Chapter 123 A Magnificent White Lotus
Seeing that Emperor Jian'an and the Empress were looking at him, the Sixth Prince burst into tears and cried even harder: "What are you saying, brother? What poison? I study in the palace all day long. I have to ask Father and Mother for permission to go out and play. How could you poison someone?"
The Crown Prince shouted, "Enough! Stop your act! It's one thing to hide behind the Empress Dowager and secretly develop your own power all these years, but why did you send poisoned stones into my palace? You killed three of your own nephews, and even tried to kill me and the Crown Princess. Now you're pretending to be an innocent child to deceive Father and Mother?! Li Chengyao, if I didn't have evidence against you, I wouldn't have rashly taken you out of the palace. Even if you summon Father and Mother, you won't leave the Eastern Palace easily today!"
These words shocked everyone present.
Emperor Jian'an and the Empress were both shocked: "Crown Prince, what are you talking about? What poisonous stone?"
The Crown Princess, suppressing her grief, ordered Taxue to bring out the five pieces of fluorite and the fake jade cabbage that had been placed in the box. Her voice choked with sobs, she recounted how she had received the golden lock from the Empress, how her children had grown weaker day by day after wearing it, and how they had ultimately died. Pointing to the jade cabbage bestowed by the Empress a year ago, she said, "The poison in this thing far surpasses that of fluorite. For the past year, the Crown Prince and I have been deteriorating rapidly, almost to the point of madness, all thanks to this poisonous stone!"
The Empress's expression changed drastically, and she said in a trembling voice, "This golden lock... it was... it was a gift I gave to the children. The gems inside were tributes, so how could they be poisoned?"
The Crown Prince said coldly, "The gemstones bestowed by the Empress Dowager were naturally tributes, but they were secretly replaced with fluorite before being sent to the Eastern Palace. If you don't believe me, you can ask Aunt Yan in the Empress Dowager's palace, and Zheng Fuxin, who is in charge of flowers and trees. I had people arrest and interrogate these two a few days ago."
The Empress looked at the Sixth Prince, whose eyes were red, and unconsciously took a step back, her eyes filled with disbelief.
The Crown Prince said, "And this jade cabbage was also sent to my palace by my sixth brother through the fake Empress Dowager. It was my birthday gift a year ago. Does the Empress Dowager still remember it?"
Of course the Empress remembered.
Last year, as the Crown Prince's birthday approached, several memorials impeaching him were received from censors. The Emperor even harshly criticized him during the grand court assembly, creating a somber atmosphere in the Eastern Palace. She was thinking of a unique birthday gift to cheer him up when her youngest son happened to send her this jade cabbage, its vibrant color truly exquisite. She then subtly asked her youngest son if she could give the jade cabbage he had sent to the Crown Prince as a birthday present.
The youngest son happily agreed, adding that if the Crown Prince could feel better upon seeing the gem, it would be a blessing for the gem.
The Crown Prince was indeed delighted to receive the cabbage and placed it by his bedside in his chambers. But now he's saying it's actually a poisonous stone?!
The sixth prince looked at her blankly and helplessly, and pleaded, "Mother, I don't know why my brother said that the gemstones are poisonous. There are all kinds of gemstones of different colors in my palace. If they are poisonous, wouldn't they poison me first?"
Emperor Jian'an and the Empress exchanged a glance. Their youngest son had always loved brightly colored things and was particularly fond of all kinds of gemstones. In his palace, even the flowerpots were filled with stones of various colors, a fact known to everyone in the palace.
The sixth prince said in a trembling voice, "I know that my brother is very sad because he lost his nephew and niece, and I am very sad too. But you can't say that I deliberately replaced the gemstone with a poisonous one just because I was naughty and jealous that the jewel that the Empress gave to my brother was more beautiful."
He sniffled, tears welling up in his eyes, feeling wronged: "And this jade cabbage, it was originally presented to the Empress Dowager, but she gave it to my brother because she saw that he was in a bad mood. If it were poisonous, would I want to poison the Empress Dowager? How could I have known that the Empress Dowager would give it to my brother?"
Seeing that he was distorting the truth and spouting lies so easily, the Crown Prince trembled with anger: "Is this jadeite? You admire jadeite and gemstones all day long, how could you not know that this is actually a fake stone? You deliberately presented this item during my birthday celebration, just so that the Empress Dowager would give it to me to make me smile?"
