Chapter 66 Suqing Poisoned

"Since you have all traveled from afar to be guests here, it is a grave discourtesy on my part that I have failed to fulfill my duties as a host."

Outside the courtyard gate, two rows of guards stood rigidly with sabers in hand, their expressions icy. At the head of them stood a man draped in a long purple robe, wearing a jade crown and a brocaded belt. His features were stern and his gaze profound. As his words fell, his slender right hand lifted slightly, and the guards behind him immediately surrounded Mo Yunqing along with his remaining subordinates.

"There is no need for Your Highness the Prince of Xiao to trouble yourself. My relationship with the Princess is akin to that of brother and sister. Hearing that she had been cast into the Clan Court, I was deeply worried and thus came here to check on her. Who could have known that I would stumble upon her engaging in a tryst with a stranger? I am utterly heartbroken!" Mo Yunqing paused slightly in thought, a lie already smoothly concocted behind his shifting gaze.

Everyone knew that the Prince of Xiao harbored affections elsewhere and that marrying the good-for-nothing Princess Yan Ziyu was merely a measure of helplessness. If he could be led to believe that Yan Ziyu was unfaithful and engaging in illicit affairs, it would serve to use his blade to kill. Even if the truth were uncovered later, there would be no proof left behind, and no one could hold him accountable. So Mo Yunqing thought to himself.

Unexpectedly, Long Xiaoyan merely cast a cold glance, his eyes filled with utter indifference. "Affairs of the Prince's Estate require no concern from Young Master Mo; I shall handle them personally. Furthermore, if word gets out that Young Master Mo suddenly arrived at the Clan Court with a retinue of men, it will inevitably provoke gossip. Perhaps it would be best for this prince to send men to personally escort Young Master Mo back to his residence. What do you say?"

Without waiting for Mo Yunqing's reply, he directly commanded his subordinates to execute the order.

"Thank you for the trouble." Mo Yunqing offered a mild and courteous smile, though inwardly he cursed profusely. He cast a deeply meaningful glance at Yan Ziyu's retreating figure, and finally stepped out of the courtyard gate filled with a heart full of reluctance.

Listening to the footsteps gradually fading away, Yan Ziyu finally halted her handiwork of treating the wounds, stood up, and turned her gaze to meet that extremely familiar handsome face. She watched him stare at her with an exceptionally cold expression: "Yan Ziyu, return to the estate with this prince."

Her obsidian-like pupils shifted to look at the blue-robed man standing with his hands clasped behind his back. The hand hidden within Yan Ziyu's sleeve twitched slightly, releasing a faint fragrance toward the direction where the cyan-robed man lay, which seamlessly blended into the previously thick aroma and remained virtually undetectable.

The cyan-robed man, who had been relying solely on sheer willpower to sustain his consciousness, finally slowly closed his eyes under the influence of this fragrance. The last image retained in his mind was not Yan Ziyu walking toward Long Xiaoyan as commanded, but rather her turning around to approach the blue-robed man.

"I will remember this favor. I must trouble you to take good care of him for me." Yan Ziyu offered a faint smile to the blue-robed man, her cherry lips parting slightly as she spoke in a soft voice.

As the words fell, Long Xiaoyan's expression remained unchanged, though a trace of irritation flashed through his eyes, while the blue-robed man's eyes gradually revealed a warm smile.

"Rest assured. Why don't you come along with me, and I will take care of you?" The blue-robed man was none other than Bai Yufeng, the proprietor of the Rare Treasures Pavilion. Having relayed Yan Ziyu's situation to the boss, the boss had been extremely agitated and instructed him to take good care of Yan Ziyu; if she suffered any grievances, he wouldn't fare well either.

Therefore, upon hearing that Yan Ziyu had been thrown into the Clan Court's dungeon, he had immediately gone to protect her in secret, leading to the scene just prior. Fortunately he had arrived, otherwise the consequences would have been unimaginable!

* *

Yan Ziyu had only spent a single night in the Clan Court, yet it had caused such a massive uproar that even the Emperor himself learned of it. Though blazing with fury, the Emperor could do nothing to her, as she was the victim.

In his immense rage, the Emperor severely punished Mo Yunqing, banishing him to the borderlands for three years, forbidding him from entering the capital without permission!

Under the brilliant sun, by the emerald lake, weeping willows swayed.

