After Li Ting left, Zhao Yunwan flicked her sleeves and left with her two children.
Outside the Li residence, there were still some commoners waiting to watch the spectacle. When they saw the Empress come out, they knelt down from a distance.
Zhao Yunwan ignored her, boarded the carriage, and sped away.
Li Ting went to Fan Zuan's courtyard to pick up Li Xingran.
The two brothers sat together, and Li Ting opened up to Fan Zu'an. He began by recounting the tragic deaths of his eldest uncle, second uncle, and youngest uncle, who were stationed at the border, and expressed his suspicions.
He then told Fan Zuan that after he handed over his military power, the emperor, under the influence of Zhao Yunwan, had not appointed him to any official position for three years. He had originally planned to discard him after he had served his purpose, but the Great Liang Kingdom was eyeing Nan Chen covetously, so the emperor had not yet taken action against him.
The Crown Prince, through the instruction of others, reminded the Emperor of Empress Zhao Yunshu's dying wish, which is why he became the Crown Prince's tutor and thus became closely associated with the Crown Prince.
It now seems that the Southern Chen Kingdom—no, it should be said that Zhao Yunwan couldn't tolerate Li Ting and wanted to seize the throne for her son Xiao Ding without bloodshed. Otherwise, the crown prince wouldn't have been taught to be so useless by Zhao Yunwan.
However, after the Crown Prince came to the Li family, he changed his ways. Therefore, the Li family must protect the Crown Prince and the legitimate bloodline of the Southern Chen Kingdom.
Fan Zuan nodded to indicate that he understood.
As a modern person, he was all too familiar with the tactics and strategies of palace intrigue.
When the night shifts at the hospital weren't busy, the nurses liked to discuss palace dramas. After listening to them so many times, Fan Zuan wrote down quite a few of them.
I never thought it would come in handy now. If only I had read more palace intrigue novels, I could have helped my older brother too.
"By the way, my dear brother, what's the story behind that cloth bag you gave Ruan Ruan?"
Fan Zuan then told Li Ting about seeing the ice poison in Zhao Yunwan's hand.
“Once the Ice Gu is made, it can only be stored in a crystal container. The medical book that my second sister gave me last night details how the Ice Gu is formed, its shape, its dangers, and its natural enemies. That’s why I was able to identify it so quickly today.”
"Brother, how coincidental are things in this world? I only learned the night before last that there are such vicious ways to harm people, and today I saved Ruan Ruan."
“Perhaps it’s because we are in the right! Little brother, are you afraid that I will be making enemies of the Empress and even the current Emperor?” Li Ting looked at Fan Zu’an solemnly and said this.
Fan Zu'an firmly replied, "I'm not afraid!" No matter what time or space it is, it is an honor to be an opponent of those who harm the country.
"Brother, please be sure to say so when you need me. I may not have any other skills, but I have the ability to protect the Li family from insidious means."
"That's enough. You've been busy all morning, take a break first, and I'll tell you about the rest later."
Li Ting pushed Li Xingran back into Xu Ningyou's room. The couple looked at each other, and Xu Ningyou saw heaviness in Li Ting's eyes.
"Madam, I'm afraid I'll have to use the Li family's secret agents. The fact that the Empress is planting opium in Kunning Palace must be made known to the whole world." Li Ting said these words while holding Xu Ningyou's hand.
“Husband, I support you. And I have already sent people to investigate the true cause of death of my eldest uncle, second uncle, and youngest uncle. I believe news will come back soon.” Xu Ningyou placed her other hand over Li Ting’s hand.
When husband and wife are of one mind, their strength can break even metal!
Wow, Daddy and Mommy work together so perfectly!
Li Ting and Xu Ningyou smiled knowingly upon hearing this.
The book states that Consort Ning in the palace was a pawn of the Li family. In the book, Consort Ning's ending is tragic; she is turned into a human pig by Zhao Yunwan and then sold to a theatrical troupe.
Li Ting: What is Zhao Yunwan's heart made of? How can she be so insidious and vicious in everything she does?
Xu Ningyou: Sure enough, when women get ruthless, men have nothing to do with it.
Consort Ning was beautiful and received the Emperor's favor for several nights. Furthermore, because of her robust health, Zhao Yunwan's contraceptive potions were ineffective, and Consort Ning became pregnant.
[In the book, the father didn't even need to use this pawn before the Li family was already on the verge of collapse. Even if he had used it, the assassin would have been buried with the Li family. So in the end, the father severed all the Li family's hidden forces that hadn't yet been discovered, hoping to protect them from the consequences.]
However, some assassins stepped forward on their own, and Zhao Yunwan obtained a list of them. Consort Ning was among them, which led to her tragic end.
[So sleepy, time for some milk and a nap! According to the book's plot, nothing major will happen this year. The Empress has spent an enormous amount of time and energy dealing with the opium scandal. She even went so far as to use martial arts forces to slaughter officials and civilians who knew about the opium incident.]
[Going to sleep now, I hope you grow up safe and sound!]
Back in the palace, Zhao Yunwan wanted to find the emperor, but was told that he was being held up in the imperial study by the prime minister, the minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and other elderly officials.
In the imperial study, rows of elderly men with white hair and beards knelt, while Emperor Hui, Xiao Jing, sat on the throne.
Xiao Jing yawned; he had been feeling weak lately.
The senior officials, one after another, advised the emperor to thoroughly investigate the opium scandal, arguing that the empress bore responsibility no matter what.
If the Empress was involved in this matter, then she must be deposed!
The emperor picked at his ear. His mind raced: What are these old men thinking?! Depose the empress? He'd gone to great lengths to appoint her, and she'd shared so much of his sorrow. How could he just depose her like that? The Jin Dynasty was destroyed because of opium, and the Nan Chen Kingdom is now so powerful; how could its foundation be shaken by a small patch of opium in the empress's palace?
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