strictlysupreme Chapter 187 The Secret from Many Years Ago
Chapter 187 The Secret from Many Years Ago
Wen Daidai's mother was once the favorite concubine of the late King Mu. She was a stunningly beautiful concubine, like a fairy from a painting, and she was unforgettable at first sight.
Since the day she was born, Undaidai has been bathed in endless love.
She was the only daughter of Concubine Shu and was loved since birth. She looked like her mother since she was a child and inherited her stunning beauty.
When the emperor doted on her mother, he loved her as well, so she was also doted on.
However, the good times did not last long. The domestic situation suddenly changed and the rebellion spread like wildfire and was unstoppable.
The rebellious army poured into the palace like a flood. They claimed that they would kill the concubine Shu, who was regarded as a witch, at the cost of the late emperor's life in order to quell the national disaster.
Faced with this sudden change, although the late emperor was reluctant, he finally chose to compromise after weighing the pros and cons.
Wen Daidai watched her mother burn to death in the sea of fire.
However, the country did not seem to be saved as a result. Disasters still occurred frequently, and court officials were still obsessed with a life of luxury and decadence, completely unaware of their responsibilities and missions.
In this chaos and confusion, Wen Dai Dai also changed dramatically.
Her fourth brother, Wen Lian, whose biological mother fell out of favor because of Concubine Shu, has complicated feelings towards his half-sister.
He hated her, for easily possessing everything he had always dreamed of but was out of reach, the love he had once lacked, and the arrogance she had inadvertently revealed towards him when he was a child.
However, he loved her, loved her enchanting yet innocent beauty.
She is like a poisonous mandala, making people intoxicated unconsciously, but knowing clearly that the end of this intoxication may be an abyss of no return.
Undaidai had had deep respect for her brother, who was talented and ambitious, like a natural emperor, radiant and brilliant.
However, as time passed, his twisted desire spread like wildfire, gradually devouring the original pure fire of admiration and turning it into dead ashes.
As time goes by, Wen Daidai's face is like a flower quietly blooming in spring, becoming more and more bright and impossible to ignore.
As a princess of the royal family, her fate seemed to have been bound by a predetermined trajectory. She could either marry far away and maintain diplomatic relations in the name of peacemaking, or find a prince consort of equal status in the imperial city and spend the rest of her life with him.
No one knew what Wen Lian was thinking, but after the late emperor passed away, he imprisoned her in the palace and kept her by his side.
To outsiders, it seemed that they had a deep affection for each other, but only Wen Daidai knew how cruel this seemingly gentle brother could be to her in private.
Day after day, year after year, under such torture, her character became increasingly distorted. It was not until she was eighteen years old that she had the opportunity to leave the palace and build a princess's mansion.
Perhaps out of a state of self-exile, she began to take in many male favorites and placed her emotions in this flashy pleasure place.
Whenever she saw Wen Lian's face twisted with jealousy, she would inexplicably feel a sense of pleasure in her heart, as if in this twisted happiness, she could temporarily forget the pain in her heart.
Over time, she had become numb until she met a man who, by coincidence, looked somewhat similar to Jiang Nianwei.
She thought it would be redemption, but she didn't expect that he was arranged by Wen Lian to restrain her. Those seemingly sincere feelings turned out to be just a carefully woven lie that hurt her deeply.
After Undaidai chased him away, the man committed suicide in his own house. She felt sad for a moment.
It is not known whether he committed suicide or was executed by Wen Lian.
From then on, she came to her senses and decided to take away the most important thing from her brother. He loved power, so she would take away his power.
Beauty, this treasure bestowed by God, became the sharpest sword in her hand.
With her stunning appearance, she mingled with court officials, making those powerful men willing to serve her and go through fire and water for her.
In secret, she quietly gathered strength, recruited warriors, and purchased weapons, just so that one day she could pull her high and mighty brother off the throne and take his place.
But in this process, I gradually understood the hardships of people's lives and the difficulties faced by the people.
From the beginning, she just wanted revenge, but gradually, she wanted to fulfill her ambitions, just like those men.
She can do the same things that men do.
What any man in the world can accomplish is not just a distant dream to her.
She could not only win the hearts of countless men with her delicate appearance and stunning looks, but also use her unparalleled wisdom to quietly and easily manipulate those men who claim to be heroes.
Wen Lian seemed to have discovered something, so he sent her to Dasheng as a princess for marriage. Unexpectedly, she found it like a fish in water.