A table, a pot of tea, and a medical treatise! Yan Ziyu had been lying on the chaise lounge for the better part of the day, holding the book upside down without even realizing it, staring blankly at the text by herself!

"Princess... Princess..." Ziyu called out several times without receiving a response. With a roll of her eyes, she leaned right next to her ear and let out a loud shout, nearly startling the medical book out of Yan Ziyu's hands.

"Why shout so loudly? Are you trying to scare me to death?" Yan Ziyu gave Ziyu an ungracious sideways glance and resumed holding the inverted book in a daze.

Covering her mouth, Ziyu chuckled softly, "Princess, your book is being held upside down!"

"Dead girl, can't I like reading books upside down? Mind your own business, or I'll have someone seal your mouth." Yan Ziyu's face flushed with embarrassment.

"This servant wouldn't dare," Ziyu pleaded with a smile. "Princess, we haven't seen A-Li for several days now! For a perfectly fine person to just vanish like that is truly worrisome."

As the words fell, Yan Ziyu also furrowed her brows and sighed.

Indeed, A-Li was gone!

He had vanished just like that. After Long Xiaoyan took her back from the Clan Court a few days ago, no one had seen A-Li since. He seemed to have vanished into thin air.

"Perhaps he went off to play. After a few days, when he's had his fill of fun, he'll come back. How is the Seventh Concubine doing?" Ever since Long Xiaoyan brought her back from the Clan Court that night, the Seventh Concubine, Su Qing, had inexplicably been poisoned the very next day.

Even the imperial physicians could not determine what poison she had contracted, and could only watch helplessly as she grew increasingly emaciated. The Prince remained by her side every day, and his temper had become exceptionally volatile, leading him to punish several servants already.

Ziyu shrugged, wrinkling her small nose. "Still the same. Today, the Secondary Consort somehow found a Daoist priest who insists that the Seventh Concubine is possessed by evil spirits and must perform rituals to exorcise the ghosts. It's quite a commotion right now!"

"Let them make a fuss. We shall act as though we know nothing. Give orders to let the people in our courtyard walk about less these days, so as not to be caught as venting outlets and punished." Yan Ziyu lazily slumped back onto the chaise lounge, closing her eyes as the scene of that cyan-robed man sacrificing himself to save her flashed through her mind...

Every time she recalled that moment, her aloof heart could not help but ache slightly, and she frequently found herself thinking of him involuntarily.

I wonder if his body has recovered somewhat?

His injuries had been so severe at the time; seeing those blood-gushing wounds had caused a dull ache in her own chest. Had it not been for him, that arrow would have pierced squarely into her own body.

"Princess, since you haven't been managing things these past few days, you wouldn't know. Secondary Consort Yu had someone buy a coffin, had Concubine Qian's body hauled to the mass graves, and casually dug a hole to bury her and be done with it. They didn't even hold funeral rites. Concubine Qian was so proud in life, yet she met such an end after death. It is truly pitiful..." Ziyu chattered away about the events in the estate while peeling an apple for her.

"Does the Prince not care?" After a hundred days of grace as husband and wife, could Long Xiaoyan not feel even a shred of sadness? Yan Ziyu frowned.

Ziyu sighed. "The Prince's attitude is what makes people's hearts turn cold. After Concubine Qian died, he didn't even spare her a glance, let alone care. All his thoughts are wrapped up in the Seventh Concubine!"

"Princess, that medicine of yours is truly formidable. The Seventh Concubine is now so ill she barely looks human, and the imperial physicians can't diagnose a thing. That serves her right for being arrogant and bullying the Princess—"

"Secondary Consort Yu is back in charge now, and she's acting so smug, trying to win people over everywhere..."

...

Yan Ziyu lay lazily on the soft couch, her mind filled entirely with the events of that night. She paid no heed to Ziyu's endless chattering. Normally, for every ten sentences Ziyu uttered, she would occasionally reply with one or two.

"Ziyu, go check if Rui'er has returned. If he has, go to the kitchen and have them make some iced white fungus soup for him. That's a good thing to drink in the summer." Feeling somewhat drowsy, Yan Ziyu dismissed Ziyu and drifted off to sleep.

Ever since she awakened her bloodline for the second time using that jade pendant, she had been frequently drowsy and lacking in energy.

Little did she know that an uninvited guest was about to arrive at the estate next—