Volume 1: Laughing at the Prosperous Chapter 4

  With years of training and experience in judging people, Li Yun saw that the prince was not to be underestimated at a glance. Perhaps due to brotherly reasons, the prince and the fourth prince looked similar, but the prince had more dignity than the fourth prince's handsome face. Possibly due to long-term corruption and high status, his eyebrows were deep and profound, and he wore the bright yellow color as if it was made for him, seemingly no one could suit this color better than him.

  At this time, You Yu's face was expressionless, the golden crown radiating an unparalleled aura of supremacy, enveloping his entire person in its brilliance, exuding an unmatchable nobility and majesty.

  Li Yun glanced at the several lavishly dressed women in the room, their eyes dazed as they stared at the Crown Prince. She sneered inwardly, no wonder he had even captivated the soul of this body. The people around her were all talking about the Crown Prince, and this man seemed to have a natural charm that drove people crazy, even if he didn't do anything.

  The fourth prince's words fell, and for a moment, Yuanmingyuan was quiet, as if dozens of people were like no one.

  The queen turned her head and glanced at the crown prince who was sitting upright with a serious expression, but she couldn't see any emotions on his face. She shifted her gaze to the fourth prince, whose smiling face also didn't reveal any underlying emotions. She let out a silent sigh and moved her eyes back to Li Yun, beckoning her over with a smile: "Oh? Who has been bullying you so much that you don't dare come to this garden? Come, quickly come to your aunt's side, tell me who bullied you, I'll see which person had the audacity to bully you in the palace."

  The queen's words fell, and Li Yun saw several women suddenly pale their small faces.

  Li Yun didn't expect the Empress to speak with such confidence, not asking anything and taking it for granted that she was bullied and needed help to vent her anger. For a moment, she stood still, thinking about whether the Empress truly favored this body or had other motives. After all, the entire Imperial City was probably just as big, and now able to participate in this poetry appreciation meeting were all the children of the imperial family's nobles, each representing different factions behind them. She was too outstanding, it would be strange if she didn't attract envy and jealousy. Although on the surface everyone feared her, there must have been many times when she suffered losses in secret. Just like today's events, otherwise how could the owner of this body have mysteriously died, and she mysteriously appeared here?

  "It's just a small matter, never mind! Her Majesty the Queen had better not pursue it." Li Yun said with an air of indifference.

  "Huh? It seems that I'm really angry today, and even my aunt didn't call me 'Your Majesty' today." The empress was taken aback, seemingly not expecting Li Yun to let it go today. She glanced at the pale faces of several women, including Princess Lian Qingyu, and smiled coldly, her voice a few degrees lower. "You just speak up, don't be afraid, I have my aunt to back you up. I want to see who has the guts to bully my niece."

  These words were powerful and seemed to have decided to let Li Yun take charge.

  The girls who had just let out a sigh of relief when they heard that Li Yun was not going to pursue the matter of today suddenly turned pale again.

  "It's like this, Moon Sister. With the Empress Dowager backing you up, just tell us who bullied you. With the Empress Dowager around, what are you afraid of? Even if you were bullied badly, the Empress Dowager will help you deal with those people who don't know their place." The Fourth Prince immediately chimed in with the Empress Dowager's words and cast a displeased glance at the several women.

  Li Yun slightly pursed her lips, thinking in her heart whether to speak or not. What kind of place is this? This is the imperial palace, and it's said that in ancient times, even a fly flying in couldn't be hidden from view. How could the fact that she was just bullied by someone possibly not be known by the Empress, the mistress of the harem? Along the way here, she felt how many pairs of eyes were secretly staring at her every move!

  Just as she was hesitating, the Crown Prince, who had been silent all along, slowly said: "The Empress Dowager is also making a big deal out of nothing. It's just a few women playing and joking in the harem, saying they're being bullied is an exaggeration. Meimei is not someone to be trifled with, she even dares to defy the Emperor, who can bully her?"

  Those women saw the prince helping to speak and were delighted, their beautiful eyes fixed on the prince and couldn't move away. Especially the pink-robed woman and green-robed woman beside Princess Qingwen seemed as if they couldn't tolerate anyone else in their eyes anymore.

  Li Yun took a closer look at the two women, thinking that according to what her maid had said earlier, they were the second miss of Rong Wang Fu and the county main of Xiaoqin Wang Fu who joined forces with Qingyuan Gongzhu to bully her. It seemed that soon she would be able to match each person's name with their face.

  Qing Wan princess heard the crown prince's words and seemed to relax, looking at Li Yun with a hint of disdain. She said to the empress: "The crown prince's words are right, it's just that the girls in the harem are playing and laughing, who doesn't know that in this holy dynasty, from top to bottom, as long as Yunque princess doesn't bully others, it's already good enough, who dares to really bully her?"

  "It's just that, Shallow Moon sister is not only the darling of the Cloud King's palace, but also the treasured gem of the Empress Dowager. We wouldn't dare to bully her even if we had the audacity. As long as she doesn't bully us, it's already a blessing. Just a few days ago, one of our distant relatives from outside the family accidentally offended her on the street, and she ordered someone to beat him up severely. That relative is still bedridden at home now! I'm afraid Your Majesty has also heard about this matter." The woman in pink clothing came back to her senses, struggled to shift her gaze away from the Crown Prince's body, and immediately took over the conversation.

  "Lan sister said is indeed, just yesterday in my house also spread a thing, said Moon sister do not know why led people ran to the west street's most popular Wangchun building went, and Wangchun building a fire just burned, and even ordered people not allowed to put inside people out, poor Wangchun building hundreds of people, dead and injured, this matter made a big fuss, it is said that today many officials also impeach Moon sister. The green-clothed woman also moved her gaze away from the crown prince's body with difficulty, looking at Li Yun with some schadenfreude."

