Chapter 80: Spicy Pot (Part 6)
Leng Yan was genuinely stunned.
Though privately she had never considered Jing Yi—a dandy with such fine features—to be a particularly good match, the soul her younger sister had lost to that scoundrel was absolutely beyond retrieval, even if the entire Leng family armed themselves and tried to snatch it back together.
Given Jing Yi’s current predicament, the fact that Leng Yue could calmly sip her tea and utter such words shook Leng Yan far more profoundly than the sum of all the recent upheavals in the capital.
Before Leng Yan could fully process her shock, Leng Yue continued in that same casual, conversational tone, "So I’ve decided to stop being myself and become someone else to take care of him."
Leng Yan didn’t immediately grasp her meaning. "Become who?"
Leng Yue lowered her head, took a sip of hot tea, furrowed her brow in thought for a moment, then shook her head with a hint of dejection. "I haven’t read many books—you come up with a name."
"..."
Only then did Leng Yan understand what was going through Leng Yue’s mind. Her phoenix eyes widened instantly, and she nearly slapped the table and leaped to her feet. "Have you lost your mind?!"
"No," Leng Yue replied calmly. Then, gazing deeply at Leng Yan, she added in her usual light tone, "And neither has Jing Yi."
Leng Yan froze, the anger in her eyes abruptly fading. Before she could figure out how to respond, Leng Yue went on, "No matter how incompetent he may seem, he once served in the Three Judicial Offices. If he truly had a death wish, there are countless quicker ways to die—no need to choose this slow-burning kind... So, for him to end up in this state, someone must be trying to kill him."
Leng Yue spoke with unshakable composure, gently setting down her teacup. Unconsciously, she rested her palm—warmed by the cup—on her lower abdomen. After days of traveling in the bitter cold, this gesture had become an instinctive habit.
As her hand rested there, she rubbed lightly, feeling a faint warmth spread through the layers of clothing.
It hadn’t felt like this when Jing Yi’s hand had touched her earlier. His hand had been cool, somewhat stiff, and trembling slightly. It hadn’t been comfortable, yet it had given her an inexplicable sense of reassurance.
At least from that moment on, both the child and its father had become aware of each other’s existence...
Ever since she learned of her pregnancy, she had imagined countless times how Jing Yi would react upon hearing the news—grinning foolishly at her, teasing her with witty remarks, spinning her around in his arms, or crouching beside her like an eager puppy, wagging his tail to please her. She had envisioned every possibility, but she never could have predicted it would end like this...
A surge of indescribable sorrow and resentment welled up inside her. Leng Yue clenched her jaw hard, forcing back the tears that threatened to overflow once more.
Though she could hold back the tears, the flood of emotions refused to recede. Unintentionally, her gaze toward Leng Yan sharpened with a cold intensity, and her voice suddenly hardened."Whoever wants him dead should at least give him a proper explanation. If he violated any penal law, then beating or execution should follow the written statutes. If he offended someone, then those who wish to kill or dismember him should state it plainly. If he provoked no one and suffered such torment for no reason—even if I, having been divorced by him, have no right to intervene—I must still seek clarity on behalf of the child in my womb. Otherwise, when my child someday asks about his father, I won’t be able to explain whether his father betrayed the court or the court wronged his father..."
Leng Yan had already been startled by Leng Yue’s mention of "the child in my womb" and was staring dumbfounded at Leng Yue’s abdomen, unable to recover, when she heard Leng Yue’s subsequent treasonous remarks. Shocked, she hastily barked, "How dare you!"
Leng Yan’s Inner Cultivation was profound, and this shout, born of sudden alarm, was unleashed without the slightest restraint. Even Leng Yue, who had been seething with indignation, was stunned into silence. For a moment, the lamplight flickered in the room, so quiet that only their uneven breaths and the soft patter of snowfall outside could be heard.
It was Leng Yan who finally sighed in resignation and scolded in a low voice, "You don’t even know to watch your words in such a place..."
Only then did Leng Yue abruptly realize that, in her heated state, she had forgotten they were in the Crown Prince Manor—and not just anywhere, but right under the noses of the Crown Prince and Crown Princess. If her earlier words were to spread beyond this room...
A cold sweat broke out over Leng Yue. Clutching her lower abdomen and pressing her lips together, she dared not make another sound.
Seeing Leng Yue quiet down, Leng Yan finally relaxed slightly. She rolled her eyes in exasperation and sighed softly. "Jing Yi, after all, grew up with me. Even if you suddenly married him without a word and stubbornly refused to tell me why... the two of you were betrothed long ago, and over the years I’ve grown accustomed to treating him as half a younger brother. Do you think I want to see him suffer like this? But given the current situation in the capital, he has no choice but to endure it."
