Ask the Nine Ministers

Chapter 110 Game within a game
"Mrs. Gu, be careful with your words."

Xue Sui slowly adjusted his cuffs that were wet by the rain, his fingertips gently stroking the brocade material, and every move revealed a sense of leisure and ease.

"The silk gown on your body was not taken off by Xue Liu, and I did not invite His Royal Highness the Prince of Wei to this place. How can I influence your fleeting love?"

Xue Yueying's fingers were trembling, and her flushed face seemed to be filled with overwhelming hatred.

"If not you, who else could it be? If you hadn't used some tricks in secret, how could the prince suddenly appear here..."

"Ah-"

joke!

Such specious arguments do not hold water.

Xue Sui was too lazy to explain and just smiled.

"Thinking too much during pregnancy is the most likely to cause mental distress. Madam Gu, you are pregnant now, please be more careful with your words and be careful of the baby in your belly, who may inherit your madness."

Xue Yueying suddenly broke free from the support of the maid, threw herself in front of Xue Yuechen, her eyes and eyebrows seemed to be filled with madness.

"Big sister, you must believe me. I didn't have any intention to have an affair with His Royal Highness the King of Wei... I, I remember now, it was Xue Liu who deliberately made a big splash at the poetry meeting in order to attract the attention of the Crown Prince. At night, she sneaked to the Crown Prince's residence..."

Xue Sui raised his eyebrows and asked slowly, "Mrs. Gu knows my whereabouts so well. Did she send someone to keep an eye on me?"

Xue Yueying stiffened her neck and said with a stiff face, "It was for the sake of our Xue family's reputation that I sent someone to check on you, fearing that you might do something immoral. I didn't expect that I would actually find you sneaking towards Haitang Fengheng..."

Hearing this, Xue Yuechen frowned, "So, the old woman who came to Tinghe Courtyard to report the news was indeed instructed by you? It's not enough for you to frame Sixth Sister, you also want to drag me into this muddy water and let me take the blame for you?"

Xue Yueying shook her head with red and swollen eyes, her eyes filled with tears, as if they were about to burst at any second.

"Old woman, what old woman? I have never sent anyone to deceive big sister, I have never..."

Xue Yuechen looked at her coldly, "Fourth sister, you disappoint me so much... You did such a shameful thing and brought shame to the entire Xue family, don't you feel the slightest bit of guilt?"

"Sister-in-law!" Seeing her constantly blaming Xue Sui, Gu Ruoyi became so angry that her face turned red, and she stepped forward to argue for Xue Sui.

"You asked me to go to Mr. Zhao to learn poetry, but in fact you wanted to make room for you and the King of Wei to have an affair? Are you deliberately trying to ruin my reputation? If it weren't for Sister Xue's kindness in accompanying me, I would have made a fool of myself tonight. You still don't repent and even insult Sister Xue. I'm telling you the truth. Sister Xue and I were discussing poetry in Qixia Pavilion tonight. How could she get away to have a secret meeting with someone?"

Xue Yueying looked at her incredulously, "You are with Xue Liu?"

Gu Ruoyi said firmly.

"Yes, Sister Xue and I are inseparable. I have never left for a single step."

"Sister, why are you speaking for outsiders?"

"An outsider? You did such a shameful thing, and now you still have the nerve to say that you are from the Marquis of Jingyuan Mansion?"

"No, I didn't! I swear to God, I didn't call the King of Wei here!"

Xue Yueying protested loudly at the top of her voice, with a hint of despair and helplessness in her voice.

Seeing that she refused to repent, Gu Ruoyi, the usually gentle girl, became fierce.

"If you had no heart, why did you write the poem 'Lotus Complaint' at the Liushang Banquet? My fifth brother embezzled the money of the Ministry of Finance for your vanity, and his future was ruined. The Jingyuan Marquisate spent all its wealth for you, and my parents did not blame them, and my brothers were tolerant of them. This time you wanted to come to the other garden to escape the summer heat, and my fifth brother repeatedly told me to take good care of you... Sister-in-law, how can a person be so heartless?"

Her questioning was deafening.

Xue Yueying shook her disheveled hair like crazy and shouted hysterically.

