Too high to reach

Chapter 286 Killing and Punishing the Heart

That evening, when Li Jing returned, Mo Yi listlessly recounted what had happened that day.

Upon hearing this, Li Jing frowned. "Has the Xu family reported this to the authorities?"

"It shouldn't be there; we're conducting a self-check."

“Tell the Xu family that even if they are just servants, two lives cannot be ignored. They should report it to the authorities! Besides, do you know how to buy something this dangerous?”

"Zhang Debao found out about it, but he only found out himself. He heard that the seller is very mysterious, meeting in a dilapidated temple. You can't see him in person."

"Hongyan, go to the front and call Meng San here!" Li Jing ordered loudly.

"Your Highness, what do you mean?"

"The person selling these things also has these drugs; they're all very dangerous. Arrest them first..."

"..." Mo Yi was speechless.

After a while, "Your Highness!" Meng San arrived.

"Take a few men to the West Suburb Camp and find Zhang Debao. Ask him how to contact the medicine seller. Think of a way to arrest him. Arrest him discreetly. See what he has on him, and... who his previous buyers were. You decide on the specifics!"

"Yes." Meng San didn't waste any more words and turned to leave.

Mo Yuan returned to the Crown Prince's residence and, upon learning that the Crown Princess was alone, went there.

They chatted idly for a while, and then, at a certain moment, he winked at the Crown Princess.

The Crown Princess was somewhat puzzled and dismissed her attendants.

"Your Majesty, there's something... Let me make this clear first. I have no evidence and can't find anyone to confront me. This is something I'm telling you privately, secretly. You can't tell anyone that I said it... You have to promise that it won't implicate me." Mo Yuan rambled on.

"What are you babbling about?" The Crown Princess frowned.

"Your Majesty, I know about this and I'm terrified. I could have kept quiet. But you saved my life, so I must tell you no matter what. However, I'm of too lowly birth to bear any consequences. You must promise not to ask any further questions or mention it to anyone..."

"You're just being mysterious!" The Crown Princess's face darkened. "It seems I've spoiled you!"

"Your Majesty, please promise me..." Mo Yuan's eyes were red.

"Alright, alright! You go ahead... I promise I will never mention you to anyone."

Mo Yuan, still somewhat shaken, began to speak. Of course, some parts were true, some were false, some were rearranged, and some details were omitted or added.

Putting everything else aside, the Crown Princess's eyes immediately widened whenever the child in her womb was mentioned.

She knew, of course, what it meant to give birth to a legitimate son.

In this world, Consort Zhang was the first person who did not want the Crown Prince to have a legitimate son.

So, ever since she became pregnant, her room has been completely sealed off.

However, some people can be thieves for a thousand years, but others can't guard against thieves for a thousand years. Especially a thief from within the family, even if he has some colorless and odorless medicine...

She touched her flat belly... There were still more than half a year before she gave birth, and if something went wrong... she might never have a son in her life.

If things go wrong, you could lose your life!
"Mo Yuan, you're smart, kind, and a bit lucky... Regardless of whether this is true or not, I appreciate your kindness..."

Mo Yuan blinked. "But this is all I can do. As for how to investigate, how to prevent it, when to expose it to ensure the harshest punishment, and even how to retaliate... I can't help you with those." Her eyes sparkled.

The hope is that this will completely ruin Consort Zhang.

The Crown Princess laughed, "You little rascal... Don't provoke her these days."

"Yes."

"As for your sister... I'll have someone prepare some tonics for you to take to her later. Sigh..." The Crown Princess touched her belly, "I understand her feelings the most."

After dismissing Mo Yuan, the Crown Princess's face turned cold. Yes, how could she expose Mo Yuan in a way that would make Mo Yuan punish her the most severely?

The next morning, Madam Xu arrived at the Prince's residence.

"Madam, has something come of it?" Mo Yi invited her to sit down, dismissed the others in the room, and got straight to the point.

"Something did happen at the manor over there. A maid named Xiaoying died yesterday."

Mo Yi frowned.

“We went through the whole story with the old lady of the mansion. We found that Xiao Ying was the one who applied the honey water to Wenwen. Before going to bed, she went to the outhouse and never came back. She was not discovered until dawn. She had no external injuries and seemed to have died of a heart ailment. The mansion thought she died of a sudden illness, and since it was around the time of the old lady's birthday, they didn't disturb anyone out of taboo and disposed of her in a simple coffin.”

“Three lives lost…” Mo Yi couldn’t understand it.

