Chapter 171 Tear
"Li Xian, I want your life!"

Princess Yongning stood up and said, "I will go find him right away. I want to ask him why he wanted to murder the royal heir. Who gave him the courage to attack me?"

"Your Highness," Mei Xiang was still a little hesitant, "We are now in the Right Prime Minister's residence, not the Princess's residence. After all, it is someone else's territory. Even if you have guards around you, I'm afraid you can't break off relations with them."

Princess Yongning sneered when she heard this: "I have never been afraid of anyone. According to what you said, I should hide in the house right now and pretend that I know nothing. Didn't I hear what those people said? Li Xian will find a scapegoat to get rid of me. I am afraid that he is hiding in the dark, waiting to see me make a fool of myself. When I think of this, I am so angry that I grit my teeth."

If there is anyone that Princess Yongning hates the most, it is undoubtedly Li Xian. Li Xian killed her and Shen Yurong's child, and he pretended to be innocent and asked about her well-being, but he kept her, the princess, in the dark. For both public and private reasons, Princess Yongning did not decide to let it go. Without waiting for Meixiang to continue speaking, Princess Yongning said, "You don't have to be afraid of this or that. The Li family is just a dog raised by my eldest brother. If a dog dares to bite its owner, it will be beaten to death. If the Li family is not afraid of trouble, they can naturally come to me. Unfortunately, this time, I don't plan to let them go!"

After saying that, he pushed the door hard and walked out immediately, ready to settle the score with Li Xian.

Seeing this, Meixiang had no choice but to follow.

Li Xian usually stayed in his side courtyard at night, which was the courtyard where many dumb servants were kept. Princess Yongning knew the way this time and walked directly to the road to his side courtyard. After her miscarriage, Li's mansion was thoroughly checked and it was very safe. Therefore, Princess Yongning was not as scared as last time when walking this road at night.

Instead, there was deep anger.

She walked very fast, so the originally long and tiring road seemed much shorter today. When she arrived at the side courtyard, the surroundings immediately became quiet. Princess Yongning spat and said, "What a freak, even the place where he lives is so weird."

Some people like quietness, but they will not let themselves live in a courtyard without any sound. Perhaps it was at night when the wind was blowing coldly, so Princess Yongning's anger was slightly extinguished, and she felt a little scared afterwards.

Meixiang looked at the closed study door and asked softly, "Your Highness."

Princess Yongning stared at the study room. There were flickering lights on the windows of the study room, and there seemed to be a swaying figure, but it was not clear. Even so, there was still no sound, and the silence was unsettling, and it always felt like there was a ghostly aura.

Princess Yongning took a deep breath, motioned Meixiang to come forward, and walked to the door herself. After a pause, she suddenly shouted, "Li Xian, you bastard!"

There was a ragged young man standing in the room, his face flushed. Hearing the noise, he looked over here.

Meixiang and Princess Yongning were both shocked.

But I saw that several young men in this room were like this. Those who were neatly dressed knelt on one side, ignoring the scene in front of them. The few who were disheveled and the eight or nine-year-old child I saw last time.

In an instant, many things became clear.

Why is this courtyard so remote? Why are all these servants handsome boys? Why are they all dumb? What kind of kindness in helping orphans is nothing more than a cover for his dirty behavior!

These children have been poisoned and made mute!

How disgusting!

Even a ruthless person like Princess Yongning couldn't help but take a step back and look disgusted after seeing this scene. This young master Li had a very good reputation outside. People said he was both virtuous and talented, and that he was a rare hero. However, no one knew that under his gentle and upright appearance, he was so filthy.

Li Xian didn't seem to expect that someone would suddenly break in at this time, and his eyes became violent for a moment, but when he saw that it was Princess Yongning, he was also stunned for a moment.

Li Xian really didn't want to be as friendly as he appeared to be.

Li Xian stood up and began to button his clothes slowly and methodically. He looked at Princess Yongning and said with a smile instead of panic, "Why is the princess here?"

Princess Yongning was also surprised by his attitude, but soon, her original character prevailed. Princess Yongning sneered and said, "No wonder you don't feel unhappy when you don't sleep with me every day. The last time I came here, I thought you were hiding some beauty here, but I found nothing. I thought you were really a gentleman with a pure heart and few desires, but I didn't expect that Mr. Li actually has different hobbies from ordinary people."

Li Xian, you killed my child, and I will make you pay the price! "

"Killed?" Li Xian was stunned and said, "Princess, you must have made a mistake. How could I kill my own child?"

Princess Yongning looked at him. Li Xian was so surprised that she almost believed that Li Xian really didn't do those things. But she quickly said, "Who knows why you did this? You ordered the kitchen to boil the medicine residue every day. There are herbs that can cause miscarriage. If I hadn't been careful, I would have fallen into your trap and I don't know why. You see that your tricks didn't work, so you let someone push me on the road! My miscarriage was all caused by you!"