Leng Yue frowned, her voice soft but still tinged with resentment. "Why should he?"
"Why?" Leng Yan gave a bitter laugh, shaking a few droplets of melted snow from her golden armor. "Aren’t you curious why the Crown Prince is still here, even after all this time since the Late Emperor passed away?"
Leng Yue was taken aback by the question.
Indeed, by all reasoning, a nation cannot be without a ruler for even a day. With a Crown Prince ready to succeed, he should have ascended the throne immediately after the Late Emperor’s death. Yet here the Crown Prince was, holed up in his bedchamber at the Crown Prince Manor.
According to the rumors that reached Suzhou, the Crown Prince had delayed his ascension because grief over his father’s death had struck him so deeply that he fell ill and was temporarily unable to assume the throne. Thus, several senior ministers were acting as regents in the interim.
Such an explanation might fool local officials like the Suzhou Prefect, who had never dealt directly with the Crown Prince. But those in the capital familiar with him would surely react just as Leng Yue did—Who are you trying to fool?
It wasn’t that the Crown Prince was unfilial, but such behavior was utterly unlike him. When the Empress passed away, he had mourned properly for one ceremony, then carried on with his duties as usual.Even if she hadn't previously imagined the Crown Prince would be so composed as to hide at home playing Cat's Cradle with the Crown Princess, she could still deduce that his claim of being bedridden was merely an excuse to delay his ascension to the throne. As for why he wanted to postpone his enthronement, Leng Yue had several hypotheses in mind, but such conjectures were hardly something to be voiced casually.
Thus, Leng Yue merely shook her head.
Leng Yan sighed again, leaning forward slightly until the armor plates on her chest clinked heavily against the edge of the table. In the wake of that sound, she said gravely, "Because the imperial physicians confirmed that the Late Emperor didn't die of illness—he was poisoned..."
Before Leng Yue's astonishment could fully settle on her face, Leng Yan continued softly and rapidly, "On the day the Late Emperor passed away, aside from Prince Hui who was away on official business in Jizhou, all the princes, including the Crown Prince, were in the palace."
Leng Yan's words were deliberately understated, but for Leng Yue, who worked in the government office, they were more than enough.
To elaborate fully on Leng Yan's statement: on the day the Late Emperor was poisoned, the Crown Prince and all the other princes were in the palace. For reasons too tedious to explain to Leng Yue at the moment, the suspicions had been cleared from palace maids, eunuchs, and consorts—the suspects now lay among these princes. Of course, Prince Hui Xiao Zhaoye, who happened to be absent from the capital, was excluded.
Leng Yue maintained her stunned expression in silence for a long moment before softly uttering, "Was Jing Yi there too?"
Leng Yan nodded and sighed faintly. "He happened to accompany the Crown Prince that day."
Happened?
It just happened that all the princes whimsically gathered in the palace that day.
It just happened that the Late Emperor was poisoned to death.
And it just happened that all other palace personnel were above suspicion.
It also just happened that Prince Hui Xiao Zhaoye—renowned throughout the land for his filial piety—was not in the capital when it occurred.
And it just happened that Jing Yi, who shared no blood relation with the Late Emperor, accompanied the Crown Prince that very day.
How could there be so many coincidences?
Leng Yue believed that even if everyone else was willing to turn a blind eye to this series of coincidences, there was one person who would never believe it.
"What about Prince An?"
"Prince An isn't in the capital."
Leng Yue was taken aback. "Not in the capital?"
Leng Yan nodded with a bitter smile. "So when I heard you say at the city gate this morning that you were returning to the capital to report on your mission, I knew you must have been lying to me..."
"That can't be..." Leng Yue frowned and shook her head, pulling out the official dispatch that had sent her to Liangzhou from her robe. "This dispatch I received was issued after the Late Emperor's passing. Look—it was sent from the capital, written in the Prince's handwriting, and bears his seal. It can't be fake."
Leng Yan took it and examined it, then also frowned and shook her head. "I don't know about that. Aren't the people from your Prince An's residence most skilled at handling such bizarre matters?"
There was about sixty percent jest in Leng Yan's words, but the remaining forty percent held truth—the people of Prince An's residence did indeed favor unconventional methods, though these were typically employed in solving cases and rarely used on their own.
Having served by Prince An's side for so long, Leng Yue could guess that his sudden, inexplicable decision to send her to Liangzhou at this time—much like Leng Yan blocking her from entering the capital city gates—was certainly not because anything had happened in Liangzhou, but precisely because Liangzhou was peaceful.
But if he wasn't in the capital, how could his personally written dispatch have been sent from there?If he had written it in advance and left it behind, how could he have anticipated that such a major incident would occur in the capital during his absence, requiring such an official letter to be sent to her?
