Chapter 43

Lin Nanqi followed Chanyi to the princess's courtyard. Before he reached the water pavilion, he smelled a strong odor of alcohol.

Lin Nanqi's eyes showed a puzzled look. Didn't he say he wanted to keep fit? Why did he start drinking again?

Chanyi whispered, "You serve the princess and advise her to drink less wine."

Lin Nanjie suppressed his doubts and followed Chanyi into the water pavilion shrouded in mist.

Li Yunluan sat in the water pavilion, holding a wine glass in her hand, leaning on the table, drunken and mumbling, "Why doesn't he come... He went to look for that jerk again."

Lin Nanjie looked around but didn't see Guo Zixu.

Oh, this is pigeon.

All those righteous words Guo Zixu said during the day were just excuses for himself. He should be with Xue Wanyu now.

Lin Nanjie walked slowly and carefully to her side and tried to take the wine glass from Li Yunluan's hand: "Princess, it's late at night, it's time to rest."

Li Yunluan seemed to be awakened by the sound and opened her hazy drunken eyes: "Don't bother me!"

Then he threw away the wine glass, picked up the wine pot and drank it all in one gulp.

Lin Nanjie: …

I didn't expect that Li Chenghuan's eldest sister is a drunkard.

When the two men were grabbing a wine bottle and pulling it, a noisy sound suddenly came from the door.

"My dear Prince Consort, didn't you say you wouldn't come over tonight? The princess has gone to bed, you can't come in." Chanyi's anxious voice came from the door.

Guo Zixu waved away the cicada clothes and said, "I promised Yunluan that I would come tonight, but I'm an hour late. Why are you stopping me?"

Hearing the voice, Lin Nanjie raised his head and met the gaze of Guo Zixu who had just rushed in.

Lin Nanqi immediately let go of the wine bottle.

Li Yunluan withdrew her hand instantly, and the wine pot fell onto the table, splashing a wave of cold water.

She stood up quickly, looking flustered: "Zixu, it's not what you think!"

Guo Zixu stood outside the water pavilion, the curtains of the water pavilion were blown up by the cold wind. He looked at Li Yunluan, his eyes flashing with hatred, and he gritted his teeth and said, "Is this what you call husband and wife being one? What a joke!"

Li Yunluan rushed out of the water pavilion in a panic: "Listen to me, nothing happened. I called them here just to piss you off."

Guo Zixu took a step back in front of Li Yunluan and said coldly: "Don't come over, I think it's disgusting!"

Li Yunluan's face turned pale. She reached out to grab Guo Zixu's sleeve, but was thrown to the ground mercilessly.

Li Yunluan looked at Guo Zixu's back as he walked away with his sleeves turned away and tears fell from her eyes.

Chanyi quickly told Li Yunluan to stand up: "Princess!"

Li Yunluan wiped away her tears, staggered back to the water pavilion, and drank one cup after another.

"I don't blame him."

"I owe him."

"I will help him get promoted and make money, and give him a bright future..."

Li Yunluan drank one glass after another, trying to numb herself with alcohol.

Lin Nanjie stood aside and witnessed the whole process. He was stunned: [Scumbag!!!]

[I have never seen such a shameless actor and scumbag! ! ! ]

[Why are there so many love-sick people in the Li family? Let’s not talk about the dog emperor for now. Li Yunluan, as the eldest princess, was deceived by a scumbag. What a PUA! ]

Li Yunluan's consciousness gradually faded, but she heard someone talking in her ear, but she couldn't quite understand what was being said.

What a scumbag and what a dramatic actor.

What else is there?

What is that?

[Guo Zixu verbally agreed to come during the day, but in the end he changed his mind, saying he was busy with official duties.]

[Bullshit busy official duties! Guo Zixu had already planted spies around the courtyard and calculated the time. When he saw me being summoned, he came to catch the adulterer at the right time. He wanted to catch the eldest princess in the act, so that she would be speechless and feel guilty! And then make amends twice as much!]

