An Ning hurriedly applied the medicine to her, but Bai Lan stared at her intently.
"I never expected this... I really never expected this."
An Ning scoffed: "There are many things you haven't thought of."
Bai Lan leaned weakly against the pillow, struggling to open her eyes as she watched An Ning carrying basin after basin of bloody water, going out and coming back in.
The nights in the palace are always cold, but now, with only a single candle burning in this room, it feels especially warm.
"I will definitely protect you." Bai Lan murmured these words before losing consciousness.
An Ning heard nothing, only saw her fall backward unsteadily, saying, "Hey hey hey."
~~
The next day, the emperor executed several more people, simply to make the crown prince take the blame.
An Ning felt a chill run down his spine. He couldn't kill the Crown Prince, but he could kill any innocent person in the world. Was this what a ruler should do? Even if the Crown Prince ascended the throne after his death, would the world be peaceful and prosperous?
~~
Outside the imperial city.
"Your Highness, let's go quickly. We'd better not get involved in these matters."
Su Yunyan looked at the list of those executed on the bulletin board, her expression grim.
"Miao'er, His Highness likes sweets, so please buy some more when you go back."
Miao'er smacked her lips, seemingly unconcerned: "What's wrong, Your Highness? His Highness clearly prefers spicy food."
Half a day had passed since I wandered from the west side of the city to the north side.
Miao'er said anxiously, "Your Highness, we should go back now. If we're late, His Highness will be angry again."
Su Yunyan gently stroked the tassels on the seven-stringed zither, her expression dark and unreadable: "Angry? He gets angry so easily, why doesn't he just die of anger?"
Miao'er hurriedly covered her mouth: "Your Highness?"
Su Yunyan didn't take it to heart; this was the most carefree sentence she had ever uttered in all her years of life.
In the past, whatever she said or did depended on how others perceived her, and even what she liked or disliked was dictated by others.
"Miao'er, do you often feel like I'm a puppet? I have to do whatever others tell me to do, even if His Highness asks me to give up the position of Crown Princess, I have to obey without question?"
Miao'er was stunned: "Princess? His Highness? His Highness wants to marry someone else? But, but you were chosen as the Princess, how can you be so easily divorced?"
A barely perceptible ruthlessness flashed in Su Yunyan's eyes: "Miao'er, I've said it before, as long as my family is safe and sound, I don't care at all who marries me."
After saying that, she abruptly threw the tassel out of her hand and turned to leave.
Miao'er hurriedly followed, but her mind was filled with doubts: Miss seemed like a completely different person today.
I returned home in the evening, just in time for dinner.
The Crown Prince sat at the table with a gloomy face. Upon hearing Su Yunyan's return, he abruptly stood up and slapped her across the face: "You bastard! You knew I was confined to the palace, yet you still ran out? Are you deliberately courting death? The position of Crown Princess isn't indispensable, you stupid woman..."
"Smack."
With red eyes, Su Yunyan slapped him back: "Your Highness, you are the one who is confined to your quarters. I, Su Yunyan, have not bribed the Grand Tutor. Of course I am free to leave the mansion."
The Crown Prince was instantly enraged. He stared at Su Yunyan with disbelief in his eyes: "Are you crazy? I'll make sure you die in this palace today."
As he spoke, he lunged forward and grabbed Su Yunyan's neck tightly.
Su Yunyan stared at him with her bloodshot eyes wide open.
“You…you are nothing. If it weren’t for your status as the eldest son of the legitimate wife, you wouldn’t even be able to get a hair on the crown prince’s head.”
Su Yunyan mustered all her strength and spoke each word clearly.
The crown prince was like a raging lion, losing his mind in an instant and resorting to deadly force.
Su Yunyan's face was completely drained of color from being pinched, and her eyes involuntarily rolled back, showing that she was about to die.
"Bang."
The door was suddenly flung open.
Mu Ange leaned against the doorframe with her arms crossed, and laughed out loud: "What a touching scene of marital affection! Second Brother, did you call me here just to see this?"
Mu Ange looked innocently at Mu Anyu behind her.
Mu Anyu peeked out from behind Mu Ange's tall figure, his face sinister: "Your Highness, you are already disgraced. Instead of thinking about how to win back the people's hearts, you are still here torturing and killing your wife?"
The prince suddenly released his grip, and Su Yunyan collapsed to the ground like a piece of duckweed.
Miao'er rushed out and hugged Su Yunyan tightly: "Your Highness, Your Highness, how are you?"
The Crown Prince looked at the group of people and forced himself to remain calm, saying, "Why are you here, Second Brother and Fourth Brother? Have you forgotten that I am currently under house arrest?"
Having come this far, Mu Anyu decided to drop the pretense: "Your Highness, you have always been aloof and unwilling to serve alongside us illegitimate sons, but today I will let you taste what it feels like to be brought down by illegitimate sons."
The Crown Prince looked at his sinister eyes and chuckled dryly, "It's true what they say, when someone's down, everyone kicks them while they're down. But remember, I am still the Crown Prince, and Father has not deposed me. No matter how arrogant you are today, I will take revenge on you one by one in the future. Oh, by the way, Second Brother? Don't think that just because you have some money, Father will take notice of you. Look at your money-grubbing body; it's disgusting."
Mu Anyu clenched his fists inch by inch: "Your Highness, you weren't crippled yesterday, but that might not be the case today."
After saying that, he looked at Su Yunyan on the ground: "Princess Consort? Are you alright?"
Miao'er fed her some pills. Although she still had no strength, her life was not in danger.
"It's alright, I'll go to the palace with you." Su Yunyan forced herself to sit up and looked straight into the Crown Prince's fearful and uneasy eyes.
"Su Yunyan? What are you trying to do? Don't forget, your family's glory is all thanks to me. If you dare to do anything that is detrimental to me, I will make sure your whole family is buried with you."
Su Yunyan remained unfazed: "It's true that you're the one who's helping, but right now, you're at your limit, and you don't have much time left."
The prince was like a trapped beast, overwhelmed by fear, unease, anger, and helplessness, teetering on the edge of madness.
"Don't forget, I am still the Crown Prince. My father will not depose me. Just you wait and see, I will kill you all and feed you to the dogs."
Mu Ange picked at her ear and looked at everyone: "Shall we go?"
"good."
The Imperial Palace, Yangju Hall.
Mu Anyu looked lost, his eyes slightly red, while Su Yunyan's face was pale and blood was at the corner of her mouth. They both knelt on the ground.
An Ning looked at them, then at the composed Mu Ange beside her, her mind a little blank.
She quietly moved closer to Mu Ange and asked, "What's going on here?"
Mu Ange said coldly, "Revenge."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com