Madam, don't do this!

Chapter 492 Accidentally Killed Your Entire Family (12,000 words)

Green tiles and flying eaves, carved corridors and painted beams!
As noon approached, the sun grew quite strong, but fortunately, the pavilion was built on an artificial lake. A warm breeze blew by, carrying wisps of cool, moist air, bringing a refreshing coolness. Looking up, layers of cotton-like clouds stretched across the sky. The trees were lush and green, their leaves swaying gently in the wind, causing dappled sunlight to dance on the ground. Occasionally, small birds would perch on the branches, chirping softly.

"She wanted Luo Yuheng dead. She hated Luo Yuheng to the core. She wished she could grind Luo Yuheng to dust, skin him alive, and tear him apart."

Yang Guochen's voice still echoed in my ears.

Song Yan felt a chill run down her spine.

He couldn't understand it.

Why does Princess Kong Nianhan of Fu harbor such deep hatred for Luo Yuheng?

Come to think of it, Luo Yuheng should have always treated Kong Nianhan very well, right?

When Kong Nianhan first married Prince Fu, he was away from the palace for many years seeking immortality, so Kong Nianhan lived a life like a widow. In addition, because of her seemingly humble origins, many noble ladies in the capital looked down on her.

It was because of Prince Fu's influence that Luo Yuheng visited the Prince's residence multiple times to keep Kong Nianhan from being lonely. He also tried many times to integrate Kong Nianhan into the circle of noble ladies of Dongling. Although it didn't work, it shouldn't have made Kong Nianhan hate Luo Yuheng for it, right? Or even hate him to the core? She had already harmed Luo Caiyi before, and now she wished she could skin Luo Yuheng alive, tear him apart, and grind his bones to dust.
Yang Guochen did not urge him, but simply sipped the tea cup by cup. Even though the tea was bitter and spicy, it was a rare delicacy for him... After all, he was probably going to die today, and once he died, he would never have the chance to taste tea again.

After a long silence, Song Yan slowly exhaled: "Why?"

"Who knows?" Yang Guochen shrugged. "At least from my perspective, Luo Yuheng shouldn't have done anything to wrong Princess Fu. Women, you know, hate and love are equally inexplicable."

Have you ever seen Princess Fu?

"Of course I've seen it."

"What kind of woman was she exactly?"

Yang Guochen was silent for a moment, took a sip of tea, and then slowly spoke: "A quiet madman."

Song Yan narrowed his eyes slightly, seemingly deep in thought. After a while, he spoke again: "Does the Princess Consort of Fu have a partnership with the Yang family?"

"Have."

"What exactly?"

"No comment."

Undoubtedly, Yang Guochen would reveal some information to Song Yan, but he would remain silent when it came to truly confidential matters. Song Yan did not attempt to force Yang Guochen to speak, and she regretted not bringing Liang Qiaofeng with her on this return trip to Dongling. With her master-level interrogation skills, there would be no secrets left in front of her.

Was Prince Fu involved?

Yang Guochen frowned: "No, it was Princess Fu who was in contact with the Yang family from beginning to end."

Song Yan lowered his eyelids: "Where is Luo Yuheng now?"

"I don't know." Yang Guochen shook his head: "On the Yang family's side, we only asked Rui'er to help forge a letter. The Yang family did not participate in anything else. However... the fire on Chang'an Street and the assassination should both be the work of Princess Fu. On the surface, Princess Fu is just a secluded woman who never leaves her home, but in reality, she has close ties with martial artists in the Jianghu. Most of the assassins who died on Chang'an Street were people from the Jianghu."

"According to the intelligence gathered by the Yang family, since Luo Yuheng arrived in Dongling, the Princess Consort of Fu has attempted to assassinate her at least five times, but all attempts have failed. Luo Yuheng is just a somewhat unconventional princess. There is no record of her practicing martial arts. It is likely that Emperor Ninghe sent people to protect her in secret."

Song Yan nodded.

That was also his judgment.

"Why would the Yang family want to cooperate with Princess Fu?" Song Yan slowly exhaled. "Your Yang family's goal has always been the dragon throne, hasn't it? Cooperating with Princess Fu won't benefit your plans, will it?"

A glint of light flashed in Yang Guochen's eyes, then turned into a helpless sigh. The Yang family wanted to usurp the throne and ascend to the supreme position. They thought they had kept this extremely secret, but they never expected that Song Yan would find out. He pursed his lips: "How did you find out?"

"Ever since I found out that Song Zhen was not Song Hongtao's biological son."

Yang Guochen scoffed. As expected, she was a stupid woman. All of the Yang family's arrangements had fallen apart step by step because of Yang Miaoqing's stupidity, and they had even needlessly made an enemy like Song Yan.

"To be honest, your Yang family's plan is utterly absurd. You've married off the most outstanding woman in your family to the emperor, and other women to nobles and high-ranking officials in Ningguo. Through this method, you've created a complex and exceptionally resilient network of roots for the Yang family. This vast network is enough to ensure the Yang family's continued existence in Ningguo." Song Yan shrugged. "But you're too greedy."