She even formed an alliance with Jiang Nianwei, and with her help, she became even more powerful.
At this moment, Wen Lian stood on the city wall, his eyes penetrating through the layers of light and shadow, fixed on the familiar figure below, his heart filled with an indescribable mixture of emotions.
Recalling the scene of his sister dying in the fire, he felt an indescribable sadness in his heart. However, this sadness was eventually drowned out by his endless desire for the country and gradually faded away.
"Daidai, stop playing around. If you want to come back, your brother still welcomes you back. You will still be the princess of the Mu Kingdom in the future."
Daidai raised her chin slightly, her eyes fixed on a familiar figure on the top of the city wall.
The corner of her mouth curled up into a faint ironic smile, which concealed the bitterness of the past and the determination of the present.
He was the hand that led her into endless darkness, but now he tried to use his brother's tolerance as bait to lure her back to the world where there was no place for her.
Unfortunately, she had made up her mind. She wanted to kill Wen Lian and seize the throne of Mu Kingdom.
"Brother, maybe I should say this to you. Just surrender and I can leave you with an intact body."
The warm smile on his face was replaced by frost in an instant, "Absolutely not! You, a weak person, actually want to shake the foundation of the Mu Kingdom with your own strength, how ridiculous."
"Why don't you try it yourself to see the truth?"
……
After receiving the news that the King of Mu was killed, Baili Jingyao was also extremely surprised, "How could it be? Wen Lian is dead?"
According to rumors, the rebels of the Mu Kingdom swept through the capital like a violent storm, took Wen Lian's head, and hung his body on the top of the city wall, leaving it to be roasted by the scorching sun day and night to show that the majesty of heaven could not be violated.
Even Mu himself does not know what earth-shaking changes have taken place in the country of Mu.
Baili Jingyao coughed lightly a few times, and the sound echoed in the empty hall, with a bit of weakness unlike usual.
Recently, he, who has always been in good health, has not been able to escape the invasion of colds. He felt as if his chest was pressed by a heavy object and was extremely stuffy. He had no choice but to summon the imperial physician to visit him.
The imperial physician carefully took his pulse at the wrist, his brows gradually furrowed, and his expression became extremely solemn.
"Your Majesty, in my opinion, your symptoms are a sign of poisoning. May I ask Your Majesty if you have been taking any medications for a long time recently, or have you eaten anything special?"
"Long-term use? I will take the elixir carefully prepared by Taoist Master Jiang every day."
Those pills once made him feel refreshed and as if he had been reborn. How could they contain poison?
The imperial physician's eyes flickered when he heard this, "Your Majesty, could you please show me the elixir?"
Baili Jingyao raised his hand slightly, signaling Eunuch Chen to hand a pill to the imperial physician, "Examine it immediately to see if there is any poison hidden in this pill?"
Could it be that this Taoist priest Jiang also wanted to kill him?
Thinking of this, Baili Jingyao's cough suddenly intensified again. It seemed as if a myriad of doubts were intertwined into a web in his chest, making it difficult for him to breathe.
On the other hand, Jiang Nianwei was well-informed. When she learned that Baili Jingyao's toxicity had already been revealed, she secretly thought that this incident would definitely drag her into the center of the storm.
However, this was exactly what she had been hoping for.
She quickly packed up and carefully wrapped the herbs that contained poison. Then, with a determined look on her face, she headed straight for Baili Jingyao, intending to personally start the storm.
Eunuch Chen looked embarrassed and said, "Master Jiang, His Majesty is not in good health. It is not appropriate for him to see guests at this moment. Please go back and take care of yourself."
There was some deep meaning hidden in his words, but Jiang Nianwei seemed not to hear the hidden meaning and her expression remained as firm as before.
"Eunuch Chen, please be sure to report to His Majesty that the elixir he takes daily, which was made by me, may have been tampered with by someone."
As soon as these words were spoken, Eunuch Chen's face suddenly changed and he was filled with shock and doubt.
"Is this true? Daoist Master Jiang, this is a heinous crime that is enough to implicate all nine clans! Why did you come here on your own initiative? Are you... coming to confess your guilt?"
"Yes, please inform Eunuch Chen."
Upon hearing this, Eunuch Chen's body shook and he quickly turned around to leave, thinking to himself that the twists and turns and dangers involved were probably a thousand times more complicated than he had imagined.
