Pingyang is Xiao Zhian's destiny.
After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the groom dragged the horse to the camp.
This time it didn't take much effort; the coachman revealed his true identity—Tai Dou Dou, the leader of the White Lotus Sect.
Tai Doudou has no faith in the White Lotus and is only loyal to Princess Pingyang. However, Xiao Zhian's jade talisman is in Lin Huaiyin's hands, which means that Princess Pingyang is in danger of protecting herself, let alone him. She has to choose between death and life. Tai Doudou cannot endure the torture, so she chooses to confess and choose a more straightforward way to die.
"His Highness said to treat someone in the same way they treat you, so I pushed that girl into the snake pit and killed her," Tai Doudou confessed truthfully.
"No!"
Lin Huaiyin collapsed and slumped.
The snake pit was a trap she and the snake catcher made by hand yesterday, with a huge amount of snake-attracting drugs. Wild boars that fall in will be swallowed up instantly, without even having time to scream.
If Yu Li had fallen somewhere else, Lin Huaiyin might have had some hope, but the snake pit was different; falling into the snake pit meant certain death.
Xiao Zhian's words came true—Princess Pingyang wanted Yu Li dead and never intended for her to live.
"It's my fault, it's all my fault..." Lin Huaiyin sobbed uncontrollably as she nestled in the crab's arms.
She used a snake to kill Liu Cang, and Princess Pingyang took her revenge on Yu Li. She was the one who deserved to die, so if anyone wanted revenge, it should be on her. She could die a thousand times over, but it would never be Yu Li's turn.
Lin Huaiyin burst into tears, and Lin Shifeng and the imperial guards realized that Yu Li's disappearance was a serious matter.
Now that Yu Li's whereabouts have been found, Princess Pingyang's threat has lost its meaning. They need to find her alive or dead; every moment of delay could mean losing a bone. The Imperial Guards, disregarding the wind and rain, gathered five hundred men, formed a team, and, with the help of snake catchers, went into the mountains to search for traces of Yu Li.
Of the twelve snake catchers, only ten are currently at the inn.
Upon inquiry, everyone learned that when Lin Huaiyin told the Imperial Guards that her small purse was lost that afternoon, ten men secretly went to the mountain to search for the snake catcher, and they have not returned since.
"The Third Miss's purse is lost, let's go look for it." That's what they said at the time.
The Imperial Guards repeated what the group had said.
Everyone's eyes lit up, hoping that they might have already found Yu Li by following the clues.
Lin Huaiyin felt only despair as she listened to their excitement.
She knew all too well what a snake pit was like. Countless snakes were tangled together, and anything thrown in would only crack and shatter. Not to mention the snake venom, which was fatal upon contact.
That was Lin Huaiyin and her friends' proud creation. Last night, they were still celebrating by the pit, smug and pleased with themselves. Now, Lin Huaiyin only hates herself for being so vicious, reaping what she sowed, and harming both herself and others.
She's a wicked woman, yet she's lived a thousand years of misfortune, making Yu Li suffer in her place time and time again.
The rain poured down, the sky darkened, and the Imperial Guards, fully prepared, set off immediately.
Lin Huaiyin straightened up, determined to go with them no matter what. She wanted to set fire to the snake pit; she couldn't just leave Yu Li behind.
Crab Claw did not try to persuade her.
Lin Shifeng didn't have it either.
The two of them helped her put on an oilcloth raincoat and searched the mountain with the Imperial Guards.
Lin Shifeng wanted to stay at the post station, so he dispatched a deputy general to lead the main force up the mountain.
——
At the same time, a guard from the Eastern Palace came to Princess Pingyang's residence to announce the news—
"By order of His Highness the Crown Prince, Princess Pingyang is hereby summoned for an audience."
Princess Pingyang has already retired for the night.
She was ordered to go in, and casually told her personal old nanny to send her away.
The old nanny greeted the guard and said in a slow, gentle voice, "Her Highness the Princess has already retired for the night, and it is really inconvenient to disturb her. Please ask the young man to tell Her Highness that she will come to pay her respects tomorrow morning."
Upon hearing this, the guard stepped aside and said, "Then I'll trouble you, Granny, to go and report back to His Highness the Crown Prince."
The old nanny's heart skipped a beat; she realized that Xiang Zhuang's sword dance was actually aimed at her.
Left with no choice, she could only nod and follow the guards.
Upon arriving at Xiao Zhian's courtyard, the old nanny was confined to the side room where Xie Ao had previously stayed.