"Princess," Li Xian was unmoved when he heard this, and only said, "The herbs in the pregnancy-preserving medicine could have been manipulated by the person who prepared the medicine. How can you blame me? I can understand the princess's sadness over the loss of her child, but I cannot understand why the princess wants to blame me for all these things. That's my own child. Even a tiger won't eat its own cubs. What reason do I have to murder my own child? Or," Li Xian smiled and said, "unless it's not my child, then it makes sense."

Princess Yongning was shocked and confused when she heard this. She didn't know whether Li Xian knew that the child was not his. If it was not his, why did he let her have a miscarriage? If he knew, even if he knew, she couldn't admit it at the moment, and could only insist that it was Li Xian who did it.

She sneered, "Don't talk nonsense. Although I don't know why you killed your own son, you did it. Li Xian, you are so bold that you even dared to kill my child!"

"The princess keeps saying that the child is hers, but she never mentions me," Li Xian said lightly, "others would think that the princess's child is not mine, and they are so tense."

He refused to admit that he was the one who did it. Princess Yongning hated him so much, but she couldn't admit that the child was not Li Xian's. She couldn't find any reason why Li Xian killed the child, and Li Xian looked so confident, so Princess Yongning couldn't do anything to him.

Most of her guards stayed in the princess's mansion, and the small number of guards who stayed in the Li family were afraid that they would not be able to do anything to Li Xian. What else could she do? She couldn't rush over and kill Li Xian at the moment, not because she didn't dare, but because she couldn't do it for the time being.

"In short, this is what you did!" In the end, Princess Yongning could only say in frustration, "Just wait, Li Xian! I will never let you off!" and hurried away.

After Princess Yongning left, the smile on Li Xian's face gradually faded.

Li Xian sat down alone in front of the desk. As he sat there, he pressed his eyebrows and felt inexplicably irritated.

Princess Yongning is simply a crazy woman.

Somehow, she discovered the drug residue. Li Xian thought he had done it perfectly, and no one knew about it except his confidants. And his confidants would never leak it. With Princess Yongning's brain, how could she suspect him?

If he hadn't been suspected, it would have been easy to get away with it. But now that Princess Yongning knew about this, things became difficult. Who knows what Princess Yongning will do next? She is arrogant and domineering, doesn't understand the consequences, and doesn't think too much. If she wants to take revenge on the Li family, it is possible that she will do something horrific.

By then, there is a high probability that both sides will suffer losses.

Li Xian pulled out a piece of paper from under the table. The pen placed aside still had some ink left. He wrote a few words, three rough, incomplete words: Shen Yurong.

Perhaps this name can make Princess Yongning more restrained.

I hope she can think clearly and calm down.

……

On the other side, Princess Yongning, who had returned to the house, was furious. She sat on the couch, her chest heaving violently, and was obviously very angry. She said, "Li Xian, that bastard!"

Mei Xiang comforted him, "Your Highness, don't be so angry. At least today we can be sure that Young Master Li is indeed the murderer. If he wasn't, he would be anxious to prove himself. But Young Master Li denied it today, but he was not in a hurry to prove his innocence. It's as if... as if he knows that Your Highness can't do anything to him."

"I can't do anything to him." Princess Yongning suddenly flicked the teapot and cups on the table, and the teapot and cups fell to the ground with a "crackling" sound, which was particularly irritating to those who heard it at night. Princess Yongning said angrily: "I want him to pay the price for what he has done!"

"But he didn't admit it," Mei Xiang said, "He refused to admit that he murdered the little prince. Besides, in the eyes of others, he really had no reason to kill his own child."

"Just deny it?" Princess Yongning said, "Isn't he doing this kind of thing in the mansion? It's time for the world to see the true face of this young master Li. I can't accuse him of killing my child, but at least I can choose to divorce him. Besides, I can also let the world see what the emperor's intention is to marry such a beast in human form."

If this is the case, and Li Xian's true face is exposed, she can divorce Li Xian legitimately and put all the blame on Li Xian. The emperor is so indiscriminate, and the people will also think that it is the emperor's fault. This will create an opportunity for King Cheng.

Meixiang thought about it and said, "That's fine. But how does Your Highness plan to reveal the true face of Mr. Li?" For a long time, there was no movement in the room. When Meixiang was almost impatient, Princess Yongning finally spoke.

She said, "I'll do it once and for all. Since Li Xian is so confident, I will tell all his scandals in front of all the civil and military officials. This way, there will be no room for maneuver, and the Li family will have no choice but to accept their fate."

"This is what happens when you provoke me! I want the Li family to be stabbed in the back whenever they walk on the street, and become the biggest joke in the world!"

……

That night, no one else seemed to know what happened in Li's house. In silence, Yanjing City waited for the next spring rain. The spring rain began to fall, and the winter chill became lighter day by day, replaced by gradual warmth.

