As soon as these words were spoken, everyone looked surprised.
Who would dare to be so bold?
Yuwen Lan said, "Bring him up."
Fu Hai complied, quickly directing people to bring a tightly bound young eunuch before the emperor.
The young eunuch, with a bruised and swollen face, was already terrified out of his wits. He kowtowed desperately, pleading, "Your Majesty, spare my life, please spare my life..."
Meanwhile, Consort Ning, Consort Li, and the others instantly changed their expressions.
This was bad - how did they even find out about the little eunuch?
Yuwen Lan only asked the young eunuch, "Who instructed you to spy on me?"
The young eunuch trembled and stuttered, "It was... it was..."
At this critical moment, Consort Ning suddenly knelt down and said, "I beg Your Majesty to calm your anger. It was Consort Li who told me a few days ago about Your injury. I was only concerned about Your health, so I..."
What?
Consort Li's face turned pale, and she exclaimed in surprise, "Consort Ning, you..."
"Silence!"
Consort Ning scolded harshly, "You are truly reckless and have lost all sense of propriety. How dare you spy on His Majesty? Don't you know the consequences?"
As she spoke, she cast a warning glance at Consort Li.
Princess Yuwen Yan also gave her a cold look.
Consort Li was stunned and hesitated.
—Her aunt had just divorced the Marquis of Linwu, and how could her own declining family contend with the Princess?
But if she admitted to it, it would be a serious crime!
She was unwilling to accept this fate and secretly searched the hall, her gaze falling on the Marquis of Linwu and his son Sun Zhanpeng.
That was her former uncle, and Sun Zhanpeng was her aunt's son. Surely they would speak up for her, given their relationship?
However, the Marquis of Linwu didn't even look at her, his expression cold and indifferent.
She then looked to her cousin Sun Zhanpeng, but saw the young man hesitate for a moment before averting his gaze as well.
Consort Li was in despair.
All these years she had relied on Consort Ning, and everything she had was due to her relationship with Consort Ning. Now that Consort Ning wanted her to take the blame, no one would help her.
So she could only kneel and cry, "This concubine was only concerned about Your Majesty's health. Please have mercy and forgive me this once..."
Then Fu Hai spoke again, "Your Majesty, there's another matter. Yesterday, a palace maid in Ganlu Palace attempted to poison Li Beauty's face-washing water, intending to damage her appearance. Fortunately, Li Beauty discovered it in time and avoided harm. Upon questioning, the palace maid claimed she was acting on Consort Li's orders."
As these words fell, Yanshu finally knew who was behind this attempt to harm her.
Of course, Fu Hai was indeed a cunning old fox. Seeing that Consort Li was now powerless, he chose this moment to reveal this information, leaving her unable to defend herself.
Looking at Consort Li again, she indeed wanted to say something, but ultimately remained silent.
After a moment, the emperor spoke coldly, "Send her to the Cold Palace as a warning to others."
Consort Li collapsed to the ground.
It was over, completely over...
Not far away, Consort Ning felt a chill run through her body, her heart pounding. She didn't even dare to glance at Consort Li.
However, Yuwen Lan didn't let her off. He turned his cold gaze to her and said, "You hold the position of consort, yet you cannot distinguish right from wrong, causing today's uproar. You've made us a laughingstock. From this day forward, you are confined to your palace for thirty days. Reflect on your actions in seclusion, and you are not allowed to leave."
"Your Majesty..."
Consort Ning wanted to argue, but caught sight of the Princess shaking her head at her from the corner of her eye.
She dared not say more and could only kneel and cry, "This concubine obeys."
Yuwen Lan instructed Fu Hai, "Send people to escort them back."
Fu Hai quickly complied, calling several palace maids and eunuchs to "invite" the two back to their quarters.
Yuwen Lan glanced at the young eunuch again and said, "Deal with him according to palace rules."
—According to palace rules, this meant being beaten to death.
Everyone else in the hall trembled in fear, not daring to make a sound.
Then the emperor looked at the Princess and said, "Elder sister, you are at this age, yet still so rash. It truly goes against your status. Go back and also confine yourself for a month. Think carefully about how to conduct yourself properly. I hope you will show some improvement."
This was the first time in her life that she had been punished by her younger brother. Yuwen Yan's face flushed red and white. However, her consort beside her didn't dare to utter a word, his head almost buried in the ground.
Yuwen Yan was filled with resentment and anger, but could only respond with a "Yes" and left with her silent consort.
Noble Consort Zhou felt somewhat smug inside, but didn't dare to show it. She only thought to herself that since Fu Hai had managed to root out even Consort Ning's spies, she would need to be even more careful in the future.
However, those few ministers were trembling like ants on a hot pan. Before Yuwen Lan could speak, they all knelt and kowtowed, saying, "We know our crimes..."
Yuwen Lan said coldly, "Those who caused a commotion earlier will each be fined half a year's salary and demoted three ranks. If anyone dares to offend again, they will be demoted to commoners."
The men obediently agreed and retreated, trembling.
After all this commotion, the ice ball game on the frozen lake had also ended.
Originally, there were supposed to be ice dances and a banquet afterwards, but the emperor was no longer in the mood and directly announced their return to the palace.
Everyone could only comply. Seeing him stand up and walk out, Noble Consort Zhou, Consort An, Consort Xu, Yanshu, and others hurriedly followed.