"I didn't do anything. Why do you want me to admit it? What does your brother's embezzlement have to do with me? You spent all your wealth in Jingyuan Marquis Mansion to save Gu Wulang. Why do you blame me? Everything is my fault. You just want to force me to death, right?"

After saying that, she looked at Xue Sui fiercely, her eyes full of resentment.

"Xue Liu, are you happy? You set up a trap to harm me and forced me into this situation. Are you feeling proud now?"

Xue Sui looked calm and said calmly: "You have always brought trouble upon yourself, no one has ever harmed you."

"I'm going to fight you!" Xue Yueying's eyes suddenly turned red with anger. She got up and pounced on Xue Sui like a mad beast, baring her fangs and claws, trying to tear her hair.

"Enough!" Li Huan suddenly swung his sword and cut the curtain, and the flying jade beads rolled all over the ground.

Then he turned around and ordered the guards, "Seal off the jade steps and don't let anyone in."

His voice was low and majestic, with an unquestionable momentum.

Li Zhao leaned against the carved door frame, a faint smile on his lips, watching all this with interest, as if he was watching a wonderful drama.

But he was not very satisfied to see Li Yan looking dejected and staying out of the matter.

"Brother, Madam Gu said that she didn't invite you here, so tell me why you are here tonight?"

Everyone's eyes fell on Wei Wang Li Yan.

Li Yan's forehead was covered with beads of sweat. He said awkwardly, "At the banquet today, Madam Gu wrote a poem to express her misery. I was soft-hearted and felt pity for her..."

Li Zhao's mouth corners slightly raised, as if smiling: "Third brother is really kind and gentle to women."

This explicit praise and implicit criticism, full of sarcasm, made Li Yan unable to cope with it.

He repeatedly begged for mercy, but seeing that no one said anything, Li Huan's face turned livid and he refused to pay attention to him. Suddenly, he gritted his teeth, as if he had made up his mind, and took out a translucent jade from his arms.

"This is what Madam Gu asked someone to send to my room..."

Before he could finish, Li Zhao suddenly reached out and took the jade from him, examining it with interest:

"The token that Madam Gu gave to my brother is quite unique."

Li Yan glanced at him and dared not say anything.

Xue Yueying stared at the jade pendant intently, her face instantly losing color, and she shouted in panic: "No, I didn't, I didn't give anything to His Royal Highness the King of Wei..."

Li Zhao smiled and handed the jade pendant to Li Huan.

Li Huan took the jade pendant and examined it carefully in the flickering candlelight, his eyes flashing a cold light in the rainy night.

The room fell silent instantly.

Thunder roared outside the window and raindrops hit the window.

The big raindrops hit the bluestone slabs, making a crisp sound.

After a while, Li Huan tightly grasped the jade pendant and threw it towards the King of Wei with the hilt of the sword. The King of Wei dodged to the side, and with a "bang", a deep crack was smashed on the golden nanmu screen.

"Third brother, you are so brave!"

Wei Wang Li Yan looked bewildered, "Royal brother, what...what is this? Why is it so?"

Li Huan did not answer him. He stroked the dark patterns on the jade with his fingertips and asked someone to bring a bottle of sake.

Sake is slowly poured into the fine porcelain bowl——

Li Huan slowly immersed the jade bead into the wine, and blood-colored lines gradually appeared on the white jade bead.

A ferocious "Sitz" totem appeared.

The Xizi people have been active in Shangjing City recently. Li Huan has been tracking their clues for a long time and is very familiar with this Xizi totem.

But he never expected that it would appear in the hands of King Wei.

"How are you going to explain this to your father?!"

"Royal brother, I really had no idea. I swear to God..." Li Yan widened his eyes and shook his head innocently. He could never have imagined that what he thought was a token of love turned out to be a token made by Xiz's spy.

Suddenly, he seemed to realize something and stared at Xue Yueying fiercely.

"You bitch, how dare you hurt me?"

Xue Yueying looked ashen. Looking at the indifferent faces around her, she suddenly started crying and laughing, full of despair and madness.

"Hahahaha, you've all been deceived, deceived by Xue Liu. This is a setup, it's her conspiracy... It's all her conspiracy!"

"I don't know when I became so successful."

Xue Sui chuckled, took two steps forward, and his hair brushed across his snow-white neck.

A pair of clear eyes glanced at Xue Yueying's lower abdomen.

