Chapter 153 How about we try it tonight?
Dou Wenyi was in high spirits and looked on with anticipation. "Grand Preceptor, please don't be angry. As long as you guarantee that His Highness will recover completely after the ritual, we will definitely cooperate fully."
She even tried to trick him into making a promise?
Dream on!
The Imperial Advisor blurted out, "No!"
Emperor Muzong had long been impatient. He gave him a deep look, his eyes filled with undisguised disappointment. "Enough! There's no need to mention this matter again."
After the emperor led everyone away, the imperial bedchamber returned to silence.
Dou Wenyi's almond-shaped eyes widened as she curiously examined the bed. Pei Siyan directly pulled back the brocade quilt on the bed, and sure enough, the nanmu bed concealed a hidden compartment underneath, spacious enough to hide a person.
Chi Yan helped the dazed Jing Yu out of the hidden box, placed her back on the bed, and then respectfully withdrew.
Pei Siyan smiled, rubbing his forehead, seeing her naive and unworldly appearance.
He gently took her hand and touched the exquisite gourd string on the sandalwood headboard. "Your Highness, remember this well: there's a mechanism hidden inside the fourth gourd. If you encounter an assassin, press it, and an arrow will be fired from the small hole below!"
A familiar aura enveloped her, and Pei Siyan shared another life-saving secret with her.
As the crown prince, he was bound to be assassinated at night by some fearless individuals, so he had long ago meticulously designed various traps on his bed.
Dou Wenyi's heart skipped a beat, and a few ripples appeared in her clear eyes. The man's hot palm pressed against hers, their skin distinct and incredibly ambiguous.
Pei Siyan gestured for her to press the gourd, and coaxed her softly, "Try it. There are also mechanisms on the beds in Wutong Garden. Another day, I'll take you to try them all."
With a few whooshing sounds, several sharp arrows shot out into the air and embedded themselves hard in the window frame opposite.
It truly is a deadly weapon.
"Do you know how to use it?"
Dou Wenyi's pupils contracted, and she softly hummed in agreement.
Pei Siyan released her hand, then realized with a start that Jingyu was still lying on the bed. He coughed lightly and asked, "Last time, you said there was a 60% chance of a cure for his illness. Is that true?"
Dou Wenyi's eyelashes fluttered slightly, and she nodded solemnly. "Once I'm ready, I'll administer acupuncture and medicine to him. The Imperial Preceptor and the doctors launched a surprise attack today, almost catching us off guard. I'm afraid you'll need to find a suitable opportunity to recover as soon as possible."
"Hmm, that makes sense." Pei Siyan chuckled, quite pleased with her keen insight.
"Do you have any good suggestions? This illness must be cured skillfully, and the emperor's suspicion of me must be dispelled."
Without hesitation, Dou Wenyi blurted out, "That's easy, just announce to the public that you're impotent and have difficulty having children!"
Pei Siyan's eyes darkened, and he gritted his teeth in anger, "How about we try it tonight?"
She shuddered at the memory of his madness and hurriedly changed the subject, "No one suspected you were sick a while ago, so why are they testing us today... Could it be that someone in the Eastern Palace leaked the news?"
A ruthless glint flashed in Pei Siyan's narrow eyes. "The Eastern Palace has always harbored many spies. The steward Sun who was beaten to death last time was one of Consort Tan's men. Anxi has already eliminated a group of them recently, and I will have them conduct another thorough investigation!"
"What's your opinion of the Imperial Advisor?"
Dou Wenyi looked bewildered and shook her head. "Unfathomable, we must be on guard. The Imperial Advisor is undoubtedly on Prince Rui's side."
It wasn't that she didn't want to tell him, but her memories of the Imperial Advisor were too scarce. She vaguely felt that the Imperial Advisor was very strange, as if he was hiding some earth-shattering secret.
"Don't worry!" Pei Siyan chuckled. He had prepared a big gift for Pei Shaoqin.
