Chapter 10
In the imperial garden, Yunhe and Xiaoqi each held a kite. As the strings were released, the kites flew higher and higher, attracting many palace servants to take a peek.
Ling Huanchen sat in the pavilion, sipping tea, occasionally glancing up at the two cheerful people. His mood brightened, but he was more preoccupied with other matters. Several palace servants from the imperial kitchen stood in a row outside the pavilion, their necks craned to the sky, their attention riveted by the kite.
"Master, do you think the kite is flying high enough?" Xiao Qi turned around to look for Ling Huanchen, her face flushed and with a bright smile.
"It's high enough. Be careful with your step and don't fall." As he spoke, Ling Huanchen glanced behind him and saw that there was originally five palace servants, but now one was missing.
According to Lian Ye's past behavior, he must have sneaked back into the bedroom now.
Xiao Qi was running when he suddenly came around to Yun He and said, "Sister Ah He, I'm going to the toilet. Can you hold it for me for a while?"
Yun He looked at him helplessly and took the kite string, "Go quickly."
Seeing Xiaoqi leave, Ling Huanchen stood up and walked out of the pavilion.
"Master, do you want to fly a kite?" Unlike Xiaoqi, Yunhe's expression remained the same as when he was walking normally, no matter how he ran.
As soon as Ling Huanchen stretched out his hand, Yun He carefully handed the kite string to him and reminded him, "Just hold it. There's no need to run. The kite is already riding on the wind and won't fall."
Ling Huanchen listened to her chattering like a worried old lady and smiled helplessly, "Did you get infected by Xiao Qi? You make me look like a porcelain doll."
Yun He was very considerate and did not respond. In her eyes, Ling Huanchen needed to be handled with care and no one should be careless about him, even more than a porcelain doll.
Ling Huanchen's gaze drifted away with the kite. In his previous life, Xiao Qi was silenced because he caught Lian Ye sneaking around. Xiao Qi hadn't paid much attention at the time, simply checking to see if anything was missing and then forgot about it. Only when something happened did he suddenly remember to report the suspicious situation to the king, but Lian Ye beat him to the punch before he could do so.
About half a cup of tea later, Xiao Qi returned to the Imperial Garden. Ling Huanchen took a look and saw Lian Ye also appeared at the same time.
Ling Huanchen dismissed everyone early on the grounds of being tired, and returned to the bedroom with only Xiaoqi and Yunhe.
He sat alone at the table, watching the two men bustling in and out serving tea and water, and suddenly asked, "Why is the jade hairpin I left here gone?"
Xiao Qi's eyes rolled, and he immediately said angrily, "That guy must have stolen it. I just saw him wandering around the house with a sneaky look on his face. I checked around carefully, and I found that something was really missing."
"Maybe we should look for it again to see if it fell somewhere in the room. It would be bad if we wrongly accuse someone."
The two of them immediately started searching separately, turning the room almost completely upside down.
"If you ask me, it must have been taken by that guy." Xiao Qi muttered to himself while searching.
After Yun He turned over on the bed, she turned to the bottom of the bed and reached out to feel around. Instead of finding the jade hairpin, she found a rag doll. When she saw the words written on the doll, her expression suddenly became solemn.
"Master." Yun He presented the doll to Ling Huanchen.
Xiao Qi thought he had found it, and immediately followed over, craning his neck to take a look. Seeing it was a rag doll, he asked in confusion, "When did the master have a doll in his room?"
Of course there was nothing in his room; someone had let it in. Since ancient times, the art of exorcism has been taboo, especially in the imperial family. Once convicted, the entire clan would be punished.
"The words written above look so familiar." Xiao Qi hadn't read many books and didn't know many characters. He was at a loss when there were too many strokes.
"That's the word 'Xi'." Ling Huanchen said lightly.
Xiao Qi suddenly realized, "What about the small words next to it?"
"That's a birthday, our king's birthday." Yun He continued.
Xiao Qi nodded, then suddenly gasped and covered his mouth. Even though he had never seen the world before, he now understood the seriousness of the situation. The doll had the king's name and date of birth written on it, and was covered in needles. Wasn't this a curse?
"Master, what should we do?" Xiao Qi was distracted and asked anxiously.
Ling Huanchen looked at Yun He and said, "I want you to do something."
Lian Ye had put the doll away when things started to go wrong the next day at lunch. He remembered that Yu Xi suddenly felt a pain in his chest after lunch, which led to the summoning of the imperial physician, the alarming of the high priest, and the widespread search that resulted in the doll being found in his room.
And this time, it will be up to him to decide when the truth will be revealed.
Around noon the next day, the palace servants' quarters in the backyard were suddenly surrounded by guards. The servants from other courtyards gathered to one side, looking around, but the palace servants from the imperial kitchen were the only ones who were held captive in the courtyard by the guards, their heads bowed.
"Search every room, search carefully!" the guard shouted.
Just at this moment, Ling Huanchen stepped into the courtyard accompanied by Yunhe and Xiaoqi.
The palace servants who were watching stretched their necks even further, and could faintly hear whispers.
"Who is that? When did such a good-looking person appear in our palace?"
