leaned over and slightly parted his lips, exhaling a breath onto Jiang Yebai's pale face.
The person who was still asleep suddenly started coughing.
Xie Rong smiled: "You're awake?"
Jiang Yebai opened his eyes, and the face that haunted his dreams came into view.
He almost thought it was another dream.
"Does your chest not hurt anymore?" Xie Rong gently placed one hand on his chest.
Jiang Yebai's cheeks flushed, and he turned his face away, "No...it doesn't hurt anymore."
"That's good," Xie Rong's smile deepened as he picked up the bowl of medicine. "Drink the medicine."
After saying that, before Jiang Yebai could react, he grabbed Jiang Yebai's chin with one hand and rudely poured a bowl of medicine down his throat.
After all, only if Jiang Yebai recovers can he attend the morning court session tomorrow.
Jiang Yebai choked, coughed a few times, lowered his head to wipe the medicine from his lips, and felt his ear tips burning.
The Empress Dowager personally fed him the medicine.
Isn't this too improper, too intimate?
Lost in thought, Xie Rong's patience ran out. "You should rest well, and remember to attend the morning court tomorrow."
Jiang Yebai paused for a moment, then nodded: "Your Majesty, I thank you for your concern."
The next morning, the court session began.
As usual, the officials waited in front of the Golden Palace early in the morning.
"Your Highness, what happened to your face?" an official asked with concern.
Gu Qiansi leaned against the stone lion beside the steps, while several court officials surrounded him, exchanging pleasantries.
"It's nothing, just a scratch from the cat."
An official quipped, "The Regent's temper is far too much. If he scratches any harder, he might get disfigured."
Gu Qiansi glanced at the official sideways, "What do you know? If he had a mild temper, wouldn't he be too ordinary?"
The official awkwardly shut his mouth.
"His Majesty has arrived!"
"The Empress Dowager has arrived!"
Everyone almost thought they had misheard, and when they looked up, they nearly fainted on the spot.
The new emperor held the empress's sleeve, walking beside her with a look of affection, like a mother and son.
How could this be?! Only one night has passed!
What kind of powerful bewitching potion did this empress cast on the Lu imperial family?
The court officials turned to look at Gu Qiansi, their eyes constantly exchanging glances.
As the regent, why don't you come out and say something?
Gu Qiansi touched the slap mark on her face, snorted softly, and followed after him.
The ministers had no choice but to give up and silently follow behind.
"Speak if you have something to say, otherwise the court is adjourned!"
"Your Majesty, I have a memorial to present!" An old minister stepped forward, holding a jade tablet. "The Empress Dowager must not interfere in politics. Please return to the palace."
"No!" The new emperor stood up, glanced at Xie Rong, and said urgently, "I must have the Empress Dowager accompany me to the morning court."
"Since you ministers say that I am young and need the Regent to assist me in governing the country, why can't the Empress Dowager, who is of one heart with me, do the same?"
"But--"
“It is a good thing that Your Majesty has such filial piety,” Jiang Yebai interrupted, his lips still pale but his posture neither humble nor arrogant. “Nowadays, there are many comments about Your Majesty’s identity, especially among the royal family. The Empress Dowager was the late Emperor’s first wife and has a noble status. Your Majesty’s recognition of her as your mother will bring harmony to the court and the harem, which is a great blessing.”
Jiang Yebai rarely made such a public appearance, and even the civil officials behind him hesitated.
"Regent, please say something!" The military officer on the right could no longer contain himself and squeezed forward to whisper to Gu Qiansi, "That Jiang Yebai is obviously bewitched by the little demon queen. We can't let them lead us by the nose!"
Gu Qiansi replied perfunctorily, "Mm."
The military officer, his eyes blazing with impatience, shouted, "Then tell me quickly!"
"Hmm, speak," Gu Qiansi glanced at the cat demon above her, who was squinting and looking sleepy.
So cute.
He made a special trip to the imperial court; he might just be craving dried fish.
Gu Qiansi touched the slap mark on her face and chuckled softly.
Military general: "..."
The general returned to his position with a blank expression.
...
Xie Rong thus attended the morning court every day.
At first, Gu Qiansi would always go along with him when they disagreed, just to make him happy.
But later, the situation spiraled out of his control.
In his eyes, a kitten that chases its own tail is just curious and playful, which is why it has managed to fool the naive new emperor and make him come to rule from behind the curtain.
When visiting the Imperial Study, one could occasionally see the little cat demon fall asleep on the desk as soon as it opened a memorial.
Kittens are meant to be like this; they only need to meow occasionally to get everything they want.
But gradually, he realized that the little cat demon seemed to be guided by someone behind the scenes. Not only could the ideas she put forward make the ministers submit, but she could also target the Gu family without leaving a trace, leaving him with no way to express his suffering.
And Jiang Yebai, who had lost his mind, obeyed him in everything and hindered him at every turn.
