Chapter 9 Didn't your mother tell you?
The emperor glanced at his nephew, then at the little girl who was crying her eyes out, and already understood most of the situation. He then asked the imperial physician, "Have you determined what illness the Prince of Ning has?"
The imperial physician, covered in sweat, said, "Your Majesty, this... the Crown Prince's illness is truly bizarre; we have never heard of anything like it before."
This could be considered a family matter. The usually dignified Empress sat beside the Emperor. She was an extremely serious person. Her gaze swept over everyone below, and she seemed quite helpless about this farce. "So, how does Princess Ning intend to handle this matter?"
Princess Ning was overjoyed and quickly replied, "Your Majesty, my son's appearance has been ruined. I don't ask for much, I only hope that Miss Chi Liu can marry my son and live a happy life together."
Empress Ming's eyes darkened for a moment, and she stared at Princess Ning for a long time without saying a word.
Seeing the Empress Ming's expression, Yang Qing felt uneasy.
Empress Ming valued propriety and decorum above all else. In her previous life, she had many grievances against her and had no kind attitude towards the Chi family. Although nothing had happened yet in this life, she was always afraid that Empress Ming would, for the sake of propriety and decorum, downplay the seriousness of the matter and actually arrange for Chu Ying to marry Li Hebi.
Wouldn't that make her crime even greater?
Well, Grandfather's pardon is already in the hands of Third Uncle. The family has also discussed that if Princess Ning really abuses her power, Grandmother will knock on the palace gates tonight.
We've made all the necessary preparations, so surely nothing unexpected can still happen?
She couldn't help but look at Li Hebi's pig's head, thinking to herself, "This man is truly a menace."
Li Hebi sensed her gaze. Ignoring the presence of the Emperor and Empress, he disgustingly licked her face with his eyes and immediately became lustful. "Your Majesty, my face is ruined like this. I won't accept just the Sixth Miss marrying me. I want both the Sixth Miss and the Seventh Miss to marry me!"
Yang Qing cursed inwardly, thinking how shameless this person was.
The emperor's gaze sharpened, and he rebuked, "What nonsense are you spouting? I've heard about your affairs. It seems you've contracted some kind of venereal disease and are now dragging innocent young women into your mess. Go back now! If you dare to cause trouble again, your parents won't punish you according to family law, but I will punish you according to the law of the land!"
Princess Ning cried out, "Your Majesty is so cruel! He Bi is your own nephew! Back then, my husband and Your Majesty were inseparable, sleeping side by side. How can Your Majesty slap our family like this? The daughter of a mere seventh-rank official can trample the Ning Prince's Mansion underfoot!"
She and Empress Ming were cousins, and she immediately knelt down and said, "For the sake of our past sisterly bond, Your Majesty, won't you say a word? He Bi is still young, and what she just said was just a child's joke. As long as we marry the Sixth Miss into the Prince Ning's mansion, all the previous issues will be wiped clean, turning enemies into friends. Wouldn't that be a win-win situation?"
The empress remained silent.
Princess Ning then began to threaten suicide: "If His Majesty and the Empress do not give my son justice in this matter, I will kill myself right here in the main hall!"
The Empress finally spoke, her voice impatient, "Since Princess Ning has said so, let the entire Imperial Hospital thoroughly investigate the cause of the Crown Prince's illness and find out exactly what it is. Otherwise, if it recurs in the future, who knows how many lives Princess Ning will have to keep pressing him."
The emperor nodded and said, "The empress is quite right."
He then ordered the Prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture to conduct a thorough investigation, treating the matter as a serious case.
Yang Qing looked down at the exquisite sachet hanging from her waist, and a sense of panic rose in her heart. Could it be that the investigation had reached her?
She quickly regained her composure. So what if the investigation traced it back to her? She would just deny it to the death.
The second young master of the Prince of Ning's mansion probably used this item to deal with Li Hebi as well, and dared not reveal her identity.
Even if she confesses, so what? When the two were talking, there was only Liu Ye'er by her side. Liu Ye'er would definitely listen to her. What did she have to be afraid of? Just insist that it was a coincidence.
Feeling somewhat relieved, Li Hebi was still unwilling to give up when he boarded the carriage at the palace gate. Ignoring the Second Madam, Third Madam, and others beside him, he went forward to find Yang Qing. The expression on his face at this moment should have been a sneer, but because of the excessive swelling, it looked quite comical.
Li Hebi's threat wasn't exactly mild, "Don't be so smug. This isn't over. You two sisters will fall into my hands sooner or later, and when that time comes..."
Before the second madam could scold or chase the brat away, she saw the enormous creature fall straight down. Yang Qing stared wide-eyed in horror.
The sound of him falling to the ground was loud enough for Chu Ying, who was in the carriage behind him, to hear. He opened the curtain and saw Li Hebi lying stiffly on the ground, his eyes wide open like never before, his lips pale and bloodless. He looked terrifying no matter how you looked at him.
Chu Ying couldn't help but scream.
Princess Ning rushed over, her face contorted in rage, "My son, what's wrong with you?"
The palace maid leading the way quickly ran to call the imperial physician, and another palace maid called over several eunuchs. Some lifted her arms, some lifted her legs, and some held her waist, before they finally lifted Li Hebi up and carried her to the nearest empty room.
