Chapter 189 The Old Emperor's Widow
Inside the Buddhist temple, the green smoke emitted from the sandalwood in the incense burner became straight again from being chaotic.
Zhao Duan clasped his hands together and faced the Buddha statue, as devout as a believer.
However, the Golden Crow Flying Knife that suddenly flew back, circled around him twice, and disappeared into his sleeve showed that those who worshipped Buddha were not necessarily believers, but could also be killers.
"Bang, bang..." Madam Lin felt her heart beating fast, and she seemed to hear a dull sound coming from her chest.
She slowly withdrew her hand and turned back stiffly, her elegant and beautiful oval face filled with disbelief and horror.
"you……"
She was finally certain that the man who was praying devoutly with his back to her had definitely planned it.
And he has evil intentions towards himself.
Why?
She didn't understand. Was it because of her beauty? But there were so many beautiful women in the capital. Although she thought she was pretty, she was actually different from Li Yinglong's other five concubines...
Not to mention, compared with the legendary empress, it is like a firefly compared to the bright moon.
"Don't worry, Madam Six. I'm not a bad person."
Zhao Duan turned around slowly, still with a smile on his face, as if the person who had just threatened with the knife was not him.
But at this moment, this smile was particularly terrifying in Madam Lin's eyes. She took two steps back again and said vigilantly: "What do you want to do? Li Yinglong is behind me!"
In the face of crisis, she chose to temporarily use the tiger's skin.
"Oh," Zhao Duan chuckled, seemingly not taking the young elder seriously at all. He walked leisurely and slowly came behind her. He put a well-proportioned and slender hand on her shoulder and said softly:
"Are you using Li Yinglong to scare me? I'm so scared..."
Mrs. Lin dared not move, her whole body stiff.
I just felt the hand on my shoulder slowly rising.
A few fingers slowly slid across her cheeks as if examining a piece of merchandise.
She felt as if she was being licked by a cold, poisonous tongue, and fell into an icy cave. Zhao Duan's voice echoed in her ears:
"Tsk, it's indeed tender skin and flesh.
However, I am still a little curious. Apart from this face, what charm do you have that could make Minister Li use such crude and indecent means to get you into his mansion? Madam, can you explain this to me?
Mrs. Lin closed her eyes in pain, tears slowly flowing out.
His body was trembling slightly, and he had already imagined what was going to happen next.
She didn't expect that all the playboys in the capital were the same, and this Zhao Duan was even more lustful.
He actually dared to tease me in Shenlong Temple, in front of the gods and Buddhas.
Her voice trembled:
"This is a Buddhist temple. Aren't you afraid of being punished by the gods?"
Zhao Duan raised an eyebrow, realizing that the other party probably misunderstood and thought that he was going to defile her...
Okay, that does seem misleading, but...
"God?"
Zhao Duan sneered:
"If praying to God worked, would you end up like this?"
There is a "demigod" lying in his qi sea now...naturally he has no fear.
Mrs. Lin trembled, and tears fell as she thought of her own fate.
Mr. Zhao is a kind-hearted man and cannot bear to see a woman crying. His behavior just now was just a test and psychological pressure.
Seeing that his goal had been achieved, he snorted, withdrew his hand in disgust, walked slowly towards the altar, and said:
"It's easy to leave. Just answer my question and I'll let you go. How about that? I'll give you another chance. Tell me why Minister Li wants you. Don't say it's because of your talent or beauty."
Mrs. Lin was stunned for a moment before she realized that she seemed to have misunderstood the other party's purpose.
But, the other party went to great lengths to find me just to ask such a strange question?
Madam Lin hesitated and shook her head:
"I have no idea."
...Zhao Duan stopped and stood beside the altar in front of the Buddha. He seemed very dissatisfied with this answer and sighed softly:
"It seems that the Sixth Madam is unwilling to cooperate with me."
After a pause, he said with some regret:
"It's a pity. I originally wanted to use your husband's life in exchange, but now it seems that you have already surrendered to Minister Li and don't want your husband, who has been implicated, to escape alive."
Buzz!
Mrs. Lin, who was originally waiting for an opportunity to escape, suddenly felt a buzzing in her head, as if she had been hit by a hammer.
The whole person was stunned at first, and then his eyes suddenly widened.
Without even bothering to wipe away the tears, she took a few steps forward in disbelief.
"What did you say? My husband..."
When she was targeted by Li Yinglong, she was aware of it at first, but she did not realize who the other party was and underestimated the seriousness of the matter.
Until one night, officials suddenly broke into the inn, forcibly took the couple away and imprisoned them separately.
She has not been able to see her husband since then.
In the end, she waited for Li Yinglong, who had obtained her geisha indenture by some unknown means, to take her away.
Zhao Duan didn't look at her. He just took a bite of an apple from the altar.
Then he took out a document from his pocket, threw it on the ground, and said:
"The one above is him, right?"
Seeing the papers falling like snowflakes, Madam Li quickly knelt on the ground with her legs softened, and quickly picked up the papers in her hands and flipped through them.
