Chapter 68: The Conspiracy is Exposed

  In the valley, there were over a dozen corpses lying horizontally and vertically, all with their clothes in disarray. The second wife of King Town South, Zhu Mei, had tears streaming down her face, her expression frantic and crazed.

  In her arms, she tightly hugged a girl who had fainted. The girl's hair was disheveled, her face swollen and purple, with bright red bloodstains on her lips. She was wrapped in a thick cloak, and through the slightly exposed seams of the cloak, you could see that the snow-white skin also had purple marks.

  On one side, a stout man in red clothes kneeled before the King of Southern Town, his face desperate, while the king's expression was icy cold, his tall and straight body emitting an uncontrollable fierce anger.

  People who come to the valley can tell what happened here just by kneeling down and thinking about it.

  "Amitabha Buddha!"

  The old abbot of Xiangguo Temple joined his hands together and looked very reluctant on his compassionate face.

  The Crown Prince, Chu Yi Feng, wore a dark red brocade chang pao with purple jade crown on his head, his figure was like jade, his demeanor was majestic and dignified, his whole body exuded an innate nobility and grandeur.

  The third prince stood beside him, dressed in white, with a warm and gentle expression, like a jade tree swaying in the wind. Standing next to his majestic and elegant brother, the crown prince, he did not appear dull or unremarkable at all, almost rivaling the crown prince in splendor.

  In the midst of their haste, they only heard that the two daughters of King Town South were stabbed at Xiangguo Temple and did not understand the details... At this time, seeing the tragic situation in the mountain valley, as well as Qin Luohan in the second lady's arms, they couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat all over their bodies.

  Especially the crown prince Chu Yi Feng, whose deep and profound eyes were as cold as a star at this moment, gazed at the red-clothed fat man's gaze, with a fierce and murderous aura seeping through his indifference. Just thinking about Qin Luo Yi almost falling into his hands made him feel an urge to torture someone!

  Qin Luo Yi rushed to the side of Qin Luo Han, who was unconscious, and squatted down beside her. Her pale face was filled with worry and anxiety. She grasped Qin Luo Han's hand in her cloak and whispered softly: "Second sister, second sister, are you okay? Wake up quickly... it's all my fault for being late..."

  Zhu Mei stared at her, her heart churning with anger and resentment, her throat bitter. If it weren't for Qin Luo Yi, her daughter wouldn't have ended up like this; if it weren't for Xie Ru Yan that vixen, she wouldn't have been neglected by the prince for so many years!

  Her own daughter, Tianzi, is absolutely stunning and incredibly intelligent, a hundred times, no, a thousand times better than that Qin Luoyi who was born with a congenital disease. But in the eyes of the king, he only sees that fox spirit's daughter.

  She entered the door before that fox spirit and even took care of his son, but he promoted that fox spirit to the position of legitimate wife! She had to humble herself as a concubine, smiling and welcoming that woman every day, constantly trying to please her.

  Her son doesn't matter how much he fawns over him, he has been indifferent to her since childhood, but turns around and dotes on the daughter born by that woman.

  ……?

  Haha, now her daughter's life is ruined, but this cheap woman's daughter has cured her face and will even marry into the Third Prince's mansion.

  She is not reconciled!

  It's really frustrating!

  Qin Luo's clothes were very close to her, so she didn't miss the change in her expression. She sneered coldly in her heart and gently grasped Qin Luohan's wrist, which made him suddenly come back to his senses and slowly wake up.

  Qin Luo Yi's hands relaxed, and a hint of cold light flashed in her dark phoenix eyes that were slightly lowered.

  What's the point of being unconscious for so long?

  She should be awake to all this! Whoever dares to design a trap for her must have the guts to bear the consequences! This Jiaren is indeed worthy of being carefully selected by Ye Hanshan, and his absurdity makes people sick!

  The emperor castrated him, it's his own fault, he deserved it!

  Qin Luo Han opened her eyes to see Qin Luo Yi's stunningly beautiful face, and for a moment, she was dazed. The unbearable pain on her body quickly reminded her of the previous torture by the devil, and this fact was unacceptable to her.

  Tears glistened in her eyes as she slid down, she clearly saw Qin Luo being taken away by Jia Ren, so why did she inexplicably fall into Jia Ren's hands?

  Was raped, was bullied, it should have been Qin Luoyi... Why would I be the one to suffer in the end?

  She took two deep breaths, her remaining sanity suppressing the urge to scream at Qin Luo, her stiff neck slightly turning.