But spring comes particularly slowly.

Pedestrians walked hurriedly on the street holding oil-paper umbrellas, but farmers were grateful for the spring rain and began to look forward to the harvest in autumn.

In the midst of peace, the court seems to be very harmonious recently, but no one sees the undercurrent surging on the calm surface of the water, just waiting for the day when the wind and rain will come and the flood will be overwhelming.

When Emperor Hong Xiao attended the morning court, he was always on time. Unlike the previous emperor, who, when he was old, loved to enjoy himself and was not very enthusiastic about attending court, and even only attended once every few days, or a few times a month. The difference between Emperor Hong Xiao and the previous emperor was that since he ascended the throne, he had attended the morning court every day, and had never been late or delayed.

He looked like a diligent and caring king. When he first took the throne as a young emperor, he was trembling with fear. When he sat there in court, the court officials did not take him seriously, thinking that he was just a weak boy. Even now, although some people still think so, there are also some people who no longer dare to look down on him.

Every day, it was about the same things: building water conservancy projects, the disaster relief money that some people had allocated, and filling the treasury. It was a peaceful and prosperous time, and there were no major disturbances. The people who were talking about it were not very enthusiastic, and the people who were listening seemed to be just going through the motions.

There are countless days like this in a year, and days like this have passed for many years.

The court was about to end, and the colleagues had no more days to make memorials. At this moment, suddenly, a woman's voice interrupted at an inopportune time: "Your Majesty!"

How could a woman be allowed to make a noise in the hall? Everyone looked and saw that it was Princess Yongning. She did not come from the front of the hall, but from the back of the hall, pushing away the eunuchs who were blocking her. She probably struggled hard, her clothes were a little messy, and her makeup looked particularly miserable today, perhaps because of her red eyes, or perhaps because of her pale face. In short, it was the first time for the court officials to see this princess, who was always delicate and beautiful, and refused to give in, appear so weak and miserable.

"What's going on?" Emperor Hong Xiao asked angrily, "Who let her in?"

This is inappropriate.

"Your Majesty!" Princess Yongning fell to the ground, kowtowed several times to Emperor Hong Xiao, and cried, "Your Majesty, please save Yongning for the sake of our relationship! If you don't save her, Yongning will die!"

Has anyone seen a princess kowtow to someone so high and mighty? It seems that no one has seen it. Even to Emperor Hong Xiao, this was Yong Ning's first time. In the past, she relied on the late emperor's favor for Concubine Liu and ignored the prince. Even after Emperor Hong Xiao ascended the throne, Yong Ning only agreed with him superficially.

This looks like a person who has really reached a desperate situation and has no other options.

The eyelids of Li Zhongnan and his son standing in front jumped violently. No one expected Princess Yongning to suddenly rush out like this. This princess has always been used to doing whatever she wants by relying on her status. She dares to break into the Golden Palace at will. This is a fact that Li Xian did not expect. He thought that no matter how arrogant Princess Yongning is, she will still take into account the status of the Li family, at least she will take into account King Cheng. They are King Cheng's people. Even if Princess Yongning wants to deal with the Li family, she wants to weaken King Cheng's power. If she has a brain, she will definitely not dare to do so.

But Princess Yongning would never think twice about the things she had decided on. Whoever she wanted to die, must die. This was her consistent principle.

Li Xian couldn't help but look at King Cheng.

King Cheng was also stunned. He had no idea what had happened. These days, he was busy with his own affairs and didn't worry about Yongning's affairs. Thinking that the Li family would look down on him for his sake, he dared not treat Yongning badly. Although Yongning was a little willful, as long as there was no major conflict with the Li family, nothing would happen.

But today, when Yongning rushed out rashly, the Li family was shocked and King Cheng was caught off guard. On one side was his sister, and on the other side was his confidant. To be fair, at this juncture, he would rather protect the Li family than offend them. The Li family was an important part of his rebellion. If something happened because of Yongning, his great cause would be ruined!

"Yongning, stop messing around and go back!" King Cheng warned, "This is not the place for you to talk."

Yongning turned a deaf ear to him, she knew she only had one chance. She hated the Li family, who had killed her child, but she could do nothing. If she didn't divorce Li Xian this time, it would be most important for King Cheng to appease the Li family, so she would definitely not be able to divorce. And in order to protect this secret, the Li family would make her the Lady Li for a long time and would never let her go free.

She definitely didn't want that kind of future, even for Shen Yurong! Yongning's eyes swept over Shen Yurong in the palace. He stood among the courtiers, his expression calm, without the slightest fluctuation, and he didn't look at her. It was like a stranger who had nothing to do with him suddenly broke into the Golden Palace, and he would not have any opinion on it.

