Chapter 128 ended on a note that promised further intrigue and development in their struggle for the throne.
The person on the bed spoke weakly but with a hint of sarcasm. Luo Ye felt displeased but only sighed, “Not everything can be forced. But among all my brothers, I trust you the most.”
Yu Wenxin had originally guessed that this woman was closely related to General Xiang and now thought that being fellow disciples would be even better than his previous speculation of her being a spy or General Xiang’s fiancée.
He feigned sudden realization and said: “So she’s General Xiang’s junior martial sister. Earlier, Lord Pan mentioned that the Second Prince only saw this letter yesterday morning. But as far as I know, Miss Yi seems to have arrived at the Second Prince’s residence the night before. Not long after, the Third Prince was poisoned. Since Miss Yi and General Xiang are fellow disciples from the same master, they naturally would have some communication methods unknown to outsiders. If we were to believe that Miss Yi knew nothing about the secret message yet hurried to the Second Prince’s residence to report, this would be hard to believe!”
Pan Xian was momentarily speechless. Although he could insist that this was indeed the case, after Yu Wenxin’s reasoning and analysis, if he were to say something now, it would feel like he was being unreasonable.
While such tactics might work when defending the Second Prince in court, right now they were trying to ally with the Third Prince against the Fourth Prince – speaking like this would only cause the negotiations to fall apart.
At this moment, Yu Yi spoke: “Lord Yu Wenxin is unaware that my martial brother was being pursued at the time and had no spare moment to complete the details. The message I received only contained the five words ‘poisoning, Second Prince’. From this, I deduced that the Second Prince might be in danger. Now I realize that perhaps when I received the message, my martial brother had already been killed…”
She showed a sorrowful expression, and halfway through her speech, she reached out to wipe her eye corner, seemingly wiping away tears. Soon her eye rim turned red, and her eyes were filled with tears. By the time she finished speaking, she was sobbing uncontrollably, turning her back to use the handkerchief in her arms to wipe her tears.
With her crying, Yu Wenxin could no longer press her hard and could only temporarily drop the matter.
Meng Qing on the bed coldly asked: “Miss Yi says she received a secret message from General Xiang. As one of the last relics left by her martial brother, Miss Yi must still have that message, right? May this prince take a look?”
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone’s gaze focused on Yu Yi. Luo Ye and Pan Xian both secretly thought this was bad – in this world, there was no such secret message from General Xiang, and even if there was, it wouldn’t just be those few words about “poisoning, Second Prince”.
Yu Yi raised her tear-filled eyes, took out a small bamboo tube from her bosom, removed her hairpin to gently open the tube, and extracted a thin paper scroll. After unrolling it, she could see an extremely thin piece of paper. She handed the thin paper to Meng Qing on the bed.
This paper was naturally prepared by Yu Yi before coming to Luo Zhan’s residence. Luo Ye and Pan Xian were unaware of her preparations and felt slightly relieved upon seeing this.
Meng Qing glanced at the paper and asked: “What script is written here? This prince has never seen it before.”
Yu Yi replied: “Third Prince, the best secret message in this world is one that only those who should know can understand.”
At this point, Meng Qing no longer pretended to be weak. He got up from the bed, walked to the small desk by the window, pointed to the paper on the desk, and said: “Miss Yi, please write using the code from the secret message… just write ‘Willing to form an alliance with the Third Prince’ in this code.”
Yu Yi calmly said: “Even if I wrote it, the Third Prince would not understand.”
Meng Qing slightly curved his lips: “Let’s try and see?”
Here’s the edited article with irrelevant content removed and a correction report at the end.
Luo Ye suddenly realized that Luo Zhan’s earlier statement, “There’s a young lady Yi’s fingerprint on top,” truly referred to the blood fingerprint on the secret letter. When the secret letter was first obtained, the blood fingerprint on the envelope was not particularly noticeable, as it was a letter taken from a dead person, and it would have been strange if there was no blood. However, when the secret letter was placed side by side with the handkerchief, the meaning of this blood fingerprint became completely different.
Luo Ye raised a hand, indicating that he no longer needed to explain. The most important thing in an alliance is mutual trust, and between him and Luo Zhan, there was no longer any mutual trust. No matter how much he explained, it would be forced and would only put him at a disadvantage.
Luo Ye no longer looked at the two pieces of evidence on the table and frankly said, “Third Brother, what is the thing you most want to do now?”
Meng Qing also admired Luo Ye’s decisive action.
However, no matter how easily Luo Ye could let things go, the initiative of the negotiation was now firmly in Meng Qing’s hands, so he straightforwardly proposed conditions: “Zhan has no interest in the throne and only wants to be a peaceful prince. Before the Second Brother ascends the throne, Zhan can assist the Second Brother in various aspects, as long as the Second Brother makes a promise.”
Luo Ye nodded and solemnly said, “I, Luo Ye, hereby swear to the heavens that from today, I will form an alliance with my brother Luo Zhan. As long as my brother Luo Zhan helps me ascend to the throne and does not have any betrayal or harmful actions towards me, I will absolutely not betray or harm my brother Luo Zhan first. If I violate this oath, may heaven and earth destroy me, and I shall die a violent death.”
Meng Qing also solemnly swore, naturally in Luo Zhan’s name. Then he smiled and said, “If the Second Brother wants to report to the Imperial Uncle, Zhan can provide witness testimony.”
Luo Ye and Luo Zhan would jointly accuse Luo Sui of poisoning and assassination. The witnesses were two servants from Luo Zhan’s residence who were involved in the poisoning, and the direct instigator they revealed.
The physical evidence was the secret letter obtained at the cost of General Xiang’s life, and the leftover pastries from Luo Zhan’s that night. With both witness and physical evidence, the accusation was certain to succeed.
Luo Sui returned to his own residence from Luo Zhan’s and was discussing with strategists how to test whether Luo Zhan was truly poisoned or faking it when he was “invited” to the Grand Ancestral Correctional Court for questioning. Although he vehemently denied the poisoning, he was still detained due to the comprehensive evidence provided by Luo Ye and Luo Zhan.
To truly convict him, the Grand Ancestral Correctional Court would need to conduct a detailed investigation. But in any case, the Fourth Prince Luo Sui was temporarily unable to interfere with Luo Ye and Luo Zhan.
Luo Ye spoke softly: “Miss Yi, this prince has something to ask.”
Yu Yi was stunned, then said: “Your Highness, please speak.”
Luo Ye said: “Miss Yi, please come out and talk.”
If you excessively indulge your sorrow to the point of harming yourself, wouldn’t that make those who care about you sad and your enemies happy? Even if Miss Yi has no appetite, please do this prince the honor of eating a little.”
Having said this much, Yu Yi could no longer refuse. She picked up her chopsticks, tasted a few dishes, then put them down and softly asked: “What matter does Your Highness wish to inquire about?”
