adbindia Chapter 196
Chapter 196
The two were so close they looked as if they were about to press against each other. Emperor Jingxuan's eyelids twitched wildly. He stepped forward, pulled Yun Wan to his side, and looked her up and down, asking, "She didn't do anything to you, did she?"
Catching the tension in his eyes, Yun Wan slowly shook her head and said softly, "No."
The taut strings of Emperor Jingxuan's heart relaxed slightly. He was truly afraid that Lady Li would go mad with desperation and hurt his wife.
What happened last time was enough to leave him with lingering fears for a lifetime.
Slumped on the floor, Imperial Concubine Li's lips twitched, her heart filled with chill and resentment.
What could she possibly do to Yun Wan? She was the one who had been threatened and thrown to the ground.
"Your Majesty..." As soon as she spoke, her voice was filled with endless pitiful sorrow.
Having confirmed Yun Wan was unharmed, Emperor Jingxuan turned his head to look at Imperial Concubine Li, who was kneeling on the ground with a mournful expression. His brows furrowed in deep disgust. "Guards, escort Lady Li back!"
"Your Majesty!" Imperial Concubine Li's face was full of disbelief.
She hadn't even explained why she came, and the Emperor was already so impatient to drive her away?
Seeing the palace servants approaching, Imperial Concubine Li hastily wiped the tears from her face, restoring her usual posture, her eyes pleading. "This concubine has something to say. Please give me some time to finish speaking! I beg you!"
Having finally managed to see Emperor Jingxuan, she didn't care about losing face in front of her enemy, Yun Wan, and pleaded.
Emperor Jingxuan glanced at her coldly. "If it is to plead for Li Bohong, then you need not speak. My mind is made up."
If the Li family was not eradicated, there would be endless trouble.
They dared to lay hands on his wife and child; the enmity was already forged. If there was a first time, there would be a second.
He dared not gamble.
Meeting the cold ruthlessness in his eyes, Imperial Concubine Li shivered for no reason. She had a belly full of words but didn't dare utter a single syllable.
"This concubine... this concubine is not pleading for my brother, but..." Her mind was in chaos. She swallowed hard and stammered.
Catching a glimpse of Yun Wan standing high and mighty, watching coldly from the side, Imperial Concubine Li steeled her heart and blurted out, "The Crown Prince may be in danger! I beg Your Majesty to send someone to protect our child! Otherwise, I fear someone might harm him!"
As her words fell, silence descended all around. It was terrifyingly quiet, so quiet one could hear a pin drop.
Yun Wan raised her brow slightly, realizing what the other woman intended to do next.
"Oh?" Emperor Jingxuan's expression remained unchanged as he asked in a deep voice, "Who wants to harm him?"
His reaction was vastly different from what she had expected. Imperial Concubine Li began to feel a faint sense of regret, but an arrow once shot cannot be drawn back. She could only bite the bullet and continue:
"Her Majesty the Empress just said she wanted me to experience the pain of losing a child. This concubine is afraid she will harm the Crown Prince. No matter what, he is also your child, Your Majesty!"
What she said was not entirely wrong. If this could cause the Emperor to harbor even a sliver of suspicion towards Yun Wan, even just a sliver, Imperial Concubine Li would be satisfied.
Unfortunately, she was destined to be disappointed.
Emperor Jingxuan's face darkened abruptly, his voice as cold as frost. "Do you think everyone is as vicious as your Li family?"
As soon as these words came out, Imperial Concubine Li's face turned deathly pale, her eyes showing deep disbelief.
Emperor Jingxuan stood tall and straight, his deep eyes filled with intense disgust. "Not to mention your brother daring to lay hands on my Empress and Sui, just the things your Li family has done in secret over the years are enough to warrant the execution of your entire clan."
"Remembering our past ties and for the sake of the Crown Prince, I did not exterminate them all, sparing the women and children of your Li family. If you are still not satisfied, I will immediately order them to be reunited in death."
In the early years, the Li family acted with some measure and did a few practical things. However, as the Crown Prince grew older, the Li family, relying on their merit in helping the Emperor to the throne and being the Crown Prince's maternal family, grew increasingly powerful in the court and became more and more presumptuous.