Leng Yan's words only made Leng Yue's heart grow more uneasy. "Then... where is His Highness now?"
Leng Yan's reply made Leng Yue even more anxious.
"I don't know. All we know is that he left the capital with Minister Xue Rucheng a few days before the Late Emperor's passing. He only brought Wu Jiang with him. They only informed the Late Emperor before departing, and now no one in the capital knows where they went. There's no trace of them in any of the prefectures or counties..." Leng Yan paused for breath before shifting the topic. "But the Crown Prince said that even if Prince An were in the capital, he wouldn't be able to handle this matter."
"Why?"
Leng Yan hesitated, lowering her gaze to stare at Leng Yue's abdomen for a moment before whispering, "The truth behind the Late Emperor's passing is still a secret. The few imperial physicians who knew about it have been silenced. If Prince An were to intervene, it would openly signal to the world that there's something suspicious about this. Do I need to spell out what kind of chaos would follow?"
Although Leng Yue had always shown little interest in court affairs, being part of the officialdom, she still understood the basics.
The chaos Leng Yan referred to was related to Prince Hui, Xiao Zhao Ye. Ever since he gained a reputation for filial piety following Consort Hui's death, the elegant and refined Xiao Zhao Ye had become the most popular prince among the court and the people. And in this matter, he happened to be the one who remained the most detached...
Realizing this, Leng Yue also understood the predicament Jing Yi was now in. "So the Crown Prince is making Jing Yi the scapegoat?"
After all, secrets cannot remain hidden forever. If the Crown Prince were to ascend the throne as if nothing had happened, someone would inevitably expose the truth behind the Late Emperor's passing. The Crown Prince, pretending everything was fine, would immediately become the prime suspect in this case. Even if the Crown Prince delayed his ascension until the truth came to light, no matter which prince was ultimately exposed as the culprit, the court would descend into chaos.
Only by pinning the blame on Jing Yi could this matter be resolved cleanly and decisively.
Seeing Leng Yue's eyes redden, Leng Yan quickly added, "They discussed and agreed to this..."
Leng Yue slammed her hand on the table and stood up abruptly, her eyes red as she glared at Leng Yan. "How could such a thing be discussed?"
Leng Yan glared back unflinchingly, suppressing her voice as she retorted, "Do you think the Crown Prince wanted this? Regicide is a crime punishable by the extermination of one's entire clan. If Jing Yi takes the blame, the entire Jing family will be executed. Over the years, the Crown Prince has kept a low profile. Aside from the Jing family, which faction in the court has genuinely supported him? Don't tell me that as someone who deals with cases every day, you still haven't figured out why Jing Yi got entangled in this mess!"
Leng Yan's final words struck Leng Yue like a slap, jolting her awake.
That's right...
The person who poisoned the Late Emperor had already calculated this step. That was why, among the princes present in the palace that day, Jing Yi had inexplicably appeared.If the Crown Prince refused to sacrifice Jing Yi, the imperial throne within his grasp would become a hot potato—impossible to discard yet equally impossible to hold. But if he truly cast Jing Yi aside, it would mean abandoning the entire Jing family. With the Jing family destroyed, he would be like a man whose legs had been severed—even if he managed to climb onto that throne, he would never sit securely or for long.
The schemer had pointed out two paths for the Crown Prince, yet both led to the same destination.
And the person she treasured was merely a paving stone the schemer had tossed to the Crown Prince.
A chill ran down Leng Yue’s spine. The reason Jing Yi had divorced her was not, as she had initially imagined, to spare her from suffering alongside him. Rather, though he was still struggling desperately, he had already prepared himself to face death at any moment. By divorcing her, he ensured her safety—and the safety of the entire Leng family as well.
Unconsciously clenching her fists, Leng Yue gritted her teeth and demanded, "So what exactly does the Crown Prince intend to do?"
Leng Yan frowned slightly, watching Leng Yue who seemed somewhat calmer than before, and replied gravely, "This matter cannot be touched by outsiders. The one secretly investigating this is Prince Hui. According to the Crown Prince, Jing Yi used some method to make himself appear the most suspicious. Then, when Prince Hui’s men searched his residence and found nothing, Jing Yi remained the prime suspect, temporarily taking the fall. The Crown Prince has been trying to come up with a solution these days…"
"Come up with a solution?" A surge of fury flared in Leng Yue’s chest, and once again she failed to guard her words. "Haven’t you seen what he’s been doing holed up in his room? Is that coming up with a solution?"
Before Leng Yan could stop her, a clear female voice suddenly chimed in from outside the door, picking up Leng Yue’s words.
"That’s right."
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