Everyone held their breath, none of them having expected that such a deeply favored princess would be sentenced to death in such a dramatic fashion.
Lai Chenglong looked again at Qi Yuan — when exactly had she calculated all of this? And why was she so certain that Princess Baorong would use petty tricks to tamper with the medicine?
As the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he had seen and judged countless cases.
It only took a glance for him to realize something was off here.
It was true — the chain of evidence was seamless.
There wasn’t even a second suspect.
But precisely because of this — because it was too clean — it made the whole thing feel even more premeditated.
Right now, Emperor Yongchang hadn’t fully processed it. He was trapped by the situation.
Liu Wangfei had practically threatened him with her life. She’d already said things like she would crash herself to death in the imperial ancestral temple to meet the former emperor and demand justice from the court ministers.
As for the Eldest Princess, she had gone even further, directly declaring that if Xiao Mo was not given justice, she would no longer recognize this Royal Brother.
Forced into such a corner, Emperor Yongchang was left with no choice but to sentence Princess Baorong to death.
But what about when he came to his senses later?
This was the same emperor who, back in the day, had killed more than sixty attendants simply because Princess Baorong had fallen from a rock garden.
The more Lai Chenglong thought about it, the more terrified he became.
He was starting to regret allying with Qi Yuan.
This girl appeared bold, but in fact, she was recklessly brave, completely driven by pure emotion — like she was fighting for the sake of venting, with no thought for tomorrow.
But could it really be that the Qi family had no objection to this?!
Suspicious, he turned his head to look at the Qi father and son.
Only to see the two of them quietly step closer to stand by Qi Yuan’s side.
Oh… so the Qi family was now letting Qi Yuan take full command.
How absurd.
Did they really think they could get some advantage from this?
When the emperor came to his senses, even if he still believed Baorong was the true culprit, Qi Yuan, who exposed her, would certainly not be spared.
Could the Qi family really keep themselves safe?
As if to prove his guess, just as the thin white silk was about to be looped around Baorong’s slender, fair neck, a voice full of piercing, heart-wrenching desperation rang out from outside: “Royal Father, please show mercy! Royal Father!”
Emperor Yongchang’s tightly shut eyes snapped open.
Princess Baorong had already collapsed on the ground.
The white silk had already been slipped around her neck — she could almost feel the suffocating grip.
Just now, she had nearly died!
She had truly brushed past death’s door!
Liu Wangfei’s face darkened.
Qi Zhen also instantly looked miserable, cursing in his heart: Wasn’t he crippled? How did he get here so fast?!
As they spoke, Qi Wang hobbled into the room, carrying Princess Mingcheng in his arms. As soon as he entered, he fell to his knees with a heavy thud, crying out: “Royal Father, Baorong is innocent!”
At this moment, Princess Mingcheng and the little prince had already, under his signal, run together toward Emperor Yongchang, each hugging one of his legs.
Princess Mingcheng’s face was covered in tears, and there were even traces of blood on her left cheek.
Emperor Yongchang was immediately alarmed: “What happened?!”
Pu Wuyong quietly slipped back into the room and silently took his place among the crowd, letting out a long, soundless sigh of relief.
Good, good — he made it in time.
Fortunately, His Majesty clearly couldn’t bring himself to truly kill the princess.
Now that Princess Mingcheng had arrived, the situation was even more secure.
Lai Chenglong shook his head regretfully in his heart.
If you don’t kill the snake, it will come back to bite you.
As for Qi Yuan’s future…
No — Qi Yuan probably had no future left.
Princess Mingcheng pouted, then suddenly burst into loud sobs. While wiping the blood from her face, she cried: “I heard Royal Mother is dead… Royal Father, is it true?”
The more the little girl wiped, the more glaringly obvious the blood on her face became. Emperor Yongchang’s eyes filled with tears.
No matter when, the innocence and softness of a child could pierce the heart the most.
Of course, Xiao Mo was not without pity, and he was certainly not undeserving of compassion.
But compared to this snow-white, adorable little girl who seemed like a dragon maiden by the Buddha’s side, he suddenly seemed less appealing to the eye.
The human heart is inherently biased. That’s just how people see things.
He gently patted Princess Mingcheng’s head without speaking, but his attitude had already softened. He turned his head and called: “Old Xia, are you dead? Look at the blood on the princess’s face…”
Then he stopped and pointed at Qi Yuan: “You, come over here and check on the princess!”
But unexpectedly, Princess Mingcheng immediately shoved Qi Yuan away and, through her teary eyes, shook her head: “Go away, I don’t want you! I don’t want you! You bad woman! It’s all your fault — you falsely accused my sister and tried to have her killed!”
She twisted and struggled, breaking free from Emperor Yongchang’s grip, and ran to Princess Baorong’s side. She stretched out her little arms like a tiny bird, standing protectively in front of her sister, her small figure almost laughably weak: “Royal Father, I don’t have a Royal mother anymore. If you insist on killing my sister, then you have to kill me first!”
The youngest, Yongrong, also toddled forward on his short little legs, standing in front of his sister as well, seriously saying: “Me too, Royal Father! If you’re going to kill Royal Sister, kill me first!”
How could anyone still carry out the execution now?
Liu Wangfei couldn’t hold it in any longer. She closed her eyes and gave a bitter, cold smile, her heart sinking in utter disappointment.
Why was it that the man she had loved so deeply in her youth still couldn’t escape the wear of time, becoming someone so despicable, so detestable?
Qi Wang dragged his still-unhealed leg forward, kowtowing repeatedly, as if competing with Xiao Yunting for filial devotion. Each bow was heavy, quickly causing his forehead to bleed, and he nearly collapsed from the effort.
“What are you all doing?! Get up, quickly!” Emperor Yongchang finally panicked. He rushed to help Qi Wang up and then hesitantly glanced at Liu Wangfei: “Your sister… she has committed a grave crime…”
“Royal Father!” Qi Wang raised his voice, his face full of grief and indignation: “My sister may be a little spoiled, but she is by no means vicious! She could never do something like this! As soon as I heard about this in the palace, I immediately investigated the records at the Imperial Medical Bureau. It’s true that a palace maid from my sister’s quarters obtained aconitum, but that maid never even left the palace with my sister!”
Emperor Yongchang narrowed his eyes: “Where is she now?”
“She’s dead!” Qi Wang couldn’t hold back the sob in his voice: “Royal Father, someone clearly wanted to frame my sister, to seize this chance to wipe out Royal Mother and all four of us siblings! Royal Father! If you don’t believe me, you can interrogate the palace maids around my sister. If someone could obtain the poison, then there must have been someone else responsible for delivering it. It absolutely wasn’t my sister!”
Lai Chenglong sighed inwardly.
What’s left to interrogate now?
In such a short time, Qi Wang had already arranged everything. Naturally, the scapegoats were already in place.
Just then, Lai Chenglong was shocked to see that the previously hysterical, nearly crazed Princess Baorong had a fleeting, cold smile on her face.
That smile… It sent a chill straight to his bones.
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