BLHO Chapter 44

Chapter 44: Who Instigated It

Chapter 44: Who Instigated It

Everyone was silent, afraid they had misunderstood what the palace maid meant.

She said He Yuncheng and Lin Shuangxu were engaged in disgraceful acts. Was she talking about the kind of… disgraceful acts they thought she was?

The crowd hesitantly looked at He Yuncheng, only to see his face dark, his eyes bloodshot, looking like he was about to explode at any moment.

So… he wasn’t denying it?

Since the palace maid had spoken, she wouldn’t give them any room for sophistry, angrily pointing at Lin Shuangxu and saying, “You wanted a reason? This is your reason for harming the Princess!”

She then kowtowed to Gu Huan again, “Your Majesty! These two are in cahoots! Forced to marry the Princess due to the Empress Dowager’s decree, yet unwilling to have their affair ruined by the Princess, they held a grudge and poisoned the Princess to vent their anger!”

“A load of nonsense!”

At this point, He Yuncheng could no longer restrain himself and stood up in anger.

“Protect the Emperor!” Shen Tan quickly ordered, and several Imperial Guards drew their swords and stepped forward, working together to restrain He Yuncheng.

But everyone knew in their hearts that although General He was bound, if he really started fighting, he wouldn’t be so easy to deal with.

Even if he couldn’t fight four hands with two fists, if they pushed him too far, with a single order, the He family army outside the city would rush into Fengdu, and that would be even more difficult to handle.

Everyone held their breath, and at this moment, the always calm Lin Shuangxu spoke, “Yuncheng!”

Now, causing a scene in court would be equivalent to admitting guilt. What the He family should do is eliminate the treacherous officials, not be forced into becoming rebels.

He Yuncheng naturally understood this, but now that Lin Shuangxu was being implicated, he couldn’t remain calm.

He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down, and then slowly knelt down again.

Everyone present breathed a sigh of relief.

Gu Huan adjusted his crown, wanting to ask He Yuncheng something, but was afraid of angering him again, so he turned to Lin Shuangxu and asked, “Is what she said true? You and General He, do you really have an affair?”

His question missed the point. He should be asking whether what the palace maid said was true, whether Lin Shuangxu was with He Yuncheng at the time.

But the matter of the affair was too tempting to curiosity, so that everyone’s eyes were fixed on Lin Shuangxu, waiting to see how he would respond.

Lin Shuangxu knelt upright, his open face neither dodging nor evading.

He said, “The definition of the word ‘affair’ is debatable, but what she just said was not a lie. When the Princess had the accident, I was indeed with Yuncheng.”

He subtly brought the focus back, and without giving others a chance to interrupt, he continued to say to the palace maid, “Therefore, we don’t need to prove our innocence. Your words just prove that when the Princess had the accident, Yuncheng and I were not at the scene and were not the ones who violated the Princess.”

The palace maid became agitated again, “Even if you weren’t at the scene, you ordered your subordinates to do it!”

Lin Shuangxu asked, “Did you personally see me ordering my subordinates, or did you hear it with your own ears?”

“I…”

This was naturally the palace maid’s own analysis, but without factual basis, it couldn’t be used as evidence.

Lin Shuangxu bowed and kowtowed, saying to Gu Huan, “Your Majesty, after the incident, I carefully investigated the people coming and going in the General’s Manor, and confirmed that no suspicious person had entered the manor. What happened to the Princess probably happened outside the manor. And the only one who knew the Princess’s whereabouts was this maidservant. I beg for permission to interrogate this person strictly and thoroughly investigate her background.”

What did that mean? Was the witness’s identity also questionable? Gu Huan blankly looked at Li Yuliang, who didn’t say a word, and didn’t seem to want to make a decision for him.

Gu Huan thought for a while and then asked Lin Shuangxu, “But why would a mere maidservant want to harm the Princess?”

He Yuncheng was utterly speechless and interjected, “Naturally, someone is instigating her from behind!”

“Who is it?”

He Yuncheng glanced at Li Yuliang, “Your Majesty, who are the parasites in the Bei Sheng court? Haven’t you already realized it?”

Under the gold-embroidered dragon robe, Gu Huan clenched his fists and didn’t speak.

The Prime Minister scolded him for being a foolish ruler, unable to distinguish between loyalty and treachery.

But how could he distinguish? One or two, full of lies, deceiving him around and around.

No one took him, the emperor, seriously.

“This servant is innocent! This servant would never harm the Princess! They are framing me, please, Your Majesty, investigate thoroughly!”

Gu Huan was a little tired and couldn’t listen to her anymore, dejectedly slumped his shoulders. The pressure of this kind of occasion made it difficult for him to breathe.

He pointed at the palace maid and said, “Then, according to what you said, take her down and interrogate her strictly. Let’s end here today, and in a few days…”

Before he could finish speaking, an Imperial Guard hurried up.

“Reporting to Your Majesty!”

“What is it now?”

“Your Majesty, the culprit who defiled the Princess’s innocence has been found!”

Gu Huan perked up a little, “Who did it?”

The Imperial Guard said, “Reporting to Your Majesty, it’s a servant from the General’s Manor!”

Lin Shuangxu and He Yuncheng’s eyes both darkened.

“A servant?” Gu Huan anxiously said, “Bring him up!”

“Yes.”

The servant was dragged up by two jailers, already unconscious, his face covered in blood, not knowing how much torture he had suffered.

Lin Shuangxu’s expression suddenly turned gloomy, his eyes narrowed, carefully distinguishing the blurred face.

It was… the servant who found the Princess’s body that night.

Gu Huan was obviously frightened by his appearance, frowning as he inquired, “Did you bully the Imperial Sister?”

The servant was lying on the ground, breathing with difficulty, blood still flowing from his nose and mouth, barely alive.

He didn’t answer for a long time, and the Imperial Guard fiercely kicked him in the stomach, “His Majesty is asking you a question!”

“It was… it was me…” The servant was delirious, not knowing what he was saying at all, only knowing that he couldn’t bear it anymore and only admitting it would stop the beating.

Lin Shuangxu finally couldn’t stay calm, raised his head, and looked at Li Yuliang with a sinister expression.

The other party looked down on everyone, not taking them seriously at all.

“This is clearly a forced confession!” He Yuncheng rebuked.

The Imperial Guard next to him immediately retorted, “General He, we have interrogated all the servants in your manor. Only he met with the Princess that night!”

He Yuncheng defended, “But when he found the Princess, she had already hanged herself!”

“How do you know he wasn’t lying?”

He Yuncheng didn’t want to argue with this petty Imperial Guard right now, only wanting to solve the scourge of Li Yuliang with a knife.

He looked over with murderous eyes, only to see Li Yuliang slowly walk down the steps, unhurriedly walking in front of the servant, and slowly squatting down.

“Who ordered you to do this?” he asked the servant, his tone authoritative without being angry.

The servant struggled to raise his head, his injuries too severe, his pupils already lacking luster.

He laboriously stretched out a finger, trembling as it slid across, trying to identify the people in the court with his blurred vision.

Finally, he pointed at Lin Shuangxu, the action freezing in place.

He Yuncheng bit his teeth fiercely, his cheekbones twitching slightly.

Li Yuliang confirmed with him, “Are you saying that your young master ordered you to harm the Princess?”

The servant nodded slightly, his head drooping down, unable to raise it again.