  Kneeling in front of Zhen Nan Wang, covered in blood, Jia Ren's desperate face appeared before her eyes. Qin Luo Han's lips curled up into a strange and eerie smile. Then she saw the Crown Prince, a group of guards, and even... the Third Prince!

  "Ah! Qin Luo Yi, go die! Why don't you just die?" The weak string that had been tightly wound in Qin Luo's heart finally snapped, and she let out a mad, ear-piercing shriek. Her swollen, purple-red arm shot out from under her cloak and swung towards her face, as if to tear apart her flower-like complexion with her sharp fingernails.

  Third Prince

  Something like this happened, she knew that in her lifetime, she would never be able to marry the Third Prince. She couldn't get married, and Qin Luoyi could forget about it too. Even if she died, she would drag her down as a scapegoat.

  If it weren't for her and Xie Ruyan, the fox spirit, she would be the legitimate daughter of the King of Town South, the one who became the county princess, and even the one whom the Emperor bestowed upon the Third Imperial Prince.

  It's all because of Qin Luo and his mother that she has lost everything!

  "Second sister?"

  Qin Luo Yi, who was squatting beside her, was shocked by this sudden change and was stunned with a wrong expression. Fortunately, she retreated quickly enough, and Qin Luo Han, who had been tortured before, was weak all over, so he didn't grab her face.

  The two Madam Zhu Meixin was resentful and angry in her heart, but she had been suppressing it all along. Even if they lost their calculation, at this time, they absolutely could not reveal any clues, otherwise, the mother and daughter would die without a place to bury them.

  She didn't expect that she could bear it, but her daughter couldn't. She rushed forward and hugged her: "Hanjun, what are you doing? Have you gone mad? This is your sister! Not a bad person who bullies you, Hanjun, don't scare me."

  Xie Ruyan pulled Qin Luoyi closer, tightly shielding her by her side. Originally sympathetic eyes flashed with a hint of suspicion - why did Qin Luoyi say that?

  The King of Zhen Nan saw his daughter go mad and was also shocked. With a slight movement of his hand, Jia Ren, who was kneeling on the ground, fell silently to the ground. He turned around with a painful face and walked towards Qin Luo Han.

  Qin Luo Han couldn't see the anxious expression of Second Madam Zhu Mei, she only had one thought in her mind, that she was ruined and was seen by her beloved Third Prince at her most disheveled and unbearable state, all because of this woman in front of her, if it wasn't for her, she wouldn't have to scheme with her mother, only to end up being ravished.

  He had forgotten to wear his clothes, only wearing a large cloak, and with great force broke free from Zhu Mei's restraints, his eyes crazily staring at Qin Luo as he pounced on him.

  "Han'er, what are you doing?" The King of Zhen Nan was furious and wanted to pull her back, but the cloak on her body suddenly fell off, and his hand froze in place.

  Zhu Mei hastily ran over and busily wrapped the cloak back around her daughter's body.

  Xie Ruyan quickly pulled Qin Luoyi away, her eyes, which were normally gentle and calm, flashing with anger. On the way here, she had already known that it was Qin Luoyi who insisted on coming to Xiangguo Temple, which led to the assassin's attack. Now that something had happened, she blamed everything on Yī (Qin Luoyi), scolding and yelling at her, completely unreasonable!

  She waved her hand and signaled the two women behind her to go up and help.

  After great efforts, the three of them finally subdued Qin Luohan. The King of Town South saw that she was still emotionally agitated and feared that she would make another crazy move like before, so he sternly ordered Zhu Mei to take people to send her back to the Wang Fu.

  Zhu Mei walked out of the valley in silence, her face pale, and after a few steps, she suddenly saw Ye Hanshan's figure rushing towards her.

  Zhu Mei gave him a glance, and in her desperate eyes flashed a thick resentment that vanished instantly. In Qin Luohan's gaze, however, was an unrelenting hatred that pierced to the bone.

  Ye Hansheng gazed at the wolf-like figure in the valley, and Qin Luohan's face was almost indistinguishable from its original shape. His heart sank to the bottom of the valley in an instant.

  "Cousin sister."

  Zhu Mei opened her mouth, but ultimately didn't speak, and slowly supported Qin Luohan as they walked out, that figure seeming to age ten years in an instant.

  Outside the valley, a horse-drawn carriage of the Zhen Nan Wang Fu was already waiting. Zhu Mei helped her daughter into the carriage and let down the curtain.

  Ye Hanshan took a look at Zhen Nan Wang's pale face and chased after him with a cold expression.