The Sixth Prince retorted loudly, "That's just my brother's own idea. I know that my brother has been in a bad mood lately, and my sister-in-law is not in good health. I don't know where he heard the rumor that the gemstone is poisonous, and he insists on blaming me for the bad luck of the Crown Prince's Palace! But my brother can scold me and hit me, but he can't wrong me!"
He knelt down before Emperor Jian'an and the Empress, pleading, "I beg you, Father and Mother, to do me justice. I will rather die than admit to this fabricated crime."
The Crown Prince was shocked because he had never regarded his younger brother as an opponent, so he was unaware that he had such a talent for sophistry. He frankly admitted that he had switched the gemstones, and lightly dismissed the matter by saying it was just for fun. He then brought up the ominous saying that Emperor Jian'an was wary of. It sounded like he was begging for mercy, but in fact, every word he said was meant to sow discord between him and the Crown Prince.
Upon hearing this, Emperor Jian'an and the Empress indeed began to doubt the Crown Prince's motives.
The crown prince spoke with absolute certainty, while the younger son also argued vehemently. Neither side was willing to concede, which made the situation difficult.
The Crown Prince was more than ten years older than the Sixth Prince. If the Emperor Jian'an had spoken so harshly to his younger brother normally, he would have given him a severe scolding. However, this matter involved his three children who had died young. If the Emperor had forced a reprimand for his lack of brotherly love as the Crown Prince, he would have overlooked the Crown Prince's pain as a father who had lost his children.
Emperor Jian'an found it difficult to reprimand the crown prince.
But to believe that his youngest son intended to harm the Crown Prince's family seemed utterly absurd. Could a few stones really poison living people? He didn't believe it.
Moreover, the youngest son is right. If the gemstones were truly poisonous, his entire palace, filled with stones of various colors since childhood, would have been filled with them; if they were poisonous, he would have died long ago.
The Empress, on the other hand, was torn between her two sons. The Crown Prince had been having bad luck these past few years, and the Crown Princess was sickly, causing her endless worry. Her youngest son had always been as caring as a daughter to her, constantly sending her gifts to please her. She simply couldn't believe that her youngest son could harbor such a vicious heart towards his own brother.
She believed that Cheng Yao was capable of secretly replacing the gems she had bestowed upon the princes, as he found them more beautiful. He had always liked these colorful stones and wanted to possess them, even dressing himself in more flamboyant clothes than others. However, the Crown Prince and his wife insisted that he had deliberately sent poisonous stones to harm their family, which she could not accept.
The Empress was deeply saddened that her two biological sons had turned against each other. One after another, the children of the Crown Prince's palace had left, and in recent years, no one had been born. In order to treat the Crown Prince and his wife, she had invited many doctors, both from the imperial court and from the common people. She brought them bowls of medicine and carried them in one by one, but the Crown Prince's illness did not improve.
With the loss of Ke'er due to the accidental fire at the imperial estate, the Crown Prince was left with only a frail little princess. Could it be that for this reason, the Crown Prince overheard an unverified claim and blamed all the blame on his younger brother?
Seeing that the Sixth Prince was so eloquent and skillfully deflected all blame, the Crown Prince sneered repeatedly, "You certainly have a silver tongue! Do you want Father and Mother to judge the case on the spot? Ever since I was nearly killed by assassins during my tour three years ago, I have been investigating who was behind it all. Do you think I don't have evidence to prove that you were behind it all? Father and Mother want evidence? I have two large boxes in my study. Father can have officials from the Court of Judicial Review or the Ministry of Justice come and take them away for investigation. Let the world see what kind of black heart this white lotus flower who always hides by Mother's side pretending to be innocent really has!"
These words were extremely weighty and contained a tremendous amount of information, leaving Emperor Jian'an and the Empress speechless with shock.
The Crown Prince's tone shifted: "But I don't have time to argue with you about anything else right now. The man lying on the bench, shot with an arrow, is on the verge of death. He took the poisoned arrow to save me. Your men said there was no cure for this poison, but I don't believe it! Take out the antidote now. The feud between us is none of anyone else's business. If you want to kill or torture me, come at me!"
