Chapter 523: I Want to Go Back
Xiao Chengxuan was also stunned.
’That’s right!’
That Wu the Fourth was just one of his insignificant informants. If he hadn’t been brought up today, Xiao Chengxuan wouldn’t have even remembered him.
’But why would this man do something like this now!?’
Xiao Chengxuan racked his brain, face after face flashing through his mind.
He was certain someone had betrayed him. Otherwise, they would never have thought to order this Wu the Fourth around.
’But... who could it be!?’
The ministers who had previously followed him had long since scattered after his downfall. As for the trusted aides he had painstakingly cultivated, they were either imprisoned and dealt with alongside him or had chosen new masters.
’Are they trying to use this opportunity to frame me and show their loyalty to a new master!?’
Xiao Chengxuan thought it over and over but couldn’t find an answer. He had made plenty of enemies, and countless people wanted him dead. How could he possibly guess who it was in such a short time?
His mind was in turmoil.
"I-I don’t know... I really don’t know!"
Ye Chutang watched him dispassionately, finding it absurd.
’The once powerful and glorious Prince Qi can’t even figure out who framed him now.’
"Has the Prince Qi Mansion become as porous as a sieve?"
Ye Chutang spoke calmly, her voice betraying no emotion. "I thought you were still as cautious as you were three years ago."
Her words were laced with mockery, yet they were like a sharp sword suddenly slashing down, tearing through the fog in front of Xiao Chengxuan’s eyes.
As if he had suddenly remembered something, his eyes flew open, and his expression shifted rapidly.
’That’s right!’
Although he had many followers, very few had earned his trust.
And the number of people who knew the details of that incident three years ago, knew Wu the Fourth’s identity, and could mobilize him... was even smaller!
A name surfaced in Xiao Chengxuan’s mind.
But he couldn’t believe it.
"No... that’s impossible..."
Ye Chutang raised an eyebrow. "It seems you know who it is."
Xiao Chengxuan’s throat was dry. He couldn’t utter a single word.
Ye Chutang suddenly looked at Zhou Kangxue and asked out of the blue, "How were you so confident that you could wake Prince Lie after replacing Zhao Xuanping?"
The question was completely unexpected, and everyone present was stunned.
’Weren’t they interrogating Xiao Chengxuan? Why did she suddenly turn to question Zhou Kangxue?’
Zhou Kangxue was also clearly caught off guard. "Wh-what?"
Ever since hearing what Ye Chutang had said earlier, his mind had been a muddle. He still hadn’t recovered from the immense shock and regret.
Ye Chutang smiled. Her voice was soft, even gentle, like friends exchanging pleasantries, but the words she spoke were as sharp as a knife! "You’ve known how to cure Prince Lie’s poison all along, haven’t you?"
...
CRASH—!
A palace maid’s hand slipped, and she dropped a cup on the floor, startling Xiao Lansi from her daze.
She tilted her head slightly, a hint of impatience and hostility flashing between her brows at being disturbed.
The palace maid hurriedly knelt. "Forgive me, Princess! This servant deserves death!"
In just a moment, the coldness in Xiao Lansi’s eyes faded, replaced by her usual soft and gentle demeanor.
She smiled. "It’s alright. Just clean it up."
"Yes! Yes!"
Not daring to say more, the palace maid hastily picked up the shards from the floor.
"Be careful not to cut your hand," Xiao Lansi reminded her.
The palace maid paused, then slowed her movements.
"Yes."
Wrapping her hand in a handkerchief, she quickly cleaned everything up.
Just as she was about to leave, Xiao Lansi called out to her again.
"Has a decision been made on who will be in charge of the Wazhen Mission’s visit?"
The palace maid shook her head, keeping her voice low. "This servant doesn’t know. I only heard that Prince Lie woke up yesterday, and the Eldest Princess and several Cabinet Ministers seem inclined to choose him."
This matter had been dragged out for so long without Xiao Chenglin being chosen. Now that Xiao Chengqi was awake, there was even less hope for him.
"I see."
Xiao Lansi seemed to have no interest in asking further. She picked up a pair of shears again and began trimming the plum blossom branches the palace maid had just cut for her from the Imperial Garden.
Unlike Guanling, which was like spring all year round, there were only these few plum blossoms to admire in the dead of winter here.
The palace maid finished tidying up, brought over a fresh cup of tea, and looked at Xiao Lansi, hesitating to speak.
"Princess, are you... really not going to see the Imperial Concubine?"
Xiao Lansi’s hands stilled, and she gently reminded her, "Watch your words. She is no longer a Noble Consort. If anyone else were to hear you say that, you would surely be punished."
The palace maid panicked and quickly knelt.
"It was a slip of the tongue, Princess! Please don’t blame me!"
Xiao Lansi shook her head.
"Just be careful in the future. As for what you just mentioned... I should go, but I can’t right now. If I go, not only will I be unable to help, but I’ll only implicate Mother."
The palace maid looked puzzled.
"Implicate? You... you and... Talent Jiang share a deep mother-daughter bond. Now that she’s locked in the Cold Palace, you must be extremely worried. Even just visiting her or bringing some food would be something. Surely... they wouldn’t be so heartless as to not even allow that?"
After Jiang Qingmei’s downfall, they all thought Xiao Lansi would surely find a way to rescue her, just like every time before.
But they waited and waited, and Xiao Lansi made no move at all.
They really couldn’t understand her.
SNIP.
Xiao Lansi cleanly and crisply snipped off a withered plum blossom before turning her head to look at the palace maid.
"Do you know what crime Mother is accused of this time?"
Of course, the palace maid knew.
She was suspected of poisoning His Majesty’s food. That was treason!
The palace maid’s face paled.
If it was proven that Jiang Qingmei had really done it, she feared... even they would be implicated!
"It’s not that I don’t want to save Mother. But this concerns the fate of the nation. Father is unconscious, the Cabinet is in an uproar, and I am just a princess. What can I do?"
The palace maid said guiltily, "This servant was being too naive."
Xiao Lansi shook her head. "Alright, you may leave. Have everyone in the palace keep a low profile for a while."
"Yes."
The palace maid responded respectfully. Just as she was about to leave, she remembered a rumor she had heard outside and lowered her voice.
"Princess, there’s something else you might not know. I heard that early this morning, the Second Prince was taken to the side hall of Qiyuan Hall! It seems to be about Second Miss Ye’s assassination attempt! They’re all saying... that the Second Prince did it!"
Xiao Lansi’s brow furrowed slightly.
"How could that be?"
The palace maid said, "It’s true! The Imperial Guard escorted him there personally! Many palace staff saw it! It seems he still hasn’t come out!"
Xiao Lansi paused, her eyes downcast.
"...My brother is too foolish."
She set down the shears and carefully admired the trimmed plum blossoms.
"I still prefer Guanling. When Father wakes up, I’ll go tell him I want to go back."
The palace maid was shocked. "You want to return to Guanling? That place is remote and desolate, what’s so good about it? You only just managed to return to the capital, how can you go back again?"