novelden Chapter 125
Chapter 125
The eldest princess seemed not to have expected that, even now, the gaze of this useless man would still linger on the bed, and she was momentarily stunned.
Upon hearing this, the figure on the canopy bed paused for a moment, then, as if she had nothing to lose, lazily sat up, casually picked up a nightgown from the floor, put it on, and walked barefoot over gracefully.
Li Yun'er never expected it to really be him, and called out incredulously again, "Ayu..."
Bai Yu acted as if he hadn't heard her, and walked straight to the eldest princess's side, gently massaging her shoulders. Then, as usual, he looked up at Li Yun'er with his clear eyes and asked innocently, "Oh! Yun'er, are you injured?"
Li Yun'er felt that there was a hint of disdain in the other person's eyes, making her afraid to look directly into them.
"Alright, stop pretending! You're practically a dead man!" The eldest princess pulled Bai Yu onto her lap and said with a face full of disdain, which was naturally directed at Li Yun'er.
"I'm just used to it, I didn't react for a moment!" Bai Yu pressed his head against the eldest princess's chest, gently rubbing against her soft breasts.
Looking at their actions, Li Yun'er understood everything. Her mind flashed back to all the things she had done with Bai Yu. She clenched her fists, her eyes wide with anger, and roared, "Why?"
"Yunniang is already angry?" Bai Yu frowned innocently. This was the first time he had seen this good-for-nothing get angry. He couldn't help but get up and slowly approach her, whispering, "But what if you find out that this child isn't yours?"
After speaking, Bai Yu gently stroked his slightly protruding belly.
When he looked up again, he was stunned for a moment by Li Yun'er's scarlet eyes and the hatred in them. Before he could come to his senses, Li Yun'er pounced on him.
Bai Yu's head slammed against the ground, and he felt a dizzying sensation. Immediately afterward, Li Yun'er pressed her knee firmly against his abdomen while simultaneously gripping his neck tightly with her hands.
"Why? Why did you lie to me? Haven't I treated you well? If that's the case, then let's die together..."
At this moment, Bai Yu beneath Li Yun'er was barely breathing, his legs kicking wildly, his face turning bluish-purple, a far cry from his usual handsome and charming appearance.
Just when he thought he was about to die, he suddenly felt the pressure on his body decrease. After taking a few deep breaths, he finally saw Li Yun'er curled up in the corner.
It turned out that the eldest princess was also startled by Li Yun'er's actions. After regaining her senses, she immediately kicked Li Yun'er to the ground. Still seemingly not satisfied, she chased after her and kicked her several more times, causing Li Yun'er to vomit blood.
"Knock knock..." Fortunately, there was a knock on the door, otherwise Li Yun'er would probably have lost her life here.
"What is it?" The eldest princess's voice was filled with anger.
The messenger outside replied tremblingly, "My lord, the Crown Princess's men are searching for criminals from house to house, and they are almost at the pleasure boat!"
"Damn it! So fast!" After saying that, the eldest princess lowered her head and approached Li Yun'er, turning her blood-stained face towards her with disgust, and threatened:
"Your single mistake has destroyed several of my important pawns in the court. I truly wish to tear you to pieces."
You'd better be sensible. I don't need to spell out what you should and shouldn't say, do I? Just obediently confess your sins and think of your parents, brothers, and clansmen…”
After spending several days together, the eldest princess was confident that with Li Yun'er's intelligence and courage, she would definitely obey her orders.
It wasn't that she didn't want to silence Li Yun'er, but if Li Yun'er died, someone might trace the crime back to her. So she had no choice but to force Li Yun'er to take all the blame.
"Someone, clean her up properly and leave her outside." The eldest princess lightly flicked her robes, dusted off non-existent dust, and then stood up to give the order.
As soon as she finished speaking, two burly old women entered the room and dragged Li Yun'er out.
Before leaving, Li Yun'er strained to open her eyes, staring at Bai Yu hiding behind her. Seeing the bloodstains on his nightgown, a slight smile appeared on her lips. Then, she silently uttered a few words, which Bai Yu clearly saw:
I'll be waiting for you on the road to the underworld!