On it were the trial results and related records of the case involving her husband, businessman Hu Xuezhai.
Zhao Duan said:
"Hu Xuezhai, huh, being implicated in this matter is not a small matter, but it's normal. As a businessman, whenever dealing with the government, there will be some handles left behind. If it was an ordinary official, it would be fine, but Li Yinglong took action, and it is easy to convict him.
I'm sure you're more or less aware that the man behind your separation was Minister Li... Well, I have to admit, while the methods were a bit rough, the process was clear, reasonable, and legal. Even I can't find any fault with it...
According to the date, your husband should have been escorted back to his hometown by now. According to the sentence, it is far more than the death penalty, but being sent to a place like a quarry to perform hard labor is inevitable.
In that kind of place, it is normal for some people to get sick or die accidentally every year.
If I were Minister Li, in order to put an end to your thoughts, I could just hint to the officials below and have them use legal means to send your cheap husband to the underworld...
Tsk tsk, what a poor fellow he is, his business is clearly thriving.
What I did wasn't wrong, but I thought that a woman like you, who was born a geisha, would lose her life. It's really..."
Before he could finish his words, Madam Lin, dressed in plain clothes, was lying on the floor of the Buddhist temple, holding pieces of paper and choking with sobs.
Tears dripped onto the paper.
She was happy to finally know her husband's situation, but she was also tortured by strong guilt and self-blame.
However, she unexpectedly managed to control her crying.
I even deliberately lowered my voice and tried to calm down.
She raised her head and looked up at the young man in gorgeous clothes with expectation in her eyes:
"Master Zhao, you..."
Zhao Duan looked down indifferently at the woman who was almost kneeling in front of him and said:
"I can help you get Hu Xuezhai out and save his life. I can even rescue you as well, so you and your wife can be reunited."
Mrs. Lin stared at him blankly, her oval face full of disbelief.
Zhao Duan raised his eyebrows:
"Don't you believe I have this ability?"
Mrs. Lin hurriedly shook her head.
Although she didn't know the specific power of Zhao Duan, based on what she heard, she had no doubt that the man in front of her had the confidence to say this.
but……
"Sir, are you not afraid of Li Yinglong..." Madam Lin asked tentatively.
That was the Li family, the son of the prime minister Li Yanfu. She couldn't believe that the other party was willing to go against Li Yinglong for her.
Zhao Duan said quietly:
"Otherwise, why do you think I came to look for you?"
Mrs. Lin was stunned.
Zhao Duan said:
"Li Yinglong and I have long been at loggerheads. In other words, the enemy of my enemy is my friend..."
Seeing the latter's bewildered expression, Zhao Duan was too lazy to explain the complicated disputes among the various factions in the court, and simply said:
"In short, all you need to know is that I have a grudge against Li Yinglong. I came to you because I need you to cooperate with me and do something."
Madam Lin was silent for a moment, then suddenly seemed to make a decision:
"You want me to poison him? Kill him?"
“…”
Even with Zhao Duan's skill in cultivating his Qi, he was stunned for a moment, and the look in his eyes when he looked at the woman changed.
What is the most vicious woman's heart... Not really, really not...
Zhao Duan didn't want to sacrifice his own life in revenge for Li Yinglong... Murdering a minister, I really don't know how to spell the word death...
"...I have a safer method that won't put you in danger."
Zhao Duan's voice softened a little. Seeing that his goal had been achieved, he stopped provoking her.
This woman is a bit extreme...
"What do you want me to do? In order to help me?"
Madam Lin knelt on the ground, her ten fingers tightly grasping the papers, and her eyes, which had once been filled with despair, now lit up again.
"First, answer the previous question." Zhao Duan said calmly.
Madam Lin was silent again. At this moment, she was no longer timid, but became surprisingly calm:
"Are you not deceiving me, my Lord?"
Zhao Duan sneered and said:
"You can refuse to believe me, refuse to answer, or deceive me, or even report me to Li Yinglong... Or, you can do as I say and bet on my kindness.
In short, it's your choice whether to obey him or take a gamble. Your life is not in the hands of gods or Buddhas, it's your own choice."
Mrs. Lin was silent for a moment, raised her head, and had made a decision in her heart.
She said:
"Li Yinglong forced me to be his concubine, probably because I looked very similar to one of his former lovers. He told me so."
This answer was slightly beyond his expectations.
Zhao Duan was startled, with a strange expression:
"Who did he say you looked like?"
Madam Lin uttered a name: "Yuan Ru."
Yuan Ru... Zhao Duan's face suddenly changed. He knew this name...
If he remembered correctly, Yuan Ru was the name of a noble concubine who was canonized by the late old emperor in the imperial harem, and that noble concubine was named "Yuan Fei".
Was Li Yinglong’s former lover the “Empress Yuan” canonized by the old emperor?
Do you have to be so bloody...
"What a big...gossip!"
(End of this chapter)
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