The flames crackled and popped.
The colorful flames burned very quickly; in just a quarter of an hour, they reduced Liu Shuhua, a grown woman, to ashes.
Because most people were blocked outside by that strange wind, they couldn't get within ten steps of Liu Shuhua. Only Lin Wanyue stood not far from her.
Seeing that Liu Shuhua had been completely engulfed and burned to death by the flames, the colorful flames seemed to have completed their mission. They swayed slightly in the wind and then disappeared.
Those watching from the sidelines held their breath, fearing that Liu Shuhua, who had been burned to a crisp, might rise again.
Fortunately, she didn't have such great abilities.
Lin Wanyue waited a while, then pulled out a copper coin sword about the same length as herself from her sleeve, and used it like a pair of fire tongs to rub against Liu Shuhua's body.
From afar, everyone saw that Liu Shuhua's body, which had just been burned into a large lump, suddenly shattered with a crack. It shattered into pieces of black ceramic, like a piece of porcelain.
Lin Wanyue then withdrew the wind talisman she had just summoned, and the strange wind that could have slammed people against the wall suddenly disappeared.
The eunuch Liu and the guards were so dazed by the wind that they could barely open their eyes. Now, instead of being slammed against the wall, they were sitting on the ground with a thud.
Upon seeing this, Qi Sichen immediately sent his guards to help Lin Wanyue.
"Hey, wait a minute!" Lin Wanyue stretched out a hand to block them. "Don't move, don't move. She's dead. Don't touch her."
"..." Qi Sichen felt relieved and walked towards Lin Wanyue, asking, "Wanwan, what exactly happened? And this... is it really over?"
Lin Wanyue didn't explain to him, but said, "Go find a porcelain vase or something like that, I need to put this in."
Immediately, someone ran to the emperor's bedroom and brought back a white porcelain jar with a small lid, decorated with plum blossoms.
Qi Sichen squatted beside Lin Wanyue and watched as she personally took action, forbidding anyone else from helping, and packed all the strange-looking ash into white porcelain jars.
Qi Sichen didn't disturb Lin Wanyue any longer. Instead, he turned to look at the Taifei and royal relatives who were craning their necks to look over, and asked in a cold voice, "It's His Majesty's birthday today. Why aren't you in the palace with His Majesty? What are you doing here?"
Consort Liu lowered her head and secretly rolled her eyes.
Why are so many of them here for so long? Isn't it obvious? They're just here to watch the drama unfold.
Qi Sichen is asking such a simple question now.
"This..." For a moment, everyone stammered, unable to speak. It was the Fifth Prince and the Sixth Prince, being young and impetuous, who simply said, "Those songs and dances weren't very good. We heard a commotion here and thought something had happened, so we came to check. We never expected this..."
"I didn't expect a monster to appear here, did I? I didn't expect that Consort Liu wasn't human, was I?" Qi Sichen said, looking at the two of them.
Consort Liu and Consort Su simultaneously reached out to cover their sons' mouths, but were too frightened to move after a single glance from Qi Sichen.
The fifth and sixth princes had known since childhood that they had no chance of ascending the throne, and lived ordinary lives. They were not particularly afraid of Qi Sichen, and both nodded.
Qi Sichen raised his voice and said, "Now you know how miserable His Majesty's life is in the palace. The suffering he endures is beyond what outsiders can understand."
"If it weren't for the little princess discovering this in time and finding a way to subdue the monster, do you think His Majesty would be the only one to be harmed in the future? How could any of you have escaped?"
The fifth and sixth princes were stunned by what he said and could only continue to nod.
Qi Sichen was quite satisfied with their reaction and continued, "So now do you understand how important the little princess is to His Majesty's safety? Not only His Majesty's safety, but also this palace, even your mothers, and you yourselves have all benefited from the little princess's kindness!"
Consort Su: “!!!”
She finally understood that Qi Sichen was helping Lin Wanyue dispel the previous rumors, so naturally he had to praise her highly.
"Yes, yes, yes!" Consort Su immediately chimed in, "That's exactly what I meant. We've always heard people talk about the little princess, and we've heard a lot of bad things, but we don't understand what they mean..."
"Now it seems that this monster deliberately spread it. We really have to thank the little princess this time. We should tell our sisters and family members more about this."
Consort Liu wasn't stupid either. If she hadn't quite understood the meaning of "being able to be paired up" before, she did now. She chimed in, "That's right. The little princess has helped us all so much, yet she's still being gossiped about by those people. It's really despicable."
Those shrewd people suddenly realized that many of them had spoken ill of Lin Wanyue before, and now that Liu Shuhua was dead, they were surprised.
They attributed all these malicious rumors to Liu Shuhua, fabricating a detailed and dramatic account of her sinister intentions.
The fifth and sixth princes listened to the commotion as if they were in a tavern in the city, enjoying the story told by a storyteller.
While these people were talking all at once, no one noticed that in a shadowy corner, a figure had quietly left.
Qi Sichen and Lin Wanyue finally managed to collect all the ashes before letting them return to the banquet hall.
Liu Gonggong finally recovered, and Qi Sichen instructed him to arrange another group of people to serve Qi Yuan and prepare another palace for them to stay in.
This place is no longer safe to live in.
...
Qi Yuan was also waiting anxiously in the banquet hall.
At first, only Lin Wanyue and Eunuch Liu were missing. Although Qi Yuan missed her a little, he didn't think too much about it, assuming she had gone somewhere else to play. But he never expected that he would lose the Regent Prince's uncle in the blink of an eye.
Moreover, more and more people are disappearing, including several of the emperor's elder brothers!
Qi Yuan couldn't understand why this was happening!
Qi Yuan could only look at Lin Yanping with questioning eyes. The old prime minister remained sitting in his seat without moving, but the wine and snacks in front of him also showed no signs of being touched.
"Old Prime Minister, do you know about the matter of Wan..." Qi Yuan had just begun to speak when Lin Yanping picked up a cup of wine and bowed to him.
"..." Qi Yuan could only swallow a mouthful of wine before looking at Lin Yanping.
"Your Majesty need not worry, just wait here." Lin Yanping's eyes were fixed on the dancers on the stage, his tone calm.
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