"You're so stupid! Who else could it be except that legendary little prince of the mermaid clan?"
"The little prince is even more beautiful than the legend says! What happened?"
"I heard that something was lost."
Yunhe brought a pearwood chair, Ling Huanchen sat down, took the tea from Xiaoqi, and drank it calmly.
He had asked Yunhe to mobilize this team of guards. Everything was ready, except for the announcement to the public.
The guard who was searching hurriedly left the room and came to Ling Huanchen holding an object in his hand. "Your Highness, I didn't find a jade hairpin, but I did find a rag doll with words on it."
Ling Huanchen raised his eyes slightly, and Yun He immediately stepped forward to take it, exclaiming in shock, "How dare someone use the art of curse to curse the king in the palace!"
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone was in an uproar and terrified. The palace servants who had been whispering to each other immediately shut up, and the whole courtyard fell into deathly silence in an instant.
The guard brought Lian Ye over and kicked him to the ground. "We found it from under this fellow's bed."
"It's unfair! I'm innocent!" Lian Ye crawled to Ling Huanchen hand and foot, and tried to raise his hand to grab the hem of his clothes, but Yun He grabbed the back of his collar and dragged him away.
Ling Huanchen put down the teacup and looked at him, "You said you were wronged."
Lian Ye nodded hurriedly, "There is no way I would murder the king!" He didn't know what went wrong. He had clearly placed the doll under Ling Huanchen's bed with his own hands, so how could it appear under his own bed?
Ling Huanchen looked him straight in the eyes and asked word by word, "How do you prove it?"
Lian Ye was desperate and said anything to clear himself of any involvement. "This servant has nothing to do with this child. If this servant did this, I will have my hands and feet broken and I will be struck by lightning!"
Ling Huanchen nodded, his eyes gleaming with coldness. "It's true that it's difficult to verify the Five Thunders Strike right now, but breaking his hands and feet can be accomplished immediately. Come on, pull out his tendons."
Lian Ye's eyes widened as he stared at Ling Huanchen in disbelief. "Don't come over here! Don't come over here! My uncle is the Minister of Justice!"
However, no one paid attention to his words, and soon, only terrible shouting remained in the courtyard.
Ling Huanchen stood up and looked down at him, "Take him away and interrogate him strictly."
"yes!"
The guards carried the leaves that had become as soft as mud, staining the road red and filling the air with a fishy smell.
The other palace attendants buried their secrets, attempting to minimize their presence. Originally, only the King of Youcheng was feared in the palace, but now this young prince from the mermaid tribe was also a difficult person to deal with.
Ling Huanchen's gaze fell on the bloody road, his face expressionless and his eyes so terrifyingly calm that it gave others the illusion that they were seeing Yu Xi.
He could not forget the scene when he first discovered Xiao Qi's body. Blood was flowing from all seven orifices, and the tendons in his hands and feet were cut. It was not even a quick death with one blow.
Even after returning to Ziyi Palace, Ling Huanchen's mind was still filled with the original scene.
It had to be said that Lian Ye's chosen method of framing was indeed clever. If he had feigned the intention of sending assassins, there was no way someone would change their mind midway. And since a rag doll couldn't speak, he could have put the person in an impossible position without any effort. Even if it was full of loopholes, it was still convincing, after all, he was an alien.
Those who are not of our race must have different hearts. This is a deep-rooted prejudice among people.
It can be said that if Yu Xi had not believed him in his previous life, he would have died without a burial place.
"Master, are you feeling unwell?"
Ling Huanchen came back to his senses and saw Xiao Qi's worried expression. "Do you think I was a bit harsh?"
After all, Xiaoqi has always been a simple child and has never been exposed to anything dark. I'm afraid he can't accept such a scene.
Xiao Qi got angry when he thought about it, and said angrily, "That guy wanted to frame the master, he is asking for death, don't blame the master, you don't have to blame yourself." Fortunately, he found out in time, otherwise his master would be wronged and he would have nowhere to cry.
Ling Huanchen smiled with relief. How could he forget that although this child was simple, he would always stand on his side.
After letting Xiao Qi leave, Ling Huanchen leaned against the head of the bed and closed his eyes unconsciously, as if he had really fallen asleep, so much so that he didn't even know when Yu Xi came in.
"Your Majesty?"
Ling Huanchen was startled to see the person in front of him and was about to stand up to salute, but was held down by Yu Xi.
"No need to be polite."
Yu Xi sat down next to Ling Huanchen. "I have heard about this matter. My dear, you have handled it very well. I have ordered his execution. Except for the position of Minister of Justice, all his clansmen will be exiled. The rest of the palace servants who have had contact with foreign officials will also be expelled from the palace. What do you think?"
"Your Majesty's decision is naturally the best." After this incident, he had completely offended those foreign ministers, but he didn't care much. Even if he had tried to keep things quiet in his previous life, he didn't see any good intentions from those people.
Yu Xi glanced at the docile man, grabbed his hand and held it in his palm, and suddenly whispered in his ear, "My dear, you can try to rely on me."
Ling Huanchen looked up when he heard that, and met Yu Xi's ambiguous gaze, and his heart sank.
He knew.
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Continue Thursday night~
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