  "How could this be?" The empress looked unusually surprised and turned to Li Yun.

  Li Yun listened to the two women talking nonsense, her eyebrows furrowed slightly without leaving any trace, and she secretly sighed in her heart. She didn't expect that as soon as she arrived, she would be involved in such a big crime. Previously, she thought the owner of this body was just ill-tempered, but she didn't expect it to be so arrogant. Beating people and setting fires, it's simply... evil incarnate.

  "It's only natural that this would happen, and now the entire capital is talking about it. I'm afraid by now, everyone in the imperial court knows about it too. The empress has been busy with preparations for the poetry appreciation meeting these past two days, so she hasn't had a chance to hear about it yet. But even if the emperor tries to cover up for Princess Yu, I think he won't be able to block the impeachment of the officials and the gossip of the people. This time, Princess Yu has really made a big mess. And Old Master Wang is said to have taken to his bed in anger." Princess Qingyuan spoke with a tone of schadenfreude.

  The queen looked at her for half a moment without seeing Li Yun speak up, and couldn't tell what she was thinking from her face either. She was surprised that this niece of hers seemed to have calmed down today. She put away her surprise and turned to look at the crown prince beside her.

  The crown prince still had no expression on his face, and he glanced at Li Yun lightly. His voice was also devoid of emotion, "Indeed, such a thing has happened, but the emperor did not attend court today, and the impeachment papers have been sent to the imperial study. I don't know how the emperor will deal with it! However, it is true that my maternal grandfather, Cloud Old Master Wang, is indeed ill."

  "Have you been to Yun Wang Fu to see Old Master Yun? Is it serious?" The empress's expression was not good upon hearing that the old master had fallen ill from anger.

  Li Yun thought that since she called the empress "Auntie", then Old Master Wang must be the empress's father. She lowered her head, thinking about how unlucky she was to run into something like this as soon as she arrived, and it seemed unlikely that things would end well.

  "The Crown Prince seemed to be choosing his words carefully, and he glanced at Li Yun with a hint of deeper meaning. Seeing that she didn't argue back, standing quietly, her face not showing the slightest hint of grievance or anger despite being attacked by many people's words, a flicker of surprise flashed in his eyes, and he paused for a moment before saying: "The Imperial Hospital's Chief Physician Zhang has gone to diagnose Grandfather's condition. Apparently, it's a case of qi and blood attacking the heart, and he's prescribed a treatment plan, saying that we can't stir up liver fire again, and need to take good care of him for a while. I'm afraid he won't be able to get out of bed for at least ten days or half a month."

  "Father is actually this serious?" The empress was shocked.

  The crown prince nodded, and finally a hint of helplessness appeared on his face that could not show emotions. He comforted the empress: "Mother Empress doesn't have to worry either. With Old Doctor Zhang here, Father Emperor has also sent people to deliver many good medicines to Yunwangfu. Grandfather will definitely be fine."

  The queen finally let out a sigh of relief, nodding her head. She turned to look at Li Yun, her face stern, her beautiful eyes flashing with anger, and scolded: "Yue Er, it's one thing that you beat people up in the street, but how could you set fire to Wang Chun Lou? That's simply too outrageous!"

  Li Yun had nothing to say because she had just arrived and didn't know what happened yesterday. She could only hang her head in silence.

  "Empress, you only know one side of the story and not the other. I am aware of this matter, and it's indeed hard to blame Moon Sister." The fourth prince, who had been silent for a while, spoke up: "From what I know, Moon Sister was instigated by someone with ill intentions, saying that Crown Prince had gone to Wangchun Building, so she took people there. But the people at Wangchun Building are indeed despicable, not only did they not give a straight answer, but also wanted to capture Moon Sister and report her to the authorities. Moon Sister was enraged, that's why she burned down Wangchun Building."

  "The fourth prince continued, deliberately saying: 'Your Majesty the Empress also knows that Yueliang's heart is entirely devoted to Crown Prince. How can she bear the thought of him going to such a place? It would be better for her to burn down Wanchun Tower to vent her anger. This is not unreasonable either. Why should Crown Prince be enchanted by those seductive women at Wanchun Tower?"

  "Is there another play?" The queen frowned and turned to the crown prince beside her.

  The crown prince's profound phoenix eyes shot towards the fourth imperial son, with a sharp ice knife in his dark pupils, and he didn't respond to the conversation.

  The fourth prince seemed to be absent-minded, turned his head and asked Li Yun beside him, "Although I wasn't present yesterday, I also heard about the specific situation, right? Moon sister?"

  A few words had already given Li Yun ample food for thought, and upon hearing them, she looked at the Fourth Prince, her gaze not lingering before shifting to the Empress, finally coming to rest on the Crown Prince. Her originally expressionless face was suddenly filled with a sense of injustice and grievance, her eyes welling up with tears that seemed about to spill over, but were stubbornly held back by her. It was just one glance, before she lowered her head again. Not a word was spoken, but this expression was undoubtedly more powerful than a thousand words.

  The crown prince was taken aback.

  The queen saw Li Yun's wronged and resentful expression, wanting to complain but having no one to complain to, and suddenly believed the fourth prince's words. As long as it involved the crown prince, everyone knew what kind of crazy things this niece would do. No wonder she had burned down that Wangchun Building. Thinking of this, she frowned and looked at the crown prince with obvious disapproval, scolding: "Nonsense! You're a dignified crown prince, how can you go to such a place? Don't you fear tarnishing your reputation?"

  Digression

  The wonderful show is about to begin. The good play has started. Don't miss it, everyone! Put it on the bookshelf for convenience. O (∩ _ ∩) O ~

  Recommend a newcomer's literary work: "The Moon Dancer's Lament"