The sixth prince still looked bewildered: "What poison? Brother, what are you talking about?"
Emperor Jian'an's facial muscles twitched, and he slammed his hand on the table beside him: "Enough! Li Chengming, haven't you caused enough trouble?! Do you even respect me?"
The Crown Prince suddenly threw off his robes and knelt down: "Father, please hear what your son has to say. Ever since I learned that the three children died from the poisoned stone, and that my increasingly irritable state and the Crown Princess's growing weakness were due to being poisoned by fake jade, I have known that everything was done by my sixth brother. As for the assassination attempt on me three years ago, it has remained unsolved. It is not that I have found nothing, but that I have repeatedly traced it back to the Empress Dowager. I thought that I had been investigating in the wrong direction, that the murderer was deliberately playing a trick on me, so I did not continue the investigation."
"But ever since I learned that it was my sixth brother who did it, all my doubts have been resolved. If the murderer was my sixth brother, then Mother would definitely be the best cover for him. I would never believe that Mother would have any intention to harm me, which is why I have repeatedly missed the murderer. After investigating the cause and effect this time, based on the evidence I found before, I eliminated his strongholds one by one, and finally forced him to the imperial estate outside Yongzhou City."
Emperor Jian'an, tired of standing, sat down and said expressionlessly, "So you mobilized the Qilin Army to surround this imperial estate and then kill everyone, regardless of age or gender?"
The Empress's eyes widened suddenly. Men, women, young and old—kill them all?! How could the Crown Prince do such a thing as killing the elderly and children? If word got out, it wouldn't be as simple as just impeaching the officials!
The Empress was both anxious and angry: "Crown Prince! How could you do such a thing?"
The Crown Prince suddenly looked up, his eyes almost spitting fire: "Those are not ordinary old men and children, but assassins! The entire imperial estate is full of assassins, from fifty-year-old men to seven- or eight-year-old children, they are all assassins! If Father does not believe me, you can ask He Xiang, the adjutant of the Qilin Army. Although I led three hundred cavalry to besiege the imperial estate, I was caught off guard by these assassins, and dozens of soldiers were killed. In the end, I was ambushed. If it weren't for Young Master Meng's selfless rescue, I would be the one lying on this bench!"
Emperor Jian'an said expressionlessly, "Whether you mobilized the Qilin Army on your own to vent your personal anger or for other purposes, I have no way of knowing. Moreover, since you can command He Xiang, he will naturally speak up for you."
The crown prince raised his head in disbelief, and said blankly, "Father—"
The sixth prince lowered his eyes, concealing a hint of a smile.
Brother, it seems you really don't understand Father Emperor.
Will Father Emperor care about your purpose in mobilizing the Qilin Army? No, what he cares about is that you can mobilize the Qilin Army.
As an emperor, he spent his entire life maintaining his system of checks and balances, suppressing you when you were at the height of your power and supporting you when you were weak. His indulgence and consideration were always within limits, but your ability to use the army on your own clearly exceeded those limits and disrupted the balance he held in his heart.
So what is the truth, and does it even matter?
When you are weak, he feels sorry for you and supports you; when you are strong, he is suspicious of you. In the end, he still hopes that you can be in a weak position, otherwise how can he demonstrate patriarchal and imperial power?
My brother just can't see that our father is this kind of person, which is why he's always constrained and unable to use his abilities.
The Crown Princess's body went limp, and she barely managed to hold onto the chair to avoid falling.
Hearing these words from Emperor Jian'an, she knew that everything she and the Crown Prince had done had been in vain.
The deaths of the children, their pursuit, and their framing—none of these truths matter anymore, because the Crown Prince had taken action against the Qilin Army, the personal guards of Emperor Jian'an.
However, the tiger tally used to mobilize the Qilin Army was clearly given to the Crown Prince by Emperor Jian'an, so this was another test rather than a father's act of showing affection for his son.
Who can understand the heart of an emperor?
The Crown Princess turned to look at Meng Guanqi, whose lips were gradually turning purple, sitting on the bench. Such a handsome young man, she was afraid that she would not be able to get the antidote from the Sixth Prince today.
She was sorry to him, and even more sorry to Li Xiaoxiao.
As the Crown Princess of the Eastern Palace, there was nothing she could do.