"However, I just heard from Miss Gu San that the old lady of Jingyuan Marquis Mansion passed away, and Gu Wulang observed mourning for a year, and only stopped mourning on November 15 last year. Looking at Miss Gu's baby, I'm afraid it's more than six months old? Why did they say to the public that the fetus is only five months old?"

Xue Yueying's face turned pale as paper in an instant.

"You bullshit!"

If the child was more than six months old, then it was either not Gu Jie's, or Gu Jie had an affair with her during the mourning period. Either way, it was a serious crime of treason and violation of moral principles. Everyone was shocked.

No one expected that there would be such a hidden story.

Li Zhao, however, did not mind the seriousness of the matter and continued to add fuel to the fire.

"Third brother, Madam Gu is pregnant. If the child is really of royal blood, we cannot let Marquis Jingyuan, a loyal minister and good general, raise an illegitimate child for the royal family in vain."

Li Yan glanced at Xue Yueying, hesitated for a moment, and began to explain.

"No, I was confused tonight. I have never been familiar with Madam Gu before..."

Obviously, Li Yan did not want to admit this scandal and acknowledge the child.

Li Zhao suddenly changed the subject and said with a smile, "I remember that the green plums in the Prince of Wei's mansion blossomed early last year and produced plums in October. The fourth lady asked for plums to make wine that day and took away a red jade hairpin. Is this true?"

Xue Yueying's face turned pale in an instant, as if all her strength had been drained away.

That day, she went to see the King of Wei under the pretext of asking for green plums to make wine, and she used some tricks.

Li Yan was bewitched by the scented medicine she mixed into the aphrodisiac powder, and he rekindled his old relationship.

In fact, the two of them had had an affair many years ago, and it was Xue Yueying who took the initiative to seduced Li Yan.

But the King of Wei at that time was just playing around and had already chosen a wife. Soon afterward he married the daughter of Xie Yanzhan, the Minister of the Dali Temple, who was also Xie Weilan's sister.

Xue Yueying was so angry that she turned to find Gu Jie.

A year ago, Princess Xie Ruolan of Prince Wei unfortunately passed away, and Xue Yueying's restless heart began to stir again.

After using the aphrodisiac incense, Li Yan resumed his relationship with her.

Afterwards, she found out that she was pregnant, and wanted to use the child to force Li Yan to marry her again.

However, the King of Wei likes the comfortable life of being a widower. He didn't want to marry her before, and he doesn't want to marry her now. He relies on the love of the current queen mother and is fearless. He doesn't take Xue Yueying's threats seriously at all. Instead, he becomes more and more indifferent to her and refuses to meet her again...

Seeing that the situation was hopeless and fearing that her scandal would be exposed, Xue Yueying had no choice but to give the child to Gu Jie.

But these things are extremely secretive and no one will know about them.

"Sixth sister has such a cruel heart——"

She slowly turned her head, stared at Xue Sui's face, and dug her nails deeply into her palms.

"You planned every step carefully and deliberately to seduce the prince to harm me? What a good method! What a good plan!"

The rain was like a curtain, and the candlelight flickered in the draft, as if it would go out at any time.

Xue Sui looked at Xue Yueying quietly, his eyes full of mockery, without saying a word.

Xue Yueying looked at her for a moment, seeing the calmness, composure, indifference and mockery in her eyes, and suddenly she went crazy and burst into tears in despair.

At this moment, everyone was looking at her, but no one was willing to stand up and speak for her. Just like Li Yan, who had just been lingering with her on the couch, once "Siz" was involved, he immediately tried to distance himself from her, as if she was some kind of monster.

Xue Yueying was overwhelmed with grief, tears streaming down her face, full of grievance and unwillingness.

"Is the prince really so cruel? My secret pregnancy is not the fault of just one person..."

Before he finished speaking, he heard hurried footsteps outside.

A girl, soaking wet, stumbled in, her face full of fear and nervousness.

"Your Majesty, Princess..."

That was Qiu Chan, the maid in Xue Yuechen's room.

She held a lacquer tray in both hands and her body was shaking.

"Mrs. Zhang just committed suicide by taking poison in the woodshed. Before she died, she confessed that it was the Fourth Miss who instructed her to bite Madam Ping'an and instigate the princess to suspect that the prince and Madam Ping'an had an affair, thus falsely accusing the princess of being jealous..."