“Yang Miaoqing and Yang Zhen had a son named Song Zhen. In your eyes, Song Zhen is a pure-blooded member of the Yang family, so you support him from behind the scenes, hoping that Song Zhen can inherit the title of Duke of Song.”

"Zhao Gaizhi's son, Zhao Feng, is also a pure-blooded member of the Yang family."

"You even reached into the palace, trying to confuse the royal bloodline and replace the real princes with pure-blooded Yang family offspring to inherit the throne."

"In this way, the emperor, and all future members of the royal family and nobles, will be members of the Yang family."

"Ningguo thus became the Ningguo of the Yang family."

Behind her, Luo Tianyi looked slightly surprised; this was the first time she had heard of these things.

Yang Guochen's initial calm and ease gradually faded. Song Yan knew more than he had imagined, which was not a good thing.

He stared at Song Yan quietly, as if wanting to see what else Song Yan could say.

Song Yan made no attempt to conceal anything, simply smiling as he said, "In the State of Chu, you are also carrying out the same plan. If everything goes smoothly, both Ning and Chu will fall into the hands of the Yang family, giving them control of two of the four Central Plains states. This is an absolutely enormous force, and unifying the Central Plains is not out of the question... I must say, your ambitions are truly great. You have also made thorough preparations for this plan, meticulously calculating every step to ensure that no mistakes will occur."

"It's a pity that you probably haven't heard the saying, 'A meticulous plan will inevitably fall apart.' The more precise the plan, the lower the margin for error, and the easier it is to lose everything because of a small mistake."

Song Yan tapped his fingers lightly on the stone table: "The Chu delegation is about to visit me. If I were to tell the Chu envoy what your Langya Yang clan has done in Ningguo, what would the Chu emperor do? What would be the outcome if he were to patronize the Yang clan?"

Swish!
At this, Yang Guochen's expression completely changed.

The Emperor of Chu was undoubtedly a ruler of great talent and ambition.

The Chu Kingdom and the Ning Kingdom are completely different. The Chu Kingdom has never had a fool like Emperor Renzong. The military and political power is firmly in the hands of the Chu Emperor. If the Chu Emperor knew about the Yang family's plan, even without any evidence, the Chu Emperor would definitely give the order to completely wipe out the Long Yang clan.

In these kinds of situations, it's always better to believe it's true than to believe it's not.

The King of Chu had both the courage and the ability.

With a smile on his face, Song Yan rubbed his fingers against the teacup: "You see, although your Yang family's plan seems grand and ambitious, it's like a castle in the air. Even a casual word from me could ruin it all."

"To be honest, the Yang family of Huilong and the Yang family of Langya, even if separated, are still the most prominent families in the entire Central Plains."

"If you hadn't separated your families back then, with your strength you could have directly raised an army in rebellion and perhaps even conquered a piece of land in the Central Plains. Unlike now, after decades of hard work, you've only managed to replace a few noble children and even lost two of them. As for the princes, not a single one of them has succeeded."

"It will take decades of hard work before the plan is completed."

A different kind of flush appeared on Yang Guochen's face.

His fingers clenched unconsciously, whether from anger or shame, his whole body trembled. Just as Song Yan was worried that Yang Guochen might be driven to his death by anger, the shame and anger on Yang Guochen's face suddenly vanished, replaced by a strange smile. His face was stiff, but the corners of his lips were forced into an exaggerated arc. His mouth slowly opened, and then he said, word by word:

"How do you know... the Yang family failed to replace him? How do you know that the princes of Chu and Ning are all the emperor's biological sons?"

hiss!
Upon hearing this, Song Yan almost uncontrollably trembled, and a chill ran down her spine almost instantly.

Even my heartbeat seemed to slow down by half a beat at that moment.

What exactly did Yang Guochen mean by that? Did he mean that a prince from either Ning or Chu had already been replaced by the Yang family?

"Who?"

Yang Guochen's smile widened. He rubbed his fingers around the teacup, then drank it down forcefully. Perhaps because the tea was too hot, the flush on his face deepened. His fingers trembled slightly, and the teacup slipped from his grasp, falling to the ground with a crash and shattering into pieces. With a sigh of regret, Yang Guochen slowly raised his head, his eyes fixed intently on Song Yan: "Who knows? Perhaps it's Luo Jingyu, perhaps Luo Tianshu, perhaps Luo Tianquan, or maybe even a prince from the Chu Kingdom."

Song Yan blinked, wanting to say that there was still Luo Tianyang, and that it was too unfair to always forget Luo Tianyang.

Just then, Yang Guochen spoke again: "More likely, this is just a thorn that I deliberately planted in your heart before I died." As he spoke, Yang Guochen opened his arms, as if to feel the warm breeze and sunshine, or as if to embrace something. Crimson blood began to seep from the corner of his mouth, dripping down his chin and onto his chest.