The guard went to inform Princess Pingyang again.
"By order of His Highness the Crown Prince, Princess Pingyang is hereby summoned for an audience."
The imperial decree was delivered to Princess Pingyang's bedside, but she paid it no mind and sent another nanny away.
As usual, the guards took the old woman away.
After a while, the guards, with a mix of wind and rain, locked all of Princess Pingyang's entourage in a side room.
Xiao Zhian usually did not use maids, and guards were not allowed to enter Princess Pingyang's bedroom to make announcements. After taking away the last person, the guards stood guard outside Princess Pingyang's room, as steady as old dogs.
On the surface, Chu Jiu was Shen Congyun's bodyguard left to Shen Zaiyuan, but his subordinates were mixed in with Princess Pingyang. After Xiao Zhian's maneuvering, Chu Jiu was left all alone. Taking advantage of the rain, he retreated back to Shen Zaiyuan's side and stopped making any moves.
Finally, Princess Pingyang, undisturbed, drifted off to sleep peacefully.
She was in bed, but she knew exactly what Xiao Zhian was doing.
She wasn't in a hurry because she was Xiao Zhian's sister, whom he could never sever ties with. Right now, he was furious and might be shouting threats and making promises to Lin Huaiyin.
However, if they delay even a little, Xiao Zhian will remember how they lost their mother at a young age and depended on each other for survival. They are connected by blood and neither of them can live without the other. He simply cannot bring himself to harm her.
Princess Pingyang was fearless because she had something to rely on.
Xiao Zhian dismissed Yuan Jie'e and his son, then summoned a member of the Imperial Guard to listen carefully to Lin Huaiyin's interrogation of the man with the tumor.
He abandoned his usual laziness and listened intently, then silently walked to the window.
As long as Yu Li's remains are not found, her fate remains unknown, because Xuan Ge noticed something amiss on the way down the mountain and volunteered to investigate, but has not yet returned.
Xiao Zhian was always rational, so he chose to tell Lin Huaiyin the worst possible outcome, unwilling to give her any hope, which only made him more disappointed in the end.
Whether alive or dead, Xiao Zhian was certain that Yu Li was dead. However, for Lin Huaiyin's sake, as he gazed at the heavy rain, he still held onto a sliver of hope that Xuan Ge had been lucky enough to bump into Yu Li and save her.
Besides, Lin Huaiyin's declaration of being a "white lotus" was far beyond Xiao Zhian's expectations, but upon closer reflection, it made perfect sense.
His Yin Yin was able to protect her family, safeguard her country, and suppress the rebels. She deserved to be called a savior. Her way of dealing with the rebels was too lenient, but it was also understandable.
Xiao Zhian did not intend to interfere. He admired Lin Huaiyin's style of handling affairs. She was ruthless during wartime but did not exterminate everyone afterward. She combined firmness and gentleness, kindness and severity, and was very suitable to be the mistress of the Eastern Palace. Given time, she might even be qualified to sit on the dragon throne with him.
The only thing that Xiao Zhian couldn't understand was Lin Huaiyin's words about the imperial prison.
How did she know about the spoiled food and the red-eyed rat? She spoke of it as if she had personally experienced it.
The Imperial Guards have their own prison, so why did she casually mention the Imperial Prison when she was trying to scare people?
Xiao Zhian was completely baffled, so he turned his attention to Princess Pingyang.
Pingyang didn't want to see him, and he didn't really want to see Pingyang either.
In his heart, Xiao Zhian did not want to confront Pingyang. He was the crown prince, Lin Huaiyin's Zhian, and also Pingyang's brother.
On the very night Lin Huaiyin shot and killed Liu Cang, Princess Pingyang outwardly took the blame upon herself, but in reality stirred up fear among the court officials. Xiao Zhian immediately realized that Pingyang was helping Shen Congyun challenge his authority and that she had an affair with Shen Congyun.
But he didn't say anything.
Xiao Zhian had envisioned the best-case scenario: Shen Congyun would die, her sins would be absolved, and no one would expose her. As long as Pingyang behaved herself and obeyed him in the future, she would still be his good sister. She had only been infatuated with a man who was somewhat handsome and talented, which was not a big mistake, and Xiao Zhian would still protect her.
He had given him a chance, but Pingyang showed no remorse and even attacked Lin Huaiyin. Xiao Zhian could not tolerate this, and he could not accept that Pingyang's ultimate goal was actually him.