The imperial physician hadn't arrived yet. Seeing Li Hebi's extremely pale face, the servant beside him felt a sinking feeling in his heart. Trembling, he reached out and touched Li's nose. In a short while, his face turned deathly pale, and he stammered, "Something's wrong...something's wrong...the young master isn't breathing..."
Princess Ning's eyes were bloodshot. Without saying a word, she slapped him across the face, her teeth grinding together. "You dog servant who has never seen the light of day, have you lost your mind? Stop spouting nonsense here. If anything happens to my son, you will have to pay with your life."
The servant covered his face and retreated to the side, not daring to say another word.
When the imperial physician arrived, Princess Ning hurriedly welcomed him in, crying, "Please save my son!"
The imperial physician examined the wrist and his expression changed drastically. "This... the young master has no pulse. Your Highness, please accept this loss..."
Li Hebi actually died just like that!
This was the first time Chu Ying had seen a dead body so closely. Her legs immediately went weak, and she fell to the side. The Third Madam quickly caught her daughter, preventing her from falling to the ground, and her fingers trembled as she tried to put the substance under her daughter's nose.
"He's still breathing, he's alright..."
*****
Yang Qing never expected things to escalate to this point. He originally only wanted to teach Li Hebi a lesson, although he felt that such a person deserved to die. But... he was, after all, the heir of the Prince of Ning. Now that he was really dead, what would happen if it was found that he was involved?
Despite her inner turmoil, when the Imperial Guards came to question her, she insisted that she knew nothing. Suddenly, Li Hebi came up to her and spoke to her, then suddenly collapsed to the ground. She was so frightened that she almost fainted. When asked again, she could only cry and didn't say a word more.
Yang Qing was, after all, the daughter of an official of the imperial court. Li Hebi's death was suspicious, and without concrete evidence, they wouldn't really treat her like a criminal and torture her to extract a confession.
However, in the past few days, the third uncle, the third wife, the second wife, as well as Chu Ying and Yang Qing, were allowed to return home but were not allowed to leave the mansion. Although they were still well fed and cared for, they were still living in constant fear.
That's the heir of the Prince of Ning!
On the night the incident occurred, Li Shangxuan came to the Chi residence to see her.
He must have been watching secretly under the cover of night, because Yang Qing was afraid and not as resistant as she had been a few days ago.
Li Shangxuan gently comforted her, saying only a few words: "Ah Xun, don't be afraid. Father Emperor ordered me to thoroughly investigate this matter. You didn't do it, so nothing will happen to you."
The sachet was still hanging from her waist. Feeling guilty, Yang Qing lowered her head and unconsciously pinched it.
Li Shangxuan noticed her small movements and looked down at her. "Did Ah Xun make this?"
Yang Qing didn't speak, but she felt sad. She was still not used to lying, and she gave herself away without even realizing it.
She watched as Li Shangxuan untied the sachet from her waist and skillfully put it into his robes. Although she knew that saying anything at this moment would only make things worse, she couldn't help but say, "This is something I keep close to my body. I can't give it to you. Otherwise, if others find out, they'll say we were exchanging things in secret."
It was nighttime, but the sunset glow seemed to rise above Li Shangxuan's face. "Didn't your mother tell you?"
Didn't I tell you I wanted to marry you?
The young man was reserved and embarrassed after saying those words. He quickly coughed to cover his embarrassment and hurriedly took his leave, saying, "Don't be afraid, I'm here for you."
As Yang Qing watched his departing figure in the night, she felt not at ease, but rather even more apprehensive.
The current Li Shangxuan and she do not yet have the marital affection they had for several years. If he really finds out something, will he really go to the trouble of covering it up for her?
Yang Qing instinctively felt that she couldn't just sit and wait to die, but now she had no other choice but to sit and wait to die.
Her whole family was confined to the mansion, and she couldn't turn into a bird and fly away.
Even if I turn into a bird, what difference will it make? I still can't interfere with what Li Shangxuan and the Imperial Guards are doing.
We can only wait.
At this moment, Yang Qing only hoped that Li Shangxuan was a good-for-nothing who couldn't find out anything.
*****
Li Shangxuan had a very busy day. Since taking on the case of thoroughly investigating the cause of death of the Prince of Ning's heir, he hadn't had a moment to rest.
Princess Ning lost her son, but instead of preparing for the funeral, she came to him and cried incessantly.
After finally seeing this person off, just as we were about to get things done, we heard that this matter was inextricably linked to the Chi family.
A twitch ran down my spine; Ah Xun had been dragged into this too.
However, he quickly realized that Ah Xun was simple-minded and even if she was occasionally a little willful, she would never do anything to harm someone's life.
They asked the imperial physicians, who only said that he died of poisoning, but they couldn't say what kind of poison it was.
Yang Jiarong, the heir of the Marquis of Yong'an, was his study companion and confidant. He was quite knowledgeable in medicine, but even when summoned to the palace, he couldn't figure out what kind of poison it was.
The only thing to do was to call over the palace servants who had served them and question them one by one, but there was nothing suspicious.
The Prince of Ning arrived with the Chi family before the morning court session was over, waiting for the emperor to come and judge the matter. He even made outrageous remarks in the main hall, demanding that both Chi family daughters marry him, which infuriated the emperor and empress.
Li Shangxuan merely snorted coldly, his expression remaining largely unchanged. However, Huo Lu and Yang Jiarong, who were beside him, knew that their Crown Prince was angry, or perhaps he was acting out of a fit of rage for the sake of a beautiful woman.
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