Crossing the Mountains

Chapter 223 The changing situation
In the end, the matter of Murnton's death could only be left unresolved.

When she saw Aisha again, there were only three days left until the Monroe Festival. Through the prison door, Caizhu looked at him and said, "Your Highness has changed."

Aisha smiled faintly: "Really? How is it different?"

Cai Zhu'er didn't mince words and said frankly, "His Highness in the past was like a dagger that hadn't been drawn from its sheath. He looked solemn and beautiful on the outside, but he concealed all his brilliance, making it impossible for anyone to see him. Now he is a drawn blade, stained with blood, his sharpness fully exposed, showing everyone the murderous aura of royal power."

“This murderous aura can save you,” Aisha teased.

“I know.” Cai Zhu’er nodded gently. “The princess probably has no time to care about me, a prisoner. I should thank Your Highness for your murderous intent.”

“That’s not necessarily true,” Aisha said. “Yelinya is more resilient than I thought. Munandon’s accident at the training ground didn’t completely break her. Moreover, out of grief over the loss of her son and her suspicion of me, she might take her anger out on you. These past few days, the courtiers loyal to her have been putting pressure on me, and I still have to deal with them.”

"Well, it seems I still have to be burned at the stake," Cai Zhu'er said, trying to sound casual.

“Don’t worry, give me a little more time, I won’t give up…” Aisha tried to comfort her, but was interrupted by Caizhu.

"Your Highness, was Munandun's death while lifting the tripod truly just an accident?"

Aisha calmly countered, "You also think it's related to me?"

Cai Zhu'er said, "I have been locked up in prison and have only heard Fu Feng's account. I do not know the full story of the incident, so I cannot make any judgments. However, I think that even the court officials who witnessed it at the time, or even the princess herself, should not have been able to find any evidence of the plot to murder Mu Nandun in your possession. Otherwise, you would not have been able to win people's hearts so easily."

Aisha sighed, "I have to admire Alan's ability to judge people. It was indeed the wisest choice for her to entrust everything to you. Compared to those muddle-headed, scheming courtiers, you are much more intelligent and insightful."

“But Your Highness, I still want to hear the answer from you.” Cai Zhu’er didn’t let him change the subject. “Consider it my wish before I am sacrificed. I want to know what the future king of Mohe will be like, so that I can report back to Princess Alan after my death.”

“I will not let you be sacrificed,” Aisha said. “You can witness the rebirth of Mohe.”

"..." Cai Zhu'er smiled self-deprecatingly and stopped asking questions.

Before leaving, Aisha left two sentences.

He said, "Caizhu, I almost forgot to congratulate you. Although your employer is not here, the goods brought back by the Salan caravan have been snapped up by the nobles."

Cai Zhu'er was very interested: "Really? What sells best?"

“The fragrance of the tent is delightful,” Aisha replied. “You know, the Mohe nobles have a penchant for exotic scents.”

"Yes, as expected." Cai Zhu nodded, then paused, stunned again.

The rare and precious incense spread among the nobles... Someone presented it to the young prince... Munandon indulged in debauchery the night before the tournament... Was it pure coincidence, or was it a calculated move?

Aisha had already gone far away, and the flickering firelight in the dark cell could not quell the chill that rose in his heart.
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That night, Cai Zhu'er discovered a bamboo tube and a feather mixed in with her food.

Judging from the pattern of the feathers, they clearly belonged to a wild goose, though the originally smooth edges had been pecked with a few small notches. She could almost imagine how Qiao Mao had outwitted Kurz and "risked" delivering this letter. The guard at the door had been replaced by Aisha's personal guard; only with his approval could the silk scroll safely reach her hands.

But it's only been a few days since she sent out her letter asking for help, and she's already received a response?
Cai Zhu'er opened the letter and read it. It turned out that not long after she left the pass with Mo He's delegation, Shen Tu Zhuo had requested permission to go on a mission to the western kingdoms. Firstly, to confirm the location of the post stations along the new trade route and discuss with the kingdoms how to build them; secondly, to fulfill the agreement with the allies and demonstrate the stance of the Great Xuan; and thirdly, for his own personal reasons, to see how Cai Zhu'er's business was doing in her homeland and to pick her up on her return journey.

However, halfway there, he received Cai Zhu'er's letter written in blood.

Upon learning that she was imprisoned and about to be burned at the stake, Shen Tu Zhuo was extremely anxious and immediately led the Zhenxi Army, the escorting delegation, to Mohe day and night.

When Caizhu received the reply, they were almost at the Naxi River Valley.

A lesson learned in business is that it's always good to have a few backup plans. Now, regardless of whether Aisha can quickly seize power, she should have a glimmer of hope.
-
The change came even faster than she had anticipated. On the eve of the Monroe God Festival, a coup d'état occurred in Mohe.

With the loss of Munandon, the courtiers who had originally supported Princess Yelinya began to waver, and many defected to Aisha. If this continued, the Mohe royal court would soon be completely overthrown.

Left with no other choice, Yelena had to unleash her trump card prematurely—

She targeted the aging and senile king.

As evening fell, Yelinya dismissed all the maids under the pretext that the king was offering sacrifices to the gods, and personally served King Mohe as he bathed and changed clothes, burned incense and prayed, and offered wine in prayer.

Sensing something amiss, Aisha rushed over and kicked open the palace door, just in time to witness King Mohe being poisoned after drinking the invocation wine.

Mohe Wang's cloudy pupils suddenly contracted, his thick fingers gripping the golden goblet tightly, veins showing bluish-purple marks on his greasy neck. He made a gurgling sound in his throat, his other hand trembling as he pointed at Yelinya, the jewel-encrusted sleeves of his robe rustling like the last flutter of a dying butterfly's wings.

“You…” The king’s lips turned an eerie crimson, as if he had briefly regained his senses, and each word he uttered reeked of decay, “You… poisonous woman…”

"Yelinya! What have you done to Father!" Aisha rushed in and demanded.

"How dare you! His Majesty is initiating a ritual to the gods; how can you disturb him like this!" the princess rebuked. "If you anger the gods and incur divine punishment, what will your punishment be?"

"Father has clearly fallen seriously ill, you..."

"A sudden, serious illness?" Yelinya grasped Mohe Wang's convulsing wrist and pressed it down without giving him a chance to resist.

In front of Aisha and the others, she helped King Mohe lean against a fussy cushion and gently patted him, as if soothing a fussy child: "Your Majesty is delirious. After drinking the incantation wine, you are just seeing hallucinations again." The pearl-adorned forehead chain cast a shadow between her brows. "The great physician Gneru said that your hysteria is most aggravated by excitement."

King Mohe's eyes bulged so much they seemed about to burst from their sockets, and his Adam's apple bobbed laboriously beneath his thick skin. He tried to roar, to summon his eldest son or the guards outside the palace, but the poison had already corroded his vocal cords, and in the end, he could only vomit a pool of black blood mixed with fragments of internal organs.

Aisha, no longer listening to her nonsense, shouted towards the outside of the hall, "Quickly summon the great physician Gneru!"

Yelena remained calm and composed, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth with a scented handkerchief. She even hummed a hymn used in rituals to invoke the gods, rhythmically patting his trembling chest until he breathed his last.

When Gneru arrived, he only touched a lifeless shell.

Aisha handed the invoking wine to Gneru: "My father died suddenly. I suspect that Princess Yelinya poisoned him. I urge the great physician to examine him carefully."

Yelena stood up and looked up at Aisha: "The eldest prince has arrived at just the right time."
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Next chapter: The eldest prince arrived at just the right time.