Princess Yongning felt a pain in her heart, and her hatred for the Li family deepened. Without waiting for anyone to speak, she said to Emperor Hong Xiao: "I... want to divorce Li Xian, please grant me your permission!"

As soon as these words came out, there was an uproar around them, and everyone's eyes were on Li Xian and Princess Yongning. Everyone knew that Princess Yongning had a miscarriage a few days ago. Could it be that the couple had a dispute over the miscarriage? But what was there to argue about? They said there was an assassin, but was there something else going on? Young Master Li had always been good-tempered, so why couldn't he appease Princess Yongning and even wanted to divorce her?

Li Xian desperately winked at Princess Yongning. He really didn't expect Princess Yongning to be so bold. King Cheng was still trying to persuade her: "Yongning, how can you bring family affairs to the court? Go back! Someone come!"

Before the messenger could drag Princess Yongning out, Princess Yongning spoke quickly, "Your Majesty, Li Xian is two-faced! He adopted children in the mansion in the name of adopting orphans, fed them mute medicine, and then... I cannot marry this beast in human form, and I cannot stay with him for a moment. Your Majesty's marriage cannot be disobeyed, I beg Your Majesty to allow me to divorce him!"

The gazes of the crowd made the Li father and son feel like thorns in their backs, and they wished they could tear Princess Yongning, who was speaking, into pieces.

King Cheng and Shen Yurong were also surprised. They didn't know about this either. But King Cheng frowned quickly. Even so, Princess Yongning was crazy to talk about this in front of all the civil and military officials. Even if Li Xian had a big conflict with her, it wouldn't be to this extent.
"I'm afraid there is a misunderstanding here," King Cheng had to stand up and speak for Li Xian, "Li Xian is not that kind of person."

"Why would I want to frame my own husband?" Princess Yongning said with a bitter smile, "If you don't believe me, you can investigate. I believe there is no impenetrable wall in the world. What he did must have left some clues."

The court officials were discussing this, and Li Xian suddenly felt a nameless fire in his heart. If he admitted this matter, the Li family would really be criticized in the future. Even if King Cheng succeeded in his rebellion and took that position, he wanted to promote the Li family, but this joke of the Li family would make people laugh at them for the rest of their lives, and it might even affect the Li family's descendants.

The more powerful the family, the more they cherish their reputation. A bad reputation directly affects how far they can go in the future. King Cheng would not use a minister with a bad reputation, as he would only be gradually replaced.

Therefore, Li Xian looked at Princess Yongning and said, "Even if I knew your secret, you shouldn't frame me like this. You know, if you talk to me about the divorce, I will agree."

"Secret? What secret?" A court official who was eager to watch the fun immediately became interested and asked.

Princess Yongning's heart skipped a beat, and she said stubbornly, "What nonsense are you talking about? When have I ever had a secret? The things I said about you were the truth, not a frame-up. Don't be so eloquent and try to make up excuses to deceive the world."

"Your Highness Princess married into the Li family while pregnant. I didn't want to tell you. I just pretended I didn't see it. Everyone has their own secrets. Besides, Your Highness Princess is definitely not a bad person. I guess she encountered something bad. I know this secret by chance. In fact, if the princess didn't tell you, I would never tell you in my life. The princess forced me to do it. I am helpless."

What is this? What does it mean to marry into the Li family while pregnant?

King Cheng was shocked. He had never known that Yongning was pregnant before and thought that Yongning had the child after being together with Li Xian. Of course, he knew that although this matter was shocking, Li Xian would not make up a story about it. It must be true!

Shen Yurong's expression also changed slightly. Li Xian actually knew about this? Princess Yongning had kept it a secret. What was going on?

Princess Yongning didn't expect that Li Xian would actually fight to the death, so she sneered and said, "You are slandering me. I only had this child because I married you, and I didn't expect that after I had a miscarriage, you would use this matter to throw dirty water on me!"

"Really?" Li Xian sighed, as if he was very sorry. "I have evidence. For example, the imperial physician, the pregnancy-preserving medicine, and most importantly, on the wedding night, I got drunk and slept in the study. The servants all knew about it, and I did not sleep with the princess. After that, the princess fell ill, and I had to go to the side room. I never touched Her Highness, but she got pregnant. Isn't it strange?"

He said, "Or maybe? Is this really a child born after the Li family?"

What does this mean? It means that Princess Yongning had an affair with someone after marrying into the Li family, which is why there is talk of having a child in the Li family!
"You!" Princess Yongning was furious: "You are slandering me!" She never expected that Li Xian not only knew about it, but also had evidence, which made her feel guilty.

"Whether this subordinate has slandered anyone or not, there is one person who knows best," Li Xian looked at a person standing among the ministers and said calmly, "Secretary of State, Lord Shen, is that right?"

Shen Yurong frowned.

Li Xian said: "You are the child's father, you know it best."

(End of this chapter)