His flesh was spasming, especially his abdomen. Even through his official robes, Song Yan could see that his stomach was writhing strangely. His eyes were bloodshot and turning scarlet, and purplish-blue patches were appearing on his face.

He was poisoned.

He had already taken the poison before Song Yan came to find him. The poison should have been tormenting him, but his smile grew increasingly excited, as if he was quite pleased with his trickery of Song Yan.

If we can make Song Yan start to doubt everything around him, that would be a great victory.

Squeak.

His chest heaved violently, and a mouthful of bright red blood spurted from his mouth, staining the stone table crimson. Song Yan looked at Yang Guochen with some pity, but for some reason, this gaze filled Yang Guochen with a strange sense of dread; this expression was not what he had expected.

"Why do you think that my surrounding of the Yang residence without immediately confiscating the property is an attempt to make a deal with you?" Song Yan finally spoke, his voice cold and chilling, sending a shiver down Yang Guochen's spine: "Do you really think I'm that kind-hearted?"

"I admit, I do want to know something from you."

"But it's clear that your answer doesn't satisfy me."

Song Yan breathed a sigh of relief. He had obtained some information, but it was extremely limited.

Just then, a figure floated in from the front yard.

Without traversing the long corridor, with just a light touch of the toes on the lake's surface, her body floated to the vicinity of the pavilion, where a woman stood—Luo Tianxuan.

He was carrying a burlap sack.

Looking at the bulging shape of the sack, a very bad premonition suddenly welled up in Yang Guochen's heart.

"I've known about the secret passage within the Yang family for a long time."

"This secret passage isn't particularly long, but it's more than enough to leave the Yang residence. Then, by using some other special channels, leaving Dongling City shouldn't be difficult either."

Unfortunately, Song Yan only knew there was a secret passage, but he didn't know where it led. Therefore, Luo Tianxuan didn't chase after Yang Siqi and Yang Rui to kill them. Instead, she left early last night and waited quietly at a place that was a necessary route to Langya. Having not slept all night, Luo Tianxuan's face showed obvious signs of fatigue, and there were dark circles under her eyes. She covered her lips with her small hand and yawned repeatedly. Even a grandmaster-level martial artist could not resist the instinctive call of her body.

The pain intensified, Yang Guoqiang's chest heaved rapidly, and streaks of crimson blood began to seep from the corners of his eyes: "You...you planted your people in the Yang family?"

“Yes.” Song Yan nodded. “They learned it from the Yang family, just like the former Princess’s mansion, where the Yang family’s spies were everywhere. But don’t worry, my men were lucky; they left last night and didn’t die at your hands.”

Song Yan took the sack, slowly opened it, reached inside and groped around, and quickly pulled out a human head.

It belongs to Yang Siqi.

Next up is Yang Guoli.

Next up is Yang Rui's.

Three heads were neatly arranged in front of Yang Guochen.

Yang Guochen suddenly became agitated, his breathing turned into rapid panting, and tears kept rolling down his face, red, whether blood or tears, he couldn't tell.

“When we first met, although Yang Rui hid it well, I could already tell that he was an extremely ambitious person. He wouldn’t be content to remain subordinate to Yang Siqi forever. If Yang Rui survives to reach Langya, he will definitely try every means to gather the forces belonging to your lineage and compete with Yang Siqi, and even Yang Hexing, for control of the Yang family. This could throw the Yang family into chaos, which would be advantageous to me.” Song Yan’s voice slowly drifted in Yang Guochen’s ears: “Perhaps, it is precisely because you have seen this point that you think this is a deal between you and me.”

"It's a pity, you still don't understand me enough."

"For me, as long as they are enemies, it is better to kill them than to be completely clean."

"Whether the Yang family of Langya is in chaos or what kind of impact it will have, I don't care at all."

“I don’t have that long-term vision. All I know is that you are my enemy and I want you dead. Yang Rui’s ability to imitate other people’s handwriting is also a great threat to me, and he has to die too.”

"So, I'm sorry, I accidentally killed your whole family."

Song Yan apologized sincerely.

Grandfather Yang Hetong, son Yang Guochen, grandson Yang Rui, plus Yang Ming who had already been killed, three generations of the family were all killed by one man.

Yang Guochen could no longer control himself. His body began to writhe violently, and with another gurgling sound, he spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Of course, I still want to thank you."

"I benefited greatly from our brief exchange. Although you avoided many important questions, you still answered some of my doubts."

"For example, who was the prince who was replaced..."

Song Yan's lips moved, and she uttered a name.

The next instant, Yang Guochen's pupils contracted violently, his body twisted and convulsed as if electrocuted, and his throat made gurgling sounds.

His face was full of resentment.

He never imagined that he had only wanted to leave a thorn in Song Yan's heart and sow discord between Song Yan and the people around her.

But who would have thought that Song Yan would actually stumble upon the Yang family's biggest secret?

(End of this chapter)