Her tears streamed down her face like beads.
The crown prince had already knelt down deeply.
Emperor Jian'an did not rouse him, his deep gaze fixed on the dark night: "Just because of a fearless country girl who fabricated an unverified claim about poisonous stones, you brothers have fallen out. This is utterly disgraceful. Guards, bring that country girl to me. I want to see who this person is, capable of turning the entire palace upside down all by herself."
The crown prince suddenly raised his head: "Father!"
Emperor Jian'an ignored her and instead told Liang Qisheng, "Go and invite him yourself."
Liang Qisheng didn't dare to look up and immediately ran out.
Li Xiaoxiao was half asleep when the door was rudely kicked open, and several eunuchs barged in without asking any questions, trying to seize her.
She was still in her pajamas and was about to resist when Taxue hurriedly followed her, took off her gold bracelet and hairpin, and stuffed them haphazardly into the hands of several eunuchs. She then knelt down and begged Liang Qisheng, "Eunuch Liang, please do me a favor and let me help the young lady change her clothes. She will go out with you to see His Majesty immediately."
Liang Qisheng coldly looked at Taxue kneeling on the ground and said slowly, "Since it is Miss Taxue who has made the request, then hurry up, His Majesty cannot wait."
Ta Xue quickly got up: "Yes, it will be ready soon."
Liang Qisheng went out with four eunuchs, and Taxue hurriedly took the clothes from the bed and dressed Li Xiaoxiao.
Li Xiaoxiao was completely confused: "Ta Xue, what's wrong? What happened?"
Tears welled up in Ta Xue's eyes: "Good girl, Her Majesty is sorry for you. Her Majesty doesn't know how to repay the great kindness you have shown her."
Li Xiaoxiao was even more confused. She reached out to wipe away Taxue's tears: "Don't cry. Where did those eunuchs come from? What happened?"
Ta Xue hurriedly explained everything, then couldn't help but shed tears, saying, "It seems His Majesty is blaming you for speaking carelessly, so be careful what you say..."
Li Xiaoxiao felt a sudden "boom," her head buzzing. She grabbed Taxue's hand and asked a crucial question: "Who did you say was poisoned? Young Master Meng? Which Young Master Meng?"
Ta Xue then realized that the Crown Princess hadn't told Li Xiaoxiao about Young Master Meng being poisoned by an arrow. She could only apologize, "It was Young Master Meng Guanqi. He shielded the Crown Prince from a poisoned arrow. Your Highness originally intended to force the Sixth Prince to hand over the antidote, but His Majesty—"
Before she could even finish speaking, Li Xiaoxiao had already darted out of the house.
Liang Qisheng was taken aback. Upon closer inspection, he saw that the woman in the pale yellow dress showed no fear, only anxiety: "Where is the Emperor? Take me to see him quickly."
Liang Qisheng was taken aback. He gave Taxue enough time to tell her the whole story so that she wouldn't be confused. But instead of begging for mercy when she saw him, she was in a hurry to see His Majesty.
Would anyone really go out of their way to die?
He had no choice but to put on a cold face and say, "Follow us."
The four eunuchs were supposed to escort her, but she walked so fast that she almost missed Liang Qisheng.
To avoid being overtaken by her, Liang Qisheng walked breathlessly and soon arrived at the main hall in the front courtyard.
Li Xiaoxiao rushed into the main hall, ignoring the emperor and empress standing to the side. Her eyes darted around and she immediately spotted Meng Guanqi lying on the bench, his face already pale, his lips purple, and his breath faint. A broken arrow was stuck in his back.
She only glanced at it, and tears streamed down her face. It felt as if someone had taken scissors and twisted her internal organs into a ball, causing her unbearable pain.
She could see nothing but him, barely clinging to life.
When someone came up to pull her, she pushed them away without caring where they bumped into; all she could see was Meng Guanqi.
She finally reached him, knelt down, and with trembling hands grasped his cold fingers, whispering, "Young Master, Young Master... Meng Guanqi..."
By the end, his voice had choked with emotion.
She had never seen Meng Guanqi so weak.
When Baohe drugged him, he lay motionless like this, with his eyes closed. At that time, he had fair skin and a beautiful face, and his face still had baby fat.