I knew that His Majesty was investigating this matter privately, but I didn't expect that Taoist Jiang would come here and confess his guilt.
Baili Jingyao was furious when he heard the news, but the emperor's majesty made him quickly calm down. A cold look flashed in his eyes, "It's really unpredictable. I have been planning for a long time, but I still fell into the trap he carefully laid. Call him in. I want to question him face to face and get to the bottom of it."
Could it be that Daoist Master Jiang had sensed that the building was about to collapse and all the secrets were about to be exposed to the world, so he took the initiative to come forward and take all the responsibility on his own? How far-reaching and complicated was his plan for this situation?
Jiang Nianwei walked into the palace holding the poisonous herbs and knelt on the ground, "Your Majesty, I am guilty."
"Ahem, Master Jiang, I trust you so much, why do you treat me like this? Tell me, what crime have you committed?"
"I did make a mistake in my supervision. This batch of herbs was carefully prepared by the Imperial Hospital and sent to me. I would not have suspected anything else. However, after a careful inspection today, I was shocked to find that they were highly poisonous. This was not what I wanted."
When Jiang Nianwei said this, her tone was resolute, and she didn't sound like she had done anything wrong at all.
"The herb... is poisonous?" Baili Jingyao's brows flashed with surprise when he heard this. This was completely different from the scenario he had imagined in his mind.
"That's right, Your Majesty. I never intended to harm you. It's just that someone put poison in this herb. If Your Majesty doesn't believe it, you can send a royal doctor to check. But since this poisonous herb came from the Imperial Hospital, I'm afraid the royal doctor can't be trusted."
Baili Jingyao frowned, "This is just your one-sided statement..."
"Your Majesty, I have witnesses and physical evidence in my hands. I will summon them immediately after your order and let the truth be known to the world!"
"You... send someone in quickly, cough cough..." Baili Jingyao coughed a few times between his words, and his face looked even paler.
At this time, Jiang Nianwei quickly took out an exquisite pill from her sleeve and said softly, "Your Majesty, this pill may be able to alleviate the dragon's pain. Please take it."
Baili Jingyao no longer dares to take pills casually.
But he couldn't bear to kill Taoist Jiang. Once he died, his wish for immortality would never be realized.
Otherwise, he wouldn't be so patient to listen to Master Jiang's explanations here.
He waved his hand, "Put it aside for now."
Then the witness was brought up.
A clerk from the Imperial Hospital, with weak legs and trembling body, staggered forward and knelt on the ground, with undisguised fear and pleading in his voice: "Your Majesty, long live your Majesty, please have mercy and forgive me!"
"Since you say this, what crime have you committed?"
Li Mu's whole body trembled, sweat dripped down his forehead, and he finally gritted his teeth and told the truth: "Your Majesty, I was forced by the situation and had no choice but to mix the deadly poisonous grass into the herbal medicine!"
Baili Jingyao's face remained calm, but his heart was filled with turmoil and undercurrents: "So, who on earth is so bold as to instruct you to do such an evil thing?"
The official raised his head, his eyes full of despair and pleading: "It was the Empress, it was she who threatened the safety of my family and forced me to commit such a big mistake! I beg Your Majesty to spare my life for my voluntary confession. I am willing to work like a slave to repay Your Majesty for not killing me!"
Baili Jingyao was furious and threw the inkstone on the table away. "How can this be possible! Are you telling the truth?"
"It's absolutely true! Your Majesty, the Queen wanted to kill me to silence me, but it was Daoist Master Jiang who sent someone to save my life! If not for this, I would not have had the opportunity to explain the truth to Your Majesty!"
Baili Jingyao felt his mind spinning. No wonder Wen Xiuwan's attitude towards him had changed so much in recent days. It turned out that she had already taken action.
"Eunuch Chen, please ask the Queen to come over. I want to hear her explanation in person."
The most frightening thing is that the person beside you harms you. She knows that Wen Xiuwan didn't want to marry him in the first place.
But after so many years, the prince has grown up, and she must have let it go.
But at this moment, he finally woke up, and she never gave up her determination to kill him.
At this moment, Eunuch Chen came to report: "Your Majesty, His Royal Highness Prince Yu wants to see you. He said he has something important to report to Your Majesty!"
"Why is he joining in the fun again!" Baili Jingyao was very annoyed.
When Baili Zhao heard the news, he immediately rushed over with Nanny Lu. The long-buried secret was finally about to be revealed.