  "Cousin sister, what's wrong?"

  Several guards from the Crown Prince's mansion were pushing and shoving a woman in white clothes towards the valley.

  "Hurry up, what's taking you so long?"

  A seventeen or eighteen-year-old woman in white, with a goose egg face and willow leaf eyebrows, had a charming and beautiful complexion, but her delicate jade-like face was full of fear and panic.

  Ye Hanshan was chasing after his cousin Zhu Mei, when he suddenly collided heavily with a woman in white. When he looked clearly at the woman in front of him, his face changed color and his body leaned to one side.

  The woman in white instinctively grabbed his collar and lifted her head to see that the person she had bumped into was Ye Hanshan, and her expression also changed.

  "What's going on?"

  The Crown Prince Chu Yi furrowed his brow and asked one of the leading guards.

  "Your Highness, just now we saw this woman sneaking around outside... as soon as she saw us, she turned back and ran."

  Chu Yifeng's cold and stern gaze fell on the white-clothed woman, the woman was beautiful, but her body carried a very obvious air of wind and dust.

  The woman in white was frightened and took a step back, her expression extremely fearful. Chu Yifeng, who had not taken her seriously before, narrowed his eyes: "What are you doing outside?"

  The woman in white closed her lips and didn't speak.

  The captain of the guards stepped forward and shouted loudly: "His Highness the Crown Prince is asking you a question, kneel down!"

  The woman in white heard that the person in front of her was actually the crown prince, and her already fearful face became even more frightened, and she fell to her knees with a thud.

  "Your Highness, spare my life!"

  Chuyifeng asked again.

  This time, the woman in white didn't dare to remain silent and hastily said: "I... I'm looking for someone."

  "Who are you looking for?"

  "Him." The woman in white pointed with gritted teeth towards one side, where Ye Hanshan was standing, about to leave.

  The guards stopped him.

  Chu Yifeng didn't know Ye Hanshan, but he heard what he called the second lady of Zhen Nan Wangfu just now. He glanced at Ye Hanshan, and his eyes sparkled with a hint of intrigue.

  "What do you want him for?"

  "The woman in white robes wanted to speak but hesitated."

  "Speak!"

  Chu Yifeng's expression turned cold and stern, his eyes gleaming with a sharpness like a knife.

  The woman in white had never seen such a scene before, with many corpses lying horizontally and vertically in the valley. The one asking her questions was the prince, accompanied by several knife-wielding guards who looked very intimidating.

  "He said... He said that if I could just bring that young master Jia to the back mountain of Xiangguo Temple, he would give me a Heartless Grass to save my brother's life. I've already brought him here, but couldn't find him, and was afraid he wouldn't keep his promise, so I've been searching for him in the mountains."

  "Who is Jia Gongzi?"

  The woman in white pointed tremblingly at Jia Ren, who was covered in blood and lying unconscious on the ground.

  Chu Yifeng's pupils suddenly constricted.

  Ye Hanshan was brought before the prince. His expression was extremely agitated: "What kind of woman are you? Nonsense! I've never seen you before, when did I say I'd give you Wu Xin Cao? And who are these Jia Gongzi and Zhen Gongzi...?"

  Zhen Nan Wang walked over with a stride, looking at Ye Hanshan with an inscrutable expression.

  The woman in white saw Ye Hanshan deny recognizing her, and her expression also became agitated. She shouted: "You don't recognize me? Bastard! I didn't expect you to be this kind of person. I must have been blind to think that you would use Wuxincao to save my brother's life!"

  Biting her teeth, she suddenly lit up: "On the evening of the first day of the twelfth lunar month, you came to Xunfang Pavilion and I was with my sister Taohua drinking wine and singing songs together. It was me who accompanied you through the night... Originally, I didn't have the mood to accompany you, because that day my brother's illness had relapsed, and the doctor said that if we couldn't find the Heartless Grass for him, he wouldn't live past half a year. Unintentionally mentioning my brother, you said you had a friend who was an alchemist, and he had the Heartless Grass...

  "I've never been to Xunfang Pavilion!" Ye Hanshan rebuked angrily.

  The woman in white clothes was so angry that her chest heaved violently, and she sneered: "You don't have to deny it so hastily... When I heard you say that at the time, I was very moved. Although you hadn't saved my brother yet, you had already become his lifesaver in my eyes. The next morning, while you were washing up, I carved my name - Ruan Xiang - on the jade pendant you took off. Originally, I thought that even if I couldn't stay by your side forever, at least my name could accompany you always."