The emperor walked with purposeful strides. Behind him, Noble Consort Zhou and Consort An exchanged glances, both silently lamenting that they hadn't been able to touch Yanshu this time!
However, it was good that one of Consort Ning's arms had been cut off. They would have to find another opportunity to deal with Yanshu next time.
Yuwen Lan silently listened to this, and couldn't help but try to eavesdrop on the thoughts of the protagonist of their conversation.
She was thinking, [There's still half a roast pig left uneaten, what a waste.]
Yuwen Lan: "???"
At a time like this, she was still thinking about food?
He couldn't help but turn back to look at her, his gaze appearing somewhat cold.
At that moment, Yanshu was also looking up at him, and their eyes unexpectedly met.
She looked panicked and quickly lowered her head, seemingly finally afraid.
But Yuwen Lan heard her grumbling in her mind, [What are you looking at? If you hadn't been a pervert and peeped at me back then, we wouldn't have all this trouble!]
Yuwen Lan: "???"
Huh, so now it was his fault?
By the time they returned to the bedchamber, it was pitch dark outside.
Yanshu had eaten her fill of roast pig and lamb, so she wasn't hungry anymore. She only drank a bowl of hot jujube tea.
However, having worn heavy makeup all day and with a lot of osmanthus oil in her hair, she felt quite uncomfortable. So she went to take a hot bath.
After all, the emperor was in a bad mood today, so he probably wouldn't come over.
Indeed, when she came out after her bath, there was no sign of the emperor.
Seeing that it was already quite late, she climbed into bed and snuggled under the covers, falling into a sweet sleep.
As the lights in Ganlu Palace were being extinguished, Qianming Palace was still brightly lit.
The people sent out to investigate a few days ago had all returned and were reporting to Yuwen Lan.
"Your Majesty, after our investigation, we found that Lord Chai's original wife is still in their hometown serving his parents and raising their two children. In the capital, Lord Chai has three concubines in his mansion, but they are actually men disguised as women."
"Men?"
Yuwen Lan frowned.
The imperial guard confirmed, "Yes, they are indeed men. In addition, he has a separate courtyard in Huanhua Lane in the capital, where he keeps about five or six catamites."
Yuwen Lan: "..."
So it was true.
That Chai Weizhong... was indeed homosexual!
Moreover, he actually left his first wife in their hometown to serve his parents and raise their children, while he himself was being so... outrageous in the capital?
He said, "Continue to keep an eye on him. If there's any illegal activity, report to me immediately."
The imperial guard complied.
He then looked at another person, "How about the other matter?"
"Your Majesty, during our investigation in Jinling City, we discovered that Chancellor Wei came from a poor family background. He once made a living by writing letters and painting for others in the brothels, and he became involved with a courtesan. Later, with financial support from that woman, he was able to go to the capital to take the imperial examination."
Yuwen Lan: "..."
This plot was indeed very similar to the first half of that "The Romantic Scholar and the Beautiful Courtesan" story?
He asked, "What about that woman?"
"We heard that the woman waited for Chancellor Wei in vain. Later, when she heard that he had passed the examination, become an official in the capital, and married and had children, she became disillusioned. She ended up becoming a concubine to a merchant and disappeared after that."
Yuwen Lan nodded.
The second half of that story was certainly unrealistic; it was indeed something she had made up herself.
At this point, he had a clear understanding in his heart.
At the same time, he was even more puzzled.
Everything she had said turned out to be true. Where did she get such supernatural abilities?
This question remained unclear, and in fact, it confused him more and more. As the night deepened, Yuwen Lan couldn't sleep at all.
He had considered many possibilities—
First, did that girl have mind-reading abilities like him? Obviously not. If she did, how could she not guess what he was thinking, always managing to anger him to the point of speechlessness?
Moreover, she had never even met these people, so there was no opportunity for her to use mind-reading abilities.
Second, was there another powerful figure in the palace who had told her these things?
But he had already ordered a search of every corner and had personally visited Ganlu Palace multiple times, without finding any trace or clue.
This girl, what secret was she really hiding?
Watching the emperor pacing silently in the hall with furrowed brows, Fu Hai, who was serving nearby, sighed inwardly, [His Majesty is furious! Those wretches deserve to be punished! Fortunately, Li Beauty gave him a heads up in advance, otherwise it would have been my own head on the chopping block today, tsk.]
As Fu Hai finished his silent reflection and looked up, he saw the emperor staring at him with a shocked expression.
"I forgot to ask you," Yuwen Lan said in a deep voice, "How did you discover that little eunuch's misconduct? You must tell me the whole truth!"
Fu Hai trembled and had no choice but to honestly reply, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. This matter... it was Li Beauty who alerted your servant..."
...
Deep in the night, the cold was biting.
Yuwen Lan forgot even to put on his fox fur coat as he strode quickly through the night wind.
By the time he realized it, he had already arrived at Ganlu Palace.
The lights in the palace had been extinguished. He didn't call for anyone to announce him, but pushed the door open and went straight in.
The person he was looking for was sound asleep behind the curtains.
Having just learned with surprise that it was she who had tipped off Fu Hai to catch the culprit, his mind was bursting with questions!
Could she really have the power of foresight?
However, when he abruptly pulled back the curtain, he was stunned by the scene before him.
The girl was sprawled out in her sleep, not even covered by the blanket. Her thin nightgown was in disarray, and even... exposed her chest and belly.
