Volume 1: Laughing at the Splendor Chapter 5

  Li Yun saw that the empress was no longer staring at her, and finally pointed to the crown prince. She felt a slight relief in her heart. She was used to being high above others, always criticizing subordinates, and now she wasn't quite adapted to this identity of being criticized by others. Whatever the fourth prince's purpose was for helping her, she remembered this favor. The Wandering Spring Pavilion was not a good place, estimated to be an ancient brothel. A dignified crown prince strolling through a brothel, it's not just a matter of tarnishing his reputation, but also a serious issue of moral character that cannot be praised.

  But looking at this prince, he seems so dignified and composed, it's really hard to believe that he's a person who has been charmed by women. The struggles under the imperial power are all bloodless battles, where either you die or I live. It's also possible that he was framed by the fourth prince with ulterior motives. After all, there must be many people who want his position. However, there are also many people with dirty thoughts hidden beneath their glamorous and elegant appearance. Maybe he's not one of them. These things are hard to say.

  Li Yun rarely had a spare moment to catch her breath, and she thought about all sorts of things until she was satisfied. She wanted to see how the prince would respond.

  "The empress dowager's anger subsided, yesterday I indeed went to Wangchun building, but it was also on the emperor's orders to investigate some matters, and I didn't linger for long. By the time my sister Yueling arrived, I had already left more than half an hour ago. Since childhood, I have grown up under your guidance, empress dowager, how could I be a person who disregards moral integrity? If you don't believe me, just ask the emperor." The crown prince spoke calmly under the empress dowager's angry glare, casting a faint glance at the fourth prince.

  The fourth prince's thin lips pursed tightly, his hands clenched into fists in his sleeves, and a faint blue vein bulged out, clearly not expecting the crown prince to go to Wangchun Building on imperial orders. He closed his mouth and didn't say another word.

  The queen's expression eased slightly, and she nodded, also softening her tone. "I thought you weren't that kind of person who doesn't know how to behave. It turns out it was the emperor's order. That's not your fault then. It's better if you don't go to those kinds of places, or you'll be tainted by their seductive tricks."

  "Yes, your son remembers the teachings of his mother!" The crown prince bowed his head respectfully in response.

  The queen spared the prince and turned to Li Yun, her tone changed to a more relaxed but severe one. "Mei, you're too reckless! Although that place is filthy, you can't just set it on fire and not let anyone inside escape. After all, those are human lives!"

  Li Yun did not expect that the prince would so easily let her off, and facing the empress's accusations she didn't know what to say. If she said she was guilty, then she had just arrived and it wasn't her doing; if she said she wasn't guilty, then this body of hers had indeed been accused by everyone, seemingly with ironclad evidence. For a moment, she was forced into silence, her heart somewhat vexed.

  The fourth prince returned without a word and helped Li Yun, nor did he look at her again. It was clear that he had not been hit by the crown prince and had begun to protect himself.

  Li Yun thought of this, and she was quite understanding. She also understood why the fourth prince had to drag her here today. It turned out that he wanted to frame the crown prince for the crime of being unchaste. She sighed secretly, thinking that in ancient times, it was always about who could sit on the most honorable throne. It seemed that this fourth prince was not willing to spend his life as a idle and leisurely royal highness.

  The queen's words fell, and the surroundings were silent. Dozens of eyes fell on Li Yun's body, and for a moment, there were lucky disasters, watching the show, coldly ridiculing, and being indifferent to each other. There were many faces with various expressions. But no one spoke up to help her.

  Li Yun thought that the character of this body's owner was really bad! It seemed like there wasn't even a single close friend.

  "Empress! Did you hear what I said?" The empress no longer addressed Li Yun as "Auntie", the two words "Ben Gong" represented a high and mighty position, stern and majestic. She was indeed worthy of her position as empress.

  Li Yun hung her head and said in a low voice, "I heard it!" Her voice was still filled with unspoken grievances, and tears fell as she responded. She sobbed: "Auntie clearly said that if I was bullied, she would stand up for me, but instead she scolded me. That dirty place, I've wanted to burn it down a long time ago."

  The last sentence was said with extreme resentment, as if burning it would still not be enough to vent one's anger.

  The queen's puzzled heart relaxed when she heard Li Yun's last sentence, it seems that Yu'er is still the same as before, and there hasn't been any change. Maybe she knows she made a big mistake, and was bullied badly for a while, so she became quiet for a long time. Now this is normal. She put on a stern face, her tone severe: "You still have the nerve? You caused a huge mess and didn't think of ways to make up for it, instead you're causing trouble in the palace again. It seems that I was too lenient with you in the past, which led to your arrogant and lawless nature."

  Li Yun's tears seemed to be flowing down without any restraint, not saying a word, stubbornly standing there. Wasn't the queen supposed to spoil her? Had she been spoiled to the point of being lawless? She had to see if it was true favoritism or fake favoritism.

  "Guards! Take this good-for-nothing who has caused such a huge mess and still doesn't know to repent, and throw him into the Imperial Prison for punishment! Wait for His Majesty's verdict!" The Empress seemed to be out of breath, her expression furious as she shouted.

  The queen's words fell, and Li Yun suddenly felt that the air flow in the entire pavilion had become much lighter. It seemed that many people wanted her dead. Many young women showed joyful expressions, it seemed that if she were to be convicted, there would be one less competitor for the crown prince, so they were naturally delighted.

