Xue Ruyun walked up to Tong Caiwen, glanced at him casually, and Tong Caiwen's legs went weak. He said, "I'll confess everything, I'll confess everything honestly, I don't want to die!"
Xue Shang still held the dagger in her hand. "Think carefully before you speak, otherwise, this dagger of mine doesn't have eyes."
Tong Caiwen kowtowed repeatedly, her head thumping loudly. "I swear, everything I said is true, not a single word is a lie."
Xue Shang turned around and sat down beside Mingyue's bed. She looked at her daughter with affection and said, "Speak."
Tong Caiwen recounted the entire incident in detail.
He failed his exams last year and became despondent, spending his days indulging in pleasure and debauchery.
A month ago, a man suddenly approached Tong Caiwen, saying that if Tong Caiwen did something for him, he would give Tong Caiwen a large sum of money and even help Tong Caiwen get a government position.
In his hedonistic pursuits, Tong Caiwen's biggest thought was to rise through the ranks and bring glory to his ancestors. Now that such an opportunity was right in front of him, how could he possibly refuse it?
Tong Aning: "... Stop patting yourself on the back."
Tong Caiwen, who had been kneeling on the ground, straightened up upon hearing Tong Aning's words, slightly displeased. "You can insult me, but you can't insult my aspirations."
Tong Aning: "... Hehe."
Xue Shang coughed, and the cold light reflected from the dagger shone on his face, making Tong Caiwen much more obedient.
"What that person told me to do was to seduce the princess, make her fall madly in love with me, and then I would cruelly abandon her... To be honest, although there are no mirrors in my house, there is clean water. How could I possibly win the princess's heart looking like this?"
He's quite self-aware.
Xue Ruyun said, "And then he gave you the Love Gu?"
Tong Caiwen: "He did give it to me, but I didn't have a chance to get close to the princess. He scolded me for being useless, made me eat the mother Gu, and then took the child Gu away, saying he would think of a way."
[He made you eat... speechless.]
After finishing her statement, Tong Caiwen touched her nose. "Everything I said is true. I was only coerced. I shouldn't... deserve to die, right?"
Tong Aning: "Hey, didn't you say your ideal was to rise through the ranks and bring glory to your ancestors? Why are you so scared now?"
Tong Caiwen said shyly, "Ideals can change, after all."
Seeing his pathetic state, Xue Shang was so angry that she slapped Tong Caiwen across the face. "Who do you think you are? If you didn't use these methods, my daughter wouldn't even deign to look at you. But you insist on using these methods to make her willing to die for you."
Tong Caiwen, feeling wronged, "Your Highness, I didn't want to either."
Xue Shang didn't want to listen to Tong Caiwen anymore, "Gag him and pull him aside."
Tong Caiwen: "Mmm..."
Xue Ruyun said, " Ashang, don't be too angry. The most urgent thing is to remove this Love Gu."
Xue Shang: "Just kill him."
Xue Ruyun: "No need."
Besides killing, Xue Ruyun had other ways to draw out the mother Gu in Tong Caiwen's body; she was just trying to scare Tong Caiwen.
Xue Shang retreated from the room, anxious and wondering who was behind Tong Caiwen.
Xue Shang murmured, "Someone who can give him money, an official position, and also someone who can get close to Mingyue."
The old woman speculated, "Your Highness, this last one is probably someone from our Princess's own household."
You make a good point.
Your Majesty now promotes the imperial examination system, but there are still exceptions.
If someone is truly talented, they can be recommended and become an official in the imperial court.
Only a handful of people in the princess's residence possess such abilities.
First, Xue Shang; second, Xue Shang's two male favorites; and third, a person temporarily staying at the princess's residence.
Xue Shang had the nanny whisper three names in her ear.
The old woman said, "This servant will go and bring the person over right away."
Xue Shang nodded.
Not long after the nanny left, Tong Aning also came out.
Xue Shang asked worriedly, "How is Mingyue?"
Tong Aning reassured him, "Your Highness, don't worry, things are going smoothly, my master is just finishing up."
Xue Shang nodded.
[ Xixi, who do you think instructed Tong Caiwen?]
[Host, let me reiterate, I'm just Gossip System; I don't have any crime-solving capabilities.]
The breath Xue Shang had managed to muster dissipated.
Tong Aning's eyes darted around, she smiled slyly, and changed her approach—
[Why don't you just say it out loud? Why did the instigator do this? Was it because he loved Mingyue but couldn't have her?]
Hearing this, the system got really excited.
[What unrequited love? That person truly loved the eldest princess.]
Tong Aning: "?"
Xue Shang was also completely baffled.
[That man was extremely fond of the Eldest Princess, but she had many male favorites. He once mustered the courage to offer himself to her, but was rejected. He harbored resentment and wanted to make her suffer as much as he had. Unfortunately, the Eldest Princess had no weaknesses; her only beloved daughter was Mingyue. So, he devised this plan.]
[Tsk tsk tsk, how does this person's brain work? He already has Love Gu, why doesn't he just use it on the Princess?]
Xue Shang: "..."
However, through Tong Aning's and the system's thoughts, Xue Shang could roughly determine who that person was.
Soon, the nanny brought the three people over.