[What a scheming white lotus! ]

Li Yunluan was still conscious but could not move. She thought these words were ridiculous. Catching someone cheating on her? Who was talking nonsense?

【Taking advantage of the princess's guilt, Guo Zixu was promoted all the way, and his appetite grew bigger and bigger. Now he wanted to be promoted to Dali Temple Chief. Dali Temple Chief is a fifth-rank official, responsible for hearing all the cases handled by Dali Temple, and the rank is not low. But he only passed the imperial examination that year and was a third-class Tongjinshi. Tongjinshi usually served as a county magistrate or county magistrate. If he was lucky enough to stay in Beijing, he would also serve as a chief clerk, which is far from Dali Temple Chief. 】

[This Guo Zixu, not only became an official, but was promoted faster than the Jinshi of the same year. All the food, clothing and daily expenses of his family can be paid from the Princess's private treasury. What a good calculation! ]

[On the one hand, he used the eldest princess to get promoted, and on the other hand, he allowed his family to suck the eldest princess' blood, emptying the eldest princess's private treasury, and even widely publicized the eldest princess's crimes of keeping male favorites and being extravagant and licentious. ]

[The worst part is that he tried to use a poisonous potion to make the princess unable to bear children forever.]

[Strange? Why did Guo Zixu suddenly make such a disastrous move in the third year? ]

[Wait, Xue Wanyu is pregnant! ]

Li Yunluan seemed to be possessed. She could hear someone chattering beside her, but she could not move.

But the content of those words shocked her.

Use her? Suck her blood?

Publicize her extravagance and debauchery to the outside world?

And let her drink the potion that would cut off her offspring?

Xue Wanyu was pregnant without her knowing?

Li Yunluan suddenly felt extremely terrified and unfamiliar. She would be cursed by the common people and the civil officials. She would be regarded as a crazy woman who did whatever she wanted by relying on her status, and her crimes would be recorded in the history books by the historians.

She subconsciously reached out and touched her belly, still feeling a little doubtful.

Maybe the voice was lying? She had asked the doctor at the Imperial Hospital to look at the medicine, and he said there was nothing wrong with it.

Li Yunluan struggled in the nightmare. She didn't know how long it had been. Then the voice disappeared and she fell into a deep sleep.

Seeing Li Yunluan drunk and unconscious, Lin Nanjie sighed inwardly while he and Chanyi moved her to the bedroom.

The next day, Li Yunluan opened her eyes with a splitting headache, and she ran into Chanyi who came in. She brought a tonic soup and said softly, "Princess, the soup is ready, please drink it while it's hot."

Li Yunluan was still feeling dizzy from a splitting headache. She looked at the bowl of black medicine and suddenly felt dizzy. The man's words from last night suddenly flooded into her mind.

Using her -

Sucking her blood—

Ruining her reputation

Tricking her into drinking a potion that would kill her offspring—

Li Yunluan's heart was filled with shock. How could she have such a dream? The content of the dream was so absurd, but she couldn't help but delve deeper into it.

She did not take the bowl of medicine, but asked, "What are people saying about me now?"

Chanyi's fingers trembled slightly, and he lowered his head: "Nothing."

Li Yunluan looked at her with dignity: "So it's true?"

Chanyi was oppressed by the sight, put the medicine aside, knelt beside the bed, and said with red eyes: "These are just people who don't know right from wrong, gossiping. Princess, why bother with those rumors?"

"say!"

Chanyi took a deep breath and said, "Just say that the princess is disrespectful to her elders, disrespectful to her husband, and even accepts a male concubine. According to etiquette and law... she should be demoted to a commoner and put in a pig cage."

Li Yunluan's face was as cold as ice. After a while, she said, "Put away today's medicine residue. Go find the director of the Imperial Hospital to take a look in person."

Chanyi's eyes widened: "You still have doubts..."

"Tsk." Li Yunluan put her middle finger between her lips. "Also, send someone to keep an eye on Xue Wanyu."

Chanyi immediately took the order and went forward.