  In an instant, several guards rushed towards the pavilion, each carrying a sword and with cold expressions, grabbing at Li Yun.

  Li Yun furrowed her brow, thinking about whether or not to resist. If she resisted, what would be the consequences? And if she didn't resist, she would end up in the Ministry of Justice's great prison - who knows if she'd ever have a chance to get out again. For a moment, she was indecisive.

  Two guards quickly held Li Yun in place, one on either side of her, and were about to escort her out.

  Li Yun thought that it seemed the empress dowager didn't really dote on her, otherwise she wouldn't have been arrested and thrown into the Ministry of Justice's prison. It was hard to say what would happen after entering. She could only rely on guessing and judging people's hearts, which was really frustrating.

  "Empress Dowager, you can't just arrest Moon Sister like this, she..." The Fourth Prince was shocked to see Li Yun being dragged away.

  "Yu'er, she has committed a great mistake and still doesn't know how to repent. You'd better not speak for her again. Today, I must punish this reckless and stubborn girl who refuses to change her ways. Otherwise, as the empress from the Yun Wang Fu, how can I be her aunt, how can I lead the harem, and set an example for the world? How can I explain myself to the officials and the people of the world?" The Empress Dowager rebuked the Fourth Prince.

  The fourth prince suddenly fell silent, looked at Li Yun with a complicated expression, and finally shifted his gaze away, saying nothing more.

  This is quite a magnificent speech! Li Yun couldn't tell what was true or false for the time being, and she couldn't even tell whether the Empress was trying to protect Yun Wangfu's private autonomy by sacrificing her to appease the officials and the people, or if she was using this as an excuse to distance herself from her aunt so that she wouldn't be implicated in the matter. Her head ached as she thought about it, and for the time being, she couldn't make any moves.

  "The Empress is right! I think it's time to teach Moon Sister a lesson. If we let her off like this, how can we explain it to the wrongly killed soul of Wang Chun Lou?" Princess Qingyan echoed the Empress' words.

  "The Empress Mingjian is indeed right!" The pink-clothed woman and the green-clothed woman also nodded in agreement, with a hint of a smile in their eyebrows.

  Li Yun pretended to be angry and glared at Princess Qingyuan and the two women who were echoing her. She glanced at the crown prince, seeing that he was unmoved, his face expressionless as he allowed her to be taken away. Her face filled with resentment and unwillingness again, but soon turned into boundless anger towards the crown prince, shouting: "I burned down Wangchun Building because of you! You can bear to watch me being sent to the Ministry of Punishment's prison without saving me? You truly have a wolf's heart and dog's lungs!"

  Li Yun's voice was loud, this time it was truly filled with anger. She felt sorrow for the deceased woman! Not to mention that she had wasted her devotion, but the man she thought was good turned out to be so cold-blooded and refused to save a life, it was detestable, and infuriating that the owner of this body was blind enough to fall for this man. Even if he were the crown prince, what's the use? A heartless man is not worth loving! Moreover, his identity wasn't something to be proud of, who knows when he might lose it?!

  The crown prince did not seem to have expected Li Yun to point at him, and with such a fierce expression and tone of voice, he was momentarily stunned.

  The queen also seemed to have not expected that her niece, who had always been a gentle little white rabbit in front of the crown prince, would scold him so fiercely today, and for a moment she was also stunned.

  The fourth prince, however, was not surprised at all. Upon hearing this, his eyebrows and eyes gathered a cold smile. He had long seen that today's Yun Shang Yue was different from before, thinking that it must be because of yesterday's incident that she had been taught a lesson, and her heart had cooled towards the man she had been thinking about, which is why she would have such an intense outburst. It was not unreasonable at all.

  He even hoped she would be more aggressive and scold a few more sentences. Anyway, since he was going to be taken into the Ministry of Justice's prison, it was likely that he would not come out alive. Even if he could get out, he might still be half dead, as there were too many people in this capital who wanted her dead. After all, she was now occupying the most noble position for women.

  On this day, the Sacred Imperial Court has left behind an ancestral teaching since its founding: "The empress of each generation must come from the Cloud King's Manor." Therefore, the Cloud King's Manor has a saying that girls are precious. Now, Yun Shallow Moon is the only legitimate daughter of the Cloud King's Manor, and naturally, she is the first choice for the future empress. However, she doesn't live up to this identity, so others can't help but think of ways to make her give it up. What's more, they want to bring down the Cloud King's Manor and make them withdraw from the political stage of the Sacred Imperial Court. But the Cloud King's Manor is a hundred-year-old aristocratic family, with deep roots that cannot be easily shaken. So, it seems like there will be a good show to watch!

  The fourth prince was thinking of many things in his heart and took a spectator's attitude to watch the play.

  He wants to see if his good brother, the crown prince, will protect Yun Shangyue. Does he still want this big flag of the Yun Wangfu? If he does, then naturally he can't let Yun Shangyue go to the Ministry of Justice's prison to seek death. If he doesn't want to protect Yun Shangyue and doesn't plan on wanting this big flag of the Yun Wangfu, it's equivalent to him directly offending the Yun Wangfu. When the old master of the Yun Wangfu finds out that the crown prince stood by and did nothing to save him, how can he still be in charge? That would be even more interesting...

  Digression

  The weather is getting colder and colder today, everyone should wear more clothes when going out, take care of your body! Fortunately, my home has heating, otherwise I really can't type... Amitabha ~ O (∩ _ ∩) O ~