  Ye Hanshan let out a cold hum, his eyes flickering slightly.

  The King of Zhen Nan looked at the woman in white, but said to Ye Hanshan: "Hanshan, since she insists that she has seen you, take out your jade pendant and it will naturally prove your innocence."

  They all saw a red thread around his neck, and there must be something hanging underneath.

  Ye Hanshan lifted his hand and took out the jade pendant from around his neck, just about to hand it over, when he quickly glanced at the back of the pendant, and indeed found two extremely small characters that read "Ruan Xiang".

  His face suddenly turned extremely ugly.

  Damn it!

  When did this woman engrave it? Before today, there were no words on this jade pendant, he was very sure! Originally, after parting with Haner, he wanted to find this woman and kill her to silence her, but unexpectedly, he was calculated and fainted for no reason, delaying precious time.

  The woman in white looked at him with a cold smile: "Is it this jade pendant that you still want to say you don't know me?"

  The people around had already noticed Ye Hanshan's abnormality, Chu Yifeng's eyes gleamed with malice, but he didn't speak. The Third Prince slightly furrowed his brow, pursed his thin lips, and a faint hint of doubt appeared in his eyes. Zhen Nan Wang directly stretched out his hand, snapped the silk thread, and the jade pendant fell into his palm.

  Looking at the back, his expression turned cold and stern.

  "Why are you lying?" The King of Zhen Nan angrily said: "You're Han Er's uncle, why would you harm her?"

  "I didn't!" Ye Hanshan continued to argue, excitedly saying: "I really don't know this woman, and I also don't know why her name would be on my jade pendant. Prince, as you said, Luohan is my niece, how could I possibly harm her?!"

  "Hmph, he's the younger brother of the second wife, definitely won't harm his own niece. But Anping Junzhu isn't... I heard that Anping Junzhu was captured first... Could it be that he wants to harm Anping Junzhu?"

  Suddenly, such a rumor spread among the crowd. The news of Princess Zhen Nan being assassinated had already spread throughout Xiang Guo Temple, and people kept rushing to the valley, everyone wanting to see who was so bold as to do such a thing.

  The sound entered the ears of King Zhen Nan, and the blue veins on King Zhen Nan's forehead jumped, while Queen Xie Ruyan gripped her daughter's hand even tighter.

  The Crown Prince Chu Yi's eyes revealed a hint of sinister and bloodthirsty smile, even the gentle and elegant Third Imperial Son had a cold glint in his eyes.

  The King of Zhen Nan ordered someone to bring the unconscious Jia Ren over, grasped his wrist, and mobilized his spiritual energy. Jia Ren was shocked awake. "Do you recognize this woman?"

  He pointed at the woman in white, Ruan Xiang, and asked him coldly.

  Jia Ren was frightened to the extreme, the person in front of him was none other than Zhen Nan Wang, the strongest martial saint of Chu State!

  He feared that if he replied slowly, his life would be in danger, so he hastily endured the pain and said: "I don't know her, I just met her today at Xiangguo Temple, and then followed her to this mountain."

  "Ye Hanshan, why are you telling lies?" The King of Zhen Nan looked at Ye Hanshan coldly and spoke again. His eyes were full of suspicion.

  Madam Zhu Mei had not yet left, just got on the carriage, pulled down the curtains, and saw through the gap in the curtains that Zhen Nan Wang and the three princes were surrounded by a group of guards, surrounding Ye Hanshan.

  She leaned in and listened quietly, but couldn't bear it anymore. She hastily jumped down from the carriage and said to Zhen Nan Wang: "Your Highness, he is my cousin, my only relative. Twenty years ago, he even saved my life! How could he harm Han'er? This woman must be talking nonsense!"

  After finishing speaking, she rushed forward and slapped Ruan Xiang fiercely. She didn't look like the second lady of the Wang Mansion at all, but rather a shrew from the streets.

  Zhen Nan Wang's sudden movement pulled her away.

  Ruan Xiang's lip corners oozed out fresh blood.

  "I also want to believe that he didn't harm Haner, but he clearly knows Ruan Xiang yet insists on saying he doesn't know her. Why is this... I don't quite understand. Ye Hanshan, I hope you can give me a satisfactory answer." Zhen Nan Wang's expression was cold and stern, his eyes icy as he stared at Ye Hanshan.

