It was Li Tianyang who originally asked her to come to Daning State. Only Li Tianyang knew that she was a spy from the State of Chu. Only when Li Tianyang died could her identity be concealed.
After thinking for a long time, she stared at me with a pair of pitiful eyes and said slowly with an innocent look:
"Your Majesty, as far as I know, Xi'er didn't know those people were from Chu at first. I also went to the Prince Xi's Mansion several times during this period and didn't find anything unusual about their identities. The reason Xi'er took these people in to live in the Prince Xi's Mansion was entirely for your Majesty."
Concubine Li's words made the emperor frown in confusion. His face was twisted and he shouted angrily,
"Nonsense! Could it be that I asked him to secretly harbor the people of Chu?"
Seeing this, Concubine Li continued to tell her story with tears in her eyes.
"Your Majesty, you may not know this. Li Tianyang, a Chu native, was originally a fool from Lijiazhuang. But one day, he suddenly became not only foolish but also very smart. Xi'er accidentally heard about this and asked someone to inquire about it. It turned out that Li Tianyang was actually possessed by a god, which is why he suddenly became smart and he can even make pills for immortality. Xi'er knows that you have been in poor health recently and wanted to get you some of these pills, so she allowed these people to stay in the Xiwang Mansion for a while. But who would have thought that Xi'er was deceived by these Chu people because she was eager to get the medicine. Your Majesty, please be clear-headed. Xi'er is innocent."
"That's nonsense."
The emperor's face turned ashen as he shook his sleeves and roared,
"Humph! It's been half a year, and I haven't even seen a single pill? And you still dare to claim you made me some immortality pill. How ridiculous!"
Seeing the emperor's anger, Concubine Li rolled her eyes a few times unconsciously, then lowered her head and replied:
"Your Majesty, have you been feeling well lately?"
Her words made the emperor stunned for a moment, and then he replied coldly:
"What do you mean by that?"
Concubine Li finally raised her head boldly and looked at the emperor, then replied softly in a wronged voice:
"Your Majesty, the medicine you've been drinking recently was brought to you by me. Xi'er got it from the people of Chu. If you don't believe me, ask Eunuch Liu."
When the emperor turned to look at Liu Xi, he hurriedly bowed and replied:
"Your Majesty, what Concubine Li said is true. You were not feeling well recently and were always coughing. Concubine Li sent some small pills, saying that you should try them. She also told me not to tell you. I originally wanted to give you one to try, but seeing that your spirits improved after taking it, I decided to give you one every day."
When Liu Xi said this, a shrewd and complacent look flashed in the depths of Concubine Li's eyes.
The emperor would not know that this set of rhetoric had been prepared by Concubine Li long ago. Those small pills were indeed given to her by Li Tianyang, but they were not tonic pills. Instead, they were medicine that could make people excited. Taking this kind of medicine would consume a person's energy and internal strength. Once people stopped taking it, they would become listless until one day, they would suddenly die. This was why Concubine Li did not let Eunuch Liu tell the emperor. Eunuch Liu, who did not know the reason, only knew that the emperor's mental state improved after taking this medicine, so he kept giving it to the emperor.
Of course, they had a long-term plan when they gave the emperor this medicine. They wanted the emperor to suddenly stop taking the medicine before the Chu people attacked the capital, causing him to become depressed, and then take the opportunity to kill him, so that Leng Xi could take advantage of the chaos to ascend to the throne.
However, she had never expected that Xiao Lingzi and others would come back so quickly, and seal off the Prince Xi's Mansion overnight when they were unprepared, trapping all the Chu people there, which disrupted their original plans.
The emperor looked at Concubine Li doubtfully, and his expression became much softer than before.
Concubine Li lowered her head and pondered for a while. She knew that the emperor had already believed her words to some extent, so she struck while the iron was hot and continued to complain with tears streaming down her face:
"Your Majesty, Xi'er has been blaming himself these past few days because he's worried about you getting angry by accidentally inviting a wolf into the house. If he hadn't been concerned about Xiaobao and the hundreds of people in Prince Xi's mansion, he would have fought a desperate battle with the Chu people long ago. During these days of being besieged by the Chu people, he has lost his appetite and has lost a lot of weight. I, your concubine, feel so sorry for him!"
At this point, Concubine Li actually raised the handkerchief in her hand, wiped her tears, and started to cry.
Looking at Concubine Li's tearful face, the Emperor sighed and asked again:
"Then what is your relationship with that Chu man? How were you able to approach him so easily and kill him?"
The emperor's words made Concubine Li's face turn pale instantly. She trembled several times and then sobbed with a trembling voice.
"Your Majesty, I... I'm not familiar with that Chu man. He just said earlier that I look very similar to a woman he knew, so he gave me the opportunity to get close to him and kill him."
Although Concubine Li's explanation was a little weak, the emperor still nodded solemnly to show that he believed it.
At this moment, someone came to report outside.
"Your Majesty, Prince Yu is here."
Hearing these words, Concubine Li suddenly raised her handkerchief to cover her face and started crying.
"Your Majesty, you must stand up for Xi'er's family. We must not release the Chu people. We must make them aware of the serious consequences of angering the Daning royal family. We must make it known to the world that the dignity of the royal family cannot be trampled upon."
The emperor saw her crying here, and raised his hand impatiently.
"Back off, I understand."
When Concubine Li saw Leng Yu walking in, she looked at him coldly and quietly retreated.
Although Concubine Li was not sure whether the emperor would believe what she had just said, the emperor's tone had softened a lot, which also proved that the emperor had already believed it for the most part.
As for those Chu people, she predicted that Leng Yu would definitely let them out of the city. The emperor would then be furious and divert his attention. Then, this excuse she had come up with on the spur of the moment could help her get away with it temporarily.
Thinking of this, she whispered to the nanny beside her:
"Go and tell Prince Xi what I said..."
In order to prevent the emperor from becoming suspicious again, she had to ensure that her statements were consistent with Leng Xi's. She had to make Leng Xi act as if he had been deceived by the Chu people and was forced into a helpless situation. As long as she could get over this matter, everything would still be in time.
Leng Yu came before the emperor and was about to bow when the emperor couldn't wait to ask:
"Can you control the new king of Chu?"
Leng Yu replied calmly:
"No, I released them out of the city."
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