For three consecutive days, Li Yunluan stayed indoors and refused to see anyone in the courtyard.

Lin Nanjie looked around and found that the male pets were restricted in their movements and could not go out at will. Now Li Yunluan had locked the door, and he could not find a way out for a while. He could only stay in the male pets' yard and read novels to pass the time.

Unfortunately, reading storybooks is also very stressful.

Lu Chengzhou sat on the bed opposite, with a sword at his side, his arms crossed, staring at Lin Nanjie with a hostile look.

Lin Nanjie looked innocent and raised the book in his hand: "You want to read it too?"

Lu Chengzhou sneered: "I'm not interested."

"Then why are you staring at me?"

Lu Chengzhou's face flushed: "Did you do something you shouldn't have done that night?"

"Ah?" Lin Nanqi was confused, and suddenly reacted, "You mean the night I was summoned to accompany you?"

"What if you leave and stay indoors? Who will disappear?"

Lin Nanqi: “…”

"Brother," Lin Nanjie said sincerely, "I really don't have any improper thoughts."

The next morning, the nine of them gathered together to prepare for dinner, but suddenly they heard a noisy noise coming from the princess's courtyard. The male concubines looked at each other, and someone asked, "Could it be that the prince consort and his family are here to cause trouble for the princess again?"

Lin Nan subconsciously looked at Lu Chengzhou and said, "Let's go and take a look."

At the gate of the princess' courtyard, there stood a group of people, including Li Yunluan's mother-in-law Feng, her sister-in-law who was about to get married, and Xue Wanyu who was supporting Feng.

Dressed in silk and satin, and wearing gold and silver jewelry, Feng was leaning on a jewel-inlaid cane. She was blocking the gate of the courtyard, knocking the cane on the bluestone slabs, making a "clack-clack" sound.

"Open the door for me!"

"You rely on your status as the eldest princess. Not only do you not respect your parents-in-law, but you even keep your mother-in-law out! Do you think you can do whatever you want just because you are a princess?"

"You've been married for three years and you still can't give birth to a son! You're just occupying the toilet without doing anything! You even broke my son's leg. You've ruined his life!"

"Everyone, look! The eldest princess is bullying her mother-in-law!"

Lin Nanqi and Lu Chengzhou stood in a secluded place. The veins on the back of Lu Chengzhou's hands were bulging. "That damn old woman, I really want to go up and beat her up!"

Lin Nanjie was also stunned by Feng's actions, which were simply a waste of time and place.

However, he quickly grabbed Lu Chengzhou and said, "Don't be impulsive, don't be impulsive, wait and see what happens."

The courtyard door was not open, so Feng kept yelling and cursing at the door. Finally, Chanyi came out and opened the door. Her face turned red with anger: "What are you doing!"

"You little rascal finally opened the door!" Feng leaned on her crutches and pushed the cicada aside.

Feng led his men in and Lin Nanqi and Lu Chengzhou immediately followed and helped Chanyi up.

Although Feng entered the courtyard, she was stopped by the guards of the princess's mansion in front of the water pavilion. Feng immediately cursed: "How can you be a daughter-in-law like this? Is it appropriate for you to let others stop your mother-in-law?"

Li Yunluan walked out of the water pavilion slowly, her face calm and even smiling: "Why did mother-in-law come at this time? I was not feeling well today and was worried about you and my husband. I didn't expect you to be so eager to come and visit me."

Feng's words were stuck in her throat, and she said stiffly, "If you are sick, you should treat it. Why would you keep your family from seeing you?"

Li Yunluan coughed twice in a low voice and chuckled, "Mother-in-law is right. Thank you for coming to visit me."

Feng's face flashed with discomfort: "I don't think you are that weak. They say that an elder sister-in-law is like a mother. Your third sister is getting married soon, so you should also take care of things. Why are you hiding here?"

Li Yunluan pretended not to understand: "Didn't my husband say before that my mother-in-law and father would take care of my third sister's affairs, and that it must be done in a grand and dignified manner?"