——
The Imperial City Guard found a head maid bound hand and foot in an abandoned room in the Cold Palace. After several rounds of interrogation, the head maid implicated Consort Tan in detail.
Everyone present turned to Shen Yanzhou, who was dressed in a red robe, and pleaded, "Lord Shen, save us!"
The reason is simple: he is deeply favored by the emperor. No matter what happens, he can remain calm and composed and understand the emperor's thoughts. Now that this witness has appeared so timely, anyone with a little insight knows that she is a hot potato.
The Imperial City Guard and the Inner Court are practically on edge lately. If the palace can send women to the emperor's bedchamber so easily, what if they send knives next?
No one dares to take this responsibility.
Shen Yanzhou narrowed his eyes, his voice sharp, "Didn't you search this room recently?"
"My lord, I personally led the search team two days ago, and there was no one there at all." The head of the Imperial Guards was also completely bewildered, feeling utterly wronged.
Shen Yanzhou frowned, pondering to himself.
The emperor swiftly arranged a new marriage for the crown prince, precisely to prevent Dou Mingyan's affair from being brought to the public eye. Now that the dust has settled and everyone assumed Dou Mingyan had been secretly dealt with, this key witness has inexplicably emerged.
What does this prove?
Pei Siyan simply wanted to use him to deliver a blow to Prince Rui.
"I am paid by the emperor and I share his burdens. Just deliver my testimony to the emperor truthfully."
In less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the confession was placed on Emperor Muzong's desk.
The emperor stared intently at the confession, his hatred for Consort Tan burning. Everyone in the palace knew that the Cold Palace was a taboo subject for him; no one dared to go there to seek death. Even the Imperial Guards hid outside the Cold Palace to protect his safety.
Only his close relatives knew his habits; Consort Tan was a great disappointment.
The emperor pinched the bridge of his nose. If it weren't for the Prince Rui, he would have preferred to banish him to the cold palace to vent his anger.
"Guards, draft the decree."
"Consort Ling, née Tan, should have been promoted to Imperial Noble Consort according to custom. However, her brother, Tan Tianyou, embezzled grain from the granary, corrupted treasury funds, and is also guilty of murder. He has failed to live up to the Emperor's favor. Therefore, she is demoted to Jieyu and her golden book and seal are suspended, pending further observation."
The news that Lady Tan had been demoted two ranks from a first-rank imperial concubine to a third-rank concubine spread throughout the entire harem in less than an hour.
The well-informed former officials also soon received the news and were all secretly speculating.
It was thought that Prince Rui would be the next crown prince, but now that Consort Tan has been demoted, does that mean that Prince Rui's position is insecure, or that Prince Duan may also inherit the throne?
After all, Emperor Muzong himself rose from obscurity to fame.
Prince Rui naturally received the news immediately. He smashed several teacups in a row and angrily rebuked, "How did that steward fall into the hands of the Imperial City Guard?"
Feng Tingyun, sitting at the lower end of the table, twitched his lips. "It was the Crown Prince's men who rescued her."
He initially disagreed with His Highness's decision to take in Dou Mingyan to spite the Crown Prince, which led to such a huge disaster; it was truly their own carelessness.
Prince Rui's eyes were sinister, his expression playful as he casually toyed with the Jianzhan teacup in his hand.
There are no coincidences in this world. Pei Siyan probably already knew that Dou Mingyan would visit in the middle of the night. Everything that happened today was a trap he deliberately set up, waiting for him to make a mistake.
Why would Pei Siyan personally send his future crown princess to his bed?
Unless he doesn't care about this woman at all, no, he's using his own hands to break off the engagement.
What a brilliant tactic of besieging Wei to rescue Zhao, and deceiving the heavens to cross the sea.
The person he truly wanted to marry was Dou Wenyi!
"Go and fetch Xie Guidu for me. Tell him that if he doesn't wholeheartedly assist her, he will lose Dou Wenyi forever!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