Xue Yueying suddenly screamed and rushed towards Xue Yuechen: "Big sister, I didn't, I really didn't..."

Xue Yuechen took two steps back in fright.

She turned around and pointed at Gu Ruoyi, then angrily cursed Xue Sui.

"It's obvious that you were having an affair with the prince and instigated this little bitch to give false testimony!"

"Snapped!"

Xue Yuechen, with anger, slapped Xue Yueying hard on the face.

"Fourth sister, you still don't know you are wrong?"

Qiu Chan hurriedly handed over the blood-stained handkerchief on the tray.

"Princess, before she died, Mrs. Zhang left a message, saying that in the third layer of the fourth lady's dressing box, there was a jade pendant and a secret letter, which was a token of trust made by Xizi's spy."

Xue Yuechen's heart sank. He was angry, anxious and panicked. He took two steps forward and pointed at Xue Yueying.

"Search! Search for me!"

Li Huan looked up and saw the golden hairpins jingling in her hair. He pursed his lips but said nothing.

Soon, the secret letter was found in Xue Yueying's box.

The letter clearly stated that a trap had been set up tonight to frame the Crown Prince and Lady Ping'an for living together. The purpose was to arouse Prince Duan's suspicion, alienate the Li royal family, and cause infighting among the brothers.

Li Huan held the secret letter in his hand, and his knuckles turned white.

After reading it, he slowly handed the letter to the Crown Prince and King Wei.

"Do not--"

Xue Yueying let out a heart-wrenching cry.

"I didn't, I don't know anything about the jade pendant or the secret letter... Why don't you believe me? I am innocent..."

The crying sounded in the room, and then suddenly stopped.

She seemed to have thought of something, and suddenly turned to look at the maid Qiao'er who was standing dejectedly beside her. Her eyes widened as if she suddenly realized something.

"It's you, it must be you. You are the one who takes care of my dowry. No wonder, no wonder it's like this... Ever since you recommended yourself to Liuli Pavilion and came to my side, you have been plotting against me... You are Xue Liu's man, right?"

Qiao'er's face changed drastically. She fell to her knees with a plop and cried loudly.

"Young Madam, I usually listen to you the most. Please don't wrongly accuse me. It was you who asked me to monitor Madam Ping'an's whereabouts... I was just following your orders and I know nothing about Young Madam's affairs..."

Xue Yueying chuckled miserably twice, and suddenly covered her lower abdomen with both hands, a look of pain on her face.

Seeing this, Gu Ruoyi was stunned for a moment and wanted to go forward to help, but she didn't dare to touch.

Xue Yuechen was shocked for a moment before she reacted. She was afraid that someone might die, so she screamed loudly.

"Call the doctor! Quick, call the doctor!"

The room suddenly became busy.

Li Zhao looked at the long sword in Li Huan's hand and spoke meaningfully, "Someone deliberately planted spies in my courtyard to lure me into the trap. Unfortunately... my third brother fell into this carefully laid trap."

After a pause, he looked at Li Huan and asked with a half-smile:

"If the person that my brother catches in bed with me tonight is really me, will my brother pierce my chest with a sword?"

Hearing the sound, Li Huan leaned against the door and looked at him gently.

"Your Highness, you are joking. You came here on a rainy night to help me catch an adulterer, didn't you?"

Li Zhao smiled lightly, "So my brother can be trusted now? I have not had an affair with Madam Ping'an?"

The rain was like a curtain, and the fine rain threads were flashing coldly under the dim light.

Xue Sui walked over slowly, her slightly wet dress swaying gently with her steps, outlining her slender figure, like a flowing ink painting, so light and beautiful.

She looked at the two tall shadows stretched by the lantern, walked past Li Zhao, and came in front of Li Huan.

"Since Your Majesty is suspicious, why don't you conduct a thorough investigation and clear my name?"

Li Huan frowned tightly, looked at her, then looked at Li Zhao, and smiled nonchalantly.

"Neither you nor I need to fall into Xizi's conspiracy. Brothers are friendly and respectful to each other, and they share the same hatred and enemies. This is the blessing of Daliang."

Good night, see you tomorrow~~