Seeing that Li Jin's entry into the palace was a settled matter, Wei Shiwan immediately cast a cold glance at Xiao Tao, who had been trembling incessantly since Li Jin appeared, and said, "Xiao Tao, come with me."
"Yes, Princess Consort."
Li Ruoyan frowned and said, "Brother, Li Jin must have done this on purpose. Otherwise, why would he appear neither early nor late, but just after Grandmother had spoken?"
Li Yanshen shook his head, "Yan'er, let's go keep Grandmother company. These matters are not for us to discuss."
"But..."
"Enough, don't be angry. I would be heartbroken if you ruined your health over this."
"Hmph, I'm going to see Grandmother. I'm ignoring you."
Li Ruoyan was somewhat less angry because of Li Yanshen's words, but deep down she was still upset with his attitude, dissatisfied that he clearly saw Li Jin provoking them yet did not fight back. Without waiting for Li Yanshen's response, she immediately ran off.
Little did she know.
Li Yanshen was not without anger; he had simply been suppressing it this entire time.
Li Siyuan, however, secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
For some reason, although he was born of Wei Shiwan, he felt somewhat inexplicably happy inside when he saw Li Jin humiliating Wei Shiwan and the others.
____
"I beg the Princess Consort to forgive this crime." With a thud, Xiao Tao knelt heavily on the ground. "This servant truly saw with my own eyes His Highness drink the entire bowl of medicinal chicken soup. I absolutely did not deceive you."
Wei Shiwan was furious, "Then you tell me, why did Li Jin appear before me looking completely unaffected?"
"This servant also doesn't know how..."
Slap.
Before Xiao Tao could finish speaking, Wei Shiwan slapped her across the face. "You still have the nerve to say you don't know? I told you long ago that this matter was very important to me and must not be messed up. Is this how you handle things for me? Or have you already betrayed me and pledged yourself to Li Jin? Is that why Li Jin is unharmed? Before, when I told you to watch Li Jin drink the medicine, were you also just pretending to obey like now?"
"No, no, Princess Consort, you have misunderstood this servant. This servant is your person, how could I turn to someone else?" Faced with Wei Shiwan's repeated questioning, Xiao Tao felt extremely wronged.
Wei Shiwan looked at Xiao Tao, "Then how do you explain the matter of Li Jin?"
Xiao Tao tearfully met Wei Shiwan's gaze, sobbing, "Princess Consort... this servant... this servant truly... doesn't... know how things could have turned out like this..."
Wei Shiwan narrowed her eyes slightly as she assessed Xiao Tao. After about a while, she finally said, "Forget it. Considering you have served me for many years, I will believe you this time. But only this once. There will be no next time."
"Thank you, Princess Consort, for your mercy... Thank you, Princess Consort, for your mercy..."
Hearing that Wei Shiwan was sparing her, Xiao Tao quickly kowtowed to express her gratitude.
"Enough." Wei Shiwan took a box of wound medicine from a drawer in her dressing table and handed it to Xiao Tao. "Take this and apply it. You are my personal maid. Can you be seen with an injured face?"
"Thank you for the reward, Princess Consort."
Xiao Tao carefully took the wound medicine, unscrewed the lid, and then, in front of Wei Shiwan, applied some of the medicine to the wound on her forehead. A cool sensation instantly spread through the wound.
Xiao Tao knew about this box of wound medicine kept in Wei Shiwan's drawer.
The medicinal ingredients mixed within were extremely expensive. Even Wei Shiwan only had two or three boxes of it. Usually, Wei Shiwan only used it for Li Yanshen. The fact that she now gave it to Xiao Tao to use, didn't that mean Wei Shiwan had truly forgiven her mistake?
The more Xiao Tao thought about it, the happier she felt, and she subconsciously applied a bit more.
Seeing that Xiao Tao had finished applying the medicine, Wei Shiwan suddenly asked, "Xiao Tao, is this wound medicine effective?"
"Replying to the Princess Consort, it's goo... ugh... how... Princess Consort, you... you..." As soon as Xiao Tao spoke, her lips instantly turned purplish-black, and dark purple blood gradually seeped from the corners of her mouth.
Thud.
After a short moment.
Xiao Tao fell to the ground, devoid of breath.
Wei Shiwan picked up the wound medicine that had fallen on the ground and looked coldly at Xiao Tao. "Don't blame me for being cruel. If you hadn't betrayed me, I wouldn't have had to put you to death."