When Zhang Li drugged him, he couldn't be woken up no matter what she did. She had no choice but to prick his ten fingers with a needle. He trembled in pain. When he woke up, his eyes were blurry and his eyes were filled with tears. He had to force himself to finish the provincial examination.
But this time, he lay there quietly, his face as pale as paper, on the verge of death, like a white cloud or a feather, as if he might be blown away by the wind at any moment.
What sins did he commit in his past life? Why does he suffer endlessly in this life?
"Meng Guanqi, wake up..." Her voice was so hoarse that it was unbearable; her nose and throat were completely blocked, and she couldn't calm down at all.
Meng Guanqi's eyelashes fluttered, but she couldn't open them, leaving only a faint, reassuring smile on her lips.
Li Xiaoxiao was overcome with grief. Out of the corner of her eye, she suddenly noticed a medical kit placed to the side, with an elderly man with gray hair holding a needle in his hand.
Li Xiaoxiao suddenly grabbed the old man's hand, her eyes shining: "Are you a doctor? Are you an imperial physician? Why didn't you remove the arrow from him? Why didn't you give him an antidote?"
Her strength was so great that Doctor Xiao felt as if his hand was about to be crushed. He quickly said, "This young master is severely poisoned and needs an antidote as soon as possible—"
Li Xiaoxiao turned around and shouted, "Where is the antidote? Where is the antidote?"
She spun around frantically, her eyes immediately landing on the kneeling prince. Ignoring the horrified stares of the others, she reached out and lifted him off the ground, her eyes bloodshot: "Didn't you say you'd protect him? Is this how you protect him? Where's the antidote? Where is it?!"
The prince lowered his head weakly: "I'm sorry~"
Sorry? What nonsense is he spouting? Does he think Meng Guanqi will get better just by saying sorry? If he's incapable, why does he keep Meng Guanqi by his side?
She regretted it, she regretted it. She shouldn't have stayed in the East Palace. She should have gone out earlier to meet him and they could have gone back to Biyang County together. Who cared about the poisonous stone? She saved the Crown Prince and his wife, but the retribution fell on Meng Guanqi!
She almost pleaded, "Don't apologize to me, I'll apologize to you, okay? Just give me the antidote, give me the antidote..."
Pang Shi knew her strength, and Emperor Jian'an's expression was getting increasingly grim, so he had no choice but to step forward and grab Li Xiaoxiao's hand: "Xiaoxiao, calm down!"
Li Xiaoxiao abruptly shoved him away: "I can't calm down. Why was he poisoned? Where did you take him?"
Pang Shi glanced at the Sixth Prince and whispered, "We were not careful enough. We brought Young Master Meng to Yongzhou and found Zhang Li there, but we forgot about Third Aunt... Third Aunt shot a sneak arrow at Your Highness from behind. Young Master Meng rushed forward and blocked the arrow for Your Highness."
Zhang Li? Third Aunt? Isn't that the Sixth Prince's subordinate?
Her eyes darted around: "Which one is the Sixth Prince?"
Her gaze lingered on a boy who seemed innocent but couldn't hide the schadenfreude in his eyes. He appeared at the East Palace in the dead of night, still dressed in extravagant and flamboyant clothes, making him easy to recognize.
She walked straight up to him: "Are you the Sixth Prince?"
She was sizing up the Sixth Prince, and the Sixth Prince was sizing her up too, a meaningful smile playing on his lips: "You're the country bumpkin who lied to my brother and sister-in-law, saying the gemstone was poisonous, and then framed me?"
Upon hearing this, Li Xiaoxiao's chaotic mind suddenly calmed down.
Did she trick the Crown Prince and Crown Princess into believing the gemstones were poisoned? Was she framing him? One sentence contained two traps; if she accidentally fell into them, she would likely meet a gruesome end.
As expected of the mastermind who has been suppressing the Crown Prince, even at this point, the Crown Prince still cannot defeat him.
She gave a cold laugh: "So you're the Sixth Prince who raised assassins at the age of twelve, chased the Crown Prince all the way to Luzhou, and poisoned the Eastern Palace?"
"Insolence!" A loud shout came from behind the two men, who turned around to meet Emperor Jian'an's livid face.
Emperor Jian'an had never been ignored like this before. This unruly woman, who didn't know how to greet the emperor and empress and even dared to grab the crown prince by the collar in anger, was actually the one who turned the entire palace upside down.