Feng's face flashed with uneasiness: "What about the dowry you promised to give me?"

Li Yunluan asked doubtfully, "It's not like mother-in-law doesn't know where my private vault is. Just go and pick one."

"You! I think you have no filial piety!" Feng pointed at Li Yunluan angrily.

Li Yunluan sneered: "I don't understand what you mean. Normally you can go in and out of my private vault freely. What do you mean by this now?"

Feng cursed: "You are still trying to make excuses. There is nothing valuable in it! How can you give it to your younger sister as a dowry?"

The third girl was angry: "That's right, I'm about to marry a man, but I can't even show him anything decent. My in-laws will definitely look down on me."

Li Yunluan said coldly: "Since there is nothing in the private warehouse, then it is gone!"

"Bullshit! It must be hiding in your yard!"

Feng was about to break in, but was stopped by the guards and fell. Feng sat on the ground and started crying: "The princess hit her mother-in-law! The princess hit her mother-in-law!"

Guo Zixu heard the noise and rushed over with a lame leg. He quickly helped Feng up and looked at Li Yunluan in disbelief: "How could you lay hands on my mother?"

Li Yunluan subconsciously wanted to explain, but the voice in her dream that night kept circling in her mind. She clenched her fingers tightly, stopping her steps from moving forward.

"The guards of this palace are fulfilling their duty of guarding." Li Yunluan said coldly.

Guo Zixu looked at Li Yunluan angrily with anger in his eyes: "Just because you are a princess, you can do whatever you want?"

He pushed aside the guards and walked straight to Li Yunluan, saying refusing to give in: "You must pay compensation and apologize to my mother today!"

Feng sat on the floor and shouted, "That's right! You must give me a gift and apologize, and from now on you must serve me tea and water. Other daughters-in-law serve their mothers-in-law during the day and wash their feet at night, but you must serve them in my room starting tomorrow!"

As she spoke, Feng started to cry, "I raised a son with great difficulty, but you broke his leg. You still don't repent and make trouble in the mansion every day. How did my son get into trouble? If he had married Wanyu, I would have had many children and grandchildren."

The third girl also sarcastically said, "That's right, Sister Wanyu serves mother every day, and she is much more sincere than you."

"What's so great about being a princess? Once you marry into our Guo family, you are our daughter-in-law. You have to do whatever my mother tells you to do!"

Feng pretended to wipe her tears and said, "That's right! Otherwise, as a mother-in-law, I can't forgive you for being such an immoral daughter-in-law who can't give birth to a son!"

Every word pierced Li Yunluan like a needle. She looked at Guo Zixu in disbelief: "Hasn't what I have paid in the past three years been enough? Do you think so too?"

Guo Zixu looked at her with a complicated expression: "According to ethics, my mother is right."

Li Yunluan widened her eyes, unable to believe that this was the person she had been living with day and night for three years. She raised her hands uncontrollably.

With a "pop" sound, five bright red finger marks appeared on Guo Zixu's left cheek.

"Beast!" Li Yunluan looked at the man in front of her with tears in her eyes, "How could you do this to me?"

A stinging slap landed on Guo Zixu's face, and he was stunned. He touched his left cheek in disbelief: "You actually hit me?"

"Good! Good fight!" Guo Zixu laughed in anger, "I, Guo Zixu, want to divorce you! Not only that, I will also sue you to the emperor for violating the seven grounds for divorce. According to the law, you should be demoted to a commoner!"

Guo Zixu seemed to be crazy, and suddenly pointed at Lu Chengzhou and Lin Nanjie in the corner: "And your male lover, I will arrest them and sue them together! Let the world know your true face!"

"From now on, our Guo family will no longer have any relationship with the princess!"

Li Yunluan opened her eyes wide, her lips trembling slightly: "How dare you..."

"How dare he?!" Lu Chengzhou also widened his eyes.

Lin Nanqi stared at Guo Zixu's back with a frown, as if thinking about something.