After Li Yun'er was dragged away, Bai Yu suddenly came to his senses, looked down and saw the bloodstains beneath him, only then belatedly realizing the pain. The room immediately descended into chaos...
Li Yun'er was found "drunk and asleep" on the stone steps of the lower reaches of the Huai River. At this point, Li's mother, Li's father, and Li Yun'er were all imprisoned...
……
In the Jinluan Palace.
After reviewing the evidence presented by Lin Shu, Feng Han was furious. All the officials involved were dismissed and their property confiscated. In particular, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel was executed along with his entire family.
Even the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review was fined a year's salary for his improper judgment.
Naturally, the Third Princess and the Prime Minister were released, but they were also punished accordingly. Prime Minister Xu Chen was demoted two ranks and had his salary reduced by half a year.
The third princess was ordered to reflect on her actions in seclusion for six months and was given the title of "Idle Prince." Now that she had been granted the title, barring any unforeseen circumstances, she was likely to have no chance of inheriting the throne.
As for Li Yun'er, before Feng Han could make a judgment, Feng Zhao presented the case of child abduction to the emperor.
Both major events are related to a commoner merchant, which is quite strange. Moreover, Feng Han believes that a commoner merchant would not have such abilities, so he ordered the Crown Princess to thoroughly investigate the matter and make a decision after finding out the truth.
After the court session, inside the Ministry of Justice prison.
No matter how Feng Zhao interrogated her, Li Yun'er remained silent, as if she were a walking corpse. Just as Feng Zhao was about to consider using torture, Lin Shu arrived.
Feng Zhao knew that Li Yun'er and Lin Shu were on good terms, so when she saw her coming, she left the two of them alone.
In the cell, Li Yun'er sat cross-legged, her head leaning against the wall behind her, gazing into the distance with unfocused eyes. She was relatively clean, as Feng Zhao had not yet tortured her.
"Yun'er."
Only when she heard Lin Shu's clear, cold voice did Li Yun'er's eyes slowly focus. She turned her head slowly, a familiar yet unfamiliar smile on her face, and said in a hoarse voice, "You've come."
Lin Shu was speechless for a moment, just staring at Li Yun'er in silence. Only then did she realize that Li Yun'er seemed to have changed. She had become thinner, her appearance had become more and more beautiful, and her eyes were no longer as clear as before...
Seeing Lin Shu staring at her with an inscrutable expression, Li Yun'er suddenly gave a self-deprecating laugh: "Didn't you expect me to be in such a sorry state? I never thought so either! I thought the Li family would go down in history because of me..."
"Why did you..." Lin Shu didn't want to hear her mocking herself anymore, so she interrupted her, wanting to ask her why she had become like this.
"Why sell official positions? Why traffic girls? Or why—murder?"
Li Yun'er smiled and looked up at Lin Shu. Seeing that Lin Shu still had the same expression, she felt bored and then said, "Why? If I said I had no choice, would you believe me?"
Lin Shu didn't say whether she believed it or not, but there was no doubt in her eyes. She said calmly, "Why didn't you come looking for me? We're friends."
"Friends?" Li Yun'er murmured to herself, as if asking herself, then shook her head and said nothing more.
After a long while, as Lin Shu turned around, another voice came from behind her:
"Lin Shu..."
Upon hearing this, Lin Shu's body trembled slightly. This was the first time Li Yun'er had called her by her full name; in the past, she had always called her "sister" in a playful manner.
Seeing that he had stopped, Li Yun'er continued, "I used to think that you and I were friends. Back then, your family background was inferior to mine, but we were indeed friends; when we took the imperial examinations together and were evenly matched, we could still be friends."
But one day, I noticed you seemed to be getting better and better. At that moment, I didn't feel happy for you; instead, I felt jealous. And when I learned I had the chance to trample you underfoot, I even felt excited, hahaha…
Lin Shu, do you still consider us friends?
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