  Ye Hanshan looked at Second Mistress Zhu Mei, his face seemingly deeply moved, but a hint of inexplicable sadness flashed in the depths of his eyes: "Cousin, thank you for believing me. After nearly twenty years, I thought we could reunite, it was as if heaven had opened its eyes and allowed me to find the only relative in this world. Who would have thought that just as we met again, something like this happened to Hanshan."

  Ruan Xiang seemed unwilling to be beaten and framed, wiping away the fresh blood from the corner of her mouth. She angrily said: "Before coming to Xiangguo Temple today, you took out the Heartless Grass for me to see, saying that as long as I could lure people here, that Heartless Grass would be mine, and my brother's life would be spared. You said that Jia Ren was a scoundrel who liked to bully women, and that one of your friend's daughters had fallen victim to his evil deeds. So you wanted me to trick him into coming here, just to teach him a good lesson! Do you dare say there is no Heartless Grass on you?"

  The second lady, Zhu Mei, was even angrier, glaring at her with a fierce gaze that seemed to devour her.

  Ye Hansheng's expression turned cold: "I don't have any Worry Grass on me."

  It was originally there, but he hid the Wu Xin Cao before killing Ruan Xiang to destroy the evidence.

  "Yè Gōngzǐ, since you said you don't have the Wúxīn Cǎo on you, then prove it to us." The Town South King's Consort, Xiè Rúyān, who had been standing aside with a cold face, suddenly spoke up.

  "His careless grass was taken out of that storage ring." Ruan Xiang raised her chin, slender fingers pointing at the ancient bronze-colored storage ring on his finger.

  The crown prince slightly raised his chin, and Gong Liu, who was standing beside him, understood the hint. Extremely quickly, he took off the storage ring from his hand. His movements were too fast, and it wasn't until after he had taken it off that Ye Hanshan reacted.

  Gong Liu wiped away the spiritual awareness on top, and took out the things inside one by one. Dan bottle, talisman, silver ticket, clothes... Then came the spiritual plants, one after another.

  "Elm seedpods, indeed elm seedpods!"

  "That outfit looks familiar, didn't I see those assassins who were shot dead on the mountain earlier wearing the same clothes?"

  "That's right, exactly the same, with an eagle on the sleeve!"

  "So even the assassin is one of his people... How despicable! Is this how a person should behave? Inviting a wolf into one's home!"

  Ye Hanshan stared blankly at the green robe, and the palm-sized Wu Xincao, his face changing drastically: "How is this possible? How can I have such clothes on me?"

  Assassination of Qin Luo Yi was indeed done by him, he had originally a piece of clothing like that, but the clothes were placed in a secret residence and not brought on his body!

  Moreover, he was originally certain that there was no Worry Grass in his storage ring, but now it has appeared, and he is truly speechless, jumping into the Yellow River cannot wash it clean.

  The second lady, Zhu Mei, was also stunned and didn't dare believe what she saw before her eyes.

  Ye Hanshan thought of himself fainting on the mountain for no reason... He was alerted by Qin Luohan's scream and rushed up the mountain, only to find that Qin Luohan had been ambushed, and then he was also ambushed.

  When he woke up, he didn't feel any discomfort in his body, but only heard the noise from the mountain below, so he came down.

  After the electric light, he knew that he had been tricked. Someone had completely figured out his plan and had even put a careless grass in his storage ring, as well as an assassin's clothes! Moreover, on his jade pendant, the name "Ruan Xiang" was engraved. Perhaps Han Er being bullied by Jia Ren was also that person's masterpiece!

  "I also want to ask you, why do you have such clothes on your body!" The King of Zhen Nan's face turned iron-green, glaring at him fiercely: "Ye Hanshan, you keep saying that you don't want to harm Han, I understand now, you really don't want to harm her, because the person you truly want to harm is Anping Junzhu!"

  "Prince." The second lady weakly called out, shaking her head with force: "It can't be, my cousin wouldn't do such a thing, he must have been framed."

  Zhen Nan Wang looked at her coldly: "Zhu Mei, even now, you still want to say that he was framed? Do you think I, Qin Ling Yun, am a fool? Just because I don't say something, doesn't mean I don't know."

  "Your Highness?" Zhu Mei's face turned pale as she stared at him in confusion, her heart racing: "What do you mean by that, Your Highness?"

  "What do you mean? Zhū Méi, must I say it out loud?" The King of Zhen Nan looked at her coldly, and after a moment, he said slowly: "Hán ér is not my daughter at all, she is the daughter of you and Yè Hán Shān."

  By the way?

  Thank you little Ye Lü for the coin reward