The two male concubines greeted Xue Shang respectfully.
The remaining one asked with a smile, "Your Highness, what brings you here today? Is Mingyue's illness any better?"
Xue Shang looked up and met his smiling face. He actually dared to ask that if it weren't for him, her Mingyue wouldn't be bedridden with illness.
Xue Shang rushed forward and slapped him twice viciously.
Hou Qingle wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and smiled. "Did Your Highness enjoy the beating? Would you like me to slap you a couple more times?"
[Wow, that's totally freakish. Hitting him is just to give him a kick.]
Xue Shang raised an eyebrow. "You like it?"
"It would be my great honor."
Xue Shang smiled gently; she had plenty of ways to deal with people like that.
Xue Shang beckoned, and the guards stepped forward. Before Hou Qingle could even look at Xue Shang, he was knocked down by the guards, who then viciously stomped on his face.
Hou Qingle angrily retorted, " Xue Shang, how could you insult me like this?"
Xue Shang looked down at him and asked, "Did you enjoy it?"
Hou Qingle couldn't utter a single word.
Xue Shang said, "Bring me the whip."
Xue Shang ordered her guards to whip Hou Qingle repeatedly until Hou Qingle was on the verge of death, at which point Xue Shang finally ordered them to stop.
She stared at Hou Qingle and said, "You've really got the skill to poison my Mingyue. You're so capable! Why don't you come at me instead? You coward! If I were to actually take you in, it would be a stain on my life!"
Hou Qingle sobbed, saying painfully, "Do you think I don't want to? I love you so much. If I put Love Gu on you, I simply can't refuse someone who loves me!"
Tong Aning and Xue Shang both felt a chill.
The door opened.
Xue Ruyun said, " Mingyue is awake."
She glanced at the person on the ground and asked, " Ashang, are you done dealing with this?"
Mingyue woke up, but Xue Shang's heart had already flown to the room. She nodded and quickly brushed past Xue Ruyun.
"Mother."
Xue Shang hugged Mingyue, "My Mingyue, you're finally awake! I was so worried about you."
Mingyue smiled weakly, "I'm fine, aren't I? I already know the whole story."
Mingyue looked at the person in the corner, "How disgusting."
Tong Aning: "..."
[For someone who's obsessed with looks, this is truly devastating.]
Xue Shang gripped Mingyue's hand tightly. "I've found him, and the people behind him. How to deal with them is up to you."
Mingyue looked at Tong Caiwen, a wicked idea forming in his mind, while Tong Caiwen felt a chill run down her spine.
Mingyue said, "Aunt Yun, do you have any Love Gu? How about we give them to them?"
Tong Caiwen: "!!!"
"No, no!"
Xue Ruyun fed Hou Qingle the mother Gu poison and Tong Caiwen the child Gu poison.
Xue Shang had them both thrown out.
Standing on the bustling street, Tong Caiwen passionately confessed her feelings to Hou Qingle.
Tong Aning, who was secretly watching, sighed, "He's starting to look like a scholar now."
Mingyue nodded with a mischievous grin. "You've got some knowledge now."
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.
*
After Mingyue had recovered considerably, the garden party was reopened.
Lou Yingyu pulled the two of them aside, wanting to tell them something interesting.
"Have you heard? Chancellor Hou actually has homosexual tendencies."
Mingyue and Tong Aning exchanged a glance. Mingyue said, "We didn't just hear about it, we saw it too."
Lou Yingyu could tell from their expressions that something was amiss. After hearing what they said, Lou Yingyu clapped her hands and said, "Hahahaha, they deserve it."
"Oh no! Someone has fallen into the water!"
There was an arched bridge in the garden. Several noble ladies were originally on that bridge when, for some reason, a scuffle broke out, and one of them fell off.
Mingyue said, "Hurry up and go save them."
Lou Yingyu: " Aning, what are you doing?"
Tong Aning jumped into the water with a splash.
Lou Yingyu and Mingyue watched from the shore, almost frantic with worry.
"Quickly, quickly pull them both up, and bring the cloak over, hurry!"
Mingyue and Lou Yingyu hurriedly wrapped a cloak around Tong Aning and the noble lady, respectively.
Worried that they might catch a cold, Mingyue said, "Help them into the house."
The room was heated by an underfloor heating system, and Mingyue even had two stoves brought in. Before long, Tong Aning felt warm. She looked at Mingyue and Lou Yingyu, who were worried about her, and smiled.
Lou Yingyu scolded, "You still have the nerve to laugh."
Mingyue: "That's right, if anything really happened to you today, your mother would fight me to the death."
"No, I knew what I was doing. I only swallowed a few mouthfuls of water and still managed to save someone. Aren't I amazing?"
She even got a little arrogant, Lou Yingyu retorted irritably, "So what if you're so great?"
Lou Yingyu ruffled Tong Aning's half-dry hair until it was all messy.
"Is the person I saved alright?"
" Miss Tong, I'm alright. Thank you so much for saving Miss Tong life today."
Tong Aning looked at the elegant woman in front of her and shook her head.
[How wicked! They deliberately pushed that girl into the water! If I hadn't reacted quickly, some people might have actually succeeded.]
What?