In the instant he understood everything, Xiao Zhian thought he would definitely kill Pingyang. He was the crown prince and could not tolerate usurpation of power. He was the elder brother and could not accept patricide and fratricide. He was Yinyin's man and he had to protect Yinyin and prevent any harm from happening to her.
When Lin Huaiyin left, Xiao Zhian's heart was still as firm as a rock. He felt that no matter what, he had to make a painful decision to deal with Pingyang.
However, when Xiao Zhian summoned Yuan Jie'e and his son Yuan Butian, and listened to Yuan Butian's confession about how Pingyang had bound the Imperial Observatory by marrying Yuan Jie'e and ordering him to fabricate prophecies about the Empress, and then looked at the unremarkable, talentless, and unattractive Yuan Jie'e, he felt a pang of heartache.
For the sake of her so-called ambition to become empress, Pingyang was actually willing to submit to such a man. How much determination she must have made, how ruthless and hateful she must have been.
Without needing to ask, Xiao Zhian knew that Pingyang had become like this because of what happened when she was eight years old.
That year, his mother passed away. Xiao Zhian and Pingyang knelt in front of the mourning hall for several days and nights, but they couldn't bear it any longer and went back to rest.
When they returned to the mourning hall, they found that all the palace servants had been driven away and Lin Zhenlie had led the imperial guards to retreat to the outer perimeter. The two siblings, one seven years old and the other eight, were easy to hide in the white tents, so they took advantage of the chaos to avoid the eyes and ears of the imperial guards and quietly slipped into the mourning hall.
From afar, the sound of sobbing seemed to come from between their fingers, trembling with grief. Xiao Zhian and his sister Pingyang both thought it was their mother's personal maidservant crying from excessive sorrow.
However, with a creak as the door opened, no one expected what they saw: their father, the emperor, was raping a palace maid in front of their mother's coffin.
The palace maid covered her mouth and nose, tears streaming down her face as she lay prostrate on the coffin, her body disheveled. The brother and sister seemed to understand but not quite, shocked and frightened, and stood there dumbfounded for a moment. Then, just as their father turned his gaze over, Xiao Zhian was pushed aside forcefully, and the young Princess Pingyang stepped firmly across the threshold and entered, slamming the door shut behind her.
The sound of the door closing attracted Lin Zhenlie. Just as Xiao Zhian got up and pushed the door open, Lin Zhenlie hugged Xiao Zhian, covered his mouth and nose, and forcibly took him away from the scene.
A moment later, Lin Zhenlie was summoned away, and Xiao Zhian could never find Princess Pingyang again.
That year, he was eight years old, and Princess Pingyang was seven.
They had just lost their birth mother and had just promised to take good care of their younger sister when they were forced to separate—their mother had passed away, their younger sister had disappeared, and Xiao Zhian was left all alone.
Xiao Zhian kept Lin Zhenlie's words in mind: he must not let his father know that he was present at the time, otherwise neither he nor his sister would have a good life. He had to keep his position as crown prince, otherwise Princess Pingyang might never come back.
That year, Xiao Zhian lost both his mother and sister. He had to pretend he knew nothing. He studied desperately, mastering the Six Arts and policy essays, excelling in everything. With his brilliant and insightful responses to the emperor, he transformed into a flawless crown prince, and then cautiously asked, "Father, where did Pingyang go?"
He asked questions, but his father never answered. When he asked too many questions and the emperor searched everywhere for him, his father moved him to the East Palace, which was like putting him in seclusion.
Xiao Zhian then abandoned Lin Zhenlie's method and chose to go on a hunger strike.
He refused to eat or drink, starving himself to the point of near death.
The Crown Prince's three tutors came before the Emperor and wept.
The civil and military officials petitioned the emperor.
In the end, Xiao Zhian won the victory.
On that day, Lin Zhenlie led the Imperial Guards to the Eastern Palace to return Princess Pingyang and his eight-year-old sister, whom he had not seen for a year.
From then on, Xiao Zhian worked diligently, his eyes never daring to sleep, scanning the court and the palace. He had only one wish—to secure his position as the Crown Prince, to consolidate his and Pingyang's stability, and to do everything in his power to ensure that Pingyang possessed everything he had.
In Xiao Zhian's heart, no one is more important than Pingyang, no one is better to him than Pingyang, Pingyang is his life.
Childhood memories held Xiao Zhian back, preventing him from moving forward.
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