Sichen asked excitedly, "Your Highness, shall we continue?"
Xue Lin glanced at him, Tong Aning asked curiously, " Sichen, why are you so happy? Did those two offend you before?"
Sichen: "... No, not at all."
This was the first time he had been so close to these things, and he couldn't help but want to keep watching.
"Someone's here."
Xue Lin took Tong Aning's hand and brought her in front of him. The two of them were blocked by the clutter piled up in the alley.
Sichen, who had suddenly appeared, sighed, "Why didn't the young master think of giving me a hand?"
After those people left, Xue Lin finally had time to visit Tong Aning.
Tong Aning was staring at him with a pair of clean and clear eyes. When he lowered his gaze, his eyes were completely reflected in Tong Aning's eyes.
What merit or ability does he possess to fill such a pair of eyes?
Xue Lin clasped his hands together and coughed lightly. He said, "The situation was urgent just now, so I..."
Tong Aning laughed and said, "I know all that. If you hadn't reacted quickly, we would have been discovered long ago."
After saying that, Tong Aning turned around and continued to hide.
Doesn't she mind at all?
Xue Lin couldn't help but wonder, was it that he truly didn't mind, or that he simply didn't care?
Tong Aning originally wanted to see who the person who had just passed by was, but what she saw revealed a big problem.
[Isn't that the eldest son of Prince Kangle?]
Sichen: "!!!"
Good heavens, this is going to be so lively!
Xue Lin said, "Let's go in and take a look."
Tong Aning nodded, "Okay."
The three entered the teahouse and found an excellent spot to watch the performance.
Heir Apparent of Kangle has yet to realize that the new queen and his second brother are standing behind him.
His second brother saw him clearly, and his expression changed. He then tried to sneak away with the new queen who was holding the child.
Sichen wasn't about to let them have their way. He flicked a pebble at his second brother, which hit him squarely in the shin. The second brother cried out in pain and knelt down.
The new queen was shocked. "Are you alright?"
Upon hearing the familiar voice, Heir Apparent of Kangle turned around and saw his father's newlywed queen in an intimate pose with his second brother.
interesting.
Heir Apparent of Kangle stepped forward and asked, "Second brother, what are you doing with Mother?"
The Heir Apparent of Kangle deliberately emphasized the word "mother." Since the new princess entered the palace, he had never called her "mother" before. Right now, he was just teasing his good second brother.
Xue Pinghuan looked unwell. "My legs went weak, and my mother was just helping me up."
"Oh."
Xue Pingnan raised an eyebrow, not believing Xue Pinghuan's words at all.
Xue Pinghuan steadied himself and asked with a smile, "What are you doing here, elder brother?"
"Something came up."
"Is your brother so busy? Be careful not to lose your position as heir apparent if you keep working so hard."
[Wow, he's really brave. Provoking his older brother at this time, he probably doesn't even know why his brother's here.]
Xue Pingnan narrowed his eyes. "So, Second Brother is also willing for Father to hand over the position of Heir Apparent to an outsider?"
After speaking, Xue Pingnan glanced at the new princess, who was looking down, comforting the child in her arms.
Xue Pinghuan gave a forced smile. "I don't care. I've been suppressed by you for so many years, I'm used to it. Now it's just that someone else is suppressing me."
Ah, I'm used to it.
If Xue Pinghuan's eyes hadn't been bloodshot, he might have actually believed it.
Xue Pingnan patted Xue Pinghuan on the shoulder, "I'm relieved that you're so optimistic, Second Brother. I have other matters to attend to, so I'll trouble you to escort Mother and my younger brother back safely."
Xue Pingnan looked at the new princess who was hiding behind Xue Pinghuan, "Mother, my little brother is still young, you must keep a close eye on him."
The new queen replied in a trembling voice, "Yes."
Xue Pingnan gave the shopkeeper a look, and the shopkeeper indicated that he understood. With a wave of his hand, the assassins who had been prepared beforehand headed towards the new princess.
Both the new queen and the child she holds in her arms are going to die.
[ The Prince Kangle is truly rife with trouble. The Prince Kangle is trying to seize his own son's position as heir apparent, his second son is having an affair with his stepmother, and this heir apparent has even hired someone to commit murder, not even sparing children—it's utterly despicable.]
Xue Pinghuan tightly protected the mother and son, and roared, " Xue Pingnan, you scum!"
Xue Pingnan and Xue Pinghuan were, after all, siblings from the same mother. Even though he was so foolish, Xue Pingnan still wanted to try to persuade him.
"Second brother, their deaths are good for us all. You should move aside."
"No way! I'll protect them even if it kills me!"
Xue Pinghuan spread his arms, his face stern, and said, "If you want to kill them, you'll have to step over my dead body first."
Xue Pingnan suddenly sensed something fishy about Xue Pinghuan's attitude.
He pointed at Xue Pinghuan, then at the new princess, as if he had discovered some great secret, "Second brother, this child, is it yours?"
[ Xue Pingnan is too perceptive.]
Xue Pinghuan was extremely guilty, but he still stubbornly insisted, "How could that be?"
Xue Pingnan clapped his hands. "Good, really good, second brother. If you had told me sooner, would I have gone to all this trouble to kill someone?"
Xue Pinghuan asked warily, "What do you mean?"