____
In the carriage.
Ping'an asked, puzzled, "Your Highness, the Dowager Lady's words earlier were too strange. You clearly had Zhou Yunting tell the maid serving the Dowager Lady. I was right there too. How could the Dowager Lady still say she didn't know?"
"This isn't strange."
Li Jin smiled meaningfully.
When Li Jin had instructed Zhou Yunting, he had already guessed that the message would definitely not reach Wei Rong. After all, there was still a Wei Shiwan in the prince's mansion. How could Wei Shiwan possibly do nothing?
In other words, in order to attend the banquet, Wei Shiwan had schemed not only against him, but also against Wei Rong.
Ping'an was confused, "Uh... Your Highness, what do you mean..."
Zhou Yunting interrupted, "Ping'an, if His Highness says so, he must have a deeper meaning. Don't insist on asking for clarity about everything. Only His Highness can tolerate your temperament."
"Zhou Yunting, I'm just concerned about His Highness, alright?"
Ping'an placed his hands on his hips and glared at Zhou Yunting.
"Your concern is completely unnecessary," Zhou Yunting retorted without giving any face.
"You..."
Watching the two about to come to blows, Li Jin shook his head in amusement. "Alright, the matter is already over. Don't let it damage your harmony."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Li Jin's words had an effect, and the two immediately settled down, but the tense atmosphere between them remained.
Li Jin then turned to Zhou Yunting and said, "Yunting, during this period I asked you to secretly monitor Zhou Xiaoru. Has she made any unusual moves?"
Zhou Yunting immediately cupped his hands and replied, "Replying to Your Highness, this subordinate discovered that Zhou Xiaoru bribed an old maid serving the Successor Princess Consort and has been secretly adding something to the tea that the Second Young Master drinks."
Li Jin raised an eyebrow, "Does the Successor Princess Consort know?"
Zhou Yunting shook his head, "The Successor Princess Consort does not know."
Li Jin immediately thoughtfully stroked his chin, "Have you investigated the old maid's background in detail?"
For someone to be able to act against Li Yanshen without Wei Shiwan's knowledge, that bribed old maid's identity must be anything but simple.
Sure enough.
Zhou Yunting immediately replied, "Replying to Your Highness, after discovering this matter, this subordinate immediately conducted a secret investigation. I found that the old maid was originally a trusted aide of Old Lady Wei. Later, after the Successor Princess Consort married into the prince's mansion, Old Lady Wei specifically assigned her to the Successor Princess Consort. That is why the Successor Princess Consort felt so assured in entrusting the Second Young Master's care to the old maid."
The Old Lady Wei Zhou Yunting referred to was Wei Shiwan's biological mother.
Li Jin suddenly said, "Yunting, help me investigate carefully whether anything has happened around that old maid recently."
"Yes."
Zhou Yunting gave a solemn nod.
"Your Highness, what exactly does Concubine Zhou intend to do?" Although Ping'an wasn't very clever, he could guess Zhou Xiaoru's ill intentions from the conversation between Li Jin and Zhou Yunting just now.
Li Jin curled his lips in a faint, meaningful smile, "Naturally, it is to remove all obstacles. I just don't know if she has included me in her calculations as well, aiming to kill two birds with one stone."
Li Jin did not believe that someone who could raise a deeply scheming person like Zhou Yanchen could be an ordinary person. Therefore, he had Zhou Yunting secretly monitor Zhou Xiaoru's every move.
And so.
Seeing Wei Shiwan's influence gradually solidifying and Li Yanshen 'repenting' and diligently pursuing his studies, Zhou Xiaoru finally could not resist making her move.
"Concubine Zhou is always timid and submissive. She probably isn't that bold, right?"
Ping'an widened his eyes in disbelief.
Li Jin shook his head and casually lifted the carriage curtain, "Ping'an, some people cannot be judged by their surface alone. If Zhou Xiaoru were truly that cowardly, she couldn't possibly have given birth to the eldest son before Wei Shiwan."
"..."
Ping'an fell silent, unsure what to say for a moment.
Seeing this, Li Jin did not continue speaking and turned his gaze outside the carriage window, observing the passersby.
After about a while.
The carriage carrying Li Jin finally arrived at the palace.
"Heir Apparent Li, the Empress requests your presence." As soon as Li Jin alighted from the carriage, Zhiqiu immediately came over to relay the message.
"Ping'an, you and Yunting wait here."
"Yes, Your Highness."
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