And the Crown Prince and his wife actually treated this barbarian with great courtesy and even trusted her completely? Have they been completely ignorant of the classics and strategies for governing the country? How could he tolerate such a vulgar and rude village woman causing trouble in the Eastern Palace and disrupting the entire palace?
Li Xiaoxiao recognized him as the emperor from the color of his clothes. She suppressed her anger and forced herself to kneel down and bow to him: "This commoner, Li Xiaoxiao, greets Your Majesty. Long live the Emperor!"
Emperor Jian'an looked at her coldly: "Li, how dare you! You misled the Crown Prince first, and then framed the Sixth Prince. Did someone instigate you? If no one instigated you, you will not escape death no matter which crime you commit!"
Li smiled and said, "Your Majesty is wise. I did not mislead the Crown Prince, nor did I frame the Sixth Prince."
Emperor Jian'an roared, "You dare to talk back! You know perfectly well that the Crown Prince has lost three sons and is filled with resentment with nowhere to vent it, yet you used the excuse that the gemstone bestowed by the Empress was poisoned to make him mistakenly believe that the Sixth Prince had poisoned him, thus sowing discord between the Crown Prince and his brothers and stirring up trouble within the imperial family—"
Li Xiaoxiao interrupted him: "Your Majesty, if the poison stone is not poisonous, would Your Majesty dare to sleep with this orpiment and copper-uranium mica for a month? If Your Majesty does not punish me within a month, I, Li Xiaoxiao, will offer my head."
Upon hearing this, the entire hall was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Even the Empress couldn't help but widen her eyes in shock as she looked at Li Xiaoxiao, while the Crown Prince and Crown Princess looked on in despair. How could she speak to the Emperor like that?
No one ever dared to interrupt the emperor, and no one dared to disobey the emperor's wishes under his wrath.
Emperor Jian'an was clearly determined to make Li Xiaoxiao take the blame. Regardless of whether her claim about the poisonous stone was true or false, for the sake of the brotherhood between the Crown Prince and the Sixth Prince, and to maintain the peace of the court and the palace, he had no choice but to make it a lie.
Unfortunately, he encountered the stubborn Li Xiaoxiao, who forced him to admit that the gemstone was poisonous.
Even if he said that the gemstone was non-toxic, it was impossible for him to sleep with a stone that was "potentially poisonous." As an emperor, he was naturally most averse to things that could affect his health.
Enraged, he grabbed a teacup and threw it at Li Xiaoxiao.
Li Xiaoxiao didn't dodge and was hit squarely on the head by the teacup. Her hair immediately came loose, and blood slowly flowed down her forehead.
She touched the blood on her mane, ignoring it, and stood up directly, walking to the Sixth Prince's side: "I don't care about the lawsuit between you father, son, and brothers. Hand over the antidote, and I will immediately take my young master away from the Eastern Palace."
The Sixth Prince smiled enigmatically: "Is the young lady out of her mind? I have never done what my brother claims, so where would I get an antidote?"
Li Xiaoxiao looked at him expressionlessly: "I'll give you one more chance. Take out the antidote."
The sixth prince snorted coldly. He had won a great victory tonight and was too lazy to bother with a country bumpkin.
Li Xiaoxiao's voice seemed to come from a glacier: "Since you're so shameless, then don't blame me for being ruthless."
Her figure flashed in the hall and appeared in front of Meng Guanqi the next moment.
She lowered her head and gently kissed his already purple lips, whispering, "Little cabbage, don't panic, I'll go and snatch your life back from the jaws of death."
She suddenly reached behind Meng Guanqi and pulled out the poisoned arrow.
Blood gushed out from Meng Guanqi's back, spraying all over Xiao Yuanzheng, who was standing to the side.
Dr. Xiao was shocked. Driven by his compassionate heart, he instinctively took out a needle and inserted it into Meng Guanqi's heart meridian to prevent the toxin from flowing into his heart too quickly.
Holding a blood-dripping broken arrow, Li Xiaoxiao flashed behind the Sixth Prince in the next second, grabbed his shoulder, and thrust the arrow into the spot where Meng Guanqi had been shot.
-----------------------
A note from the author:
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com