The chasm of desire is hard to fill. Li Bohong truly considered himself the Imperial Uncle.
Emperor Jingxuan narrowed his eyes slightly, his killing intent fully revealed.
Imperial Concubine Li shuddered all over. "No!"
The cautionary tale of Director Sun was still vivid in her mind. Her whole body turned cold, and her face showed fear. "Please quell your anger, Your Majesty. It is this concubine who was greedy and insatiable. I shouldn't have pleaded for my guilty brother."
She took a deep breath and kowtowed heavily. "I beg you, for the sake of the Crown Prince, spare the lives of the women and children of the Li family!"
Soon, Imperial Concubine Li's forehead was swollen and red, with traces of blood showing.
Yun Wan frowned slightly, a touch of emotion appearing on her face.
Seeing this, Emperor Jingxuan quickly spoke, "Pass my oral decree: Lady Li trespassed into the imperial presence and refused to listen to dissuasion. From today onwards, she is demoted to Concubine Li and grounded in Yaohua Palace."
The rank of Concubine was neither high nor low, but for Imperial Concubine Li, falling from the clouds into the mud was no different from being cast into the Cold Palace.
"You should be glad that you had no hand in the events of that day," he said indifferently.
Otherwise, this would not be the outcome.
Under the control of the palace servants, Imperial Concubine Li left Zichen Palace to be grounded in her bedchamber. Whether there would be a chance for the ban to be lifted in the future was hard to say.
With no outsiders in the hall, Emperor Jingxuan let out a long breath and said with an unpleasant expression, "Nothing but foolish, troublesome people adding to my frustrations."
He regretted immensely why he had chosen concubines so early back then, and why he hadn't met his wife sooner.
However, thinking that the year he ascended the throne, his wife was only a ten-year-old girl, Emperor Jingxuan felt disheartened, experiencing a bit of the bitterness of a man who is already old while his beloved is just born.
Yun Wan poured him a cup of clear tea and said softly, "It is human nature for Lady Li to plead for mercy. Please don't be angry anymore, Your Majesty."
It proved that Lady Li, the Crown Prince, and the Li family were indeed closely connected. Was Lady Li's persistence these past few days not also a show for the other un-implicated supporters of the Crown Prince?
Recalling Lady Li's words, Emperor Jingxuan held her hand to his chest and said seriously, "Lady Li was making wild accusations. I will not believe her words."
Yun Wan, however, smiled. "What if this concubine really did say such things?"
Emperor Jingxuan shook his head, his voice drawn out. "Do I not know what my wife is like? It's nothing more than saying one thing and meaning another, having a sharp tongue but a soft heart, just scaring her."
As for actually doing something to harm others, he didn't believe it.
His wife was a gentle person with a compassionate heart, transparent and intelligent. If she really wanted to harm someone, she would do it in secret. Why would she announce it so blatantly?
Only Lady Li, with her guilty conscience, judged others by her own standards, thinking his wife had the same crooked heart and intentions as her, which was why she was intimidated.
Yun Wan curled her lips, a ripple of a smile spreading in her beautiful eyes, and her tone was sincere. "The Crown Prince is Your Majesty's child. No matter how big a mistake he makes, he is still your flesh and blood and should be dealt with by you. How could this concubine overstep her bounds?"
She wouldn't take the initiative to harm a teenager, but that didn't stop Yun Wan from being on guard against him, and making an appropriate counterattack when necessary. She would not underestimate the malice and jealousy of a child.
"Father, Mother."
Sui had arrived.
He was thinking about congratulating Yun Wan, ran in quickly, and bumped headlong into Emperor Jingxuan's thigh.
Emperor Jingxuan rubbed the spot that ached from the bump, thinking to himself that this boy had suddenly grown a bit taller again.
Yun Wan noticed that Sui was frowning when he came in, and asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"
"I ran into Consort Li on my way here, and she even glared at me. I didn't even do anything. Why did she glare at me?"
Sui looked completely depressed.