If Jiang Yebai hadn't deliberately concealed the relationship between the cat demon and the Empress Dowager, how could he have gotten into trouble with the cat demon?
It's all Jiang Yebai's fault!
Gu Qiansi always considered herself to be of a gentle temperament and had never picked up the bad habits of soldiers during her many years in the northern frontier.
Upon returning home today, he smashed all the decorations in the house.
Who exactly is it... Jiang Yebai, or some other man?!
He will definitely figure it out.
Gu Qiansi would go to a small pavilion next to Qifeng Terrace every day to keep watch. He would sit by the window and could clearly see the gate of Qifeng Terrace through the crack in the window. He neither ate nor drank, and his lunch and dinner were all delivered by people from the mansion.
That night, he finally saw a clue!
In the dead of night, he saw a man in black enter Qifengtai.
They stayed for a full hour before coming out.
He was wearing a mask; who knows what kind of shady man he was?
Gu Qiansi didn't want to alert the enemy, so she turned around and left quietly.
Three days later, he finally obtained the intelligence from the secret guards in the mansion.
It turned out that this person was the Imperial Preceptor of Xuanqing Palace, who never left his residence.
What kind of imperial advisor is he? He's clearly a lecherous scoundrel who dares to smear the little cat demon's innocence.
Three more days passed.
After the court session, Gu Qiansi went straight to Xuanqing Palace.
He kicked open the gate of Xuanqing Palace and bumped right into the Imperial Preceptor, who was pretending to be a god and dared not show his true face, sitting by the window, brewing wine and tea, looking quite content.
Upon closer inspection, it became clear that the wine was the one the little cat demon loved to drink, and the tea was the orange-scented tea that the little cat demon craved the most.
"Xuanqing Palace is not receiving guests today. Regent, please return." The Imperial Advisor poured himself a cup of tea, his tone tinged with coldness.
Gu Qiansi sneered, lifted her clothes, and sat down by herself.
"I'm not here as a guest today."
"They've come to demand an explanation."
“Not bad,” Gu Qiansi stared at the dark eyes behind the Imperial Advisor’s mask. “These past few days, I’ve uncovered some things in the Ministry of Justice’s prison.”
"Grand Preceptor, was the man you imprisoned in the Ministry of Justice five years ago really just a butcher?"
“Of course not,” the Grand Preceptor said with a meaningful smirk, “He is still the sinner who bit Dafeng Xiangrui. Feeding him to the dogs would be too lenient for him.”
"Really?" Gu Qiansi tossed the bundle she was carrying onto the table. "Why don't you take a look and see what this is?"
The Imperial Advisor paused and looked over.
There was only one human bone in the bundle.
A human bone inscribed with scriptures.
"The people of Dafeng have all heard a legend that the national teacher was appointed by Heaven and had scriptures carved on the flesh and bones of his left arm. Whenever he observes the stars and makes divinations, it will emit a golden light."
"If you're not the Imperial Advisor, then who are you?" Gu Qiansi said coldly.
"Isn't he the Imperial Advisor?"
The two men facing off turned their heads at the same time upon hearing the sound.
Xie Rong walked in, glanced at the human bone, and then looked coldly at Gu Qiansi, "You actually dare to bring in this dead man who bit me?"
"Xie Rong, he is not the Imperial Advisor at all. You are naive, don't be fooled by him!" Gu Qiansi stepped forward.
“You may leave the palace now,” Xie Rong said, looking at the Grand Preceptor without surprise. He smiled at the Grand Preceptor and said, “I will interrogate him personally.”
Ever since the little cat demon slapped him in the Ministry of Justice prison, she had ignored him. Afraid of angering him again, Gu Qiansi left, holding her breath.
He, a dignified regent, has fallen to such a state.
"What do you want to interrogate?" the Grand Preceptor asked in a hoarse voice.
Xie Rong gently stroked the cold mask on the Grand Preceptor's face with his fingertips. "Do you know what the consequences will be if you lie to me?"
“If you want to wrest the regency from the Regent, you can’t do without me,” the Grand Preceptor gripped his wrist, his dark pupils fixed on him with a self-righteous sense of revenge. “Empress Dowager, even if I deceive you, even if you abandon everyone in this palace, even Jiang Yebai, even if the new emperor, you can’t abandon me.”
"Your Majesty, I'm afraid you'll never be able to get rid of me in this lifetime."
Xie Rong couldn't help but laugh.
His laughter grew louder as he leaned on the man's shoulder, trembling all over.
"Lu Wenjing, is this what you call revenge?" Xie Rong laughed until tears streamed down his face, his eyes glistening with moisture, so clear that one could see the malice in them at a glance. "You want to use me to deal with Gu Qiansi, so that we can kill each other?"
"Unfortunately, I already guessed it."
Lu Wenjing: "..."
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