"We asked the people around Xiaoying. Someone said that when Xiaoying was chatting with her, she mentioned bringing honey water to Grandma Xu. Xiaoying complained: 'I don't know which courtyard she's from, she always orders people around, saying that Grandma Xu wanted honey water. It's only a few steps away, she won't go herself, but makes me go instead.' This person then asked the maid in Xiaoying's family, how could she not recognize her? Xiaoying said she really hadn't seen her before."

This was rather strange. Before the banquet, these servants would gather together every morning and be scolded by the matron. The young maids, being so sociable, knew almost everyone in the household.

Mo Yi felt a chill down her back.

"But why go through all this trouble? It doesn't make any sense."

"Otherwise, there's nothing unusual. Jinfang's brother was recently sent to the estate, and her sister-in-law hasn't shown any abnormalities either."

After a moment of silence, Madam Xu said, "We will continue to investigate and take good care of Wenwen. We've sent someone to inform Xu Ke." Mentioning Xu Ke, Madam Xu felt a tightness in her chest; she had a bad feeling, but couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"Thank you, Madam. Please let me know when you have more news..."

In Xijiaoying, the Xu family found Xu Ke.

Xu Ke's face turned pale when he saw the letter from home.

Her two beautiful eyebrows furrowed, and she stood there stunned for a long time... Then, she turned around and asked her superior for leave.

Ever since Liang You saw Xu Ke and Princess Yu'an, he has often stared at Xu Ke, intentionally or unintentionally.

However, since the two of them didn't work or live together, they couldn't figure out what was going on.

They're actually together right now.

Seeing that Xu Ke's expression was unusual, he asked for leave and left, only giving a single instruction to his own servant without taking him with him.

I couldn't help but wonder, what happened?
In the evening, he went to see Xu Ke under the pretext of official business, but the servant said that his master had something to do at home and had to go back to the capital first.

Liang You's men quickly struck up a conversation and soon learned that Xu Ke's wife was ill.

Is her sister sick?
Is it related to that matter?
Liang You felt a little regretful; he should have told Mo Yi about it when he returned to Beijing last time.

Xu Ke was in a state of turmoil. She ran all the way home and went straight to see Mo Wen.

His heart ached even more when he saw his sad and helpless wife on the bed.

He organized his thoughts and gently comforted her...

Mo Wen has recovered somewhat in the past few days. She shed a few tears, but then stopped talking about it.

Pointing to the boxes on the table and floor, he said these were gifts from the Mo family, the Wang family, and the Qi Prince's residence. He also pointed to several other boxes, saying they were from the Crown Prince's palace…

Upon hearing that there was also an Eastern Palace, Xu Ke became anxious and couldn't sit still: "We are still young, you should take good care of yourself and plan for the future. I will be back from my place in a little over a month. When that time comes, I will take you to stay at the estate to relax."

The ink ripples responded softly.

"I'm going to visit my mother..."

After the mother and son met, Madam Xu told Xu Ke everything she had found out.

Xu Ke knew he had guessed correctly; this was Princess Yu'an's doing.

The ridiculous thing is that she went through all that trouble, causing three deaths, just trying to play me for a fool...

Looking at his expression, Madam Xu felt an even stronger sense of unease.

"Sanlang, does this have anything to do with you?"

Instead of killing, they chose to destroy the spirit. And the methods seemed both mysterious and contrived, cold-blooded and naive. It was more like a fit of pique, a show of defiance…

It took Xu Ke a moment to process what his mother meant, and he was both ashamed and angry: "Mother, what are you saying? What have I been doing all day? How can you think of me like that?"

"Of the three of you brothers, only you have never caused your mother any worry since childhood. You've always made your mother proud... But it's your marriage that I can't understand. Could it be... that you've offended someone you shouldn't have?" Madam Xu asked coldly.

Xu Ke couldn't answer, so he stood up and left.

Madam Xu was even more worried. What had happened? What should they do next?
What to do? Xu Ke didn't know either.

When he came out of his house and learned the news, he guessed that it was probably the princess who had taken the initiative.

At that time, he was filled with grief and anger, and wanted to confront the princess, have a big argument, or even get physical, and then break up with her.

But now, he can only stand helplessly on the street, with nowhere to go...

Inside the Prince's residence, Mo Yi was also saying to Li Jing, "I just can't understand it. If the person who did this hated my sister so much that they could drug her and cause her to miscarry, why didn't they just kill her? If my judgment is correct, then this matter has already cost three lives... Who did they offend?"

Li Jing nodded, "This person treats human life like dirt. There's even a hint of deliberate manipulation involved. The current focus isn't on taking your sister's life, but on destroying her spirit..."

He squinted. What could be the reason?