Xue Pingnan casually gestured, indicating that his men had captured both the new princess and Xue Pinghuan. "I'll tell Father about this now, and hopefully, he'll be driven mad with anger."
Tong Aning: "..."
[They're all villains.]
Sichen muttered to himself, "What sins did Prince Kangle commit in his past life?"
Tong Aning was caught off guard when Prince Kangle appeared at the door.
Did this teahouse stir up trouble in the heart of a royal household today?
Xue Pinghuan cried out impatiently, "Father, save me! My elder brother is going to kill me and Mother!"
Prince Kangle looked at Xue Pingnan behind them, frowned, and asked, "What's going on here?"
Xue Pingnan: "Father, Mother's child isn't yours, it's my second brother's. Don't you think they should be arrested?"
"What did you say?" Prince Kangle clutched his chest in anguish. "I've long suspected you were having an affair, but I never imagined it was my own son."
[So, it turns out that Prince Kangle was just here to catch his wife cheating.]
Xue Pingnan feigned concern, saying, "Father, don't upset yourself."
[ Xue Pingnan was probably laughing out loud; he couldn't wait for Prince Kangle to die.]
Seeing that the Prince Kangle's face was growing paler and paler, Tong Aning suddenly stood up, lifted her skirt, went downstairs, and gave the Prince Kangle an acupuncture needle.
Success was just around the corner, but now it's all ruined because of Tong Aning. Xue Pingnan's eyes widened in anger, "What are you doing?"
Tong Aning carefully put away the silver needles. "It's a matter of saving a life! If I don't use these needles, your father will die. You don't seem very willing to do this."
Xue Pingnan's eyelids twitched, and he had no choice but to deny it outright, "That's not true."
Prince Kangle: "Fortunately, the divine physician is here, otherwise I would have lost my old life here today."
Tong Aning waved her hand nonchalantly. She was learning medicine from her master, and saving lives was her duty. Besides, Prince Kangle was the central figure in this turmoil, and he absolutely could not fall.
The Prince Kangle ordered the arrest of both Xue Pinghuan and Xue Pingnan. As for the identity of his youngest son, he still needed to conduct a blood test to verify his kinship.
If the princess really dares to betray him, he will definitely not let these people off the hook.
"A bunch of idiots."
Everyone turned to look at the speaker, who turned out to be the shopkeeper.
The shopkeeper seemed furious. He pointed at the new princess and said, "Why don't you shout and yell? So what if it's not your child? I just like your second son. He's younger and better than you."
After speaking of the new princess, he pointed at Xue Pingnan and said, "And you, why don't you continue to provoke your father and say he's blind? This is the retribution he deserves."
The shopkeeper looked at Xue Pinghuan, somewhat exasperated, "You're the most useless one. Any casual remark could be a trump card, enough to drive your father to his death and your elder brother insane, yet you don't know how to use it. I really bet on the wrong horse."
The shopkeeper looked up at the sky, tears of regret streaming down his face.
Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment.
Xue Pinghuan said, "He's crazy."
The shopkeeper stared intently at him, startling Xue Pinghuan. The shopkeeper proclaimed fanatically, "I'm not a madman! I am a great god who controls everything in this world!"
Tong Aning: "..."
[Isn't this just insane?]
Sichen: "Your Highness, shall I go and arrest him?"
Xue Lin said, "We must arrest them."
Sichen leaped down from the second floor, kicking the shopkeeper in the abdomen, twisting his hands behind his back, and firmly pinning him down.
Sichen scoffed, "A great god, huh? How utterly useless!"
The shopkeeper looked indignant.
Xue Lin walked up to the shopkeeper and unfolded a portrait. " The String Puller, is that you?"
[So this is the swindler that Heir Xue was looking for.]
"Well."
Tong Aning sighed and squatted down in front of the shopkeeper, saying, "If you weren't so prone to acting, you probably wouldn't have been caught so late."
"I refuse to accept this; it was a flaw I deliberately exposed."
Xue Lin said in a deep voice, "You think I'm only now starting to target you? Your flaws were obvious from the moment you appeared."
The shopkeeper refused to believe it. "How could this be..."
Xue Lin analyzed rationally. "After Xue Pingnan's hiring of a hitman was exposed, you didn't even think about escaping. Instead, you watched it all with great interest. If you were in the play, you would be the worst actor."
Tong Aning wanted to applaud.
[How is this any different from killing someone by destroying their spirit?]
The shopkeeper was so angry with Xue Lin that he rolled his eyes and fell backward.
Sichen kicked him twice, but he didn't react. Sichen asked, " Miss Tong, why don't you give him a couple more acupuncture needles?"
Tong Aning shook her head. "He's completely despondent; there's no cure."
Sichen nodded in a mocking manner, then lifted the shopkeeper up with one hand.
On the way back to the Jingzhao Prefecture, Xue Lin said, "Being with Miss Tong always seems to bring me extraordinary luck."
No.
Tong Aning was kicking a pebble when she heard this, and she blinked. "Because you were originally a lucky person."
Xue Lin was taken aback. He murmured, "Am I a lucky person?"
He felt as if his fate was cruel and oppressive, making it hard for him to breathe.
Tong Aning looked up with a bright smile and said, "Of course, luck will come to everyone sooner or later."